Make It Plain MIP with Rev. Mark Thompson

Rep. Val Demings (D-FL10), who served as a Manager in the House Impeachment hearings, spoke with Mark this morning about today's House vote on the historic $2 trillion dollar coronavirus stimulus bill. Despite the importance of getting this bill passed, she also touched on why we'll need more legislation going forward, the danger of the Trump administration downplaying the pandemic, why we...

Jennifer Epps Addison is the President and Co-Executive Director of the Center for Popular Democracy and CPD Action, where they utilize a network of grassroots organizations across 34 states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico, in the fight to break up the status quo and reinvent the structures of our society. At CPD and CPDA, they believe in universal housing, fundamental transformations of immigra...

Jerry Mitchell is an award-winning investigative reporter and author of Race Against Time: A Reporter Reopens the Unsolved Murder Cases of the Civil Rights Era.” Jerry sits down with Mark to discuss this incredible historical examination and shares details from decades of research and time spent covering racially charged trials in the Deep South. That includes time spent time with infamous Klansma...

Mark took a trip to Capitol Hill to meet with nearly HALF of Senate Democrats, for what was a productive round-table discussion between lawmakers and African American journalists. No topic was off limits in this intimate conversation, including discussion on the Coronavirus outbreak (made worse for Americans by Trump's incompetent mishandling, according to Sen. Schumer), the disparities in our...

The seed of Linda Sarsour's activism was planted when she was a young child and, for the first time in her seven years of life, faced with the realities of racial profiling in America. From there, it has been an evolution from a young truth-teller in the Bronx to finding herself on a national stage with the Women’s March. Listen to her tell the stories of her upbringing in New York, gain an un...

Are you seeking a way to get involved in media, technological, economic, and criminal justice? Then this is the episode for you. Technology is embedded in our culture, and Color of Change recognizes its intersections and power in politics. Mark sits down with Arisha Hatch and Heather McGhee from Color of Change to talk about how the organization uses their online community of more than 1.5 million...

Ari Melber is usually the one asking the questions, but this time, Mark turns the mic on him. The legal analyst and host of MSNBC’s “The Beat with Ari Melber” joins Mark to discuss the Trump administration’s erosion of the constitution, the rule of law, and pressing candidates like Bloomberg on their controversial backgrounds.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Advertising...

PART TWO of a two-part series featuring an incredible panel discussion, moderated by Mark Thompson, titled “The Power of the March: MLK and a Legacy of Activism.” The second half of the panel brings us the rhymes of Professor Lyrical, the history of protests and organized labor, and an analysis on the power of protests today. Featuring: Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton; Denise Rolark Barnes, Pu...

PART ONE of a two-part series featuring an incredible panel discussion, moderated by Mark Thompson, titled “The Power of the March: MLK and a Legacy of Activism” This powerful panel explores the importance and effectiveness of marching and organizing, marked with personal stories, historical revelations, and a discussion on how to tell and report on important stories from within communities of col...

How did our democracy get whittled down into two extreme parties? Lee Drutman says it’s complicated, but he’s able to break it down for us in this week’s podcast episode as he digs into the chapters and research from his book, "Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop: The Case for Multiparty Democracy in America." He thinks there’s no going back to what used to be, but that doesn’t mean we can’t...

Veteran journalist Ed Gordon knows we are in a crucial moment in our country's history, which is why he knew the time was now to put out his hard-hitting book, "Conversations in Black: On Power, Politics, and Leadership." There is a lack of consistency in progress and he gathers a powerful team of voices to examine what has been working, what holds the progressive agenda back, and the...

When people recognize Maya Wiley from her legal commentary on MSNBC and NBC, she gets stopped on the street by those asking how worried they should be as a citizen in the midst of the impeachment chaos. She answers this question with Mark as they dive deep into analyzing the intricacies of the process, its origin and the Constitution, and point to some stark (and troubling) differences between how...

The majority of women who are incarcerated have been victims of violence and/or abuse, and Donna Hylton is working to change that. Hylton is best known for her social justice activism, serving as one of the key drivers in the Less Is More NY Bill, the passage of the Domestic Violence Survivors’ Justice Act, and participating in the successful Close Rikers campaign. Now, she’s fighting for the 90-p...

2019 has seen more mass shootings than days on the calendar, and Igor Volsky is doing something about it. In this episode, Mark sits down with the Executive Director of Guns Down American to look back on the year, which, despite its horrific violence, has also included some significant "wins" for Volsky and the organization--most notably pushing Wal-Mart to step back from promoting gun sal...

"He was nefarious. He was horrible." That's how Dave Marcus describes his cousin Roy Cohn, who was a mentor to Donald Trump up until his death. Cohn taught Trump and Giuliani how to be criminals, showing them plays from his own playbook, which he used to aid members of the mafia, among others, as a "fixer." Cohn taught Trump and Giuliani the tactic they employ most frequently t...

You might not know it, but you probably know someone who is food insecure. It affects 42.2 million Americans, which means they are often forced to skip meals, eat less food at meals, buy cheap non-nutritious food, or feed their children but not themselves. The team at WhyHunger believes nutritious food is a human right, and Senior Director of Programs Alison Cohen joins to educate us on food insec...

Brenda Wineapple, author of “Impeachers - The Trial of Andrew Johnson and the Dream of a Just Nation,” sets the record straight that was virally flawed by Prof. Jonathan Turley during this week’s House Judiciary Committee Impeachment Hearing. Host: Mark Thompson Executive Producer: Adell Coleman Producer: Brittany Temple Distributor: DCP Entertainment For additional content: Subscribe to the Make...

Military intelligence veteran Malcolm Nance on his new book, "The Plot To Betray America." Host: Mark Thompson Executive Producer: Adell Coleman Distributor: DCP Entertainment For additional content: Subscribe to the Make It Plain LIVE Daily Call-in Show Mon-Fri 7-9a ET at makeitplain.com  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.c...

Karen talks with Mark about the influence gospel music in the States has had upon her, and the Royal who actually invited the Choir to sing at the Royal Wedding. Host: Mark Thompson Executive Producer: Adell Coleman Distributor: DCP Entertainment For additional content: Subscribe to the Make It Plain LIVE Daily Call-in Show Mon-Fri 7-9a ET at makeitplain.com  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and...

Cancers as in personal setbacks and demons...She also talks about her new podcast, "Buckle Up with Bershan." Host: Mark Thompson Executive Producer: Adell Coleman Producer: Andrew Marshello Editor: Ryan Woodhall Distributor: DCP Entertainment For additional content: Subscribe to the Make It Plain LIVE Daily Call-in Show Mon-Fri 7-9a ET at makeitplain.com  See acast.com/privacy for privacy...

Dirty Rubles author Greg Olear discusses the evolution of Trump's relationship with Russia and Russia's intersection with Turkey.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Benjamin Crump, civil rights attorney and author of Open Season: Legalized Genocide of Colored People, discusses continuing the work of Paul Robeson and W.E.B. DuBois and presenting a genocide petition to the United Nations.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Prof. David Carroll, featured in Netflix documentary The Great Hack, describes what's going on with our personal data, declares that "Mark Zuckerberg is the most powerful man in the world;" and Mark Thompson asks, "If Facebook tuned over every piece of information it has on us, would we even need a census?"  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Advertising...

The thespian and playwright behind American Moor discusses his take on playing Othello, and being Othello in everyday life as a Black man.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The millennial revolutionary, Teen Vogue writer, and author of How to Start a Revolution talks about mobilizing her generation, overcoming haters and "effing s*** up."  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy