We all know that voting alone won’t save democracy. But it does help…a lot. No one understands that better than voting rights organizer Nsé Ufot. She’s the former CEO of the New Georgia Project, where she leveraged technology and culture to register 600,000+ new voters. Nsé and Baratunde talk about why voting still matters and how we can bring love into the ways we citizen together.    SHOW ACTIONS Internal Reflection - What Do You Love? Take a moment to reflect on what you LOVE about your city, your county, or your country.  Now pause and breathe while visualizing those things for a few minutes. What do you feel in your body when you put your attention on what you love? How might this feeling help you citizen better?   Become Informed - Read bell hooks Nsé mentioned this idea of a “love ethic” which she got from Black feminist author and activist bell hooks. Learn more by reading her book All About Love: New Visions (A Love Song to the Nation) If you’ve only got time for a shorter read: we’ve found a beautiful blogpost that summarizes bell hooks’ love ethic.  Publicly Participate - Find Your People There’s only ONE New Georgia Project, so if you live in Georgia, get involved with that organization. For those of us not blessed to live in the peach state,  every region of the U.S. has similar groups focused on relational organizing work. Check out The Center For Popular Democracy for a great listing of affiliate organizations all around the U.S. you can get involved with.  You can also put relational organizing to work when it’s time to vote with organizations like CircleVoting or VoteForce.    SHOW NOTES Check out our episode with Angela Lang to learn more about how we mobilize folks to politically engage in their community.  Find How To Citizen on Instagram or visit howtocitizen.com to join our mailing list and find ways to citizen besides listening to this podcast!  Please show your support for the show by reviewing and rating. It makes a huge difference with the algorithmic overlords and helps others like you find the show! How To Citizen is hosted by Baratunde Thurston. He’s also host and executive producer of the PBS series, America Outdoors as well as a founding partner and writer at Puck. You can find him all over the internet.    CREDITS How To Citizen with Baratunde is a production of iHeartRadio Podcasts and Rowhome Productions. Our Executive Producers are Baratunde Thurston and Elizabeth Stewart. Allie Graham is our Lead Producer and Danya AbdelHameid is our Associate Producer. Alex Lewis is our Managing Producer. John Myers is our Executive Editor. Original Music by Andrew Eapen and Blue Dot Sessions. Our Audience Engagement Fellows are Jasmine Lewis and Gabby Rodriguez. Special thanks to Joelle Smith from iHeartRadio and Layla Bina. Additional thanks to our live audience voices Janine D., Diane H, Paula C. and Beatrice S.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The stories we’re told & tell about ourselves shape the ways we act and how we citizen. And the story we’ve been living in for decades now is one of consumerism and self-interest. Baratunde talks with reformed ad-man and author of CITIZENS: Why the Key to Fixing Everything is All of Us Jon Alexander about how we can tell a new story rooted in community and interdependence.    SHOW ACTIONS  Internally Reflect - Tell a new story  Think about the three stories – Subject, Consumer, and Citizen. Where do they show up in your life? Maybe you’re a subject with your parents or a consumer in your neighborhood. In what spaces, communities or realms are you already living the Citizen Story? Where else could you show up that way?   Become Informed - Learn about the Citizen Story Check out Jon’s book CITIZENS: Why the Key to Fixing Everything is All of Us and this BBC article. Also, check out The New Citizenship Project to find out how you or your organization can learn to tell a different story.  Publicly Participate - Practice asking for help Think about Jon’s question: What are you trying to do in the world that’s so big, you actually need other people to do it with you? It can actually be small, but just too big for you alone. It could be fixing the fence around your yard, organizing a fundraiser at your school, or envisioning a future for your company. Ask someone to help you do it! We know asking for help can be hard, so start by asking those in your sphere, “is there something you’re trying to do that I can help you with?”   SHOW NOTES  Check out our episode with Audrey Tang to hear more about how we can leverage tech & digital tools to strengthen democracy.  Listen to the podcast episode where Baratunde and Jon first connected: From What If To What Next hosted by Rob Hopkins. Read this New York Times article to learn more about the America In One Room experiment. Find How To Citizen on Instagram or visit howtocitizen.com to join our mailing list and find ways to citizen besides listening to this podcast!  Please show your support for the show by reviewing and rating. It makes a huge difference with the algorithmic overlords and helps others like you find the show! How To Citizen is hosted by Baratunde Thurston. He’s also host and executive producer of the PBS series, America Outdoors as well as a founding partner and writer at Puck. You can find him all over the internet.    