Laura Flanders and Friends: Intersectional Solution Centered Journalism on Democracy, Movements, Society and Culture

Support the show by becoming a member as a monthly supporter at Patreon.com/theLFShow  We do not accept corporate or government funding.  We rely on you!  Full Episode Notes are posted at Patreon.com/theLFShow for members and non-members.Could a city reduce violent crime by planting more trees? How will the culture of work adapt to the climate crisis? What will increased flooding in the Global South do to U.S. immigration patterns? In this month’s edition of Meet the BIPOC Press, guest hosts Sara Lomax Reese and Mitra Kalita from URL Media are back with a panel of journalists whose reporting explores these questions and more. They center Black and Brown people in their reporting on the environment and the climate crisis. From Philadelphia, to Haiti, to Bangladesh, to the American Gulf Coast, their conversation draws connections among a vast array of frontline communities, the crises they face, and the tools they’re using to respond. Then, Laura joins Sara and Mitra to reflect on how integrating the environment into policy could give us better solutions to society’s biggest challenges. Guests:S. Mitra Kalita (Co-Host), CEO & Co-Founder, URL Media; CEO and Publisher of Epicenter, NYCSara Loma-Reese (Co-Host), Co-Founder, URL Media;  President and CEO of WURD RadioKo Bragg, Race & Place Editor, ScalawagGarry Pierre-Pierre, Founder and Publisher of The Haitian TimesCharles Ellison, Managing Editor of ecoWURD and Executive Producer/Host of “Reality Check” on WURD  Laura Flanders and Friends Crew:  Laura Flanders, along with Sabrina Artel, Jeremiah Cothren, Veronica Delgado, Janet Hernandez, Jeannie Hopper, Gina Kim, Sarah Miller, Nat Needham, David Neuman, and Rory O’Conner.  FOLLOW Laura Flanders and FriendsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauraflandersandfriends/Blueky:  https://bsky.app/profile/lfandfriends.bsky.socialFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/LauraFlandersAndFriends/Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lauraflandersandfriendsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFLRxVeYcB1H7DbuYZQG-lgLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lauraflandersandfriendsPatreon:   https://www.patreon.com/lauraflandersandfriendsACCESSIBILITY - The broadcast edition of this episode is available with closed captioned by clicking here for our YouTube Channel

The F-Word is released bi-weekly featuring timely commentaries by Laura Flanders and guests."Changing the Future with India Walton... Buffalo drew attention this election season after first-time candidate, long-time activist, India Walton won the Democratic primary, positioning her to become this Democratic city’s first African American woman and first Democratic Socialist mayor."Flex your media muscles, become a monthly sustaining member for $3, $5, $12   Laura Flanders and Friends Crew:  Laura Flanders, along with Sabrina Artel, Jeremiah Cothren, Veronica Delgado, Janet Hernandez, Jeannie Hopper, Gina Kim, Sarah Miller, Nat Needham, David Neuman, and Rory O’Conner.  FOLLOW Laura Flanders and FriendsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauraflandersandfriends/Blueky:  https://bsky.app/profile/lfandfriends.bsky.socialFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/LauraFlandersAndFriends/Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lauraflandersandfriendsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFLRxVeYcB1H7DbuYZQG-lgLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lauraflandersandfriendsPatreon:   https://www.patreon.com/lauraflandersandfriendsACCESSIBILITY - The broadcast edition of this episode is available with closed captioned by clicking here for our YouTube Channel

