Laura Flanders and Friends: Solutions-Focused Progressive Perspectives on Politics, News, and Culture

Kimberlé Crenshaw and expert guests unpack the critical role Black voters played in the midterm elections and how independent media outpaced mainstream coverage. This episode comes by way of Crenshaw's "Intersectionality Matters" podcast produced by the African American Policy Forum.Description:  In this special bonus episode, Laura Flanders joins a post-election roundtable for the “Intersectionality Matters!” podcast hosted by African American Policy Forum Co-Founder & Executive Director Kimberlé Crenshaw. Guests Laura Flanders, Kaye Wise Whitehead and Tim Wise discuss the differences between the money media and independent media’s coverage of the midterms, key takeaways from exit polls, and how Black voters and “Blacklash” led the way to victory for Democrats in Congress. Plus, guests discuss how the Democrats can consolidate their gains and yield change for the American people — if they want to score more wins come next Election Day. This conversation was recorded the morning of November 4, 2026.Guests:• Kimberlé Crenshaw: Professor of Law, Columbia & UCLA Law Schools; Executive Director, African American Policy Forum• Laura Flanders: Host, Laura Flanders & Friends• Kaye Wise Whitehead: Host, Today with Dr. Kaye; President, Karson Institute for Race, Peace & Social Justice• Tim Wise: Antiracist Educator; Senior Fellow, African American Policy ForumThis program is made possible by listeners and viewers like you, subscribe at https://lauraflanders.substack.com/ or https://LauraFlanders.org/Donate RESOURCES:*Related Book:  •  Blue Grit:  Making Impossible, Improbable, and Inspirational Political Change in America by Laura Flanders - Get the Book•  On Intersectionality – Selected Writings  by Kimberlé Crenshaw, Get the book(*Bookshop is an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores. LF&F is an affiliate of bookshop.org and will receive a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.) Related LF&F Episodes:•. Forget Everything You Know About Texas - Watch / Listen•  Kimberlé Crenshaw on the Legal System Cracking Up:  Critical Race Theory & The Rollback of Civil Rights - Watch / Listen•  Juneteenth Special: To Confront Fascism, We Must Learn About Slavery and Colonialism: Watch Laura Flanders and Friends Crew: Laura Flanders-Executive Producer, Writer; Sabrina Artel-Supervising Producer; Jeremiah Cothren-Senior Producer; Veronica Delgado-Video Editor, Janet Hernandez-Communications Director; Jeannie Hopper-Audio Director, Podcast & Radio Producer, Audio Editor, Sound Design, Narrator; Sarah Miller-Development Director, Nat Needham-Editor, Graphic Design emeritus; David Neuman-Senior Video Editor, and Rory O’Conner-Senior Consulting Producer. FOLLOW Laura Flanders and FriendsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauraflandersandfriends/Blueky: https://bsky.app/profile/lfandfriends.bsky.socialFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/LauraFlandersAndFriends/Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lauraflandersandfriendsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFLRxVeYcB1H7DbuYZQG-lgLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lauraflandersandfriendsPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/lauraflandersandfriendsACCESSIBILITY - The broadcast edition of this episode is available with closed captioned by clicking here for our YouTube Channel

In 'Meanwhile', Jacqueline Woodson and Catherine Gund weave together the words of literary legends to explore the intersection of art, grief, and social justice.Description: James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Muhammad Ali and Nina Simone are some of the artists featured in the moving new film “Meanwhile”, from National Book Award-winner Jacqueline Woodson and Emmy-nominated producer & director Catherine Gund. Their meditations on grief, art, breath and more are beautifully woven together as the film poses the question, how do you keep breathing amidst the chaos? Catalyzed by the Covid-19 pandemic and the police killing of George Floyd, Gund and Woodson tap into our shared existence. The artists featured in the docu-poem, with a haunting soundtrack by Meshell Ndegeocello, work through questions of race, political violence, resistance and identity — so much of what shapes our lives and relationships. “This is not a love letter to this country but to us inside this country,” says Woodson in the film. “We see us. We love us. We make eye contact and nod to us”. In this conversation with Laura Flanders, the trio of longtime friends discuss the film from Aubin Pictures, the losses they experienced in the 80s, and how the arts and poetry can compel us to enact change. Can we reclaim the “meanwhile”? All that, plus a commentary from Laura on hers.Guests:•  Catherine Gund: Producer & Director, Meanwhile; Filmmaker & Founder, Aubin Pictures•  Jacqueline Woodson: Writer & Performer, Meanwhile; Author, Brown Girl Dreaming; Founder, Baldwin for the Arts;  The Elders Project, ColumbiaMusic Credit: “Brighter the Days” the title track of Omar’s new album courtesy of BBE Records.  "Steppin" by Podington Bear. And original sound production and design by Jeannie Hopper. Watch the special report released on YouTube. Listen: Episode airs on community radio (check here to see if your station airs the show). RESOURCES:This program is made possible by listeners and viewers like you, subscribe at https://lauraflanders.substack.com/ or https://LauraFlanders.org/DonateRelated Laura Flanders Show Episodes:•  Ask Angola Prison: What Difference Can a Play Make?  Watch / Listen:  Episode and Full Conversation•  Survival Guide for Humans Learned from Marine Mammals with Alexis Pauline Gumbs: Watch / Listen:  Episode and Full Conversation  •  V (formerly Eve Ensler): Reckoning with Our Past, Transforming the Future: Watch / Listen Related Articles and Resources:•  Jacqueline Woodson:  Kennedy Center Education Artist-in-Residence (2022-2024)•  Catherine Gund’s Meanwhile:  A gorgeous, quietly energetic, and moving meditation on Black resilience and world-making in the face of interminable violence. by Brittany Turner, March 2025, The Brooklyn Rail•  Ivy Young, D.C. journalist, poet, and activist dies at 75: A life of service dedicated to community building. By Staff reports, June 6, 2023, Washington Blade•  Gai Gherardi, legendary co-founder of L.A. Eyeworks, Garrett Leight *Recommended book:“Brown Girl Dreaming” by Jacqueline Woodson. Get the Book*(*Bookshop is an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores. The LF Show is an affiliate of bookshop.org and will receive a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.) Laura Flanders and Friends Crew: Laura Flanders-Executive Producer, Writer; Sabrina Artel-Supervising Producer; Jeremiah Cothren-Senior Producer; Veronica Delgado-Video Editor, Janet Hernandez-Communications Director; Jeannie Hopper-Audio Director, Podcast & Radio Producer, Audio Editor, Sound Design, Narrator; Sarah Miller-Development Director, Nat Needham-Editor, Graphic Design emeritus; David Neuman-Senior Video Editor, and Rory O’Conner-Senior Consulting Producer. FOLLOW Laura Flanders and FriendsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauraflandersandfriends/Blueky: https://bsky.app/profile/lfandfriends.bsky.socialFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/LauraFlandersAndFriends/Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lauraflandersandfriendsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFLRxVeYcB1H7DbuYZQG-lgLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lauraflandersandfriendsPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/lauraflandersandfriendsACCESSIBILITY - The broadcast edition of this episode is available with closed captioned by clicking here for our YouTube Channel

In 'Meanwhile', Jacqueline Woodson and Catherine Gund weave together the words of literary legends to explore the intersection of art, grief, and social justice.Description:  James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Muhammad Ali and Nina Simone are some of the artists featured in the moving new film “Meanwhile”, from National Book Award-winner Jacqueline Woodson and Emmy-nominated producer & director Catherine Gund. Their meditations on grief, art, breath and more are beautifully woven together as the film poses the question, how do you keep breathing amidst the chaos? Catalyzed by the Covid-19 pandemic and the police killing of George Floyd, Gund and Woodson tap into our shared existence. The artists featured in the docu-poem, with a haunting soundtrack by Meshell Ndegeocello, work through questions of race, political violence, resistance and identity — so much of what shapes our lives and relationships. “This is not a love letter to this country but to us inside this country,” says Woodson in the film. “We see us. We love us. We make eye contact and nod to us”. In this conversation with Laura Flanders, the trio of longtime friends discuss the film from Aubin Pictures, the losses they experienced in the 80s, and how the arts and poetry can compel us to enact change. Can we reclaim the “meanwhile”? All that, plus a commentary from Laura on hers.“. . . Having lost people so early and in such quick succession and under such an awful oppressive situation [of AIDS in the 80s], . . . each one of those hit so hard. We wrote and we made movies, and we had these elaborate memorials, and we did things to process and grieve. I am really holding on to that approach to death and dying as we get older, because I don't wanna ever not care.” - Catherine GundGuests:•  Catherine Gund: Producer & Director, Meanwhile; Filmmaker & Founder, Aubin Pictures•  Jacqueline Woodson: Writer & Performer, Meanwhile; Author, Brown Girl Dreaming; Founder, Baldwin for the Arts;  The Elders Project, Columbia Full Conversation Release: While our weekly shows are edited to time for broadcast on community radio, we offer to our members and podcast subscribers the full uncut conversation. These audio exclusives are made possible thanks to our member supporters.Watch the special report released on YouTube and on community radio (check here to see if your station airs the show) & available as a podcast.This program is made possible by listeners and viewers like you, subscribe at https://lauraflanders.substack.com/ or https://LauraFlanders.org/Donate ARE YOU AUDACIOUS? SUPPORT OUR RESISTANCE REPORTING FUND! Help us continue fighting against the rise of authoritarianism in these times. Please support our Resistance Reporting Fund. Our goal is to raise $100K. We're at $35K! Become a sustaining member starting at $5 a month! Or make a one time donation at LauraFlanders.org/Donate RESOURCES:Full Episode Notes are located HERE. Related Laura Flanders Show Episodes:•  Ask Angola Prison: What Difference Can a Play Make?  Watch / Listen:  Episode and Full Conversation•  Survival Guide for Humans Learned from Marine Mammals with Alexis Pauline Gumbs: Watch / Listen:  Episode and Full Conversation  •  V (formerly Eve Ensler): Reckoning with Our Past, Transforming the Future: Watch / Listen Related Articles and Resources:•  Jacqueline Woodson:  Kennedy Center Education Artist-in-Residence (2022-2024)•  Catherine Gund’s Meanwhile:  A gorgeous, quietly energetic, and moving meditation on Black resilience and world-making in the face of interminable violence. by Brittany Turner, March 2025, The Brooklyn Rail•  Ivy Young, D.C. journalist, poet, and activist dies at 75: A life of service dedicated to community building. By Staff reports, June 6, 2023, Washington Blade•  Gai Gherardi, legendary co-founder of L.A. Eyeworks, Garrett Leight Laura Flanders and Friends Crew: Laura Flanders-Executive Producer, Writer; Sabrina Artel-Supervising Producer; Jeremiah Cothren-Senior Producer; Veronica Delgado-Video Editor, Janet Hernandez-Communications Director; Jeannie Hopper-Audio Director, Podcast & Radio Producer, Audio Editor, Sound Design, Narrator; Sarah Miller-Development Director, Nat Needham-Editor, Graphic Design emeritus; David Neuman-Senior Video Editor, and Rory O’Conner-Senior Consulting Producer. FOLLOW Laura Flanders and FriendsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauraflandersandfriends/Blueky: https://bsky.app/profile/lfandfriends.bsky.socialFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/LauraFlandersAndFriends/Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lauraflandersandfriendsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFLRxVeYcB1H7DbuYZQG-lgLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lauraflandersandfriendsPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/lauraflandersandfriendsACCESSIBILITY - The broadcast edition of this episode is available with closed captioned by clicking here for our YouTube Channel

Explore the grassroots organizing tactics that flipped Georgia and empowered Democrats, with lessons for inspiring voters and combating election denial.Description:  Organizers in Georgia did the impossible back in 2020: they managed to get overlooked voters to the polls and cracked the code on how to spark civic involvement. The election of two Democrats to the Senate from the state handed the presidency to Joe Biden and control of Congress to the Democrats that year. But as you’ll hear, this was no flash in the pan; it was the result of decades of organizing. There’s lots to learn from the state — especially now with the 2026 midterm elections in full swing. This week we are revisiting “The Georgia Way: How to Win Elections”, an oral history intended to record the strategies used in the state. Hear from the book’s editors, Ray McClendon and Steven Rosenfeld; and Andrea Miller, the Executive Director of the Center for Common Ground, People Demanding Action on the strategizing in Virginia. And get Laura’s two cents on election deniers.“People are going to need to be poll workers. They are going to need to be monitors. They are going to need to be outside, reporting any problems they see. We're reading about groups training people to challenge voters.” - Andrea Miller“Andrea and Ray have taken the time to try to talk to people first, not on the eve of the election, but beforehand to try to get a sense of, “What are you really concerned about?” I know that sounds so simple and obvious, but it's really not done in these statewide and national campaign committee-driven efforts. - Steven RosenfeldGuests:Ray McClendon, Editor, The Georgia Way: How to Win Elections; Political Action Committee Chair, NAACP Atlanta, GeorgiaAndrea Miller, Founding Board Member & Executive Director, Center for Common Ground; Executive Director, People Demanding ActionSteven Rosenfeld, Editor, The Georgia Way: How to Win Elections; Editor & Chief Correspondent, Voting Booth, for the Independent Media Institute This program is made possible by listeners and viewers like you, subscribe at https://lauraflanders.substack.com/ or https://LauraFlanders.org/Donate RESOURCES:Recommended books by our featured guests:The Georgia Way: How to Win Elections, Co-Editors Ray McClendon and Steven Rosenfeld Download the PDF Related Laura Flanders Show Episodes:• Shirley Sherrod Watch• Ferguson to Detroit: Community Building from the Barbershop to the Polls Watch / Listen• Voting Rights: BIPOC Media Sound the Alarm Watch / Listen Related Articles and Resources:• Special Report: “Voting Systems: How They Work, Vulnerabilities, and Mitigation” by Steven Rosenfeld, Download the PDF• Blue Grit: Making Impossible, Improbable, and Inspirational Political Change in America by Laura Flanders Get the Book Here• Team Unity Georgia, Learn more here Featured ‘Music in the Middle’ of the Podcast:“Reality” by The Strange Content featuring So Strange, courtesy of Nylon