Almost There with Dwayne Betts

In the season two finale, Dwayne speaks with the writer Amy Low about living with the terrible diagnosis of stage four colon cancer, which she chronicled in her memoir, The Brave In-Between: Notes from the Last Room. Amy, who worked at Emerson Collective for nearly a decade, shares what she learned occupying the very “last room” of life: deep gratitude, the power of forgiveness, and how to live each moment with purpose. This season of Almost There is dedicated to the memory of Amy Low.  Mentioned in this episode: The Brave In-Between: Notes from the Last Room by Amy Low Almost There is produced by Eric Nuzum and Jesse Baker of Magnificent Noise for Emerson Collective. Our production staff includes Lina Misitzis, Patrick D’Arcy, Kevin Dupzyk, Alex Simon, and our sound designers Paul Schneider and Kristin Mueller.  Email us at almostthere@emersoncollective.com. 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

As a kid growing up below the poverty line on the west side of Salt Lake City, Calvin Crosby found immense pleasure and freedom in books. Years later, after a journey that took him to San Francisco and into a leadership role at the California Independent Booksellers Alliance, he bought the bookstore that first changed his life – The King’s English – and moved back home to Utah to run it. For more on our guest, Calvin Crosby, and The King’s English: https://www.kingsenglish.com/ Books mentioned in this episode:  Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary  Three Junes by Julia Glass  Almost There is produced by Eric Nuzum and Jesse Baker of Magnificent Noise for Emerson Collective. Our production staff includes Lina Misitzis, Patrick D’Arcy, Kevin Dupzyk, Alex Simon, and our sound designers Paul Schneider and Kristin Mueller.  Email us at almostthere@emersoncollective.com.  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

If you think dance is just movement set to music, you’re missing something big. Award-winning director and choreographer Camille A. Brown argues that dance is the act of using physical gesture to manifest story—stories about ourselves, the lives we’ve lived, and where we’re from. Camille, whose work celebrates Black culture, helps Dwayne see the ways he’s moved through prison and his work with Freedom Reads as a liberatory dance for his community.  For more on our guest, Camille A Brown: https://www.camilleabrown.org/  Almost There is produced by Eric Nuzum and Jesse Baker of Magnificent Noise for Emerson Collective. Our production staff includes Lina Misitzis, Patrick D’Arcy, Kevin Dupzyk, Alex Simon, and our sound designers Paul Schneider and Kristin Mueller.  Email us at almostthere@emersoncollective.com.  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

Born and raised in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, Abel Acuña has been a mariachi musician for three decades. Now, he teaches mariachi at Edinburg North High School, the very same school he himself attended. He tells Dwayne how he uses the power of music to foster confidence and pride in his students—and explains why competitive mariachi is a perfect way for young people to find their place in the world. Don’t miss Abel and his students in the Sundance documentary hit, Going Varsity in Mariachi, now on Netflix.  Mentioned in this episode:  The documentary film, Going Varsity in Mariachi, streaming on Netflix.  Almost There is produced by Eric Nuzum and Jesse Baker of Magnificent Noise for Emerson Collective. Our production staff includes Lina Misitzis, Patrick D’Arcy, Kevin Dupzyk, Alex Simon, and our sound designers Paul Schneider and Kristin Mueller.  Email us at almostthere@emersoncollective.com.  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

Welcome to the New Mount Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church, where we meet Reverend Marshall Hatch Jr. He leads The MAAFA Redemption Project, a faith-based program that supports young men in West Garfield Park on the West Side of Chicago. Marshall tells Dwayne how he’s working to build a space where young men resist despair, become agents of change in their city, and move forward with a deep understanding of the American past. For more on our guest, Marshall Hatch Jr.: https://www.maafachicago.org/home Almost There is produced by Eric Nuzum and Jesse Baker of Magnificent Noise for Emerson Collective. Our production staff includes Lina Misitzis, Patrick D’Arcy, Kevin Dupzyk, Alex Simon, and our sound designers Paul Schneider and Kristin Mueller.  Email us at almostthere@emersoncollective.com. 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

