Block & Build https://convergencemag.com/podcast-shows/block-and-build/ Block & Build is a newsmagazine podcast from Convergence Magazine that examines the balance of political forces in the US from a movement perspective. Every week, host Cayden Mak explores what's happening in politics—and what we can do about it. The show takes Convergence's Block & Build framework as a jumping-off point for responding to escalating authoritarianism in ways that focus on preventing harm while building the strength, resilience, and strategy for our movements to win in the long-term. And we're not just talk. Block & Build is made by and for doers: every week we hear from organizers, strategists, movement journalists, and others who are helping to refine our strategy and develop strategic unity in a time of great peril for people and planet. But we have no time for doomerism. This show is about how to fight, and while we are clear-eyed about what we're up against, we're also determined to win. Join us. Fri, 24 Apr 2026 16:39:47 +0000 en-US © 2025 Convergence Magazine Roadmaps for the Left Convergence episodic Block & Build is a newsmagazine podcast from Convergence Magazine that examines the balance of political forces in the US from a movement perspective. Every week, host Cayden Mak explores what's happening in politics—and what we can do about it. The show takes Convergence's Block & Build framework as a jumping-off point for responding to escalating authoritarianism in ways that focus on preventing harm while building the strength, resilience, and strategy for our movements to win in the long-term. And we're not just talk. Block & Build is made by and for doers: every week we hear from organizers, strategists, movement journalists, and others who are helping to refine our strategy and develop strategic unity in a time of great peril for people and planet. But we have no time for doomerism. This show is about how to fight, and while we are clear-eyed about what we're up against, we're also determined to win. Join us. Convergence josh@convergencemag.com false https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/05/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg Block & Build https://convergencemag.com/podcast-shows/block-and-build/ josh@convergencemag.com Block & Build is a newsmagazine podcast from Convergence Magazine that examines the balance of political forces in the US from a movement perspective. Every week, host Cayden Mak explores what's happening in politics—and what we can do about it. The show takes Convergence's Block & Build framework as a jumping-off point for responding to escalating authoritarianism in ways that focus on preventing harm while building the strength, resilience, and strategy for our movements to win in the long-term. And we're not just talk. Block & Build is made by and for doers: every week we hear from organizers, strategists, movement journalists, and others who are helping to refine our strategy and develop strategic unity in a time of great peril for people and planet. But we have no time for doomerism. This show is about how to fight, and while we are clear-eyed about what we're up against, we're also determined to win. Join us. No yes Support the show 7937f850-9d06-5593-8bb5-389cd309a330 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 The Attention Economy Navigator, April 2026 w/ Bridget Todd and Negin Owliaei https://convergencemag.com/podcast/the-attention-economy-navigator-april-2026-w-bridget-todd-and-negin-owliaei/ Mon, 20 Apr 2026 23:00:00 +0000 06ea73f2-43b8-5e5b-84e7-9fe867547052 This week we are building April's Attention Economy Navigator, our guide to what you should be paying more attention to, and what you can probably pay less attention to. And why those stories might not be what you’d assume.

Joining to help build this month's Attention Economy Navigator in real time are host of There are No Girls on the Internet, Bridget Todd (her new audiobook Love at First Prompt is available July 14th from Simon & Schuster) and Editor-in-Chief at Truthout, Negin Owliaei.

You can also watch the panel plot these stories in real time on YouTube, or read the article version on the Convergence website.

Stories referenced in this episode:

Want more?

]]> full This week we are building April's Attention Economy Navigator, our guide to what you should be paying more attention to, and what you can probably pay less attention to. And why those stories might not be what you’d assume.

Joining to help build this month's Attention Economy Navigator in real time are host of There are No Girls on the Internet, Bridget Todd (her new audiobook Love at First Prompt is available July 14th from Simon & Schuster) and Editor-in-Chief at Truthout, Negin Owliaei.

You can also watch the panel plot these stories in real time on YouTube, or read the article version on the Convergence website.

Stories referenced in this episode:

Want more?

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/05/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg The Attention Economy Navigator, April 2026 w/ Bridget Todd and Negin Owliaei false no 00:52:55 No no International Youth Movements w/ Sharmin Hossain and Samir Shrestha https://convergencemag.com/podcast/international-youth-movements-w-sharmin-hossain-and-samir-shrestha/ Mon, 13 Apr 2026 23:00:00 +0000 43ba5d62-540b-51a7-93cb-fb5864480f54 Over the past few years, a series of popular uprisings across the world have been described by mainstream media as “Gen-Z Uprisings” – movements led by young people and described in western media as generally being against government corruption. These movements have been most notably visible in our own media due to their use of technology, including platforms like Discord and TikTok, and internationally consistent adoption of pop culture symbolism, like the flag of the “straw hat pirates,” a black flag depicting a grinning jolly roger wearing a straw hat. The flag is the banner of the protagonists of the long-running hit anime series One Piece whose adventures often find them coming to the defense of marginalized communities around their world.

But these movements didn’t come out of nowhere (or the internet for that matter). Understanding their origins – and the elections that have resulted from their successes – can shed light both onto the international struggle against authoritarianism and the challenges we face building an alternative. In this episode we are looking at two countries, Nepal and Bangladesh, where popular uprisings in the summer of 2024 and fall of 2025 have led to elections this year. 

In this episode, we are joined by two US based organizers, Sharmin Hossain and Samir Shrestha, whose work as part of South Asian diasporas has rooted them in movement work here in the US while maintaining relationships and solidarity abroad.

Sharmin Hossain is a Bangladeshi Muslim organizer from Queens, New York, who is currently the Organizing Director for 18 Million Rising.

Samir Shrestha belongs to the indigenous Newari tribe of Nepal, where he was born. He has spent the last 18 years involved in movement work here in the US.

Resources From This Episode

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]]> full Over the past few years, a series of popular uprisings across the world have been described by mainstream media as “Gen-Z Uprisings” – movements led by young people and described in western media as generally being against government corruption. These movements have been most notably visible in our own media due to their use of technology, including platforms like Discord and TikTok, and internationally consistent adoption of pop culture symbolism, like the flag of the “straw hat pirates,” a black flag depicting a grinning jolly roger wearing a straw hat. The flag is the banner of the protagonists of the long-running hit anime series One Piece whose adventures often find them coming to the defense of marginalized communities around their world.

But these movements didn’t come out of nowhere (or the internet for that matter). Understanding their origins – and the elections that have resulted from their successes – can shed light both onto the international struggle against authoritarianism and the challenges we face building an alternative. In this episode we are looking at two countries, Nepal and Bangladesh, where popular uprisings in the summer of 2024 and fall of 2025 have led to elections this year. 

In this episode, we are joined by two US based organizers, Sharmin Hossain and Samir Shrestha, whose work as part of South Asian diasporas has rooted them in movement work here in the US while maintaining relationships and solidarity abroad.

Sharmin Hossain is a Bangladeshi Muslim organizer from Queens, New York, who is currently the Organizing Director for 18 Million Rising.

Samir Shrestha belongs to the indigenous Newari tribe of Nepal, where he was born. He has spent the last 18 years involved in movement work here in the US.

Resources From This Episode

Want more?

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/05/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg International Youth Movements w/ Sharmin Hossain and Samir Shrestha false no 01:09:57 No no How to Mobilize 8 Million People w/ Leah Greenberg https://convergencemag.com/podcast/how-to-mobilize-8-million-people/ Mon, 06 Apr 2026 23:00:00 +0000 3224f6e6-6af4-5309-a4e0-8d02f82ddd27 On March 28th, Indivisible Project, one of the two primary organizations behind the No Kings protests, held its third such event. Along with their partners, the 50501 Movement, an estimated 8 million people were mobilized and took to the streets across the country at over 3,300 different sites. Last month's event is now the largest single day political protest in American history.

Last week Cayden spoke with co-founder and co-executive director of the Indivisible Project, Leah Greenberg, just a few days after the March 28th day of protest. In our conversation we considered the impact of mobilizing so many people, and what the mainstream media reports that focus only on the marches miss in the year-round work of Indivisible and other organizations developing everyday people into leaders. We also contend with the challenges posed by media, funding, and more as we seek to convert that energy into a larger, better-organized movement.

Want more?

]]> full On March 28th, Indivisible Project, one of the two primary organizations behind the No Kings protests, held its third such event. Along with their partners, the 50501 Movement, an estimated 8 million people were mobilized and took to the streets across the country at over 3,300 different sites. Last month's event is now the largest single day political protest in American history.

Last week Cayden spoke with co-founder and co-executive director of the Indivisible Project, Leah Greenberg, just a few days after the March 28th day of protest. In our conversation we considered the impact of mobilizing so many people, and what the mainstream media reports that focus only on the marches miss in the year-round work of Indivisible and other organizations developing everyday people into leaders. We also contend with the challenges posed by media, funding, and more as we seek to convert that energy into a larger, better-organized movement.

Want more?

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/05/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg How to Mobilize 8 Million People w/ Leah Greenberg false no 00:44:10 No no Co-Governance in Philly w/ Kendra Brooks, Nicole Kligerman, and Nikki Grant https://convergencemag.com/podcast/co-governance-in-philly-w-kendra-brooks-nicole-kligerman-and-nikki-grant/ Mon, 30 Mar 2026 23:00:00 +0000 1c358e3b-14cb-5cc7-b281-22808e3bcb8c Examples like Zohran Mamdani’s win in the New York City Mayoral race last year or Brandon Johnson becoming mayor of Chicago a few years earlier, are some of the highest profile examples of progressive movement candidates winning local office. They’ve demonstrated that movements can win as well as how challenges can arise when working to place a single elected official into a local seat amidst a sea of colleagues to their political right. Meanwhile, left leaning electeds often immediately face criticism about their commitments to the movement organizers and the communities who helped put them in office the day their tenure in office begins.

But in Philadelphia, City Councilmember at Large Kendra Brooks, along with the community organizations who serve her constituents and shaped her values, have stayed in the difficult work of governing together. Councilmember Brooks is a member of the Working Families Party who holds an at-large minority seat on the city’s council. She contends that this role requires a diligent tending to the feedback between her office and the communities she serves if she is going to deliver the promises she campaigned on. We had the opportunity to talk with Councilmember Brooks as well as two of the community stakeholders she continues to work with as a sitting Philadelphia city councilmember. They are Pennsylvania Director for the National Domestic Workers Alliance, Nicole Kligerman and Director of Amistad Law Project, Nikki Grant. In the episode we discuss the opportunities and challenges they’ve faced together winning material victories for working people in the city.

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]]> full Examples like Zohran Mamdani’s win in the New York City Mayoral race last year or Brandon Johnson becoming mayor of Chicago a few years earlier, are some of the highest profile examples of progressive movement candidates winning local office. They’ve demonstrated that movements can win as well as how challenges can arise when working to place a single elected official into a local seat amidst a sea of colleagues to their political right. Meanwhile, left leaning electeds often immediately face criticism about their commitments to the movement organizers and the communities who helped put them in office the day their tenure in office begins.

But in Philadelphia, City Councilmember at Large Kendra Brooks, along with the community organizations who serve her constituents and shaped her values, have stayed in the difficult work of governing together. Councilmember Brooks is a member of the Working Families Party who holds an at-large minority seat on the city’s council. She contends that this role requires a diligent tending to the feedback between her office and the communities she serves if she is going to deliver the promises she campaigned on. We had the opportunity to talk with Councilmember Brooks as well as two of the community stakeholders she continues to work with as a sitting Philadelphia city councilmember. They are Pennsylvania Director for the National Domestic Workers Alliance, Nicole Kligerman and Director of Amistad Law Project, Nikki Grant. In the episode we discuss the opportunities and challenges they’ve faced together winning material victories for working people in the city.

Want more?

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/05/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg Co-Governance in Philly w/ Kendra Brooks, Nicole Kligerman, and Nikki Grant false no 00:54:39 No no The Attention Economy Navigator, March 2026 w/ Rynn Reed and Ravi Mangla https://convergencemag.com/podcast/the-attention-economy-navigator-march-2026-w-rynn-reed-and-ravi-mangla/ Mon, 23 Mar 2026 23:00:00 +0000 d95d98ed-0586-5116-8e4e-9125d30e633e This week we are building March's Attention Economy Navigator, our guide to what you should be paying more attention to, and what you can probably pay less attention to. And why those stories might not be what you’d assume.

Joining to help build this month's Attention Economy Navigator in real time are founder of Creator Congress, Rynn Reed and National Press Secretary for the Working Families Party, Ravi Mangla. Together, they co-publish the Substack newsletter, Signal Break, which is all about agitating, disrupting, and challenging the prevailing orthodoxy around how we communicate and charting a new way forward.

You can also watch the panel plot these stories in real time on YouTube, or read the article version on the Convergence website.

Stories we referenced in this episode:

Want more?

]]> full This week we are building March's Attention Economy Navigator, our guide to what you should be paying more attention to, and what you can probably pay less attention to. And why those stories might not be what you’d assume.

Joining to help build this month's Attention Economy Navigator in real time are founder of Creator Congress, Rynn Reed and National Press Secretary for the Working Families Party, Ravi Mangla. Together, they co-publish the Substack newsletter, Signal Break, which is all about agitating, disrupting, and challenging the prevailing orthodoxy around how we communicate and charting a new way forward.

You can also watch the panel plot these stories in real time on YouTube, or read the article version on the Convergence website.

Stories we referenced in this episode:

Want more?

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/05/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg The Attention Economy Navigator, March 2026 w/ Rynn Reed and Ravi Mangla false no 00:54:36 No no Lawyering for Liberation w/ Ameca Reali and Marbré Stahly-Butts https://convergencemag.com/podcast/lawyering-for-liberation-w-ameca-reali-and-marbre-stahly-butts/ Mon, 16 Mar 2026 23:00:00 +0000 3822d542-5ade-5dcd-8f14-a134bd82d9ff Social movements are often centered around the law: who it protects and who it does not. And as you heard in this week's headlines, we also find ourselves in an era of increasing weaponized “lawfare” by MAGA and its allies. On top of the "antifa" domestic terror case in Texas, there have been other recent attempts by the federal government to criminalize dissent, from the RICO cases against Atlanta’s Stop Cop City movement, to more recent charges against protestors in Minnesota this winter. Legal representation for these cases and others is necessary as the systems of power which marginalize these communities in the first place seek to criminalize our work toward liberation.

This is the work of “movement lawyering.” Movement lawyering is when attorneys and other legal professionals align their work with the values and politics of movements for liberation. Our guests this week recently published a guide and handbook for legal professionals and organizers alike. We were recently joined by the coauthors and coeditors of Lawyering for Liberation: A Tool Box for Movement Lawyers. They are movement attorney Ameca Reali and Associate Professor of Law at CUNY School of Law, Marbré Stahly-Butts.

We discuss the work lawyers need to do to bring their work and values into alignment with liberation movements, as well as how organizers can think about how to work closely with legal professionals who share their goals.

Want more?

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links to Convergence’s Bookshop. Ten percent of purchases made through our bookshop directly support our movement media work.

]]> full Social movements are often centered around the law: who it protects and who it does not. And as you heard in this week's headlines, we also find ourselves in an era of increasing weaponized “lawfare” by MAGA and its allies. On top of the "antifa" domestic terror case in Texas, there have been other recent attempts by the federal government to criminalize dissent, from the RICO cases against Atlanta’s Stop Cop City movement, to more recent charges against protestors in Minnesota this winter. Legal representation for these cases and others is necessary as the systems of power which marginalize these communities in the first place seek to criminalize our work toward liberation.

This is the work of “movement lawyering.” Movement lawyering is when attorneys and other legal professionals align their work with the values and politics of movements for liberation. Our guests this week recently published a guide and handbook for legal professionals and organizers alike. We were recently joined by the coauthors and coeditors of Lawyering for Liberation: A Tool Box for Movement Lawyers. They are movement attorney Ameca Reali and Associate Professor of Law at CUNY School of Law, Marbré Stahly-Butts.

We discuss the work lawyers need to do to bring their work and values into alignment with liberation movements, as well as how organizers can think about how to work closely with legal professionals who share their goals.

Want more?

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links to Convergence’s Bookshop. Ten percent of purchases made through our bookshop directly support our movement media work.

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/05/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg Lawyering for Liberation w/ Ameca Reali and Marbré Stahly-Butts false no 00:51:08 No no Tabletop Solidarity w/ Gabor Fu and Sam LeDoux https://convergencemag.com/podcast/organizing-for-tabletop-gamers-w-gabor-fu-and-sam-ledoux/ Mon, 09 Mar 2026 23:00:00 +0000 e40eea2c-5100-5f1a-ac49-82cc0a3683b1 Tabletop games like Magic the Gathering, Dungeons & Dragons, and many more have long been a natural community building space for those of us who have felt culturally marginalized. But as fandom has expanded, so has the ability of neoliberal capital to commodify and profit from just about any niche “nerd” interest you can think of. A massive tabletop industry has grown which requires a growing customer-facing workforce.

In the past decade both Magic and D&D have come under ownership, and begun generating massive profits for, the multi-billion dollar toy and entertainment publisher Hasbro. A cottage industry of tabletop game stores to support these games, products, and their fans has also risen. But these businesses are more than just stores; they are community spaces new and dedicated gamers depend on for play space, social support, and more. This necessitates a staff skilled in customer service, deep game knowledge, and even childcare for school students attending aftercare programs.

As this business grew, workers at a collection of game stores in New York City unionized as Tabletop Workers United in 2023. Throughout their long journey to a contract last spring, they were supported by a partner organization of volunteers known as the Tabletop Solidarity Committee; a group of dedicated customers who love the stores and their workers as community resources and want to see the employees who run the spaces supported by their employers.

Our guests this week are two members of that Tabletop Solidarity Committee out of NYC, Gabor Fu and Sam LeDoux. They’ll tell the story of how their organizing supported the workers’ journey to a contract and why these game stores are such valuable community and organizing spaces.

Want more?

]]> full Tabletop games like Magic the Gathering, Dungeons & Dragons, and many more have long been a natural community building space for those of us who have felt culturally marginalized. But as fandom has expanded, so has the ability of neoliberal capital to commodify and profit from just about any niche “nerd” interest you can think of. A massive tabletop industry has grown which requires a growing customer-facing workforce.

In the past decade both Magic and D&D have come under ownership, and begun generating massive profits for, the multi-billion dollar toy and entertainment publisher Hasbro. A cottage industry of tabletop game stores to support these games, products, and their fans has also risen. But these businesses are more than just stores; they are community spaces new and dedicated gamers depend on for play space, social support, and more. This necessitates a staff skilled in customer service, deep game knowledge, and even childcare for school students attending aftercare programs.

As this business grew, workers at a collection of game stores in New York City unionized as Tabletop Workers United in 2023. Throughout their long journey to a contract last spring, they were supported by a partner organization of volunteers known as the Tabletop Solidarity Committee; a group of dedicated customers who love the stores and their workers as community resources and want to see the employees who run the spaces supported by their employers.

Our guests this week are two members of that Tabletop Solidarity Committee out of NYC, Gabor Fu and Sam LeDoux. They’ll tell the story of how their organizing supported the workers’ journey to a contract and why these game stores are such valuable community and organizing spaces.

Want more?

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/05/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg Tabletop Solidarity w/ Gabor Fu and Sam LeDoux false no 00:39:53 No no Minnesotan Resilience w/ Doran Schrantz https://convergencemag.com/podcast/minnesotan-resilience-w-doran-schrantz/ Tue, 03 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000 3b06e014-ee8a-5fa8-a618-8f11b6d5b6a3 It is deeply unsettling how quickly mainstream media headlines and narratives moved on from Trump and DHS’s so-called "Operation Metro Surge” in Minnesota. The removal of Greg Bovino and the “drawdown” was a concerted attempt to force public attention to move along, in spite of the fact that there are still a disproportionate number of agents on the ground in the state. 

This operation yielded two highly visible, extrajudicial murders of peaceful American protestors by the state. No one was held accountable. Communities are still grieving the loss of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, as well as the kidnapping and disappearance of thousands of their neighbors by DHS. The operation brought the country perhaps the closest it has come to civil war since the last one ended. However, the administration has tried to leverage the nature of the attention economy to force us to dust off our feet and move on like it never happened.

Internally at Convergence, we think deeply about the importance of slow media, as well as preserving historic and institutional memory, as a counterweight to the hypernormalization of dizzying MAGA brand fascism. The administration pushes to normalize the violence being visited upon communities all over the country. We continue to see stories of abuse and overreach from DHS which aren’t making it “above the fold” in the mainstream press.

So we’re going back to Minnesota as the subject of this episode, because Minnesota still has lessons for us. I was joined last week by longtime Minnesota organizer and former Executive Director of Faith In Minnesota Action PAC, Doran Schrantz. We discussed what she and her neighbors experienced and continue to experience from Trump’s DHS invasion in their state, including some crucial warnings and lessons for us all.

Want more?

