Podcast appearances and mentions of Bryan Stevenson

This Day in Legal History: Britain's Last ExecutionsOn August 13, 1964, two men—Peter Anthony Allen and Gwynne Owen Evans—were hanged simultaneously in two different English prisons for the murder of a man during a robbery. They were the last people ever executed in the United Kingdom. Evans died at Strangeways Prison in Manchester and Allen at Walton Prison in Liverpool, both at eight in the morning, and with them, centuries of capital punishment in Britain came quietly to an end.Neither man knew he was making history; the abolition of the death penalty wasn't yet law. But the machinery of change was already turning. The very next year, in 1965, Parliament passed the Murder Act, which suspended the death penalty for murder for a trial period of five years. In 1969, Parliament made that suspension permanent for England, Scotland, and Wales. The death penalty lingered on the books for a handful of exotic offenses—treason, piracy with violence, certain military crimes—until it was finally abolished completely in 1998, bringing British law into line with the European Convention on Human Rights.The significance of August 13, 1964 is sharpened by contrast. Britain reached the end of capital punishment through ordinary legislation, and much of Europe followed a similar path, treating abolition as a basic human-rights commitment. The United States took the opposite fork: the Supreme Court briefly halted the death penalty in 1972 in Furman v. Georgia, only to allow it back four years later in Gregg v. Georgia, and capital punishment remains part of American law today, administered by the federal government and a number of states. So this anniversary is a useful mirror—a reminder that two closely related legal systems, working from a shared common-law inheritance, reached opposite conclusions on one of the deepest questions a legal system can face: whether the state should ever have the power to take a life. That's the question our opening quote, from Bryan Stevenson, puts squarely on the table.The law firm Motley Rice is in line for a payday of more than $67 million—its fee for winning New Mexico's sprawling case against Meta. We covered the underlying result: a judge ordered Meta to pay $567 million into a teen mental-health fund, on top of $375 million in civil penalties a jury imposed in March, bringing New Mexico's potential recovery to more than $942 million. Motley Rice represented the state on contingency, and under its contract it can seek a sliding-scale cut—20% of the first $50 million recovered, scaling down to 5% on amounts over $250 million—which works out to roughly 7% of the total, or about $67 million. Here's the practice-of-law angle worth understanding. States increasingly hire private plaintiffs' firms to bring these massive cases because they don't have the in-house firepower to go toe-to-toe with a company like Meta and its armies of lawyers. The firm fronts the enormous cost and risk of years of litigation in exchange for a percentage if it wins—the same model that produced the giant tobacco settlements of the 1990s, in which Motley Rice was a central player. Supporters say it lets under-resourced states take on deep-pocketed defendants they otherwise couldn't touch; critics say it hands public law-enforcement power to private firms with a profit motive. The significance is that this is the economic engine behind the whole wave of state social-media litigation we've been tracking. The fee comes out of New Mexico's recovery, and it only gets paid after appeals conclude—and Meta has said it will appeal—so the number, like the verdict, isn't final. But it's a rare, concrete look at the money that makes this kind of public-interest litigation actually happen. Law firm Motley Rice's fee for Meta case in New Mexico could top $67 million | ReuterAlbuquerque Journal · JD JournalTwo press-freedom organizations—The Intercept and the Freedom of the Press Foundation—have sued in Manhattan federal court to shut down a Trump Media service that sells wealthy subscribers early access to President Trump's social media posts. The service, called Truth API, launched August 1 and charges up to $100,000 a month for a faster feed of ten high-profile Truth Social accounts, including the president's own. The legal concern at the heart of the suit is a specific and serious one: Trump's posts routinely move financial markets—an announcement about tariffs or a company can send stocks lurching—and a paid feed that delivers those posts to deep-pocketed subscribers before the general public gives those subscribers a head start to trade on market-moving information. In other words, it potentially creates a two-tiered market in the president's words, where those who can pay six figures a month get to act on presidential statements seconds or minutes before everyone else. That's the kind of information asymmetry securities law generally frowns on. The service drew scrutiny fast—Senators Elizabeth Warren and Adam Schiff had already called for a government investigation days before this suit. It's also legally novel: the plaintiffs are press-freedom groups, framing public access to a president's official-ish communications as a matter of public interest, which raises interesting questions about their theory and standing. The significance is that this sits at a genuinely new intersection—of a president who governs partly through market-moving social media posts, the business incentive to monetize that, and a securities and public-information framework that never contemplated selling early access to the president's feed. However the case comes out, it's a preview of the strange legal questions created when official speech becomes a paid product. Trump sued over service that offers paid early access to Truth Social posts | ReutersWashington Post · NPRA group of current and former Palestinian students and staff have sued Columbia University, alleging that the school discriminated against its Palestinian community over the past two years. According to the complaint filed in New York, the plaintiffs say Columbia failed to protect Palestinian members from harassment, subjected them to what they call “unfair and biased disciplinary hearings,” and “actively participated in and amplified” what they describe as racially, ethnically, and politically motivated targeting of Palestinians on campus. The legal vehicle here is worth understanding, because it's the same one being wielded on multiple sides of the campus fights. Civil-rights law—principally Title VI of the Civil Rights Act—bars institutions that receive federal funding from discriminating on the basis of race, color, or national origin. We've seen Title VI invoked against universities over allegations of antisemitism, and we've seen the Justice Department use it to pressure schools like Harvard. Here, Palestinian and Arab plaintiffs are invoking that same framework to allege discrimination against them. The context matters: Columbia suspended more than 65 students last year over a pro-Palestinian protest that shut down its main library, and it agreed to pay the federal government over $200 million to resolve federal probes and restore funding. Columbia has denied discriminating and says it condemns hate, and it declined to comment on the pending litigation. To be clear, these are allegations in a complaint, not proven facts, and I'm not weighing in on the underlying political conflict. The significance is legal and institutional: universities are now being sued from opposite directions under the very same civil-rights statute, and Columbia in particular finds itself squeezed between federal enforcers, one set of students, and another—each claiming the protection of Title VI. It's a vivid illustration of how anti-discrimination law becomes the battleground when a campus fractures. Palestinian students and staff sue Columbia University alleging discrimination | ReutersUS News · Middle East Eye This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.minimumcomp.com/subscribe

Australian writer and performer Hannah Reilly talks to us about her much-anticipated one woman show about sex, power and authenticity, Roleplay, which is produced by the team behind Fleabag and Baby Reindeer and which has sold out in Edinburgh but is heading to London for a run in the autumn. Critic Fergus Morgan talks us through the other shows which are making a splash at this year's Edinburgh Festivals - from a radical sequel to Henrik Ibsen's An Enemy of the People, which stars Golden Globe-winning actor Wagner Moura, and in which 12 members of the audience are brought on stage to deliver a verdict in A Trial, to a reimagining of Virginia Woolf's The Waves - presented to audiences in a sauna. The first international exhibition from Alabama's Legacy of Slavery Museum has come to Edinburgh this month, and we're joined by its founder, eminent lawyer and activist Bryan Stevenson to talk about how it depicts the international slave trade and racial brutality over centuries. We're also joined by writer and director Zora Howard whose powerful production Hang Time sees three performers talk about their lives and loves as they appear to be hanging from a tree, and which is inspired in part by the deaths of two men in Southern California in recent years. And director Louis Paxton talks to us about debut feature film The Incomer, which opens this year's Edinburgh International Film Festival tomorrow night. It's a darkly comic fable in which an awkward council worker (played by Domnhall Gleeson) is sent to a remote Scottish island to relocate a pair of siblings (Gayle Rankin from GLOW and Grant O'Rourke from Outlander), to the mainland, but let's just say things don't quite go to plan. Presenter: Kirsty Wark Producer: Mark Crossan

