Podcasts about Action Center

Seth shares a thought on the recent Supreme Court ruling on carrying firearms in public, and how it relates to the concept of informed consent. Sarah Mervosh’s New York Times piece “Public School Students May Soon Be Required to Read the Bible.” Audio from Gina Plata-Nino, the Director of SNAP Policy and Advocacy at the Food Research and Action Center, being questioned before the House Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency held a hearing on “Combating Waste, Fraud, and Abuse in SNAP.” We're joined by Shannon Estes, President of CMI Gold & Silver. Mark St. Peter, Owner at Patriot Flip, LLC., joins the Show to share his personal story of how he got into the real estate business and why he decided to start Patriot Flip, a company that offers cash offers, traditional listings, and creative financing options to homeowners. He also talks about the importance of being honest with clients and giving them a personalized service that sets his company apart from others in the industry. Check them out at https://patriotflip.com/.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Scott was joined by Rev. Marcus Jones, author and University Chaplain at Huston Tillotson University in Austin after having previously served as the Executive Director of the Wesley Foundation at Midwestern State University, leader of the MOSAIC Cross-Cultural Center, and as Executive Director of UTA Wesley at the University of Texas at Arlington. Rev. Jones has extensive experience working on college campuses and has written books on the topic, so Scott talked with him about serving in an HBCU in this political climate, what students are thinking about what is happening in our civic life and what the broader faith community can learn from their advocacy and experiences. We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us! To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org.   Weekly Witness is hosted by Scott Atnip and engineered and produced by David Vassallo. Our executive producer is Bee Moorhead. Theme music by Kimberly Zielnicki, Hayden Havard and Andres Garcia-Bonilla. The opinions expressed on Weekly Witness are those of Texas Impact and our guests, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of our sponsors. Weekly Witness is a product of Texas Impact. Visit us online at texasimpact.org.   

This week, Scott was joined by Rev. Dr. Jim Rigby, who has served as the pastor of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Austin for 40 years. Rev. Rigby has garnered attention over the decades for his commitment to justice and a progressive brand of Christianity, and he has been in the news recently as Senate candidate James Talarico's pastor.  Rigby is getting more attention than a typical candidate's pastor, probably because Rep. Talarico is a seminarian who is putting his faith at the forefront of his candidacy. To be clear, Texas Impact does not endorse candidates for public office. This episode of Weekly Witness is not about a candidate for office. Instead, like every episode of Weekly Witness, it's about a particular Texas faith leader and how they are doing ministry in their particular context. Currently, Jim Rigby's context includes having a parishioner with more than the usual amount of name recognition. So, this episode brings you a conversation about what it is like to do ministry from that perspective.  We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us! To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org.  Weekly Witness is hosted by Scott Atnip and engineered and produced by David Vassallo. Our executive producer is Bee Moorhead. Theme music by Kimberly Zielnicki, Hayden Havard and Andres Garcia-Bonilla. The opinions expressed on Weekly Witness are those of Texas Impact and our guests, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of our sponsors. Weekly Witness is a product of Texas Impact. Visit us online at texasimpact.org. Get full access to Texas Impact at texasimpact.substack.com/subscribe

This week, Scott was joined by Dylan Corbett, founder and executive director of Hope Border Institute in El Paso. Dylan is a leader in the immigration space, working with and advocating for immigrants in communities across the globe before he landed in Texas. Dylan is especially influential in the Catholic Church when it comes to immigration concerns. He met with Pope Leo at the Vatican to share stories of migrants and was recently named by the Pope to serve on the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.  Scott and Dylan discussed his journey in faith, the importance of people of faith advocating for migration and the role of faith and Catholic social teachings in the public square. Scott also pressed him to invite the Pope to join us for a Weekly Witness episode, so watch this space for that.  We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us! To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org.  Get full access to Texas Impact at texasimpact.substack.com/subscribe

This week, Scott was joined by Rev Tamika Nelson, executive director of United Campus Ministries of Greater Houston. Rev. Nelson was ordained in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ); has served a United Methodist Church; and now works in a campus ministry affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and the United Church of Christ. United Campus Ministry serves the UT School of Medicine, HCC locations, Texas Southern University, UHD, and Rice University.   Tamika has also participated in Houston Faith Votes, so Scott and Tamika discussed her ministry with young adults and how they are talking about our current policy climate, their leadership in the civic engagement space, and their barriers to participation.  We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us! To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org. Get full access to Texas Impact at texasimpact.substack.com/subscribe

This week, Scott was joined by The Rev Becky Fox, pastor and head of staff at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Lubbock. Covenant has a long history of engaging in justice ministries and advocacy in Lubbock and beyond. Scott and Becky discussed the important role churches like Covenant play in rural Texas and the role faith communities and faith leaders play in responding to the current political moment. With faith being in focus this election season, Becky discussed what it is like to have her denomination and mainline faith communities being discussed in mainstream culture. We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us! To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org.     Weekly Witness is hosted by Scott Atnip and engineered and produced by David Vassallo. Our executive producer is Bee Moorhead. Theme music by Kimberly Zielnicki, Hayden Havard and Andres Garcia-Bonilla. The opinions expressed on Weekly Witness are those of Texas Impact and our guests, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of our sponsors. Weekly Witness is a product of Texas Impact. Visit us online at texasimpact.org.

This week, Scott was joined by The Rev Becky Fox, pastor and head of staff at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Lubbock. Covenant has a long history of engaging in justice ministries and advocacy in Lubbock and beyond.  Scott and Becky discussed the important role churches like Covenant play in rural Texas and the role faith communities and faith leaders play in responding to the current political moment. With faith being in focus this election season, Becky discussed what it is like to have her denomination and mainline faith communities being discussed in mainstream culture.  We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us! To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org.  Get full access to Texas Impact at texasimpact.substack.com/subscribe

This week, Scott was joined by Sister Denise LaRock, a Daughter of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, who has been working in the San Antonio area in ministries related to immigration for the last decade.  Sr. Denise discussed her religious order and their focus on justice and compassion ministries. She also talked about her work in the immigration space and the role the faith community plays in advocating for our immigrant neighbors.  Also, spoiler: Sister Denise has not met Pope Leo, but she and Scott talked about the impact the "American Pope" is having on our current culture and climate.  We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us! To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org.  Get full access to Texas Impact at texasimpact.substack.com/subscribe

This week, Scott was joined by Rev. Brooke Dooley, associate pastor of youth and young adults at Friends Congregational Church in College Station. Brooke also serves as the youth director for the South Central Conference of the United Church of Christ.    Brooke discussed her call to ministry, from a closeted youth trying to find a space in College Station to a liberal activist; then, her journey to seminary and serving as a pastor back in the town she grew up in, where she is now able to provide hope and guidance for the next generation of kids needing a safe space.    Scott and Brooke talked about the current political landscape, the questions young people are asking, and how faith communities can support younger generations.    We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us!   To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org.   

This week, Scott was joined by Rev. Brooke Dooley, associate pastor of youth and young adults at Friends Congregational Church in College Station. Brooke also serves as the youth director for the South Central Conference of the United Church of Christ. Brooke discussed her call to ministry, from a closeted youth trying to find a space in College Station to a liberal activist; then, her journey to seminary and serving as a pastor back in the town she grew up in, where she is now able to provide hope and guidance for the next generation of kids needing a safe space. Scott and Brooke talked about the current political landscape, the questions young people are asking, and how faith communities can support younger generations. We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us! To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org. Get full access to Texas Impact at texasimpact.substack.com/subscribe

This week, Scott was joined by Rev. Jody Harrison, a Baptist minister, member of the Baptist Women in Ministry Board, and a former chaplain and Capitol staffer. Jody is a member of several Texas Impact teams as well as a veteran of numerous political campaigns. Jody joined the pod for a fascinating conversation about her path from policy and campaign staffer to Baptist minister, reflecting on both her faith and policy journey. As a leader in the fight against Christian Nationalism, she discussed her advocacy work in the public education and reproductive health spaces and talked about how listeners could be effective advocates in our current political climate. We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us! To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org.     Weekly Witness is hosted by Scott Atnip and engineered and produced by David Vassallo. Our executive producer is Bee Moorhead. Theme music by Kimberly Zielnicki, Hayden Havard and Andres Garcia-Bonilla. The opinions expressed on Weekly Witness are those of Texas Impact and our guests, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of our sponsors. Weekly Witness is a product of Texas Impact. Visit us online at texasimpact.org.