Do you have to be born in a place to feel like you are of that place? The conductor Teddy Abrams has been asking himself that question for the last decade. Originally from San Francisco, he has earned recognition as one of today’s youngest and most dynamic conductors while serving as music director of the Louisville Orchestra. For Teddy, music is a bridge across Kentucky, a magical force that binds him to the state’s hills and hollers, bluegrass and bourbon—and, of course, its people.  For more on our guest, Teddy Abrams: https://louisvilleorchestra.org/about/conductors/teddy-abrams/  Music featured in this episode courtesy Louisville Orchestra.   Almost There is produced by Eric Nuzum and Jesse Baker of Magnificent Noise for Emerson Collective. Our production staff includes Lina Misitzis, Patrick D’Arcy, Kevin Dupzyk, Alex Simon, and our sound designers Paul Schneider and Kristin Mueller.  Email us at almostthere@emersoncollective.com.  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

For documentary filmmaker Davis Guggenheim, place is as much about emotion and history as it is about a geographic location. Guided by the ways he’s used place in his documentary work – including An Inconvenient Truth, He Named Me Malala, and most recently, Deaf President Now! – Davis turns the tables on Dwayne, asking him about his relationship to the places he has lived, from growing up in PG County, Maryland to serving time in prison as a young man, and how they have shaped his poetry. For more on the work of our guest, Davis Guggenheim: https://concordia.studio/ Mentioned in this episode: The documentary Deaf President Now!, now playing on Apple TV+.  The poem “Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy’s Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota” by James Wright  Almost There is produced by Eric Nuzum and Jesse Baker of Magnificent Noise for Emerson Collective. Our production staff includes Lina Misitzis, Patrick D’Arcy, Kevin Dupzyk, Alex Simon, and our sound designers Paul Schneider and Kristin Mueller.  Email us at almostthere@emersoncollective.com.  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

Karen Washington never imagined herself as a farmer. But after decades in New York City, she found her calling establishing community gardens that brought fresh food – and life-affirming beauty – to her neighborhood in the Bronx. Today, she lives on a farm in upstate New York where she grows fresh, healthy produce that she believes belongs on everybody’s plates.  For more on our guest, Karen Washington: https://www.karenthefarmer.com/about  Almost There is produced by Eric Nuzum and Jesse Baker of Magnificent Noise for Emerson Collective. Our production staff includes Lina Misitzis, Patrick D’Arcy, Kevin Dupzyk, Alex Simon, and our sound designers Paul Schneider and Kristin Mueller.  Email us at almostthere@emersoncollective.com.  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

Before Michael Murphy became an architect, his father was diagnosed with terminal cancer. For the next eighteen months, as his father was treated, they worked together to restore their old family home. When the house was completed, his father’s cancer was in remission, and he told Michael that the project saved his life. Today, as the founder of MASS Design Group and lead designer on projects like the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama, and the Butaro Hospital in Rwanda, Michael is committed to making buildings that can heal, reshaping our understanding of what architecture can do for our health and for the planet. As Michael says, “If architecture can change our health and can keep us alive, it has to be a right.” In this episode, Dwayne and Michael discuss the perverse architecture of prisons and hospitals; their collaboration designing the first-of-its-kind “Freedom Library” bookshelf for prison dormitories; and the lasting impact of the great Dr. Paul Farmer, who co-founded Partners in Health, on Michael’s design thinking. For more on the work of our guest, Michael Murphy: https://www.emersoncollective.com/persons/michael-murphy To learn more about Almost There and to read the transcript of this episode: https://www.emersoncollective.com/almost-there-podcast For more on Emerson Collective: https://www.emersoncollective.com/ Learn more about our host, Dwayne Betts: https://www.dwaynebetts.com/ Almost There is produced by Eric Nuzum and Jesse Baker of Magnificent Noise for Emerson Collective. Our production staff includes Eleanor Kagan, Julia Natt, Patrick D’Arcy, Amy Low, Alex Simon, and our sound designers Paul Schneider and Kristin Mueller. Email us at almostthere@emersoncollective.com. Subscribe to the Emerson Collective Fellows newsletter: http://www.emersoncollective.com/fellows-newsletter 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

Sailing around the world is very, very hard. But sailing around the world without the help of modern navigation technology? Shouldn’t that be impossible? Not for Lehua Kamalu, who has captained her way across our great oceans as the Voyaging Director for the Polynesian Voyaging Society, an organization based in Hawaii that perpetuates traditional Polynesian voyaging and the spirit of exploration. Lehua travels the ocean in Hōkūle’a, a double-hulled canoe designed to replicate ancient Polynesian voyaging vessels, powered only by traditional wayfinding methods that rely on the natural elements—the sun, stars, and ocean wildlife. In this episode, Lehua tells Dwayne about the valuable leadership lessons she’s learned from captaining her team across thousands of miles of ocean; what she has realized about the beauty of the natural world; and how we should think about humanity’s place on this planet. Plus, she helps coach Dwayne through his fear of the ocean. Lehua is currently leading her most important voyage yet—a 4-year, 43,000-mile voyage around the Pacific. Follow her journey: https://hokulea.com/moananuiakea/ To learn more about Almost There and to read the transcript of this episode: https://www.emersoncollective.com/almost-there-podcast For more on Emerson Collective: https://www.emersoncollective.com/ Learn more about our host, Dwayne Betts: https://www.dwaynebetts.com/ Almost There is produced by Eric Nuzum and Jesse Baker of Magnificent Noise for Emerson Collective. Our production staff includes Eleanor Kagan, Julia Natt, Patrick D’Arcy, Amy Low, Alex Simon, and our sound designers Paul Schneider and Kristin Mueller. Email us at almostthere@emersoncollective.com. Subscribe to the Emerson Collective Fellows newsletter: http://www.emersoncollective.com/fellows-newsletter 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

Chuck Yarborough is a sixth-generation Mississippian who teaches American history at one of the best high schools in the state, The Mississippi School of Mathematics and Science. In the midst of a national debate on how we teach American history to young people, Chuck doesn’t just rely on textbooks. Instead, he sends his students to original sources to research overlooked and untold histories, helping them turn what they learn into vivid public performance for their community. “I try to create spaces where students can engage with difficult topics, in an environment where they can be honest and where all they are going to be met with is love,” Chuck says. In this episode, Chuck tells Dwayne about the childhood birthday party that changed his life; about the memorable public performances of his students, which take place in graveyards; and his guiding principles as a high school teacher. Plus, hear excerpts of performances from Chuck’s students, Dairian Bowles and Madison Echols. For more on the work of our guest, Chuck Yarborough: https://www.emersoncollective.com/persons/chuck-yarborough To learn more about our show and read the transcript of this episode: emersoncollective.com/almost-there-podcast For more on Emerson Collective: https://www.emersoncollective.com/ Learn more about our host, Reginald Dwayne Betts: https://www.dwaynebetts.com/ Almost There is produced by Eric Nuzum and Jesse Baker of Magnificent Noise for Emerson Collective. Our production staff includes Eleanor Kagan, Julia Natt, Patrick D’Arcy, Amy Low, Alex Simon, and our sound designers Paul Schneider and Kristin Mueller. Email us at almostthere@emersoncollective.com. 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

Joan Salwen has a thing for cows. After all, she grew up helping her grandfather tend to the livestock on his farm in Iowa. But as an adult, Joan was shocked to learn that cows are pretty terrible for the environment: they burp huge amounts of methane, a destructive greenhouse gas driving climate change. So she built a company, Blue Ocean Barns, around a surprising solution: making feed with a red seaweed native to Hawaii that dramatically reduces cows’ methane emissions when they eat it in small amounts. It’s an innovation that could make farmers like Joan’s Grandpa Mo heroes in the fight to slow climate change.  In the Season One finale, Joan tells Dwayne about her many professional pivots, from software engineer to middle school English teacher to startup founder; and shares what she’s learned from farmers about how we can all care for our planet. Plus, Joan shares fun facts about cows!   For more on the work of our guest, Joan Salwen: https://www.emersoncollective.com/persons/joan-salwen  To learn more about our show and read the transcript of this episode: emersoncollective.com/almost-there-podcast  For more on Emerson Collective: https://www.emersoncollective.com/ Learn more about our host, Reginald Dwayne Betts: https://www.dwaynebetts.com/ Almost There is produced by Eric Nuzum and Jesse Baker of Magnificent Noise for Emerson Collective. Our production staff includes Eleanor Kagan, Julia Natt, Patrick D’Arcy, Amy Low, Alex Simon, and our sound designers Paul Schneider and Kristin Mueller.  Email us at almostthere@emersoncollective.com.  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

