In The Thick

Maria checks in with an important update about In The Thick. Your favorite political podcast is taking a break for the rest of 2023. While we won't be releasing any new episodes during this hiatus, all of our previous episodes are still available on your podcast feeds. We’ll be restructuring and coming up with something new and better than ever as we get ready for our 2024 election coverage!

And we want to hear from ...

In this episode, we’re unpacking AI. Julio is joined by Karen Hao, contributing writer for The Atlantic focusing on AI, to talk about the human impact of the rapidly evolving technology and what it means to decolonize AI. 

ITT Staff Picks: 

• Rebecca Tan and Regine Cabato report on the “digital sweatshops” across the Global South, where workers have to sort and label data for AI models, in this article for the Washing...

Futuro Media is taking a short summer break, so we’re sharing an episode from 2022, where Maria and Julio talk with Kim Kelly, labor journalist and author of “Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor,” about the history of labor organizing in the United States and what it says about the labor movement today. They also discuss how women of color have been at the forefront of these movements.

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Julio and guest co-host Fernanda Santos kick off the show with some of the latest news, including the first Republican 2024 presidential debate, and an update on extreme climate across the globe. In our roundtable, Mike German, fellow with the Brennan Center for Justice’s Liberty and National Security Program, joins Maria and Julio to talk about why people of color join white supremacist movements, and how authoritarianism...

Maria and Julio discuss the indictment of Donald Trump and his allies in Georgia, and the devastating fires in Maui. Then, we share a recent episode of Latino Rebels Radio. Julio talks to Myrriah Gómez, associate professor at the University of New Mexico, about the film “Oppenheimer” and its omission of New Mexican history in the creation of the atomic bomb.

ITT Staff Picks:

• “Trevian Kutti, a former publicist for ra...

Julio and guest co-host Fernanda Santos discuss the reelection of Tennessee state Reps. Justin Pearson and Justin Jones and the move by New York City Mayor Eric Adams to relocate migrants seeking shelter. In our roundtable, Dr. Aria S. Halliday, associate professor in the Department of Gender and Women’s Studies at the University of Kentucky, joins them in Barbieland to break down the legacy of Black Barbie.

ITT Staff Pic...

Julio and guest co-host Fernanda Santos discuss Gov. Ron DeSantis’ alarming amendments to the Florida school curriculum regarding slavery. They also discuss the newest indictment against former President Donald Trump. In our roundtable, Lauren Kaori Gurley, labor reporter for the Washington post, and Dani Fernandez, writer and actor on strike, join Julio to talk about the Hollywood strikes and the labor movement in the Uni...

This week, we’re sharing something special from our friends over at The Boston Globe, it’s a preview of their new show, Say More. On Say More, host Shirley Leung talks to the doers and thinkers behind the BIGGEST ideas and debates of our time. Like … will artificial intelligence make humans obsolete? Can giving cash to low-income families bring stability to their lives? Is the U.S. already in a Cold War with China? Politic...

Julio and guest co-host Fernanda Santos discuss the judicial reforms in Israel and the rebranding of Twitter. In our roundtable, Fernanda is joined by climate reporter Kendra Pierre-Louis and Dr. Amite Dominick, president of the Texas Prison Community Advocates, for a  conversation on how the climate crisis is impacting incarcerated individuals.

ITT Staff Picks: 

• In this latest episode of Intercepted, hosts Jeremy S...

Maria and guest co-host Fernanda Santos talk about the ongoing labor strikes and how record heat levels are affecting workers. In our roundtable, Maria and Julio are joined by Elie Mystal, The Nation’s justice correspondent and the host of its new legal podcast, Contempt of Court, to break down some of the recent Supreme Court decisions. They discuss affirmative action, LGBTQ+ rights, and the push for court expansion.   

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Maria and Julio discuss the record levels of heat in the world and the disappointing dismissal of reparations for survivors of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre. In our roundtable, Julio is joined by Rebecca Nagle, a Cherokee writer and host of the award-winning podcast This Land, and Joseph M. Pierce, associate professor in the Department of Hispanic Languages and Literature at Stony Brook University, to talk about Indigenous ...

Maria and Julio are joined by Wesley Lowery, journalist and author, to discuss his new book “American Whitelash: A Changing Nation and the Cost of Progress.” They get into how the election of Barack Obama in 2008 led to an increase in anti-immigrant, white supremacist and racially-motivated violence in America.  

ITT Staff Picks: 

• In this interview for Politico, Erin Aubry Kaplan talks to Wesley Lowery about how rac...

Julio and guest co-host Fernanda Santos discuss the latest Supreme Court decisions and the Wagner Group in Russia. In our roundtable, Karlton Laster, Director of Policy and Organizing at Outfront Minnesota, and Marshall Martinez, Executive Director of Equality New Mexico, join Julio to unpack how Minnesota and New Mexico became sanctuary states for the trans community. 

ITT Staff Picks: 

• Adam Serwer uses Moore v. Ha...

Maria and Julio discuss the latest with former President Donald Trump’s indictment, and Hunter Biden’s plea deal on tax-related crimes. In our roundtable, we’re sharing an episode from 2021, where Maria and Julio talk with fiber artist Bisa Butler about her quilted portraits that celebrate Black life. They also get into the history of Juneteenth and the push by Republican lawmakers to take critical race theory out of class...

Julio and guest co-host Fernanda Santos talk about the indictment of former President Donald Trump. In our roundtable, Daniel Parra, Spanish-language editor and reporter for City Limits, and Claudia Tristán, immigration campaign director with MomsRising, join Julio to discuss challenges for migrants in NYC, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ anti-immigrant political stunt and the dangers of the asylum process.

ITT Staff Picks: 

• “In...

Julio and guest co-host Fernanda Santos discuss Mike Pence launching his 2024 bid and the latest with Cop City in Atlanta. In our roundtable, Astead Herndon, national political reporter for The New York Times and host of The Run-Up podcast, and Sabrina Rodríguez, national political reporter for The Washington Post, join Julio to delve deeper into the growing number of Republican presidential candidates. They also unpack th...

Maria and Julio talk about Uvalde, the fight for gun legislation and what to expect from the Republican presidential race. Then in our roundtable, they’re joined by Imara Jones, founder and CEO of TransLash Media and host of its investigative podcast, The Anti-Trans Hate Machine: The Plot Against Equality, to discuss the wave of anti-trans legislation across the country.

ITT Staff Picks:

• Don’t miss Futuro’s new docu...

Maria and Julio reflect on the one-year anniversary of the school massacre in Uvalde, Texas and the lasting impacts on the community. We go deeper in our roundtable to look at how families of victims– especially mothers, both past and present, bring about change. Maria leads the discussion with Keith Beauchamp, award-winning filmmaker and producer on the film “Till,” and Monica Muñoz Martinez, historian and associate profe...

Julio and guest co-host Fernanda Santos discuss the latest with immigration and the abortion ban in North Carolina. Then in our roundtable, Maria is joined by Josie Duffy Rice, journalist and writer, and Adam Serwer, staff writer at The Atlantic, to unpack what’s happening at the border, violence against unhoused people, and the growing issue of gun violence in this country.

ITT Staff Picks:

• Adam Serwer talks about ...