Ellie 2.0 Radio

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We begin this week’s show with two idealists of opposite minds—former Illinois congressman Joe Walsh and gun safety advocate (and father of his murdered daughter, Jaime) Fred Guttenberg. Both hated each other for years until they began to talk human-to-human. Now they are on a speaking tour titled “2 Dads Defending Democracy,” and we air…

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Wow, we’ve hit the 350-episodes mark! For this show, the featured idealist is the recently deceased Kris Kristofferson, who as a teenager, and way before he was famous, wrote about the wrongs of racism. The Big Interview is with Sarah Curtiss and Ed Heisler, leaders at a Duluth-based nonprofit, Men As Peacemakers. In the C-Block,…

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With the 80th anniversary of D-Day this week, I thought it fitting to have the acclaimed actor and “late historian” Tom Hanks of Saving Private Ryan as our featured idealist of the week. Some of his movies, particularly Philadelphia, are incredibly idealistic. The Big Interview is with Gloria Perez, the President and Chief Executive Officer…

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Another Ellie’s Talking Head show where we begin with this week’s featured idealist, documentarian and filmmaker Ken Burns—you won’t want to miss the clip I share from his recent commencement speech at Brandeis University. I also talk about MN banning gay and transgender “panic defenses” for criminal defendants accused of murdering or assaulting trans or…

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On this week’s show Ellie was joined by High School student, idealist and founder of Sanya’s Hope for Children, Sanya Pirani. Plus Ellie shares updates on her work on the Eastern Carver County School Board and backlash against DEI programs.

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It’s an Ellie’s Talking Head show! In honor of World Press Freedom Day (May 3), this week’s featured idealist is Edward R. Murrow, who famously reported on the London blitz and later took on Senator Joe McCarthy. I also discuss the most recent oppression of transgender people by the state of Utah, which recently launched…

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We start with our featured idealist Ella Baker, who was a “doer” in the civil rights movement of the 1930’s to 1960’s, and who worked behind the scenes to strengthen the NAACP and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (which orchestrated lunch counter protests). Ella is one of the unsung heroes who made things happen! The…

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With this week’s tragedy of 7 World Central Kitchen workers being killed by Israeli Defense Forces in Gaza, we revisit an idealist, Chef Jose Andres, whom I highlighted in April 2020, and the incredible work that WCK is doing across the world. The Big Interview is with Kelsey Waits, who shares about Stardust Farm, an…

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Our featured idealist is Siddharth Kara, the author of Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives (St. Martin’s Press, 2023), a NYT bestseller, and who has journeyed to more than 50 countries to document modern day slavery and human exploitation. You won’t want to miss the clip of Siddharth talking about…

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This show’s featured idealist is unsung hero Clyde Kennard, who the State of Mississippi Sovereignty Commission targeted and framed for a theft crime when Clyde persistently attempted to integrate the University of Southern MS in the late 1950’s. After wrongfully serving two years in prison, and after an outcry from civil rights leaders, including Dr.…

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Our featured idealist of the week is Greg Carr, a philanthropist who has invested $100 million of his own money to rehabilitate Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique. The Big Interview is a reprise with Staphanie Glaros, who talks about One Small Step, an initiative of StoryCorps. In my C-Block I share about the very successful…

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It’s an Ellie Talking Head show!! We don’t have a guest, and instead you get me for the entire show! Today our featured idealist is Col. Ben Jonsson, who has been singled out for a “promotion hold” by MO. Senator Eric Schmitt because Col. Jonsson’s had the audacity to write a letter telling white Air…

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In the A-Block, I revisit a recent featured idealistic organization, PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays), and how it’s now the subject of a “Demand for Information” from Texas Attorney General, who seeks detailed personal information about Texas PFLAG members who are transgender or who have trans kids/youth. This is all about Texas’…

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t’s a live show! Our featured idealist is Laura Belin, the curator of the Bleeding Heartland blog that covers Iowa politics. Laura and I talk about legislation introduced at the behest of Gov. Reynolds which seeks to require transgender people who’ve transitioned genders to list both an M and F on their driver’s license. Ugh.…

