Laura Flanders and Friends: Solutions-Focused Progressive Perspectives on Politics, News, and Culture

The U.S. transportation system has long been rife with inequality, making it more difficult for low-income people, people of color, and people with disabilities to get where they need to go. When Covid19 hit, ticket revenues shrank, workers got sick, and services were cut, even as low-income “essential workers” disproportionately depended on public transit to get to work as other Americans did, to get to grocery stores, food pantries and health services. In rural communities where public transit was already sparse and unreliable, owning a car literally became a matter of life and death. In this episode, Laura considers the history; a century ago, fears of a communicable disease helped turn the tide against public transportation for decades. Today the climate crisis requires that we not brand public transport unsafe for another generation. What alternatives exist? And what if we consider not just new ‘modes’ of transport and new infrastructure, but the principle of “mobility”. Could new technology and better information sharing solve our transportation challenges? Laura looks at existing models.   Music in the Middle: "Ride Ride" by Alexis P. Suter Band, from their “Hat Trick, The Essential Recordings” compilation. Farm a little justice in your media field, become a patreon partner during our holiday 2020 fund drive and your name will be added to a raffle to win a copy of "Farming While Black" by Leah Penniman who was featured in our recent "Food Justice" episode, go to https://Patreon.com/theLFShow  Laura Flanders and Friends Crew:  Laura Flanders-Executive Producer, Writer;  Sabrina Artel-Supervising Producer; Jeremiah Cothren-Senior Producer; Veronica Delgado-Video Editor, Janet Hernandez-Communications Director; Jeannie Hopper-Audio Director, Podcast & Radio Producer, Audio Editor, Sound Design, Narrator; Sarah Miller-Development Director, Nat Needham-Editor, Graphic Design emeritus; David Neuman-Senior Video Editor, and Rory O’Conner-Senior Consulting Producer. 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

"... sing as he might about The Times They are A-Changing, Dylan’s deal, worth an estimated $300 million to him, changed nothing about anything.  But it could have been different."The F-Word is released bi-weekly featuring timely commentaries by Laura Flanders and guests. Support by becoming a patron and help us reach our goal during our Holiday Fund Drive.  Every dollar will be matched, doubling your contribution. goto https://Patreon.com/theLFShow  Laura Flanders and Friends Crew:  Laura Flanders-Executive Producer, Writer;  Sabrina Artel-Supervising Producer; Jeremiah Cothren-Senior Producer; Veronica Delgado-Video Editor, Janet Hernandez-Communications Director; Jeannie Hopper-Audio Director, Podcast & Radio Producer, Audio Editor, Sound Design, Narrator; Sarah Miller-Development Director, Nat Needham-Editor, Graphic Design emeritus; David Neuman-Senior Video Editor, and Rory O’Conner-Senior Consulting Producer. 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

Where do racial justice and food justice meet? Perhaps at the point where long time farmworkers are able to buy their own land. In the United States today, 83 percent of farmworkers are Latinx but Latinx people own only three percent of the farms. Latinx farmers bring a wealth of knowledge to the US food system in terms of fresh produce, healthy techniques and a cooperative management style born out of years working as laborers—but they face unique challenges accessing the resources and aid they need to buy their land. As a generation of white family farmers ages out of the business of farming, a rising cohort of Latinx workers stands ready to take up the slack. In this episode, Laura receives a virtual tour of one organic farm from its intrepid owners and speaks with Dr. Laura-Anne Minkoff-Zern about her book “The New American Farmer.” She also hears from veteran farm labor organizer Dolores Huerta about how helping Latinx farmers thrive would be good for eaters and the planet.Farm a little justice in your media field, become a patreon partner during our holiday 2020 fund drive and your name will be added to a raffle to win a copy of "Farming While Black" by Leah Penniman who was featured in our recent "Food Justice" episode, go to https://Patreon.com/theLFShow  Laura Flanders and Friends Crew:  Laura Flanders-Executive Producer, Writer;  Sabrina Artel-Supervising Producer; Jeremiah Cothren-Senior Producer; Veronica Delgado-Video Editor, Janet Hernandez-Communications Director; Jeannie Hopper-Audio Director, Podcast & Radio Producer, Audio Editor, Sound Design, Narrator; Sarah Miller-Development Director, Nat Needham-Editor, Graphic Design emeritus; David Neuman-Senior Video Editor, and Rory O’Conner-Senior Consulting Producer. 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

Partner with the show during our holiday membership drive, and your contribution will be matched!:  https://Patreon.com/theLFShowAcclaimed white anti-racist scholar Mab Segrest, author of the influential book Memoir of a Race Traitor, takes Laura through the US South to trace the racist roots of American psychiatry. Together, they explore the infamous state mental hospital in Milledgeville, Georgia, once the largest “insane” asylum in the world, and visit with Bryan Stevenson of the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama to consider how our society’s mental and political health relate to our nation’s history. Segrest’s newest book is Administrations of Lunacy: Racism and the Haunting of American Psychiatry at the Milledgeville Asylum.In this episode:Mab Segrest, Author, Memoir of a Race Traitor: Fighting Racism in the American South, and Administrations of Lunacy: Racism and the Haunting of American Psychiatry at the Milledgeville Asylum. and gender studies scholar, Bryan Stevenson, Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative  Laura Flanders and Friends Crew:  Laura Flanders-Executive Producer, Writer;  Sabrina Artel-Supervising Producer; Jeremiah Cothren-Senior Producer; Veronica Delgado-Video Editor, Janet Hernandez-Communications Director; Jeannie Hopper-Audio Director, Podcast & Radio Producer, Audio Editor, Sound Design, Narrator; Sarah Miller-Development Director, Nat Needham-Editor, Graphic Design emeritus; David Neuman-Senior Video Editor, and Rory O’Conner-Senior Consulting Producer. 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

Can dance and song offer insight into a person’s experience, and provoke curiosity, even empathy across national identity, race and gender? In this episode, Laura interviews MacArthur Genius Award-winning choreographer Okwui Okpokwasili about her groundbreaking experimental work to communicate the lived experiences of African and African American women through movement. Okpokwasili explains how she uses pain, action, gesture, and character-play to bypass audiences' preconceived notions and bring visibility to identities rendered invisible by mainstream culture and Laura stumps her with her own question: what do you carry and how does that carry you? Support by becoming a member and help kick off our holiday fundraiser, go to https://Patreon.com/theLFShow  Laura Flanders and Friends Crew:  Laura Flanders-Executive Producer, Writer;  Sabrina Artel-Supervising Producer; Jeremiah Cothren-Senior Producer; Veronica Delgado-Video Editor, Janet Hernandez-Communications Director; Jeannie Hopper-Audio Director, Podcast & Radio Producer, Audio Editor, Sound Design, Narrator; Sarah Miller-Development Director, Nat Needham-Editor, Graphic Design emeritus; David Neuman-Senior Video Editor, and Rory O’Conner-Senior Consulting Producer. 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

Food justice is the notion that everyone should have access to healthful food as well as the opportunity to grow, market and serve it. It’s also the idea behind a rising movement in the US, looking at how federal state and local policies have, or have not served everyone’s food needs. In this episode, Laura talks with farmers, workers, organizers, and seed keepers who seldom get much attention from the mass media. Then she visits with Leah Penniman of Soul Fire Farm near Albany, New York, and author of a groundbreaking book “Farming While Black”, what Penniman calls a “love song for the earth and her peoples.”Giving Tuesday is coming up soon.  Get a jump on giving your support by farming a little justice in your media fields.  Become a member at https://Patreon.com/theLFShow  Laura Flanders and Friends Crew:  Laura Flanders-Executive Producer, Writer;  Sabrina Artel-Supervising Producer; Jeremiah Cothren-Senior Producer; Veronica Delgado-Video Editor, Janet Hernandez-Communications Director; Jeannie Hopper-Audio Director, Podcast & Radio Producer, Audio Editor, Sound Design, Narrator; Sarah Miller-Development Director, Nat Needham-Editor, Graphic Design emeritus; David Neuman-Senior Video Editor, and Rory O’Conner-Senior Consulting Producer. 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

"All this how’s-he-doing coverage is par for the course as we transition to the next administration, but someone’s missing from this picture of our politics. It’s us."  We’re coming up on Giving Tuesday. How about you take a look around and support the media that sees you back? Support by becoming a patron, goto https://Patreon.com/theLFShowFor special programming on food justice in America, and the struggle over who grows and who gets to eat,  subscribe to our podcast, or our TV show at lauraflanders.org. OR find us weekly on your closest PBS affiliate.    Laura Flanders and Friends Crew:  Laura Flanders-Executive Producer, Writer;  Sabrina Artel-Supervising Producer; Jeremiah Cothren-Senior Producer; Veronica Delgado-Video Editor, Janet Hernandez-Communications Director; Jeannie Hopper-Audio Director, Podcast & Radio Producer, Audio Editor, Sound Design, Narrator; Sarah Miller-Development Director, Nat Needham-Editor, Graphic Design emeritus; David Neuman-Senior Video Editor, and Rory O’Conner-Senior Consulting Producer. 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

What is a city’s economy for? New York City’s economy has been very good at piling up private wealth and building tall buildings but it’s done less well, especially recently, when it comes to maintaining public services and public trust. In this episode, Laura attends an historic gathering at the School for Labor and Urban Studies at the City University of New York (CUNY) and talks with the city’s Deputy Mayor Phillip Thompson among others, about the way a city like New York might change its economic model going forward, in a way that would share wealth - and power - more democratically, as the city tackles climate change and a public health crisis. This episode also features a report on Cooperative Home Care Associates, the largest worker-owned cooperative in the US, based in the Bronx.Show Credits:  Laura Flanders, Matt Colaciello, Jeremiah Cothern, Charlotte Carpenter, Nat Needham, Jeannie Hopper, Dominic Marcella, Mercedes Gorostiaga, Ryan Hotes, Rory O’Conner, and David Neumann.Music Credits:  Shining Skies by George Georgia;  I Don’t Always Float by Jon Watts;  Sugarella by Nickodemus;  Kitty in the Window and Gentle Heart by Poddington Bear;  original sound design by Jeannie Hopper.Become a member and unlock more content like the full episode note.  https://Patreon.com/theLFShow  Laura Flanders and Friends Crew:  Laura Flanders-Executive Producer, Writer;  Sabrina Artel-Supervising Producer; Jeremiah Cothren-Senior Producer; Veronica Delgado-Video Editor, Janet Hernandez-Communications Director; Jeannie Hopper-Audio Director, Podcast & Radio Producer, Audio Editor, Sound Design, Narrator; Sarah Miller-Development Director, Nat Needham-Editor, Graphic Design emeritus; David Neuman-Senior Video Editor, and Rory O’Conner-Senior Consulting Producer. 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

While the election results are still undecided well hear from Mary Kay Henry, president of the Service Employees International Union, or SEIU, about how one of the nations largest unions is addressing the ongoing impact of Covid-19, pandemic poverty and the systemic inequities that no single election can fix. We need a new normal says Henry. How do we get there?   Music in the Middle:  “Born Ready” by Tef Poe and Rebel Diaz featuring The Reminders from their “Multiply, Volume 2 E.P.”, courtesy of Rebel Diaz.For the full episode notes, and to become a member goto https://Patreon.com/theLFShow  Laura Flanders and Friends Crew:  Laura Flanders-Executive Producer, Writer;  Sabrina Artel-Supervising Producer; Jeremiah Cothren-Senior Producer; Veronica Delgado-Video Editor, Janet Hernandez-Communications Director; Jeannie Hopper-Audio Director, Podcast & Radio Producer, Audio Editor, Sound Design, Narrator; Sarah Miller-Development Director, Nat Needham-Editor, Graphic Design emeritus; David Neuman-Senior Video Editor, and Rory O’Conner-Senior Consulting Producer. 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

Election day is upon us.  A reading of the names of those who died due to the coronavirus pandemic. "This list needn't expand any longer.  Vote in favor of our public health."The F-Word is released bi-weekly featuring timely commentaries by Laura Flanders and guests. Support by becoming a patron, goto https://Patreon.com/theLFShowPandemic Death Toll Worldometer.com"Those We've Lost" NYTimes   Laura Flanders and Friends Crew:  Laura Flanders-Executive Producer, Writer;  Sabrina Artel-Supervising Producer; Jeremiah Cothren-Senior Producer; Veronica Delgado-Video Editor, Janet Hernandez-Communications Director; Jeannie Hopper-Audio Director, Podcast & Radio Producer, Audio Editor, Sound Design, Narrator; Sarah Miller-Development Director, Nat Needham-Editor, Graphic Design emeritus; David Neuman-Senior Video Editor, and Rory O’Conner-Senior Consulting Producer. 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