What happens when a government decides that one of the greatest threats to its future isn't an armed force — but a cultural institution?On July 4th, America's 250th birthday, the White House Domestic Policy Council released a 162-page report accusing the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History of "ideological capture." Twenty days later, the President signed a second executive order directing federal agencies to force the museum to change how it tells the country's story. Host Bill Cleveland lays out the specifics: the named exhibits, the named staff, the quiet stall in confirming new members of the Smithsonian's governing board — and asks what it means when a nation stops trusting itself to hold a complicated history.Drawing on decades of work with artists in Serbia, Cambodia, Northern Ireland, and Watts, California, and revisiting labor leader Ken Grossinger's conversation about Bryan Stevenson's Legacy Sites in Montgomery Alabama, Cleveland makes the case that culture is never a side issue. Authoritarian movements go after artists first, not for their political power, but because artists shape imagination itself. This episode is about why museums, memorials, and community art aren't warehouses of old objects, but living civic spaces where democracy is practiced, one story at a time.In this episode we explore:How an government report, an executive order, and a quiet stall in board appointments aren't three separate stories, they're one strategy for defining and controlling America's history moving through official channels.Why authoritarian movements attack culture first because stories shape what people believe is possible, before governments can control people, they go for the imagination.Democracy isn't only a system to defend; it's a creative practice — rehearsed in murals, story circles, museums, and neighborhood theater as much as in legislatures.If this show sparks your curiosity we invite you to visit this ART IS CHANGE Collection: Art In Action: Stories of Artists Making a Difference in These Tumultuous TimesNotable Mentions People• Lonnie G. Bunch III — 14th Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution; responded to the White House report by defending the museum's commitment to "scholarship, accuracy" and telling the fullness of America's story.• Bryan Stevenson — Founder and Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative; led the creation of the Legacy Museum, National Memorial for Peace and Justice, Freedom Monument Sculpture Park, and Montgomery Square in Montgomery, Alabama.• Ken Grossinger — Labor and social-justice strategist, author of Art Works: How Organizers and Artists Are Creating a Better World Together, and guest on a prior Art Is Change episode discussing the EJI Legacy Sites.• Alice Lovelace — Atlanta-based poet, performer, and cultural organizer; a recurring voice on the podcast, quoted here on how every generation believes it's living through unprecedented times. Organizations & Institutions• The Charles F. Kettering Foundation — The Charles F. Kettering Foundation, headquartered in Dayton, Ohio, is a nonpartisan, nonprofit, operating foundation with a mission to advance inclusive democracies worldwide by fostering citizen engagement, promoting government accountability, and countering authoritarianism.• Democracy and the Arts — The Kettering Foundation's focus area for integrating the power of the arts into democratic life locally, nationally, and globally.• Center for the Study of Art and Community — The producing organization behind Art Is Change, founded by Bill Cleveland in 1991 to build partnerships between artists and communities.• Smithsonian Institution / National Museum of American History — The federal museum complex, and specifically the history museum, at the center of the report and executive orders discussed in this episode.• Smithsonian Board of Regents — The 17-member body that governs the Smithsonian, including the Vice President and the Chief Justice; currently has unfilled seats amid an unusually slow confirmation process.• White House Domestic Policy Council — The office that produced the "Saving America's Story" report and is directed, under the July 24 order, to help enforce its recommendations.• Charles F. Kettering Foundation — Nonpartisan foundation whose Democracy and the Arts program partnered with Art Is Change to produce this Art in Action series.• Equal Justice Initiative — Montgomery, Alabama-based human rights organization founded by Bryan Stevenson; operates the Legacy Sites referenced in Part Two. Publications, Exhibits & Curricula• "Saving America's Story: How Ideological Capture at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History Erases Our Heritage" — The 162-page White House Domestic Policy Council report released July 4, 2026, that touched off the events discussed in this episode.• Executive Order 14253, "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History" — Signed March 27, 2025; ordered the review of the Smithsonian that produced the July 2026 report.• "Restoring Trust in the Smithsonian Institution" — The second executive order, signed July 24, 2026, directing federal agencies to act on the report's findings.• "Many Voices, One Nation" — Permanent NMAH exhibition exploring how many communities have shaped the nation; named in the White House report as an example of the museum's approach.• "Upending 1620: Where Do We Begin?" — NMAH exhibit examining early encounters between Wampanoag peoples and English colonists, also cited in the report.• "American Democracy: A Great Leap of Faith" — NMAH exhibition on the evolving American experiment in self-government.• "Becoming US" — NMAH's national education curriculum teaching U.S. history through the lens of migration; criticized in the White House report.• "Block Bridge Build: Stories of Activist Artists and Cultural Organizers Making a Difference in These Tumultuous Times" — A collection of ART IS CHANGE episodes that explore how arts activism and cultural organizing function as pro-democracy infrastructure. Historical Events & Movements• The Milošević era in Serbia (1989–2000) — The period of authoritarian rule in Serbia during which Cleveland worked with Belgrade theater artists engaged in public, improvisational protest.•

Headlines for August 11, 2026; Bryan Stevenson on the “Enduring Evil of Slavery” and Trump’s Attempt to Rewrite History

Headlines for August 11, 2026; Bryan Stevenson on the “Enduring Evil of Slavery” and Trump’s Attempt to Rewrite History

After three bloody years of civil war in Sudan, bombings, malnutrition and sexual violence are now widespread - and getting worse. As the crisis deepens, humanitarian organizations across the board are pleading for assistance. Joining the show to discuss are UNICEF's Sudan Country Director Sheldon Yett and Sudanese scholar Khalid Mustafa Medani.  Also on today's show: cellist Yo-Yo Ma & Equal Justice Initiative Exec Dir Bryan Stevenson; NYT tech reporter Natasha Singer    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Can the right song, painting, or museum exhibit spark real political change? What if culture is the missing strategy in today's social movements?If you've ever felt like your efforts for justice aren't hitting deep enough, it might be because the culture hasn't caught up with your message. In this episode, labor organizer and social change strategist Ken Grossinger shares how his journey from labor organizing to cultural advocacy revealed a truth many overlook: policy changes fade, but stories—and the art that tells them—have staying power. In this episode:Discover how blending power analysis with artistic expression can amplify grassroots campaigns and drive long-term social change.Hear powerful case studies—from a revolutionary museum exhibit in Louisville to a musical uprising in Alaska—that reveal how art can expose injustice and build movements.Learn from real-world collaborations between artists and organizers that shift narratives, challenge power, and activate communities in ways no policy paper ever could.Tune in now to hear how Ken Grossinger's book ART WORKS and his work in communities across the U.S. show us why art isn't just a reflection of justice—it's how we get there.Notable MentionsPeopleKen Grossinger — Longtime movement strategist and author of Art Works: How Organizers and Artists Are Creating a Better World Together, which explores the strategic partnership between artists and organizers across decades of social-justice campaigns.Richard Cloward — Columbia University sociologist and organizer whose power-analysis framework shaped generations of strategists; co-founder of the National Welfare Rights Organization and a chief architect of the 1993 National Voter Registration Act ("Motor Voter" law).Bernice Johnson Reagon — Civil rights song leader who co-founded the Freedom Singers with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and later founded the a cappella ensemble Sweet Honey in the Rock.Si Kahn — Veteran folk musician, author, and organizer who has spent decades writing songs in direct collaboration with the communities he serves, including the fishermen and Alaska Native communities fighting the Pebble Mine.Harry Belafonte — Singer and actor who became one of the civil rights movement's most trusted strategists and financiers, sitting at the strategy tables of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference alongside Martin Luther King Jr.Bryan Stevenson — Founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative and author of Just Mercy; created the Legacy Museum and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama.Amy Sherald — Painter whose 2020 Vanity Fair portrait of Breonna Taylor became the centerpiece of the Speed Art Museum's "Promise, Witness, Remembrance" exhibition.Stephen Reily — Director of the Speed Art Museum in Louisville at the time of Breonna Taylor's killing, who reorganized the museum's programming around community-led advisory boards.Norman Lear — Legendary TV producer and creator of All in the Family, who used Archie Bunker's bigotry to bring racism and homophobia into American living rooms as everyday conversation.Frances Stonor Saunders — British historian and author of The Cultural Cold War, which documents the CIA's covert promotion of Abstract Expressionist artists like Jackson Pollock as ideological counters to Soviet Social Realism.Jane Fonda, Karen Nussbaum & Ellen Cassedy — Actress-activist Jane Fonda partnered with 9to5 co-founders Karen Nussbaum and Ellen Cassedy to turn the working women's organizing movement into the hit 1980 comedy 9 to 5.Organizations & InstitutionsCenter for the Study of Art and Community — Producer of Art is Change and host organization for the Art in Action series exploring arts-based civic engagement.Charles F. Kettering Foundation — Nonprofit research foundation focused on deliberative democracy; partner for the Art in Action series through its Democracy and the Arts program.Equal Justice Initiative — Montgomery, Alabama human-rights organization founded by Bryan Stevenson; operates the Legacy Museum and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice.Speed Art Museum — Louisville, Kentucky museum whose 2021 exhibition "Promise, Witness, Remembrance," built around Amy Sherald's portrait, became a national model for community-driven museum programming.Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) — New York institution whose mid-century ties to CIA-backed cultural promotion of Abstract Expressionism are documented in Frances Stonor Saunders's The Cultural Cold War.American Museum of Natural History & Smithsonian — Both institutions faced public pressure after climate scientists and advocacy groups called on them to sever ties with board member and fossil-fuel financier David Koch.Highlander Research and Education Center — Tennessee-based center for labor and civil-rights organizing, where staff such as Zilphia Horton adapted "We Shall Overcome" and other freedom songs used across the movement.Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) — Student-led civil rights organization that carried freedom songs into direct-action campaigns across the South and gave rise to groups like the Freedom Singers.International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU) — Union whose cultural department trained its own members to write, sing, and perform, producing the Broadway hit Pins and Needles.9to5, National Association of Working Women — Organization founded by Karen Nussbaum and Ellen Cassedy to fight for office workers' rights, later dramatized in the film 9 to 5.Musicians United to Protect Bristol Bay — Network of musicians, co-organized by Si Kahn, that used songwriting and touring to build public opposition to Alaska's proposed Pebble Mine.Books, Films & RecordingsArt Works: How Organizers and Artists Are Creating a Better World Together — Ken Grossinger's book on the strategic collaborations between artists and organizers, discussed throughout this episode.Just Mercy — Bryan Stevenson's memoir recounting...

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nicholas Kristof understands how to hope—especially in the face of despair or disappointment. He has spent his life shining a light on global tragedies like the Tiananmen Square massacre or the genocide in Darfur. And yet, despite all the horrors he has born witness to, he maintains a sense of hard-won optimism. “Hope is a muscle,” he says, and one we can all learn to develop.  In this live conversation, Kate and Nicholas discuss:  How to maintain hope in the year ahead Nicholas' best argument as to why this is the best time to be alive His strategies to seeing pain and courage up close over and over again Why our small actions matter (even when it feels like a drop in the ocean)  If you liked this episode, you'll love:  Bryan Stevenson on justice in the face of unthinkable odds David Fajgenbaum on how hope pulls us forward Sarah Polley on why we should run toward what scares us  This episode originally aired September 2024.