Across the U.S., local election administrators are the unsung heroes of democracy, helping to protect our right to vote. But who is protecting them? Scarce resources and increasing threats of violence are causing many in the profession to find new jobs. Fortunately, Tiana Epps-Johnson has big ideas on how to make their jobs easier. Tiana and her nonpartisan organization, Center for Tech and Civic Life, provide local officials in the U.S. with the funding, technology, and training they need to administer secure, modern elections. “We are laser-focused on a vision where our country’s election officials have the funds, tools, and skills they need to administer professional, inclusive, secure elections for all of us,” Tiana says.  In this episode, Tiana reflects on why she considers the 2020 election, which happened in the midst of a global pandemic, so successful; what she has learned about how to help election officials orchestrate successful elections; and what she has learned from her mother and grandmother. Plus, Dwayne reads Tiana his poem, “White Peonies”.   For more on the work of our guest, Tiana Epps-Johnson: https://www.emersoncollective.com/persons/tiana-epps-johnson  To learn more about our show and read the transcript of this episode: emersoncollective.com/almost-there.  For more on Emerson Collective: https://www.emersoncollective.com/ Learn more about our host, Reginald Dwayne Betts: https://www.dwaynebetts.com/ Almost There is produced by Eric Nuzum and Jesse Baker of Magnificent Noise for Emerson Collective. Our production staff includes Eleanor Kagan, Julia Natt, Patrick D’Arcy, Amy Low, Alex Simon, and our sound designers Paul Schneider and Kristin Mueller.  Email us at almostthere@emersoncollective.com.  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

Sri Shamasunder likes to say he was a poet before he was a doctor. His college mentor, the legendary poet and activist June Jordan, passed away from cancer during his first year of medical school, but had a lasting impact on his practice of medicine. She encouraged him to harness righteous anger and to use his voice to fight inequity, inspiring Shamasunder’s work as a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, and as the co-founder and director of the HEAL Initiative, an equity-based global health fellowship that provides quality care for communities in need around the world.  In this episode, Sri and Dwayne discuss the surprising similarities between poetry and medicine; how the HEAL Initiative cultivates “noble friendships” across cultural divides; and the impact of the mentorship of June Jordan and Dr. Paul Farmer on Sri’s life and career. Plus: so much poetry! Poems mentioned in this episode include:  "The Gift" by Li-Young Lee: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43010/the-gift-56d221adc12b8  "To Walk in Beauty Once Again" by Sri Shamasunder (for Adriann Begay, June 2020): https://courtney.substack.com/p/to-walk-in-beauty-once-again  "The Guest House" by Jalaluddin Rumi: https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/guest-house/  "In Blackwater Woods" by Mary Oliver: http://www.phys.unm.edu/~tw/fas/yits/archive/oliver_inblackwaterwoods.html  "Our Daily Bread" by César Vallejo: https://www.scribd.com/document/324203734/Our-Daily-Bread#  "It’s Hard to Keep a Clean Shirt Clean" by June Jordan (poem for Sri Shamasunder): https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48759/its-hard-to-keep-a-clean-shirt-clean  For more on the work of our guest, Sri Shamasunder: https://www.emersoncollective.com/persons/sriram-shamasunder  To learn more about our show and read the transcript of this episode: emersoncollective.com/almost-there.  For more on Emerson Collective: https://www.emersoncollective.com/ Learn more about our host, Reginald Dwayne Betts: https://www.dwaynebetts.com/ Almost There is produced by Eric Nuzum and Jesse Baker of Magnificent Noise for Emerson Collective. Our production staff includes Eleanor Kagan, Julia Natt, Patrick D’Arcy, Amy Low, Alex Simon, and our sound designers Paul Schneider and Kristin Mueller.  Email us at almostthere@emersoncollective.com.  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