CREDITS How To Citizen with Baratunde is a production of iHeartRadio Podcasts and Rowhome Productions. Our Executive Producers are Baratunde Thurston and Elizabeth Stewart. Allie Graham is our Lead Producer and Danya AbdelHameid is our Associate Producer. Alex Lewis is our Managing Producer. John Myers is our Executive Editor. Original Music by Andrew Eapen and Blue Dot Sessions. Our Audience Engagement Fellows are Jasmine Lewis and Gabby Rodriguez. Special thanks to Joelle Smith from iHeartRadio and Layla Bina. Additional thanks to our live audience voices Janine D., Martha T., Ray K., and Jonathan F. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Saving our democracy isn’t just about registering people to vote, ending gerrymandering, and so on. It’s about getting back to the basics of living together well through micro, everyday moments. To kick off season four of the show, Baratunde talks with writer, activist, and fellow Virgo adrienne maree brown about how we can learn to practice democracy in every space we’re in and how our small, civically-minded behaviors in society create a culture that isn’t easy to shake. Stay till the end to hear questions from our live audience.    SHOW ACTIONS Internally Reflect - Make a plan to share your power What communities are you a part of right now, from the smallest to the largest, the most local to the most global? Build that list in your mind. In which of these communities do you play some role in decision-making and resource allocation? Can you think of ways to bring others into those decisions more? In other words, can you think of ways, even and especially small ways, to bring more democracy to your existing communities? Become Informed - Study the work of Grace Lee Boggs & Octavia Butler adrienne was mentored by Chinese American philosopher, writer and activist Grace Lee Boggs. Learn more about Boggs in the documentary American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs.  Explore the power of fiction to affect our vision of what’s possible by reading adrienne’s book, Octavia’s Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements. And her newest book, Fables and Spells. You should also read the Parable Series by Octavia Butler to see why adrienne is so obsessed with this writer. Most books cited in the show are available on our Bookshop.org page.  Publicly Participate - Practice collaborative ideation Return to the communities you identified in the personal reflection. It could be your household, classroom, office department, or group chat. Within one of these groups, have members identify some challenge you feel is hurting or impeding the group. Then ask folks to imagine what things would be like years out if this challenge were fully resolved. How would they feel? What would they be able to accomplish? Write this down in short form, perhaps a corny movie trailer to make it fun. “In a world, where none of us carries student debt…” or “In a world, where everyone in this house is able to access the bathroom for as long as they need without preventing others from doing the same…” It doesn’t have to be super serious. The point is to try, with others, to imagine a better future. If you don’t have someone to play with, try this by yourself but look for ways to share your ideation with others, maybe in an email to a friend or a post on social media.    SHOW NOTES  Read the poem Home by Warsan Shire and check out the book Brave Community: Teaching for a Post-Racist Imagination by Janine de Novais.  Find How To Citizen on Instagram or visit howtocitizen.com to join our mailing list and find ways to citizen besides listening to this podcast!  Please show your support for the show by reviewing and rating. It makes a huge difference with the algorithmic overlords and helps others like you find the show! How To Citizen is hosted by Baratunde Thurston. He’s also host and executive producer of the PBS series, America Outdoors as well as a founding partner and writer at Puck. You can find him all over the internet.    CREDITS How To Citizen with Baratunde is a production of iHeartRadio Podcasts and Rowhome Productions. Our Executive Producers are Baratunde Thurston and Elizabeth Stewart. Allie Graham is our Lead Producer and Danya AbdelHameid is our Associate Producer. Alex Lewis is our Managing Producer. John Myers is our Executive Editor. Our Mix Engineer is Justin Berger. Original Music by Andrew Eapen and Blue Dot Sessions. Our Audience Engagement Fellows are Jasmine Lewis and Gabby Rodriguez. Special thanks to Joelle Smith from iHeartRadio and Layla Bina.  Additional thanks to our live audience voices Allison M., Janine D., and Carole W. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

adrienne maree brown, an influential writer and social justice activist, discusses the practice of 'citizening' and its impact on creating a culture of democracy in the fourth season of 'How to Citizen with Baratunde'. The upcoming episodes will explore various aspects of citizening and its application in daily life.