The leftist cultural critic David Masciotra isn't happy with the state of America in the first half of 2026. His dislike of the MAGA crowd goes without saying. But his anger at the state of progressive politics is more noteworthy. So far, he says, 2026 has been — to borrow from Antonio Gramsci — a time for monsters both on the left and right. With its “Epstein class” vocabulary, knee-jerk Luddism and AIPAC litmus tests, the left, Masciotra argues, is mimicking MAGA in its paranoid bigotry. The year's most disturbing story so far is Graham Platner, the erstwhile Maine Senate candidate who, Masciotra suggests, is either an idiot or a Nazi. Equally disturbing were the “progressives” who blindly defended Platner until the most recent rape accusations. So how to slay these monsters on the left? What's missing, Masciotra argues, is the kind of positively benevolent Jacksonian (Jesse) vision which seizes the moral high ground of American politics. We are still waiting for the next Bill Clinton, Obama, or even Bernie able to imagine a new dawn for the left in America. Maybe we'll see the early shoots of a more optimistic progressivism in the second half of the year. In the manner of a football (soccer) match, let's hope 2026 turns out to be a year of two halves. Five Takeaways •       The Old Gods Return. Masciotra's answer to the what-time-is-it question is that 2026 has seen the old gods stumble back onto the landscape: nationalism, male chauvinism, paranoia and conspiracism. Borrowing from Zygmunt Bauman, he argues that we have moved from a solid age to a liquid one, in which nothing feels stable — and instability inculcates a nostalgia that is usually irrational and ill-informed. People are reaching for the resurrection of manufacturing, the male-headed nuclear family, even a return to religion, with young Americans reportedly turning to Catholicism. Quality of life is objectively better than in our grandparents' era, and yet we live in an age of doom-scrolling and pessimism. •       The Epstein Class and the Left's New Litmus Tests. The criticism of Israeli conduct after October 7 has morphed, for many on the left, into an all-encompassing paranoia in which AIPAC, Zionists, and “the Epstein class” control everything. Graham Platner coupled those terms constantly in his stump speeches — antisemitic conspiracy-mongering 101, in Masciotra's phrase — and declaring Israel genocidal has become a litmus test in Democratic primaries from Maine to Denver to California. Masciotra, who saw Jesse Jackson spend decades atoning for Hymietown, calls this the most important story of 2026 to monitor: the collapse of parts of the progressive left into bigotry, misogyny tolerance, and purity tests. •       Luxury Beliefs and Streamer Politics. Voter turnout used to be organized bottom-up — black churches, the NAACP, Jackson's Rainbow PUSH Coalition — around the issues of actual neighborhoods. Now streamers like Hasan Piker mobilize thousands of calls into districts they know nothing about, amplifying what Masciotra calls luxury beliefs: positions whose consequences never touch the people who hold them, from making every race about Israel to defunding police in neighborhoods the believers don't live in. Whether it's Piker on the left or Nick Fuentes on the right, national streamers will always champion luxury beliefs, because they lack the knowledge to champion local ones. •       Working-Class Drag Doesn't Work. Platner looked like he had just changed a tire and talked like a pro wrestler cutting a promo on Susan Collins — and the polls showed Collins beating him even before he dropped out over credible accusations of rape and domestic violence. White working-class voters, Masciotra argues, are not looking for someone in the right costume with the right gravelly voice; they have real beliefs, and they respond to people who speak directly to their concerns rather than in the nomenclature of consultant firms. Nobody in Maine piecing together a living as a farmer or a home-health aide has AIPAC first and foremost on their mind. •       Waiting for the Benevolent Vision. What the half-year lacks, from Washington to Westminster, is what Jesse Jackson had even for his critics: a benevolent vision. Masciotra finds it today in Bryan Stevenson and the civil rights tradition he calls the moral center of American politics, and in Senator Raphael Warnock, who preaches from King's old church. His policy candidate for the next Clinton-or-Obama moment is a self-employment manifesto — politics for the millions piecing together gig work who appear in nobody's rhetoric, not the manufacturing nostalgia of the right nor the union nostalgia of the left. And on AI, he sees an opening: oppose the secretly-dealt data centers, as presidential hopeful J.B. Pritzker has, but harness the technology for the precariat rather than the moguls. About the Guest David Masciotra is a cultural critic, journalist, and lecturer. He is the author of six books, including Exurbia Now: The Battleground of American Democracy (Melville House, 2024) and I Am Somebody: Why Jesse Jackson Matters (Bloomsbury, 2020), drawn from his many years working alongside the late Reverend Jackson. His writing appears in UnHerd, The New Republic, Washington Monthly, The Progressive, and the Los Angeles Review of Books, and he teaches literature and political science in Indiana. He is a longtime friend of the show. References: •       Exurbia Now: The Battleground of American Democracy by David Masciotra (Melville House, 2024). Booklist, starred review: “Insight and a fresh perspective on the culture wars.” •       I Am Somebody: Why Jesse Jackson Matters (Bloomsbury, 2020) — Masciotra's biography of the Reverend, discussed here for Jackson's decades of recompense after the 1984 Hymietown remark. •       Zygmunt Bauman — the Polish sociologist of liquid modernity, quoted in Exurbia Now, whose move from solidity to liquidity frames the episode's diagnosis of nostalgia. •       Antonio Gramsci — the Prison Notebooks passage on the interregnum, in both its translations: morbid symptoms and monsters. •       Masciotra's recent UnHerd essays — on why Democrats gave Graham Platner a free pass, on the party's luxury belief agenda, and on Stephen Colbert as the emblem of detached establishment liberalism. •       Bryan Stevenson — founder of the Equal Justice Initiative and the legacy sites memorializing slavery and lynching; the subject of Masciotra's forthcoming piece and, in his view, the closest thing 2026 has to a benevolent vision. About Keen On America Nobody asks more awkward questions than the Anglo-American writer and filmmaker Andrew Keen. In Keen On America, Andrew brin...

What does it mean to celebrate America on its 250th anniversary? The Trump administration's festivities — from the U.F.C. fight on the White House lawn to the Great American State Fair — have centered American glory and greatness. What has been missing are the Americans who fought to move America closer to its promises. They had to love a country — or at least believe in a country — that often failed them. How did they do it? Beneath that is a deep question for anyone who loves a country, or even loves another person: How do you love something in its wholeness, amid its imperfections and failures? One person who is thinking deeply about how to do this is Bryan Stevenson. He's a civil rights lawyer and the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, which is based in Montgomery, Ala. E.J.I. has created a series of museums and sites in Montgomery that aim to examine America's history of enslavement, racial violence and segregation, while also uplifting and honoring the people who endured these systems and fought to upend them. The sites are remarkable to witness, as I found out when I visited Montgomery, and they hold America's manifold truths in tension with one another — all its horror and beauty, tragedy and triumph, inhumanity and humanity. I asked Stevenson how he's thinking about America's 250th birthday — and what work the country has left to fulfill its vision of liberty and equality for all. Mentioned: The Legacy Sites, Equal Justice Initiative Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson The 1619 Project The 1776 Report The Apartheid Museum Book Recommendations: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston Les Misérables by Victor Hugo The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com. You can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast, and you can find Ezra on Twitter @ezraklein. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs. This episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” was produced by Annie Galvin. Fact-checking by Kelsey Lannin. Audio by Jeff Geld and Johnny Simon Our executive producer is Claire Gordon. The show's production team also includes Marie Cascione, Michelle Harris, Rollin Hu, Kristin Lin, Emma Kehlbeck, Jack McCordick, Marina King and Jan Kobal. Original music by Marion Lozano and Pat McCusker. Audience strategy by Shannon Busta. The director of New York Times Opinion Shows is Annie-Rose Strasser. Special Thanks to Sonia Kapadia, Tania Cordes, Danielle Carrasquero and the Equal Justice Initiative. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What happens when the very things that make you different become your greatest strengths?For Fitzann “Fitz” Reid, showing up fully, taking calculated risks, and creating opportunities where none existed before have been defining themes throughout her career.A lawyer, investor, entrepreneur, sports owner, and leader, Fitz has built a career that defies traditional expectations. From growing up in South Jamaica, Queens, as the daughter of Jamaican immigrants to serving at the highest levels of the SEC, helping launch Hunterbrook, and investing in professional sports, she has consistently chosen growth over comfort and possibility over convention.In this episode of Branding Room Only, Fitz and Paula explore what it means to build a career intentionally rather than simply following the path laid out for you. They discuss the power of sponsorship, the leadership lessons learned through sports, the responsibility that comes with visibility, and the confidence required to remain authentic in spaces that were not always designed with you in mind. Fitz also shares her experiences as a Black queer woman and a first-generation Jamaican-American, and how those experiences have informed her perspective while never limiting the scope of who she is or what she can accomplish.The conversation covers career pivots, entrepreneurship, investing, leadership, and personal branding through the lens of someone who has repeatedly stepped into unfamiliar spaces and found ways to succeed. Fitz's story is a reminder that growth often requires courage, that visibility creates possibility for others, and that some of the most meaningful opportunities appear long before there is certainty about the outcome. Her approach to life and work demonstrates the value of trusting yourself, staying open to possibility, and being willing to take the first step before you have every answer.1:26 – Fitzann's personal brand definition and why she describes herself as authentic, relentless, and empathetic4:20 – Why a Bryan Stevenson (director of Equal Justice Initiative) quote that hangs on Fitz's wall made such an impression7:43 – How Fitz learned independence and resilience as a kid growing up in South Jamaica, Queens 10:25 – How being a first-generation Jamaican American has influenced Fitz's leadership and ambition13:02 – The weight of responsibility often facing children of immigrants and how Paula conveyed that to her kids14:25 – How Fitz has navigated her career and assumed leadership positions as a Black, queer woman in industries often lacking diversity19:05 – How her background in sports has played a major role in Fitz's leadership style22:38 – How Fitz stood her ground against conforming in law school and grew her confidence over time31:45 – Fitz outlines her career trajectory, from an early interest in politics and law school to buying an Italian basketball team and building Hunterbrook39:02 – How that initial sports investment opened up bigger doors of opportunity41:00 – How Fitz has been intentional about building her brand while navigating her career44:32 – The root of Fitz's personal and strategic interest in women's sports, and investment opportunities still available48:10 – Why advocacy through the National LGBTQ+ Bar Association is so important to Fitz51:48 – Why Fitz will never compromise on how she shows up, and the magic she offers to others53:41 – The importance of treating your difference from others as a superpower, not a disadvantageConnect With Fitzann ReidFitzann “Fitz” Reid is a partner, general counsel, and chief compliance officer at Hunterbook, a startup media company and hedge fund. She's also an avid sports investor and co-founder of Vera West Sports and Entertainment. Before Hunterbrook, she spent the bulk of her career in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission at the highest levels, serving across Examinations and Enforcement as well as Senior Counsel to Commissioner Allison Lee. Then she moved on to become the Chief Compliance Officer and Deputy General Counsel at impact-focused hedge fund Engine No 1. Her work spanned rulemaking, enforcement, litigation, whistleblowers, and on-site examinations of registrants, including broker-dealers, investment advisers, private fund advisers, and mutual funds.Fitzann has a BBA from Pace University, an MBA from Wharton at UPenn, and a JD from Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, where she later taught federal regulations and enforcement as an Adjunct Professor. Off the clock, she serves on several boards, including the National LGBTQ Plus Bar Association, and is registered with the state bar in D.C. and New York.Fitzann Reid on LinkedInHunterbrook | Instagram | X | TikTok | YouTubeMentioned In Authenticity, Ambition, and Betting on Yourself with Fitzann ReidEqual Justice InitiativeNational LGBTQ+ Bar AssociationCurated Resources from PaulaSign up for Paula's Upcoming Events Learn More About Paula's Personal Branding Strategy Session OfferSubscribe to The Branding Room Only podcast on YouTubeCall to ActionFollow & Review: Help others find the podcast. Subscribe and leave a quick review.Want more branding insights? Join Paula's newsletter for expert tips and exclusive content! Subscribe HereConferences are an investment—make sure you maximize yours. My Engage Your Hustle™ Conference Playbook gives you the strategies to prepare, stand out, and follow up with impact. Get your copy today.Sponsor for this episodeThis episode is brought to you by PGE Consulting Group LLC.PGE Consulting Group LLC empowers individuals and organizations to lead with purpose, presence, and impact. Specializing in leadership development and personal branding, we offer keynotes, custom programming, consulting, and strategic advising—all designed to elevate influence and performance at every level.Founded and led by Paula Edgar, our work centers on practical strategies that enhance professional development, strengthen workplace culture, and drive meaningful, measurable change.To learn more about Paula and her services, go to www.paulaedgar.com or contact her at info@paulaedgar.com, and follow Paula Edgar and the PGE Consulting Group LLC on LinkedIn.

As Washington and Tehran move toward a deal to end their war, have months of conflict simply restored the status quo? Former German Foreign Minister and current President of the U.N. General Assembly Annalena Baerbock discusses the diplomatic difficulties facing the United Nations. Then, as President Trump abandons his calls for regime change in Iran, journalists Bozorgmehr Sharafedin and Yeganeh Torbati discuss their new book 'Stolen Revolution' - a deep dive into why successive uprisings in Iran have failed. Amid World Cup fever, Christina MacFarlane reports on a football club in England helping bereaved fathers find connection and support. On World Refugee Day, Christiane speaks with 'The Pitt' star and International Rescue Committee ambassador Sepideh Moafi, who was born in a refugee camp after her family fled Iran, alongside the IRC's Sherine Ibrahim. From the archives, we look back at Christiane's report from the height of the European migration crisis, when she joined a rescue operation in the Mediterranean in 2015. And finally, as Americans mark Juneteenth, a reminder of the words of lawyer and activist Bryan Stevenson who reflects on the importance of remembering both the victory of emancipation and the enduring legacy of slavery. Air date: June 20, 2026 Guests: Annalena Baerbock Bozorgmehr Sharafedin & Yeganeh Torbati Sepideh Moafi & Sherine Ibrahim Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

More To The Story: When Bryan Stevenson moved to Montgomery, Alabama, in the 1980s, the city—one of America's most prominent slave trading spaces before the Civil War—had dozens of Confederate monuments and memorials, but nothing commemorating slavery. Today, thanks to Stevenson's efforts, the city looks much different. Over the last decade, the executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative has transformed parts of Montgomery through markers acknowledging the legacy of slavery while also building the Legacy Sites, a series of museums and memorials that commemorate America's dark history of lynching, slaveholding, and racial terror across the South. On this week's More To The Story, Stevenson talks about the importance of memorializing America's full history as the Trump administration attempts to erase slavery and lynching from the nation's museums and why he sees today's narrative struggle for racial justice as a generational battle.Producer: Josh Sanburn | Editor: Kara McGuirk-Allison | Theme music: Fernando Arruda and Jim Briggs | Copy editor: Nikki Frick | Digital producer: Artis Curiskis | Intern: Joni Binder | Deputy executive producer: Taki Telonidis | Executive producer: Brett Myers | Executive editor: James West | Host: Al LetsonRead: Trump's War on History (Mother Jones)Listen: Mississippi Goddam: The Ballad of Billey Joe (Reveal)Read: Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption (One World)Learn more: Equal Justice InitiativeLearn more: The Legacy Sites Donate today at Revealnews.org/more Subscribe to our weekly newsletter at Revealnews.org/weekly Follow us on Instagram and Bluesky Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Bryan Stevenson has spent years fighting for people on death row and juveniles sentenced to life in prison. Today, he continues that legal work, and on a recent visit to Boston, he sat down with a man released from prison because of Stevenson's case before the Supreme Court, which found life without parole for young offenders unconstitutional.

Bryan Stevenson is a public interest lawyer, the founder and director of the Equal Justice Initiative, and the author of Just Mercy. Bryan and his staff have rescued over 140 wrongfully condemned prisoners from death row. In this episode, Adam asks about the histories of injustice that drove Bryan to his work as a lawyer, the sources of hope when systems are broken, and three key flaws that allow 1 in 8 executions to be carried out against an innocent person. Bryan also shares wisdom on how to craft a persuasive argument and deliver a great speech.Featured guestLearn about the Equal Justice InitiativeBuy Bryan's book Just MercyConnect with the teamFollow Adam on Instagram, LinkedIn, and at adamgrant.net/Subscribe to Adam's substack GrantedWatch ReThinking videos on YouTube at TEDAudioCollectiveFollow TED on X, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and TikTokReThinking is produced by Cosmic Standard. Our Senior Producer is Jessica Glazer, our Engineer is Aja Simpson, our Technical Director is Jacob Winik, and our Executive Producer is Eliza Smith.For the full text transcript, visit ted.com/podcasts/rethinking-with-adam-grant-transcripts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Oprah continues her extraordinary interview with wrongly convicted death row inmate Anthony Ray Hinton, who shares a remarkable story about an unlikely friendship he formed in prison. He explains how he eventually found his way to freedom through the help of civil rights attorney Bryan Stevenson and the Equal Justice Initiative. Anthony describes how he felt on the day he was finally released, in 2015, and how he adjusted to life outside prison. He also shares the powerful lessons he learned on death row: the true meaning of compassion, the root of racism and how we can all overcome our circumstances and learn how to love. Anthony's memoir, "The Sun Does Shine," is the latest selection for Oprah's Book Club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After an eleventh hour move by the US and Iran to secure a two-week ceasefire, Israel unleashed a heavy bombing raid on Lebanon. After five weeks of deadly war, are the US and Iran effectively back to square one? Historian Peter Frankopan joins the show to discuss.  Also on today's show: Bryan Stevenson, Founder & Executive Director, Equal Justice Initiative; Michael Collins, Apollo 11 Astronaut (from the archive)    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week we go under the bed with Maurice and review the cult classic Little Monsters from 1989... PLOT: 11-year-old Bryan Stevenson is drawn into a world of magic, mischief and wonder after moving to a new town. He falls asleep in his 6-year-old brother Eric's room and soon discovers there really is a monster under the bed. Please don't forget to bump up against that 5 Star button!

In his second term, President Trump has ordered the removal of monuments, plaques and exhibitions related to slavery, and the history of racial injustice in the U.S. Meanwhile, human rights lawyer Bryan Stevenson has been working to ensure evidence of America's painful past is not erased. His organization, the Equal Justice Initiative, founded the Legacy Museum to show us the truth of our history. “You can't get the beautiful ‘R' words, like redemption and reconciliation and restoration and repair, unless you first tell the truth,” he tells Terry Gross.To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

In his second term, President Trump has ordered the removal of monuments, plaques and exhibitions related to slavery, and the history of racial injustice in the U.S. Meanwhile, human rights lawyer Bryan Stevenson has been working to ensure evidence of America's painful past is not erased. His organization, the Equal Justice Initiative, founded the Legacy Museum to show us the truth of our history. “You can't get the beautiful ‘R' words, like redemption and reconciliation and restoration and repair, unless you first tell the truth,” he tells Terry Gross.To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

America is crashing out, but it's not too late take the wheel. Coming in March, Sarah Jones is back to explore our collective trauma, how those wounds drive politics, and ways we can move forward with empathy and community. Ben Stiller, Yvette Nicole Brown, Bryan Stevenson, Elizabeth Gilbert, and more join the conversation. You can follow Sarah Jones, see pod updates, and respond to AWHY prompts @yesimsarahjones on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. Send your responses to our weekly prompts to awhypod@gmail.com . This podcast was produced in collaboration with The Meteor.

Nearly 1,000 people in South Carolina have been infected in a measles outbreak that started in a largely unvaccinated community in October. Dr. Martha Edwards, president of the South Carolina chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, explains how this outbreak has spread so quickly.And, social justice groups are remembering the Rev. Jesse Jackson. We look at how his civil rights leadership led to some of the activism we see today with Bryan Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Today, Mel has one of the most powerful conversations you'll ever hear on this podcast. If you've been feeling overwhelmed, discouraged, exhausted, or numb by what you're seeing in the news, today's episode is for you. When life feels uncertain, it's easy to start pulling back, numbing out, and bracing for the next thing. You're not alone. That's why you need to hear from Mel's guest today, Bryan Stevenson. He is one of Mel's personal heroes, and he is the kind of human being who restores your faith in what's possible. Bryan is a world-renowned civil rights lawyer and author of Just Mercy, one of the most powerful books of our time, which was turned into a movie in which Michael B. Jordan played Bryan. He is the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative and has argued and won cases before the United States Supreme Court. He has saved over 140 people from death row, many of whom were wrongly convicted, and his work has fundamentally transformed the conversation about justice, mercy, and human dignity. This is one of the most honest, compassionate, and uplifting conversations Mel has ever had with a guest, which is why today, Mel wanted to share again the conversation she had with him. You'll learn: -How to stay hopeful without denying reality -Why compassion is a form of courage -What resilience looks like when life is hard -How to find purpose and meaning by helping others -How to stop numbing out and start showing up again -How small actions create real change -Exactly what you can do in your community to make a difference Bryan is here to show you how to look deeper within yourself and to stand up even when the world is telling you to sit down.And in doing that, he'll remind you that hope might just be the most powerful gift you can give to the world, to other people, and to yourself.For more resources, click here for the podcast episode page. If you liked this episode, you'll love listening to this one next: Renew Your Spirit: 5 Ways I'm Finding Hope & Strength Right NowConnect with Mel:  Get Mel's #1 bestselling book, The Let Them TheoryWatch the episodes on YouTubeFollow Mel on Instagram The Mel Robbins Podcast InstagramMel's TikTok Sign up for Mel's personal letter Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes ad-freeDisclaimer Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Bryan Stevenson (founder of the Equal Justice Initiative) is committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment, to challenging racial and economic injustice, and to protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable among us. In this episode, Kate and Bryan discuss: The hope that motivates Bryan in this slow, sometimes frustrating work of justice What it means to be a ‘stonecatcher’ (and why it serves both the one being condemned and the one doing the condemning) The power of forgiveness, maybe especially toward those who don’t deserve it CW: discussion of slavery, lynching, and other racist violence, death row *** Looking for the transcript or show notes? Click here. Find Kate on Instagram or Facebook or Twitter. Subscribe to receive blessings in your inbox every week. No Cure for Being Human (And Other Truths I Need to Hear) is now available in PAPERBACK. Order your copy, today. Looking for some short spiritual reflections and blessings? Check out GOOD ENOUGH: 40ish Devotionals for a Life of Imperfection. Available wherever books are sold. Introducing THE LIVES WE ACTUALLY HAVE: 100 Blessings for Imperfect Days (releasing February 14, 2023). Learn more, pre-order, and receive a free pennant, here. Leave us a voicemail and who knows? We might even be able to use your voice on the air: 919-322-8731 This episode originally aired December 2022.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Political debates are taking over the internet. On this week's On the Media, hear how one viral Youtube channel is reshaping political discourse. Plus, why the Trump administration is pressuring museums, monuments, and even parks to rewrite history.[01:00] Host Micah Loewinger delves into the meteoric rise of the YouTube channel Jubilee with technology and online culture journalist Taylor Lorenz, and the channel's mission of fostering “radical empathy” by hosting political debates between wildly opposing groups. He speaks with Mehdi Hasan, editor-in-chief of Zeteo, about his recent Jubilee debate with far right conservatives and how the channel is transforming the meaning of political debate. Plus, Stassia Underwood, a participant of one Jubilee debate, opens up about her experience on set.[25:17] Host Brooke Gladstone sits down with Bryan Stevenson, public interest lawyer and founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, a human rights organization based in Montgomery, Alabama, to talk about the Trump Administration's war on museums, especially those that deal with our nation's history of racism.  Further reading / watching:“1 Conservative vs 25 LGBTQ+ Activists (feat. Michael Knowles)” (Jubilee)“1 Progressive vs 20 Far-Right Conservatives (ft. Mehdi Hasan)” (Jubilee)The Worst Thing We've Ever Done, On the Media (2018) On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

Today we're joined by lawyer and author Bryan Stevenson for a conversation about the historical Mother Emanuel AME church, and what it means to tell the story of American history through a single institution. Then Canadian journalist Paul Wells stops by for a look at the rise of The New York Times, and the lessons for news media writ large. And finally, Bookends host Mattea Roach chats with Jayme about Ukraine, the power of the novel, and some very endangered snails.The books:Mother Emanuel by Kevin SackThe Times by Adam NagourneyEndling by Maria Reva

Send us a Text Message about the podcastThe volume is up, the outrage feeds are endless, and too many voices use Jesus as a brand for power. We press pause and ask a harder question: what does faith look like when you strip away celebrity, nationalism, and culture‑war noise and return to the way of Jesus?We start with the warnings of Matthew 7—being known by our fruit, not our slogans—and the centering call of Micah 6:8 to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. From there we draw a sharp line between Christ's kingdom and the pursuit of dominance, showing how religious nationalism confuses allegiance to Jesus with allegiance to a party. Fresh from a civil rights pilgrimage to Montgomery and Selma, we trace painful continuities from Jim Crow to today's rhetoric and ask the church to tell the truth about complicity, echoing Jamar Tisby and Bryan Stevenson. The measure of spiritual health, we argue, is not platform size but how we treat the poor, the accused, and the marginalized.This conversation gets practical. We talk about turning down the noise, matching your news time with scripture time, and learning to wait in prayer rather than chase instant answers. We walk through reading the Bible in context, resisting proof texts and shallow takes, and building real friendships across difference instead of huddling in ideological tribes. We offer heart‑check questions—about control, scarcity, and joy at others' losses—that help expose self‑righteousness and invite repentance. Throughout, the thesis stays clear: Jesus is enough. Not as an excuse to withdraw, but as a mandate to embody justice, mercy, humility, and neighbor love right where we live.If this resonates, share it with a friend, subscribe for more thoughtful conversations at the intersection of faith, race, and reconciliation, and leave a written review so others can find the show. Your voice helps amplify a quieter, stronger way forward.Support the show#abovethenoise24# faith#reconciliation#race#racialreconciliationWe appreciate your support: Buy Me A CoffeeStay in touch: Email us at: abovethenoise24@gmail.com Facebook: @abovethenoise24 Instagram: abovethenoise24 Podcast art by Mario Christie.

In this message, Katherine Sikma Wadsworth explores Jesus' first sermon, which led to an attempted execution due to its radical message that God's love and liberation extend beyond traditional borders. She explores the concept of the "year of the Lord's favor," also known as the year of Jubilee, highlighting its promise of societal reset and equitable justice for the oppressed. The message concludes with a call to action for believers to embody this gospel in addressing social injustices, drawing inspiration from the work of modern-day advocates like Bryan Stevenson.

Have you been with us since the early days, or are you just finding your way to our bookish corner? In Episode 300, we celebrate a huge milestone with a very special guest… our beloved former co-host, Sara! We kick things off with a Bookish Check-In, then look back at standout reads and moments from eight years and 300 episodes of Unabridged.   We revisit unforgettable conversations and reads, including Dopesick by Beth Macy (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) paired with Jarrett J. Krosoczka's graphic memoir Hey, Kiddo (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm); a joyful return to Anne of Green Gables (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm); and the lasting impact of Tommy Orange's There There (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm) (plus a nod to Bryan Stevenson's Just Mercy Bookshop.org | Libro.fm). We share favorite memories like our spirited “Is Love Actually a holiday movie?” debate, book-festival fangirl moments, and the pre-lockdown Podfest trip that re-shaped our podcasting lives. We close with a Lit Chat prompt about the childhood series that made us readers.   Whether you've listened to one episode or all 300, thank you for being here. Come celebrate with us, and tell us your favorite Unabridged memory or the series that hooked you on reading! You can always join the bookish conversation on Instagram.   Visit the Unabridged website for our full show notes and links to the books mentioned in the episode. Interested in what else we're reading? Check out our Featured Books page.   Want to support Unabridged?   The number 1 way to support us is by purchasing Bookshop.org books from our Unabridged shop. Follow us @unabridgedpod on Instagram or Facebook. | Join our Unabridged Podcast Reading Challenge. | Visit our curated list of books at Bookshop.org. | Become a patron on Patreon. | Check out our Merch Store. | Visit the resources available in our Teachers Pay Teachers store.

In 2015, the American lawyer Bryan Stevenson was cast away by Kirsty Young.Bryan is the founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, a private, not-for-profit organisation in the US working on death penalty cases, prison and sentencing reform, and issues of race and poverty.He spoke to Kirsty about racism in the American criminal justice system.You can listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds.

As the Trump administration clamps down on exhibits focused on race and slavery, Bryan Stevenson's Equal Justice Initiative is expanding its monuments in Alabama. The civil rights lawyer telling the truth about America's past is key to ensuring its democratic future.

The murder of George Floyd and the protests of 2020 sparked a nationwide movement for racial justice and reckoning. Just a few years later, many of those hard-won conversations are being rolled back. Bryan Stevenson, founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, joins Katie to ask: is the movement truly over, or are we now in the midst of the harder, but essential, struggle to make it endure? He shares why learning is itself an act of resistance, what each of us can do to push back against false narratives, and how history can inspire courage for the battles ahead.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

