Getting to the Root of it with Venus Roots

In this episode, Niki interviews Clarissa Brooks, an abolitionist movement journalist and organizer. The two discuss the dangers of status quo "objectivity" in journalism and media, and look alternatively, to grassroots examples of Black investigative journalists who hold political commitments and relationships with the communities they write about. They also discuss the attention economy and its...

In this celebratory episode, Niki rings in the second anniversary of the podcast by getting into conversation with fellow gemini Mimi Zhu , writer and author of the forthcoming Book, Be Not Afraid of Love. The two discuss the realities that become more possible through storytelling for communities of color, the co-opting necessitated by corporate campaigns such as Stop Asian Hate and Pride, and th...

In this episode, Niki interviews Sarah Jaffe , labor journalist and author. The two discuss Sarah's new book, Work Won't Love You Back: How Devotion to Our Jobs Keeps Us Exploited, Exhausted and Alone , which offers historical context on the gendered, racialized, and capitalist history impacting workers, families, and what kind of labor society deems as valuable or not. In this conversation, the t...

In this episode, Niki interviews Fresco Steez , a cultural engineer and organizer who has designed countless slogans, visuals, and communications that center the notion of being Unapologetically Black. In this conversation, the two discuss the role of artists and cultural workers in revolutionary struggles, the potential and necessity behind popularizing radical ideas, and the two get vulnerable a...

In this episode, Niki interviews Derecka Purnell, an abolitionist writer, organizer, lawyer. Derecka works to end police and prison violence by providing legal assistance, research, and trainings to community based organizations through an abolitionist framework.  In this conversation, the two discuss the limits of identity politics, why anti-capitalism and abolition go together, lessons from the...

In this episode, Niki interviews adrienne maree brown, the author of Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good and Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds . In this conversation, the two discuss what it means to embody abolitionist values, strategies for discerning differences in movement work, boundaries on and offline, moving towards generative conflict more effectively, adrienn...

In this episode, Niki interviews Jenny Odell, author of NYT bestselling book, How To Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy . The two discuss divesting from the act of personal branding on social media, bioregionalism and re-connecting to the living ecosystems that surround us, the danger behind privatization of public and outdoor spaces, and the racial and class dynamics of leisure and who h...

In this bilingual interview, Niki interviews Liz of Belly of the Beast . The two discuss the US blockade on Cuba and its profound and lasting effect, what the US elections mean for Cubans in Cuba, and they invite nuance into the conversation regarding Cuban politics. They also unpack the emotional and relational challenges that imperialist policies have on family dynamics, friendships, and a strat...

In this episode, Niki talks to Phil Agnew , former Senior Advisor for Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign and co-founder of Dream Defenders. As 'content' takes precedence over 'context' for the sake of social media likes and mass re-tweets, the two discuss the nuances of building political power, the necessity to prioritize slow and steady work over urgency, mental health, and which seeds of opt...

In this episode, Niki interviews Fariha Róisín , a Bangladeshi multidisciplinary artist, writer, podcaster, and poet. In light of Fariha's debut novel launch, Like a Bird , the two discuss the commodification of trauma, queerness and Islam, and the ongoing work of healing familial and ancestral wounds.  Fariha's work has been featured in Vogue, PAPER, Nylon, Huffington Post, and elsewhere. Her new...

In this episode, Niki interviews James Lopez, Executive Director at Power U Center for Social Change. Grounded in an organizing tradition and a leftist framework, the two discuss what it means for "defund the police" to go mainstream, the benefits and limitations of social media politickin, and what is needed to win meaningful material social change.  James began organizing through the Western New...

In this episode, Niki interviews Francisco Perez aka Platanomics , a Black solidarity economy activist, educator, and researcher currently pursuing a PhD in economics. In this interview, the two unpack Black capitalism, how buying Black unfortunately won't free us, and how this crisis offers us some openings for transformation. The conversation attempts to answer "whose concerns does Black capital...

In this episode, Niki interviews Kari Faux , a multidisciplinary artist, rapper, and producer. The two get vulnerable and real about the impact of social media, the conflation of visibility with fame and financial security, and the power that having supportive friends and family has on our mental health. Through this candid conversation, Kari talks about the pressures of living in LA, the creative...

In this quarantine episode, Niki interviews Mennlay Golokeh Aggrey , a multidisciplinary cannabis entrepreneur, artist, and writer. Gushing in their shared gemini curiosity, Niki and Mennlay discuss the politics of weed, the hype moment of CBD, ancestral wisdom present in food, and how the African Diaspora is expansive and in every corner of the world. Mennlay is the author of The Art of Weed Butt...

In this quarantine episode, Niki interviews Cynthia Cervantes Gumbs , creative director and co-founder of Maroon World . As COVID-19 begins to shift perspectives around the indispensable value of childcare labor and reproductive work, Niki brings in Cynthia for a fresh perspective on what it means to be an artist, a mother, and an emerging voice in the creative world - with all identities coexisti...

In this quarantine episode, Niki interviews Doris Muñoz , founder of Mija Mgmt , representing some of the top emerging Latinx artists. At 23, she took indie artist Cuco from backyard shows to Coachella in just one year. Understanding that representation is not enough for improving the material conditions for immigrants, she started Solidarity for Sanctuary , a concert series that connects undocume...

In this quarantine episode, Niki interviews Marz and Amin of Decolonize This Place , a collective of organizers, artists, and cultural workers in NYC who have led actions of solidarity with Palestine, Black Liberation, and decolonizing the land NYC landlords profit off of. Some of their most notable actions have been against museums across NYC in hopes of holding them accountable. As COVID19 heigh...

In this episode, Niki interviews Kia Damon ( @kiacooks ), an emerging multifaceted Chef and the Culinary Director for Cherry Bombe . They discuss what it means to be self-taught, young, gifted, queer, and Black in an industry with harsh labor expectations and a culture that particularly de-prioritizes self care and mental health. Tracing ancestral wisdom through food, Kia offers a unique perspecti...

In this episode, Niki interviews Becca McCharen-Tran , queer fashion designer and founder of Chromat (a swim and bodywear brand known for its powerful garments that fit all bodies). Recognizing the impact of cultural institutions, they discuss the inherent white supremacist nature of the fashion industry, pick apart the contradictions of the new trends of "body positivity" and "inclusivity", and h...

In this episode, Niki interviews Zaina Alsous , a Palestinian, abolitionist poet, and movement worker in Miami. Processing the urgency of the current carceral and climate crisis, they discuss potential interventions to resist and disrupt fascism, within an analysis of settler colonialism, and the power of new language as a means to world-making and envisioning social and political possibilities. Z...

In this episode, Niki interviews Mars , founder of Art Hoe Collective , a globally-renowned QTPOC collective of young artists that helped catalyze the movement of online creative collectives back in 2015. Navigating the nuances of commodification of bodies of color; they discuss exploitation of trauma, the precarity of the gig economy, the invisibility of creative labor by femmes of color, and the...