In this conversation, Aras Jizan, Portfolio Lead for Data and Technology at Community Solutions, dives into the complexities of homelessness and how it can be solved through data-driven strategies. He discusses the importance of setting well-defined goals and improving community collaboration. Aras highlights innovative uses of technology and real-time data to understand and address the needs of those without housing. He calls for collective ownership and active citizen engagement, framing homelessness as a systemic issue requiring community accountability and actionable solutions.

Baratunde asks how can we citizen with tech when we disconnect millions from technology and from society as a whole by incarcerating them? He closes the season in conversation with two people who’ve served time for felony convictions and are now working in tech to expand opportunities for all: Shaka Senghor, author and head of DEI for TripActions, and Teresa Hodge, president of Mission: Launch and co-founder of R3 Score which changes how employers use background checks.Guest: Shaka SenghorBio: Bestselling author and speaker; Head of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at TripActions Online: Shaka’s website, Twitter @shakasenghor, and Instagram @shakasenghorGuest: Teresa HodgeBio: President of Mission: Launch, co-founder of R3 ScoreOnline: Mission: Launch website; R3 Score website; Teresa’s Twitter @teresayhodge Go to howtocitizen.com for transcripts, our email newsletter, and your citizen practice.ACTIONS- PERSONALLY REFLECT Are we that bad?The United States has five percent of the world’s population and 25 percent of the world’s prison population. Ask yourself the question Teresa wants us all to ask: are we that bad?  - BECOME INFORMEDWho is leading the spaces you spend time in?Take stock of the companies whose products and services you use the most and the non-profits you may be supporting. Now go take a look at their boards and senior leadership. Do they reflect the experiences of the communities they serve? While you’re in a learning mode, check out Shaka’s TED Talk, Why Your Words Deeds Don’t Define You - PUBLICLY PARTICIPATECitizen with those who have felony convictionsThe Last Mile is an incredibly effective organization that prepares incarcerated individuals for successful reentry through business and technology training. Support their work through donation, volunteering, or better yet, hire their graduates!Redeemed Sole, an organization Shaka founded, highlights a number of organizations helping people avoid or return from incarceration. Find an initiative there, and donate, amplify, or join in some way. Find out if your workplace, school, or even landlord uses traditional criminal background checks to determine someone’s suitability. If they do, encourage them to join Teresa’s Bank on 100 Million initiative, and take the pledge yourself.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Baratunde is reminded that “tech companies” are really just people and asks what it would mean for tech employees to think critically about their work and its impact and use that power to remake the industry from the ground up? He talks with Xiaowei Wang, whose work at Logic School helps workers answer those questions. They also discuss blockchain, rice farming in rural China, and tarot. It’s all connected. Guest: Xiaowei WangBio: Lead steward of Logic School, author of Blockchain Chicken Farm Online: Logic School website; Xiaowei on Twitter @xrwGo to howtocitizen.com for transcripts, our email newsletter, and your citizen practice.ACTIONS - PERSONALLY REFLECT Consider consent and careThink of what consent and care mean to you, and think of what consent-ful and careful tech would look like, function like, feel like. What relationships would be strengthened? Shattered? - BECOME INFORMEDLearn about critiques and better waysRead this explainer on Platform Co-ops, which are digital platforms collectively owned and governed by the people who depend on and participate in them. And follow the work of The Gig Worker’s Collective which is shining a light on and advocating for the people who work at the other end of our smartphone taps and swipes.  - PUBLICLY PARTICIPATESupport the alternatives and whistleblowersSupport community internet and technology groups like the Detroit Community Technology Project, NYC Mesh, and Oakland Mesh. And check out The Tech Worker Handbook, a collection of resources to better prepare and support tech workers considering whether to speak out on issues that are in the public interest. Recommend it to a tech worker near you, but don’t send it to their work email! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Baratunde continues his journey to discover how we can embed more justice into the data driving our increasingly automated lives and focuses on the most intimate data there is: our DNA. He talks with Krystal Tsosie, an indigenous geneticist, and bioethicist who fights for data sovereignty and the rights of indigenous peoples to have agency over their personhood and knowledge.Guest: Krystal TsosieBio: Indigenous (Diné/Navajo) geneticist-ethicist at Vanderbilt University and incoming faculty at Arizona State. Co-Founder of the Native BioData Consortium. Online: Native BioData Consortium website; Krystal’s TED talk and Twitter @kstsosieGo to howtocitizen.com for transcripts, our email newsletter, and your citizen practice.ACTIONS - PERSONALLY REFLECT What’s your data worth?Ask