American history has always been contested, but recent decisions by U.S. President Donald Trump to reshape the way it's taught and remembered have put museums, schools, and memorials squarely in the crosshairs. Earlier this year, Trump passed an executive order that called for the removal of what he referred to as “divisive, race-centered ideology” from the nation's museums. He's targeted the Smithsonian Museum in particular, calling it “out of control” and “woke”, criticizing it for focusing too much on teaching the history of slavery. What does it mean to discourage the teaching of slavery and Jim Crow laws in a country that practiced chattel slavery for nearly 250 years, and had been led by at least 12 Presidents who themselves owned slaves?Bryan Stevenson is a civil rights lawyer, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, author of the New York Times bestselling memoir ‘Just Mercy', and creator of the National Memorial for Peace and Justice. He joins the show to talk about Trump's attacks on American history, and the enduring legacy of slavery, lynching, and racial terror in the United States.For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde is a leading voice in modern faith leadership and the first woman elected to serve as Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, a role she's held since 2011. While the job isn't always glamorous, she says, the sacred moments in the public eye matter deeply—and she treats them with care. Bishop Budde gained national attention for boldly speaking out against the Trump administration, including condemning the 2020 photo-op at St. John's Episcopal Church and, more recently, offering a prayer for LGBTQ+ justice with President Trump and Vice President Vance seated before her. Her calm, courageous leadership has made her one of the most trusted voices in public faith today. In this conversation with Jen, Bishop Budde shares her journey from a small Minnesota congregation to the national stage—and how she finds the courage to speak truth to power and stand with the marginalized, even when the cost is high. Thought-provoking Quotes: “I think, in some ways, vocations choose you as much as you choose them.” – Mariann Edgar Budde “It's not as if the world stopped on January 21st. So much is happening every single day and there are consequences to the decisions being made.” – Mariann Edgar Budde “I wouldn't have chosen the way they're going, but a lot is being dismantled right now and we've got to be there to help rebuild.”  – Mariann Edgar Budde Resources Mentioned in This Episode: Raygun: Bishop Budde Fan Club T-Shirt - https://www.raygunsite.com/products/bishop-budde-fan-club Receiving Jesus: The Way of Love by Mariann Edgar Budde - https://amzn.to/45GO5jh How We Learn to Be Brave: Decisive Moments in Life and Faith by Mariann Edgar Budde - https://amzn.to/4kbZtan Sermon by The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde | Washington National Cathedral, 1.21.25 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwwaEuDeqM8 Love is the Game Changer of Our Faith: Bishop Michael Curry - https://jenhatmaker.com/podcasts/series-24/love-is-the-game-changer-of-our-faith-bishop-michael-curry/ Goodness Triumphs Through Good People: A Year-End Benediction from Bishop Michael Curry – https://jenhatmaker.com/podcasts/series-39/goodness-triumphs-through-good-people-a-year-end-benediction-from-bishop-michael-curry/ Austin Channing Brown - https://austinchanning.com/ Tim Shriver - https://www.timothyshriver.com/ The Dignity Index - https://www.timothyshriver.com/projects/the-dignity-index Jen Hatmaker Traded Religious Rules for Spiritual Practices - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jen-hatmaker-traded-religious-rules-for-spiritual-practices/id1765227660?i=1000691362907 Building Bridges, Not Walls: Tim Shriver on Dignity that Transcends Disagreements - https://jenhatmaker.com/podcasts/series-64/building-bridges-not-walls-tim-shriver-on-dignity-that-transcends-disagreements/ Bryan Stevenson - https://eji.org/bryan-stevenson/ I Believe in the Sun - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mplEEQn5znA&t=112s Guest's Links: Website - https://edow.org/about/bishop-mariann/ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mariannbudde Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/bishopmariannbudde TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@mariann_edgar_budde_ Connect with Jen!Jen's Website - https://jenhatmaker.com/ Jen's Instagram - https://instagram.com/jenhatmakerJen's Twitter - https://twitter.com/jenHatmaker/ Jen's Facebook - https://facebook.com/jenhatmakerJen's YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/user/JenHatmaker The For the Love Podcast is presented by Audacy. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are more than your grades, your struggles, or your past, says Bryan Stevenson (author of Just Mercy and founder of the Equal Justice Initiative). Stevenson shares his journey defending the wrongly accused and why he's hopeful about the next generation. Click here for this episode's transcript.The conversation was produced by Kiran Bhatia from Brookline, MA. Lead Podcast Producer Briget Ganske produced this episode with editing and mixing by Genesis Magpayo and help from Wyatt Mayes. Ryan Janes is the camera and audio operator.  

QUOTES FOR REFLECTION“There is a strength, a power even, in understanding brokenness, because embracing our brokenness creates a need and desire for mercy, and perhaps a corresponding need to show mercy. When you experience mercy, you learn things that are hard to learn otherwise. You see things you can't otherwise see; you hear things you can't otherwise hear. You begin to recognize the humanity that resides in each of us.”~Bryan Stevenson, Just Mercy “On the cross we see God doing visibly and cosmically what every human being must do to forgive someone, although on an infinitely greater scale. I would argue, of course, that human forgiveness works this way because we unavoidably reflect the image of our creator. That is why we should not be surprised if we sense that the only way to triumph over evil is to go through the suffering of forgiveness, that this would be far more true of God, whose just passion to defeat evil and loving desire to forgive others are both infinitely greater than ours.”  ~Tim Keller, The Reason for God “Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone.”~Pablo PicassoSERMON PASSAGEHebrews 9:15-28 (ESV) 15 Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. 16 For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. 17 For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. 18 Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. 19 For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20 saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.” 21 And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. 22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. 23 Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, 26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

The Federal Communications Commission is currently investigating CBS for “intentional news distortion” for its editing of an interview with Kamala Harris. On this week's On the Media, what the new chairman of the FCC has been up to, and what led a top CBS producer to quit. Plus, what a growing effort to rewrite the history of Watergate tells us about the American right.[01:00] The Federal Communications Commission is currently investigating CBS for “intentional news distortion” for its editing of an interview with Kamala Harris. Host Brooke Gladstone talks with Max Tani, Semafor's Media Editor and co-host of the podcast Mixed Signals, about Brendan Carr's busy first three months as Chairman of the FCC and the impacts that these kinds of investigations could have on press freedoms.[15:37] Host Micah Loewinger speaks with Michael Koncewicz, political historian at New York University, about the fight over who gets to tell the story of Watergate and the years-long conservative movement to rehabilitate Richard Nixon's image.[29:26] Brooke sits down with Bryan Stevenson, public interest lawyer and founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, a human rights organization based in Montgomery, Alabama, to talk about the Trump Administration's war on museums, especially those that deal with our nation's history of racism.  Further reading:How Nexstar dodged a Trump lawsuit, by Max TaniShari Redstone kept tabs on ‘60 Minutes' segments on Trump, by Max TaniThe Alarming Effort To Rewrite the History of Watergate, by Michael KoncewiczThe Worst Thing We've Ever Done, On the Media (2018) On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org.

Send us a textJoin me for a compelling conversation with my guest, Dameon Wroe. His story is one of struggle, survival, and ultimately, redemption. Growing up in Southern California, Dameon faced challenges early on. After his parents' divorce, he lived with his sister and, by his teenage years, had already experienced run-ins with the police. He learned his lesson and set out to become a police officer, studying law enforcement in college.Music became his avocation. He performed at the Roxy, and was discovered by The Whispers—an iconic R&B group known for hits like "And the Beat Goes On" and "Rock Steady." He landed a record deal with Capitol Records. It seemed like he was on his way to stardom.But life took a drastic turn. While working as a security officer and preparing to enter law enforcement, Dameon found himself on the wrong side of the justice system. He endured the trauma of wrongful accusations, jury trials, and a million-dollar bail that kept him locked up. Books like Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson and The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander give us a powerful background for Dameon's journey.Dameon just published his fifth book - a captivating account of his painful journey - The Road to Redemption (July 2024). It's the “non-fictional story of an author's relentless pursuit of justice, and full vindication. After being wrongfully arrested and maliciously prosecuted for murder, Dameon tells the truthful version about what happened on the night of January 1, 2004.”Now, as an author, motivational speaker, mentor, and life coach, Dameon draws on his experience to inspire change. Join us on this episode as we unpack the realities of the justice system, share this story of resilience, and spark conversations that matter. SHOW NOTES Support the showBecome a Patron - Click on the link to learn how you can become a Patron of the show. Thank you! Ken's Substack Page The Podcast Official Site: TheBeachedWhiteMale.com

