From the Kitchen Table

Over the weekend, border patrol + immigration enforcement officers in Minneapolis executed Alex Pretti, a 37-year ICU nurse with the VA. Alex was on the scene of a protest, helping to wave through vehicles and document what was going on. Officers showed up and shoved another woman, prompting Alex to step in to help. Officers then began assaulting Alex, pepper spraying him in the face and then beat...

🎙️ Today’s Conversation I AM IN A GLASS CASE OF EMOTIONS! Seriously though, on top of being a parent to a kid that rocks and is experiencing a lot of growth as we approach checks calendar of life TWO YEARS OLD (OMFGLOLZ!), I am disgusted with the actions and double down defense of the people leading our government right now, who are delighting in the abduction and removal of a five-year old boy, L...

🎙️ Today’s Conversation WHAT IN THE ACTUAL F*CK?! What justifiable reason does immigration enforcement have for detaining children? Can anyone answer that? No. Because there is no answer other than there isn’t . Why am I talking about this? Well, I just read about a five-year-old who was taken from his Minneapolis school and transferred out of state without his family’s knowledge. That’s one of fo...

🎙️ Today’s Conversation OH GOD WE’RE STILL TALKING ABOUT IU……..I unpack the Mark Fletcher Jr. postgame incident to show how quickly racist narratives take hold when context and humanity are ignored (or erased all together). I also break down why this moment demands more from those who have the most and why I’m demanding it. 🪴 Mentioned in This Episode * IU’s national championship and the public a...

🎙️ Today’s Conversation Good God IU won the freaking national championship. In football. Before Purdue won one in basketball. WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS HELL?@!?@??@??@?!??!?!??!?!?!?! On a serious note, though, congrats to all of Bloomington and the nearly 900,000 living IU graduates that dot this world. Y’all did the thing. Fernando did his thing. Miami did not do any tackling. And now I have...

🎙️ Today’s Conversation SHOWING UP IS UNCOMFORTABLE! But when you’ve fought for the privileges you have, how could you not show up? Karla López Owens dig into that and a whole lot more in this wide-ranging conversation about immigration, public service, and what it really means to be part of a community. We also talk about why people feel disconnected from politics, how confusing systems are often...

🎙️ Today’s Conversation I’M TIRED, Y’ALL! Today, I’m breaking down two big Indiana stories: the Governor’s State of the State address and the baffling idea of relocating the Chicago Bears to Northwest Indiana. I dig into why stadium politics almost always hurt local communities, what history teaches us about public-funded sports deals, and why this proposal feels unnecessary, risky, and frustratin...

🎙️ Today’s Conversation THIS HAS TO STOP! What specifically? The use of immigration enforcement as a political weapon and the fear it creates. I break down the lawsuit filed by Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita against Indianapolis Public Schools , stemming from IPS refusing to allow ICE to remove a student from school without a judicial warrant. I share how IPS’s newly proposed policy—protecti...

🎙️ Today’s Conversation On Monday, I attended The People’s Panel , a fairly comprehensive bill review hosted by Whispering Shelf at draft. Today, I’m sharing a bit of what I learned about five 2026 pieces of legislation moving through the Indiana General Assembly . I also reflect on what it meant to be in a room full of people trying to figure out how to engage more deeply in our activism. 🪴 The...

🎙️ Today’s Conversation We live at a time when the federal government is so afraid of your voice, they’ll take it from you. Literally. Figuratively. In every way, they are trying to force us into a fear-based existence. This past weekend, though, I saw people, not just across the country, but across this freaking state, show up in response to the murder of Renee Nicole Good. And that gives me hope...

🎙️ Today’s Conversation HOLY CROSSOVER, BATMAN! JUST KIDDING, KIND OF?! I’m joined by longtime friends and fellow adoptees Katie Gagel and Laura Summers for a wide-ranging, deeply honest conversation about friendship, community, and what we’re actually looking for from each in 2026. Rooted in five years of shared laughter and tears, this conversation moves from lighthearted rituals to heavy truths...

🎙️ Today’s Conversation Genry Ruiz Guillén, 29Miguel Ángel García Medina, 31Serawit Gezahegn Dejene, 45Huabing Xie, 29Maksym Chernyak, 44Leo Cruz-Silva, 34Juan Alexis Tineo-Martinez, 44Hasan Ali Moh’D Saleh, 67Brayan Garzón-Rayo, 27Josué Castro Rivera, 25Nhon Ngoc Nguyen, 55Gabriel Garcia Aviles, 54Marie Ange Blaise, 44Kai Yin Wong, 63Abelardo Avellaneda Delgado, 68Francisco Gaspar-Andrés, 48Jesus...

