So you want to fight climate change but you’re feeling overwhelmed by the enormity of the problem? Margaret Klein Salamon is a clinical psychologist turned climate activist eager to help people overcome inertia and fear so they can get involved in the climate movement. We talk about how to activate “emergency mode” instead of “panic mode” to face some of the biggest challenges of our time, and what’s at stake if we don’t. Episode Links: Learn more about Margaret / Climate Awakening: Website | Twitter Facing the Climate Emergency: Read A Free Chapter | Buy Follow Lila on Twitter Follow Kelly on Twitter Follow the podcast on Twitter at @WhatCanIDoPod To contact us with questions or guest suggestions, email us at:  hello@WhatCanIDoPodcast.com.  Please rate and review and tell your friends! Credits: To the best of our knowledge, all audio used by What Can I Do is in the public domain or is used with permission. Our theme song is Good Deeds by Serj Anto, and we hold a license for use of the song through PremiumBeat. Original artwork is by Matthew Weflen and used with express permission.

So you’re interested in running for state assembly? In 2021, Irene Shin took on an incumbent Delegate in Virgina’s 86th district and won! Now embarking on her second campaign for the VA House of Delegates, we talk about how she got involved in state-level politics, how she decided to run for office, the first steps she took to declare and build a campaign staff, and what life looks like in a part-time state assembly. In the process we talk about the challenges of being a historic “first,” why it’s so important to make state positions accessible, and the excitement of running in a bellwether state. Episode Links: Connect to Irene Shin’s Campaign: Website | Twitter | Instagram  Follow Lila on Twitter Follow Kelly on Twitter Follow the podcast on Twitter at @WhatCanIDoPod To contact us with questions or guest suggestions, email us at: hello@WhatCanIDoPodcast.com.  Please rate and review and tell your friends! Credits: To the best of our knowledge, all audio used by What Can I Do is in the public domain or is used with permission. Our theme song is Good Deeds by Serj Anto, and we hold a license for use of the song through PremiumBeat. Original artwork is by Matthew Weflen and used with express permission.

So you’re a journalist interested in using your skills to amplify new narratives and voices and promote a more just, more equitable world? This wide-ranging, incredibly thoughtful conversation with journalist and Long COVID activist Fiona Lowenstein is all about the power of storytelling, using journalism for good, the importance of accessibility, and how to use privilege and access constructively in one’s activist work. Fiona talks about how their skills as a communicator have helped them not just write about their own experiences, but pass the mic to the voices we might not otherwise hear from, and reflect on about how activism has changed in the COVID era, as well as what we can all do to make sure our work and life in general is accessible to all. Episode Links: Fiona Lowenstein: Website | Twitter | Instagram  The Long COVID Survival Guide: Publisher | Bookshop | Amazon | Barnes & Noble Long COVID Justice / JD David’s Organization Follow Lila on Twitter Follow Kelly on Twitter Follow the podcast on Twitter at @WhatCanIDoPod To contact us with questions or guest suggestions, email us at:  hello@WhatCanIDoPodcast.com.  Please rate and review and tell your friends! Credits: To the best of our knowledge, all audio used by What Can I Do is in the public domain or is used with permission. Our theme song is Good Deeds by Serj Anto, and we hold a license for use of the song through PremiumBeat. Original artwork is by Matthew Weflen and used with express permission.

So you’re hoping to meet other activists, learn about their work, and figure out how you can join forces or support each other’s work?  Netroots Nation 2023, the largest annual conference for progressives in America, is almost here! We spoke to longtime program communications director Mary Rickles Conley about the value of building a progressive community, how she got involved with Netroots, how their speakers and panelists are selected, and what attendees can gain from attending, both in person and online. This year’s conference, which will take place in mid-July, will feature appearances from some of this year’s most exciting and impactful progressive champions and elected officials, not to mention bring together thousands of activists to meet, mingle, strategize, and support progressive action.  Episode Links: Netroots Nation 2023: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube Follow Lila on Twitter Follow Kelly on Twitter Follow the podcast on Twitter at @WhatCanIDoPod To contact us with questions or guest suggestions, email us at: hello@WhatCanIDoPodcast.com.  Please rate and review and tell your friends! Credits: To the best of our knowledge, all audio used by What Can I Do is in the public domain or is used with permission. Our theme song is Good Deeds by Serj Anto, and we hold a license for use of the song through PremiumBeat. Original artwork is by Matthew Weflen and used with express permission.

So you’re hoping to propel a cause into the public eye in a way that’s thoughtful and effective? What do you do? For David Fenton, the longtime progressive PR guru who began his activist work in the late 1960s alongside figures like Abbie Hoffman and Yoko Ono, the answer has been to stick to some simple rules: straightforward and understandable messaging, repetition, effective storytelling, and the other principles that he lays out in his book, The Activist's Media Handbook. We spoke about his activist origin story and how he’s paying forward his decades of experience, as well as how he’s continuing to put the PR rules he writes about into practice to fight climate change. Episode Links: David Fenton: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram Buy The Activist’s Media Handbook Follow Lila on Twitter Follow Kelly on Twitter Follow the podcast on Twitter at @WhatCanIDoPod To contact us with questions or guest suggestions, email us at:  hello@WhatCanIDoPodcast.com.  Please rate and review and tell your friends! Credits: To the best of our knowledge, all audio used by What Can I Do is in the public domain or is used with permission. Our theme song is Good Deeds by Serj Anto, and we hold a license for use of the song through PremiumBeat. Original artwork is by Matthew Weflen and used with express permission.