In our world of urgency, certitudes, and immediate access to a flood of information, could it be that a humble curiosity, inspired awe, and delightful wonder might give us the strength to heal and thrive?Using an expansive emotional vocabulary matched with wit and care, TV host, podcaster, and author Kelly Corrigan is inviting the world to relational vulnerability, compassionate curiosity, and stalwart bravery to face our biggest problems through listening and loving wonder.In this conversation with Kelly Corrigan, we discuss:Her approach to having conversations that feel transformative—the kind that unlock and open us upHow wonder grounds her spirituality and personal vocationThe profound lessons she learned from her mother and father, and how each showed up for her when she was at her lowestHow to learn wisdom and leadership through coaching and mentoringHow to build the emotional container of home for a familyWhat it means to be brave in our world todayAnd how to communicate love through the simple act of listening through three simple invitations: “Tell me more!, What else?, and Go on.”About Kelly CorriganKelly Corrigan is a journalist of wonder. Through hundreds and hundreds of conversations with some of the world's most interesting people, she approaches both timeless questions and contemporary problems … through focused and generous listening, an attitude of awe, and a joyful expectation to be surprised and delighted, even in life's most challenging and painful circumstances.She's the author of four New York Times bestselling memoirs: Tell Me More, The Middle Place, Glitter and Glue, and Lift. Her most recent offering is a children's book, Hello World, which celebrates the people in our lives and explores the meaningful connections that come from asking each other questions.Her podcast, Kelly Corrigan Wonders, is a library of conversational wisdom ranging from current events, to arts and entertainment, to psychology and philosophy, and an approach to spirituality and transcendence through the gift of everyday, ordinary life.A master of conversational hospitality, downright funny storytelling, and journalistic listening, she's also the PBS television host of Tell Me More, and recently spoke on Bravery at the 40th annual TED Conference.You can find her podcast, Kelly Corrigan Wonders wherever you listen to podcasts and her full library of resources at kellycorrigan.com.Books and Media by Kelly CorriganListen to Kelly Corrigan WondersVisit [KellyCorrigan.com](http://KellyCorrigan.comhttps://www.kellycorrigan.com/)Watch Tell Me More with Kelly Corrigan (PBS)Read Kelly's books, such as Tell Me More, The Middle Place, Glitter and Glue, Hello World!, and Lift.Show NotesKelly Corrigan's storytelling and journalismKelly's interviews with famous figures like Bono, Bryan Stevenson, David Byrne, and Melinda Gates.Celebrities are just people.“What happens almost instantly… is that they become people.”“You are a never-to-be-repeated miracle.”Core questions to know a person:  ”Who raised  you, and where, and what happened  that you still remember vividly.”Finding the extraordinary in the ordinary”All the quotidian facts of their life that make us equals in some  weird way, it puts you at ease.”“There's this story about how being an adult is holding in one pocket that you are ashes to ashes, dust to dust, one of billions And holding in the other pocket that you are a never to be repeated miracle. And that adulthood is knowing when to pull out which piece of paper.”Childhood and parental influence reveal deep insights into a person's adult self.Vivid childhood memories help shape storytelling and personal understanding.“A strong, detailed memory of an experience is an indicator that there's a lot there for you.”Famous people also deal with everyday concerns, which makes them relatable.“They're just looking for a sandwich at lunchtime.”Perspective shifts with age, realizing that many things once thought important aren't.“There's 8 billion people here. It doesn't matter what I say and do.”Embracing the paradox of being both insignificant and uniquely valuable.“Being an adult is holding in one pocket that you are ashes to ashes, dust to dust… and in the other pocket that you are a never-to-be-repeated miracle.”Kelly's father, George Corrigan, was an enthusiastic listener and deeply engaging with others.“The thing you need to know about me is I'm George Corrigan's daughter.”Her father's ability to find something lovable in everyone influenced her deeply.“He wasn't looking for people just like him… he could become engaged in something he knew nothing about.”Kelly Corrigan's TED Talk, "To Love Is to Be Brave"Her mother, Mary Corrigan, was structured, disciplined, and devoted to family. “She went to church every single day.”Passed away six weeks before the interview, leaving a strong legacy.”I felt like I  had been loved and people cared about me. Not excessively, not obsessively, but you know, like I was safe in the world.”Getting the love you needRecognizing bravery in everyday family life and personal struggles.Nick Hornby's experience of receiving a book—that filled him with a sense of pride and recognitionCoaching JV Lacrosse in Piedmont, CA—and seeing the impact of “seeing people” and offering loving recognition—the power of making young girls feel seenParents handling difficult conversations with children require immense courage.“There's so much happening inside every house that's deeply brave and very complex.”Kelly Corrigan's spiritual upbringing—raised Catholic and participated in church traditions but felt distanced from the institution because of patriarchy and abuse scandals“The dominant feeling I had in Catholicism was that there's this superstructure of men who tell you if you're good or bad.”Disillusionment with the Catholic Church following abuse scandals.“My religion is wonder.”Finds spiritual connection through nature, puzzles, painting, and observing small details.“I mean, I can really go crazy on a leaf.”Painting as a practice of attention: “ it slows you way down and you have to focus on something so minute.”How to deal with emotional flooding through physical practices like walkingKelly Corrigan on Thriving—deeply connected to being in service to others.“I probably thrive best when I'm in service to something.”“And then they say, ‘Okay, Kelly, we're ready. Action.' And then it's just me and this other person and the fullness of our attention to one another is thrilling by  virtue of the fact that it's so damn rare. And sometimes when I'm finished, I'm like, there's almost like a romance to it. You know, like where I'm like, I, I love you. I love the experience that we just had.”Clarity and purpose often come in caregiving moments, like her parents' passing.“90 minutes of pure connection.”Pam King's experience of her daughter's hospitalization after a rare infectionKelly describes her experience of cancer in her thirties.Be mindful of what you consume—both media and information.“Junk in, junk out.”Engage in hobbies that disconnect from screens, such as painting and cooking.“Read poetry. Read it out loud.”You should be really careful what you let in your head.“If you're small in the frame, you're just going to move more freely. And if you're big in the frame, if you're the most important thing in your whole life, God help you.”Politics and voting or acting against your own self-interestsKelly Corrigan's conversation with April Lawson on abortionRedefining bravery“And the reward is a full human experience.”The meaning of familyThe experience of selling her childhood home after 55 years and how that raised questions about the meaning of family and connection—“We bought it on July 7, 1969, and it sold on July 7, 2024.”“Will it hold? … Is it durable? … A place of comfort?”“I think most parents would say the biggest project they've ever undertaken was to try to build a family.”“Is this thing that was the most important thing I ever built durable?”The emotional container of homeAn expansive emotional vocabulary“More questions, fewer statements.”Encouraging curiosity in her children as a lifelong tool“Ask questions. Tell  me more. What else? Go on.”“Just ask questions. Nobody's listening. So just be the person who listens. It's like the lowest bar.”Enabling someone to get over themselvesCreating space for another person's life, story, and emotions to unfold“So embrace intellectual humility and just assume that you do not have any relevant information to give them and that your only work is to keep saying, tell me more, what else go  on? And  they'll talk their way into a solution.”“And so it's a little bit of like physiological adjustment. And then it's also this intellectual pause. And it's also a big emotional pause. So like, do your dishes slowly with a scent that you like. … It's like a tiny reset.”Live takeaways from Pam and Kelly“Wonder is cheap and accessible and effective. It's like, free!”Embody wonder into the power of listening.“Part of the reason why Christy Turlington is so beautiful is her posture. So sit up straight.”“500 questions before you marry someone and commit your life to them is not a bad idea.”“Junk in, junk out. Like be careful what you put in your head. Your head is a sacred space. Do not put junk in there. Don't listen to junk. Don't watch junk. Don't read junk. Like, it's sacred. Think of it as like a cathedral. You wouldn't take like a shitty meatball sub and eat it in the backseat of a cathedral. You know what I mean?”“ The fullness of life involves this full cup that is full of joys and sorrows.”“ It only takes one person. It only takes one person to correct for a lot of absence. Doesn't mean it's going to be perfect. It doesn't mean it's going to wipe away every ounce of pain, but one person investing can compensate for a lot that's been missing.”Deep interviews as rare opportunities for pure connection“It's weirdly unusual to have a full hour of pure connection.”Facing fear and hardship as part of the full human experience“A full human experience includes all the emotions at full maximum dosage.”Finding purpose in slowing down and being intentional with habits“Evaluate your diet—not just food, but content, relationships, and daily habits.” About the Thrive CenterLearn more at thethrivecenter.org.Follow us on Instagram @thrivecenterFollow us on X @thrivecenterFollow us on LinkedIn @thethrivecenter About Dr. Pam KingDr. Pam King is Executive Director the Thrive Center and is Peter L. Benson Professor of Applied Developmental Science at Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy. Follow her @drpamking. About With & ForHost: Pam KingSenior Director and Producer: Jill WestbrookOperations Manager: Lauren KimSocial Media Graphic Designer: Wren JuergensenConsulting Producer: Evan RosaSpecial thanks to the team at Fuller Studio and the Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy.

Description: In this thought-provoking conversation, Jen and Amy speak with “poet laureate of the ordinary” Kelly Corrrigan about the valuable lessons from life she's reflecting on in this season: the significance of saying hard things, the power of listening and understanding in relationships, observations from parenting and from a career as a writer, podcaster and storyteller, and the importance of participating in democracy, regardless of who is in power. In this episode, which was recorded on Election Day 2024 (prior to knowing the outcome) Kelly uses her trademark wit and steadfast wisdom to offer listeners evergreen words of encouragement for our political landscape and for our lives in whole. Segments: Bless & Release: Lies we tell ourselves GenXcellence: MTV music videos *** Thought-provoking Quotes: “We have created this way of interpreting someone changing their mind as a flip-flopper and we have left no room for someone to grow.” – Kelly Corrigan “Making is good for individual well-being. Having an inventor's or innovator's mindset is just good for society.” – Kelly Corrigan “Once you say something out loud, it just gets smaller. It packs less of a punch. It's the stuff that we're holding and never saying to anyone that's going to be the death of us.” – Kelly Corrigan Resources Mentioned in This Episode: The Strumbellas - https://thestrumbellas.ca/ Arcade Fire - https://www.arcadefire.com/ Mt. Joy - https://www.mtjoyband.com/ Bless and Release sweatshirt - https://shop.jenhatmaker.com/collections/apparel-accessories/products/bless-release-sweatshirt Jamie Wright - https://www.instagram.com/jamietheveryworst/ MTV - https://www.mtv.com/ American Bandstand TV show (1952-1989) - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049993/ Madonna - Like a Virgin - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s__rX_WL100 American Top 40 with Casey Kasem (1970-1988) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Top_40 The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan - https://amzn.to/3AgM14g Tell Me More: Stories About the 12 Hardest Things I'm Learning to Say by Kelly Corrigan - https://amzn.to/3UGcjUf Kelly's IG post about the NYC Marathon - https://www.instagram.com/p/DB7IZumy6aR/ National Lampoon's Animal House film (1978) - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077975/ Nantucket Project - https://nantucketproject.com/ Nantucket Project 2024 - Kelly Corrigan's Annual Wrap-Up - https://nantucketproject.com/2-2024-gathering/ Aspen Ideas Festival - https://www.aspenideas.org/ TED - https://www.ted.com/ Marianne the Maker by Kelly Corrigan and Claire Corrigan Lichty - https://amzn.to/4hBUY92 George Sweetland (illustrator) - https://www.georgesweetland.org/ Bryan Stevenson on Kelly Corrigan Wonders - https://www.kellycorrigan.com/podcast/category/Bryan+Stevenson Jennifer Garner and Christy Turlington Burns on Kelly Corrigan Wonders - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jennifer-garner-and-christy-turlington-burns-talking-moms/id1532951390?i=1000654904522 Steve Kerr on Kelly Corrigan Wonders - https://www.kellycorrigan.com/podcast/kerrkamau Guest's Links: Kelly Corrigan Website - https://www.kellycorrigan.com/ Kelly Corrigan Wonders Podcast - https://www.kellycorrigan.com/podcast Kelly Corrigan Books - https://www.kellycorrigan.com/books Kelly's Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/kellycorrigan/ Kelly's Facebook -https://www.facebook.com/kellycorriganauthor Kelly's YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@kellycorriganvideo Connect with Jen! Jen's website - https://jenhatmaker.com/ Jen's Instagram - https://instagram.com/jenhatmaker Jen's Twitter - https://twitter.com/jenHatmaker/ Jen's Facebook - https://facebook.com/jenhatmaker Jen's YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/user/JenHatmaker The For the Love Podcast is presented by Audacy. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Previewing Trump's cabinet confirmations with Rina Shah, Steve Benen, Philip Bump, Errin Haines; the problematic history of the death penalty with Bryan Stevenson; what we learned about the Black voting bloc in the 2024 campaign cycle with Basil Smikle and Quentin James; South Carolina's proposed abortion bill with Mia McLeod and Melissa Murray; the discriminatory policies undermining black homeownership with Bernadette Atuahene; an interview with 13-year-old political influencer Knowa de Baraso