🎙️ Today’s Conversation Today I’m on campus at the University of Indianapolis to chat with Dr. Douglas Woodwell about just what the f*ck is going on in Venezuela. Dr. Woodwell walks me through the historical context—from Hugo Chávez to Nicolás Maduro—before we start digging into oil, immigration, China’s role, and what this moment could mean for U.S. foreign policy moving forward. I wanted to have...

🎙️ Today’s Conversation Soooooooo. That’s why my roads suck! Today I break down new reporting on INDOT canceling and postponing even more road projects across Indiana while fast-tracking the $1 billion Mid-State Corridor. I unpack what these funding “constraints” actually reveal about political priorities, transparency gaps, and how all of it connects to affordability, infrastructure, and who our...

🎙️ Today’s Conversation On the fifth anniversary of January 6th, I reflect on where I was that day, what it felt like to witness an attempted overthrow of the U.S. government in real time, and how naïve I was to think things couldn’t get worse. Spoiler alert: it can and it will, specifically the U.S. military escalation in Venezuela, the capture of Nicolás Maduro, and why oil (not drugs) is the re...

🎙️ Today’s Conversation To open 2026, I step back from the headlines and into something more personal. After multiple false starts recording this episode, I landed on the three internal priorities I want to center this year: letting go, being accountable, and asking for help—and how each one is reshaping the way I move through my work, relationships, and community. 🧭 The Three Priorities I’m Carr...

🎙️ Today’s Conversation IS THIS REAL LIFE?!?! As a Purdue fan, it pains me to say that Indiana sports history was made last night, but not by my Boilers. The Indiana Hoosiers checks notes football team(?!) dominated the Crimson Tide of Alabama 38–3 in the Rose Bowl, moving one step closer to a national championship. What does it mean!? I get into it. I also wrap up part four of my conversation wit...

🎙️ Today’s Conversation HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YA! It’s the first Morning Show of 2026, and I have way too much to say already about a thing I’m trying to do more of (spoiler alert: it’s asking for help). It’s also Part Three of my conversation with IPS parent, educator, and ILEA Parent Advocate Tina Ahlgren . Today we’re focusing on how messaging around public education, charter schools, and “the data...

🎙️ Today’s Conversation IT’S NEW YEARS EVE!! I continue our week-long breakdown of the Indianapolis Local Education Alliance (ILEA) and its final recommendations to the Indiana Statehouse. Today’s focus centers on why IPS Educator, Parent, and appointed ILEA Parent Advocate Tina Ahlgren cast the lone “no” vote and why that public dissent mattered. We dig into power, governance, representation, and...

🎙️ Today’s Conversation DID I NOT TELL YOU FRIDAY?! 😅 All this week we’ll be covering the fallout from the final Indianapolis Local Education Alliance (ILEA) meeting. Today’s episode features the first part of my conversation with IPS parent, educator, friend, and ILEA Parent Advocate Tina Ahlgren, focusing on what the ILEA is, how it was formed, and how its rushed timeline shaped the recommendat...

🎙️ Today’s Conversation I sit down at the table with Indiana State Representative Mitch Gore for a wide-ranging conversation about what government is supposed to be—and what happens when it loses touch with the people it serves. We talk about Mitch’s path from running a family bar to flipping one of Indiana’s most competitive districts, why listening to constituents still matters, and how recent r...

🎙️ Today’s Conversation I couldn’t help but react to two stories that happened this week: South Korea’s announcement that it plans to end international adoption, and a viral holiday post from Indiana State Senator Chris Garten that says more about our political moment than it probably intended to. Featuring reflections on the power and importance of adoptee voices, the necessity of political accou...

🎙️ Today’s Conversation Three weeks?! Somehow, we returned to right here. And today, I’m revisiting my conversation with Sarah Silcox, specifically thinking through how AI, creativity, and the idea of a “frictionless” life shape culture and creative work. I”m also digging into Indiana being named the Washington Post ’s inaugural “State of the Year” for rejecting mid-decade redistricting, questioni...

On this episode of In Conversation With , Chef Tyler Shortt, Executive Chef of Tinker Street, takes the mic and explores how food becomes a vehicle for memory, culture, and community. From family chicken fries and New York kitchens to sourcing locally and leading collaboratively, Chef Tyler reflects on putting “himself on the plate” and building something intentional—both inside the kitchen and be...

🎙️ Today’s Conversation I sit down with Sarah Silcox to talk about creativity, identity, and the whether or not artificial intelligence is taking over our lives. We cover a lot: from tea rituals and British TV to event-building, entrepreneurship, AI ethics, attention spans, and what it means to resist optimization culture while still trying to live a full, intentional life. 📚 Sarah’s Book Recomen...