When Hurricane Katrina barreled toward her home stretch of the Gulf Coast, Sara Zewde had not yet decided what she wanted to do professionally. But the aftermath of the storm inspired her to work across ecology, infrastructure, and culture as a landscape architect. Today, she runs Studio Zewde, a landscape-architecture practice based in New York City, and is an assistant professor at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design. As one of just a few Black female landscape architects, she is dedicated to building culturally-responsive spaces where people experience a sense of belonging. “People walk around Central Park, around landscapes, around sidewalks and street corners, and don’t realize they are living in somebody’s design,” she says. “Every single tree, every single path, all the topography – it’s a complete work of fiction.”  In this episode, Sara tells Dwayne about her interest in Frederick Law Olmsted, the father of landscape architecture in the U.S. and the designer of New York’s Central Park, who, she learned, traveled the American South as a journalist and documented the horrors of slavery there – an experience that came to fundamentally shape his approach to park design.  For more on the work of our guest, Sara Zewde: https://www.emersoncollective.com/persons/sara-zewde   To learn more about our show and read the transcript of this episode: emersoncollective.com/almost-there.  For more on Emerson Collective: https://www.emersoncollective.com/ Learn more about our host, Reginald Dwayne Betts: https://www.dwaynebetts.com/ Almost There is produced by Eric Nuzum and Jesse Baker of Magnificent Noise for Emerson Collective. Our production staff includes Eleanor Kagan, Julia Natt, Patrick D’Arcy, Amy Low, Alex Simon, and our sound designers Paul Schneider and Kristin Mueller.  Email us at almostthere@emersoncollective.com.  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

Sheila Davis began her career as a nurse working on the front lines of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Boston. Today, lessons from that experience guide her work as the CEO of Partners In Health, the global health nonprofit with nearly 20,000 people, providing care across 11 countries, from Rwanda to Haiti. Building on the legacy of PIH founder and Sheila’s longtime friend Dr. Paul Farmer, who died unexpectedly in 2022, Sheila and her team of doctors, nurses, clinicians, and administrators are working to establish medical centers, educate future generations of health care workers, and directly provide care to those who need it most. “We are fighting for global health equity, boldly and unapologetically,” she says. In this episode, Sheila talks to Dwayne about the lessons she carries from her time as a nurse into her leadership role at Partners in Health; why joy and beauty are so important to the healing process; and why you should always listen to your driver when you arrive in a foreign country.  For more on the work of our guest, Sheila Davis: https://www.emersoncollective.com/persons/sheila-davis  To learn more about our show and read the transcript of this episode: emersoncollective.com/almost-there.  For more on Emerson Collective: https://www.emersoncollective.com/ Learn more about our host, Reginald Dwayne Betts: https://www.dwaynebetts.com/ Almost There is produced by Eric Nuzum and Jesse Baker of Magnificent Noise for Emerson Collective. Our production staff includes Eleanor Kagan, Julia Natt, Patrick D’Arcy, Amy Low, Alex Simon, and our sound designers Paul Schneider and Kristin Mueller.  Email us at almostthere@emersoncollective.com.  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

Each year, more than 200,000 young people are held in hundreds of juvenile-detention centers across the U.S., many of which do not provide a quality education to the students in their care. David Domenici is working to change that. He co-founded the Maya Angelou Schools, a successful network of alternative schools in Washington, D.C. that includes the Maya Angelou Academy, located inside Washington’s juvenile-correctional facility. In 2011, he founded BreakFree Education, which works closely with teachers and incarcerated students to advocate for policy change and advise prison educational programs. “By ensuring young people in prison receive the education they deserve, we can help restore their humanity and dignity, and positively influence the institutions that hold them captive,” David says. In this episode, David tells Dwayne about transforming the notorious Oak Hill juvenile facility into the Maya Angelou Academy; the books that have changed the lives of his students; and why it’s so important to see all young people – in and out of prison – as students first. Plus, Dwayne reads an excerpt of James Baldwin’s If Beale Street Could Talk.  For more on the work of our guest, David Domenici: https://www.emersoncollective.com/persons/david-domenici  To learn more about our show and read the transcript of this episode: emersoncollective.com/almost-there-podcast  For more on Emerson Collective: https://www.emersoncollective.com/ Learn more about our host, Reginald Dwayne Betts: https://www.dwaynebetts.com/ Almost There is produced by Eric Nuzum and Jesse Baker of Magnificent Noise for Emerson Collective. Our production staff includes Eleanor Kagan, Julia Natt, Patrick D’Arcy, Amy Low, Alex Simon, and our sound designers Paul Schneider and Kristin Mueller.  Email us at almostthere@emersoncollective.com.  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