Bryan Stevenson, the prominent lawyer and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, has blazed a trail representing the poor, wrongly convicted and those on death row. Geoff Bennett sat down with Stevenson to discuss his career and the re-release of his best-selling book, "Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption." PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

With the U.S. election just days away there’s a palpable sense that with whichever candidate emerges victorious, it could signal the beginning of the end for their opponents.   Whether this election is truly different from those of the past, or simply a byproduct of hyperfocus from the media — voters shouldn’t throw their hands up in despair. Throughout American history, everyday people have driven change in small and incremental steps. And these steps are largely unseen and unheralded.   In her book The Small and the Mighty; Twelve Unsung Americans Who Changed the Course of History, author and former high school teacher Sharon McMahon emphasizes that now is not the time for apathy: “We get so caught up in Trump vs. Harris, that it's easy to forget that our real lives are being deeply impacted by the people who literally work on the other side of town. … We do not have to wait for the right leader to win an election.” McMahon says hope is a key element in fighting any anxiety we may have about the election. “Hope is not a feeling that you wait to experience,” McMahon tells us. “Hope is not attached to an individual. It is not attached to the outcome of an election.”   “Hope is a choice that we can make,” she continues, “Hope is an orientation of the spirit. In the words of Bryan Stevenson: ‘It's an orientation of our spirit, and we do not have the luxury of giving up hope.’ Because hope is our only chance at making positive change in the United States and in the world.” The deep political divisions in America have fostered a belief that as a nation we have become increasingly tribal. In fact, if you listen to any pundit, “tribalism” is used in a negative way. In his new book TRIBAL: How the Cultural Instincts That Divide Us Can Help Bring Us Together, author Michael Morris explains why the words triablism or tribe are not only misused, but also misunderstood. Tribes used to be referred to as “an enduring community,” Morris says. “During the era of colonial expansion and imperialism, tribalism started taking on a negative connotation involving notions of stasis and primitivism.”  “The distinctive way of social life in our species is living in very large communities that transcend kith and kin, that are that are glued together by shared ideas, by shared beliefs, otherwise known as culture,”  Morris affirms. “And so, large groups held together by cultural glue is the human form of social organization. Otherwise known as tribal living.” Morris highlights that tribes have played a crucial and positive role in human evolution.  Tribes are, “what enable us to collaborate intellectually. And almost everything impressive that humans have built has come from intellectual collaboration.”  Tribes also facilitate the sharing of knowledge as Morris further imparts: “Today, 99% of what you and I know is not something that we figured out directly ourselves. It's the knowledge that we inherited. We can not only do impressive things based on other people's knowledge, but we can collaborate with other members of our culture because we have this shared legacy of knowledge in common with them.”  Delve deeper into life, philosophy, and what makes us human by joining the Life Examined discussion group on Facebook.

Michael Lezak is a rabbi who spends most of his time in service, shoulder to shoulder with some of America's poorest citizens in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco, living his faith day to day. He also leads pilgrimages from SF to Montgomery, Alabama to see Bryan Stevenson's incredible memorial there and still manages to take a 25 hour break from technology every week. He and Kelly talk about how his devotion to his practice of Judaism enriches his life on the deepest level. Special thanks to the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, our production partner on the Belief series. Please subscribe, rate and review us wherever you listen to podcasts! We read and appreciate every review. Join Kelly on Instagram @kellycorrigan. (Originally aired on 10/5/2021) To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sometimes you really need someone to believe that you are good. Unshakably good. Over 30 years ago, Father Greg Boyle started working with gang members in Los Angeles through Homeboy Industries. The lessons that he learns from whom he calls “homies” are contagious. Every day, they teach him about what it means to heal, to belong to one another, to practice compassion, and to relearn how to feel good again to God and others. These are just some of the transcendent truths that he has to share with us today. In this conversation, Kate and Greg discuss: what it means to see unshakable goodness in others what it would mean for our carceral system if we sought to heal instead of punish how can we have a greater capacity for joy If you liked this episode, you'll also love:  Bryan Stevenson on rethinking what “justice” means Francis Collins on treating people kindly and with love Nicholas Kristof on hope as a muscle   Watch clips from this conversation, read the full transcript, and access discussion questions by clicking here or visiting katebowler.com/podcasts. Follow Kate on Instagram, Facebook, or X (formerly known as Twitter)—@katecbowler. Links to social pages and more available at linktr.ee/katecbowler.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Host Razia Iqbal sits down with the celebrated civil rights lawyer and activist Bryan Stevenson, a man as dedicated to his chosen profession as James Baldwin was to his.Stevenson is the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, based in Montgomery, Alabama, which has not only transformed the conversation about the disproportionate numbers of incarcerated Black Americans, but has also challenged how we think about the criminal justice system and the system's treatment of children in particular. He's been described by the late South African bishop and civil rights activist Desmond Tutu as “America's Nelson Mandela.” Stevenson also initiated the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, and continues to make us all think about the lived legacy of more than 200 years of slavery in the U.S. By Stevenson's own admission, Baldwin has had a profound impact on his life, professionally and personally. When asked to choose a single Baldwin quote that inspires him, Stevenson chose three, and an exception was made in the interest of an exceptional conversation. Tell us what you think. We're @noteswithkai on Instagram and X (Twitter). Email us at notes@wnyc.org. Send us a voice message by recording yourself on your phone and emailing us, or record one here.Notes from America airs live on Sundays at 6 p.m. ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts.

“Notes on a Native Son” is a new, limited audio series about how and why the writer James Baldwin continues to matter. We hear from people who turn to his words again and again for ideas and inspiration, including Ta-Nehisi Coates, Nikki Giovanni, Bryan Stevenson and many more.Hosted by journalist Razia Iqbal, each episode explores a Baldwin passage chosen and beloved by her guests. Their conversations underline Baldwin's lasting power and remind us of his prescience and acuity on issues such as race, class, sexuality, power, belonging and love.New episodes are available on-demand every Saturday in the Notes from America podcast feed. This project was made possible through partnership between Princeton University's School of Public and International Affairs, Sea Salt & Mango Productions and WNYC Studios. Tell us what you think. We're @noteswithkai on Instagram and X (Twitter). Email us at notes@wnyc.org. Send us a voice message by recording yourself on your phone and emailing us, or record one here.Notes from America airs live on Sundays at 6 p.m. ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts.

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nicholas Kristof understands how to hope—especially in the face of despair or disappointment. He has spent his life shining a light on global tragedies like the Tiananmen Square massacre or the genocide in Darfur. And yet, despite all the horrors he has born witness to, he maintains a sense of hard-won optimism. “Hope is a muscle,” he says, and one we can all learn to develop.    In this live conversation, Kate and Nicholas discuss:  How to maintain hope in the year ahead Nicholas' best argument as to why this is the best time to be alive His strategies to seeing pain and courage up close over and over again Why our small actions matter (even when it feels like a drop in the ocean)    If you liked this episode, you'll love:  Bryan Stevenson on justice in the face of unthinkable odds David Fajgenbaum on how hope pulls us forward Sarah Polley on why we should run toward what scares us   Watch clips from this conversation, read the full transcript, and access discussion questions by clicking here or visiting katebowler.com/podcasts. Follow Kate on Instagram, Facebook, or X (formerly known as Twitter)—@katecbowler. Links to social pages and more available at linktr.ee/katecbowler.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bryan Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, author of Just Mercy, thinks with Kelly about repair in the face of deep societal ruptures. Can memorials transform thinking?  Can laying bare  injustice and its personal and collective effects foster a collective understanding -- followed by a durable commitment to equity?  From Berlin to South Africa to Montgomery, Alabama, people are confronting past harms and leaving with a Never Again spirit that just might save us.  Join us for the special episode in our Rupture and Repair series, sponsored by The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations.Previous podcast episode with Bryan Stevenson here.You can watch Kelly's previous video interview with Bryan Stevenson on her PBS show Tell Me More here.(And here's the link to Kelly's TED talk on bravery, which refernces Bryan Stevenson and his grandmother -- please share.)

Have you already bailed on your resolutions? Where are you on your other life goals? This episode is a master class on sticking with it, no matter what.Bryan Stevenson is a public interest lawyer who has dedicated his career to helping the poor, the incarcerated, and the condemned. He is the founder and Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative, based in Montgomery, Alabama—an organization that has won major legal challenges eliminating excessive and unfair sentencing, as well as reversals, relief, or release from prison for over 140 wrongly condemned prisoners on death row. He is the author of the bestselling memoir Just Mercy, which was made into a feature film, and the subject of an HBO documentary, True Justice. He is also a MacArthur “Genius,” a graduate of Harvard Law School, and a recipient of over 50 honorary doctoral degrees from institutions like Yale, Princeton, and Oxford University.In this episode we talk about:Bryan's “non-negotiables,” including exercise, music, and mindfulnessThe necessity of “proximity”How he manages fear, anger, and hatredHow he cultivates hope and faith in the face of overwhelming oddsRelated Episodes:Father Gregory Boyle on Conquering Hatred with LoveEsther Perel, Bill Hader, Jon Kabat-Zinn, and Pema Chödrön's “Non-Negotiables”Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/tph/podcast-episode/bryan-stevensonSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.