Ellie 2.0 Radio

For our first show in a new time slot (2-3 p.m. Mondays), I give first-time listeners an introduction to me and the show’s mission. I then pivot to talking about the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights organization and its selection of Dr. Anthony Fauci and Colin Kaepernick as recipients of the 2020 Ripple of Hope…

Our featured idealist is the late civil rights activist, Congressman John Lewis, where I focus on his early life, which included being arrested more than 20 times as he battled Jim Crow. The Big Interview is an encore of my August 2019 interview of Julieanna Richardson, founder of History Makers, a project that documents African…

We begin by examining the “Third Wave,” a Palo Alto high school teacher’s experiment in 1967 to teach his students about how easy it is for fascism to take hold. The Big Interview is an encore of my interview with Bill Doherty of Better Angels, which is working to prevent fascism in America by encouraging…

Our featured idealist is WNBA and MN Lynx star Maya Moore, who paused her red-hot career in part to work on criminal justice reform, which included working to free Jonathan Irons, who was wrongly-convicted of a crime at age 16. He’s now 40 and just released from prison thanks to Maya’s help. The Big Interview…

I start out the show talking about reparations to make up for the wealth gap between white-color Americans and African Americans—the gap is due in part to white-color people accumulating wealth on the backs of enslaved humans. The Big Interview is with Abdi Sabrie, a Mankato MN school board member who experienced visible marginalization as…

Our featured idealists are the Black Lives Matter movement and one of its founders, Patrisse Cullors. The Big Interview is with Mick (Monique) Dargis, who identifies as nonbinary and who has written a letter to the president of the University of St. Thomas (a conservative Catholic university) asking for it to increase recognition of transgender/nonbinary…

Given how America is reacting in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, I begin this week’s show by talking about the glaring disparities that exist between white-color and people of other colors in Minnesota relative to educational attainment, family income and other things. The Big Interview is with Jessica Meyers, a Sioux Falls idealist who…

Our featured idealist is Larry Kramer, an anti-AIDS activist who founded ACT UP to push for AIDS research in the 1980s; Kramer was also an author and playwright. The Big Interview is with Alabama District Court Judge Martha Reeves Cook, who shares about growing up in Selma and learning early on the value of getting…

Happy Pride Month! In honor of Pride, our featured idealist is Dan Savage of the “Savage Love” advice column; while Savage has generated controversy for some of his statements and positions, he’s for sure an idealist—he founded “It Gets Better,” a website/project aimed at encouraging LGBTQ youth to persist despite bullying and societal challenges. The…

This week, I speak about the “1619 Project,” a New York Times initiative about America’s history of enslaving humans that earned project creator Nikole Hannah-Jones the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary. Our encore interview is with Dr. Mark Goulston, who talks about the neurobiology behind idealism. In my C-Block, I share about my first online…

Our featured idealist is Elouise Cobell, an American Indian who took on the U.S. Department of Interior over its failure to pay decades of oil, gas and mineral royalties to Native American tribes and bands—and won! The Big Interview is with Mikki Morrissette, the owner/publisher of Minnesota Women’s Press. In my C-Block, I talk about…

This week I talk about the 50th anniversary of “Earth Day” and feature its architect, Denis Hayes. The Big Interview is with Diane Muntean, who I worked with to help training 1200 people in Steamboat Springs CO last September. In the C-Block I talk about the first Earth Day in 1970, where my idealism was…

Our featured idealist is the famed chef, Jose Andres, who created World Central Kitchen, a nonprofit emergency kitchen/meal organization to feed survivors of natural disasters and the Covid-19 pandemic. The Big Interview is an encore airing of my 2018 interview of AM950 owner and general manager, Chad Larson. In my C-Block, I talk about my…

We highlight the late singer Bill Withers, whose music has been said to define “soulful selflessness.” The Big Interview is with Elisabeth Samson Lee, a sexual assault survivor/idealist who is working to make it easier to report sexual assaults by law enforcement personnel. In my C-Block, I share about “sprouts”—the joy of planting wildflower seeds…

This week’s historical idealist is the Rev. Joseph Lowery, who was called the “Dean of the Civil Rights Movement,” and who passed at the end of March. The Big Interview is a repeat of my 2018 interview of Bussho Lahn of the Minnesota Zen Meditation Center. I’m my C-Block, I talk about reaching out to…

We’re attempting to offer a dose of normalcy, so we start with idealist Catherine Hamlin, who in 1959, answered an ad to create a midwifery clinic in Ethiopia. Catherine would spend the rest of her life in Ethiopia helping women who suffer childbirth injuries. I also share about a NC police officer who befriended a…

In light of the COVID-19 crisis, we have a special show. In the A-Block, I talk about facing our fears and how everyone has far more grit and resiliency than they believe; the Big Interview is with Dr. Kurt Nelson, who shares strategies for addressing fear and how to take a breath from all the…

This week’s featured idealist is Rose Pastor Stokes, a cigar factory worker turned journalist turned union organizer in the early 1900’s. The Big Interview has Nick Alm of the LGBTQ-focused nonprofit Mossier return for an update on his work; did I mention that Nick is only 23 years old? In my C-Block, I talk about…

Alright, it’s another Ellie’s Talking Head show, but don’t despair—we’ve got great stuff! In the A-Block, I talk about an unexpected—and for some, repulsive—idealist, Larry Flynt, the creator/publisher of Hustler Magazine. Say what you will about Flynt, but he was instrumental in helping to protect First Amendment rights to engage in parody—otherwise, Saturday Night Live…

Our A-Block has me talking about my recent trip to South Dakota where I gave several press interviews and a community training on resetting the conversation about how we “Other” humans and the need to protect younger transgender humans from marginalizing laws. The Big Interview is with Caitlin Rogers of Next Day Animations—you’ll love this…

Our featured idealist is Ta-Nehisi Paul Coates, columnist and author of Between the World and Me. The Big Interview is with Susan Williams, founder and executive director of The Transformation Project SD, which helps families of transgender children/youths and who is fighting South Dakota legislators’ attempts to criminalize health care for trans humans younger than…

This week’s featured idealist is Ingrid Newkirk, the founder of PETA, the animal rights organization. The Big Interview is with Greta Kaul of MinnPost, who talks about Beltrami County MN’s decision to not accept refugees and who shares about being a “realist” rather than an idealist (which doesn’t mean that I didn’t urge her to…

We’re celebrating Dr. King a week late—in the A-Block, I revisit his 1963 Letter from a Birmingham Jail; the Big Interview is with Rev. DeWayne L. Davis of All God’s Children Metropolitan Community Church in Minneapolis, who shares what it’s like to be an African American man in America and about being married to another…