Ellie 2.0 Radio

This show’s a real mixture; in the A-Block, I talk about the White Rose, a group of idealistic German university students (and a professor) who resist the Nazi regime in 1942-43 by spreading pamphlets calling for Germans to resist the war and Nazism. Some of those idealists paid the ultimate price as a result. The…

We start talking about systemic racism and historical trauma in the context of constructing I-94 between Minneapolis and St. Paul and how it destroyed much of the Rondo neighborhood, which was predominately populated by black-color persons. The Big Interview is with two idealistic students (Angelo Bush and Jasmine McBride) and their idealistic instructor (Scott Herold)…

An Ellie’s Talking Head show, the theme is about engineering change—societal and personal. In the A-Block, I talk about protests over the 1968 Miss America Pageant for its lack of color diversity and unfair representation of women, spawning the first-ever Ms. Black America Pageant. The B-Block has stories about LeBron James’ I Promise School in…

In our A-Block, I talk about 80-year-old John Johnson of Wytheville, VA, who has a mission to identify the dozen long-dead white-color men involved in the last lynching of a black-color person in Virginia (in 1926; the victim’s name was Raymond Byrd); the Big Interview is with Donna Minter of the Minnesota Peacebuilding Leadership Institute;…

The theme for this show is forgiveness and redemption. I highlight Marina Cantacuzino, founder of The Forgiveness Project, who curated an exhibit, “The F Word,” with personal stories about forgiveness and healing. The Big Interview is with John Anderson, an idealist who helped bring “The F Word” to Grace Lutheran Church in Andover MN. In…

An Ellie’s Talking Head show, we learn about Peter Buttigieg, the 37-year-old gay mayor of South Bend, Indiana who is considering a presidential run; he’s an idealistic out-of-the-box thinker who is making people notice. I also share about how crowdfunding mechanisms are ways for us to exercise our empathetic hearts. Finally, in the C-Block, I…

Our idealist this week is Carrie Ann Lucas, a disability rights activist who blazed an idealistic trail in Colorado before dying earlier this year at age 47; the Big Interview is with Susan Robertson, who is working to make the Presbyterian Church more LGBTQ-friendly. The C-Block has me talking about a keynote, “Bridging Divides,” that…

We start off talking about South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission and its idealistic goal of healing the country after the horrors of apartheid; the Big Interview is with Dr. Kurt Nelson of the Lantern Group where we talk about what makes for someone to be idealistic; and in my C Block, I talk about…

I talk about last week’s (Feb. 19) Day of Remembrance for Japanese Americans re: internment during WW2, including the only elected official to speak up against internment, Ralph Lawrence Carr, the Republican governor of Colorado; the Big Interview is with Jacki Trelawny of Family Tree Clinic in St. Paul; in my C Block, I talk…

We start this week’s show with a report about two artist-idealists, photographer Sally Mann and Cameron Rowland, a conceptual artist. Both artists tackle issues around race-based cruelty and systemic racism. The Big Interview is with Tom Nelson, a Minneapolis attorney who’s used his leadership roles in local bar associations to push for greater diversity and…

We’re talking about idealists who do remarkable things for their times. First off is Maurice Willows, who convinced the American Red Cross to provide relief to the Black community in Tulsa OK following the horrendous race riot of 1921 (it was the only relief organization to provide assistance); the Big Interview is with William Doherty,…

The theme is idealists who unify rather than divide. We start with Larry Itliong, who organized Filipino farm workers in California’s Central Valley and joined with Cesar Chavez to win grape grower recognition in the mid-1960s; the Big Interview is with Brad Hart, the idealistic and nonpartisan mayor of Cedar Rapids, Iowa whose optimism and…

This week, I highlight John Delaney, a Maryland Congressman who’s running for president; he announced way back in 2017 and has already visited all 99 Iowa counties. I also talk about Marshall Medoff, and amateur scientist-idealist who very well may have discovered a new way to make fuel and plastic substitutes. In Block C, I…

An Ellie’s Talking Head show highlighting Hollywood idealists—Ellen DeGeneres and Tom Hanks. In Block C, I talk about an interaction with a grandmother and her grandson on a Minneapolis street; I found it in me to have compassion and overcome my fear of being panhandled.

This week’s idealist is St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter, who’s ushered in a new era of imagination and energy to create a “St. Paul for everyone”; the Big Interview is with Hadeel Abouhasira, a young Richmond VA attorney of Palestinian descent who’s trying to give back; and in Block C, I talk about visiting beautiful…

The idealist for this week is Daniel Ellsberg, who in 1971 leaked the infamous Pentagon Papers as a way of changing the conversation about the Vietnam War, highlighting the government’s failure to be honest with Americans; in the Big Interview, I talk with David Liners, a priest-turned-nonprofit founder, who oversees WISDOM in Wisconsin—a collection of…

This week I focus on the incredible idealism of Colin Kaepernick, a man of principle and humility who is fighting oppression; I also return to the youngest member of Congress, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who even before she takes the oath to serve is working to radically change the status quo. In Block C, I talk about…

Our idealist for this early December show is Eartha Kitt, famous for “Santa Baby,” who worked to help at risk youth and who wasn’t afraid to speak truth to power; for this Ellie’s Talking Head Show we’ll also talk about white journalist Ray Sprigle, who in 1948 posed as a black man while on a…

Our idealist for this week is Belva Davis, the first woman of color to be a new anchor on the West Coast—in the early 1970s; the Big Interview is with Tom Dzik, who has been “giving back” to the community all his life in remarkable ways—as Tom say, “Just do it.” In Block C, I…

Part of our theme this week is about prisons and those who are willing to “see” confined persons as human. Our idealist is the one and only Johnny Cash, whose many prison concerts (all for free) led him to champion prison reform in the early 1970s; the Big Interview is with Tonen O’Connor, a Buddhist…

This week’s idealist is Dr. Jerry Rabinowitz, one of the Living Tree Synagogue shooting victims, who rushed to aid the wounded and was killed himself. The Big Interview is with Daryl Davis, a black man who bravely meets with Klu Klux Klan members to form friendships and who’s convinced some to renounce their Klan membership.…

The theme is about idealists who pay a price. Our idealist highlight is about Tommie Smith and John Carlos, who at the 1968 Olympics raised their gloved fists in protest of oppression of black people in the U.S.—both men were banned from further Olympic competitions. The Big Interview is with Fr. Harry Bury, an outspoken…

Our theme this week is “Idealist’s Under the Radar” and I highlight a pharmacologist with the Food & Drug Administration, Frances Oldham Kelsey, who in 1960 resisted drug manufacturer pressure to license thalidomide in the U.S. and in doing so, prevented thousands of American babies being born with birth defects. The Big Interview is with…

It’s an Ellie’s Talking Head Show! Our idealist highlight is of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who unseated a 10-term Democratic in this year’s NY primary. Block B is about racism and trauma—in part, a history lesson about the Tulsa race riot of 1921 and then how a personal health crisis (another form of trauma) can cause one…