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Our featured idealist of the week is Jeanne Manford, who in 1971 wrote a letter to the NY Post telling the world the she loved her gay son who had been the victim of a homophobic attack. As a result of the positive outpouring to that letter, Jeanne would go on to found PFLAG—Parents and…

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This week’s featured idealist is Zyahna Byrant who, as a 15-year-old, launched a petition to remove Robert E. Lee’s statute in Charlottesville VA in 2017. That led to a city commission recommending the statute’s removal, which in turn led to the “Unite the Right” rally with the Tiki Torch white supremacists marching through the city.…

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We start off “Tumultuous ‘24” with our featured idealist, Medgar Evers, an idealist who worked to desegregate Mississippi in the 1950s and early ‘60s until he was assassinated in July 1963. His murderer wouldn’t be brought to justice until 1996. The Big Interview is with Heather Tran of A Better Society, a small Chanhassen MN…

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It’s the last “fresh” show of 2023 and our featured idealist is Stephen Ritz, a South Bronx educator who created the “Green Bronx Machine” centered around exciting students about growing plants. His idea has taken off and earned him and his school national accolades—along the way, it raised student attendance and grades. The Big Interview…

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This week’s featured idealist is Rashida Tlaib, who represents Michigan’s 12th District in the House. She’s been a fierce protector of Palestinian rights, for which she was censured last month. (For the record, I believe that Israel has the right to exist, and I don’t put up with antisemitism.) The Big Interview is with Mikki…

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Our featured idealist is none other than the immortal John Lennon, who was shot and killed 43 years ago yesterday. His song, Imagine, is the idealist’s anthem! In my C-Block, I interview Hal Sansoney, the producer, director and performer for Trans Voice Cabaret, that’s opening at the Mixed Blood Theater. In my C-Block, I talk…

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It’s another Ellie’s Talking Head show! Our featured idealist is Majorie Kelly, who has written and spoken extensively on changing America’s capitalist system to end “financial extraction” where only the rich get richer. Instead, she favors community-based ownership where everyone is lifted up. I also highlight Frank Bruni, a NYT columnist and author who recently…

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Our featured idealist is the late Matthew Perry, who tried to help others who struggled with drug and alcohol addictions, just like he struggled. The Big Interview is with Bob Roepke, the former mayor of Chaska MN, who talks about the importance of feeling a sense of connectedness through “community.” In my C-Block, I talk…

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This week’s featured idealist is the one and only James Baldwin—an extraordinary writer and an advocate for Black folks at a time when doing so put him at risk professionally and personally. The Big Interview is with Marshall Tanick, a Twin Cities lawyer-writer who talks about how Edward Blum and his organization, Alliance for Equal…

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We begin our 300th (!!) show by acknowledging the on-going horror of what is occurring in Israel and Gaza following the horrendous October 7 terrorist attack. Relatedly, for this week’s featured idealist, I highlight Rachel Corrie, a 23-year-old American college student who was killed in 2003 as she attempted to protect the Gaza homes of…

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A live show! The Big Interview is with Robert Shetterly, who founded the portrait-story initiative, “Americans Who Tell the Truth,” which highlights Americans who have spoken truth to power. Also, courtesy of transgender blogger Erin Reed, we play a clip of a young Utah transgender girl speaking truth to her local school board re: the…

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Our featured idealist of the week is Laphonza Butler, the newly appointed U.S. Senator from California, who succeeds the late Diane Feinstein. The Big Interview is with Juliany Taveras, the playwright for the world premiere of Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress, which opens at Children’s Theater Company on October 14 (note: I’m a CTC…

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This week’s Ellie’s big interview is with John Blake of CNN!