]]> full It is deeply unsettling how quickly mainstream media headlines and narratives moved on from Trump and DHS’s so-called "Operation Metro Surge” in Minnesota. The removal of Greg Bovino and the “drawdown” was a concerted attempt to force public attention to move along, in spite of the fact that there are still a disproportionate number of agents on the ground in the state. 

This operation yielded two highly visible, extrajudicial murders of peaceful American protestors by the state. No one was held accountable. Communities are still grieving the loss of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, as well as the kidnapping and disappearance of thousands of their neighbors by DHS. The operation brought the country perhaps the closest it has come to civil war since the last one ended. However, the administration has tried to leverage the nature of the attention economy to force us to dust off our feet and move on like it never happened.

Internally at Convergence, we think deeply about the importance of slow media, as well as preserving historic and institutional memory, as a counterweight to the hypernormalization of dizzying MAGA brand fascism. The administration pushes to normalize the violence being visited upon communities all over the country. We continue to see stories of abuse and overreach from DHS which aren’t making it “above the fold” in the mainstream press.

So we’re going back to Minnesota as the subject of this episode, because Minnesota still has lessons for us. I was joined last week by longtime Minnesota organizer and former Executive Director of Faith In Minnesota Action PAC, Doran Schrantz. We discussed what she and her neighbors experienced and continue to experience from Trump’s DHS invasion in their state, including some crucial warnings and lessons for us all.

Want more?

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/05/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg Minnesotan Resilience w/ Doran Schrantz false no 00:59:37 No no The Attention Economy Navigator, February 2026 w/ Chris Fields Figueredo and Steven Renderos https://convergencemag.com/podcast/the-attention-economy-navigator-february-2026-w-chris-fields-figueredo-and-steven-renderos/ Tue, 24 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000 39d3eb34-0082-5973-8f08-0da29b8bd2af This week we are building February's Attention Economy Navigator, our guide to what you should be paying more attention to, and what you can probably pay less attention to. And why those stories might not be what you’d assume.

Joining to help build this month's Attention Economy Navigator in real time are Chris Melody Fields Figueredo, bruja, Bad Bunny super-fan, and Executive Director of the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center; and Steven Renderos, DJ, culture critic, and Executive Director of MediaJustice.

Find the full navigator chart here. You can also watch the panel plot these stories in real time on YouTube.

Stories we referenced in this episode:

Want more?

]]> full This week we are building February's Attention Economy Navigator, our guide to what you should be paying more attention to, and what you can probably pay less attention to. And why those stories might not be what you’d assume.

Joining to help build this month's Attention Economy Navigator in real time are Chris Melody Fields Figueredo, bruja, Bad Bunny super-fan, and Executive Director of the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center; and Steven Renderos, DJ, culture critic, and Executive Director of MediaJustice.

Find the full navigator chart here. You can also watch the panel plot these stories in real time on YouTube.

Stories we referenced in this episode:

Want more?

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/05/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg The Attention Economy Navigator, February 2026 w/ Chris Fields Figueredo and Steven Renderos false no 01:01:04 No no Voters vs. Data Centers w/ Michelle Martinez, Molly Sweeney, and Christy McGillivray https://convergencemag.com/podcast/no-more-big-data-tax-the-rich-instead-w-michelle-martinez-molly-sweeney-and-christy-mcgillivray/ Tue, 17 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000 a2eca658-c536-5ced-afcd-98890f37c6d9 At the end of 2024, Michigan’s state-level Democratic trifecta passed a massive tax incentive for data centers to the tune of $90 million in exchange for, essentially, an IOU for future “community benefits.”

Organizers saw this as representative of a two-pronged problem: desperation on the part of local and state governments to bring in revenue, and corporate control of the functions of democracy. In the time since, Michigan has fast tracked data centers, and those community benefits have been…elusive.

As pushback against data center development has ramped up as a non-partisan community issue across the country in the time since this tax break was passed, organizers in the state have begun circulating petitions for two ballot measures which address each side of the problem.

Invest in MI Kids is a ballot measure that would repair a regressive tax and require the rich to pay their fair share into the education system and Money Out of Politics would dismantle the system of lobbying which allows corporate control of their state assembly.

Joining this episode to discuss are Co-founder and Organizing Director of 482Forward and steering committee member of the Invest in MI Kids ballot initiative, Molly Sweeney, Executive Director of Voters Not Politicians and steering committee member of the Michigan Money Out of Politics ballot initiative, Christy McGillivray, and Director of the Tishman Center for Social Justice and the Environment at the University of Michigan, Michelle Martinez.

Additional Resources

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]]> At the end of 2024, Michigan’s state-level Democratic trifecta passed a massive tax incentive for data centers to the tune of $90 million in exchange for, essentially, an IOU for future “community benefits.”

Organizers saw this as representative of a two-pronged problem: desperation on the part of local and state governments to bring in revenue, and corporate control of the functions of democracy. In the time since, Michigan has fast tracked data centers, and those community benefits have been…elusive.

As pushback against data center development has ramped up as a non-partisan community issue across the country in the time since this tax break was passed, organizers in the state have begun circulating petitions for two ballot measures which address each side of the problem.

Invest in MI Kids is a ballot measure that would repair a regressive tax and require the rich to pay their fair share into the education system and Money Out of Politics would dismantle the system of lobbying which allows corporate control of their state assembly.

Joining this episode to discuss are Co-founder and Organizing Director of 482Forward and steering committee member of the Invest in MI Kids ballot initiative, Molly Sweeney, Executive Director of Voters Not Politicians and steering committee member of the Michigan Money Out of Politics ballot initiative, Christy McGillivray, and Director of the Tishman Center for Social Justice and the Environment at the University of Michigan, Michelle Martinez.

Additional Resources

Want more?

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/05/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg Voters vs. Data Centers w/ Michelle Martinez, Molly Sweeney, and Christy McGillivray false no 00:53:03 No no Feed Drop: Art Against Empire Ep. 1 https://convergencemag.com/podcast/feed-drop-art-against-empire/ Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000 21b6734b-41fa-51c5-b579-4422af901ac5 Art Against Empire, hosted by textile artist Ian Danger Capstick, examines the intersection of creativity and politics through conversations with artists, craftspeople, and activists who use making as a form of resistance.

The show features interviews with dozens of artists, crafters, and theorists from around the world exploring the history of makers fighting back against capital control of their craft—including Convergence’s very own Kimmie Dearest.

Art Against Empire, Episode 1 – Our Hands Know How to Build the World We Want

Quilters, blacksmiths, weavers, embroiderers - 25 artists across four countries using craft to fight systems of power. Welcome to Art Against Empire!

This series introduction launches a 16-episode journey featuring over two dozen artists, craftspeople, and theorists across four countries. You'll hear from quilters stitching memorials to police violence victims, blacksmiths forging tools as acts of reclamation, embroiderers translating climate data into thread, and weavers who are building queer community.

Ian traces why empires from Rome to Britain built their wealth on controlling cloth, and why makers have always fought back. The history runs from the 1378 Ciompi Revolt through Gandhi's spinning wheel to the AIDS Memorial Quilt that covered America's National Mall.

Additional Resources

  • G92 - Learn more about those organizing to protect immigrants in Springfield, OH

Want more?

]]> full Art Against Empire, hosted by textile artist Ian Danger Capstick, examines the intersection of creativity and politics through conversations with artists, craftspeople, and activists who use making as a form of resistance.

The show features interviews with dozens of artists, crafters, and theorists from around the world exploring the history of makers fighting back against capital control of their craft—including Convergence’s very own Kimmie Dearest.

Art Against Empire, Episode 1 – Our Hands Know How to Build the World We Want

Quilters, blacksmiths, weavers, embroiderers - 25 artists across four countries using craft to fight systems of power. Welcome to Art Against Empire!

This series introduction launches a 16-episode journey featuring over two dozen artists, craftspeople, and theorists across four countries. You'll hear from quilters stitching memorials to police violence victims, blacksmiths forging tools as acts of reclamation, embroiderers translating climate data into thread, and weavers who are building queer community.

Ian traces why empires from Rome to Britain built their wealth on controlling cloth, and why makers have always fought back. The history runs from the 1378 Ciompi Revolt through Gandhi's spinning wheel to the AIDS Memorial Quilt that covered America's National Mall.

Additional Resources

  • G92 - Learn more about those organizing to protect immigrants in Springfield, OH

Want more?

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/05/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg Feed Drop: Art Against Empire Ep. 1 false no 00:33:46 No no Preventing Another Epstein w/ Shannon Perez-Darby and Chanelle Gallant https://convergencemag.com/podcast/preventing-another-epstein-w-shannon-perez-darby-and-chanelle-gallant/ Tue, 03 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000 d3e3cddf-914d-5bb0-ab6a-633dbbd64fe0 On Friday, the Department of Justice released millions more documents held in cases relating to Jeffrey Epstein, AKA the "Epstein Files." The files are full of allegations and outright admissions of horrific behavior by elites of the billionaire and political class. However, at this point it seems consequences are unlikely beyond a few days of media headlines about increased "scrutiny." Amidst all the speculation, gossip, and political jockeying by both sides to score points: almost all public discourse around Epstein and his relationships with powerful elites neglects the survivors at the center of those documents.

Our guests this week published a piece last month at Truthout.org, “Sex Trafficking Prosecutions Won’t Stop the Next Epstein. Here’s What Will.” It draws on their experience in abolitionist and sex worker justice movements to explore how the Left can reclaim space long ceded to the Right’s “law and order” messaging with a block-and-build strategy rooted in economic, racial, and gender justice that centers survivors while creating the social conditions to address harm and even prevent it in the first place.

Chanelle Gallant is the co-author of Not Your Rescue Project: Migrant Sex Workers Fighting for Justice.

Shannon Perez-Darby is co-editor of the anthology How to End Family Policing: From Outrage to Action.

Additional Resources

Want more?

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links to Convergence’s Bookshop. Ten percent of purchases made through our bookshop directly support our movement media work.

]]> On Friday, the Department of Justice released millions more documents held in cases relating to Jeffrey Epstein, AKA the "Epstein Files." The files are full of allegations and outright admissions of horrific behavior by elites of the billionaire and political class. However, at this point it seems consequences are unlikely beyond a few days of media headlines about increased "scrutiny." Amidst all the speculation, gossip, and political jockeying by both sides to score points: almost all public discourse around Epstein and his relationships with powerful elites neglects the survivors at the center of those documents.

Our guests this week published a piece last month at Truthout.org, “Sex Trafficking Prosecutions Won’t Stop the Next Epstein. Here’s What Will.” It draws on their experience in abolitionist and sex worker justice movements to explore how the Left can reclaim space long ceded to the Right’s “law and order” messaging with a block-and-build strategy rooted in economic, racial, and gender justice that centers survivors while creating the social conditions to address harm and even prevent it in the first place.

Chanelle Gallant is the co-author of Not Your Rescue Project: Migrant Sex Workers Fighting for Justice.

Shannon Perez-Darby is co-editor of the anthology How to End Family Policing: From Outrage to Action.

Additional Resources

Want more?

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links to Convergence’s Bookshop. Ten percent of purchases made through our bookshop directly support our movement media work.

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/05/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg Preventing Another Epstein w/ Shannon Perez-Darby and Chanelle Gallant false no 00:58:09 No no Artists Against ICE w/ Kyle Tran Myhre https://convergencemag.com/podcast/artists-role-in-minneapolis-and-beyond-w-kyle-tran-myhre/ Tue, 27 Jan 2026 03:00:00 +0000 a8bcbe46-53ef-5276-ab1a-df4b4ba06a2e Last week, Minneapolis-based poet and activist Kyle Tran Myhre hosted a virtual workshop called What Can Artists Do? What Are We Doing? in light of the massive ICE and CBP surge in his city. His expectation was that a few dozen people might attend. Instead, over 500 people joined to discuss and wrestle with the ways artists can engage and show up to help get ICE out of Minneapolis and beyond. His follow up article is now cross-published by us and Minneapolis outlet Racket. It explores how artists can use their time, energy, and resources to support local resistance to ICE operations.

In this episode, Kyle joins us to discuss that experience as well as what he is seeing on the ground in his community as ICE continues to aggressively disrupt and terrorize Minnesota communities.

Additional Resources

Want more?

]]> full Last week, Minneapolis-based poet and activist Kyle Tran Myhre hosted a virtual workshop called What Can Artists Do? What Are We Doing? in light of the massive ICE and CBP surge in his city. His expectation was that a few dozen people might attend. Instead, over 500 people joined to discuss and wrestle with the ways artists can engage and show up to help get ICE out of Minneapolis and beyond. His follow up article is now cross-published by us and Minneapolis outlet Racket. It explores how artists can use their time, energy, and resources to support local resistance to ICE operations.

In this episode, Kyle joins us to discuss that experience as well as what he is seeing on the ground in his community as ICE continues to aggressively disrupt and terrorize Minnesota communities.

Additional Resources

Want more?

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/01/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg Artists Against ICE w/ Kyle Tran Myhre false no 00:37:39 No no The Attention Economy Navigator, January 2026 w/ Shaira Chaer and Jess St. Louis https://convergencemag.com/podcast/attention-economy-navigator-january-2026/ Wed, 21 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000 9363e21b-d120-5c1d-bbb7-85ef6648097b This month on the Attention Economy Navigator, our guide to what you should be paying more attention to, and what you can probably pay less attention to. And why those stories might not be what you’d assume.

Joining to help build this month's Attention Economy Navigator in real time are friends of the pod Shaira Chaer, Senior Strategist at ReFrame, and Jess St. Louis, an organizer and narrative strategist based in North Carolina.

Just a quick content note: this discussion includes stories about murder, gun violence, an antisemitic attack against a house of worship, revenge porn, and child sexual abuse material. It's been a rough few weeks in the headlines, please take care of yourself!

Find the full navigator chart here. You can also watch the panel plot these stories in real time on YouTube.

Stories we referenced in this episode:

We swear we wanted to talk about something lighter that still provides insight, but it’s been a rough couple weeks.

Want more?

]]> This month on the Attention Economy Navigator, our guide to what you should be paying more attention to, and what you can probably pay less attention to. And why those stories might not be what you’d assume.

Joining to help build this month's Attention Economy Navigator in real time are friends of the pod Shaira Chaer, Senior Strategist at ReFrame, and Jess St. Louis, an organizer and narrative strategist based in North Carolina.

Just a quick content note: this discussion includes stories about murder, gun violence, an antisemitic attack against a house of worship, revenge porn, and child sexual abuse material. It's been a rough few weeks in the headlines, please take care of yourself!

Find the full navigator chart here. You can also watch the panel plot these stories in real time on YouTube.

Stories we referenced in this episode:

We swear we wanted to talk about something lighter that still provides insight, but it’s been a rough couple weeks.

Want more?

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/01/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg The Attention Economy Navigator, January 2026 w/ Shaira Chaer and Jess St. Louis false no 01:03:39 No no The State of Student Debt w/ Braxton Brewington https://convergencemag.com/podcast/the-state-of-student-debt-w-braxton-brewington/ Tue, 13 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000 cdd63b24-7632-5a16-9dc8-f8aac50b88dc Starting this week, some student loan borrowers in default may receive notice that their wages are being garnished directly from their paychecks in order to restart repayment. This is one of many Trump era changes to student loan repayment programs negatively impacting borrowers.

Of the nearly 43 million student loan borrowers in the US, only 40% of them are current on their payments. Since changes made in 2020 to protect borrowers during the early days of the Covid pandemic, confusing rules about payment plans have come and gone between the Biden and Trump administrations. Furthermore, thanks to cuts at the Department of Education, many borrowers are completely lost on how to properly restart their payments or stay on paths they thought would lead to forgiveness of their remaining balance.

Joining us to discuss these struggles and how borrowers can organize to protect themselves and others is Press Secretary and organizer for the Debt Collective, Braxton Brewington. He helps us navigate the current state of the shifting and messy student debt landscape and what rights borrowers have.

Additional Resources

Want more?

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links to Convergence’s Bookshop. Ten percent of purchases made through our bookshop directly support our movement media work.

]]> full Starting this week, some student loan borrowers in default may receive notice that their wages are being garnished directly from their paychecks in order to restart repayment. This is one of many Trump era changes to student loan repayment programs negatively impacting borrowers.

Of the nearly 43 million student loan borrowers in the US, only 40% of them are current on their payments. Since changes made in 2020 to protect borrowers during the early days of the Covid pandemic, confusing rules about payment plans have come and gone between the Biden and Trump administrations. Furthermore, thanks to cuts at the Department of Education, many borrowers are completely lost on how to properly restart their payments or stay on paths they thought would lead to forgiveness of their remaining balance.

Joining us to discuss these struggles and how borrowers can organize to protect themselves and others is Press Secretary and organizer for the Debt Collective, Braxton Brewington. He helps us navigate the current state of the shifting and messy student debt landscape and what rights borrowers have.

Additional Resources

Want more?

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links to Convergence’s Bookshop. Ten percent of purchases made through our bookshop directly support our movement media work.

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/05/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg The State of Student Debt w/ Braxton Brewington false no 00:55:21 No no Feed Drop: The Anti-Authoritarian Podcast on Choosing Democracy https://convergencemag.com/podcast/anti-authoritarian-podcast-choosing-democracy-today-and-every-day/ Mon, 29 Dec 2025 11:00:00 +0000 79a19203-b217-55d5-acfc-e548574bce99 We are off until the new calendar year. In the meantime we hope you enjoy a sampling of episodes from our network of podcasts!

Episode Description from November 14, 2024: Following last week's elections, Scot and Sue are joined by Daniel Hunter, co-founder of Choose Democracy, to discuss how we respond to authoritarians emboldened by the election results. In the episode, they take a deeper look together at Daniel's recent post-election essay 10 Ways to Be Prepared and Grounded Now That Trump Has Won (first published by Waging Nonviolence and then shared by Convergence). What should we be doing to defend our democratic institutions? What can we learn from other countries fighting the rise of authoritarianism in their borders? Daniel also touches on the transformative power of trusting ourselves and making space for grieving in movement work. 

Subscribe to the Anti-Authoritarian Podcast for more.

Support our end-of-year fundraising drive.

Connect with Block & Build and more

]]> full We are off until the new calendar year. In the meantime we hope you enjoy a sampling of episodes from our network of podcasts!

Episode Description from November 14, 2024: Following last week's elections, Scot and Sue are joined by Daniel Hunter, co-founder of Choose Democracy, to discuss how we respond to authoritarians emboldened by the election results. In the episode, they take a deeper look together at Daniel's recent post-election essay 10 Ways to Be Prepared and Grounded Now That Trump Has Won (first published by Waging Nonviolence and then shared by Convergence). What should we be doing to defend our democratic institutions? What can we learn from other countries fighting the rise of authoritarianism in their borders? Daniel also touches on the transformative power of trusting ourselves and making space for grieving in movement work. 

Subscribe to the Anti-Authoritarian Podcast for more.

Support our end-of-year fundraising drive.

Connect with Block & Build and more

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/05/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg Feed Drop: The Anti-Authoritarian Podcast on Choosing Democracy false no 00:47:25 No no Feed Drop: Dear Rad Ops on Multi-Entity Infrastructure https://convergencemag.com/podcast/dear-rad-ops-multi-entity-infrastructure/ Mon, 22 Dec 2025 11:00:00 +0000 483295ae-8876-532c-9957-8b8388486125 We are off until the new calendar year. In the meantime we hope you enjoy a sampling of episodes from our network of podcasts!

In this episode, Sha Grogan-Brown talks with guest Le Tim Ly, Chief Operating Officer of Center for Empowered Politics, about how multi-entity infrastructure can improve the resilience of organizations.

Subscribe to the Rad Ops Podcast for more.

Support our end-of-year fundraising drive.

Connect with Block & Build and more

]]> full We are off until the new calendar year. In the meantime we hope you enjoy a sampling of episodes from our network of podcasts!

In this episode, Sha Grogan-Brown talks with guest Le Tim Ly, Chief Operating Officer of Center for Empowered Politics, about how multi-entity infrastructure can improve the resilience of organizations.

Subscribe to the Rad Ops Podcast for more.

Support our end-of-year fundraising drive.

Connect with Block & Build and more

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/05/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg Feed Drop: Dear Rad Ops on Multi-Entity Infrastructure false no 00:11:53 No no We Will Rise Again w/ Karen Lord, Annalee Newitz, and Malka Older https://convergencemag.com/podcast/we-will-rise-again-a-conversation-with-the-editors/ Mon, 15 Dec 2025 11:00:00 +0000 088b574a-6481-5c68-8d4d-aefb12b0884a This week we are joined by the editors of the new anthology We Will Rise Again: Speculative Stories and Essays on Protest, Resistance, and Hope. The book champions realistic, progressive social change using the speculative stories of writers from around the world. To assemble the book, editors Karen Lord, Annalee Newitz (@ghidorahnotweak), and Malka Older put writers, organizers, scholars, and others in conversation with one another to dive deep on the messy work of making change.

Read a story from the book online! "Where Memory Meets the Sea" by Laia Asieo Odo was previewed at Electric Literature.

