America, Who Hurt You?

Project 2025 may be the Heritage Foundation’s plan for next year, but its strategies are built to set equality back decades, especially for groups already dealing with America’s legacy of discrimination. This week, host Sarah Jones is joined by Janai Nelson, the President and Director Council of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, to break down Project 2025’s threat to Black communities. Whether you car...

This week on #AmericaWhoHurtYou , author and climate policy expert Ayana Elizabeth Johnson ( @ayanaeliza ) is ringing the alarm about the climate crisis, but in a way that offers real solutions, including how to do our small part in practical ways AND hold the biggest climate culprits (hiii fossil fuel execs and paid for politicians!) accountable. Spoiler alert: we have to VOTE both with our ballo...

Years of exit polls tell us that the outcome of this election may come down to white women who, at 40%, make up the majority of the entire electorate. But what can be done about the fact that white women have a track record of voting more conservatively in the majority of presidential elections since 1950, even when a fellow white woman was an option? This week, host Sarah Jones talks to activist...

Our second ever female candidate is running for the highest office in the land– and the gender divide among Americans is at an all time high. This week, host Sarah Jones talks with Liz Plank, (a.k.a. Feministabulous ) about the murky waters dividing men and women, and how to bridge across them in time to save democracy.  If you’re tired of running into the same road blocks every time you talk with...

“Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time.” But how long after serving their prison sentence should we punish people? And in an economy fueled in large part by the prison industrial complex, what kind of crimes should warrant keeping a person unemployed, unhoused, and in a cycle of poverty? This week, host Sarah Jones talks to Sheena Meade, the director of the Clean Slate Initiative, about the...

Supplements, and Gut Health, and Ozempic , Oh My! The wellness industry has no shortage of solutions for what ails us. But in a saturated market it feels nearly impossible to tell the fish oil from the snake oil—and whether the problem is really our physical health, or something much bigger…and more political. On this episode, host Sarah Jones talks with actress and activist Jameela Jamil about tr...

With our planet (and therefore everyone on it) in crisis, how do we keep our heads above rising sea levels while demanding a sustainable future…not just for billionaires with bunkers? This week, Sarah Jones asks Academy Award winner and climate activist Jane Fonda how she keeps up the good fight after decades of activism filled with both successes and setbacks. From the moments that prepared her t...

 This week Sarah and labor organizer, Ai-jen Poo, dive into the “care economy” and how we’re all part of it, even if we don’t know what it is Follow "America, Who Hurt You?" on Instagram , TikTok , and YouTube for more wisdom and encouragement throughout your week. This episode was executive-produced by Sarah Jones. Fiona Pestana is our producer. Johanna Case is our video editor, and Peter Geiser...

In a world defined by voters fed up with the binary options of our two-party system, is there a third way that’s not…delulu? In this episode, Sarah talks with Maurice Mitchell, the national director of The Working Families Party, about how to build a robust third party without ignoring the very real math problem third party candidates can pose in America’s intensely polarized elections. Maurice ge...

Ok, white people, how y’all doing? Cause the data is in, and the answer for some of you seems to be… not great. In this episode, Sarah is joined by Jonathan Metzl, a researcher who investigates the impact of right-wing health care and gun control policies on their white supporters. Jonathan’s books Dying of Whiteness and What We’ve Become reveal the history of how working-class white Americans hav...

The debate about trans rights is everywhere, from sports headlines to school board politics, but the people shouting the loudest are almost never trans folks themselves and often don’t even know any trans folks. So now more than ever, we all need to show up for our trans siblings. In this episode, Sarah Jones is joined by the incomparable actress and trans rights activist, Laverne Cox to discuss t...

In this episode, host Sarah Jones is joined by comedian, author, and “political provocateur” W. Kamau Bell to talk about the struggles and contradictions of living in America, especially as a Black man. “My joke is that whenever I think about am I going too far, the ghost of Harriet Tubman shows up and is like, Oh, is it hard to Tweet? Is it hard to Instagram? ” Maybe it’s not, but how do we stay...

The hosts of America, Who Hurt You? are all trapped in the Tony-winning brain of Sarah Jones, who over the years has created a multiracial, multi-generational cast of characters based on her own family and friends (who weirdly still talk to her). In this bonus episode, she reveals more than she ever has about her own story, and why this personal and political podcast felt so important to create. F...

America allegedly observes a separation of church and state, but if you’ve bought anything with a U.S. dollar, pledged allegiance to the flag, or just lived through an election season, you know it’s more complicated than that. In this episode, Sarah talks with On Being host Krista Tippett about her own religious journey, her “hellfire and brimstone” grandfather, and the past, present, and uncertai...

Our country has always been a hot mess. But now, between political rage, climate crises and social-media polarization, it’s quite literally on fire. This low-key mid-apocalyptic moment has raised a question for Tony-award-winning Sarah Jones and her many characters: America, Who Hurt You? Follow "America, Who Hurt You?" on Instagram , TikTok , and YouTube for more wisdom and encouragement througho...