This week we're featuring a podcast from our peers at the National Economic and Social Rights Initiative. The Next World: A Podcast About Building Movements focuses on a range of topics that will resonate with listeners interested in a more equitable and democratic economy. In this episode, Co-hosts Puck Lo and journalist Sarah Lazare are in conversation about reparations, the Green New Deal, capitalism, and an exploration of the fight against the school to prison pipeline with guest Zakiya Sankara-Jabar of Dignity in Schools Campaign. See more info at https://nesri.org, https://inthesetimes.com, and http://dignityinschools.org.

This episode is hosted by Ronnie Galvin, The Democracy Collaborative's Vice President of Racial Equity and the Democratic Economy.  This week, Ronnie is discussing how best to contextualize the topic of reparations within the framework of a democratic economy. He is joined by Dr. Ron Daniels of the Institute of the Black World and Dr. Akilah Watkins-Butler of the Center for Community Progress. A full transcript of this episode is available at www.thenextsystem.org/podcast. You can learn more about Dr. Daniels' work at https://ibw21.org/author/dr-ron-daniels/. You can learn more about Dr. Watkins-Butler's work at https://www.communityprogress.net/akilah-watkins-butler-pages-533.php.

One of the key points of contention in the Democratic Primary race is defining what policies and proposals are “radical” and which are “pragmatic.” One primary contender went as far to dismiss a so-called radical agenda as “wish-list economics.” This week Adam Simpson speaks to thought leaders across The Democracy Collaborative and Next System Project to find out precisely what should be on a “wish-list” for economic transformation. The conversation week ranges from housing to healthcare to finance to climate change and beyond—and why that transformation in those sectors is more practical than moderates are willing to admit. Transcripts of all episodes are available at www.thenextsystem.org/podcast.

This week we're looking at building worker ownership in the economy from a policy perspective. Given new policies proposed by a host of Democratic Candidates, worker power and inequality are two topics very much on the policy agenda for the 2020 presidential race. Today we're talking about why worker ownership is a particularly unique strategy to addressing both of those challenges and the policies thus far that have entered the discourse. We're joined by Next System Project Policy Associate Peter Gowan, as well as Mo Manklang, Communications Director for the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives. Transcripts of all episodes are available at The Next System Podcast is available at www.thenextsystem.org/podcast.

This week we are discussing how to design communities for justice, in particular as communities seek to respond to challenges of climate change, with new projects from transit to infrastructure. Isaiah Poole hosts a panel featuring The Next System Project’s Johanna Bozuwa, the Institute for Policy Study’s Basav Sen, and We Act for Environmental Justice’s Michael Velarde. You can learn more about the Next System Project at www.nextsystem.org. Transcripts for all our episodes are available at www.thenextsystem.org/podcast. 

This week, we're talking about how Social Wealth Funds can play a role in empowering both individuals and communities in the economy. Joining us is member of the Maryland House of Delegates Gabriel Acevero, Vice President at the Insight Center for Community and Economic Development Jhumpa Bhattacharya, and President of the People's Policy Project, Matt Bruenig. Transcripts for all episodes can be found at https://thenextsystem.org/podcast

This week we’re talking about how to confront the fossil fuel industry. To discuss how to contain and curtail the deleterious effects of this tremendously powerful industry, we have three exceptional guests including journalist Kate Aronoff, Oil Change International’s Steve Kretzmann, and the Next System Project’s own Carla Skandier. Transcripts for all episodes can be found at https://thenextsystem.org/learn/collections/next-system-podcast.

Shari Davis, Lorian Ngarambe, and Alexander Kolokotronis discuss participatory budgeting, its historical roots, its impact in anti-poverty initiatives, strategies for involvement, its growth in the US, and its role in bringing about system change.

This week we are discussing how to finance a transition from an ecologically harmful economy dependent on fossil fuels to a clean economy defined by renewables. We have three great guests tackling perspectives at different levels of service, from municipal to state to the federal level. We are joined by Jackie Fielder, an organizer working toward a public bank for San Francisco, Kat Taylor, the CEO of Beneficial State Bank, and Carla Skandier, a Senior Research Associate at the Democracy Collaborative. Transcripts for all episodes can be found at https://thenextsystem.org/learn/collections/next-system-podcast.

This week we’re talking about public ownership and privatization with three special guests. We are joined by Shahrzad Habibi, research director at In The Public Interest, Thomas Hanna, The Democracy Collaborative's research director and author of Our Common Wealth: The Return of Public Ownership in the United States, and Cat Hobbs, founder and director of We Own It.  The conversation runs the gamut from the pitfalls of the privatization of goods and services to the social benefits of public ownership and envisioning democratic governance thereof.