Want more?

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links to Convergence’s Bookshop. Ten percent of purchases made through our bookshop directly support our movement media work.

]]> full This week we are joined by the editors of the new anthology We Will Rise Again: Speculative Stories and Essays on Protest, Resistance, and Hope. The book champions realistic, progressive social change using the speculative stories of writers from around the world. To assemble the book, editors Karen Lord, Annalee Newitz (@ghidorahnotweak), and Malka Older put writers, organizers, scholars, and others in conversation with one another to dive deep on the messy work of making change.

Read a story from the book online! "Where Memory Meets the Sea" by Laia Asieo Odo was previewed at Electric Literature.

Want more?

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links to Convergence’s Bookshop. Ten percent of purchases made through our bookshop directly support our movement media work.

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/05/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg We Will Rise Again w/ Karen Lord, Annalee Newitz, and Malka Older false no 00:49:57 No no Reimagining Philanthropy w/ Chris Landry and Maribel Morey https://convergencemag.com/podcast/reimagining-philanthropy-w-chris-landry-and-maribel-morey/ Mon, 08 Dec 2025 11:00:00 +0000 a6132baa-defb-5642-abf7-5cb70b467b35 Producer and director Chris Landry's new film series Reimagining Philanthropy critically examines the issue of philanthropy as the financial driver of movement and social justice work, and how movement leaders believe it can be fixed. Joining Chris is historian of US philanthropy and the author of White Philanthropy: Carnegie Corporation's “An American Dilemma” and the Making of a White World, Dr. Maribel Morey. Dr. Morey appears in the series' first episode, alongside many other leading voices reshaping the field and challenging long-held assumptions about how philanthropy operates.

Connect with Block & Build and more

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links to Convergence's Bookshop. Purchases made through our bookshop support our movement media work.

]]> full Producer and director Chris Landry's new film series Reimagining Philanthropy critically examines the issue of philanthropy as the financial driver of movement and social justice work, and how movement leaders believe it can be fixed. Joining Chris is historian of US philanthropy and the author of White Philanthropy: Carnegie Corporation's “An American Dilemma” and the Making of a White World, Dr. Maribel Morey. Dr. Morey appears in the series' first episode, alongside many other leading voices reshaping the field and challenging long-held assumptions about how philanthropy operates.

Connect with Block & Build and more

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links to Convergence's Bookshop. Purchases made through our bookshop support our movement media work.

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/05/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg Reimagining Philanthropy w/ Chris Landry and Maribel Morey false no 00:47:12 No no The Attention Economy Navigator, November 2025 w/ Nima Shirazi https://convergencemag.com/podcast/the-attention-economy-navigator-november-2025-w-nima-shirazi/ Mon, 24 Nov 2025 11:00:00 +0000 b4115401-7e22-5956-bda2-066e4cafe32a This week on the show we are debuting a new format we’re calling the Attention Economy Navigator. The goal of Block & Build has always been to help organizers figure out what’s happening, how people are responding, and get a sense for what’s working out there in the world. The Attention Economy Navigator came out of a conversation Cayden had at the Narrative Power Summit about Naomi Klein’s 2023 book, Doppelganger. An interesting takeaway from the book is that Klein suggests a new political spectrum in addition to left and right defining political division in our society, and the determining factor is how prominently conspiratorial thinking shapes our political views.

Joining to help build this month's Attention Economy Navigator in real time are Convergence Managing Editor, Akin Olla, and co-host of the Citations Needed podcast, Nima Shirazi.

Before diving in, we are joined by co-founder and co-director at Siembra NC, Nikki Marín Baena, to discuss what organizing's happening on the ground in North Carolina with ICE's recent mobilization in the region.

This month's navigator chart can be found here.

Stories we referenced in this episode:

]]> This week on the show we are debuting a new format we’re calling the Attention Economy Navigator. The goal of Block & Build has always been to help organizers figure out what’s happening, how people are responding, and get a sense for what’s working out there in the world. The Attention Economy Navigator came out of a conversation Cayden had at the Narrative Power Summit about Naomi Klein’s 2023 book, Doppelganger. An interesting takeaway from the book is that Klein suggests a new political spectrum in addition to left and right defining political division in our society, and the determining factor is how prominently conspiratorial thinking shapes our political views.

Joining to help build this month's Attention Economy Navigator in real time are Convergence Managing Editor, Akin Olla, and co-host of the Citations Needed podcast, Nima Shirazi.

Before diving in, we are joined by co-founder and co-director at Siembra NC, Nikki Marín Baena, to discuss what organizing's happening on the ground in North Carolina with ICE's recent mobilization in the region.

This month's navigator chart can be found here.

Stories we referenced in this episode:

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/05/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg The Attention Economy Navigator, November 2025 w/ Nima Shirazi false no 01:20:52 No no How Communities Organized Zohran’s Win w/ Alicé Nascimento, Jagpreet Singh, and Alina Shen https://convergencemag.com/podcast/how-communities-organized-zohrans-win-w-alice-nascimento-jagpreet-singh-and-alina-shen/ Mon, 17 Nov 2025 11:00:00 +0000 3f994260-c96e-5735-95b8-afa87f637c01 This week on the show, we will first talk about how on the ground organizing was a factor in Zohran Mamdani’s historic 10-point victory in the New York City Mayoral election last week. We are joined by a panel of leaders from different local organizations who worked on the campaign to learn more about their work and strategies.

Guests Include

Then we talk with activist Rafael Uzcátegui, who has been part of the Venezuelan human rights movement for decades. He discusses how the American Left can orient itself to show solidarity as Trump aggressively pursues violent intervention in and around the country.

Connect with Block & Build and more

]]> full This week on the show, we will first talk about how on the ground organizing was a factor in Zohran Mamdani’s historic 10-point victory in the New York City Mayoral election last week. We are joined by a panel of leaders from different local organizations who worked on the campaign to learn more about their work and strategies.

Guests Include

Then we talk with activist Rafael Uzcátegui, who has been part of the Venezuelan human rights movement for decades. He discusses how the American Left can orient itself to show solidarity as Trump aggressively pursues violent intervention in and around the country.

Connect with Block & Build and more

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/11/Block-Build-Zohran-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg How Communities Organized Zohran’s Win w/ Alicé Nascimento, Jagpreet Singh, and Alina Shen false no 01:15:05 No no Organizing for Tenant Power w/ Josh Poe https://convergencemag.com/podcast/organizing-for-tenant-power-w-josh-poe/ Mon, 10 Nov 2025 11:00:00 +0000 53f59c7b-19c5-5160-92bb-381da159f250 In this episode, we are joined by Co-Founder and Organizing Director of Kentucky Tenants Union, Josh Poe to discuss how their organizing strategy successfully brings people together to fight and win against landlords in a red state.

Resources from this episode

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]]> full In this episode, we are joined by Co-Founder and Organizing Director of Kentucky Tenants Union, Josh Poe to discuss how their organizing strategy successfully brings people together to fight and win against landlords in a red state.

Resources from this episode

Connect with Block & Build and more

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/05/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg Organizing for Tenant Power w/ Josh Poe false no 00:45:50 No no Listen to This When Things Fall Apart w/ Kelly Hayes https://convergencemag.com/podcast/listen-to-this-when-things-fall-apart-w-kelly-hayes/ Mon, 03 Nov 2025 11:00:00 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=14183 This week on the show we are joined by Chicago-based writer, organizer, and podcaster Kelly Hayes, whose new edited volume, Read This When Things Fall Apart: Letters to Activists in Crisis, is out November 4 from AK Press. You may also know Kelly from their excellent podcast, Movement Memos, their newsletter, “Organizing My Thoughts,” or their previous book, with Mariame Kaba, Let This Radicalize You.

Connect with Block & Build and more

]]> This week on the show we are joined by Chicago-based writer, organizer, and podcaster Kelly Hayes, whose new edited volume, Read This When Things Fall Apart: Letters to Activists in Crisis, is out November 4 from AK Press. You may also know Kelly from their excellent podcast, Movement Memos, their newsletter, “Organizing My Thoughts,” or their previous book, with Mariame Kaba, Let This Radicalize You.

Connect with Block & Build and more

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/01/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg Listen to This When Things Fall Apart w/ Kelly Hayes false no 00:48:03 No no The Capital of Slavery w/ Gerald Horne https://convergencemag.com/podcast/the-capital-of-slavery-w-gerald-horne/ Mon, 27 Oct 2025 10:00:00 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=14105 This week on the show we are joined by historian Gerald Horne, whose 2025 book, The Capital of Slavery: Washington DC 1800-1865 explores the early history of the capital city of the United States and the role of enslaved people in how it was built. This is explored in the book both in terms of the hands that did the labor to build its edifices and monuments, and in terms of how fear of free Black people shaped the law, policy, and governance of the District, in ways that echo today.

Connect with Block & Build and more

]]> full This week on the show we are joined by historian Gerald Horne, whose 2025 book, The Capital of Slavery: Washington DC 1800-1865 explores the early history of the capital city of the United States and the role of enslaved people in how it was built. This is explored in the book both in terms of the hands that did the labor to build its edifices and monuments, and in terms of how fear of free Black people shaped the law, policy, and governance of the District, in ways that echo today.

Connect with Block & Build and more

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/05/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg The Capital of Slavery w/ Gerald Horne false no 01:05:02 No no Liberation Stories w/ Marzena Zukowska and Shanelle Matthews https://convergencemag.com/podcast/liberation-stories-w-marzena-zukowska-and-shanelle-matthews/ Mon, 20 Oct 2025 10:00:00 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=14048 This week we are joined by Marzena Zukowska and Shanelle Matthews. Together they are the co-editors of the new book Liberation Stories: Building Narrative Power for 21st Century Social Movements. This anthology of essays and interviews distills successful theories, strategies, and tactics from the movement left for anyone wanting to understand and participate in modern progressive movements.

Connect with Block & Build and more

]]> full This week we are joined by Marzena Zukowska and Shanelle Matthews. Together they are the co-editors of the new book Liberation Stories: Building Narrative Power for 21st Century Social Movements. This anthology of essays and interviews distills successful theories, strategies, and tactics from the movement left for anyone wanting to understand and participate in modern progressive movements.

Connect with Block & Build and more

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/05/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg Liberation Stories w/ Marzena Zukowska and Shanelle Matthews false no 00:58:15 No no Authoritarian Testing Grounds w/ Stacy Suh https://convergencemag.com/podcast/authoritarian-testing-grounds-w-stacy-suh/ Mon, 13 Oct 2025 10:00:00 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=14005 This week on the show we take a look at the Trump administration's multifaceted attacks on immigrants as testing grounds for authoritarian control, how we got to this point, and what efforts are being made to push back. Joining to discuss is Program Director at Detention Watch Network, Stacy Suh.

Resources from this episode

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]]> full This week on the show we take a look at the Trump administration's multifaceted attacks on immigrants as testing grounds for authoritarian control, how we got to this point, and what efforts are being made to push back. Joining to discuss is Program Director at Detention Watch Network, Stacy Suh.

Resources from this episode

Connect with Block & Build and more

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/05/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg Authoritarian Testing Grounds w/ Stacy Suh false no 00:45:32 No no Building State Power w/ Margie Del Castillo https://convergencemag.com/podcast/building-state-power-w-margie-del-castillo/ Mon, 06 Oct 2025 10:00:00 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=13964 This week on the show we are joined by Executive Director of State Power Caucus, Margie Del Castillo. Their organization is currently focusing on work that goes beyond mobilization to build lasting governing power at the state level across the country – we talk in this episode about what that looks like in different states.

State Power Caucus is a multi-state organizing project primarily focused on the “build” aspect of Block & Build strategy. They do this by supporting state based organizations in the process of moving from short-term mobilization into consistent state based infrastructure, leadership pipelines, and co-governance capacity. By bringing organizations together to think about long-term goals, they build alignment and share skills to strengthen movements in the long run.

Resources from this episode

Connect with Block & Build and more

]]> full This week on the show we are joined by Executive Director of State Power Caucus, Margie Del Castillo. Their organization is currently focusing on work that goes beyond mobilization to build lasting governing power at the state level across the country – we talk in this episode about what that looks like in different states.

State Power Caucus is a multi-state organizing project primarily focused on the “build” aspect of Block & Build strategy. They do this by supporting state based organizations in the process of moving from short-term mobilization into consistent state based infrastructure, leadership pipelines, and co-governance capacity. By bringing organizations together to think about long-term goals, they build alignment and share skills to strengthen movements in the long run.

Resources from this episode

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]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/05/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg Building State Power w/ Margie Del Castillo false no 00:57:27 No no Controlling Narrative Infrastructure w/ Lina Srivastava https://convergencemag.com/podcast/controlling-narrative-infrastructure-w-lina-srivastava/ Mon, 22 Sep 2025 10:00:00 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=13831 This week on the show we are joined by Lina Srivastava, Founder of the Center for Transformational Change. She’s developed a framework to help communicators, creatives, and organizers think through the infrastructure we must develop to build narrative power–the power not just to tell the stories we want told, but to shift the landscape of common sense about the issues we’re struggling to win.

Lina joined us a few weeks ago for this recorded conversation, but the insights and lessons are more relevant than ever as we navigate the changes looming on the horizon as factions of the far Right fight among themselves about the meaning of the horrific murder of right wing propagandist, Charlie Kirk, and our movements face intensified scrutiny and attacks as scapegoats.

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]]> full This week on the show we are joined by Lina Srivastava, Founder of the Center for Transformational Change. She’s developed a framework to help communicators, creatives, and organizers think through the infrastructure we must develop to build narrative power–the power not just to tell the stories we want told, but to shift the landscape of common sense about the issues we’re struggling to win.

Lina joined us a few weeks ago for this recorded conversation, but the insights and lessons are more relevant than ever as we navigate the changes looming on the horizon as factions of the far Right fight among themselves about the meaning of the horrific murder of right wing propagandist, Charlie Kirk, and our movements face intensified scrutiny and attacks as scapegoats.

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]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/05/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg Controlling Narrative Infrastructure w/ Lina Srivastava false no 00:56:38 No no MAGA Deportation IS Political Violence w/ Kerri Kennedy https://convergencemag.com/podcast/maga-deportation-is-political-violence-w-kerri-kennedy/ Mon, 15 Sep 2025 10:00:00 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=13806 We take a closer look at the case of journalist Mario Guevara, who has been in ICE detention since mid-June despite being in the country legally with all criminal charges thrown out. Cayden is joined by Atlanta area freelance reporter Sam Barnes. Read Sam's full story in the Georgia Recorder.

Then we take a broader look at the escalating normalization of state violence and erosion of civil liberties being enacted by the Trump administration's deportation programs and more. Cayden is joined by the International Associate General Secretary for American Friends Service Committee (or AFSC), Kerri Kennedy.

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]]> full We take a closer look at the case of journalist Mario Guevara, who has been in ICE detention since mid-June despite being in the country legally with all criminal charges thrown out. Cayden is joined by Atlanta area freelance reporter Sam Barnes. Read Sam's full story in the Georgia Recorder.

Then we take a broader look at the escalating normalization of state violence and erosion of civil liberties being enacted by the Trump administration's deportation programs and more. Cayden is joined by the International Associate General Secretary for American Friends Service Committee (or AFSC), Kerri Kennedy.

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]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/05/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg MAGA Deportation IS Political Violence w/ Kerri Kennedy false no 01:04:32 No no Organizers vs. Big Data w/ Myaisha Hayes, Vivek Bharathan, Keshaun Pearson https://convergencemag.com/podcast/organizing-against-big-data-w-myaisha-hayes-vivek-bharathan-and-keshaun-pearson/ Mon, 08 Sep 2025 11:00:00 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=13729 We explore local organizing to stop the construction of new data centers which form the material basis for big tech to deploy computationally expensive class war technologies like AI and crypto. The data centers and resources that fuel these highly speculative tech markets often show up in already poor and marginalized communities with little say from the people impacted by their pollution and cost.

Guests include Senior Movement Building Director at MediaJustice, Myaisha Hayes, Organizer with the No Desert Data Center Coalition in Tucson, AZ, Vivek Bharathan, and executive director of Memphis Community Against Pollution, Keshaun Pearson (@keshaunpearson).

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]]> full We explore local organizing to stop the construction of new data centers which form the material basis for big tech to deploy computationally expensive class war technologies like AI and crypto. The data centers and resources that fuel these highly speculative tech markets often show up in already poor and marginalized communities with little say from the people impacted by their pollution and cost.

Guests include Senior Movement Building Director at MediaJustice, Myaisha Hayes, Organizer with the No Desert Data Center Coalition in Tucson, AZ, Vivek Bharathan, and executive director of Memphis Community Against Pollution, Keshaun Pearson (@keshaunpearson).

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]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/05/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg Organizers vs. Big Data w/ Myaisha Hayes, Vivek Bharathan, Keshaun Pearson false no 00:56:14 No no Crafting the Radical Imagination w/ Nicole Manganelli and Zak Foster https://convergencemag.com/podcast/radical-craft-w-nicole-maganelli-zak-foster/ Mon, 25 Aug 2025 10:00:00 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=13609 This week, Convergence's Publishing Operations Manager and resident illustrator Kimmie David interviews quilter Zak Foster and letterpress printer Nicole Manganelli about the power of craft and community as a site for cultivating radical thought and action.

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]]> full This week, Convergence's Publishing Operations Manager and resident illustrator Kimmie David interviews quilter Zak Foster and letterpress printer Nicole Manganelli about the power of craft and community as a site for cultivating radical thought and action.

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]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/01/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg Crafting the Radical Imagination w/ Nicole Manganelli and Zak Foster false no 00:33:01 No no Holding Sheriffs Accountable w/ Amaris Leon and Amber Walker https://convergencemag.com/podcast/holding-sheriffs-accountable-w-amaris-leon-and-amber-walker/ Mon, 18 Aug 2025 17:52:19 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=13556 We are joined in this episode by two leaders at Sheriff Accountability Action, an organization devoted to building power to curb the harms of the more than 3,000 sheriff’s offices across the country. My guests include Deputy Director Amber Walker and Director of Local Campaigns and Advocacy Amaris Leon. We’ll explore what work the organization is doing to reduce the harm of the carceral system and build a foundation for real safety.

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]]> full We are joined in this episode by two leaders at Sheriff Accountability Action, an organization devoted to building power to curb the harms of the more than 3,000 sheriff’s offices across the country. My guests include Deputy Director Amber Walker and Director of Local Campaigns and Advocacy Amaris Leon. We’ll explore what work the organization is doing to reduce the harm of the carceral system and build a foundation for real safety.

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]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/05/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg Holding Sheriffs Accountable w/ Amaris Leon and Amber Walker false no 00:54:10 No no Medicaid Defense in Pennsylvania, w/ Nijmie Dzurinko https://convergencemag.com/podcast/medicaid-defense-in-pennsylvania-w-nijmie-dzurinko/ Mon, 11 Aug 2025 10:00:00 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=13501 We discuss ground-level organizing in Pennsylvania against Medicaid cuts and mass hospital closure with co-founder and coordinator of Put People First! PA, Nijmie Dzurinko, and how the multi-state Nonviolent Medicaid Army is taking those efforts national.

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]]> full We discuss ground-level organizing in Pennsylvania against Medicaid cuts and mass hospital closure with co-founder and coordinator of Put People First! PA, Nijmie Dzurinko, and how the multi-state Nonviolent Medicaid Army is taking those efforts national.

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]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/05/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg Medicaid Defense in Pennsylvania, w/ Nijmie Dzurinko false no 00:31:02 No no How Right Wing Media Rage-baits Local Issues w/ H Kapp-Klote https://convergencemag.com/podcast/how-right-wing-media-rage-baits-local-issues-w-h-kapp-klote/ Mon, 04 Aug 2025 10:00:00 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=13448 We are joined in this episode by the producer of the Chicago 312 newsletter, H Kapp-Klote, to discuss their case studies of how right wing media rage-baits local political narratives to influence municipal policy and escalates the discourse against progressive governance.

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]]> full We are joined in this episode by the producer of the Chicago 312 newsletter, H Kapp-Klote, to discuss their case studies of how right wing media rage-baits local political narratives to influence municipal policy and escalates the discourse against progressive governance.

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]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/05/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg How Right Wing Media Rage-baits Local Issues w/ H Kapp-Klote false no 00:47:48 No no Why We Fear AI w/ Hagen Blix https://convergencemag.com/podcast/why-we-fear-ai-w-hagen-blix/ Mon, 28 Jul 2025 10:00:00 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=13335 In this episode we discuss how the accelerating hype of the "artificial intelligence" race affects left political theory and movements. Cayden talks to co-author of the new book Why We Fear AI: On The Interpretation of Nightmares, Hagen Blix. We’ll explore how the seeming inevitability of AI is intertwined with neoliberalism as well as how we urgently need to figure out how to narrate the development of technology for ourselves – so that the billionaires don’t do it for us.