This week, Scott was joined by Rev. Mel Caraway, a retired United Methodist pastor and long-time Texas Impact Board Member. Mel is a leader in the faith-based climate advocacy space at the denominational level and international level as a long-time COP attendee.  Rev. Caraway joined the conversation to talk about his faith journey and how climate advocacy became his area of focus.  He also talked about the work listeners could take to engage their community and congregation in effective climate work—a perfect conversation for this Earth Day.  We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us! To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org.  Get full access to Texas Impact at texasimpact.substack.com/subscribe

This week, Scott was joined by Almas Muscatwalla, co-founder of Faith Forward Dallas at Thanksgiving Square. Almas provides leadership in a number of North Texas faith spaces and is a leader in encouraging pluralism and interfaith dialogue.  Almas talked about her Ismaili Muslim faith tradition and how it encourages a commitment to community. She also discussed challenges facing our communities in our current political climate.  She challenged listeners to work to connect with those with whom we disagree, even discussing a recent encounter with a January 6 leader at the Dallas No Kings Rally.  We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us! To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org.  Weekly Witness is hosted by Scott Atnip and engineered and produced by David Vassallo. Our executive producer is Bee Moorhead. Theme music by Kimberly Zielnicki, Hayden Havard and Andres Garcia-Bonilla. The opinions expressed on Weekly Witness are those of Texas Impact and our guests, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of our sponsors. Weekly Witness is a product of Texas Impact. Visit us online at texasimpact.org. Get full access to Texas Impact at texasimpact.substack.com/subscribe

This week, Scott was joined by Imaad Khan, a former policy analyst with Texas Impact who made numerous appearances back in the early days of the podcast. Imaad talked about his faith and advocacy journey pre-Texas Impact, including how his faith and family shaped his desire to study and work in the public policy space. He also offered reflections on his work post-Texas Impact and how he views our current challenges here in Texas and throughout the world through his faith lens.  This conversation was well-timed, because the three major Abrahamic faith traditions (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam) recently celebrated significant holy days/seasons—and Imaad offers reflections from his Ramadan journey.  But, coming out of the holy days/seasons, we are once again seeing an increase in anti-Muslim rhetoric, so Scott and Imaad reflected on that and the role people of faith play in creating a more supportive and inclusive community.  We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us! To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org.  Weekly Witness is hosted by Scott Atnip and engineered and produced by David Vassallo. Our executive producer is Bee Moorhead. Theme music by Kimberly Zielnicki, Hayden Havard and Andres Garcia-Bonilla. The opinions expressed on Weekly Witness are those of Texas Impact and our guests, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of our sponsors. Weekly Witness is a product of Texas Impact. Visit us online at texasimpact.org.  Get full access to Texas Impact at texasimpact.substack.com/subscribe

This week, Scott was joined by Rev. Trent Ormsbee-Hale, pastor of Messiah Lutheran Church in Weatherford, TX. For long-time listeners, that congregation might be familiar, because he served with and then followed Texas Impact's past Board President, Rev. Franz Schemmel as the pastor upon Franz's retirement. Scott and Trent reminisced on their shared history. Scott knew Trent and his husband Anthony while they were undergraduate students. At that time, Trent was discerning his journey in ministry, coming out of a Fransiscan background in a journey that led him to now serving as an Evangelical Lutheran pastor. The conversation centered on what faithful advocacy and justice work looks like when faith leaders serve communities that might not always share all of our values. There are countless faith leaders serving in contexts where many in their congregations feel isolated or worried and find comfort in their congregation being a safe place to worship, gather and/or engage in justice work. Trent gave voice to concerns, challenges and opportunities experienced by many faith leaders living and working in rural Texas. To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org. We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us!     Weekly Witness is hosted by Scott Atnip and engineered and produced by David Vassallo. Our executive producer is Bee Moorhead. Theme music by Kimberly Zielnicki, Hayden Havard and Andres Garcia-Bonilla. The opinions expressed on Weekly Witness are those of Texas Impact and our guests, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of our sponsors. Weekly Witness is a product of Texas Impact. Visit us online at texasimpact.org.

This season on Weekly Witness, we are highlighting faith leaders who advocate for justice and equity. Our conversation this week is a great reminder that "faith leader" does not always mean "clergy." As a lay-person, Robert Rivera has been a leading faith voice in the communities he has served, including in high levels of leadership with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and as the Director of the St. James Family Life Center in Houston. Robert is a leader in connecting our faith institutions with immigrant communities, where he has spent decades organizing. He is also a leader in the Houston Faith Votes movement. We are excited to bring you this conversation with Robert to challenge all of us to think about our work in immigration advocacy and civic engagement. If you want to get involved in Texas, check out Texas Impact's Action Center and consider signing up. We want to give a special shout out this week to the Texas Faith Votes team and the Immigration Action Team and hope you will consider joining. We hope you enjoy this episode. and hope you share it in your social media feed. Make sure to tag us, and invite a friend to listen along. Weekly Witness is hosted by Scott Atnip and engineered and produced by David Vassallo. Our executive producer is Bee Moorhead. Theme music by Kimberly Zielnicki, Hayden Havard and Andres Garcia-Bonilla. The opinions expressed on Weekly Witness are those of Texas Impact and our guests, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of our sponsors. Weekly Witness is a product of Texas Impact. Visit us online at texasimpact.org.

This season on Weekly Witness, we are highlighting faith leaders who advocate for justice and equity. Our conversation this week is a great reminder that "faith leader" does not always mean "clergy." As a lay-person, Robert Rivera has been a leading faith voice in the communities he has served, including in high levels of leadership with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and as the Director of the St. James Family Life Center in Houston.  Robert is a leader in connecting our faith institutions with immigrant communities, where he has spent decades organizing. He is also a leader in the Houston Faith Votes movement. We are excited to bring you this conversation with Robert to challenge all of us to think about our work in immigration advocacy and civic engagement.  If you want to get involved in Texas, check out Texas Impact's Action Center and consider signing up. We want to give a special shout out this week to the Texas Faith Votes team and the Immigration Action Team and hope you will consider joining.  We hope you enjoy this episode. and hope you share it in your social media feed. Make sure to tag us, and invite a friend to listen along.  Weekly Witness is hosted by Scott Atnip and engineered and produced by David Vassallo. Our executive producer is Bee Moorhead. Theme music by Kimberly Zielnicki, Hayden Havard and Andres Garcia-Bonilla. The opinions expressed on Weekly Witness are those of Texas Impact and our guests, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of our sponsors. Weekly Witness is a product of Texas Impact. Visit us online at texasimpact.org.  Get full access to Texas Impact at texasimpact.substack.com/subscribe

This week, Scott welcomes Rabbi Josh Fixler, associate rabbi at Congregation Emanu El in Houston to the conversation. Josh is a friend of the program—so much so, in fact that we had trouble narrowing down the conversation because Rabbi Fixler has a wide-ranging justice portfolio. We landed on Christian Nationalism and civic engagement, because Rabbi Fixler has extensive expertise in those areas, and both have been at the forefront of the policy conversation in Texas over the last few weeks. Christian Nationalism has been a leading factor in harmful public policies in the reproductive health and public education policy areas, and it will require intentional civic engagement work from people of faith and good conscience to turn the tide. Rabbi Fixler talks about these policy areas and gives listeners tips and best practices for civic engagement. If you want to get involved in Texas, check out Texas Impact's Action Center and consider signing up. We want to give a special shout out this week to the Texas Faith Votes team and resources, as election season continues. We hope you like the new format. If so, make sure to subscribe, like and share the content with your networks.     Weekly Witness is hosted by Scott Atnip and engineered and produced by David Vassallo. Our executive producer is Bee Moorhead. Theme music by Kimberly Zielnicki, Hayden Havard and Andres Garcia-Bonilla. The opinions expressed on Weekly Witness are those of Texas Impact and our guests, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of our sponsors. Weekly Witness is a product of Texas Impact. Visit us online at texasimpact.org.