Shari Davis first began dreaming about how to empower young people as a teenager, while serving on the Mayor's Youth Council in Boston. In 2014, the Mayor of Boston asked Shari to launch the country's first youth-focused “participatory budgeting” effort—a democratic process in which community members directly decide how to spend part of a public budget. Today, Shari co-leads the Participatory Budgeting Project, which has helped more than 700,000 people in over 30 cities directly decide how to spend $400 million in public funds. The process has led to new art walls, park renovations, student centers, and imaginative public safety efforts.  In this episode, Shari and Dwayne talk about the key steps in the participatory budgeting process; real-world examples of participatory budgeting in action; and what the Black martial arts tradition taught Shari about how democracy works. Plus, Shari and Dwayne bond over Octavia Butler’s The Parable of the Sower. For more on the work of our guest, Shari Davis: https://www.emersoncollective.com/persons/shari-davis  To learn more about our show and read the transcript of this episode: emersoncollective.com/almost-there-podcast  For more on Emerson Collective: https://www.emersoncollective.com/ Learn more about our host, Reginald Dwayne Betts: https://www.dwaynebetts.com/ Almost There is produced by Eric Nuzum and Jesse Baker of Magnificent Noise for Emerson Collective. Our production staff includes Eleanor Kagan, Julia Natt, Patrick D’Arcy, Amy Low, Alex Simon, and our sound designers Paul Schneider and Kristin Mueller.  Email us at almostthere@emersoncollective.com.  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 can’t change what you can’t see. And good data, Amy Bach believes, is one of the keys to seeing what’s not working in our criminal justice system. She is the founder of Measures for Justice, a nonpartisan, non-profit organization developing data tools to help both community advocates and law enforcement reshape how the criminal justice system works. Amy believes that data trends from a local criminal justice system – like the racial disparities in diversions for felony convictions, for instance – can become tools to help communities advocate for real change, and can, at the same time, be a way for prosecutors to demonstrate a commitment to reform. “When we can see where things go wrong, we can work to make them right,” Amy says. In this episode, Amy and Dwayne talk about Commons, a new criminal justice data platform; what’s possible when data is used to start difficult, community-driven conversations about reform; and why data can ultimately only ever tell part of the story. Plus, Dwayne reads a Langston Hughes poem to Amy.  For more on the work of our guest, Amy Bach:  To learn more about our show and read the transcript of this episode: emersoncollective.com/almost-there-podcast  For more on Emerson Collective: https://www.emersoncollective.com/ Learn more about our host, Reginald Dwayne Betts: https://www.dwaynebetts.com/ Almost There is produced by Eric Nuzum and Jesse Baker of Magnificent Noise for Emerson Collective. Our production staff includes Eleanor Kagan, Julia Natt, Patrick D’Arcy, Amy Low, Alex Simon, and our sound designers Paul Schneider and Kristin Mueller.  Email us at almostthere@emersoncollective.com.  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

Work isn’t just the place where we work. It’s also the place where we meet new people who are different from us, which is why Elise Smith thinks the office is the perfect place to start building a more empathetic world. She is the co-founder and CEO of Praxis Labs, an immersive learning startup that is reimagining diversity, equity, and inclusion training for corporate America. Using virtual reality, workers take on new perspectives, experiencing incidents of bias or discrimination from multiple points of view, and get to actually practice responding. The goal: to build empathy and spark behavior change.  In this episode, Elise talks to Dwayne about what it is like to raise venture funding as a young, Black founder; the early virtual reality experiences that changed her life; and the surprising similarities between poetry and virtual reality.  For more on out guest, Elise Smith: https://www.emersoncollective.com/persons/elise-smith   To learn more about Almost There and to read the transcript of this episode: https://www.emersoncollective.com/almost-there-podcast  For more on Emerson Collective: https://www.emersoncollective.com/ Learn more about our host, Dwayne Betts: https://www.dwaynebetts.com/ Almost There is produced by Eric Nuzum and Jesse Baker of Magnificent Noise for Emerson Collective. Our production staff includes Eleanor Kagan, Julia Natt, Patrick D’Arcy, Amy Low, Alex Simon, and our sound designers Paul Schneider and Kristin Mueller.  Email us at almostthere@emersoncollective.com.  Subscribe to the Emerson Collective Fellows newsletter: http://www.emersoncollective.com/fellows-newsletter  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