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]]> full In this episode we discuss how the accelerating hype of the "artificial intelligence" race affects left political theory and movements. Cayden talks to co-author of the new book Why We Fear AI: On The Interpretation of Nightmares, Hagen Blix. We’ll explore how the seeming inevitability of AI is intertwined with neoliberalism as well as how we urgently need to figure out how to narrate the development of technology for ourselves – so that the billionaires don’t do it for us.

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]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/05/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg Why We Fear AI w/ Hagen Blix false no 01:04:58 No no How Zohran Won, w/ Jasmine Gripper and Lena Pervez Afridi https://convergencemag.com/podcast/how-zohran-won-w-jasmine-gripper-and-lena-pervez-afridi/ Mon, 21 Jul 2025 10:00:00 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=13271 We discuss the ground-level organizing it took to accomplish Zohran Mamdani’s massive victory in New York City’s mayoral primary race in late June. Joining Cayden on this episode are Jasmine Gripper, co-director of New York Working Families Party; and Lena Pervez Afridi, a New York City-based writer, researcher, and organizer.

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]]> We discuss the ground-level organizing it took to accomplish Zohran Mamdani’s massive victory in New York City’s mayoral primary race in late June. Joining Cayden on this episode are Jasmine Gripper, co-director of New York Working Families Party; and Lena Pervez Afridi, a New York City-based writer, researcher, and organizer.

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]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/05/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg How Zohran Won, w/ Jasmine Gripper and Lena Pervez Afridi false no 01:03:12 No no Block & Build – But Make it Abolitionist w/ Andrea Ritchie https://convergencemag.com/podcast/block-build-but-make-it-abolitionist-w-andrea-ritchie/ Mon, 14 Jul 2025 15:07:37 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=13245 Writer, lawyer, and co-founder of Interrupting Criminalization, Andrea Ritchie joins this week. She’s published a free guide titled Block & Build – But Make it Abolitionist, which explores strategic frameworks for fighting Right-wing authoritarianism from an abolitionist perspective; an invitation to expand collective resistance beyond strategies that rely on the carceral state.

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]]> Writer, lawyer, and co-founder of Interrupting Criminalization, Andrea Ritchie joins this week. She’s published a free guide titled Block & Build – But Make it Abolitionist, which explores strategic frameworks for fighting Right-wing authoritarianism from an abolitionist perspective; an invitation to expand collective resistance beyond strategies that rely on the carceral state.

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]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/05/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg Block & Build – But Make it Abolitionist w/ Andrea Ritchie false no 01:01:48 No no Blocking the Right, Building the Base – Live from Socialism 2025 https://convergencemag.com/podcast/blocking-the-right-building-the-base-live-from-socialism-2025/ Mon, 07 Jul 2025 12:35:43 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=13191 This week on the show we feature a recording of the panel Convergence Magazine hosted on July 4th at the Socialism 2025 conference in Chicago: Blocking the Right, Building the Base - The Work of Building Left Unity. The panelists feature leaders from Liberation Road, North Star Socialist Organization, the Socialist Majority Caucus of the Democratic Socialists of America, Rising Majority, and Movement for Black Lives discussing how their work is aligned with the “Block and Build” strategic framework and the need for both building membership bases while developing functional cross-sector unity.

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]]> This week on the show we feature a recording of the panel Convergence Magazine hosted on July 4th at the Socialism 2025 conference in Chicago: Blocking the Right, Building the Base - The Work of Building Left Unity. The panelists feature leaders from Liberation Road, North Star Socialist Organization, the Socialist Majority Caucus of the Democratic Socialists of America, Rising Majority, and Movement for Black Lives discussing how their work is aligned with the “Block and Build” strategic framework and the need for both building membership bases while developing functional cross-sector unity.

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]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/05/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg Blocking the Right, Building the Base – Live from Socialism 2025 false no 01:27:36 No no Transitioning Movements to Politics w/ Asha Ransby-Sporn https://convergencemag.com/podcast/transitioning-movements-to-politics-w-asha-ransby-sporn/ Mon, 30 Jun 2025 15:11:24 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=13101 Writer and organizer Asha Ransby-Sporn joins to talk about building durable political power in the five years since the 2020 uprisings, what those challenges look like in her city of Chicago (which elected progressive mayor Brandon Johnson in 2023), and what comes next.

Check out Asha's recently published writing discussed in this episode

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]]> full Writer and organizer Asha Ransby-Sporn joins to talk about building durable political power in the five years since the 2020 uprisings, what those challenges look like in her city of Chicago (which elected progressive mayor Brandon Johnson in 2023), and what comes next.

Check out Asha's recently published writing discussed in this episode

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]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/05/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg Transitioning Movements to Politics w/ Asha Ransby-Sporn false no 01:07:56 No no Rebutting Political Violence w/ Scot Nakagawa, Steven Gardiner, and Amanda Otero https://convergencemag.com/podcast/rebutting-political-violence-w-scot-nakagawa-steven-gardiner-and-amanda-otero/ Mon, 23 Jun 2025 14:48:06 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=13061 This week's show was recorded live at the 22nd Century Conference. In this sobering discussion on the rise of political violence, Cayden is joined by Executive Director of 22nd Century Initiative and co-host of the Anti-Authoritarian Podcast (published by Convergence), Scot Nakagawa, Principal Research Advisor for Political Research Associates, Steven Gardiner, and Co-Executive Director of TakeAction Minnesota, Amanda Otero.

They explore the grief and responses to last week's attacks on lawmakers in Minnesota and other recent acts of stochastic violent terror. The panel discusses how we orient ourselves to keep doing movement work in a increasingly dangerous environment and the need to go on the offensive while maintaining nonviolent discipline.

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]]> full This week's show was recorded live at the 22nd Century Conference. In this sobering discussion on the rise of political violence, Cayden is joined by Executive Director of 22nd Century Initiative and co-host of the Anti-Authoritarian Podcast (published by Convergence), Scot Nakagawa, Principal Research Advisor for Political Research Associates, Steven Gardiner, and Co-Executive Director of TakeAction Minnesota, Amanda Otero.

They explore the grief and responses to last week's attacks on lawmakers in Minnesota and other recent acts of stochastic violent terror. The panel discusses how we orient ourselves to keep doing movement work in a increasingly dangerous environment and the need to go on the offensive while maintaining nonviolent discipline.

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]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/05/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg Rebutting Political Violence w/ Scot Nakagawa, Steven Gardiner, and Amanda Otero false no 01:07:58 No no Can We Stand Undivided? w/ Hahrie Han https://convergencemag.com/podcast/can-we-stand-undivided-w-hahrie-han/ Mon, 16 Jun 2025 15:01:24 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=12967 This week on the show, Cayden is joined by Professor of Political Science at Johns Hopkins University, Hahrie Han. Her 2024 book Undivided: The Quest for Racial Solidarity in an American Church is a fascinating, ground level chronicle of the years-long effort in a Midwestern evangelical church to reckon with their city’s history of racial segregation and police violence.

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]]> full This week on the show, Cayden is joined by Professor of Political Science at Johns Hopkins University, Hahrie Han. Her 2024 book Undivided: The Quest for Racial Solidarity in an American Church is a fascinating, ground level chronicle of the years-long effort in a Midwestern evangelical church to reckon with their city’s history of racial segregation and police violence.

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]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/05/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg Can We Stand Undivided? w/ Hahrie Han false no 01:02:54 No no Veterans Against the War w/ Brittany Ramos DeBarros https://convergencemag.com/podcast/veterans-against-the-war-w-brittany-ramos-debarros/ Mon, 09 Jun 2025 16:42:28 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=12905 This week we are joined by Brittany Ramos DeBarros, Interim Organizing Director at About Face: Veterans Against the War (@vetsaboutface). Since 2004, About Face (f.k.a. Iraq Veterans Against the War) has provided a political home to veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns who are opposed to US militarism and imperialism. We’ll discuss what her organization has been doing to respond to our current political conditions.

How to Support Immigrant Communities During ICE Raids

Get involved in About Face's upcoming direct action: Benefits Not Bullshit

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]]> full This week we are joined by Brittany Ramos DeBarros, Interim Organizing Director at About Face: Veterans Against the War (@vetsaboutface). Since 2004, About Face (f.k.a. Iraq Veterans Against the War) has provided a political home to veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns who are opposed to US militarism and imperialism. We’ll discuss what her organization has been doing to respond to our current political conditions.

How to Support Immigrant Communities During ICE Raids

Get involved in About Face's upcoming direct action: Benefits Not Bullshit

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]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/05/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg Veterans Against the War w/ Brittany Ramos DeBarros false no 00:58:28 No no Pulse Check https://convergencemag.com/podcast/pulse-check/ Mon, 02 Jun 2025 20:27:22 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=12848 We don’t have a full episode this week, but we wanted to drop a quick check-in for your podcast feed, because a lot is going on. We're celebrating pride and wrestling with the grief of Gaza and political violence, all while staving off the hypernormalization of creeping fascism.

So...how are you holding up?

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]]> bonus We don’t have a full episode this week, but we wanted to drop a quick check-in for your podcast feed, because a lot is going on. We're celebrating pride and wrestling with the grief of Gaza and political violence, all while staving off the hypernormalization of creeping fascism.

So...how are you holding up?

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]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/05/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg Pulse Check false no 00:06:11 No no In The Time of the Right: A Conversation with Suzanne Pharr https://convergencemag.com/podcast/in-the-time-of-the-right-a-conversation-with-suzanne-pharr/ Mon, 26 May 2025 10:00:00 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=12750 This week, Cayden is joined by Suzanne Pharr, a longtime social justice worker from the South. Suzanne is one of the most astute observers of the political project of the far Right from a movement perspective, and someone whose work has spanned issue area and geography. At age 86, her work is relentless as she has recently published a 2nd edition of her book In the Time of the Right: Reflections on Liberation. The book constructs a progressive view of the politics of our time that is accessible to students, activists, and all who are trying to understand the threat to democracy by the Right.

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]]> full This week, Cayden is joined by Suzanne Pharr, a longtime social justice worker from the South. Suzanne is one of the most astute observers of the political project of the far Right from a movement perspective, and someone whose work has spanned issue area and geography. At age 86, her work is relentless as she has recently published a 2nd edition of her book In the Time of the Right: Reflections on Liberation. The book constructs a progressive view of the politics of our time that is accessible to students, activists, and all who are trying to understand the threat to democracy by the Right.

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]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/05/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg In The Time of the Right: A Conversation with Suzanne Pharr false no 01:02:02 No no How Indivisible Mobilized the Nation w/ Dani Negrete https://convergencemag.com/podcast/a-vehicle-for-mass-action-how-indivisible-helped-mobilize-the-nation/ Mon, 19 May 2025 15:07:48 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=12720 In April we saw the largest demonstration against the second Trump administration since it started in the Hands Off! actions across over 1,400 locations nation-wide. One of the groups responsible for coordinating these efforts is Indivisible, an organization created in response to the first Trump administration in 2016 with the goal of saving American democracy.

In this episode, Cayden is joined by National Political Director of Indivisible, Dani Negrete. They discuss the work Indivisible did to coordinate such consistent mobilization across the entire country as well as how they plan to mobilize and prioritize that momentum.

Be a part of Indivisible's next big mobilization, June 14: No Kings.

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]]> full In April we saw the largest demonstration against the second Trump administration since it started in the Hands Off! actions across over 1,400 locations nation-wide. One of the groups responsible for coordinating these efforts is Indivisible, an organization created in response to the first Trump administration in 2016 with the goal of saving American democracy.

In this episode, Cayden is joined by National Political Director of Indivisible, Dani Negrete. They discuss the work Indivisible did to coordinate such consistent mobilization across the entire country as well as how they plan to mobilize and prioritize that momentum.

Be a part of Indivisible's next big mobilization, June 14: No Kings.

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]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/01/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg How Indivisible Mobilized the Nation w/ Dani Negrete false no 00:58:04 No no Narrative Power Summit 2025 w/ Shaira Chair & Ivie Osaghae https://convergencemag.com/podcast/live-from-the-2025-narrative-power-summit/ Mon, 12 May 2025 16:45:59 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=12682 This episode was recorded live at the Narrative Power Summit in New Orleans, Louisiana on May 9th, 2025.

In the episode, Cayden is first joined by colleagues at the summit, Program Specialist for ReFrame, Shaira Chaer and Creative and Brand Specialist at ReFrame, Ivie Osaghae. Narrative power is a crucial piece of the puzzle when it comes to the full picture of governing power. Governing power is more than just the task of winning elections: it’s about wielding that governing power to create structural change–and building a robust infrastructure to defend those changes until they can defend themselves. Coherent narrative power is a necessary component of winning and defending these structural changes.

Then to further discuss how some of these narrative strategies might look in practice, Cayden is joined by a panel of organizers discussing the narrative structures their work operates in and are looking to overcome.

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]]> full This episode was recorded live at the Narrative Power Summit in New Orleans, Louisiana on May 9th, 2025.

In the episode, Cayden is first joined by colleagues at the summit, Program Specialist for ReFrame, Shaira Chaer and Creative and Brand Specialist at ReFrame, Ivie Osaghae. Narrative power is a crucial piece of the puzzle when it comes to the full picture of governing power. Governing power is more than just the task of winning elections: it’s about wielding that governing power to create structural change–and building a robust infrastructure to defend those changes until they can defend themselves. Coherent narrative power is a necessary component of winning and defending these structural changes.

Then to further discuss how some of these narrative strategies might look in practice, Cayden is joined by a panel of organizers discussing the narrative structures their work operates in and are looking to overcome.

Connect with Block & Build and more

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/01/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg Narrative Power Summit 2025 w/ Shaira Chair & Ivie Osaghae false no 00:54:34 No no Moving Past “Cancel Culture” https://convergencemag.com/podcast/moving-past-cancel-culture/ Mon, 05 May 2025 10:00:00 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=12620 Over the past month we’ve been co-publishing a series with our colleagues at The Forge examining “cancel culture.” The four part series entitled Because We Need Each Other is now available for free on both our sites.

Today Cayden is joined by the four coauthors of the series, Erika Sasson, Celia Kutz, Shilpa Jain, and Kazu Haga, to talk about the series–and answer your questions about their efforts to address this phenomenon specifically in the context of our organizations, coalitions, and communities.

Additional resources on cancel culture

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]]> full Over the past month we’ve been co-publishing a series with our colleagues at The Forge examining “cancel culture.” The four part series entitled Because We Need Each Other is now available for free on both our sites.

Today Cayden is joined by the four coauthors of the series, Erika Sasson, Celia Kutz, Shilpa Jain, and Kazu Haga, to talk about the series–and answer your questions about their efforts to address this phenomenon specifically in the context of our organizations, coalitions, and communities.

Additional resources on cancel culture

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]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/01/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg Moving Past “Cancel Culture” false no 01:09:08 No no Labor’s Role Right Now w/ Alex Caputo-Pearl https://convergencemag.com/podcast/labors-role-in-blocking-trumps-authoritarianism/ Mon, 28 Apr 2025 10:00:00 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=12572 This week Cayden is joined by former President of United Teachers Los Angeles and contributor to Convergence Magazine and Jacobin, Alex Caputo-Pearl. We published an essay in his ongoing series on UTLA’s organizing efforts last December, in which he laid out strategies and guidelines of how organized labor can adopt a Block & Build framework during this second Trump administration. We discuss what he laid out in that essay and how the movement is doing three months in.

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]]> full This week Cayden is joined by former President of United Teachers Los Angeles and contributor to Convergence Magazine and Jacobin, Alex Caputo-Pearl. We published an essay in his ongoing series on UTLA’s organizing efforts last December, in which he laid out strategies and guidelines of how organized labor can adopt a Block & Build framework during this second Trump administration. We discuss what he laid out in that essay and how the movement is doing three months in.

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]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/01/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg Labor’s Role Right Now w/ Alex Caputo-Pearl false no 00:48:30 No no Why Detained Migrants are Sent to Louisiana w/ Lydia Pelot-Hobbs https://convergencemag.com/podcast/why-detained-migrants-are-being-sent-to-louisiana/ Mon, 21 Apr 2025 10:00:00 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=12536 We take another look at some stories we’ve been following for the past few weeks, from new angles and with new insights.

First, Cayden is joined by Lydia Pelot-Hobbs, Assistant Professor of Geography at the University of Kentucky and co-editor of The Jail is Everywhere: Fighting the New Geography of Mass Incarceration. As a geographer of prisons and mass incarceration, her work specifically looks at the Gulf South and Louisiana. They discuss how and why the state uses its infrastructure of mass incarceration – and how abolitionist movements have fought back.

Then, Jenn Frye of the Carolina Federation (@carolinafederation) joins to talk about the organized resistance to Republican attempts to overturn the results of last fall’s state supreme court election, which is caught up in layers of legal recourse (no more valid than Trump's desperate attempts to reverse the 2020 election results) as Republicans attempt to throw out over 65,000 votes.

Resources and References from this episode

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]]> full We take another look at some stories we’ve been following for the past few weeks, from new angles and with new insights.

First, Cayden is joined by Lydia Pelot-Hobbs, Assistant Professor of Geography at the University of Kentucky and co-editor of The Jail is Everywhere: Fighting the New Geography of Mass Incarceration. As a geographer of prisons and mass incarceration, her work specifically looks at the Gulf South and Louisiana. They discuss how and why the state uses its infrastructure of mass incarceration – and how abolitionist movements have fought back.

Then, Jenn Frye of the Carolina Federation (@carolinafederation) joins to talk about the organized resistance to Republican attempts to overturn the results of last fall’s state supreme court election, which is caught up in layers of legal recourse (no more valid than Trump's desperate attempts to reverse the 2020 election results) as Republicans attempt to throw out over 65,000 votes.

Resources and References from this episode

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]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/01/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg Why Detained Migrants are Sent to Louisiana w/ Lydia Pelot-Hobbs false no 00:55:09 No no MAGA’s Campus Crusade w/ Aaron Nisenson https://convergencemag.com/podcast/magas-authoritarian-campus-crusade/ Mon, 14 Apr 2025 10:00:00 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=12501 This week on the show we take a look at how ICE is being used to disappear outspoken voices and effective organizers from their communities; from campuses to farms. It’s also challenging to think through what we can do to fight back...but as you know, that’s what we do on this show.

First, we look at how detainment and deportation is being weaponized against labor organizers. Cayden is joined by organizer with Community to Community, Liz Darrow to discuss this and the work being done to free illegally detained farmworker unionist, Alfredo Juarez.

Then, from frightening, illegal disappearances of students to dismantling the entire Department of Education, the MAGA agenda is waging an aggressive, anti-intellectual assault on education and universities straight out of the 1930s German playbook. The American Association of University Professors (or AAUP) are managing four lawsuits seeking to slow or halt these efforts, while also providing resources to help communities protect students and professors. We’re be joined by Senior Counsel and Director of the Legal Department AAUP, Aaron Nisenson to discuss.

Resources from this episode

Connect with Block & Build and more

]]> full This week on the show we take a look at how ICE is being used to disappear outspoken voices and effective organizers from their communities; from campuses to farms. It’s also challenging to think through what we can do to fight back...but as you know, that’s what we do on this show.

First, we look at how detainment and deportation is being weaponized against labor organizers. Cayden is joined by organizer with Community to Community, Liz Darrow to discuss this and the work being done to free illegally detained farmworker unionist, Alfredo Juarez.

Then, from frightening, illegal disappearances of students to dismantling the entire Department of Education, the MAGA agenda is waging an aggressive, anti-intellectual assault on education and universities straight out of the 1930s German playbook. The American Association of University Professors (or AAUP) are managing four lawsuits seeking to slow or halt these efforts, while also providing resources to help communities protect students and professors. We’re be joined by Senior Counsel and Director of the Legal Department AAUP, Aaron Nisenson to discuss.

Resources from this episode

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]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/01/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg MAGA’s Campus Crusade w/ Aaron Nisenson false no 00:53:39 No no Medi-Cal Under Attack w/ Christopher Wilson https://convergencemag.com/podcast/californias-medi-cal-benefits-are-under-attack/ Mon, 07 Apr 2025 16:02:47 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=12449 We’re taking a look at how organizers at the state level are defending vital services like Medicaid, Medicare, public education, and Social Security that are under attack by the Trump administration and sometimes, their own state governments. We’re starting here in my home state of California where the coalition We Are California has been demanding protection of our Medi-Cal program. Joining me to discuss this work is one of the leaders of We Are California, Vice President of Operations for PowerPAC, Christopher Wilson.

We want to spend more time on this show highlighting state level organizing being done to protect our fragile social safety nets. If you are seeing effective organizing in your state to protect healthcare, education, or other public services, we’d love to talk with folks leading that charge. Send us an email at mailbag@convergencemag.com or find Convergence Magazine on Instagram and send us a DM.

Connect with Block & Build and more

]]> full We’re taking a look at how organizers at the state level are defending vital services like Medicaid, Medicare, public education, and Social Security that are under attack by the Trump administration and sometimes, their own state governments. We’re starting here in my home state of California where the coalition We Are California has been demanding protection of our Medi-Cal program. Joining me to discuss this work is one of the leaders of We Are California, Vice President of Operations for PowerPAC, Christopher Wilson.