This week, Scott welcomes Rabbi Josh Fixler, associate rabbi at Congregation Emanu El in Houston to the conversation. Josh is a friend of the program—so much so, in fact that we had trouble narrowing down the conversation because Rabbi Fixler has a wide-ranging justice portfolio. We landed on Christian Nationalism and civic engagement, because Rabbi Fixler has extensive expertise in those areas, and both have been at the forefront of the policy conversation in Texas over the last few weeks. Christian Nationalism has been a leading factor in harmful public policies in the reproductive health and public education policy areas, and it will require intentional civic engagement work from people of faith and good conscience to turn the tide. Rabbi Fixler talks about these policy areas and gives listeners tips and best practices for civic engagement. If you want to get involved in Texas, check out Texas Impact's Action Center and consider signing up. We want to give a special shout out this week to the Texas Faith Votes team and resources, as election season continues. We hope you like the new format. If so, make sure to subscribe, like and share the content with your networks. Get full access to Texas Impact at texasimpact.substack.com/subscribe

This week, Scott was joined by Rev. Mara Bim for a conversation about her faith journey and work in the immigration space. She is familiar to many in the Texas Impact audience as a longtime friend and advocate, and she was recently a featured speaker at the Texas United Women in Faith Legislative Event. Rev. Bim serves as the Justice and Advocacy Fellow at Royal Lane Baptist Church in Dallas and as a writer with Baptist News Global.  The timing for the conversation was great, because it was the same week as the Faithful Resistance: A Public Witness for Immigrant Justice event in Washington, D.C. Thousands of people faith marched on the U.S. Capitol for a rally and for legislative visits, after a moving morning of worship with a powerful sermon by United Methodist Bishop Latrelle Easterling. (Event resources to stay engaged are linked at the bottom of this page) If you want to get involved in Texas, check out Texas Impact's Action Center, and consider signing up to get involved. If you are particularly interested in immigration advocacy, consider joining the Immigration Action Team.  We hope you like the new format. If so, make sure to subscribe, like and share the content with your networks.       Weekly Witness is hosted by Scott Atnip and engineered and produced by David Vassallo. Our executive producer is Bee Moorhead. Theme music by Kimberly Zielnicki, Hayden Havard and Andres Garcia-Bonilla. The opinions expressed on Weekly Witness are those of Texas Impact and our guests, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of our sponsors. Weekly Witness is a product of Texas Impact. Visit us online at texasimpact.org.

This week, Scott was joined by Rev. Mara Bim for a conversation about her faith journey and work in the immigration space. She is familiar to many in the Texas Impact audience as a longtime friend and advocate, and she was recently a featured speaker at the Texas United Women in Faith Legislative Event. Rev. Bim serves as the Justice and Advocacy Fellow at Royal Lane Baptist Church in Dallas and as a writer with Baptist News Global.  The timing for the conversation was great, because it was the same week as the Faithful Resistance: A Public Witness for Immigrant Justice event in Washington, D.C. Thousands of people faith marched on the U.S. Capitol for a rally and for legislative visits, after a moving morning of worship with a powerful sermon by United Methodist Bishop Latrelle Easterling. (Event resources to stay engaged are linked at the bottom of this page) If you want to get involved in Texas, check out Texas Impact's Action Center, and consider signing up to get involved. If you are particularly interested in immigration advocacy, consider joining the Immigration Action Team.  We hope you like the new format. If so, make sure to subscribe, like and share the content with your networks. Weekly Witness is hosted by Scott Atnip and engineered and produced by David Vassallo. Our executive producer is Bee Moorhead. Theme music by Kimberly Zielnicki, Hayden Havard and Andres Garcia-Bonilla. The opinions expressed on Weekly Witness are those of Texas Impact and our guests, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of our sponsors. Weekly Witness is a product of Texas Impact. Visit us online at texasimpact.org. Get full access to Texas Impact at texasimpact.substack.com/subscribe

Louisiana will have to pay a larger share of its Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) because of changes made in the Trump administration's “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” to shift costs to states. Starting in October, Louisiana will be required to pay an additional $50 million. In October 2027, a cost increase could occur based on the state's error rate.WRKF's Alex Cox spoke with Gina Plata-Nino, SNAP director for the Food Research and Action Center, for more. When we think of researching ancient civilizations, we imagine archeological digs, bushwhacking through jungles and dodging wild animals. Yes, researchers still do that today, but they also rely on modern technology to learn about the past. Marcello Canuto, Tulane professor and director of the Middle American Research Institute, has spent much of his career researching Mayan civilizations, debunking many of the things we thought we knew. And a lot of research happens in a lab in New Orleans. He and his colleagues will present their findings at an upcoming Maya Cities Symposium at Tulane from March 5-7 — which is free and open to the public.Canuto joins us for more on the role of technology in archeology.For a long time, Louisiana has struggled with the health of new mothers and babies. Now, New Orleans is tackling that problem with the return of an old-fashioned practice: the house call. WWNO's former reproductive healthcare reporter Rosemary Westwood shares more. ___Today's episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Alana Schreiber. Our managing producer is Alana Schreiber. Matt Bloom and Aubry Procell are assistant producers. Our engineer is Garrett Pittman.You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at noon and 7 p.m. It's available on Spotify, Google Play and wherever you get your podcasts. Louisiana Considered wants to hear from you! Please fill out our pitch line to let us know what kinds of story ideas you have for our show. And while you're at it, fill out our listener survey! We want to keep bringing you the kinds of conversations you'd like to listen to.Louisiana Considered is made possible with support from our listeners. Thank you!

“You'd be surprised by some of the people coming to us who are working multiple jobs and are still really struggling.” Pam Brier, CEO, The Action Center

They’re calling it a school funding crisis, but the numbers tell a different story: since 2018, public schools have lost 270,000 students while state funding has hit record highs. Christian Education Network Executive Director Troy McIntosh joins David and Mike to explain that public schools don’t have the money problem they and their media mouthpieces keep pushing. Instead, Troy brings the data: districts are becoming increasingly top-heavy as they hire administrators while classrooms continue to lack resources. After the news, David Bereit Executive Director of the Life Leadership Conference and CCV's Senior Fellow for Strategic Initiatives Peter Range join The Narrative to issue a bold challenge to the pro-life movement: stop being pawns for political parties and start holding elected officials accountable. In this hard-hitting interview, the guys discuss why the sanctity of life is a non-negotiable standard that politicians don't get to define. As pressure mounts to be "flexible" on the Hyde Amendment, David reminds us that our ultimate accountability isn't to a platform, but to our Maker. TAKE ACTION Now is the moment to speak up using CCV.org. Through our Action Center, you can quickly contact Senators Moreno and Husted to encourage them to defend the Hyde Amendment. The process takes less than a minute! Call on Ohio's US Senator Moreno and US Senator Husted to oppose taxpayer-funded abortion in any “deal” on Obamacare subsidies. More About David Bereit David Bereit is an internationally respected pro-life leader, strategic advisor, and dynamic communicator. David’s pro-life journey began in Bryan/College Station, Texas, where he rallied 60 churches and thousands of volunteers to drive Planned Parenthood out of local schools, revoke their taxpayer funding, reduce abortions, and ultimately shut down the local abortion center—prompting Planned Parenthood to label his town “the most anti-choice place in the nation.” David went on to found and lead 40 Days for Life, growing it into the world’s largest grassroots pro-life mobilization. Under his leadership, the movement activated 2,000 leaders and 750,000 volunteers in 600 cities across all 50 states and dozens of nations, leading to 14,643 lives saved, 177 abortion workers leaving the industry, and 96 abortion facility closures. Recently, top pro-life leaders and philanthropists asked David to launch and direct the Life Leadership Conference—a groundbreaking initiative to unify and strengthen the pro-life movement through strategic coordination, shared messaging, targeted mobilization, leadership development, and a $30 Million venture fund to maximize collective life-saving impact. A sought-after speaker and media expert, David has addressed over 1,000 live audiences, hosted hundreds of online events, and his insights have been featured in nearly every major media outlet. His work has inspired millions worldwide and helped raise over $100 million for pro-life and faith-based causes. David and his wife, Margaret, have been joyfully married for 32 years, live in the Washington, D.C., area, and are the proud parents of two adult children.

