Stepping Into Truth: Conversations on Social Justice and How We Get Free

Deborah Tuerkheimer In the past couple of years we have watched as, finally, powerful men who are also sexual predators have been brought to some form of justice. Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby, Charlie Rose, and Matt Lauer among the most prominent. What we learned from watching their downfall is how very hard it is to have these men held to account.  Author Deborah Tuerkheimer and I talk about her...

Emily Ladau Here's a number for you, 1 billion. One billion people is the estimated number of disabled people in the world. One billion. One in 8 people on the planet. That means that each of us knows someone, likely many someones, with a disability whether visible or hidden. Yet disability is a subject that most of us give little or no thought to. Disability activist Emily Ladau joined me on the...

Lynden Harris  The stories that we don't hear impact us as much as those that we do. We just don't realize that there's something missing. Under the leadership of director Lynden Harris the North Carolina based co-creative collective company, Hidden Voices, brings to light stories that we don't even realize we need to hear.  In this conversation Lynden and I talk about her book RIGHT HERE, RIGHT N...

Anjuli Sherin Most of us are aware of the toll that this pandemic has taken on us in terms of anxiety and fear around illness, physical safety, societal breakdown, and economic security to name but a few things. And while we may understand that we've been, and continue to be, under enormous pressure we may not know how best to navigate these very real challenges. LMFT Anjuli Sherin has written a b...

Alex Zamalin Most of us are brought up to be polite. We are told, by parents and educators, to mind our manners, to wait our turn, to be civil. Director of the African American Studies Program and Assistant Professor, Political Science at Mercy College Alex Zamalin pushes back against the narrative that what our society needs now is more civil discourse. In his fascinating book, Against Civility:...

Dr. Manuel Pastor Okay my California peeps, you get to gloat. This fascinating interview with Dr. Manuel Pastor makes it abundantly clear that the rest of us have a lot to learn from the Golden State. When most of us think of California we probably think of sand, sun, and a reliably blue state. But that's far from the whole story of CA which gave us, among other notable conservatives, Ronald Reaga...

Alesha Monteiro When someone is incarcerated there are impacts that land far beyond those to the incarcerated person. People without partners, children without parents, communities without those who may fill critical roles, and the elderly without a caregiver to name just a few.  The truth is that it's rare that we even think about the people left behind. My guest, Alesha Monteiro, knows exactly w...

Rebecca Grace and John Gray I can't believe that I've been doing this podcast since 2018! This season I have some remarkable people as guests on the show. Season 4 starts with Rebecca Grace and John Gray of Complete Picture. Imagine that someone you love has been convicted of a non-violent felony and is awaiting sentencing. Typically the sentencing judge gets a dry document that talks about what i...

Drew Willey Imagine going to law school with the intention of becoming a tax attorney and then doing an internship with the Texas Innocence Project and completely scrapping your previous plan. Meet Drew Willey. Some time back I was fortunate to be in a group studying Joel Goza's book, America's Unholy Ghosts with Drew Willey. Drew and his wife Jessica founded Restoring Justice to provide needed le...

Clint Borgen When Clint Borgen was a sophomore in college the war in Kosovo broke out. In 3 months the fighting had killed 10,000 people and displaced 800,000. Borgen decided that he needed to do something so he found a group to volunteer with and went to the region. That experience changed the direction of his life. Being a witness to war and the impacts that it had on the populace made him aware...

Resmaa Menakem    The week of April 19, 2021 was brutal. People around the world, but especially here in the U.S., were waiting on a verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial. But then there were other killings that same week of Black bodies by police. It was almost too much to process. But this conversation with healer, therapist, and NYT best selling author Resmaa Menakem gave me a deeper perspective. ...

Tammy Tai & Greg Ball Did you know that Boston played a major role in the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.? I didn't. Turns out Boston was where he got his PhD, studied with his mentor Howard Thurman, and met Coretta Scott. Clearly, Boston was a significant place in both their lives. In 2022 a sculpture will be installed on the Boston Common in honor of them both. But that is just one part of w...