We want to spend more time on this show highlighting state level organizing being done to protect our fragile social safety nets. If you are seeing effective organizing in your state to protect healthcare, education, or other public services, we’d love to talk with folks leading that charge. Send us an email at mailbag@convergencemag.com or find Convergence Magazine on Instagram and send us a DM.

Connect with Block & Build and more

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/01/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg Medi-Cal Under Attack w/ Christopher Wilson false no 00:50:53 No no Musk Tries to Buy a State Election w/ Corinne Rosen & Insha Rahman https://convergencemag.com/podcast/elon-musk-is-trying-to-buy-a-state-supreme-court-election/ Mon, 31 Mar 2025 10:00:00 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=12289 On Tuesday, April 1st, Wisconsin voters will be participating in a special election to fill a vacant state Supreme Court seat. Satellite groups and PACs funded and controlled by Elon Musk have invested over $17 million in the election in favor of Trump lackey, Brad Schimel. To learn more about the race and how organizers are pushing back we are joined by State Director of Wisconsin Working Families Party, Corinne Rosen, and Director of Vera Action, Insha Rahman.

Get involved in the race

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]]> full On Tuesday, April 1st, Wisconsin voters will be participating in a special election to fill a vacant state Supreme Court seat. Satellite groups and PACs funded and controlled by Elon Musk have invested over $17 million in the election in favor of Trump lackey, Brad Schimel. To learn more about the race and how organizers are pushing back we are joined by State Director of Wisconsin Working Families Party, Corinne Rosen, and Director of Vera Action, Insha Rahman.

Get involved in the race

Connect with Block & Build and more

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/01/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg Musk Tries to Buy a State Election w/ Corinne Rosen & Insha Rahman false no 00:44:11 No no Feed Drop: Build Through Belonging, w/ Essie Justice Group https://convergencemag.com/podcast/build-through-belonging-a-special-panel-hosted-by-essie-justice-group/ Mon, 24 Mar 2025 10:00:00 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=12230 This week we are featuring a special presentation of a panel hosted by our friends at Essie Justice Group on February 27th in Oakland, California. This intimate conversation led by Michelle Alexander, Maurice Mitchell and Gina Clayton-Johnson talk criminalization, climate change, and organizing Black and brown working class communities in this political moment. Against the backdrop of the LA wildfires which have impacted Essie Justice Group’s members and Gina personally, and the mounting threats to democracy, this important discussion among strategic leaders delivers deep insights into today's most urgent fights.

Panelists

  • Michelle Alexander: Michelle Alexander is a highly acclaimed civil rights lawyer, advocate, legal scholar, and author of The New Jim Crow:  Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness — the bestselling book that helped to transform the national debate on racial and criminal justice in the United States. Michelle’s work has inspired a generation of racial justice activists motivated by her unforgettable argument that “we have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it.”
  • Maurice Mitchell: Maurice Mitchell is a nationally-recognized social movement strategist and visionary organizer for racial, social, and economic justice. Maurice helped build the Movement for Black Lives and was a key organizer of its 2015 convention in Cleveland. In 2018, Maurice took the helm of the Working Families Party as National Director where he is applying his passion and experience to make WFP the political home for a multi-racial working-class movement.
  • Gina Clayton-Johnson: Gina Clayton-Johnson is the Founder and Executive Director of Essie Justice Group, the nation’s leading advocacy organization of women with incarcerated loved ones. She is also a central architect of the BREATHE Act, the largest piece of proposed federal legislation delivered to Congress by a social movement. Gina has spent over 15 years advocating for Black communities as an organizer, attorney, activist, and woman with an incarcerated loved one. As a public defense attorney, she specialized in representing low-income women facing eviction as the result of a family member’s criminal matter. Currently, Gina is navigating the loss of her Altadena home from the recent LA wildfires.
]]> This week we are featuring a special presentation of a panel hosted by our friends at Essie Justice Group on February 27th in Oakland, California. This intimate conversation led by Michelle Alexander, Maurice Mitchell and Gina Clayton-Johnson talk criminalization, climate change, and organizing Black and brown working class communities in this political moment. Against the backdrop of the LA wildfires which have impacted Essie Justice Group’s members and Gina personally, and the mounting threats to democracy, this important discussion among strategic leaders delivers deep insights into today's most urgent fights.

Panelists

  • Michelle Alexander: Michelle Alexander is a highly acclaimed civil rights lawyer, advocate, legal scholar, and author of The New Jim Crow:  Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness — the bestselling book that helped to transform the national debate on racial and criminal justice in the United States. Michelle’s work has inspired a generation of racial justice activists motivated by her unforgettable argument that “we have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it.”
  • Maurice Mitchell: Maurice Mitchell is a nationally-recognized social movement strategist and visionary organizer for racial, social, and economic justice. Maurice helped build the Movement for Black Lives and was a key organizer of its 2015 convention in Cleveland. In 2018, Maurice took the helm of the Working Families Party as National Director where he is applying his passion and experience to make WFP the political home for a multi-racial working-class movement.
  • Gina Clayton-Johnson: Gina Clayton-Johnson is the Founder and Executive Director of Essie Justice Group, the nation’s leading advocacy organization of women with incarcerated loved ones. She is also a central architect of the BREATHE Act, the largest piece of proposed federal legislation delivered to Congress by a social movement. Gina has spent over 15 years advocating for Black communities as an organizer, attorney, activist, and woman with an incarcerated loved one. As a public defense attorney, she specialized in representing low-income women facing eviction as the result of a family member’s criminal matter. Currently, Gina is navigating the loss of her Altadena home from the recent LA wildfires.
]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/01/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg Feed Drop: Build Through Belonging, w/ Essie Justice Group false no 01:29:42 No no Unrigging the Game, w/ Vanessa Priya Daniel https://convergencemag.com/podcast/how-to-unrig-the-game/ Mon, 17 Mar 2025 09:00:00 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=12173 This week on the show Cayden is joined first by Executive Director of Detention Watch Network (@detentionwatch), Silky Shah, to help us understand the danger and implications of ICE’s illegal detention of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil earlier this week. Then author Vanessa Priya Daniel (@vanessapriyadaniel) joins to discuss her new book Unrig the Game: What Women of Color Can Teach Everyone About Winning.

NCRP Research on Funding for Anti-Democracy Organizations

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]]> This week on the show Cayden is joined first by Executive Director of Detention Watch Network (@detentionwatch), Silky Shah, to help us understand the danger and implications of ICE’s illegal detention of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil earlier this week. Then author Vanessa Priya Daniel (@vanessapriyadaniel) joins to discuss her new book Unrig the Game: What Women of Color Can Teach Everyone About Winning.

NCRP Research on Funding for Anti-Democracy Organizations

Connect with Block & Build

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/01/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg Unrigging the Game, w/ Vanessa Priya Daniel false no 00:57:43 No no Philanthropy’s Relation with Organizing, w/ Carmen Rojas https://convergencemag.com/podcast/putting-philanthropy-in-right-relation-with-organizing/ Mon, 10 Mar 2025 09:00:00 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=12138 This week on the show Cayden is joined by President and CEO of the Marguerite Casey Foundation, Carmen Rojas, as part of our ongoing conversation about what the role of philanthropic foundations and donors can or should be in efforts to bolster movement organizing. We recorded the interview earlier this week and had a great discussion about how Marguerite Casey is working to be in right relationship with people’s movements under current conditions.

The Washington Post piece referenced in this week's headlines: "Inside the White House’s new media strategy to promote Trump as ‘KING’"

Check out AOC's response to Trump's congressional address, which pitches some strategies we've been championing on this show and in our publishing for quite some time.

Connect with Block & Build

]]> full This week on the show Cayden is joined by President and CEO of the Marguerite Casey Foundation, Carmen Rojas, as part of our ongoing conversation about what the role of philanthropic foundations and donors can or should be in efforts to bolster movement organizing. We recorded the interview earlier this week and had a great discussion about how Marguerite Casey is working to be in right relationship with people’s movements under current conditions.

The Washington Post piece referenced in this week's headlines: "Inside the White House’s new media strategy to promote Trump as ‘KING’"

Check out AOC's response to Trump's congressional address, which pitches some strategies we've been championing on this show and in our publishing for quite some time.

Connect with Block & Build

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/01/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg Philanthropy’s Relation with Organizing, w/ Carmen Rojas false no 00:49:00 No no Protecting Migrant Communities w/ Marisa Franco https://convergencemag.com/podcast/protecting-migrant-communities-in-the-new-trump-era/ Mon, 03 Mar 2025 11:00:00 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=12069 Marisa Franco, Executive Director of Mijente, joins Cayden to discuss the Trump administration's purposefully cruel deportation efforts and how Mijente is working to respond to these conditions while building power in immigrant communities.

Also in this show, journalist and friend of the pod Sarah Lazare chats about her new piece in the Nation, How Healthcare Workers Are Defending Their Transgender Patients from Trump’s Attacks. The article covers American healthcare workers defending their transgender patients from Trump’s executive order attacks.

Connect with Block & Build

]]> full Marisa Franco, Executive Director of Mijente, joins Cayden to discuss the Trump administration's purposefully cruel deportation efforts and how Mijente is working to respond to these conditions while building power in immigrant communities.

Also in this show, journalist and friend of the pod Sarah Lazare chats about her new piece in the Nation, How Healthcare Workers Are Defending Their Transgender Patients from Trump’s Attacks. The article covers American healthcare workers defending their transgender patients from Trump’s executive order attacks.

Connect with Block & Build

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/01/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg Protecting Migrant Communities w/ Marisa Franco false no 00:59:42 No no Rural America Fights the Right w/ Beth Howard and Stephen Smith https://convergencemag.com/podcast/rural-america-fights-the-right/ Mon, 24 Feb 2025 10:00:00 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=11911 Rural communities are fighting back against the MAGA agenda. Cayden is joined by Appalachia Peoples Union Director for Standing Up for Racial Justice, Beth Howard, and organizer with West Virginia Can’t Wait, Stephen Smith. They recently published From Rural America With Love: An Invitation to Bravery.

Info on federal worker organizing: federalunionists.net

Connect with Block & Build

]]> full Rural communities are fighting back against the MAGA agenda. Cayden is joined by Appalachia Peoples Union Director for Standing Up for Racial Justice, Beth Howard, and organizer with West Virginia Can’t Wait, Stephen Smith. They recently published From Rural America With Love: An Invitation to Bravery.

Info on federal worker organizing: federalunionists.net

Connect with Block & Build

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/01/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg Rural America Fights the Right w/ Beth Howard and Stephen Smith false no 00:57:59 No no Feed Drop: The Fascism Barometer https://convergencemag.com/podcast/movement-media-feed-drop-the-fascism-barometer/ Mon, 17 Feb 2025 10:00:00 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=11757 Cayden is out this week so we're featuring an episode of The Fascism Barometer, the new podcast from friend of the show Ejeris Dixon. We hope you find it useful. If so, check out the links below to subscribe and connect with The Fascism Barometer resource hub on their website.

The Fascism Barometer, Episode 5: Keeping Ourselves Safe as Fascism Rises

Che Johnson-Long and Ken Montenegro, two longtime community security and safety practitioners, join The Fascism Barometer to discuss ways to increase our safety in the face of rising fascism.  Ejeris, Che, and Ken discuss safety planning tips for individuals and organizations, including resistance and survival strategies that can be combined to make us safer in the short and long term.

Connect with Block & Build

]]> full Cayden is out this week so we're featuring an episode of The Fascism Barometer, the new podcast from friend of the show Ejeris Dixon. We hope you find it useful. If so, check out the links below to subscribe and connect with The Fascism Barometer resource hub on their website.

The Fascism Barometer, Episode 5: Keeping Ourselves Safe as Fascism Rises

Che Johnson-Long and Ken Montenegro, two longtime community security and safety practitioners, join The Fascism Barometer to discuss ways to increase our safety in the face of rising fascism.  Ejeris, Che, and Ken discuss safety planning tips for individuals and organizations, including resistance and survival strategies that can be combined to make us safer in the short and long term.

Connect with Block & Build

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/01/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg Feed Drop: The Fascism Barometer false no 00:50:55 No no Cop City and the ATL 61 w/Aja Arnold & Tåsi Chargualaf https://convergencemag.com/podcast/the-process-is-the-punishment-cop-city-and-the-atl-61/ Mon, 10 Feb 2025 10:00:00 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=11697 The Process is the Punishment, a new podcast from Mainline, documents the struggle of the ATL 61 through interviews with five defendants, and attorneys connected to the case. The ATL 61 were indicted under the state of Georgia’s RICO Act in August 2023, for their protest against the controversial police training facility known as “Cop City.”

In this episode we offer a preview of The Process is the Punishment, and Cayden talks with Mainline founder Aja Arnold and podcast producer Tåsi Chargualaf about the project, and about the movement to stop Cop City.

Episode one is available to stream now on Mainline's Patreon and Substack for their paid subscribers.

Contribute your thoughts to Mainline's Movement Media Training Survey

Connect with the show

]]> full The Process is the Punishment, a new podcast from Mainline, documents the struggle of the ATL 61 through interviews with five defendants, and attorneys connected to the case. The ATL 61 were indicted under the state of Georgia’s RICO Act in August 2023, for their protest against the controversial police training facility known as “Cop City.”

In this episode we offer a preview of The Process is the Punishment, and Cayden talks with Mainline founder Aja Arnold and podcast producer Tåsi Chargualaf about the project, and about the movement to stop Cop City.

Episode one is available to stream now on Mainline's Patreon and Substack for their paid subscribers.

Contribute your thoughts to Mainline's Movement Media Training Survey

Connect with the show

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/01/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg Cop City and the ATL 61 w/Aja Arnold & Tåsi Chargualaf false no 00:53:30 No no The People Still March w/ Rachel O’Leary Carmona https://convergencemag.com/podcast/the-people-still-march/ Mon, 03 Feb 2025 10:00:00 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=11656 This week on the show, we are joined by Executive Director of Media Justice, Steven Renderos, to discuss the latest nefarious activities of the FCC. Then the Executive Director of Women’s March, Rachel O’Leary Carmona, joins to discuss what the impact of mass demonstrations can be for organizing in this moment; following on the heels of their recent People's March in Washington D.C. earlier this month.

Resources and references from this episode:

Connect with the show:

]]> full This week on the show, we are joined by Executive Director of Media Justice, Steven Renderos, to discuss the latest nefarious activities of the FCC. Then the Executive Director of Women’s March, Rachel O’Leary Carmona, joins to discuss what the impact of mass demonstrations can be for organizing in this moment; following on the heels of their recent People's March in Washington D.C. earlier this month.

Resources and references from this episode:

Connect with the show:

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/01/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg The People Still March w/ Rachel O’Leary Carmona false no 00:59:01 No no Organizing Federal Workers w/ Cathy Albisa https://convergencemag.com/podcast/organizing-federal-workers-to-protect-state-services/ Mon, 27 Jan 2025 10:00:00 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=11607 On the show this week, Cayden talks first about Convergence Magazine's recent publishing collaboration with In These Times, The Forge, and The Real News Network. Together, we published a collection of writing and podcast episodes entitled Left Out: The Missing Election Narratives – available in the latest print edition of In These Times and in full and online.

Then we're joined by Vice President for Institutional and Sectoral Change at Race Forward, Cathy Albisa, as well as federal workers Lauren Leib, President of NTEU Chapter 340 and Chris Dols, President of IFPTE Local 98, to talk about their efforts to protect vital state services - and our democracy - in this coming period.

Additional resources from this episode:

Connect with the show:

]]> full On the show this week, Cayden talks first about Convergence Magazine's recent publishing collaboration with In These Times, The Forge, and The Real News Network. Together, we published a collection of writing and podcast episodes entitled Left Out: The Missing Election Narratives – available in the latest print edition of In These Times and in full and online.

Then we're joined by Vice President for Institutional and Sectoral Change at Race Forward, Cathy Albisa, as well as federal workers Lauren Leib, President of NTEU Chapter 340 and Chris Dols, President of IFPTE Local 98, to talk about their efforts to protect vital state services - and our democracy - in this coming period.

Additional resources from this episode:

Connect with the show:

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/01/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg Organizing Federal Workers w/ Cathy Albisa false no 00:57:41 No no Block & Build 2.0 w/ Max Elbaum and Jon Liss https://convergencemag.com/podcast/block-build-2-0/ Mon, 20 Jan 2025 10:00:00 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=11555 This week on the show Cayden is joined by fellow Convergence editorial board members Max Elbaum and Jon Liss. We recently published a collective editorial statement called Block & Build 2.0. The piece lays out the many ways the Block & Build strategy has to re-orient to the seismic shifts in the political landscape that are happening as we enter a 2nd Trump term this coming week. Max and Jon walk us through some of our most important strategic adjustments as well as wrestle with some of the areas we still face questions and uncertainty.

]]> This week on the show Cayden is joined by fellow Convergence editorial board members Max Elbaum and Jon Liss. We recently published a collective editorial statement called Block & Build 2.0. The piece lays out the many ways the Block & Build strategy has to re-orient to the seismic shifts in the political landscape that are happening as we enter a 2nd Trump term this coming week. Max and Jon walk us through some of our most important strategic adjustments as well as wrestle with some of the areas we still face questions and uncertainty.

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2025/01/Block-Build-Podcast-Icon-Square-2025-scaled.jpg Block & Build 2.0 w/ Max Elbaum and Jon Liss false no 00:55:28 No no Embodying Abolition in Our Lives, w/ Maya Schenwar https://convergencemag.com/podcast/embodying-abolition-in-our-lives-with-maya-schenwar/ Mon, 13 Jan 2025 11:00:00 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=11490 This week on the show Cayden is joined by one of the editors of the new anthology We Grow the World Together: Parenting Toward Abolition, out now from Haymarket Books, Maya Schenwar. The book brings together a remarkable collection of voices revealing the complex tapestry of ways people are living abolition in their daily lives through parenting and caregiving. Ranging from personal narratives to policy-focused analysis to activist chronicles, its writers highlight how abolition is essential to any kind of parenting justice.

For those impacted by the Los Angeles area wild fires, mutual aid and other resources are being actively updated by Los Angeles Climate Week and Collidescope Foundation, or you can give to a central fund run by the Movement Innovation Collaborative.

Contact this show: mailbag@convergencemag.com Support this show and others like it by becoming a member at convergencemag.com/donate

]]> full This week on the show Cayden is joined by one of the editors of the new anthology We Grow the World Together: Parenting Toward Abolition, out now from Haymarket Books, Maya Schenwar. The book brings together a remarkable collection of voices revealing the complex tapestry of ways people are living abolition in their daily lives through parenting and caregiving. Ranging from personal narratives to policy-focused analysis to activist chronicles, its writers highlight how abolition is essential to any kind of parenting justice.

For those impacted by the Los Angeles area wild fires, mutual aid and other resources are being actively updated by Los Angeles Climate Week and Collidescope Foundation, or you can give to a central fund run by the Movement Innovation Collaborative.

Contact this show: mailbag@convergencemag.com Support this show and others like it by becoming a member at convergencemag.com/donate

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2024/04/Logo.jpg Embodying Abolition in Our Lives, w/ Maya Schenwar false no 00:56:45 No no Holding Our Collective Grief, w/ Sarah Jaffe and Malkia Devich-Cyril https://convergencemag.com/podcast/holding-our-collective-grief-with-sarah-jaffe-and-malkia-devich-cyril/ Fri, 20 Dec 2024 20:39:33 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=11340 Cayden is joined this episode by organizer and strategist, as well as co-founder of MediaJustice and founder of the Radical Loss Project, Malkia Devich-Cyril and journalist and author of From The Ashes: Grief and Revolution in a World on Fire, Sarah Jaffe. Together, they seek to grapple with the political and cultural implications of grief, both individual and collective, arising from everything that’s happened to us, collectively, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Contact this show: mailbag@convergencemag.com Support this show and others like it by becoming a member at convergencemag.com/donate

]]> full Cayden is joined this episode by organizer and strategist, as well as co-founder of MediaJustice and founder of the Radical Loss Project, Malkia Devich-Cyril and journalist and author of From The Ashes: Grief and Revolution in a World on Fire, Sarah Jaffe. Together, they seek to grapple with the political and cultural implications of grief, both individual and collective, arising from everything that’s happened to us, collectively, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Contact this show: mailbag@convergencemag.com Support this show and others like it by becoming a member at convergencemag.com/donate

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2024/04/Logo.jpg Holding Our Collective Grief, w/ Sarah Jaffe and Malkia Devich-Cyril false no 00:57:01 No no Checking The Barometric Pressure of Creeping Fascism, w/ Ejeris Dixon https://convergencemag.com/podcast/checking-the-barometric-pressure-of-creeping-fascism-with-ejeris-dixon/ Fri, 13 Dec 2024 21:46:14 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=11298 This week on the show Cayden is joined by the Principal of Ejerie Labs, Ejeris Dixon. Ejeris recently launched The Fascism Barometer, a podcast and resource hub project working to educate communities already feeling authoritarian impacts about what fascism is and how we stop it. We’ll explore the history of creeping fascist trends in our society and politics and how we all should think about our relationship to state power.

