Laura Flanders and Friends: Solutions-Focused Progressive Perspectives on Politics, News, and Culture

This show is made possible by you!  To become a sustaining member go to LauraFlanders.org/donate  Thank you for your continued support! In this episode of the Laura Flanders Show, we explore both the struggles and resilience of the LGBTQ+ community during Pride Month 2023 by diving into the right-wing extremist backlash permeating the inclusive, family-friendly activity known as Drag Story Hour. W...

This show is made possible by you!  To become a sustaining member go to LauraFlanders.org/donate  Thank you for your continued support! Within the fight for LGBTQ+ rights and feminist activism, Holly Hughes and Esther Newton are pioneers — breaking barriers and leaving an indelible mark on the fields of art, anthropology, activism, and LGBTQ+ representation. The work of Hughes and Newton have shap...

This show is made possible by you!  To become a sustaining member go to LauraFlanders.org/donate  Thank you for your continued support! In this episode, we dissect the harmful reality of America's ballooning drug prices—especially the life-and-death issue of insulin affordability—and share new legislation out of California. This is Big Pharma, explained.  Today's three integral guests (listed belo...

This show is made possible by you!  To become a sustaining member go to LauraFlanders.org/donate  Thank you for your continued support! We thought that last year would go down in history, but this year is even worse for the number of anti-trans bills introduced into state legislatures, and the successful passage of many of those bills. 549 proposed bills, banning books, medical treatment, even acc...

It's our May membership drive when we move the mic to you!  By becoming a member your voice of support amplifies our coverage of forward thinking movement movers and shakers.     Go to LauraFlanders.org/donate  Thank you for your continued support! What is causing the Black maternal mortality epidemic, and what can be done to save Black lives? The United States has the highest maternal mortality r...

It takes a village to move the microphone to stories that have real impact!  Premium content awaits you!  The latest is my full conversation with Angela M. Thorpe, Executive Director of the Pauli Murray Center.  Thorpe was featured in our special field report, 'Deciding the Fate of Democracy in North Carolina.'  Pauli Murray was a gender non-conforming, legal scholar and civil rights movement lead...

This episode offers insight into the conditions at Rikers and the movement to close it. The unauthorized NY Prison Guard Wildcat Strike is currently in its second week as of February 26, 2025. The notorious Rikers, a 10-jail complex situated on an island in the East River of New York City, has become a national symbol and a symptom of our current approach to crime. The jail has over 6,000 inmates...

It's our May membership drive when we move the mic to you!  By becoming a member your voice of support amplifies our coverage of forward thinking movement movers and shakers.     Go to LauraFlanders.org/donate  Thank you for your continued support! This Mother’s Day, May 14th coincides with the formal end of the National Covid-19 Emergency. Since its enactment in March 2020, emergency spending exp...

"It has often been said that the US South is the testing ground for American democracy, which makes it frustrating how little attention national Democrats and their media pals give to Southern politics.   A case in point is the decision by the North Carolina Supreme Court on April 28th, to reverse a series of election-related rulings that were handed down just months ago by the same court when it...

This show is made possible by you!  To become a sustaining member go to LauraFlanders.org/donate  Thank you for your continued support! North Carolina has long been a battleground for democracy. So far, 27 people in the state have been indicted in connection with the effort to overturn the 2020 election on January 6th. No body of legislators has fought more fiercely to maintain Republican supermaj...

This show is made possible by you!  To become a sustaining member go to LauraFlanders.org/donate  Thank you for your continued support! What does it mean to be a Muslim American in a society plagued by dangerous stereotypes and misconceptions? Hiba Ansari and Daria Mogahed share their insights on the challenges faced by this diverse community, highlighting the importance of good reporting, recogni...

This show is made possible by you!  To become a sustaining member go to LauraFlanders.org/donate  Thank you for your continued support! In this episode, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of hip hop and explore its impact on the world with special guests Rosa Clemente, an award-winning organizer, journalist, and historian, and Chuck D, leader and co-founder of the legendary group Public Enemy. We d...

This show is made possible by you!  To become a sustaining member go to LauraFlanders.org/donate  Thank you for your continued support! The Earth's temperature is rising at an alarming rate, and time is running out to change direction according to the IPCC. But veteran organizer/strategist Ben Jealous (formerly of the NAACP) sees history as being replete with examples of humans doing the unpredict...

