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

You'll find a link to watch this special, “Indigenous People's Power,” and episode notes posted at Patreon.com/theLFShow  along with an invitation to join guests and Laura for a live premiere and chat event to view this week’s episode .  Before 2020, America was already in a housing crisis. The Covid-19 pandemic, high unemployment, and a recession have only made things worse. A record level of evi...

"The second impeachment trial of Donald Trump began just as we were learning of the death, on February 7, of the bold and brilliant labor leader, Karen Lewis." The F-Word is released bi-weekly featuring timely commentaries by Laura Flanders and guests. Support theLFShow with your media muscles by becoming a monthly sustaining member for $3, $5, $12 or more, goto https://Patreon.com/theLFShow &nbsp...

James Baldwin was one of the 20th century’s most incisive thinkers and writers. In our own era, as political rhetoric, state violence, and popular uprising bring racism into stark relief, many Americans have been turning to Baldwin’s work for insights from the Civil Rights Movement and the years that followed. In his most recent book, Princeton African American Studies Department chair Professor E...

The following is the full uncut interview with Dr. Olajide Williams.  Portions of his interview were featured in our recent episode "Building Public Trust For Public Health".  The episode is airing on Public Television or you can w atch  it   HERE or Listen and Download as a podcast .   The Covid-19 vaccine has emergency FDA approval, but how effective will it be if there is no public trust in our...

This week, The Laura Flanders Show premieres ‘Building Public Trust for Public Health’ on the challenges of the Covid-19 vaccine rollout across the country. While states have initiated vaccine distribution, many still are struggling to reach their targets. President Biden declared 100 million doses in 100 days but what of those who hesitate to get the vaccine? In this episode, Laura and her guests...

" Like or loathe memes, it’s time for Sanders, and more to the point, Sanders-ism, to take its mittens off."   The F-Word is released bi-weekly featuring timely commentaries by Laura Flanders and guests. Support theLFShow with your media muscles by becoming a monthly sustaining member for $3, $5, $12 or more, goto https://Patreon.com/theLFShow   Laura Flanders and Friends Crew:  Laura Fl...

The following is the full uncut interview with US Rep. Karen Bass.   Downballot victories in the 2020 November elections gave a fresh class of movement organizers across the country a seat at the national level. Incoming Congress members Cori Bush and Jamaal Bowman among others represent the rising trend of activists of color who intersect with elected office. In this extended interview, Laura spe...

A new administration takes office in the midst of an ongoing public health catastrophe and an economic crisis, on the heels of one of the most polarizing presidencies in U.S. history. The day of the inauguration, Laura brings together reverend and community organizer Ronnie Galvin with author, activist and documentary filmmaker Astra Taylor for a lively conversation about what it’s going to take f...

Click Here for the Full Episode Notes In the aftermath of the January 6th siege of the Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters, Laura convenes a panel of pro-democracy activists to discuss the fate of the nation. What really led to the events of January 6th and how should we move forward? How do we go from insurrection to cooperation in a multi-racial, multi-ethnic democracy? Is building a healthy po...

"The answer to the mobster who riles up the lynch mob is media that’s moral, which is not what we have. What we have is media that’s motivated by money. And money, as we also saw this week, has no morals."   The F-Word is released bi-weekly featuring timely commentaries by Laura Flanders and guests. Support with your media muscles by becoming a monthly sustaining member for $3, $5, $12 or more, go...

The Trump years have seen a doubling-down on the immigrants-as-problem narrative in which migrants are accused of bringing gang violence, crime, and disease to the United States, and of “stealing” jobs. Reformers often play into another problem narrative, emphasizing the tragic circumstances that drive people to leave their home countries with little emphasis on individual experiences. In this epi...

The economic collapse unfolding before our eyes is much bigger than it appears and the solution isn’t simply to “build back better.” COVID-19 didn’t create the challenges we face. It laid bare flaws that have long existed at the foundation of our system. That is particularly true for Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color. What kind of reconstruction effort would truly reflect the scale of t...