Before that, Cayden is joined by Ju-Hyun Park, a Movement Media colleague at The Real News Network and organizer with Nodutdol about what’s been unfolding in South Korea since the unsuccessful coup attempt by President Yoon Suk Yeol on December 3. Read Ju-Hyun's full story at People's Dispatch.

Contact this show: mailbag@convergencemag.com

Support this show and others like it by becoming a member at convergencemag.com/donate

]]> full This week on the show Cayden is joined by the Principal of Ejerie Labs, Ejeris Dixon. Ejeris recently launched The Fascism Barometer, a podcast and resource hub project working to educate communities already feeling authoritarian impacts about what fascism is and how we stop it. We’ll explore the history of creeping fascist trends in our society and politics and how we all should think about our relationship to state power.

Before that, Cayden is joined by Ju-Hyun Park, a Movement Media colleague at The Real News Network and organizer with Nodutdol about what’s been unfolding in South Korea since the unsuccessful coup attempt by President Yoon Suk Yeol on December 3. Read Ju-Hyun's full story at People's Dispatch.

Contact this show: mailbag@convergencemag.com

Support this show and others like it by becoming a member at convergencemag.com/donate

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2024/04/Logo.jpg Checking The Barometric Pressure of Creeping Fascism, w/ Ejeris Dixon false no 00:58:18 No no We Don’t Need a “Joe Rogan of the Left” w/ Adam Johnson & Hermalinde Cortés https://convergencemag.com/podcast/dont-hold-your-breath-for-a-joe-rogan-of-the-left/ Fri, 06 Dec 2024 21:49:53 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=11263 This week on the show we’re exploring the challenges of building a progressive media ecosystem and mainstreaming movement narratives in existing corporate media. First, Adam Johnson, co-host of the Citations Needed podcast, joins Cayden to help us understand the current state of play in media and public relations work and why it’s against us by design.

Then Cayden talks with Hermelinda Cortés, Executive Director of ReFrame, about her organization's research on the ways narrative links traditional and social media to create the social “weather” conditions for our movements. They dig into ReFrame's post-election efforts to help build deeper, more powerful, and farther-reaching movement narratives.

Contact this show: mailbag@convergencemag.com

Support this show and others like it by becoming a member at convergencemag.com/donate

]]> full This week on the show we’re exploring the challenges of building a progressive media ecosystem and mainstreaming movement narratives in existing corporate media. First, Adam Johnson, co-host of the Citations Needed podcast, joins Cayden to help us understand the current state of play in media and public relations work and why it’s against us by design.

Then Cayden talks with Hermelinda Cortés, Executive Director of ReFrame, about her organization's research on the ways narrative links traditional and social media to create the social “weather” conditions for our movements. They dig into ReFrame's post-election efforts to help build deeper, more powerful, and farther-reaching movement narratives.

Contact this show: mailbag@convergencemag.com

Support this show and others like it by becoming a member at convergencemag.com/donate

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2024/04/Logo.jpg We Don’t Need a “Joe Rogan of the Left” w/ Adam Johnson & Hermalinde Cortés false no 01:03:30 No no Avenues for Action, w/ United We Dream and LJ Amsterdam https://convergencemag.com/podcast/how-we-organize-against-maga-with-bruna-bouhid-and-lj-amsterdam/ Fri, 22 Nov 2024 22:02:06 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=11180 This week on the show we’re looking at how our strategies need to adapt in the coming months. First, we are joined by the Senior Political Director for United We Dream about their vital lame duck session advocacy. Then we take a bit of a longer view of what movement work needs to look like during the second Trump administration with Senior Fellow at Future Currents, LJ Amsterdam. Her soon-to-be-published report about the changing nature and strategy behind direct action holds some key learnings for all of us preparing for next year.

Connect with United We Dream by texting "Here To Stay" to 787-57

Get in touch with Future Currents for more info for you or your organization: info@futurecurrents.org

Support this show and others like it by becoming a member at convergencemag.com/donate

]]> full This week on the show we’re looking at how our strategies need to adapt in the coming months. First, we are joined by the Senior Political Director for United We Dream about their vital lame duck session advocacy. Then we take a bit of a longer view of what movement work needs to look like during the second Trump administration with Senior Fellow at Future Currents, LJ Amsterdam. Her soon-to-be-published report about the changing nature and strategy behind direct action holds some key learnings for all of us preparing for next year.

Connect with United We Dream by texting "Here To Stay" to 787-57

Get in touch with Future Currents for more info for you or your organization: info@futurecurrents.org

Support this show and others like it by becoming a member at convergencemag.com/donate

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2024/04/Logo.jpg Avenues for Action, w/ United We Dream and LJ Amsterdam false no 00:52:30 No no The Post Election Blame Game w/Waleed Shahid & Connie Razza https://convergencemag.com/podcast/all-the-hottest-takes-understanding-the-post-election-blame-game/ Fri, 15 Nov 2024 21:57:10 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=11127 Cayden is joined by political strategist Waleed Shahid, to discuss the lay of the land that is the many…many hot takes and finger pointing that has been going on since last week’s election both inside and outside the Democratic party. Waleed recently laid out a really helpful typology on his Substack and we’ll discuss what we should we sit with and digest versus what should roll right off our backs. We’ll also assess how the Uncommitted movement played out through this election season and where we go next to continue the important work toward Palestinian safety and liberation.

Then Executive Director of Future Currents, Connie Razza, joins to talk about scenario planning and research work they’ve already been doing that can help us prepare for this treacherous moment. Find their recent report on how movements prepare: Getting Ready & Staying Ready: Lessons from 2025-26 Scenario Exercises

Get in touch with Future Currents for more info for you or your organization: info@futurecurrents.org

Support this show and others like it by becoming a member at convergencemag.com/donate

]]> full Cayden is joined by political strategist Waleed Shahid, to discuss the lay of the land that is the many…many hot takes and finger pointing that has been going on since last week’s election both inside and outside the Democratic party. Waleed recently laid out a really helpful typology on his Substack and we’ll discuss what we should we sit with and digest versus what should roll right off our backs. We’ll also assess how the Uncommitted movement played out through this election season and where we go next to continue the important work toward Palestinian safety and liberation.

Then Executive Director of Future Currents, Connie Razza, joins to talk about scenario planning and research work they’ve already been doing that can help us prepare for this treacherous moment. Find their recent report on how movements prepare: Getting Ready & Staying Ready: Lessons from 2025-26 Scenario Exercises

Get in touch with Future Currents for more info for you or your organization: info@futurecurrents.org

Support this show and others like it by becoming a member at convergencemag.com/donate

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2024/04/Logo.jpg The Post Election Blame Game w/Waleed Shahid & Connie Razza false no 01:13:38 No no We Failed to Block the Return of MAGA https://convergencemag.com/podcast/we-failed-to-block-the-return-of-maga-now-what/ Fri, 08 Nov 2024 21:43:00 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=11079 Lots of folks are getting tugged at by the “blame game” that happens after every election cycle. Instead of looking at counterfactuals, we want to ground in reflection and self-critique, as well as where trends are going and what we need to do next.

Cayden is joined today by a panel of folks we often look to when we need to think about what the hell is going on:

Learn about the Joint Resolution of Disapproval and how to contact your legislators.

Places you can connect to organizing work right now:

Support this show and others like it by becoming a member of Convergence at convergencemag.com/donate

]]> Lots of folks are getting tugged at by the “blame game” that happens after every election cycle. Instead of looking at counterfactuals, we want to ground in reflection and self-critique, as well as where trends are going and what we need to do next.

Cayden is joined today by a panel of folks we often look to when we need to think about what the hell is going on:

Learn about the Joint Resolution of Disapproval and how to contact your legislators.

Places you can connect to organizing work right now:

Support this show and others like it by becoming a member of Convergence at convergencemag.com/donate

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2024/04/Logo.jpg We Failed to Block the Return of MAGA false no 01:00:46 No no State of the United Front Against MAGA, w/ Loan Tran https://convergencemag.com/podcast/state-of-the-united-front-against-maga-with-loan-tran/ Fri, 01 Nov 2024 22:05:42 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=11016 We’re just a few days out from Election Day, so this episode covers a lot of ground. First we hear from Dusti Gurule, President and CEO of COLOR Latina. Dusti and COLOR are front and center in the campaign to pass Colorado's Amendment 79, which would enshrine abortion rights in the state’s constitution and remove a major barrier to accessing those rights by allowing public funds to pay for abortion services. Then we're joined by Rising Majority National Director Loan Tran, back to check in on the state of the united front against MAGA as we go into election week. And we have another report from the doors, this one from Ellie, a canvasser with Essie Justice Group, which works to harness the collective power of women with incarcerated loved ones to end mass incarceration's harm to women and communities.

Additional Resources

Support this show and others like by becoming a member at convergencemag.com/donate

]]> full We’re just a few days out from Election Day, so this episode covers a lot of ground. First we hear from Dusti Gurule, President and CEO of COLOR Latina. Dusti and COLOR are front and center in the campaign to pass Colorado's Amendment 79, which would enshrine abortion rights in the state’s constitution and remove a major barrier to accessing those rights by allowing public funds to pay for abortion services. Then we're joined by Rising Majority National Director Loan Tran, back to check in on the state of the united front against MAGA as we go into election week. And we have another report from the doors, this one from Ellie, a canvasser with Essie Justice Group, which works to harness the collective power of women with incarcerated loved ones to end mass incarceration's harm to women and communities.

Additional Resources

Support this show and others like by becoming a member at convergencemag.com/donate

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2024/04/Logo.jpg State of the United Front Against MAGA, w/ Loan Tran false no 00:55:46 No no Organizing the Rich, w/ Vini Bhansali and Michael Gast https://convergencemag.com/podcast/hear-us-out-lets-organize-the-rich-with-vini-bhansali-and-michael-gast/ Fri, 25 Oct 2024 17:51:57 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=10964 This week, Cayden speaks with two people doing some deep thinking – and important organizing – that may point the way forward on how we think about the financial resources our movements need to win. First, he spoke with Vini Bhansali, the Executive Director of the Solidaire Network, a community of donor organizers mobilizing critical resources to build political power for movements for racial, gender, and climate justice.

Then we'll hear from Michael Gast, a donor advisor who’s working to surface the deep history of organizing the rich – and figuring out where we go from here. You can hear more from Michael at his substack Organize the Rich.

And we have more testimonials from volunteers with Seed the Vote helping you understand how accessible and easy it is to get out and canvass for the issues and candidates you care about.

Support this show and other like it by becoming a member at convergencemag.com/donate.

]]> full This week, Cayden speaks with two people doing some deep thinking – and important organizing – that may point the way forward on how we think about the financial resources our movements need to win. First, he spoke with Vini Bhansali, the Executive Director of the Solidaire Network, a community of donor organizers mobilizing critical resources to build political power for movements for racial, gender, and climate justice.

Then we'll hear from Michael Gast, a donor advisor who’s working to surface the deep history of organizing the rich – and figuring out where we go from here. You can hear more from Michael at his substack Organize the Rich.

And we have more testimonials from volunteers with Seed the Vote helping you understand how accessible and easy it is to get out and canvass for the issues and candidates you care about.

Support this show and other like it by becoming a member at convergencemag.com/donate.

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2024/04/Logo.jpg Organizing the Rich, w/ Vini Bhansali and Michael Gast false no 00:51:59 No no The Future of American Foreign Policy, with Van Jackson https://convergencemag.com/podcast/the-future-of-american-foreign-policy-with-van-jackson/ Fri, 18 Oct 2024 20:07:31 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=10910 Van Jackson, a scholar of international relations and host of the Un-Diplomatic podcast, joined Cayden a few weeks ago to scope out the big picture of US foreign relations and what might or might not shift if Kamala Harris wins the White House.

Check out Van's show Un-Diplomatic on YouTube and Apple Podcasts.

Support this show and other like it by becoming a member at convergencemag.com/donate.

]]> full Van Jackson, a scholar of international relations and host of the Un-Diplomatic podcast, joined Cayden a few weeks ago to scope out the big picture of US foreign relations and what might or might not shift if Kamala Harris wins the White House.

Check out Van's show Un-Diplomatic on YouTube and Apple Podcasts.

Support this show and other like it by becoming a member at convergencemag.com/donate.

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2024/04/Logo.jpg The Future of American Foreign Policy, with Van Jackson false no 01:06:37 No no One Year of Anguish and Grief https://convergencemag.com/podcast/one-year-of-anguish-and-grief/ Fri, 11 Oct 2024 20:17:30 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=10875 This week has been a difficult one for many of us. Looking back on the past year, it’s hard not to feel deep frustration, grief, and anguish over the way that the US has enabled Israel’s genocide in Gaza and further intensification of violence and expansion beyond Gaza to include the West Bank and Lebanon. It’s also impossible to ignore the ways that both Israel’s campaign and movement organizing has shifted the political landscape in indelible ways. More people in the US have been galvanized to act in solidarity with Palestinians and started asking pointed questions about our government’s blank-check support for Benjamin Netanyahu’s authoritarian government. Foreign policy, war, and peace have become important to this year’s Presidential election in a way that it simply hasn’t been in recent memory.

Joining today's panel to discuss how we move forward after this difficult year where public opinion is on our side, but institutional power refuses to budge are:

Additional Resources

Support this show and other like it by becoming a member at convergencemag.com/donate.

]]> full 26 This week has been a difficult one for many of us. Looking back on the past year, it’s hard not to feel deep frustration, grief, and anguish over the way that the US has enabled Israel’s genocide in Gaza and further intensification of violence and expansion beyond Gaza to include the West Bank and Lebanon. It’s also impossible to ignore the ways that both Israel’s campaign and movement organizing has shifted the political landscape in indelible ways. More people in the US have been galvanized to act in solidarity with Palestinians and started asking pointed questions about our government’s blank-check support for Benjamin Netanyahu’s authoritarian government. Foreign policy, war, and peace have become important to this year’s Presidential election in a way that it simply hasn’t been in recent memory.

Joining today's panel to discuss how we move forward after this difficult year where public opinion is on our side, but institutional power refuses to budge are:

Additional Resources

Support this show and other like it by becoming a member at convergencemag.com/donate.

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2024/04/Logo.jpg One Year of Anguish and Grief false no 00:55:40 No no The Minnesota Model, w/ Doran Schrantz https://convergencemag.com/podcast/behind-every-progressive-policy-is-good-organizing-tim-walz-and-the-minnesota-model-with-doran-schrantz/ Fri, 04 Oct 2024 20:36:26 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=10816 In this episode we take a deep dive into what some folks call the “Minnesota Model,” the organizing power behind the policies that made Tim Walz’s reputation as a progressive governor. While Walz tacked to the right in his debate with JD Vance earlier this week, there’s no denying his progressive record as governor of Minnesota. He signed legislation expanding free school meals, requiring a transition to clean energy for all Minnesota power plants by 2040, and codifying the right to abortion in the state.

These wins came from decades of relentless progressive organizing in Minnesota through coalitions of faith, labor, and community groups willing to engage with the messy work of shared governance. Joining Cayden to discuss the model’s strengths and complexity is Doran Schrantz, former executive director of the organizing groups Faith in Minnesota and ISAIAH.

Other Resources

Down Home North Carolina has links to a resource to support equitable relief and recovery in western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee.

Highlander Center is posting relief and recovery links to their Instagram from eastern Tennessee.

Support Convergence

]]> full 24 In this episode we take a deep dive into what some folks call the “Minnesota Model,” the organizing power behind the policies that made Tim Walz’s reputation as a progressive governor. While Walz tacked to the right in his debate with JD Vance earlier this week, there’s no denying his progressive record as governor of Minnesota. He signed legislation expanding free school meals, requiring a transition to clean energy for all Minnesota power plants by 2040, and codifying the right to abortion in the state.

These wins came from decades of relentless progressive organizing in Minnesota through coalitions of faith, labor, and community groups willing to engage with the messy work of shared governance. Joining Cayden to discuss the model’s strengths and complexity is Doran Schrantz, former executive director of the organizing groups Faith in Minnesota and ISAIAH.

Other Resources

Down Home North Carolina has links to a resource to support equitable relief and recovery in western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee.

Highlander Center is posting relief and recovery links to their Instagram from eastern Tennessee.

Support Convergence

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2024/04/Logo.jpg The Minnesota Model, w/ Doran Schrantz false no 01:21:11 No no The Power to Win, w/ Miski Noor https://convergencemag.com/podcast/the-power-to-win-with-miski-noor-andrew-friedman-and-jacky-brooks/ Fri, 27 Sep 2024 19:47:36 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=10765 Cayden is joined first by Publisher for The Forge, Miski Noor and Senior Director of Strategy and co-founder of The Action Lab, Andrew Friedman. We’ll be discussing their recently co-published report on organizing toward progressive power titled The Power to Win Report. Then I’ll be joined by interim Executive Director of the Kairos Fellowship, Jacky Brooks to talk about the ways big tech works to disrupt progressive and left organizing and the User Error series of reports provided by Kairos to teach organizers what to watch out for and how we fight back.

Other links

Support Convergence

]]> full 24 Cayden is joined first by Publisher for The Forge, Miski Noor and Senior Director of Strategy and co-founder of The Action Lab, Andrew Friedman. We’ll be discussing their recently co-published report on organizing toward progressive power titled The Power to Win Report. Then I’ll be joined by interim Executive Director of the Kairos Fellowship, Jacky Brooks to talk about the ways big tech works to disrupt progressive and left organizing and the User Error series of reports provided by Kairos to teach organizers what to watch out for and how we fight back.

Other links

Support Convergence

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2024/04/Logo.jpg The Power to Win, w/ Miski Noor false no 00:55:29 No no Manufacturing Consent for Genocide w/ Sandra Tamari & Ramah Kudaimi https://convergencemag.com/podcast/genocide-gentry-how-war-profiteers-manufacture-consent-with-sandra-tamari-ramah-kudaimi-and-jen-byers/ Fri, 20 Sep 2024 20:33:40 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=10719 On the show this week, Cayden is joined by Sandra Tamari, Executive Director of Adalah Justice Project, and Ramah Kudaimi, who is the Director of Crescendo at the Action Center on Race and the Economy, to discuss their new research project, Genocide Gentry, which exposes the intimate links between war profiteers and many prominent educational, cultural, and other institutions across the US.

Then, investigative journalist Jen Byers joins to discuss her reporting on the criminal cases being brought against a movement journalist in the Pacific Northwest for covering anti-fascist activists.

Resources from today's show

Support Convergence

]]> full 23 On the show this week, Cayden is joined by Sandra Tamari, Executive Director of Adalah Justice Project, and Ramah Kudaimi, who is the Director of Crescendo at the Action Center on Race and the Economy, to discuss their new research project, Genocide Gentry, which exposes the intimate links between war profiteers and many prominent educational, cultural, and other institutions across the US.

Then, investigative journalist Jen Byers joins to discuss her reporting on the criminal cases being brought against a movement journalist in the Pacific Northwest for covering anti-fascist activists.

Resources from today's show

Support Convergence

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2024/04/Logo.jpg Manufacturing Consent for Genocide w/ Sandra Tamari & Ramah Kudaimi false no 00:54:45 No no Exposing Neo-Nazi Lies, w/ Kate Ross https://convergencemag.com/podcast/exposing-neo-nazi-lies-about-migrants-with-kate-ross/ Fri, 13 Sep 2024 22:27:25 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=10669 In this episode we explore how far-right extremists and neo-Nazis strategically infiltrate small communities, like Springfield, Ohio, and leverage hateful rumors in and about the community. Since JD Vance and Donald Trump brought those rumors and lies to a national stage this week, these groups have celebrated their contribution to the story's ascendance to mainstream discourse as a top GOP talking point.

To learn more about these groups and their activity in Springfield, Cayden is joined by security expert Kate Ross (@kate_ross_), whose research on anti-government and racially motivated violent extremists has led her to study the activities of extremist groups in Springfield, Ohio for the past several months. Their activities have culminated in this week's viral, racist lies about Haitian migrants which Donald Trump amplified to millions of viewers in this week’s Presidential debate.

Resources from today's episode:

The Haitian Times - White supremacist’s “warning” against Haitians in Ohio triggers fear and calls for action

Haitian Bridge Alliance

Harnessing Our Power to End Political Violence

]]> full 22 In this episode we explore how far-right extremists and neo-Nazis strategically infiltrate small communities, like Springfield, Ohio, and leverage hateful rumors in and about the community. Since JD Vance and Donald Trump brought those rumors and lies to a national stage this week, these groups have celebrated their contribution to the story's ascendance to mainstream discourse as a top GOP talking point.