Roderick Nunn The United States has approximately 5% of the world's population but accounts for about 25% of those incarcerated. The statistics on re-incarceration are, honestly, awful. We know what happens when people are released from prison with no structure in place to help them successfully reenter society. How might it be different if instead of just letting people out and leaving them on th...

Kerra Bolton In this conversation award winning filmmaker Kerra Bolton and I discuss telling Black stories, and the challenges of doing so, including her latest project which will have her diving sunken slave ships. We also talk about her life as an expat and some of the surprising moments that come, like when she realized that she was the oppressor.  I also learn about restorative practices as th...

Leslie Kern When I first saw the title of Leslie Kern's book, Feminist City: Claiming Space in a Man-Made World, I was intrigued. Then I started reading it and I was fascinated. In this book Kern talks about things that are so much a part of the norm that we often don't notice them, until we do. For instance, have you ever thought about the way that public transit is perfectly designed for the way...

Hari Ziyad In this episode I got to speak with the author of the upcoming memoir Black Boy Out of Time, Hari Ziyad. Hari uses his experience of growing up queer with a Hare Krishna mother and Muslim father to illuminate the experience of being outside. As an outsider, both as a consequence of being queer but also as a Black boy in a world that has little space outside of set roles for Black childr...

Tharaka Sriram Season 3  Episode 15 In this episode I talk with Tharaka Sriram who has merged her values of the preservation of the oceans with women's justice issues and more. Tharaka and I discuss the overlap between the damage we're doing to our oceans and domestic violence.  She discusses the necessity for more women, particularly women of color, to be part of the conversation around ocean pre...

In this conversation editor and author Krishan Trotman and I talk about her book Queens of the Resistance (co-authored with Brenda Jones) in which she profiles Nancy Pelosi, AOC, Maxine Waters, and Elizabeth Warren. We also discuss how important it is for us to have representation in publishing if we're going to have a deeper understanding of our varied experiences. Also, if writing a book is on y...

Xander Schultz Season 3   Episode 14 How best can we support the work of those on the front lines of social justice? That’s a question that I’ve heard a lot. Xander Schultz, and those he works with, have come up with multiple effective and, often, clever ways to advance the causes that are most important to them. In this inspiring, engaging, and impactful conversation Xander and I explore some of...

Ari Honarvar Season 3   Episode 13 She grew up in repressive and war torn Iran, then writer and activist Ari Honarvar came to the United States. In this timely conversation Ari and I talk about intersectionality and bringing joy to those stranded at the US border. Ari and I also talk about what it's like to be from a war torn country and some of the disturbing parallels to where we are in the Unit...

Joel Edward Goza  Season 3  Episode 12 I have never said, “You have to listen to this episode!”. I am telling you, you have to listen to this episode. In this remarkable conversation Joel Goza, author of America's Unholy Ghosts: The Racist Roots of Our Faith and Politics, and I talk about the deep roots of the structural and systemic racism that plagues the United States. Drawing lines between peo...

Ruby Smith-Diaz Season 3  Episode 11 As we work towards the goals of freedom and social justice one of the things that is most important is that we listen to and center the voices of young people. They are the ones who will have to live with the consequences of our actions, and our inactions. Ruby Smith-Diaz and I discuss how she uses art to engage, empower, and inspire young people to use their v...

Anjali Enjeti Season 3  Episode 10 Anjali Enjeti and I had this great conversation all the way back in June. We talked about the election, about Black Lives Matter, about the role of race in American Literature and more. Given that the election is over it might seem odd to even think about it now but this conversation will expand how you see the way that voting plays into sustaining systemic racis...

Staci K. Haines Season 3  Episode 9 It's 2020 and that means that there is almost no way to be living in the United States and not have experienced some sort of trauma. Lives and jobs upended and lost, our politics are out of control, systemic racism front and center, it's been a brutal year.  Somatic practician and activist Staci K. Haines takes on this critical subject in her remarkable book, Th...

Grace Pai Season 3 Episode 8 In this episode organizer and activist Grace Pai and I discuss the divisions between Blacks and Asian Americans, how Coronavirus is impacting the Asian American community, and the potential that lives in cross racial collaborations.  Grace is the Director of Organizing at Asian Americans Advancing Justice Chicago. Her years of community organizing have given Grace a pe...