Gina Plata-Nino is the SNAP director for the Food Research and Action Center, a national nonprofit group focused on eliminating hunger in the US, and spoke about some of the impacts changes to SNAP could have on Missourians.

Two decisions hit Washington this week that could have massive consequences for families nationwide. On the judicial front, the Supreme Court is weighing whether states can protect women’s sports. At the same time, Congress is debating the extension of Obamacare subsidies, this time without Hyde Amendment protections for the unborn. Aaron, David, and Mike explain what’s at stake in these two major ideological battles. After the news, Dr. David Closson joins the podcast to unpack new survey data from George Barna and the Family Research Council, revealing a troubling gap inside America’s churches. While many regular churchgoers say they want clear biblical teaching on issues like abortion, sexuality, and religious freedom, foundational Christian beliefs about God, sin, and salvation are rapidly eroding. When churches go silent, culture fills the gap. Barna’s research shows that all seven “cornerstones” of a biblical worldview are in decline, even among committed believers. David explains what’s driving this collapse, why it matters for the Church’s witness, and what pastors and Christians must do to reclaim biblical clarity in an increasingly confused culture. TAKE ACTION Now is the moment to speak up using CCV.org. Through our Action Center, you can quickly contact Senators Moreno and Husted to encourage them to defend the Hyde Amendment. The process takes less than a minute! Call on Ohio's US Senator Moreno and US Senator Husted to oppose taxpayer-funded abortion in any “deal” on Obamacare subsidies. More About Dr. David Closson David Closson, Ph.D., serves as the Director of the Center for Biblical Worldview at Family Research Council, where he researches, writes, and speaks about life, human sexuality, religious liberty, and related issues from a biblical worldview. He is the author of FRC's Biblical Worldview Series, which seeks to help Christians and Christian leaders apply the teachings of the Bible to difficult moral questions. Dr. Closson's work has appeared on Fox News, RealClearPolitics, National Review, The Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, Decision Magazine, WORLD Opinions, The Gospel Coalition, Townhall, and The Christian Post. He is the author of Life After Roe: Equipping Christians in the Fight for Life Today (B&H Academic, 2025), co-author of Male and Female He Created Them: A Study on Identity, Sexuality, and Marriage (Christian Focus, 2023), and co-author of the forthcoming book Worldview Basics: A Worldview Curriculum for Students (Fidelis Publishing, 2026). Dr. Closson is a regular guest on Christian and conservative media outlets, including Washington Watch, FRC's national television and radio program heard on more than 800 stations across 48 states. He also speaks at conferences, seminars, and churches across the United States and abroad, addressing moral and cultural issues from a biblical worldview. Dr. Closson is a graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (Ph.D.), The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (M.Div., Th.M.) and the University of Central Florida (B.A.). He lives in the Washington, D.C. area with his wife, Abby, and their son, Daniel.

Senior Director of the Community Action Center Anika Rychner discusses their annual fundraiser for Operation Joy, which helps provide Northfield families with support during the holiday season. 

In this episode of Quakers Today, co-hosts Sweet Miche (they/them) and Peterson Toscano (he/him) invite you to learn more about the sometimes baffling practice of silent worship. Whether you're a long-time Friend or someone who has never stepped into a mostly silent meeting, we are pulling back the curtain to explore what happens in our hearts, minds, and bodies when we sit together in worship. The Purpose of Ministry We speak with author Rhiannon Grant about her book, Speaking in Quaker Meeting for Worship: What, When, How, and Why. Rhiannon helps us understand the purpose of spoken ministry in the silent meeting, explaining how speech that deepens silence is a vital part of our shared spiritual practice.  Quote: "The purpose of ministry then might be understood as deepening the silence of meeting for worship." Read a review of Speaking in Quaker Meeting for Worship by Paul Buckley at FriendsJournal.org.  Learn more about Rhiannon Grant's book and other Quaker Quicks at QuakerBooks.org/Collections/Quaker-Quicks. Our First Meetings for Worship Peterson and Sweet Miche share their first experiences in Quaker worship: Peterson's search for community after 9/11 and Sweet Miche's feeling of guidance at Pendle Hill. We also hear from Paula Christophersen, a Quaker in Germany, who shared her first experience of ministry. You can watch the full video of Paula Christophersen on YouTube or at QuakerSpeak.com. Meeting for Worship with Attention to Worship Peterson introduces a new format for meeting for worship he's been experimenting with: Meeting for Worship with Attention to Worship. This model of worship uses the meeting's existing structure to guide newcomers by making the internal work of worship visible and conversational. Quaker Fiction We explore how writers use fiction and poetry to make the internal, mystical experience of worship visible. Anne E.G. Nydam's story, “The Conduits”, reveals the flow of connection in meeting through glowing lines of light. Peterson shares two of his short stories! “Penn's Spring”, uses a mysterious, unexplained wet patch on a meetinghouse wall to represent a spiritual movement in a "stagnant and dry" meeting. “What Is Actually There” features a high-schooler named Jordan reflecting on the enduring effort of the Quaker path. “A Fine Showing for the Court of Owls” by Jonathan Doering is a story about the radical Quaker abolitionist Benjamin Lay. Read Quaker-themed fiction and poetry in the November 2025 issue of Friends Journal. Listener Responses Who is someone you've encountered in fiction that embodies Quakerness? The character could be from a book or movie. They could be a hero or even a minor character, and they do not need to be Quaker.  This month's fictional “Quakers” include: Pooh Bear, Maisie Dobbs, Gumby, Ted Lasso, Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, WALL-E, Stevens from The Remains of the Day, and Dorothea from George Eliot's Middlemarch. Next Month's Question We want to hear from you! What do you believe now that you didn't believe before becoming a friend or before encountering Quakerism?  Leave us a voice memo with your name and town at 317-QUAKERS (317-782-5377). (+1 if outside the U.S.) You can also reply by email at podcast@FriendsJournal.org or on our social media channels. Sponsors Quakers Today is the companion podcast to Friends Journal and other Friends Publishing Corporation content. It is written, hosted, and produced by Peterson Toscano and Sweet Miche. Season Five of Quakers Today is sponsored by the American Friends Service Committee and Friends Fiduciary. For over a decade, the American Friends Service Committee has provided technical and strategic support for divestment campaigns around the world. Today, AFSC's Action Center for Corporate Accountability aims to expose and reduce corporate complicity in mass incarceration, immigrant detention, border militarization, and the Israeli military occupation. Visit investigate.afsc.org and find resources to help you divest from corporate-sponsored state violence. Friends Fiduciary is a Quaker non-profit offering cost-effective, professional investment services to Friends meetings, churches, schools, and organizations. We offer five value-aligned portfolios, managed by 12 SEC-registered firms. We screen every holding for Quaker values, engage in shareholder advocacy, and in 2024, distributed $16 million to our constituents. Learn more about us at FriendsFiduciary.org. Music in this episode comes from Epidemic Sound. For the extended video version of this episode, visit the Friends Journal YouTube channel (insert hyperlink). For a full transcript, visit QuakersToday.org.

When a man can secretly order abortion pills in his wife’s name and force them on his pregnant girlfriend, something is deeply broken in our culture. This week's episode of The Narrative breaks down a shocking Ohio case that exposes the growing dangers of unregulated abortion pill access and the cultural ideology enabling it. Aaron, David, and Mike unpack how current FDA rules allowed a man to order abortion drugs in his wife’s name and forcibly give them to his pregnant girlfriend. They also highlight the media’s stunning lack of coverage, the worldview driving that silence, and what must happen now to protect women from coercion and abuse. After their discussion, Evans and Ben Nwankwo of Ambassadors for Self Determination—native Nigerian brothers who now live in Ohio—join the conversation to expose the brutal reality of Christian persecution in Nigeria and an ongoing genocide claiming roughly 30 lives every day. The guys unpack the violence, the government’s complicity, and how US pressure and foreign-aid leverage could finally force change. Don't miss this episode, which pulls back the curtain on two stories the mainstream won’t touch and learn what must happen to protect women and save persecuted Christians. Take Action As Christians, we must act now! Our brothers and sisters in Nigeria are facing a daily threat most of the world refuses to acknowledge, and Congress needs to hear from believers who won’t look away. Take one minute today to contact your US Representative and Senators through our Action Center and urge them to back Senator Cruz’s legislation. Your voice can help push America to stand up, apply the pressure, and protect innocent Christians before more lives are lost. Also, the Trump Administration can restore protections for women and their children by reinstating the safeguards around the abortion pill. Use CCV’s Action Center to contact your members of Congress and federal leaders today, it takes just 60 seconds to demand real accountability and save lives.

Scott Wopata, outgoing Executive Director of the Community Action Center and incoming Community Development Director for the City of Northfield, talks how the CAC is serving the community during the SNAP benefits freeze, Operation Joy, his new role with the city, and more. 

10/31/25: Crystal FitzSimons is the President for the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC), leading the organization to achieve its vision: A nation in which all people have the nutritious food they need to lead healthy and productive lives. Prior to taking on the President role, she oversaw FRAC’s work to improve and strengthen the school, summer, and afterschool nutrition programs. Joel talks with her on "News and Views" about the impacts on SNAP due to the government shutdown. (Joel Heitkamp is a talk show host on the Mighty 790 KFGO in Fargo-Moorhead. His award-winning program, “News & Views,” can be heard weekdays from 8 – 11 a.m. Follow Joel on X/Twitter @JoelKFGO.)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Host Anika Rychner, the Senior Director of Community Action Center, begins a new show talking with other members of local (Rice County, Minnesota) non-profit organizations about societal issues and how these organizations seek to help and educate. Today, she talks with Erica Staab, the Executive Director of HOPE Center in Faribault about the intersection of […]

08/14/25: Jamie Selzler is filling in for Joel Heitkamp, and is joined by Crystal FitzSimons for a conversation about SNAP and Food Stamps being impacted by President Trump's budget bill. Crystal FitzSimons is the President for the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC), leading the organization to achieve its vision: A nation in which all people have the nutritious food they need to lead healthy and productive lives; and mission: To improve the nutrition, health, and well-being of people struggling against poverty-related hunger in the United States through advocacy, partnerships, and by advancing  bold and equitable policy solutions. Learn more about Crystal and the Food Research and Action Center on their website. (Joel Heitkamp is a talk show host on the Mighty 790 KFGO in Fargo-Moorhead. His award-winning program, “News & Views,” can be heard weekdays from 8 – 11 a.m. Follow Joel on X/Twitter @JoelKFGO.)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Texas Legislature is midway through the third week of Special Session No.1  and activity has slowed to a halt in the House as Texas House Democrats have left the state to oppose the congressional redistricting plan. Texas Impact's Bee Moorhead joins the program to give us the latest and talk about how Texans of faith can help encourage conversations about community rather than what we are currently seeing. Join Texas Impact's Rapid Response Team on the Action Center of our website to recieve a link to attend Marching Order Mondays with Scott and Bee. Join the conversation each week during the special session. 

Theo Morrison with the Lahaina Restoration Foundation shares plans for a park under Lahaina's historical banyan tree; David Tumilowicz with the Domestic Violence Action Center discusses federal funding cuts and staff departures

The Texas Legislature is nearing the end of the second week of the special session, but in this episode, we want to focus on the Thursday July 31 hearing in Kerrville, TX that focused on the July 4 flooding in Central Texas.  Our listeners will remember seeing the news from that day, and our prayers certainly go out to all who were impacted. We hope our prayers are also for leaders to do the work necessary to minimize loss in future disasters and to examine what went wrong and how we need to respond to keep this from happening again.  Joining us for the conversation are two Texas Impact staff leading our Climate Action Team, Rev. Dr. Becca Edwards, Texas Impact's Climate Action Fellow and Ava Burkhalter, an intern and researcher with the Southern Climate Impacts Planning Program.  To get involved and join the Climate Action Team visit the Action Center of our website. texasimpact.org/action-center Find out more about the Southern Climate Impacts Planning Program at www.southernclimate.org/about

In this first part of a two-part program, we travel back and forth in time to explore the battle between democracy and plutocracy that goes back to the very founding of the United States.  The extreme concentration of corporate power and the prevalence of monopoly are indeed inarguable. If the solution is once again to throw the tea in the harbor, what does that look like in the 21st century? In today's new Gilded Age of rule by the wealthy, rising anti-trust movements are challenging the stranglehold of corporate monopoly. Featuring Thom Hartmann, the top progressive talk show host in America for over a decade, a four-time Project Censored Award-winning journalist, and bestselling author. Learn more at his website. Stacy Mitchell, Co-Director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, which produces research and develops policy to counter corporate control and build thriving, equitable communities. Maurice BP-Weeks, Co-Executive Director of ACRE (Action Center on Race and the Economy) where he works on campaigns to create equitable communities by dismantling systems of wealth extraction in Black and Brown communities. Resources The Hidden History of Monopolies by Thom Hartmann All Life Is Organized Around Democracy | Thom Hartmann's keynote address to the Bioneers 2020 Conference Democracy vs. Plutocracy panel discussion (video) | Bioneers 2020 Conference Our Economic Future | Bioneers Reader eBook This is an episode of the Bioneers: Revolution from the Heart of Nature series. Visit the radio and podcast homepage to learn more.

In the second segment of Something I Have Always Wondered About, KYMN News Intern Maya Betti talks with Anika Rychner and Lisa Percy of the Community Action Center. Among the several topics that they discuss, they talk about what the CAC does, the funding of the organization, and its expansion from just Northfield to operating […]

In the second segment of Something I Have Always Wondered About, KYMN News Intern Maya Betti talks with Anika Rychner and Lisa Percy of the Community Action Center. Among the several topics that they discuss, they talk about what the CAC does, the funding of the organization, and its expansion from just Northfield to operating across all of Rice County. 

Guest: Thomas White Mike speaks to propulsion engineer Thomas White about their experience participating in The Planetary Society's 2025 Day of Action, where they met with six Congressional offices to lobby in support of space science at a critical time. Inspired to take action? Visit The Planetary Society's Action Center: https://www.planetary.org/action-center Follow us on Bluesky! Mike: https://bsky.app/profile/miquai.bsky.social The Planetary Society: https://bsky.app/profile/planetarysociety.bsky.social

Independent investigative journalism, broadcasting, trouble-making and muckraking with Brad Friedman of BradBlog.com

Independent investigative journalism, broadcasting, trouble-making and muckraking with Brad Friedman of BradBlog.com

This week, we turn our eyes to DC for a fight that will impact this legislative session and sessions to come as Congress is considering hundreds of billions of dollars of cuts to Medicaid. These cuts would be devastating—not just to the Texans who rely on that coverage, but to our entire health care system. We welcome Peter Clark, Communications Director with Texans Care for Children, to talk to us about that and how you can get involved.  Visit the Action Center on the Texas Impact website at texasimpact.org to sign up for weekly action alerts. Find out more about the work of Texans Care for Children on their website txchildren.org  Read Bee's post on Medicaid cuts on our Substack texasimpact.substack.com/p/medicaid-cuts-let-us-stop-you-right  

Among the many justice issues concerning people of faith in 2025, immigration is near the top of the list across the country and across faith traditions. This week we are bringing you three guests to lay a foundation for immigration advocacy—at the federal level and in Texas.  First up, we talk with Bobby Painter and Kristin Etter of the Texas Immigration Law Council, who bring us up to speed on current immigration realities here in Texas and throughout the country. Then, we welcome Texas Impact's Bobby Watson with the state of play at this point in the Texas legislative session.  Check out the Action Center on our website to consider how you can get involved. One timely option: consider joining Texas Impact's Immigration Team. Make sure you are signed up for Texas Impact's emails and our Rapid Response team so you can receive the weekly Action Alert and updates—because your voice is needed now more than ever.   Find out more about the work of the Texas Immigration Law Council at txilc.org

This week we are excited to bring you content from Texas Impact's Public School Defenders' Lobby Day. We are joined by State Representative Gina Hinojosa, House District 49, while walking back to the Capitol after she addressed the Public School defenders to discuss voucher plans and how Texans of faith can push back against SB 2 and other voucher bills.   Later in the program we are joined by Texas Impact's Public Education Policy Advocate, Grace Bonilla, to talk about the lobby day and the work of the PSDs.  You can learn more about the Public School Defenders and Texas Impact's other issue teams, and see our weekly action alert, in the Action Center at texasimpact.org. Watch a clip from Scott's interview with Representative Hinojosa on our Youtube Channel. https://youtu.be/-7b-1RC-o08

This week we are going back to back with United Methodist Bishops as we welcome Bishop Ruben Saenz from the Horizon Texas Annual Conference—formerly the North, Central and Northwest Texas Conferences.  We thought this was a timely conversation as Bishop Saenz and other United Methodist Bishops in the South Central Jurisdiction wrote a pastoral letter addressing how we treat our immigrant neighbors.  Immigration is an issue that is front and center in response to the opening days of the Trump Administration, but we also expect it to be a hot topic during the Texas legislative session.  It is important that faith leaders and Texans of faith clearly state our desire to live out our faith principles. If you are interested in working on immigration during the legislative session, Texas Impact has a team for you. Check out the Action Center at texasimpact.org and sign up for Texas Impact's Immigration team–or one of the other teams to work on issues important to you.  Read the letter signed by UMC Bishops here: www.txcumc.org/beyondbordersletter

This week we are bringing you content from the United Women in Faith Legislative Event. This is typically Texas Impact's biggest event of the year—and this year the UWF had record participation with 350 registrants from United Women in Faith and various other faith groups participating over the three day event with hundreds making Capitol visits to their Legislators. In this episode we share Bishop Cynthia Harvey's keynote address from Sunday evening–although Bishop Harvey notes that she doesn't do keynote addresses… she preaches. Bishop Harvey is the Bishop of both the Texas Annual Conference and the Rio Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, and previously served as the President of the United Methodist Council of Bishops.  Bishop Harvey joins a chorus of faith leaders calling Texans of faith to action… to care for our neighbors and engage in the work of justice And, Texas Impact has tools and resources for you to do that work. Check out texasimpact.org and click on the Action Center to find out how you can get involved. Join the Rapid Response team to get updates on actions you can take and join our weekly Zoom on Mondays to learn more.

In our latest, we talk about Chevron's energy partnership with Israel with Dov Baum, director of the American Friends Service Committee's (AFSC) Action Center for Corporate Accountability. We get into where and how much Chevron is making from Israel. We talk about the current call for a boycott of Chevron over their support of Israel's genocide in Gaza, organic boycotts of companies like Starbucks and McDonald's and the history of energy boycotts. We also discuss this weekend's actions at Chevron locations around the country. Bio// Dov Baum is director of AFSC's Action Center for Corporate Accountability. Dov is the co-founder of Who Profits from the Occupation and of the Coalition of Women for Peace in Israel. She is a feminist scholar and teacher who has taught about militarism and the global economy from a feminist perspective in Israeli and U.S. universities. Dov is also one of a group of Israeli Reservists who have made public their refusal to serve in the military, including in a public statement to the Washington Post. --------------------------------- Outro- "Just from Chevron" by the Dirty Projectors Links// + Boycott Chevron: www.boycottchevron.info +Chevron Weekend of Action: Jan 31-Feb 2 (https://bit.ly/4aVMSVX) Follow Green and Red// +G&R Linktree: ⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/greenandredpodcast⁠⁠⁠ +Our rad website: ⁠⁠⁠https://greenandredpodcast.org/⁠⁠⁠ + Join our Discord community (https://discord.gg/uvrdubcM) +NEW: Follow us on Substack (https://greenandredpodcast.substack.com) +NEW: Follow us on Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/podcastgreenred.bsky.social) Support the Green and Red Podcast// +Become a Patron at https://www.patreon.com/greenredpodcast +Or make a one time donation here: ⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/DonateGandR⁠⁠⁠ Our Networks// +We're part of the Labor Podcast Network: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.laborradionetwork.org/⁠⁠ +We're part of the Anti-Capitalist Podcast Network: linktr.ee/anticapitalistpodcastnetwork +Listen to us on WAMF (90.3 FM) in New Orleans (https://wamf.org/) This is a Green and Red Podcast (@PodcastGreenRed) production. Produced by Bob (@bobbuzzanco) and Scott (@sparki1969). Edited by Scott.

On our podcast, we have often talked about the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. In many of those conversations, we've talked about the benefits and eligibility, and ways to improve the work that SNAP does to help low-income families meet their food needs. In today's podcast, we're going to turn our attention to a particular challenge, and it's the SNAP skimming fraud. To help us understand this and the larger context of SNAP, we have the great pleasure of talking with Salaam Bhatti, who is the director of SNAP at the Food Research and Action Center, or FRAC. Interview Summary So, let's provide a little bit of level setting for our listeners. Can you tell us what role SNAP plays in the lives of individuals who are facing low income or food insecurity? Yeah, Norbert, the problem with being in the richest, most powerful nation in world history is that we are facing a food and hunger crisis. We have the means, we have the resources to solve for it, but we haven't. For the record, the USDA, the United States Department of Agriculture, did a study last year. They do this study every year where they report food security in the country. In 2023, 86.5 percent of U. S. households were food secure. The remaining 13.5 percent, which is 18 million households, were food insecure. And this was an increase from 2022. So, 86.5 percent of food security is barely a B+. To be in the most powerful wealthiest nation in the world and we're barely getting a B+ in this space is unacceptable. And so, we saw some really interesting policies happen during the pandemic. We saw emergency allotments come in for the SNAP program, where all households received the maximum benefit amount for their households. And that, unfortunately, sunset. When that emergency allotment was in place, food insecurity-surprise, surprise-decreased. But not just that, we also saw Medicaid healthcare spending costs decrease as well. Because who would have thought that when people had food security, they didn't need to go to the emergency room because their blood sugar was low. So, we're experiencing a lot of challenges where we've seen the government show its hand that it can end poverty. It can end hunger. It just chooses not to. We know that SNAP is an entitlement program. It's available to anyone who meets the eligibility requirements. But we know that everyone who's eligible doesn't participate in the SNAP program. Can you help us think about how more people can be enrolled who are eligible. And maybe we even need to think more broadly about what is eligibility? What are your thoughts about this? In a given month these days, about 42 million people participate in SNAP. That's a lot of people. I would say that 42 million people are participating in it every day, but unfortunately, SNAP benefits do not last the whole month. By the third week of the month, people's SNAP benefits have been exhausted. Now, taking a step back, in case the listeners don't know how SNAP benefits work, it's a, as you said, a government program. And it comes in the form of an electronic benefits transfer card, an EBT card. It looks like a credit card, looks like a debit card. But really, it's more like a hotel card key, because it doesn't have the security measures, which we can talk about later in the show. It doesn't have the security measures that a credit and a debit card have. It is essentially a glorified hotel key. It's got the magnetic stripe on the back, circa 20 years ago. Maybe 15. I'm dating myself. I don't know how long ago it was we were swiping the cards. But all you gotta do is you swipe the card and you type in your PIN. And then you can use it at the EBT retailer. That is in a nutshell how 40 million people are utilizing SNAP benefits every single month. The program itself is also vital to retailers as well. We've seen that every dollar of SNAP benefits generates about $1.54 in economic activity during an economic downturn. So that means that when somebody is using their SNAP benefits at the grocery store, it's helping that grocery store keep the lights on. You know, employ the cashiers. And we need to employ cashiers, enough of this self-checkout stuff. It helps to pay the truck driver who's transporting the produce to the store. And it ultimately even helps pay the farmer for growing the crop. So, it's a great investment from the federal government into not just our households to help them put food on the table, but really into the whole local economy. And it is immediately used directly by the people and helps so many people. Now so, to your question about how do we enroll more people? Well, luckily we are at a time where the USDA reports that in the fiscal year 2022, 88 percent of eligible individuals were participating in SNAP. And that is the highest participation rate we've seen since they started tracking this in the past 50 years. That's great. But again, it's just a B+ so we can do better. There is room to improve. In the study, it showed that older adults, those who are over 60, they're participating at lower rates with only 55 percent of eligible members in that age category participating. We also have so many military families and veterans who are eligible, but don't participate. This SNAP gap is something that our partners are working throughout the states, throughout the entire country. We're working in partnership with a lot of federal agencies and partners as well. So, how do you ultimately close the SNAP gap? We're seeing a lot of targeted outreach. Seeing a lot of education efforts, but, you know, with 88 percent of eligible people participating, what's going on-on the local level? And unfortunately, Norbert, we've seen that state agencies which administer the SNAP program are unfortunately understaffed and they're underfunded. I used to be a state advocate at the Virginia Poverty Law Center. And when I was, hustling in the halls and lobbying for a million households with low income, I became friends with our social services agency because we had similar goals. We wanted to help households with low income. And we came to learn that the agency that we are relying on to administer the program was never getting their budget met by the legislative assembly. So, what we did was we got into partnership with them to advocate for their budget so that they could retain their staff, and so that the staff could do the job. That is something that we have to do across the states. Support these social service agencies in getting the funding so that they can have the staffing so that they can administer the programs in a timely way. Unfortunately, I don't know if you've seen this but earlier this year, the USDA Secretary Vilsack sent out a letter to like 44 state agencies, including D. C. and Guam. Being very concerned about their timeliness issues because they're supposed to complete the application reviews and determine eligibility within 30 days. And that's for a normal SNAP application. You have seven days for expedited applications. And 44 of these agencies were not meeting the mark. That's bad for, in terms of deadlines, but even worse for the families experiencing the food insecurity. So that is a very layered answer. It's the seven-layer dip answer of how we increase participation. Well, we need more staff to, to help that out. I hear that, and I'm really grateful for how you hit it at this point, and I want to draw a little more attention to it. While you talk about 88 percent participation, it looks different on a state-by-state level. Some states have a higher level of participation, other states don't. Do you think it's really the ability of those state agencies to provide that support, or do you think there are other factors that may be influencing the differential participation rates across states? Yeah, so we saw a big retirement, the great resignation, that happened during the pandemic. There were so many state agency employees, you know, who were, who were doing the job because they were passionate about it. They were also at retirement age. So, we saw quite a resignation happen. Because it was incredibly difficult. It was traumatizing to be involved in this space. And so, they resigned, or they retired, or they moved on to somewhere else. The new workers came in and they learned the programs with the flexibilities that were provided during the pandemic. Now, they have to relearn the program because all those flexibilities are gone. So, we're seeing a lot of administrative burden taking place within these agencies. I have a colleague, Carolyn Barnes, who's worked on this idea of administrative burden and the challenge of what's sometimes referred to as street level bureaucrats. The people who are on the ground who do the administration of these programs and the challenges that they face and the ways they engage folks. I appreciate hearing more about this. And I'm going to ask a potentially controversial question then. What if we took that responsibility out of the hands of state agencies and privatized that? What would that look like? Oh, and people have tried that. Governments have tried that, and it's always resulted in net losses. Not only has it cost the states more, but it has also led to the participants not receiving their benefits, or receiving less than, or receiving an error of more than. So many errors have resulted, which has made the program and administration worse. Which is an interesting question because a lot of people don't know that there are skilled employees at the helm within the agencies that are working on these eligibility determinations. They're known as merit-based staff. And every now and then you'll see a Farm Bill, that's the piece of legislation that houses the SNAP program, it'll come in and they'll try to privatize parts of the program. In the guise of, 'Oh, we're just wanting to help the agencies out and get the benefits to the people.' But listen, the several states that have privatized their benefit programs have learned the hard way and they've done away with those privatization efforts. Okay. I want to turn our attention to something that you hinted at, and we talked about at the top of the program. This idea of skimming or the SNAP skimming fraud. And this is not something that participants are doing. It's something that's happening negatively to participants. So, could you tell us a little bit more about this skimming issue? You know, skimming is a very serious problem that has affected all types of consumers. It's a device that gets put on the point-of-sale system, like that thing that you insert your card into or swipe at the checkout. And it's indistinguishable from the actual point of sale system. You could have a trained eye and still not be able to tell that this point-of-sale system has been compromised. So, what happens is when somebody uses a compromise point of sale system, their information, their card number, their pin is all taken. And within the same day, within an hour, you'll see the benefits are extracted. Usually in an entirely different state, and just the account balance is completely wiped out. The SNAP participant does not find out. If they don't check their account balance, they won't find out until the next time they're at the grocery store and they've done their, you know, 30 minutes of 45 minutes of shopping, with their kids in tow, and they've put everything on the conveyor belt and they're checking out and they swipe their card. And it says your payment is declined. And that is an awful harrowing situation that people are subjected to in the richest nation on the planet. They can't even use their government benefits to put food on the table. And then the process that currently exists to replace those stolen benefits is a lot of administrative burdens there as well. Where you have to you go home without the food, you fill out a piece of paper to say what happened, and then it takes weeks for you to get your benefits replaced. And God forbid that this happens to you more than twice in one year because the current resolution from Congress only allows two benefit replacements every year. But I mean, Norbert the question might be, who's stealing all this stuff? And why aren't the states doing something about it? Or why isn't the SNAP participant doing more to protect themselves? What we have to understand is that there are federal authorities, the FBI, are looking into this. They are investigating this because tens of millions of government dollars have been stolen. Over 120,000 households have been affected. This is big. This is bigger than the SNAP participant. This is bigger than the state. This is bigger than the retailers. And so, there's a lot for the federal government to do not just in replacing the benefits. Because that's you know, you we have a hole in the boat and we can't throw money at the hole. We need to fix the hole. So, what are we looking at here? We're looking at the opportunity to Secure our cards, secure the EBT card, by moving to chip. So, that is the next big thing You know what I appreciate out of this conversation is the experience of individuals who are using their SNAP benefits and they go to the store and the pain of discovering that their SNAP benefits have been expended. Not by them, but through some other means. I know the experience of having identity theft and, losing a credit card and not being able to do it. But I'm not in a situation where that means I'm not able to put food on my table. So, thank you for bringing our attention to the individual tragedy of that experience. And I think that's something important. But what you're also hinting at is that this is not some small-time incident. This is something much bigger. And of course, the federal government has a deep interest in trying to address this issue. And there needs to be some fix. And how this fix occurs also needs to be cognizant of the individual experience of low income individuals who are just struggling to make sure that they're able to solve this food problem. Yeah, you were talking about identity theft and when identity theft happens in the private sector things are resolved pretty quickly. If your credit card is hacked, nowadays you can just go online and say dispute charge and everything's taken care of within 24 hours. But can you imagine like not getting food benefits, like your debit card, your bank account being emptied, and you don't get everything back for weeks. It's mind numbing. It's really awful to think about. You've mentioned some technology fixes. And seems like they're pretty well known, the chip technology. Are there other fixes or in terms of technology or security systems that could help prevent this skimming challenge? One of the other challenges we're facing with the skimming is that the replacement benefits are temporary, it's going to expire on December 20th of this year (2024). And this is an extension that happened after the original replacement benefits, which was just under two years. These short-term fixes, or these short-term replacement benefit strategies are not what we need. We really need a permanent replacement benefit because no matter how secure the card gets, criminals are just going to be creative, and they will attack every single type of card as they continue to do with chip cards. Because we're talking about skimming, there's also something called shimming. S H I M M I N G. And that's when the point-of-sale system isn't compromised from the top, but from within, where you insert the card. That's shimming. So, that's something that exists as well. Chip cards will go a long way to decreasing the benefit theft when chip cards rolled out in the private sector it reduced theft by like around 90 percent. We're hopeful and optimistic that similar patterns will emerge there. But that's of course not 100 percent. It's not AA+++ It's a reason for why permanent replacement benefits need to continue. When it comes to chip card benefits, your listeners might be like, wait, wait, wait, this is 2024. We still have cards that haven't gone chip? It's because there's so many layers in the financial sector of what's going on the back end of these cards. So thankfully there was this massive process known as the x9 process where the entire industry came together. All the card manufacturers, grocers, convenience stores, retailers, banks, us humble nonprofits, and we came in to talk about what needs to be done. And so, they finally released the standards just over a month ago. And now we have two states in the running California and Oklahoma to roll out chip cards in the new year. All eyes are on Cali and Oklahoma to see how it goes before, I guess other states are going to hop on. The chip card is going to be the next big thing in the SNAP benefits world. Thank you for sharing this. I want to ask you one additional question about this technology issue. And it's related to a project I'm working on. It's the idea of online grocery shopping and the expansion of the SNAP benefits for online grocery shopping. And I'm wondering if there's any relationship between what you're seeing in skimming and the ability to use online grocery shopping. Or are these completely disconnected? I haven't seen anything regarding theft online, it's all been physical. We are seeing some promising things coming out of online shopping, especially for people who are living in areas without food access. Once we can bridge that gap of getting fresh food, like the produce and meats and chicken and fish, to people who are far away from grocery stores, then we've found the magic solution. But it's a promising trend on the online delivery space. Oh, that's awesome. I want to ask you just more generally about SNAP and where FRAC is right now. Where are you all thinking about in this space? And then what are ways that you can get just regular everyday people to help in the policy work of eliminating food insecurity? For more than 50 years, FRAC has been working to improve health, nutrition, and the well-being of people who have been struggling with poverty related hunger in the United States. Now, we have made tremendous strides in the fight against hunger. We've played a critical role in expanding SNAP. We've secured increased benefits for households with low incomes through landmark legislation, litigation. But unfortunately our work is far from over and we are really trying to work ourselves out of jobs. We cannot do it alone. We really need all hands on deck, especially as we are seeing in this upcoming Farm Bill effort some cuts that are being suggested or offered to SNAP benefit. We really need all hands on deck to protect this program. To build a nation free from hunger we encourage your listeners to go to frac.org, frac.org. Sign up for our action network and urge your members of Congress to prioritize ending hunger in America. Now, I know that oftentimes we're not sure what we should be saying to our Congress members. Our action network tells you all the things and it helps you really quickly and easily customize templates. Send in your own messages to your members of Congress. And also learn about hunger in your state and the solutions that exist as well. So, what will it achieve for you at the end of the day? Your efforts will advance bold and equitable policy and program solutions. And provide technical assistance and training to thousands of anti hunger advocates across the country, because we're collecting your stories. And your stories help impact Congressmembers. It helps us win their hearts. Bio Salaam Bhatti joined FRAC in November 2023 as the SNAP Director. In this role, he works to strengthen SNAP access and benefit adequacy. Salaam works closely with the Interim President to develop, lead, and track annual work plans; set and meet unit goals; collaborate with other unit Directors to assist in achieving FRAC's strategic plan goals; and expand the unit's innovation and work. Salaam joined FRAC after working at the Virginia Poverty Law Center (VPLC). While at VPLC, he successfully lobbied to fully repeal the drug felon ban for SNAP and TANF, twice achieved record increases to TANF cash benefits, subsidized reduced-priced school meals, repealed the TANF family cap, ended lunch shaming policies in schools, and received a unanimous vote to expand SNAP for over 20,000 families.  Salaam also helped develop a mobile-friendly, SNAP screening tool which is used by tens of thousands of people & multiple non-profits and has been rolled out to be available for all states and D.C. He received the Young Alumni Achievement Award from Albright College for his work in alleviating poverty and promoting Muslim-Jewish relations. Salaam also received the inaugural Stuart A. Freudberg Award for Regional Partnership for his work with Maryland and DC Hunger Solutions to address food insecurity across the metropolitan Washington area from the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. Salaam has a J.D. from Touro Law School, is barred in New York and Virginia, and received his Bachelors in Political Science and International Relations from Albright College (with a year abroad in the University of Aberdeen). 

How do we make it easier for more Americans to reliably put food (in particular, hot food) on the table? That's today's big question, and my guest is Salaam Bhatti. Salaam is the SNAP Director at the Food Research and Action Center, a 501c3 that uses advocacy and strategic partnerships to improve the health and well being of people struggling against poverty related hunger in the United States.Before joining the Food Research and Action Center, Salam was the Public Benefits Attorney and Deputy Director of the Virginia Poverty Law Center where he specialized in public benefits law. Salaam also served as the director of Virginia Hunger Solutions, where he supported the initiative's mission of eradicating hunger and enhancing the nutrition, health, and overall well being of children and families living in poverty throughout this great commonwealth.-----------Have feedback or questions? Tweet us, or send a message to questions@importantnotimportant.comNew here? Get started with our fan favorite episodes at podcast.importantnotimportant.com.-----------INI Book Club:Llama Llama and the Bully Goat by Anna DewdneyFind all of our guest recommendations at the INI Book Club: https://bookshop.org/lists/important-not-important-book-clubLinks:Follow Salaam on TikTok and TwitterFollow FRAC on Instagram and TwitterGet involved with the FRAC Action NetworkDonate to FRAC to help end hunger in AmericaCheck out FRAC's Road to the Farm Bill resourcesCall on Congress to protect and strengthen SNAPRead the USDA Food Security report and FRAC's Statement of Poverty reportRead FRAC's brief with the National Women's Law CenterFollow us:Subscribe to our newsletter at importantnotimportant.comSupport our work and become a Member at importantnotimportant.com/upgradeGet our...