yourself, “how much is my data privacy worth to me, and how do I feel about nonconsensual surveillance based on my data?” Now add in the element of genetic information. How would you feel if any of your biological kin donated genetic information that was tied to information about you that can be bought and sold? - BECOME INFORMED Learn about nonconsensual data collectionRead this NY Times article about Indigenous tribes in the Amazon who felt “duped, lied to, exploited” when they realized their donated blood samples were being sold for $75 a vial while the medicines they were promised in exchange never arrived. Or learn about Henrietta Lacks, a Black woman whose cervical cancer cells (“HeLa”) changed the field of biology and have been commodified by laboratories, but without the knowledge of her or her family. Now let’s make it more personal. Find out what Big Tech knows about you with some of the suggestions in this article. - PUBLICLY PARTICIPATE Support ethical data practicesEmpower science led by Indigenous scientists working with tribal communities to ensure that the benefits of biomedicine and public health benefit Indigenous peoples. Consider making a donation to the Native BioData Consortium. And help protect yourself and slow the market for selling our data by installing the Global Privacy Control. This is a feature of certain web browsers that lets you signal to a site not to trade information about you, and it’s backed by law!  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Baratunde knows what is healthy to eat or not, thanks to the required nutrition labels on our food. But how do we know the ingredients in the algorithms and AI we depend on are safe to use? Baratunde speaks with Kasia Chmielinksi about the Data Nutrition Project, which helps data scientists, developers, and product managers assess the viability, health, and quality of the data that feeds their algorithms and influences our decisions daily. Guest: Kasia ChmielinskiBio: Co-Founder of the Data Nutrition Project, an affiliate at Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, senior research advisor at the Partnership on AIOnline: The Data Nutrition Project website; Kasia on Twitter @kaschmShow Notes + LinksGo to howtocitizen.com to sign up for show news, AND (coming soon!) to start your How to Citizen Practice.Please show your support for the show in the form of a review and rating. It makes a huge difference with the algorithmic overlords!We are grateful to Kasia Chmielinski for joining us! Follow them at @kaschm on Twitter, or find more of their work at datanutrition.org.ACTIONS- PERSONALLY REFLECT Like people, machines are shaped by the context in which they were created. So if we think of machines and algorithmic systems as children who are learning from us - their parents - what kind of parents do we want to be? How do we want to raise our machines to be considerate, fair, and to build a better world than the one we are in today? - BECOME INFORMEDWatch: Coded BiasListen: Radical AI PodcastRead: Race after Technology, Weapons of Math Destruction, Data FeminismMake Choices: *privacy not included (consumer guide for buying technologies) - PUBLICLY PARTICIPATEDonate to these groups on the front lines ensuring the future of AI is human and just: Algorithmic Justice League, ACLU, Electronic Frontier FoundationDiscuss: Host a book club! The books above are really great platforms to gather folks who want to learn from the literature and each other.Attend a lecture or event: Data & Society, AI Now Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Can we inoculate ourselves against misinformation and conspiracy theories in the way we do for infectious diseases? Instead of debunking, can we “pre-bunk?” Sander van der Linden, co-founder of Inoculation Science, has created games that offer to do just that. Baratunde plays one of them and speaks with Sander about online misinformation campaigns, polarization, and how we can better protect ourselves.Guest: Sander van der LindenBio: Professor of Social Psychology in Society at the University of Cambridge, co-founder Inoculation Science, author of The Truth Vaccine (writing)  Online: Inoculation Science website; Sander’s website and Twitter @Sander_vdLindenShow Notes + LinksGo to howtocitizen.com to sign up for show news, AND (coming soon!) to start your How to Citizen Practice.Please show your support for the show in the form of a review and rating. It makes a huge difference with the algorithmic overlords!We are grateful to Sander for joining us! Follow Sander at @Sander_vdLinden on Twitter, or find more of his work at inoculation.science. ACTIONS- PERSONALLY REFLECTReflect on the game. After you play the game at https://inoculation.science and watch a few videos, reflect on how they made you feel. Are there online experiences you’ve had that make more sense once you consider you might have been intentionally manipulated? How do you think these games will affect your future online experiences? - BECOME INFORMEDPlay the game. Point your browser over to https://inoculation.science and play their set of inoculation games. In addition to Breaking Harmony Square, which we featured in this episode, they offer games to help you limit the harm of fake news and COVID misinformation.  - PUBLICLY PARTICIPATEShare the game. Finally, share the games with people you care about. Friends don’t let friends spread misinformation.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.