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This week’s featured idealist is Robert Shetterly, a Maine artist who’s painted 260 portraits of living and deceased Americans who spoke truth to power—this is all part of an initiative titled “Americans Who Tell the Truth.” The Big Interview is with Pam Hrick, executive director and legal counsel for LEAF, a Toronto nonprofit that works…

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David Hogg, a young (only 23 years old) idealist who survived the shooting at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School on Valentine’s Day 2018, and who later became a gun control advocate, is this week’s featured idealist. The things that he’s accomplished so far have been incredible! The Big Interview is with Jen Perez of Red,…

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Our featured idealist is the late Father Charles Strobel, a Nashville priest who conceived of “Room in the Inn,” where houses of worship provide safe sleeping spaces for those who are experiencing homelessness. His idea has rippled to hundreds of congregations across the U.S. The Big Interview is a reprise of my July 2022 interview…

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We begin by talking about Ohio’s rejection of Issue 1, which would have raised the threshold for passage of citizen-initiated ballot measures from 50% to 60%. An architect of that victory was the idealistic Red, Wine, and Blue, which works to mobilize suburban women to vote left. The Big Interview is with Deepinder Mayell, the…

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This week’s idealist is someone you would never suspect—the one and only recently passed Tony Bennett. You’ll have to listen to the show to understand why—and you’ll get a musical reward as well! The Big Interview is with writer and journalist Rod Farlane,who talks about his work in giving voice to those who are often…

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This week’s featured idealist is Cornel West, who’s a prime example of idealism in a vacuum—his quest for the presidency via a third party could siphon off just enough votes to give Donald Trump the White House for the second time. Ugh. The Big Interview is with James Finn, author of, “My Neighbors Ended Free…

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We start with James Barlow, who posted on TikTok about encountering a transgender woman at the Landmark truck stop in Clyde Texas—his message was affirming and kind, and incredibly idealistic! The Big Interview is with Marissa Held-Nordling, the owner of Little Roos children’s boutique in Chaska MN, which held a Drag story time on July…

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Our featured idealist organization is ProPublica, an online news source, which in 16 years of existence, has won 6 Pulitzers for quality, in-depth reporting. Most recently, ProPublica journalists have broken stories about S. Ct. Justices Thomas and Alito and their “trips” funded by billionaire conservatives who have business before the Court. Ugh. The Big Interview…

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It’s Pride Month and I start with a historical overview of how June came to be the month of Pride. The Big Interview is with Sarah Hempel, a married lesbian mother of twins who, along with a straight cisgender ally, started a LGBTQIA+ social group in Waconia, MN. In my C-Block, I talk about my…

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Our featured idealist is Pussy Riot, the Russian music/performance group that is a big thorn in Vladimir Putin’s side. The Big Interview has me speaking to Bethany O’Neil and Cresston Gackle, attorneys who wrote about how MN’s system of selecting juries, which often fails to reflect the diversity of the community, perpetuates bias against criminal…

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It’s a Live Show! I begin by talking about recently presenting in Albert Lea MN and discuss how greater/rural MN is becoming more diverse; as a consequence, those with power (usually white, Christian men) need to cede some power in order to make their communities more inclusive and welcoming. I also talk about the Dylan…

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We begin with highlighting the idealists who are working against efforts to marginalize transgender people with an update on NE state legislator Michaela Cavanaugh and a story about MT state legislator, Zooey Zephyr, the state’s only trans person in the legislature, who spoke up against efforts to pass a gender affirming care ban. As a…

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I begin with talking about sociologist/Princeton University professor Matthew Desmond and his book, Poverty, By America. His thesis is that paying low-income wages subsidizes the lifestyles of well-off Americans. The Big Interview is with Jennifer Pizer, the Chief Legal Officer of Lambda Legal, who talks about that organization’s great work in representing LGBTQ+ people for…

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I begin with talking about sociologist/Princeton University professor Matthew Desmond and his book, Poverty, By America. His thesis is that paying low-income wages subsidizes the lifestyles of well-off Americans. The Big Interview is with Jennifer Pizer, the Chief Legal Officer of Lambda Legal, who talks about that organization’s great work in representing LGBTQ+ people for…