Trax, Listen and Read More Laura Flanders and Friends Crew: Laura Flanders-Executive Producer, Writer; Sabrina Artel-Supervising Producer; Jeremiah Cothren-Senior Producer; Veronica Delgado-Video Editor, Janet Hernandez-Communications Director; Jeannie Hopper-Audio Director, Podcast & Radio Producer, Audio Editor, Sound Design, Narrator; Sarah Miller-Development Director, Nat Needham-Editor, Graphic Design emeritus; David Neuman-Senior Video Editor, and Rory O’Conner-Senior Consulting Producer. FOLLOW Laura Flanders and FriendsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauraflandersandfriends/Blueky: https://bsky.app/profile/lfandfriends.bsky.socialFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/LauraFlandersAndFriends/Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lauraflandersandfriendsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFLRxVeYcB1H7DbuYZQG-lgLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lauraflandersandfriendsPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/lauraflandersandfriendsACCESSIBILITY - The broadcast edition of this episode is available with closed captioned by clicking here for our YouTube Channel

Before the 2026 midterm elections we revisit "The Georgia Way:  How to win elections", a conversation from 2020 with the book's editors.Description:  Organizers in Georgia did the impossible back in 2020: they managed to get overlooked voters to the polls and cracked the code on how to spark civic involvement. The election of two Democrats to the Senate from the state handed the presidency to Joe Biden and control of Congress to the Democrats that year. But as you’ll hear, this was no flash in the pan; it was the result of decades of organizing. There’s lots to learn from the state — especially now with the 2026 midterm elections in full swing. This week we are revisiting “The Georgia Way: How to Win Elections”, an oral history intended to record the strategies used in the state. Hear from the book’s editors, Ray McClendon and Steven Rosenfeld; and Andrea Miller, the Executive Director of the Center for Common Ground, People Demanding Action on the strategizing in Virginia. And get Laura’s two cents on election deniers.“People are going to need to be poll workers. They are going to need to be monitors. They are going to need to be outside, reporting any problems they see. We're reading about groups training people to challenge voters.” - Andrea Miller“Andrea and Ray have taken the time to try to talk to people first, not on the eve of the election, but beforehand to try to get a sense of, “What are you really concerned about?” I know that sounds so simple and obvious, but it's really not done in these statewide and national campaign committee-driven efforts. - Steven RosenfeldGuests:Ray McClendon, Editor, The Georgia Way: How to Win Elections; Political Action Committee Chair, NAACP Atlanta, GeorgiaAndrea Miller, Founding Board Member & Executive Director, Center for Common Ground; Executive Director, People Demanding ActionSteven Rosenfeld, Editor, The Georgia Way: How to Win Elections; Editor & Chief Correspondent, Voting Booth, for the Independent Media Institute This program is made possible by listeners and viewers like you, subscribe at https://lauraflanders.substack.com/ or https://LauraFlanders.org/Donate RESOURCES:Recommended books by our featured guests:The Georgia Way: How to Win Elections, Co-Editors Ray McClendon and Steven Rosenfeld Download the PDF Related Laura Flanders Show Episodes:• Shirley Sherrod Watch• Ferguson to Detroit: Community Building from the Barbershop to the Polls Watch / Listen• Voting Rights: BIPOC Media Sound the Alarm Watch / Listen Related Articles and Resources:• Special Report: “Voting Systems: How They Work, Vulnerabilities, and Mitigation” by Steven Rosenfeld, Download the PDF• Blue Grit: Making Impossible, Improbable, and Inspirational Political Change in America by Laura Flanders Get the Book Here• Team Unity Georgia, Learn more here Featured ‘Music in the Middle’ of the Podcast:“Reality” by The Strange Content featuring So Strange, courtesy of Nylon Trax, Listen and Read More  Laura Flanders and Friends Crew: Laura Flanders-Executive Producer, Writer; Sabrina Artel-Supervising Producer; Jeremiah Cothren-Senior Producer; Veronica Delgado-Video Editor, Janet Hernandez-Communications Director; Jeannie Hopper-Audio Director, Podcast & Radio Producer, Audio Editor, Sound Design, Narrator; Sarah Miller-Development Director, Nat Needham-Editor, Graphic Design emeritus; David Neuman-Senior Video Editor, and Rory O’Conner-Senior Consulting Producer. FOLLOW Laura Flanders and FriendsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauraflandersandfriends/Blueky: https://bsky.app/profile/lfandfriends.bsky.socialFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/LauraFlandersAndFriends/Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lauraflandersandfriendsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFLRxVeYcB1H7DbuYZQG-lgLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lauraflandersandfriendsPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/lauraflandersandfriendsACCESSIBILITY - The broadcast edition of this episode is available with closed captioned by clicking here for our YouTube Channel