“Defund the police” became a rallying cry in the summer of 2020 as demonstrators flooded streets across the United States to demand an end to police brutality in the wake of the deaths of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd at the hands of the police. In the months since, hundreds of city councils nationwide have voted to reallocate what amounts to hundreds of millions of dollars away from law enforce...

The U.S. transportation system has long been rife with inequality, making it more difficult for low-income people, people of color, and people with disabilities to get where they need to go. When Covid19 hit, ticket revenues shrank, workers got sick, and services were cut, even as low-income “essential workers” disproportionately depended on public transit to get to work as other Americans did, to...

"... sing as he might about The Times They are A-Changing, Dylan’s deal, worth an estimated $300 million to him, changed nothing about anything.  But it could have been different." The F-Word is released bi-weekly featuring timely commentaries by Laura Flanders and guests. Support by becoming a patron and help us reach our goal during our Holiday Fund Drive.  Every dollar will be matched, doubling...

Where do racial justice and food justice meet? Perhaps at the point where long time farmworkers are able to buy their own land. In the United States today, 83 percent of farmworkers are Latinx but Latinx people own only three percent of the farms. Latinx farmers bring a wealth of knowledge to the US food system in terms of fresh produce, healthy techniques and a cooperative management style born o...

Partner with the show during our holiday membership drive, and your contribution will be matched!:   https://Patreon.com/theLFShow Acclaimed white anti-racist scholar Mab Segrest , author of the influential book Memoir of a Race Traitor , takes Laura through the US South to trace the racist roots of American psychiatry. Together, they explore the infamous state mental hospital in Milledgeville, Ge...

Can dance and song offer insight into a person’s experience, and provoke curiosity, even empathy across national identity, race and gender? In this episode, Laura interviews MacArthur Genius Award-winning choreographer Okwui Okpokwasili about her groundbreaking experimental work to communicate the lived experiences of African and African American women through movement. Okpokwasili explains how sh...

Food justice is the notion that everyone should have access to healthful food as well as the opportunity to grow, market and serve it. It’s also the idea behind a rising movement in the US, looking at how federal state and local policies have, or have not served everyone’s food needs. In this episode, Laura talks with farmers, workers, organizers, and seed keepers who seldom get much attention fro...

"All this how’s-he-doing coverage is par for the course as we transition to the next administration, but someone’s missing from this picture of our politics. It’s us."   We’re coming up on Giving Tuesday. How about you take a look around and support the media that sees you back? Support by becoming a patron, goto https://Patreon.com/theLFShow For special programming on food justice in America, and...

What is a city’s economy for? New York City’s economy has been very good at piling up private wealth and building tall buildings but it’s done less well, especially recently, when it comes to maintaining public services and public trust. In this episode, Laura attends an historic gathering at the School for Labor and Urban Studies at the City University of New York (CUNY) and talks with the city’s...

While the election results are still undecided well hear from Mary Kay Henry, president of the Service Employees International Union, or SEIU, about how one of the nations largest unions is addressing the ongoing impact of Covid-19, pandemic poverty and the systemic inequities that no single election can fix. We need a new normal says Henry. How do we get there?   Music in the Middle:  “Born Ready...

Election day is upon us.  A reading of the names of those who died due to the coronavirus pandemic. "This list needn't expand any longer.  Vote in favor of our public health." The F-Word is released bi-weekly featuring timely commentaries by Laura Flanders and guests. Support by becoming a patron, goto https://Patreon.com/theLFShow Pandemic Death Toll Worldometer.com "Those We've Lost" NYTimes   &...

While this program explores the possibilities that go well beyond what can be achieved by one candidate or with one vote — elections do matter and the US 2020 elections are no exception. This week Laura Flanders checks in with one of the leading social critics of our time, MIT professor emeritus, Noam Chomsky. He dives into what's stake in this election — in a time he views as the most dangerous m...

Buffalo, New York, was once a booming industrial town fueled by cheap power from Niagara Falls, a center of commerce and trade, the first city in the US to have electric light. But over a century, Buffalo’s wealth concentrated at the top and mostly moved out, leaving a largely de-industrialized city and a slump. Now, with new investment promised by New York’s Governor Cuomo, and cooler, northern c...