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It’s a live show with the esteemed Thom Hartmann as our guest! As usual, Thom shares his insight and ideas about where America presently stands and where it might be headed. In my C-Block, I talk about my recent experience in speaking in Delano, MN, a small town in greater MN where my Gray Area…

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We start out with featuring the idealistic MSNBC host Chris Hayes and his meteoric rise in broadcast journalism (he is the youngest person to ever host a news show) and my belief in his honesty. The Big Interview is with Emily Strasser, author of Half-Life of a Secret: Reckoning with a Hidden History, a fascinating…

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This week’s featured idealist is LeBron James, who just broke the NBA scoring record. In August 2018, I shared about the “I Promise” school his family foundation helped to create in LeBron’s hometown of Akron, Ohio. Today we revisit how that initiative is impacting hundreds of students who might otherwise get lost in the educational…

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To commemorate World Holocaust Remembrance Day, we begin with a story about CANDLES (Children of Auschwitz Nazi Deadly Lab Experiments), a nonprofit in Terre Haute IN and the stories of three Holocaust survivors who lived in Terre Haute. It’s quite a collective story about survival and idealism, with the survivors believing that if their personal…

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It’s a live show! We begin with an interview of Lehman Riley, the author of the Papa Lemon children’s books series—stories that seek to teach children the basics about respect, equality, allyship and how not to bully. Lehman is a magnetic personality who goes into the classrooms to help children get excited about learning and…

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We start off the brand new year with our featured idealist, Hakeem Jeffries, the newly elected House Minority Leader, who’s proven to be determined and persistent in his professional and political careers. The Big Interview is with Greg Anderson, the curator of the podcast, Living in Carver County, who talks about the need to get…

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Ellie talks about the political scene in Iowa.

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It’s a live show beginning with James Curry of Building Remembrance 4 Reconciliation, a nonprofit that’s working to help Hastings MN and other communities heal from histories of racial intolerance. From there, I talk about how the Respect for Marriage Act, contrary to popular opinion, is not a federal law guaranteeing marriage equality or biracial…

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A live show where I talk about CNN journalist Jake Tapper’s article in The Atlantic highlighting the injustice of our legal system that appoints incompetent attorneys to represent the indigent. I also share about idealist Chris Stout, a wounded service member who has devoted his life to creating the Veterans Community Project in Kansas City,…

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(10/22/22)—For this live show, I begin with a Time Magazine piece, “The U.S. is Heading Toward a Second Civil War. Here is How We Avoid It,” by Peter T. Coleman. The solution—surprise—is that we need to talk to each other. I also highlight California Congresswoman Katie Porter’s most recent whiteboard re: how corporate profits are…

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We begin this week’s show by highlighting Rex Chapman, a former NBA superstar turned addict turned Twitter king with 1.5 million followers—he talks about his life’s challenges to help others and in my book that makes him an idealist! The Big Interview is with Dr. Dan Kessler, who’s running for MN’s District 48 senate seat.…

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Our featured idealist is Alfred Nobel, the genesis for the Nobel Peace Prize and other esteemed honors in physics, chemistry, medicine, economics and literature. Nobel’s motivation to be remembered for something good, rather than for inventing dynamite, was grounded in reading his obituary that mistook him (still alive) for his brother who had passed. The…

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(9/24/22)—We begin with highlighting Goldie’s Bagels in Columbia MO and J. Selby’s in St. Paul for their programs of giving a free meal to anyone who asks for one—nice charity! At Goldie’s there’s a “neighbor account” where customers can contribute; what a great idea! The Big Interview is an encore of my October 2021 interview…

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(9/10/22)—Our Featured Idealist is Mary Peltola, the congressperson-elect from Alaska, and the first native Alaskan to ever be elected to Congress. The Big Interview is with Katie White, a heart transplant recipient who discovered her artistic bend through a program named, “Art at the Bedside,” while waiting for a new heart at the Mayo Clinic.…

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Ellie talks with David Edgerton Jr about increasing diversity in the professional workforce.

