Let's Give A Damn

Rachelle Lefevre is an actress, activist, life coach, and so much more! You may know  Rachelle from the Twilight saga, Homefront, Edge of Winter, Law & Order, or her dozens of other film and TV roles. Last week while I was in LA, we hung out at her house and recorded this delightful chat. We talked about her non-binary child, the story of how they adopted their daughter, our mutual love f...

From Ferguson to New York, and from Germany and South Africa to Australia and Brazil, Lisa Sharon Harper leads trainings that increase clergy and community leaders’ capacity to organize people of faith toward a just world. A prolific speaker, writer and activist, Lisa is the founder and president of FreedomRoad , a consulting group dedicated to shrinking the narrative gap in our nation by designin...

Amanda Litman is the co-founder and co-executive director of Run for Something , which recruits and supports young, diverse progressives running for down-ballot office. Since launching in 2017, RFS has identified more than 100,000 young people who want to run, endorsed nearly 2,000 and elected more than 650 across 48 states, mostly women and people of color. Read the rest of Amanda’s incredible bi...

Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis is an author, activist, pastor, public theologian, and the first woman and black person to be a pastor at Middle Church in New York City. The is a huge deal given that Middle Church was founded in 1628! Read the rest of Jacqui’s incredible bio on her website . NEXT STEPS: Follow Jacqui on Twitter , Instagram , and Facebook . Buy Fierce Love and check out her other books ! if...

Scott Erickson is an artist, author, performance speaker, and creative curate who mixes autobiography, mythology, and aesthetics to create art and moments that speak to our deepest experiences. AND Scott is the most repeated guest on this show. This is his third appearance! Scott’s new book, Say Yes: Discover the Surprising Life beyond the Death of a Dream , comes out on January 25. Preorder it to...

This week, the best of 2021! We had dozens of incredible conversations last year but these are some of the moments that stuck out to our host, Nick Laparra. In today’s episode, you’ll hear clips from our conversations with Reshma Saujani , Priyanka Chopra Jonas , Jedidiah Jenkins , Justin Baldoni , Baratunde Thurston , Sharon McMahon , Taylor Schumann , Pedro Adrade , Rais Buiyan , Katharine Hayho...

One week ago, a 15-year-old domestic terrorist walked into Oxford High School murdering 4 students and injuring 7 more. Why does this keep happening? Why aren’t we doing more to stop these things from happening? Why are there more guns than people in this country? These and so many other questions have been rattling around in my brain over the past week. Shannon Watts joins helps us navigate these...

Diego Saez-Gil is our guest this week! Diego is a climate entrepreneur from Argentina and based in San Fransisco, CA. He founded Pachama —an incredible company that focuses on leveraging data, artificial intelligence, and automation to protect ecosystems, restore forests, and improve carbon markets. From Pachama’s website: “Our co-founder Diego grew up in northern Argentina, at the tip of the dive...

Playwright, director, and filmmaker, Tina Satter , joins me on the podcast today to talk about her incredible career and her amazing broadway show that is currently on Broadway until November 27! Here’s Tina’s bio: Tina Satter is a playwright, director, and filmmaker based in New York City and Vermont. She received a 2020 Special Citation Obie Award for conceiving and directing her play IS THIS A...

Joanne Molinaro—aka The Korean Vegan— is on the podcast this week! Joanne is a marathon runner, a  best-selling author , a trial lawyer (until last month, anyway), and the creator of  The Korean Vegan ! From Joanne’s website: "With over 3.5 million fans spread across her social media platforms, New York Times best-selling author Joanne Molinaro has appeared on The Food Network, CBS Satur...

Today, the one and only Kirsten Powers joins us on the pod! Kirsten is a best-selling author, a USA Today columnist, and an on-air Political Analyst at CNN. In the past, Kirsten worked in the Clinton Administration as Deputy Assistant US Trade Representative for Public Affairs, as VP of Internal Communications at AOL, and at so many other interesting places.  Kirsten is releasing her brand ne...

“Katharine shares an optimistic outlook on what we can all do to move the needle toward solutions and invite allies under the big tent.” This is what Don Cheadle said about the book this week’s guest recently wrote about how we can solve our climate crisis and how we can find hope and healing in our incredibly divided world. Katharine Hayhoe is incredible! She is an atmospheric scientist, she is t...

