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

Monopoly capitalism may be on its last legs! Economist Michael Hudson joins us to say his predictions on the Trump budget have come true and seem to suggest, more than ever, that capitalism is not only a disservice to the people, but it's also unsuccessful. Then, Stacy Mitchell and Joe Maxwell joined us at the 2018 Progressive Caucus Strategy Summit in Baltimore. Monopoly capitalism, they say, tra...

Entrepreneurship in St. Louis, MO; electoral organizing in Uniontown, AL; and community wealth building on urban farms in Detroit, MI. We hit the road to report on community wealth building. We visit activist and musician Tef Poe's barbershop, Frontline Stylez , a project spurred by the Ferguson uprising. Then, journalist Salaam Green on #BlackVotersMatter in Alabama, a movement led by grassroots...

The American with Disabilities Act turned 28 this July. Traditionally, Capitol Hill marks the day.  The first two years of the Trump administration are the first,  that the anniversary’s passed without official anything.    Our goal is to thrive, not just survive. By  becoming a member , you sustain our independent, and grassroots-driven content!   Laura Flanders and Friends Crew:  Laura...

This week Laura speaks to Edgar Villanueva, about being one of the very few indigenous people working in grant-making, and ask what he thinks Native American traditions have to teach philanthropy. His latest book is " Decolonizing Wealth ".  Then, a special report from the ‘United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues’ this past spring that included voices from the Rosa Luxemberg...

Socialism is as close as your closest coop.    Our goal is to thrive, not just survive. By  becoming a member , you sustain our independent, and grassroots-driven content!   Laura Flanders and Friends Crew:  Laura Flanders-Executive Producer, Writer;  Sabrina Artel-Supervising Producer; Jeremiah Cothren-Senior Producer; Veronica Delgado-Video Editor, Janet Hernandez-Communications D...

What difference does a Party make? We talk about what's happening in the UK where one of the two main parties is picking up many of the radical demands coming out of movement groups seeking to transform the economy and society. In 2017, mainstream media predicted that the Labour Party​ would be crushed in the general election. Instead, it won its best result in 20 years, getting more than 40% of t...

Our wars abroad and our wars at home. This week on the show, acclaimed graphic artist Molly Crabapple and Syrian journalist Marwan Hisham join Laura to talk about their collaborative book “Brothers of the Gun.” Then, a report by Jonathan Klett on a community in Wisconsin that mobilized to greet Republicans attending a Trump fundraiser: Voces de La Frontera . Music Spotlight: “No State Solution” by...

Pay no attention to what the media say about how undermined Jeff Sessions is. POTUS may bait him publicly via tweet. In private, at the DOJ, Sessions is a man on a mission to roll back civil rights and that’s just what he’s doing.  Our goal is to thrive, not just survive. By  becoming a member , you sustain our independent, and grassroots-driven content!   Laura Flanders and Friends Crew:&nbs...

Families torn apart at the border and through our prison system. Can we use this moment of public awareness to create change? Emani Davis, a long-standing advocate for children of incarcerated parents and Color Of Change's Rashad Robinson are this week's guests, plus an explainer on the Bail Bond System with Molly Crabapple and John Legend from Color of Change . Music: "Memory Lane" by T...

The following minicast features highlights from an Election special on Young Voters Hosted by Laura Flanders.  The event took place a couple weeks prior to the NY Democratic Congressional primary election where Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defeated 19 year-incumbent Joseph Crowley. Produced by Globalvision , and a co-production of theLFShow, Free Speech TV, and Manhattan Neighborhood Network. Guests:...

India in the throes of a fascism that echoes what we have in America. The country is undergoing a political upheaval with PM Modi at its front, and fueled by increased violence towards Muslims, queers, Dalits, women, and more. Our guest, Arundhati Roy, covers this vast breadth of ground in her second novel in 20 years, ‘ The Ministry of Utmost Happiness', is now out in paperback .  Music selection...

"Smash society and you create craven people. Craven, from the early English word meaning crushed, defeated, overwhelmed." Our goal is to thrive, not just survive. By becoming a member , you sustain our independent, and grassroots-driven content!   Laura Flanders and Friends Crew:  Laura Flanders-Executive Producer, Writer;  Sabrina Artel-Supervising Producer; Jeremiah Coth...