So you’re thinking about your place in larger political systems and wondering how your own biases are showing up in your work. What do you do? For Jessica Nordell, a journalist who has extensively covered the fallout of our political and social biases, the answer was the dig into how they’re formed, how they impact our lives, and how we can change our minds and the minds of others. Her book, The End of Bias, forced her to confront not only our larger cultural biases, but her personal biases as well. She delivers into the research regarding how to make change by starting with the very thing that prompts us to try: our minds. Episode Links: Jessica Nordell: Website | Newsletter | Twitter | Instagram Follow Lila on Twitter Follow Kelly on Twitter Follow the podcast on Twitter at @WhatCanIDoPod To contact us with questions or guest suggestions, email us at: hello@WhatCanIDoPodcast.com.  Please rate and review and tell your friends! Credits: To the best of our knowledge, all audio used by What Can I Do is in the public domain or is used with permission. Our theme song is Good Deeds by Serj Anto, and we hold a license for use of the song through PremiumBeat. Original artwork is by Matthew Weflen and used with express permission.

So, the election is over, political changes are afoot, and you’re looking to help people take action into their own hands. What do you do? For Elyssa Feder and her team at Rising Organizers, the answer was to teach emerging activists the tools they need to change their communities, policies, and the world. By focusing on issues instead of elections, Rising Organizers helps people take steps towards making this change whether or not an election is on the horizon. Episode Links: Rising Organizers: Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook  Elyssa Feder (personal): Twitter  Mentioned in the Episode: Deepa Iyer’s (@deepaviyer) Social Change Ecosystem Map Follow Lila on Twitter Follow Kelly on Twitter Follow the podcast on Twitter at @WhatCanIDoPod To contact us with questions or guest suggestions, email us at:  hello@WhatCanIDoPodcast.com.  Please rate and review and tell your friends! Credits: To the best of our knowledge, all audio used by What Can I Do is in the public domain or is used with permission. Our theme song is Good Deeds by Serj Anto, and we hold a license for use of the song through PremiumBeat. Original artwork is by Matthew Weflen and used with express permission.

In this special post-election edition of TL;DL, we’re looking back at the action items we discussed on the most recent seven episodes of “What Can I Do” featuring: Candice Kerestan of Democrats Abroad, Chloe Maxmin and Canyon Woodard of Dirt Road Revival, Rev. Angela Williams of SACReD, Amanda Litman of Run for Something, Don Hebbard of Compressor-Free Franklin, Rosie Torres and Susan Zeier of Burn Pits 360, and New York City Councilman Chi Ossé. In this episode we’ll be focusing on actions you can take AFTER election day is done. Episode Links: Unsung History Follow Lila on Twitter Follow Kelly on Twitter Follow the podcast on Twitter at @WhatCanIDoPod To contact us with questions or guest suggestions, email us at: hello@WhatCanIDoPodcast.com.  Please rate and review and tell your friends! Credits: To the best of our knowledge, all audio used by What Can I Do is in the public domain or is used with permission. Our theme song is Good Deeds by Serj Anto, and we hold a license for use of the song through PremiumBeat. The mid-episode audio is "OctoBlues" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com); Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0. The audio clip is from "The Politics of Reproductive Rights in 1960s & 1970s New York," the October 31, 2022, episode of Unsung History and is used with permission of Kelly Therese Pollock. Original artwork is by Matthew Weflen and used with express permission.

So, you’re campaigning for a timely but hot-button ballot initiative and need to reach voters without eliciting knee-jerk reactions. What do you do? For Ashley All and the many coalition partners working with Kansans for Constitutional Freedom, the answer was to empower local activists to reach out in their communities and work together to message that protecting a woman’s right to have an abortion is one way to protect something Kansans of all political stripes value: Freedom. Kansas was the first state to defeat an abortion ban via popular vote after the Dobbs ruling, and the campaign has helped shape campaigns in other states, with several voting on the issue this month. Episode Links: Kansans For Constitutional Freedom: Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook  Ashley All (personal): Twitter  Follow Lila on Twitter Follow Kelly on Twitter Follow the podcast on Twitter at @WhatCanIDoPod To contact us with questions or guest suggestions, email us at:  hello@WhatCanIDoPodcast.com.  Please rate and review and tell your friends! Credits: To the best of our knowledge, all audio used by What Can I Do is in the public domain or is used with permission. Our theme song is Good Deeds by Serj Anto, and we hold a license for use of the song through PremiumBeat. Original artwork is by Matthew Weflen and used with express permission.

So you’ve gotten involved in a major political protest movement but you want to do more. What else can you do? For Chi Ossé, an active organizer with the BLM movement working in nightlife, the drive to make change led into a successful city council bid, making Ossé the youngest member of the New York City Council and the youngest person ever to pass a bill in New York City. Ossé believes that local politics are the best place to begin the work of improving communities, cities, and the nation at large. Episode Links: Chi Ossé: Website | Twitter | Instagram  Follow Lila on Twitter Follow Kelly on Twitter Follow the podcast on Twitter at @WhatCanIDoPod To contact us with questions or guest suggestions, email us at:  hello@WhatCanIDoPodcast.com.  Please rate and review and tell your friends! Credits: To the best of our knowledge, all audio used by What Can I Do is in the public domain or is used with permission. Our theme song is Good Deeds by Serj Anto, and we hold a license for use of the song through PremiumBeat. Original artwork is by Matthew Weflen and used with express permission.