This show is made possible by you!  To become a sustaining member go to LauraFlanders.org/donate  Thank you for your continued support! Low income Americans face an acute housing shortage. But our guests have a victory to share. “Rabble Rousers: Frances Goldin and the Fight for Cooper Square" is a newly-released documentary telling the story of how a diverse group of New Yorkers, led by housing or...

This show is made possible by you!  To become a sustaining member go to LauraFlanders.org/donate  Thank you for your continued support! In this episode, I dive deep into discussions on the state of the banking system and the economy, touching on topics such as the stress in the banking system, the implications of the recent Silicon Valley Bank situation, and the challenges faced by central banks i...

This show is made possible by you!  To become a sustaining member go to LauraFlanders.org/donate  Thank you for your continued support! In this episode, Laura explores the unorthodox documentary "Sell By Date" by Tony Award-winning performer and comedian Sarah Jones. We discuss the complex issues of sex, power, race, and our economy through the lens of various characters played by Jones herself. T...

This show is made possible by you!  To become a sustaining member go to LauraFlanders.org/donate  Thank you for your continued support! Rosa Parks is best known to Americans as a national treasure — the little old lady who sat down on a bus and “ended racism.” What we lose in that depiction is what happened before and afterward, which is to say most of the story of Park’s lifetime of activism. Sol...

This show is made possible by you!  To become a sustaining member go to LauraFlanders.org/donate  Thank you for your continued support! Join Laura and Gina for this impactful conversation on combating anti-Asian hate.  A new documentary on PBS, Rising Against Asian Hate: One Day in March, spotlights the movement to turn grief into action and address the challenges that exist when it comes to prose...

This show is made possible by you!  To become a sustaining member go to LauraFlanders.org/donate  Thank you for your continued support! Laura and guest, Abigail Disney, ask how long can corporations sustain the “American Dream” at the expense of their workers.  Is the American Dream dead?  While most Americans are earning less than their parents and economic mobility is on the decline, the median...

This show is made possible by you!  To become a sustaining member go to LauraFlanders.org/donate  Thank you for your continued support! This podcast includes an endorsement for Best of the Left , with host Jay! Tomlinson.  We think you'll dig it too! Description / Introduction:  2022 will go down in history for the number of anti-trans bills introduced into state legislatures. Over 300 bills banni...

The police killing of Tyre Nichols in Memphis generated a significant amount of conversation and coverage, while the killing of environmental activist Manuel Esteban Paez Terán in a Georgia state police raid just weeks later has gotten considerably less attention. This time in our monthly feature, Meet the BIPOC Press, Laura Flanders and Sara Lomax of URL Media talk with two journalists who have b...

Description : “Reckoning” is the new best-selling book from V (formerly Eve Ensler), author of “The Vagina Monologues” and founder of V-Day/One Billion Rising, the global movement to end violence against all women, gender-expansive people, girls, and the earth. Reckoning, writes V, is “the antidote to fascism”. In this Women’s History Month special, which includes performances by V and Laurence Ol...

Monthly sustaining supporters receive early access to listen and download the full uncut conversation from our weekly episode release.  Flex your media muscles by signing up at LauraFlanders.org/donate In this podcast episode, I discuss how Black and Brown-owned media outlets are growing with Mitra Kalita, co-founder of URL and publisher of Epicenter NYC, Alexandra Martinez, senior news reporter a...

What role did Warrior Women play in the Wounded Knee Occupation, and the American Indian Movement (AIM)? This February 2023, as we mark the 50th anniversary of the occupation, Laura speaks with two Indigenous women activists, a mother-daughter duo, who have been involved in the Red Power movement their entire lives. Madonna Thunder Hawk, Oohenumpa Lakota and Lakota Matriarch, Marcella (Marcy) Gilb...

Monthly sustaining members receive early access to listen and download the full uncut conversation from our episode " Johann Hari: Get Your Mind Back / Save Democracy?".   Join here .  We are members supported media.   Are we too distracted to think? The answer is worse than you’d expect. In his latest book, New York Times bestselling author Johann Hari says we’re all the victims of attention thef...