"Black Lives Matter: Interview with the Founders" (15 minutes)
Born out of a social media post, the Black Lives Matter movement has sparked discussion about race and inequality across the world. In this spirited conversation with Mia Birdsong, the movement's three founders (Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi) share what they've learned about leadership and what provides them with hope and inspiration in the face of painful realities. Their advice on how to participate in ensuring freedom for everybody: join something, start something and "sharpen each other, so that we all can rise."
"The Laura Flanders Show" (26 minutes) In the aftermath of the election, much has been said about what liberal government, media, businesses failed to do: contextualize his rise to office and connect with his voters to change their minds. In this episode, Laura interviews Arlie and Adam Hochschild, the duo who have each spent their careers documenting the complexities of political behavior.
Arlie Hochschild, with pragmatic energy, undertook the work we’d all like to do: she left the liberal haven of Berkeley, CA to go to the Louisiana Bayou -- a stronghold of the conservative right. Hochschild interviews Trump voters about their “deep story,” what drives them and how they feel left behind by the same liberal policies they need the most. Her new book, "Strangers in their Own Land" (a National Book Award finalist), hopes to find common ground with Tea Partiers and "alt righters" beyond politics.
Adam Hochschild is a celebrated writer and cofounder of Mother Jones magazine. An author of eight books, he writes with what the New York Times calls prose “constantly vivid yet emotionally restrained” about the struggle of young Americans who joined Spanish Republicans during the Spanish Civil War. In our current politically fraught time, Hochschild speaks to the hallmarks of fascism and how to mark its ascent.
Also, an F-Word from Laura on the media vs. Trump -- why it’s not just about alternative news but about finding an alternative to news.
"How We Talk About Sexual Assault Online" (14 minutes)
We need a more considered approach to using social media for social justice, says writer and activist Ione Wells. After she was the victim of an assault in London, Wells published a letter to her attacker in a student newspaper that went viral and sparked the #NotGuilty campaign against sexual violence and victim-blaming. In this moving talk, she describes how sharing her personal story gave hope to others and delivers a powerful message against the culture of online shaming.
"Unmanned: America's Drone Wars" (1 hour)
This documentary investigates the impact of U.S. drone strikes at home and abroad through more than 70 separate interviews, including a former American drone operator who shares what he has witnessed in his own words, Pakistani families mourning loved ones and seeking legal redress, investigative journalists pursuing the truth, and top military officials warning against blowback from the loss of innocent life.