Support the show by becoming a member as a monthly supporter for $3 $5 or more at https://Patreon.com/theLFShow  We do not accept corporate or government funding.  We rely on you!  Full Episode Notes are posted at Patreon.com/theLFShow for members and non-members.Eyes across the nation are on the mayoral election in Buffalo, New York, where insurgent candidate India Walton could become the first Black woman—and first Democratic Socialist—to lead the city. Laura Flanders first interviewed Walton in 2019 as part of a profile of community organizations in that city. Two years later in June 2021, Walton shocked the Democratic establishment when she won Buffalo’s Democratic primary. Supporters say her win speaks to the strength of grassroots organizing around the city’s plans for its economic future  and signals a shift in power at the local level. But Buffalo’s four-term incumbent Byron Brown, also a Democrat, challenged Walton’s primary victory, and ran as a write-in candidate. Will the election prove to be a referendum on centrist versus progressive Democrats? And what has it been like to be Walton, in this campaign? Flanders returned to Buffalo for an interview with Walton just as the first time candidate was receiving support from Rep Ocasio Cortez and Senators Schumer and Gillebrand but the state party chairman had just compared her to David Duke and Democratic Governor Hochul had refused to take a position. What is the significance of this election?Guests:India Walton, Mayoral Candidate, Democrat, Buffalo, NYJesse Myerson, Communications Director, India Walton CampaignDrisana Hughes, Campaign Manager, India Walton CampaignChristopher P. Scanlon, South District Council Member, Buffalo, New YorkLouisa Pocheco, Chair of Western New York Chapter, Working Families PartyDivya Sundaram, New York Working Families PartyJay Jacobs, New York State Democratic Committee Chair  Laura Flanders and Friends Crew:  Laura Flanders, along with Sabrina Artel, Jeremiah Cothren, Veronica Delgado, Janet Hernandez, Jeannie Hopper, Gina Kim, Sarah Miller, Nat Needham, David Neuman, and Rory O’Conner.  FOLLOW Laura Flanders and FriendsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauraflandersandfriends/Blueky:  https://bsky.app/profile/lfandfriends.bsky.socialFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/LauraFlandersAndFriends/Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lauraflandersandfriendsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFLRxVeYcB1H7DbuYZQG-lgLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lauraflandersandfriendsPatreon:   https://www.patreon.com/lauraflandersandfriendsACCESSIBILITY - The broadcast edition of this episode is available with closed captioned by clicking here for our YouTube Channel

Portions of this historic interview are featured in this week's radio show & podcast, and  Public TV & YouTubeIn this historic, inter-generational meeting of minds, Laura Flanders brings together New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY Representative 14th District) and MIT professor emeritus Noam Chomsky—for the first time ever—to discuss the way forward for people, politics, and the planet. From labor strikes to racial uprisings to climate action to the Great Resignation, they reflect on the renewed power of collective organizing and the changing tide in economic thinking and electoral politics. Their insights demand that we think differently about everything from our nation’s history and its place in the world, to who can run for office in America and win. In their first face-to-face conversation, the mutual admiration is palpable. Laura closes with some thoughts on thinking the unthinkable.“We’re now having one of the major strikes in American history when workers are simply saying, ‘We're not gonna go back to the rotten, oppressive jobs, or precarious circumstances, with no health[care].’ The one-sided class war of the last 40 years is becoming two-sided…” —Noam Chomsky, Scholar, Activist, Author“cynicism is the tool that is given to us to hurt ourselves ” —AOC, D-NY Representative 14th District•Watch this episode on  YouTube & PBS World Channel and on over 200 PBS stations check your local   Public TV schedule for airdate and time•Episode Research & Reading List to dive deeper into the episode.•Noam Chomsky's latest *book:  "The Precipice, Neoliberalism, the Pandemic and the Urgent Need for Radical Change" - Purchase(*Bookshop is an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores. The LF Show is an affiliate of bookshop.org and will receive a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.   )  Laura Flanders and Friends Crew:  Laura Flanders, along with Sabrina Artel, Jeremiah Cothren, Veronica Delgado, Janet Hernandez, Jeannie Hopper, Gina Kim, Sarah Miller, Nat Needham, David Neuman, and Rory O’Conner.  FOLLOW Laura Flanders and FriendsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauraflandersandfriends/Blueky:  https://bsky.app/profile/lfandfriends.bsky.socialFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/LauraFlandersAndFriends/Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lauraflandersandfriendsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFLRxVeYcB1H7DbuYZQG-lgLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lauraflandersandfriendsPatreon:   https://www.patreon.com/lauraflandersandfriendsACCESSIBILITY - The broadcast edition of this episode is available with closed captioned by clicking here for our YouTube Channel

Check out the full episode notes and become a member at Patreon.com/theLFShowIn this historic, inter-generational meeting of minds, Laura Flanders brings together New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and MIT professor emeritus Noam Chomsky—for the first time ever—to discuss the way forward for people, politics, and the planet. From labor strikes to racial uprisings to climate action to the Great Resignation, they reflect on the renewed power of collective organizing and the changing tide in economic thinking and electoral politics. Their insights demand that we think differently about everything from our nation’s history and its place in the world, to who can run for office in America and win. In their first face-to-face conversation, the mutual admiration is palpable. Laura closes with some thoughts on thinking the unthinkable. “We’re now having one of the major strikes in American history when workers are simply saying, ‘We're not gonna go back to the rotten, oppressive jobs, or precarious circumstances, with no health[care].’ The one-sided class war of the last 40 years is becoming two-sided…” —Noam Chomsky“There are already communities actively experimenting and developing solutions… What I work on is not how we find solutions but how we scale [them] to transform our society.” —AOC GuestsNoam Chomsky, Professor Emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyAlexandria Ocasio-Cortez, U.S. Representative, NY-14th District, Socialist Democrat, Progressive Caucus  Laura Flanders and Friends Crew:  Laura Flanders, along with Sabrina Artel, Jeremiah Cothren, Veronica Delgado, Janet Hernandez, Jeannie Hopper, Gina Kim, Sarah Miller, Nat Needham, David Neuman, and Rory O’Conner.  FOLLOW Laura Flanders and FriendsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauraflandersandfriends/Blueky:  https://bsky.app/profile/lfandfriends.bsky.socialFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/LauraFlandersAndFriends/Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lauraflandersandfriendsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFLRxVeYcB1H7DbuYZQG-lgLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lauraflandersandfriendsPatreon:   https://www.patreon.com/lauraflandersandfriendsACCESSIBILITY - The broadcast edition of this episode is available with closed captioned by clicking here for our YouTube Channel

Join us live Sunday October 24th 7pm ET for a online screening & discussion of this week's episode, Register, for more Info and full episode notes goto=>  Patreon.com/theLFShowThe last US soldier to leave Afghanistan returned home this August, but private security personnel long outnumbered US troops in that war, and the for-profit business of training guns-for-hire is booming -- literally -- in the backyards of many rural Americans. In this special episode, The Laura Flanders Show travels to the tiny town of Hoffman in Richmond County, NC, where residents live next to a loud private training ground.They have real concerns about who is receiving training there and why, especially after the January 6th Insurrection at the Capitol. Laura interviews Hoffman’s Mayors and one of the County Commissioners who approved the permit for Oak Grove Technologies’ tactical training site. They regret that approval now. And we travel to nearby Hoke County, where a diverse coalition of local stakeholders — and an all-POC County Commission — were able to stop the expansion of Reservoir International, another training outfit seeking to expand its footprint near the county seat of Raeford. “The latter is an example of the power of community organizing,” says Serena Sebring of Blueprint NC. Blueprint is partnering with a statewide network of veteran ant-racist, anti-militia organizers to pool information and lift up local strategies for making communities safer.  “I don't think it's worthwhile for the county period. And it's really not good for the town of Hoffman. [We need to tell these private paramilitary training groups that]. We don't need you anymore…  Go back to the military, go back to camp McCall, go back to Fort Bragg... Don't let the civilians takeover military. We don't need it. “ Don BryantGuestsDonald Bryant, Richmond County CommissionerTommy Hart, Mayor Hoffman, NCDaniel Kelly, Mayor Pro Tempore, Hoffman, NCDanielle Purifoy, Assistant Professor, Dept of Geography, UNC Chapel HillHarry Southerland, Chairman, Hoke County Board of CommissionersChristina Davis McCoy, Former Executive Director, North Carolinians Against Racist and Religious ViolenceJim Davis, Former Sheriff, Hoke County, NCSerena Sebring, Executive Director, BluePrint NC   Laura Flanders and Friends Crew:  Laura Flanders, along with Sabrina Artel, Jeremiah Cothren, Veronica Delgado, Janet Hernandez, Jeannie Hopper, Gina Kim, Sarah Miller, Nat Needham, David Neuman, and Rory O’Conner.  FOLLOW Laura Flanders and FriendsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauraflandersandfriends/Blueky:  https://bsky.app/profile/lfandfriends.bsky.socialFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/LauraFlandersAndFriends/Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lauraflandersandfriendsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFLRxVeYcB1H7DbuYZQG-lgLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lauraflandersandfriendsPatreon:   https://www.patreon.com/lauraflandersandfriendsACCESSIBILITY - The broadcast edition of this episode is available with closed captioned by clicking here for our YouTube Channel

The F-Word is released bi-weekly featuring timely commentaries by Laura Flanders and guests.How are activists shutting down radicalized militia training facilities in defense of community safety?"Veteran activists organizing across this state [North Carolina], are concerned about a seemingly unmonitored flow of military grade weapons, training, and white warrior ideology out of the state’s privatized military and into civilian lives."Flex your media muscles, become a monthly sustaining member for $3, $5, $12 at Patreon.com/theLFShow  Laura Flanders and Friends Crew:  Laura Flanders, along with Sabrina Artel, Jeremiah Cothren, Veronica Delgado, Janet Hernandez, Jeannie Hopper, Gina Kim, Sarah Miller, Nat Needham, David Neuman, and Rory O’Conner.  FOLLOW Laura Flanders and FriendsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauraflandersandfriends/Blueky:  https://bsky.app/profile/lfandfriends.bsky.socialFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/LauraFlandersAndFriends/Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lauraflandersandfriendsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFLRxVeYcB1H7DbuYZQG-lgLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lauraflandersandfriendsPatreon:   https://www.patreon.com/lauraflandersandfriendsACCESSIBILITY - The broadcast edition of this episode is available with closed captioned by clicking here for our YouTube Channel

Check out the full episode notes and become a member at Patreon.com/theLFShowIn the midst of yet another year of climate catastrophe, the U.S. Senate is negotiating a $3.5 trillion infrastructure package.  President Biden, among others, is calling for extensive investment to lower emissions and combat the effects of climate change. But what sort of investment? In this episode, Laura interviews environmental lawyer Colette Pichon Battle in Louisiana about the strategies organizers there have developed since Hurricane Katrina for equitable green development and climate justice. Then, she speaks in depth with MacArthur “Genius” award-winning landscape architect Kate Orff about her innovative work on oyster reefs, living breakwaters and regenerative infrastructure. Recently profiled in the New Yorker Magazine, Orff insists that ecology is the infrastructure of the future. Her work restores and harnesses—rather than resists—natural systems to ensure the livability of our rapidly changing world. Plus, Laura shares some thoughts about community vs. concrete.  Music in the Middle:  “Makin’ Waves” by Baba Brinkman featuring  Gaia’s Eye, from his album The Rap Guide to Climate Chaos.Guests:-Colette Pichon Battle, Founder and Executive Director of the Gulf Coast Center for Law & Policy, co-chairs the national Water Equity and Climate Resilient Caucus with PolicyLink and anchors the five-state, multi-issue initiative Gulf South for a Green New Deal.-Kate Orff, Founding Principal of SCAPE; And Director & Professor, Urban Design Program, Columbia University.  SCAPE creates positive change in communities by combining regenerative living infrastructure and new forms of public space.  She is also the Director of the Urban Design Program, Co-Director of the Center for Resilient Cities and Landscapes (CRCL), and Professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP).   Laura Flanders and Friends Crew:  Laura Flanders, along with Sabrina Artel, Jeremiah Cothren, Veronica Delgado, Janet Hernandez, Jeannie Hopper, Gina Kim, Sarah Miller, Nat Needham, David Neuman, and Rory O’Conner.  FOLLOW Laura Flanders and FriendsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauraflandersandfriends/Blueky:  https://bsky.app/profile/lfandfriends.bsky.socialFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/LauraFlandersAndFriends/Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lauraflandersandfriendsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFLRxVeYcB1H7DbuYZQG-lgLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lauraflandersandfriendsPatreon:   https://www.patreon.com/lauraflandersandfriendsACCESSIBILITY - The broadcast edition of this episode is available with closed captioned by clicking here for our YouTube Channel