To learn more about these groups and their activity in Springfield, Cayden is joined by security expert Kate Ross (@kate_ross_), whose research on anti-government and racially motivated violent extremists has led her to study the activities of extremist groups in Springfield, Ohio for the past several months. Their activities have culminated in this week's viral, racist lies about Haitian migrants which Donald Trump amplified to millions of viewers in this week’s Presidential debate.

Resources from today's episode:

The Haitian Times - White supremacist’s “warning” against Haitians in Ohio triggers fear and calls for action

Haitian Bridge Alliance

Harnessing Our Power to End Political Violence

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2024/04/Logo.jpg Exposing Neo-Nazi Lies, w/ Kate Ross false no 00:38:04 No no Ballot Initiatives as Direct Democracy, w/ Chris Melody Fields Figueredo https://convergencemag.com/podcast/ballot-initiatives-as-direct-democracy-with-chris-melody-fields-figueredo/ Fri, 06 Sep 2024 20:20:39 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=10627 Executive Director of the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, Chris Melody Fields Figueredo joins to discuss the critical work our movements are undertaking this year to move ballot initiatives state-by-state, and how direct democracy can be a specific antidote to legislative gridlock.

Then our print editor, Marcy Rein, recently interviewed Florida Rising’s Campaign Director Ivanna Gonzalez, who is helping lead the campaign for Amendment 4 in Florida to restore abortion rights and healthcare access in the state, to show us what state ballot initiative strategy looks like in action.

]]> full 21 Executive Director of the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, Chris Melody Fields Figueredo joins to discuss the critical work our movements are undertaking this year to move ballot initiatives state-by-state, and how direct democracy can be a specific antidote to legislative gridlock.

Then our print editor, Marcy Rein, recently interviewed Florida Rising’s Campaign Director Ivanna Gonzalez, who is helping lead the campaign for Amendment 4 in Florida to restore abortion rights and healthcare access in the state, to show us what state ballot initiative strategy looks like in action.

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2024/04/Logo.jpg Ballot Initiatives as Direct Democracy, w/ Chris Melody Fields Figueredo false no 00:59:11 No no Block & Build Strategy at CUNY, w/ Alethia Jones https://convergencemag.com/podcast/block-build-strategy-comes-to-cuny-with-alithea-jones/ Fri, 30 Aug 2024 16:00:00 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=10566 On the show today, Cayden is joined by the Director of Civic Engagement and Leadership Development at the Murphy Institute at the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies, Dr. Alethia Jones. Next week, Dr. Jones and her colleagues are hosting a free, one-day conference focused on the task of block & build in the current period. Convergence Magazine Board Chair Max Elbaum is a featured guest at the event. Dr. Jones provides a preview of the upcoming gathering, as well the story of her life and work as a scholar, teacher, and writer in the labor movement.

Learn more about the September 6th event: Ensuring Democracy's Future

]]> full 20 On the show today, Cayden is joined by the Director of Civic Engagement and Leadership Development at the Murphy Institute at the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies, Dr. Alethia Jones. Next week, Dr. Jones and her colleagues are hosting a free, one-day conference focused on the task of block & build in the current period. Convergence Magazine Board Chair Max Elbaum is a featured guest at the event. Dr. Jones provides a preview of the upcoming gathering, as well the story of her life and work as a scholar, teacher, and writer in the labor movement.

Learn more about the September 6th event: Ensuring Democracy's Future

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2024/04/Logo.jpg Block & Build Strategy at CUNY, w/ Alethia Jones false no 00:37:22 No no Reports From the DNC, w/ Sarah Lazare & Eman Abdelhadi https://convergencemag.com/podcast/reports-from-the-dnc-gaza-in-the-spotlight-with-sarah-lazare-the-nation-and-eman-abdelhadi-in-these-times/ Fri, 23 Aug 2024 20:34:58 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=10527 As expected, this week's Democratic National Convention saw a variety of protests on the streets outside, mostly from groups demanding an end to the genocide in Gaza. Inside the convention, delegates in the Uncommitted Movement pressed their demand that a Palestinian be allowed to deliver a vetted speech from the main stage. The Democrats turned them down--so they sat in overnight on the sidewalk in front of the convention hall. They may not have been on the program, but the movement's voice was heard, and will continue to be.

Mother Jones ran the speech that Georgia State Rep. Ruwa Romman, who is Palestinian American, intended to deliver. You can read it here.

On the show today we feature a movement media roundtable with two journalists who were on the ground at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago all week. Joining Cayden to discuss the DNC and movement actions around the event are The Nation contributor Sarah Lazare (@sarahlazare) and In These Times contributor Eman Abdelhadi (@emanabdelhadi).

]]> full 19 1 As expected, this week's Democratic National Convention saw a variety of protests on the streets outside, mostly from groups demanding an end to the genocide in Gaza. Inside the convention, delegates in the Uncommitted Movement pressed their demand that a Palestinian be allowed to deliver a vetted speech from the main stage. The Democrats turned them down--so they sat in overnight on the sidewalk in front of the convention hall. They may not have been on the program, but the movement's voice was heard, and will continue to be.

Mother Jones ran the speech that Georgia State Rep. Ruwa Romman, who is Palestinian American, intended to deliver. You can read it here.

On the show today we feature a movement media roundtable with two journalists who were on the ground at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago all week. Joining Cayden to discuss the DNC and movement actions around the event are The Nation contributor Sarah Lazare (@sarahlazare) and In These Times contributor Eman Abdelhadi (@emanabdelhadi).

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2024/04/Logo.jpg Reports From the DNC, w/ Sarah Lazare & Eman Abdelhadi false no 00:54:46 No no AIPAC’s Election Influence, w/ Branko Marcetic & Alex Aronson https://convergencemag.com/podcast/corruption-special-aipacs-election-influence-and-our-tainted-courts-with-branko-marcetic-in-these-times-jacobin-and-alex-aronson-court-accountability/ Fri, 16 Aug 2024 19:41:01 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=10474 This week Cayden is joined by the Executive Director of Court Accountability, Alex Aronson (@alexaronson), to dive deeper into the right-wing capture of the courts and what we can do about it. Before that, Jacobin staff writer and journalist Branko Marcetic (@BMarchetich) joins to discuss his research for In These Times into how AIPAC spends its money.

]]> full 19 1 This week Cayden is joined by the Executive Director of Court Accountability, Alex Aronson (@alexaronson), to dive deeper into the right-wing capture of the courts and what we can do about it. Before that, Jacobin staff writer and journalist Branko Marcetic (@BMarchetich) joins to discuss his research for In These Times into how AIPAC spends its money.

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2024/04/Logo.jpg AIPAC’s Election Influence, w/ Branko Marcetic & Alex Aronson false no 00:54:15 No no Harris Fumbles Uncommitted Voters, w/ Layla Elabed & Elianne Farhat https://convergencemag.com/podcast/harris-fumbles-with-the-uncommitted-movement-with-emily-lee-seed-the-vote-layla-elabed-elianne-farhat-uncommitted-national-movement/ Fri, 09 Aug 2024 18:48:38 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=10428 This week, Kamala Harris surprised many by choosing the most progressive pick on her "veep-stakes" short list, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. Excitement and momentum on the left didn't last long as many are critiquing Harris' response to protestors in the crowd at a Michigan rally in which she equated their protests to stop the genocide in Gaza as a vote for Donald Trump. Joining the show to discuss the Uncommitted National Movement, which organized earlier this year to earn 30 uncommitted delegates at the Democratic National Convention later this month demanding ceasefire in Gaza, are Layla Elabed and Elianne Farhat.

Before that, Cayden is joined by Executive Director of Seed the Vote, Emily Lee, to discuss the importance of continuing the work of progressive electoral ground game and deep canvassing around the country through the remaining months of this election season. And we take a ride along the campaign trail with a feature of one of Seed the Vote's ground game canvassers in St. Louis, who spent the past few months working to re-elect Cori Bush.

]]> full 17 This week, Kamala Harris surprised many by choosing the most progressive pick on her "veep-stakes" short list, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. Excitement and momentum on the left didn't last long as many are critiquing Harris' response to protestors in the crowd at a Michigan rally in which she equated their protests to stop the genocide in Gaza as a vote for Donald Trump. Joining the show to discuss the Uncommitted National Movement, which organized earlier this year to earn 30 uncommitted delegates at the Democratic National Convention later this month demanding ceasefire in Gaza, are Layla Elabed and Elianne Farhat.

Before that, Cayden is joined by Executive Director of Seed the Vote, Emily Lee, to discuss the importance of continuing the work of progressive electoral ground game and deep canvassing around the country through the remaining months of this election season. And we take a ride along the campaign trail with a feature of one of Seed the Vote's ground game canvassers in St. Louis, who spent the past few months working to re-elect Cori Bush.

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2024/04/Logo.jpg Harris Fumbles Uncommitted Voters, w/ Layla Elabed & Elianne Farhat false no 01:20:48 No no Season 2 of ‘Hegemonicon’ w/ William Lawrence https://convergencemag.com/podcast/previewing-season-2-of-hegemonicon-with-william-lawrence-and-assessing-the-pivot-to-harris/ Fri, 26 Jul 2024 22:05:16 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=10315 In another historic news week, President Joe Biden forfeited his upcoming nomination as the Democratic Party's candidate for President, and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris. An immediate cascade of endorsements by other major Democratic Party figures followed, and Harris gathered enough delegate pledges to make her the party's presumptive nominee. Organizing energy surged; we saw a blizzard of social media memes from supporters and trolls alike. Cayden provides some analysis on how left organizers and movements might approach this moment and how we should think about the presidential nominee and election.

Then Hegemonicon podcast host William Lawrence joins to discuss and preview the show's upcoming season, which will focus on left internationalism.

Subscribe to Hegemonicon now to hear the first episode of Season 2 when it premieres on Tuesday, July 30th.

Support this show and others like it by becoming a member at convergencemag.com/donate

Contact us at mailbag@convergencemag.com

]]> 16 In another historic news week, President Joe Biden forfeited his upcoming nomination as the Democratic Party's candidate for President, and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris. An immediate cascade of endorsements by other major Democratic Party figures followed, and Harris gathered enough delegate pledges to make her the party's presumptive nominee. Organizing energy surged; we saw a blizzard of social media memes from supporters and trolls alike. Cayden provides some analysis on how left organizers and movements might approach this moment and how we should think about the presidential nominee and election.

Then Hegemonicon podcast host William Lawrence joins to discuss and preview the show's upcoming season, which will focus on left internationalism.

Subscribe to Hegemonicon now to hear the first episode of Season 2 when it premieres on Tuesday, July 30th.

Support this show and others like it by becoming a member at convergencemag.com/donate

Contact us at mailbag@convergencemag.com

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2024/04/Logo.jpg Season 2 of ‘Hegemonicon’ w/ William Lawrence false no 00:32:08 No no Live from the RNC w/ Chris Walker https://convergencemag.com/podcast/live-from-the-rnc-plus-launching-the-new-anti-authoritarian-podcast-with-chris-walker-truthout-and-sue-hyde-22nd-century-initiative/ Fri, 19 Jul 2024 17:47:04 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=10285 After the mass-shooting, assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump last Saturday, the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee continued as scheduled. Truthout.org news writer Chris Walker (@chriswalker) was on the ground in Milwaukee this week. He shares some of his reporting on the event—especially the heavy imprint of the Heritage Foundation—and on the protests around downtown Milwaukee that most media simply ignored. 

Then 22nd Century Initiative Deputy Director Sue Hyde joins us to discuss the launch of the Anti-Authoritarian Podcast, a new project produced by Convergence and co-hosted by her and Scot Nakagawa.

You can subscribe to the Anti-Authoritarian Podcast and listen to the trailer now on our website, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Support this show and others like it by rating and subscribing in your podcast player, subscribing to Convergence on YouTube, or becoming a paying subscriber: convergencemag.com/donate

]]> full 15 After the mass-shooting, assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump last Saturday, the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee continued as scheduled. Truthout.org news writer Chris Walker (@chriswalker) was on the ground in Milwaukee this week. He shares some of his reporting on the event—especially the heavy imprint of the Heritage Foundation—and on the protests around downtown Milwaukee that most media simply ignored. 

Then 22nd Century Initiative Deputy Director Sue Hyde joins us to discuss the launch of the Anti-Authoritarian Podcast, a new project produced by Convergence and co-hosted by her and Scot Nakagawa.

You can subscribe to the Anti-Authoritarian Podcast and listen to the trailer now on our website, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Support this show and others like it by rating and subscribing in your podcast player, subscribing to Convergence on YouTube, or becoming a paying subscriber: convergencemag.com/donate

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2024/04/Logo.jpg Live from the RNC w/ Chris Walker false no 01:04:55 No no France’s New Popular Front, w/ Clément Petitjean https://convergencemag.com/podcast/lessons-learned-from-frances-new-popular-front-with-clement-petitjean/ Fri, 12 Jul 2024 21:43:35 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=10246 As finger pointing and arguing about President Joe Biden's fitness to remain the Democratic Party's presidential nominee continued all week here in the US, Great Britain and France made strides toward beating back autocratic and fascist rule in their own national elections.

In this episode, Cayden is joined by Clément Petitjean (@clement_petitj), lecturer in English and Anglo-Saxon languages & literatures at Pantheon Sorbonne, University of Paris. Clément wrote for us in advance of last week’s snap elections in France about the emergence of the New Popular Front, and we're excited to have him join to debrief that election – and talk a little about what lessons we can glean from it as observers across the pond.

Clément's book Occupation: Organizer is available now from Haymarket Books.

Support this show and others like it by rating and subscribing in your podcast player, subscribing to Convergence on YouTube, or becoming a paying subscriber: convergnecemag.com/donate

]]> full 14 As finger pointing and arguing about President Joe Biden's fitness to remain the Democratic Party's presidential nominee continued all week here in the US, Great Britain and France made strides toward beating back autocratic and fascist rule in their own national elections.

In this episode, Cayden is joined by Clément Petitjean (@clement_petitj), lecturer in English and Anglo-Saxon languages & literatures at Pantheon Sorbonne, University of Paris. Clément wrote for us in advance of last week’s snap elections in France about the emergence of the New Popular Front, and we're excited to have him join to debrief that election – and talk a little about what lessons we can glean from it as observers across the pond.

Clément's book Occupation: Organizer is available now from Haymarket Books.

Support this show and others like it by rating and subscribing in your podcast player, subscribing to Convergence on YouTube, or becoming a paying subscriber: convergnecemag.com/donate

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2024/04/Logo.jpg France’s New Popular Front, w/ Clément Petitjean false no 01:19:01 No no The Right-Wing, Anti-Trans, Hate Machine, w/ Vivian Topping & Alex Han https://convergencemag.com/podcast/beating-the-right-wing-anti-trans-hate-machine-with-vivian-topping-equality-federation-and-alex-han-in-these-times/ Fri, 28 Jun 2024 23:02:27 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=10124 At the top of this episode, we address what may have been a historic moment last night, when President Joe Biden struggled to perform in his debate against Donald Trump. Many in mainstream media are asking today if Biden still has what it takes to be the Democratic nominee and block the return of Trump and the MAGA movement to the White House. In These Times Executive Director Alex Han joins us to discuss what the debate may mean for movement efforts to stop Trump and the ways it might shift our political landscape.

Then Cayden is joined by Vivian Topping, Director of Advocacy and Civic Engagement at the Equality Federation, to discuss the right-wing, anti-trans hate machine and how we fight back. They explore how today's Supreme Court repeal of the Chevron Doctrine might impact laws banning discrimination against trans people, how we organize against the Right's cultural messaging via deep canvassing in our communities, and much more.

Support this show and others like it by becoming a subscriber of Convergence: https://convergencemag.com/donate/

]]> full 13 At the top of this episode, we address what may have been a historic moment last night, when President Joe Biden struggled to perform in his debate against Donald Trump. Many in mainstream media are asking today if Biden still has what it takes to be the Democratic nominee and block the return of Trump and the MAGA movement to the White House. In These Times Executive Director Alex Han joins us to discuss what the debate may mean for movement efforts to stop Trump and the ways it might shift our political landscape.

Then Cayden is joined by Vivian Topping, Director of Advocacy and Civic Engagement at the Equality Federation, to discuss the right-wing, anti-trans hate machine and how we fight back. They explore how today's Supreme Court repeal of the Chevron Doctrine might impact laws banning discrimination against trans people, how we organize against the Right's cultural messaging via deep canvassing in our communities, and much more.

Support this show and others like it by becoming a subscriber of Convergence: https://convergencemag.com/donate/

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2024/04/Logo.jpg The Right-Wing, Anti-Trans, Hate Machine, w/ Vivian Topping & Alex Han false no 00:50:29 No no Building a Party Vehicle, w/ Maurice Mitchell https://convergencemag.com/podcast/building-a-party-vehicle-with-maurice-mitchell-working-families-party-live-from-rising-majority-congress-2024/ Fri, 21 Jun 2024 20:40:51 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=10037 Cayden is joined by Maurice Mitchell, National Director of the Working Families Party, live from the floor of this week's Rising Majority Congress, a week long gathering of over 700 organizers and activists on the left, working in diverse coalition to strategize a plan for the next 10 years while envisioning goals for 2050.

In this episode, Maurice speaks to Working Families Party's role in strategy as they engage in political endorsement and organizing across the country at the local and national levels. They explore the type of party vehicle we need to build and drive to reach the long-term goals of a multi-racial, working class led political future and how we co-operate amidst our diverse range of needs and issues.

To connect with Maurice and WFP:

Text WFP to #30403 and find them on all social platforms as @workingfamilies

Text MOE to #30403 and find him on all social platforms at @mauricewfp

Support this show and others like it by becoming a subscriber of Convergence: https://convergencemag.com/donate/

]]> full 12 Cayden is joined by Maurice Mitchell, National Director of the Working Families Party, live from the floor of this week's Rising Majority Congress, a week long gathering of over 700 organizers and activists on the left, working in diverse coalition to strategize a plan for the next 10 years while envisioning goals for 2050.

In this episode, Maurice speaks to Working Families Party's role in strategy as they engage in political endorsement and organizing across the country at the local and national levels. They explore the type of party vehicle we need to build and drive to reach the long-term goals of a multi-racial, working class led political future and how we co-operate amidst our diverse range of needs and issues.

To connect with Maurice and WFP:

Text WFP to #30403 and find them on all social platforms as @workingfamilies

Text MOE to #30403 and find him on all social platforms at @mauricewfp

Support this show and others like it by becoming a subscriber of Convergence: https://convergencemag.com/donate/

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2024/04/Logo.jpg Building a Party Vehicle, w/ Maurice Mitchell false no 00:51:11 No no The UC Standup Strike, w/ Rafael Jaime https://convergencemag.com/podcast/where-the-uc-standup-strike-goes-from-here-with-rafael-jaime-president-uaw-4811/ Fri, 14 Jun 2024 20:20:54 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=9947 Many of us have seen the attacks against student protestors over the last month on campuses like UCLA and others by both the police and right wing Zionists, attempting to disrupt their right to peaceful protest. This led to a wave of stand-up strikes against unfair labor practices of unionized student workers represented by UAW Local 4811 across the University of California system. As a result, legal actions have gone back and forth in state courts attempting to force an end to the strike without meeting unionized worker demands. As this story continues to unfold, we are joined this episode by President of UAW Local 4811, Rafael Jaime, to tell the full story of how we got to this moment, hopes for reaching student worker demands, and where things go next.

In the latter half of the show, Cayden and Producer Josh Elstro breakdown some big moves this week by tech giants Apple and Adobe that may have detrimental, long-term impact the tools we use as movement activists and organizers to communicate our messages. Together they explore the facts of user privacy, and terms of service announcements each company made regarding users of their products this week and explore how we as organizers dependent on this technology might rationally respond.

]]> full 11 Many of us have seen the attacks against student protestors over the last month on campuses like UCLA and others by both the police and right wing Zionists, attempting to disrupt their right to peaceful protest. This led to a wave of stand-up strikes against unfair labor practices of unionized student workers represented by UAW Local 4811 across the University of California system. As a result, legal actions have gone back and forth in state courts attempting to force an end to the strike without meeting unionized worker demands. As this story continues to unfold, we are joined this episode by President of UAW Local 4811, Rafael Jaime, to tell the full story of how we got to this moment, hopes for reaching student worker demands, and where things go next.

In the latter half of the show, Cayden and Producer Josh Elstro breakdown some big moves this week by tech giants Apple and Adobe that may have detrimental, long-term impact the tools we use as movement activists and organizers to communicate our messages. Together they explore the facts of user privacy, and terms of service announcements each company made regarding users of their products this week and explore how we as organizers dependent on this technology might rationally respond.