On this week's program, coproduced with the Democracy Collaborative, Laura reports on a transatlantic experiment in cooperative community wealth building.  In Preston, Lancashire, England, a formerly industrial city, the birthplace of the industrial revolution in many ways, they’ve seen ten years of austerity and partly out of need, and partly out of aspiration they’re practicing, experimenting, w...

A certain handshake in Singapore dominated the news June 12, so you may have missed Virginia’s Democratic primaries.  Our goal is to thrive, not just survive. By  becoming a member , you sustain our independent, and grassroots-driven content!   Laura Flanders and Friends Crew:  Laura Flanders-Executive Producer, Writer;  Sabrina Artel-Supervising Producer; Jeremiah Cothren-Senior Pr...

What would students in debt, worker coops, and entrepreneurs stand to gain from a public bank in the financial capital of the world?  This week, Deyanira del Río- New Economy Project , Linda Levy, Lower East Side People's Federal Credit Union & Cindy Martinez- Enlace on why it's more needed than ever - and what they're doing to make it happen. Then, the Public Bank NYC 's recent launch action...

The commentary is an excerpt taken from our  online-only interview with Chomsky , where the famed linguist analyzed the state of geo-nuclear politics, the crisis of climate change, and the need for international solidarity against proliferation. Check out all our web exclusives including the latest featuring Christine Hong: 'Nuclear Brinkmanship is Business As Usual for US-North Korea Relations'. ...

Social movements and party politics - inherently at odds or natural allies? This week, in his first in-depth TV appearance, Maurice Mitchell, the new National Director of the Working Families Party , joins us in studio. Laura and Maurice discuss his activist background, the WFP's national and international vision, and how the organization is tackling this midterm election year. Music: “I Want to B...

For the first time, 18-35 year-old "millennials" and their even younger counterparts, “generation z” will be America’s single largest voting block – with power to swing the result, if they actually turn out to cast a ballot. The perennial  question is, will they? Write to Laura.  She'd love to hear from you info@LauraFlanders.org Our goal is to thrive, not just survive. By  becoming a me...

Seattle Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (D-WA-7th) and Baltimore activist Dominique Stevenson discuss activism, political involvement and why leaders should consider running for office. Then Stevenson takes us on to a community farming project in Baltimore's Sandtown (Freddie Gray's neighborhood).  Music featured: “Bruthas” by Paris Cesvette featuring Brutha Basil from her album “Celestial (My Journ...

Public banks serving public interests.  Find out more about BLEXIT at NextCity.org and learn about the Banking for Justice campaign at NewEconomynyc.org and watch the Laura Flanders Show .   Please write a review in iTunes .  Our goal is to thrive, not just survive. By  becoming a member , you sustain our independent, and grassroots-driven content!   Laura Flanders and Friends Crew:  Lau...

It seems like the only tech headlines we have are about disasters. But what about the original promise of tech to innovate and empower? Bex Hong Hurwitz- Data & Society fellow and Rashida Richardson- AI Now Institute , join Laura to discuss the subversive and democratic potential of technology, and how we harness it. Then, Kayleigh Walsh from the UK-based tech cooperative Outlandish - a model...

In this minicast, we speak to indigenous women leaders at the 17th session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) at the UN, New York.   The Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung —New York Office, together with the international women’s rights organization MADRE , welcomed a delegation of Indigenous women leaders from across the world to participate in the UNPFII .  The session was...

Housing affordability and power by design? This week on the show, Monique George of Picture the Homeless and Gianpaolo Baiocchi from NYU's Urban Democracy Lab & lead author of the Communities Over Commodities Report argue that a truly just housing policy requires a shift in power. Then [00:22:16], from our TED Women series, two architects who are combatting the effects of gentrification and se...

1980’s art both personal and political arose out of the AIDS epidemic. Two major NYC art exhibits –  Peter Hujar: Speed of Life  (Morgan, thru May 20) and  David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake .   What do the lives of these masterful artists have to do with the art and activism of today?  Laura Flanders and her guests bring the exhibits together in a frank and probing discussion: David Kiehl...

"Would Well’s Free Speech have made it into my news feed on Facebook? I doubt it, because Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced in a meeting with media executives May 1, that his company had started ranking news organizations by trust. News sources that score higher will be promoted, those with lower scores will be suppressed."  Please write a review in iTunes . Our goal is to thrive, n...