The following audio exclusive  features the entire uncut interview with NDN Collective’s Director of Racial Equity, Sunny Red Bear of the Lakota Nation.  Excerpts of this interview were included in our recent special  “LANDBACK! A Tipi Town Approach to Healing & Homelessness”.   In this special feature, Laura traveled to the sacred Black Hills of South Dakota where NDN Collective is reclaiming ancestral lands to address homelessness, addiction and violence against Native Americans.  Laura reported on  Camp Mniluzahan, a tipi village built on tribal trust land, that welcomed hundreds of unhoused Indigenous people and others in the Rapid City area in the dead of winter last year.   Catalyzed in 2020, by an action in which Land Defenders blocked former President Donald Trump’s road to Mount Rushmore, this Landback campaign is about reclaiming, along with stolen land, native ceremonies, spirituality and traditions of community care. If you’re a listener or a viewer, you spend time with us. Many of you have for years. So how about taking a few minutes to give us the support we need to keep doing what we do… Only a few minutes from you, pledging $3 or $5 or $12 a month, will keep us going all year. Go to Patreon.com/theLFShow and join our media team and support movement building.  Thanks!  Laura Flanders and Friends Crew:  Laura Flanders, along with Sabrina Artel, Jeremiah Cothren, Veronica Delgado, Janet Hernandez, Jeannie Hopper, Gina Kim, Sarah Miller, Nat Needham, David Neuman, and Rory O’Conner.  FOLLOW Laura Flanders and FriendsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauraflandersandfriends/Blueky:  https://bsky.app/profile/lfandfriends.bsky.socialFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/LauraFlandersAndFriends/Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lauraflandersandfriendsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFLRxVeYcB1H7DbuYZQG-lgLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lauraflandersandfriendsPatreon:   https://www.patreon.com/lauraflandersandfriendsACCESSIBILITY - The broadcast edition of this episode is available with closed captioned by clicking here for our YouTube Channel

Check out the full episode notes, along with an invitation to join guests from the episode with Laura for a live premiere and chat event to view this week’s episode via our YouTube channel, Sundays 11:30am EDT, at Patreon.com/theLFShow  On Indigenous Peoples' Day, Laura reports from “He Sapa‘’, the sacred Black Hills of South Dakota where NDN Collective is reclaiming ancestral lands to address homelessness, addiction and violence against Native Americans. Catalyzed in 2020, by an action in which Land Defenders blocked former President Donald Trump’s road to Mount Rushmore, this Landback campaign is about reclaiming, along with stolen land, native ceremonies, spirituality and traditions of community care. In this special feature, Laura reports on Camp Mniluzahan, a tipi village built on tribal trust land, that welcomed hundreds of unhoused Indigenous people and others in the Rapid City area in the dead of winter last year.  Laura’s guests, Oglala Lakota activists Nick Tilsen, Krystal Two Bulls, Sunny Red Bear and Hermus Bettelyoun of NDN Collective.  Music in the Middle:  “Stadium Pow Wow” by A Tribe Called Red featuring Black Bear from their album We Are the Halluci-Nation, released on Radicalized Records.[Camp Mniluzahan] is... a teaching moment [about] what could happen. We're envisioning what could be if we actually had control of our lands and what it would mean to have land back.-Sunny Red Bear, Director of Racial Equity, NDN Collective; Lakota from the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation GuestsHermus Bettelyoun, Racial Equity Organizer, NDN Collective; Oglala LakotaSunny Red Bear, Director of Racial Equity, NDN Collective; LakotaAmy Sazue, Education Equity Organizer, NDN Collective; Sicangu & Oglala LakotaNick Tilsen, President & CEO, NDN Collective; Oglala LakotaKrystal Two Bulls, Director of LANDBACK Campaign, NDN Collective; Northern Cheyenne/Oglala Lakota If you’re a listener or a viewer, you spend time with us. Many of you have for years. So how about taking a few minutes to give us the support we need to keep doing what we do… Only a few minutes from you, pledging $3 or $5 or $11 a month, will keep us going all year. Go to Patreon.com/theLFShow and join our media team and support movement building. Thanks!  Laura Flanders and Friends Crew:  Laura Flanders, along with Sabrina Artel, Jeremiah Cothren, Veronica Delgado, Janet Hernandez, Jeannie Hopper, Gina Kim, Sarah Miller, Nat Needham, David Neuman, and Rory O’Conner.  FOLLOW Laura Flanders and FriendsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauraflandersandfriends/Blueky:  https://bsky.app/profile/lfandfriends.bsky.socialFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/LauraFlandersAndFriends/Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lauraflandersandfriendsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFLRxVeYcB1H7DbuYZQG-lgLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lauraflandersandfriendsPatreon:   https://www.patreon.com/lauraflandersandfriendsACCESSIBILITY - The broadcast edition of this episode is available with closed captioned by clicking here for our YouTube Channel