"Joél's words are where I go when I need some inspiration. And he never lets me down." Lin-Manuel Miranda (yes, that Lin) said these words about our guest this week. Joél Leon is a performer, author, storyteller, and Creative Director at T Band Studio at the New York Times who was born and raised in the Bronx. He writes and tells stories for Black people. He's been featured in the Columbia Journal...

Tony Hillery is founder of Harlem Grown — an independent, non-profit organization whose mission is to inspire youth to lead healthy and ambitious lives through mentorship and hands-on education in urban farming, sustainability, and nutrition. They currently operate 10 urban agriculture facilities ranging from soil-based farms, hydroponic greenhouses and school gardens. I first learned about Tony w...

Adrian Grenier is a former actor and director and a current social entrepreneur, investor, and apprentice. You may know Adrian from shows like Entourage or from movies like The Devil Wears Prada . I first learned of Adrian when he started Lonely Whale years ago. More recently, he left New York for Texas and started DuContra Ventures .  He is happier and healthier than he has ever been on his...

Juli Boit is an author, community builder and non-profit leader working at the intersection of faith, global health, and human dignity. For 17 years Juli has lived and worked in Africa, founding and serving as International Director of Living Room International , a community-led nonprofit providing hospice and palliative care services to adults and children in Western Kenya. Through her training a...

A year ago, I invited Eddie S. Glaude Jr. to join me on the podcast for a discussion about Black Lives Matter, living as a black man in America, James Baldwin, his book Begin Again: James Baldwin's America And Its Urgent Lessons For Our Own , and so much more. I think about Eddie and his important work all the time so it was a no-brainer to bring our conversation back at some point. Today is that...

“The time is upon us to denounce ignorance and hate, and to work together toward this sacred goal, to create a world without fear, without violence, and without hate.” Ten days after 9/11, Rais Bhuiyan was shot from point blank range by a white supremacist in Dallas, TX. His near-death experience and subsequent religious pilgrimage sparked a profound journey for Rais, including an international ca...

Ann Lee, Co-Founder and CEO of CORE Response, returns to the podcast to give us an update on how they are responding to the earthquake that rocked Haiti on August 14.  To learn more about Ann,  listen to our first podcast conversation  on October 13 2020.  Consider supporting these fantastic organizations: CORE, World Central Kitchen, Partners In Health...

Mary Cain has been called “the fastest girl in a generation.” Mary has been been breaking records since she was a young teen. Mary was the 2014 World Junior Champion in the 3000 meter and she is the youngest American track and field athlete ever to represent the United States at a World Championships meet after competing in the World Championships in Athletics in Moscow at the age o...

Simone George , is a human rights lawyer and activist and a commercial litigator. Everything Simone does is based on her belief that a just society is possible. As a human rights lawyer, Simone advocates for people experiencing abuse and violence, has contributed to research and legislation, and creates mass gatherings with the aim of changing our common knowledge. Simone is a director of the Chri...

Pedro Andrade is a Brazilian author, journalist, and TV presenter  based in NYC. Pedro has presented on Good Morning America, Nightline, and many other shows like those and he has his own show called “ Pedro Pelo Mondo ” which is based out of Brazil and gets about 7.5M weekly viewers. I had him on the show to talk, among many other topics and issues, about his brand new show on Vice TV called...

This week, we’re bringing back our November 2020 chat with Matthew McConaughey! Matthew is an actor, an author, and a philanthropist. Matthew recently wrote a book  based on 36 years of journaling. In it, he shares incredible stories, tons of wisdom, and he helps us learn the art of catching Greenlights. Remember, no matter how many yellow lights or red lights you may be experiencing in...

This week, a few thoughts and important updates from founder of Let's Give A Damn and host of the Let's Give A Damn podcast, Nick Laparra ! Follow Nick on Twitter , Facebook , and Instagram . Do this at your own risk, of course.  _________________________________________ Reach out to us anytime and for any reason at  hello@letsgiveadamn.com . Follow Let’s Give A Damn on  F...

Taylor Schumann is an activist, writer, and the miraculous survivor of a workplace shooting. In 2013, Taylor was at work (New River Community College) when a former student walked in and tried to Kill Taylor and many others. You’ll have to listen to our conversation to hear the full story. It’s horrifying and incredible at the same time. Taylor has committed so much of her time the last few years...