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It’s a live show! The Big Interview is with 13-year-old Grayson Lee White and his mother, Molly; Grayson is the author of Dotson, a book about Grayson’s journey in understanding that he is transgender and his family’s loving support. Our featured idealist is RIP Medical Debt, created by two former debt collectors who now buy…

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This week, in lieu of a featured idealist, I talk about how a stranger’s compassion and gift of $100 to two refugee teen girls resonated for nearly a quarter century; I also talk about Peace of Mind Dog Rescue in southern CA the helps care for the dogs of aging seniors. The Big Interview is…

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Our featured idealist of the week is Nora Spencer and her North Carolina nonprofit, Hope Renovations, which trains women and nonbinary humans on basic skills for the construction trades and then supports them to increase the number of women in the trades. This week’s Big Interview is with Lloyd Campbell, the newly elected governor for…

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This week’s featured idealist is Lorraine Hansberry, who at age 29 became the first black female playwright to have a play, A Raisin in the Sun, performed on Broadway. The Big Interview is with Taylor Lyons, one of the founders of Moms for Social Justice, and who took on the Chattanooga TN school board for…

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Our featured idealist is Mary McLeod Bethune, who was born in a South Carolina log cabin in 1875 to parents who had been enslaved. She understood the power of education and would go on to found what eventually became Bethune Cookman University in Daytona Beach FL. But she was much more—Eleanor Roosevelt declared that Mary…

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This week’s featured idealist is Summer Clayton, who’s amassed nearly 3 million Tik Tok followers with his “Proud Dad” videos where he talks to children and youth in imaginary 2-way conversations. His messages are uplifting and supportive and filled with kindness/compassion! The Big Interview is with Mark Wilkening, the executive director of Twin Cities-based Bridging,…

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Ellie talks with Pastor Dean Seal of Shepard of the Hill Presbyterian Church in Chaska, MN.

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The Dobbs v. Jackson decision broke just before I taped the show, so the Big Interview is with Pastor Dean Sloan of the Shepherd of the Hills Presbyterian Church in Chaska, MN where we talk about how not all religions are anti-abortion. Our featured idealist is Jim Obergefell, who was the named plaintiff in the…

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I begin with our featured idealist, Edie Windsor, who succeeded in getting the Supreme Court to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act’s provision that prevented domestic partners from securing the same rights as married couples. From there, I talk about the Nativity School of Worcester MA, a Catholic school for middle school boys from…

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Our featured idealist is an organization, Sandy Hook Promise, which was created by parents who lost children in the horrific school shooting that occurred on December 14, 2012. SHP works to end gun violence in our schools and in doing so, promotes inclusivity and compassion for all students. The Big Interview is with Cheryl Thomas,…

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It’s a live show! The Big interview is with Ken Lawrence and Paul Johnson, creators/curators of The Modern White Man podcast, who talk about their efforts to fight back against white supremacy and fear of “Other.” This week’s featured idealist is Chris Smalls, a former Amazon employee who successfully worked to unionize one of Amazon’s…

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A Live Show! We begin with a May 2022 Atlantic Magazine article by Ko Bragg titled, “Tour Guides to a Tragedy,” which details how the town of Philadelphia MS refuses to acknowledge one of the most horrific crimes of the Civil Rights movement—the 1964 murder of civil rights workers Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman, and James…

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This week’s show begins with a lengthy review of how social media has made America more divided and stupid, based on a May 2022 Atlantic Magazine piece by Jonathan Haidt. The Big Interview is a reprise of my interview with David Liners, a priest-turned-nonprofit founder, who oversees WISDOM in Wisconsin—a collection of religious organizations working…

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This week it’s a Live Show where I feature an idealist, Malcolm Nance, a 20-year Navy veteran who engaged in multiple ground combat operations. Nance recently left his cushy media commentator gig with MSNBC and anti-terrorism consulting company to fight for Ukraine. I also talk about how Florida’s governor DeSantis has sought to punish Disney…

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