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2024/04/Logo.jpg The UC Standup Strike, w/ Rafael Jaime false no 00:57:35 No no What if Trump Wins Again? w/Daniel Hunter & Katey Lauer https://convergencemag.com/podcast/no-seriously-what-if-trump-wins-again/ Fri, 07 Jun 2024 17:39:04 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=9847 In spite of 34 felony convictions last week, there is still a very real chance that Donald Trump will once again be elected president of the United States in November or that he'll contest the results and attempt another coup. Few of us were truly prepared for his victory in 2016. Many of us felt helpless in the wake of his 2020 blitz to steal the election. As a result, many responses were directionless and lacking in strategy. Experienced organizers Daniel Hunter (350.org) and Katey Lauer are helping individuals and organizations alike be more prepared for the many possible outcomes of the November election through a new multimedia project and book, What If Trump Wins?

Convergence is excited to be the first media outlet to announce the project's launch, which along with the book includes an individualized "pick your own path" interactive website and a brief role playing game which can be easily facilitated and run within your organization or comrades. Each of these tools invites participants to first notice what feelings they're having about the possibility of another Trump presidency or reliving the general post election chaos and uncertainty of 2020 which led to the January 6th insurrection. From this space of emotional grounding, participants can safely strategize and tease out possible outcomes based on historic research of other attempted coups and autocratic governments.

Katey and Daniel joined Cayden this week to discuss the What if Trump Wins? project and how people can engage with it in whatever way is most useful to them.

Order the book here.

Support this show and others like it by becoming a Patreon member: patreon.com/convergencemag

]]> full 10 In spite of 34 felony convictions last week, there is still a very real chance that Donald Trump will once again be elected president of the United States in November or that he'll contest the results and attempt another coup. Few of us were truly prepared for his victory in 2016. Many of us felt helpless in the wake of his 2020 blitz to steal the election. As a result, many responses were directionless and lacking in strategy. Experienced organizers Daniel Hunter (350.org) and Katey Lauer are helping individuals and organizations alike be more prepared for the many possible outcomes of the November election through a new multimedia project and book, What If Trump Wins?

Convergence is excited to be the first media outlet to announce the project's launch, which along with the book includes an individualized "pick your own path" interactive website and a brief role playing game which can be easily facilitated and run within your organization or comrades. Each of these tools invites participants to first notice what feelings they're having about the possibility of another Trump presidency or reliving the general post election chaos and uncertainty of 2020 which led to the January 6th insurrection. From this space of emotional grounding, participants can safely strategize and tease out possible outcomes based on historic research of other attempted coups and autocratic governments.

Katey and Daniel joined Cayden this week to discuss the What if Trump Wins? project and how people can engage with it in whatever way is most useful to them.

Order the book here.

Support this show and others like it by becoming a Patreon member: patreon.com/convergencemag

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2024/04/Logo.jpg What if Trump Wins Again? w/Daniel Hunter & Katey Lauer false no 00:38:43 No no AI Activism Has Landed, w/ Chinyere Tutashinda https://convergencemag.com/podcast/ai-activism-has-landed-with-chinyere-tutashinda-center-for-third-world-organizing-and-nicole-froio-prism/ Fri, 31 May 2024 19:16:52 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=9824 Of course the hot button issue of the day is former President Donald Trump's 34 felony convictions in his hush money trial. We briefly discuss how this impacts us as organizer, but have so much else to report.

Executive Director of Center for Third World Organizing, Chinyere Tutashinda (chinyere@ctwo.org), joins Cayden this episode to discuss the immediate dangers and risks of AI generated social media activism which may have had its first major viral moment with the widely shared "All Eyes on Rafah" graphic you've likely seen. They also explore how organizers and activists think about their work on a longer horizon than the daily news cycle itself.

Later in the episode, reporter for PRISM, Nicole Froio joins to discuss her new exclusive piece Why does Planned Parenthood contract with the arms manufacturer Raytheon? Together they explore the nuanced and complicated reality of a vital health care organization's need to prioritize cyber security and the limited amount of trustworthy market options capable of providing such support.

To support this show and others like it, become a Patreon member: Patreon.com/convergencemag.com

]]> full 9 Of course the hot button issue of the day is former President Donald Trump's 34 felony convictions in his hush money trial. We briefly discuss how this impacts us as organizer, but have so much else to report.

Executive Director of Center for Third World Organizing, Chinyere Tutashinda (chinyere@ctwo.org), joins Cayden this episode to discuss the immediate dangers and risks of AI generated social media activism which may have had its first major viral moment with the widely shared "All Eyes on Rafah" graphic you've likely seen. They also explore how organizers and activists think about their work on a longer horizon than the daily news cycle itself.

Later in the episode, reporter for PRISM, Nicole Froio joins to discuss her new exclusive piece Why does Planned Parenthood contract with the arms manufacturer Raytheon? Together they explore the nuanced and complicated reality of a vital health care organization's need to prioritize cyber security and the limited amount of trustworthy market options capable of providing such support.

To support this show and others like it, become a Patreon member: Patreon.com/convergencemag.com

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2024/04/Logo.jpg AI Activism Has Landed, w/ Chinyere Tutashinda false no 00:53:40 No no Risky Business, w/ Deborah Barron & Alex Tom https://convergencemag.com/podcast/risky-business-with-deborah-barron-new-left-accelerator-and-alex-tom-center-for-empowered-politics/ Fri, 24 May 2024 19:13:23 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=9817 This week, Cayden is joined by Executive Director of New Left Accelerator, Deborah Barron and Executive Director of the Center for Empowered Politics, Alex Tom to discuss risk. Any time we perform acts of civil disobedience, we subject ourselves to varying degrees of risk. As we’ve seen in the news lately in campus protests many risk personal arrest. Others, meanwhile, risk loss of funding, jobs, and more. The panel explores how to strategically make assessments of what risks we should take in the face of increasing tendencies of fascist power plays by the MAGA Right. They also take a look at how risk is currently and historically considered in left and progressive movements.

Support this show and others like it by becoming a Patreon subscriber: patreon.com/convergencemag

]]> full 8 This week, Cayden is joined by Executive Director of New Left Accelerator, Deborah Barron and Executive Director of the Center for Empowered Politics, Alex Tom to discuss risk. Any time we perform acts of civil disobedience, we subject ourselves to varying degrees of risk. As we’ve seen in the news lately in campus protests many risk personal arrest. Others, meanwhile, risk loss of funding, jobs, and more. The panel explores how to strategically make assessments of what risks we should take in the face of increasing tendencies of fascist power plays by the MAGA Right. They also take a look at how risk is currently and historically considered in left and progressive movements.

Support this show and others like it by becoming a Patreon subscriber: patreon.com/convergencemag

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2024/04/Logo.jpg Risky Business, w/ Deborah Barron & Alex Tom false no 00:53:21 No no Freedom Train: Steven Pitts in Conversation with Cedric de Leon https://convergencemag.com/podcast/freedom-train-steven-pitts-in-conversation-with-cedric-de-leon/ Sat, 18 May 2024 16:00:00 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=9788 Today's episode features an interview by Steven Pitts, the former host and creator of our longest running podcast, Black Work Talk. He sat down with Professor of Sociology and Labor at University of Massachusetts - Amherst, Cedric de Leon, to discuss Cedric’s forthcoming book contracted with University of California Press, Freedom Train.

In the book, Cedric centers the monumental contributions of Black workers to desegregating the labor movement and connecting the struggles of organized labor to those of civil society before and during the civil rights era. It excavates the era’s intra-movement conflicts as well as the way that labor leaders and rank and file workers were critical not just in organizing their workplaces but in galvanizing the government to act on crucial pieces of policy, from desegregating the defense industry under the auspices of the New Deal to creating pressure for the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act in the 1960s.

You can find an excerpt of the interview already available in print on Convergence's website.

Find more about Cedric's work here.

To support this show and others like, consider joining a Patreon subscriber: Patreon.com/convergencemag

]]> full 7 Today's episode features an interview by Steven Pitts, the former host and creator of our longest running podcast, Black Work Talk. He sat down with Professor of Sociology and Labor at University of Massachusetts - Amherst, Cedric de Leon, to discuss Cedric’s forthcoming book contracted with University of California Press, Freedom Train.

In the book, Cedric centers the monumental contributions of Black workers to desegregating the labor movement and connecting the struggles of organized labor to those of civil society before and during the civil rights era. It excavates the era’s intra-movement conflicts as well as the way that labor leaders and rank and file workers were critical not just in organizing their workplaces but in galvanizing the government to act on crucial pieces of policy, from desegregating the defense industry under the auspices of the New Deal to creating pressure for the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act in the 1960s.

You can find an excerpt of the interview already available in print on Convergence's website.

Find more about Cedric's work here.

To support this show and others like, consider joining a Patreon subscriber: Patreon.com/convergencemag

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2024/04/Logo.jpg Freedom Train: Steven Pitts in Conversation with Cedric de Leon false no 01:02:42 No no Trust and Security in Movement Building, w/ Sammie Ablaza Wills https://convergencemag.com/podcast/trust-and-security-in-movement-building-with-sammie-ablaza-wills/ Mon, 13 May 2024 15:37:19 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=9778 This week on the show, Cayden is joined by organizer and former Executive Director of Lavender Phoenix, Sammie Ablaza Wills, discussing outcomes from the past month's student protests. They explore some of the agreements of universities that have agreed to work and negotiate with students. The episode also dives into Sammie's recent article published by Convergence, Right Size Belonging: Six Practices for Organizers; considering how it applies to this new wave of campus organizing. Aside from a glimpse of what right sized belonging in organizations can look like, this episode also engages the importance of finding the right balance of comradely, interpersonal trust, while still maintaining vigilance for outside threats and maintaining proper security for our organizations and movements.

Support this show and others like it by becoming a Patreon subscriber: patreon.com/convergencemag

]]> full 6 This week on the show, Cayden is joined by organizer and former Executive Director of Lavender Phoenix, Sammie Ablaza Wills, discussing outcomes from the past month's student protests. They explore some of the agreements of universities that have agreed to work and negotiate with students. The episode also dives into Sammie's recent article published by Convergence, Right Size Belonging: Six Practices for Organizers; considering how it applies to this new wave of campus organizing. Aside from a glimpse of what right sized belonging in organizations can look like, this episode also engages the importance of finding the right balance of comradely, interpersonal trust, while still maintaining vigilance for outside threats and maintaining proper security for our organizations and movements.

Support this show and others like it by becoming a Patreon subscriber: patreon.com/convergencemag

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2024/04/Logo.jpg Trust and Security in Movement Building, w/ Sammie Ablaza Wills false no 00:56:29 No no Movement Media Roundtable, w/ Maya Schenwar & Lara Witt https://convergencemag.com/podcast/movement-media-roundtable-with-maya-schenwar-truthout-and-lara-witt-prsim/ Fri, 03 May 2024 18:59:00 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=9765 This week’s show is our first Movement Media Round Table. We intend on this show to occasionally connect listeners with our fellow travelers in the independent, progressive media space to share some of the top stories from their outlets you should be following. For this round table, Cayden is joined by Editor-at-Large of Truthout.org, Maya Schenwar and Editor-in-Chief of PRISM, Lara Witt.

Each of our guests share some of the top stories of the week from their respective publications. We encourage listeners to read the full stories at their sites here:

Support this show and others like it by becoming a Patreon supporter: patreon.com/convergencemag

]]> full 5 This week’s show is our first Movement Media Round Table. We intend on this show to occasionally connect listeners with our fellow travelers in the independent, progressive media space to share some of the top stories from their outlets you should be following. For this round table, Cayden is joined by Editor-at-Large of Truthout.org, Maya Schenwar and Editor-in-Chief of PRISM, Lara Witt.

Each of our guests share some of the top stories of the week from their respective publications. We encourage listeners to read the full stories at their sites here:

Support this show and others like it by becoming a Patreon supporter: patreon.com/convergencemag

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2024/04/Logo.jpg Movement Media Roundtable, w/ Maya Schenwar & Lara Witt false no 01:03:07 No no Fighting AI Hype, w/ Emily M. Bender & Alex Hanna https://convergencemag.com/podcast/the-fight-against-ai-hype/ Fri, 26 Apr 2024 19:28:26 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=9722 This week on the show, hosts of the podcast Mystery A.I. Hype Theater 3000, Emily M. Bender (Professor of Linguistics at University of Washington) and Alex Hanna (Director of Research at the Distributed AI Research Institute), join Cayden to help make sense of the inescapable hype of all things “Artificial Intelligence.” What’s being oversold? What are the actual threats? And what exactly are we talking about when we say A.I.? Hype or not, the advancement of technology in the workplace has strong implications for workers which some unions and communities are already organizing to protect themselves against.

Also on the show, Cayden and his guests will look at the ongoing campus protests for divestment from Israel and ceasefire in Gaza.

Support this show and others like it by becoming a Patreon member: patreon.com/convergencemag

]]> full 4 This week on the show, hosts of the podcast Mystery A.I. Hype Theater 3000, Emily M. Bender (Professor of Linguistics at University of Washington) and Alex Hanna (Director of Research at the Distributed AI Research Institute), join Cayden to help make sense of the inescapable hype of all things “Artificial Intelligence.” What’s being oversold? What are the actual threats? And what exactly are we talking about when we say A.I.? Hype or not, the advancement of technology in the workplace has strong implications for workers which some unions and communities are already organizing to protect themselves against.

Also on the show, Cayden and his guests will look at the ongoing campus protests for divestment from Israel and ceasefire in Gaza.

Support this show and others like it by becoming a Patreon member: patreon.com/convergencemag

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2024/04/Logo.jpg Fighting AI Hype, w/ Emily M. Bender & Alex Hanna false no 00:53:45 No no Labor Militancy and Beyond, w/ Bob Master https://convergencemag.com/podcast/april-19-2024-episode-3-labor-militancy-and-beyond-with-bob-master/ Fri, 19 Apr 2024 19:13:33 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=9702 On the show this week, 45-year labor movement veteran Bob Master joins us to discuss the intersections of the ongoing protests for ceasefire in Gaza and a politicized labor movement. He and Cayden will take a deeper dive into his new piece, Militancy–and Beyond, co-published by Convergence and Jacobin. In the full article, Bob lays out the need for political strategy and education in the labor movement so it can build working-class governing  power from the recent wave of militant strikes.

This episode also features the second part of Highlander Research and Education Center’s Ash-Lee Henderson’s conversation with Convergence print contributorStephanie Luce and Chicago Teachers Union Vice Presiden Jackson Potter about how we fight the looming threat signaled by  Project 2025, and the MAGA presidency that would usher in its dangerous promises. The full video is available on our website now.

Support this show and others like it by becoming a Patreon member: patreon.com/convergencemag

]]> full 3 On the show this week, 45-year labor movement veteran Bob Master joins us to discuss the intersections of the ongoing protests for ceasefire in Gaza and a politicized labor movement. He and Cayden will take a deeper dive into his new piece, Militancy–and Beyond, co-published by Convergence and Jacobin. In the full article, Bob lays out the need for political strategy and education in the labor movement so it can build working-class governing  power from the recent wave of militant strikes.

This episode also features the second part of Highlander Research and Education Center’s Ash-Lee Henderson’s conversation with Convergence print contributorStephanie Luce and Chicago Teachers Union Vice Presiden Jackson Potter about how we fight the looming threat signaled by  Project 2025, and the MAGA presidency that would usher in its dangerous promises. The full video is available on our website now.

Support this show and others like it by becoming a Patreon member: patreon.com/convergencemag

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2024/04/Logo.jpg Labor Militancy and Beyond, w/ Bob Master false no 00:58:58 No no Protecting Reproductive Rights, w/ Jennifer Knox https://convergencemag.com/podcast/april-12-2024-episode-2-jennifer-knox-national-director-of-organizing-and-tech-innovation-for-working-families/ Fri, 12 Apr 2024 18:32:41 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=9675 This week on the show we have a feature from Co-Executive Director of the Highlander Research and Education Center, Ash-Lee Henderson on the threat of another MAGA administration to the burgeoning labor movement.

Also, Arizona is the latest state to lean into a total abortion ban in this post Dobbs world. What does that mean for us as organizers and voters?

Joining to discuss this and more is National Director of Organizing and Tech Innovation for Working Families Party, Jennifer Knox.

Find out the legal and electoral status of abortion in your state via the Rewire News guide here.

Text "WFP" to 30403 for info on how to get involved in campaigns supported by Working Families Party.

]]> full 2 This week on the show we have a feature from Co-Executive Director of the Highlander Research and Education Center, Ash-Lee Henderson on the threat of another MAGA administration to the burgeoning labor movement.

Also, Arizona is the latest state to lean into a total abortion ban in this post Dobbs world. What does that mean for us as organizers and voters?

Joining to discuss this and more is National Director of Organizing and Tech Innovation for Working Families Party, Jennifer Knox.

Find out the legal and electoral status of abortion in your state via the Rewire News guide here.

Text "WFP" to 30403 for info on how to get involved in campaigns supported by Working Families Party.

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2024/04/Logo.jpg Protecting Reproductive Rights, w/ Jennifer Knox false no 01:03:14 No no Building a United Front, w/ Loan Tran (Rising Majority) https://convergencemag.com/podcast/april-5-2024-episode-1-rising-majority-national-director-loan-tran/ Fri, 05 Apr 2024 17:27:07 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=9656 Welcome to Block & Build, a new weekly editorial podcast from Convergence Magazine. Each week, Convergence publisher Cayden Mak will take listeners on an exploration of what’s happening in politics and what we can do about it – not simply as individuals acting alone, but as people coming together into a larger movement. The show examines a political strategy we call “Block & Build” as a point of view that impacts the way we approach both politics and everyday life.

In this first episode, Cayden is joined by Rising Majority National Director Loan Tran to explore the complexities of simultaneously "blocking" the fascist MAGA movement while "building" the multiracial democracy we deserve, all within a deeply entrenched culture of over 40 years of neoliberal economic and cultural hegemony.

Connect to learn more about Rising Majority

Instagram: rising_majority  Twitter/X: @rising_majority 

You can subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Please support the show and Convergence Magazine: patreon.com/convergencemag

]]> full 1 Welcome to Block & Build, a new weekly editorial podcast from Convergence Magazine. Each week, Convergence publisher Cayden Mak will take listeners on an exploration of what’s happening in politics and what we can do about it – not simply as individuals acting alone, but as people coming together into a larger movement. The show examines a political strategy we call “Block & Build” as a point of view that impacts the way we approach both politics and everyday life.

In this first episode, Cayden is joined by Rising Majority National Director Loan Tran to explore the complexities of simultaneously "blocking" the fascist MAGA movement while "building" the multiracial democracy we deserve, all within a deeply entrenched culture of over 40 years of neoliberal economic and cultural hegemony.

Connect to learn more about Rising Majority

Instagram: rising_majority  Twitter/X: @rising_majority 

You can subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Please support the show and Convergence Magazine: patreon.com/convergencemag

]]> https://convergencemag.com/app/uploads/2024/04/Logo.jpg Building a United Front, w/ Loan Tran (Rising Majority) false no 00:39:40 No no Welcome to Block & Build – A Weekly Roadmap for the Left https://convergencemag.com/podcast/welcome-to-block-build-a-weekly-roadmap-for-the-left/ Mon, 01 Apr 2024 13:49:35 +0000 https://convergencemag.com/?post_type=podcast&p=9618 Every week, Block & Build takes on the current balance of political forces in the United States from a movement perspective. Host Cayden Mak, publisher of Convergence Magazine, guides listeners in an exploration of what’s happening in politics and what we can do about it – not simply as individuals acting alone, but as people coming together into a larger movement. The show examines the political strategy we call “Block & Build” as a point of view that impacts the way we approach both politics and everyday life.

This is the flagship podcast of the progressive trend in the broad anti-fascist front. Listeners are invited to join Cayden in discovering the routes we can take to not just defeat the authoritarian far Right, but build the influence of progressive and Left political ideas that are overwhelmingly popular, so we can come out of this year’s battles stronger, instead of depleted.

Many commentators struggle to zoom out, missing the forest for the trees and leading to more conversations that merely circle the drain of status quo horse-race politics. Instead, Block & Build aims to identify the places we do have power and opportunities to shape the landscape for progress.

The show features a rotating cast of some of the best minds in organizing today as they discuss what it means to evolve strategy and thinking to advance the governing power of the Left.

]]> trailer Every week, Block & Build takes on the current balance of political forces in the United States from a movement perspective. Host Cayden Mak, publisher of Convergence Magazine, guides listeners in an exploration of what’s happening in politics and what we can do about it – not simply as individuals acting alone, but as people coming together into a larger movement. The show examines the political strategy we call “Block & Build” as a point of view that impacts the way we approach both politics and everyday life.

This is the flagship podcast of the progressive trend in the broad anti-fascist front. Listeners are invited to join Cayden in discovering the routes we can take to not just defeat the authoritarian far Right, but build the influence of progressive and Left political ideas that are overwhelmingly popular, so we can come out of this year’s battles stronger, instead of depleted.

Many commentators struggle to zoom out, missing the forest for the trees and leading to more conversations that merely circle the drain of status quo horse-race politics. Instead, Block & Build aims to identify the places we do have power and opportunities to shape the landscape for progress.

The show features a rotating cast of some of the best minds in organizing today as they discuss what it means to evolve strategy and thinking to advance the governing power of the Left.

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