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

"For many Americans, there’s never been a better time to reconsider the entire system. Years of work, by abolitionists like Angela Davis, Ruthie Gilmore, Mariame Kaba, and organizations like Critical Resistance are  paying off.  With movements calling for defunding and divesting, people are finally talking about spending, and raising the heat on the thousands of corporations that profit off the mi...

How does an economy emerge from recession? Historically, cities hard hit by deindustrialization have strived to attract big employers from elsewhere by offering incentives and tax breaks. But outside employers rarely invest in a place long term, and all too often skip town when the incentives run out. In some places, local governments have been experimenting with other strategies. In Preston, Engl...

The strength of the U.S. economy is often at the center of debate during an election season. But whether the economy is good or bad, there is no denying that Americas economy is neither democratic nor good for the planet. Is this inevitable, or is it possible to build a greener and more just economy? In this weeks episode of The Laura Flanders Show, Marjorie Kelly and Ted Howard of the Democracy C...

"Could Donald Trump be charged with a crime for knowingly exposing others to an infectious disease?   He could if that disease was hepatitis. If the Donald was a poor man, poorly defended and in poor health, there’s a good chance he’d be facing criminal charges."   The F-Word is released bi-weekly featuring timely commentaries by Laura Flanders and guests. Support by becoming a patron, goto https:...

This is an episode that speaks to rural and small town life that is rarely visible in our media, even when, as here, the community in question is just 100 miles from a global media capital. It also serves as an example of how journalists can continue to report safely in the midst of a pandemic. The coronavirus crisis has been acutely felt in urban areas, but the virus also spread disastrously, and...

Nearly 40 million Americans live in poverty, making less than $26,200 a year for a family of four. Their stories and their struggles, however, are rarely represented in the mainstream media. If we want to end poverty in the U.S., we need to hear from those who experience it. This week on The Laura Flanders Show, we hear about the Economic Hardship Reporting Project and the work it’s doing to impro...

"...one fitting way to honor the historic justice would be to take action on some unfinished feminist business. Justice Ginsburg is on my mind today, and so is Nurse Dawn Wooten....the ICE whistleblower who earlier this month called out abusive medical practices against immigrant women at a detention center in Georgia."   The F-Word is released bi-weekly featuring timely commentaries by Laura Flan...

In the face of on-going police brutality against African Americans and the disproportionate impact of the Covid-19 epidemic on people of color, the United States has reached a tipping point in relation to racism, policing and public health. But what does it look like to adopt a “public health” approach to safety, policing, and economic development? In February, 2020, Laura visited Newark, New Jers...

"A popularly-elected Republic overturned by a reactionary armed revolt:  There are myriad reasons why the painful history of the Spanish civil war might pop into ones head at this particular moment." 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     Laura Flanders and Friends Crew:&...

Social change and systems change go hand-in-hand. Movements for democracy and human rights are most effective when they aim to transform unjust, unequitable economic systems. In this episode, Laura travels to Spain to learn how people in two of the regions most brutally repressed under the dictatorship of Francisco Franco built the world’s largest worker-owned co-ops. From the Basque Country to Ba...

This is the Story Behind the Story, for our season kick off and our new weekly behind-the-scenes conversation, featuring members of the Laura Flanders Show team, sometimes audience members too, letting you in on the magic that goes into the making of the show. This season kick off is available to all.  To receive our weekly Story Behind the Story for each episode, please become a Laura Flanders Sh...

Laura Flanders interviews two performance artists whose work illustrates how difference and neurodiversity make art and society richer and much more interesting. Alice Sheppard is a wheelchair dancer and esteemed choreographer, the artistic director of the company Kinetic Light. Jess Thom is a performer and comedian with Tourettes Syndrome, the founder of the project TourettesHero. In their conver...

Regulation, degradation, shaming, blaming - enough! Is it time for sexual liberation yet? We talk a lot about sex but not often enough about pleasure, On today's show we try to make up for that and hear from some bloggers, activists and educators who are practicing very positive consent.  Music Featured:  Allies And Enemies by Zara McFarlane on Brownswood Music;  Free by Ultra Naté.  Support theLF...

 In this episode, Laura interviews author and Yale historian Greg Grandin about his new book The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America. They explore how America's foundational myth of progress has given way to protectionism. Will opposition to the wall finally force us to reckon with the white supremacist conquest the frontier myth has always but thinly veile...

Red, blue, rich, poor, country, city, left or right. Chances are you probably fall into one of those categories. And you may be quite happy where you are. The people of Braver Angels (formerly known as Better Angels) believe there's still value in talking, and they've come up with a way of doing it that actually seems to bring people together.   Guests: David Blankenhorn, Co-founder and president,...

Days of wonder, days of rage. We're living through an information revolution as profound as any since Gutenberg and the printing press, but are we the people, the so-called "users", using the technology or is the technology using us and for what ends? How can we harness this particular transformation for good? That’s the question, and we have some answers from Data & Society fellow Chancey Fleet,...

"Six months into a global pandemic, the US economy just took its most grievous hit on record while Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook only added wealth. "   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  That's also where you'll find our series "Forward Thinking on Covid-19".   Lau...

In this episode of The Laura Flanders Show, author and scholar Dr. Priyamvada Gopal discusses her latest book, Insurgent Empire, which examines the history of abolition and rebellion under colonial rule to demonstrate how colonized peoples served as active participants in their own liberation, reshaping ideas around freedom and self-determination during the expansion of capitalism and empire. “Lib...

This show originally aired 15 months ago, before the death of civil rights rights movement leader representative John Lewis on July 17, 2020.  Laura caught up with Nate recently to ask him about his understanding of the legacy of Lewis with whom he worked on the award winning graphic novel the March trilogy.  Watch this web exclusive at https://Patreon.com/theLFShow   This week's episode: Far more...

"Transparency is important, especially in matters of public health. We treasure what we measure..."   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  That's also where you'll find our series "Forward Thinking on Covid-19".   Laura Flanders and Friends Crew:  Laura Flanders-Exec...

Where do racial justice and food justice meet? Perhaps at the point where Latinx farm workers are able to buy their own land. In the United States, 83 percent of field workers are Latinx but Latinx people own only 3 percent of the farms. This week on The Laura Flanders Show, Latinx farmers discuss what they bring to the US food system in terms of fresh produce, healthy techniques and a cooperative...

The following episode was recorded February 2020. In an era when companies spend hundreds of millions of dollars on diversity and inclusion programs, the proportion of African Americans in tech, media, and business leadership roles is stagnating. In her new book,  Diversity, Inc. The Failed Promise of a Billion-Dollar Business , award-winning journalist and New York University professor Pamela New...

We can not cling to the cruel lie that economic success is the product of individual merit and sweat. 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  That's also where you'll find our series "Forward Thinking on Covid-19".   Laura Flanders and Friends Crew:  Laura Flanders-Exec...

White Supremacy and the Covid crisis aren’t separate. They’re linked.  Defunding public health services and deregulating gun ownership have been catastrophic for public health and yet, the majority of white voters support exactly those policies. The spectacle of hundreds of mostly white, unmasked Trump supporters crammed into indoor rally venues during a pandemic exemplifies this phenomenon. In th...

Although the toll of the coronavirus has been most acute in urban areas, the virus has been spreading in rural America. The reasons behind the uptick are numerous, from lack of medical providers, hospitals and personal protective equipment, to limited broadband and large proportions of uninsured, and poorly protected farm and factory workers.  “They’re treated as essential workers but not essentia...