The Flaming Sword of Justice, with Ben Wikler

After 64 hours of original interviews, inspiring stories, and flames that leapt from our honed steel edge up to the merciless skies, The Flaming Sword of Justice has been reforged.Check out its successor, The Good Fight, with Ben Wikler, here! The Good Fight is a new weekly podcast and radio show with the same spirit, same host, and same sponsor, but a new city (DC), format (pre-recorded, mixing comedy and news with in-depth interviews), time slot (Saturdays), and name. If you loved the Flaming Sword of Justice, you'll be utterly enthralled by The Good Fight.

The Dream Defenders have been occupying the Florida State Capitol for 17 days, making national headlines with their call for a special legislative session to pass a "Trayvon's Law"--to repeal Stand Your Ground, ban racial profiling, and end the school-to-prison pipeline. They've made headlines coast to coast. They're being recognized as the next generation of civil rights leaders. But rewind a month or two, and almost nobody had heard of them. So who are they, and where did they come from?  This episode of the Flaming Sword of Justice brings you a slice of the back story: the spellbinding journey of Phillip Agnew, the Dream Defenders' co-founder and executive director. In an interview recorded in March of 2013, Phillip recounts growing up in the black church, not much money but a lot of love; his first fight against a racist killing in Florida; the brush with racial profiling that jolted him out of his depressing job selling anti-depressants--and then the creation of the Dream Defenders in the course of a life-changing march to Sanford, Florida after the killing of Trayvon Martin. Today's Tallahasee Takeover springs directly from the same vibrant vision and bedrock commitment that shines through in this interview, and through the voices of so many of the Dream Defenders. If you want to understand the present and future of Florida politics--and, indeed, of American politics in general, as a rising generation of young people of color moves the balance of power--then you'll want to get to know this extraordinary group. There's a moment in this interview that we'll never forget, about 34 minutes in: the day Phillip realizes that he can never go back to his old life in corporate America. Don't miss that part. But check out the whole thing.

92 years of life can give you some perspective. Especially if you spend seven-odd decades in service of others, as a diplomat and peacebuilder working on five continents. Today, we interview Ambassador John W. McDonald, co-founder and chair of the Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy, about his extraordinary journey: from his far-flung childhood in a military family to his arrival as a young foreign service officer in postwar Germany in 1947; from the Berlin airlift to the nerve center of the Marshall Plan; from camel caravans through snow-choked Afghanistan to jungle airports in Bolivia. Our guest built a railroad from Turkey to Tehran, helped run United Nations agencies and create new ones—and then, at age 70, after a 40-year career in government, with no resources except a co-founder and a dream, created a new organization that is helping citizens build peace from Cyprus to Kashmir.Oh, and we should mention: he has a personal connection to the show. You know our host, Ben Wikler? He's John McDonald's grandson.As you hear Ambassador McDonald share stories and lessons from his long and world-spanning life, you'll catch the intensity of his optimism, his enthusiasm—and you'll see why he's so hopeful about where the world is going next.

What happened to the Minutemen? A refresher: the Minutemen were the group that whipped up American conservatives into hysterics around the supposed issue of "border security" a few years back. They called themselves "a citizens' Neighborhood Watch on our border," and organized press stunts in which armed white people would tromp around the border with Mexico and argue that they weren't racist. You don't hear from them so much anymore. Partly, that's because their positions—and many of their former members—moved on to the Tea Party. But partly that's because of the story you'll hear in this episode. A story of cold-blooded murder.The journalist David Neiwert researched the tale for his new book, And Hell Followed With Her. And he joined us at the Netroots Nation conference in San Jose to tell the story on-air.If you want to understand the politics and the personalities of the hardcore right-wing end of the U.S. immigration debate—or if you just like a rivetingly blood-soaked story of zealotry, xenophobia, and bad ideas gone even worse, don't miss this episode of The Flaming Sword of Justice.

When the Christian Right launched the organization "True Love Waits," they might not have been intentionally referring to the wait for a Supreme Court decision on the constitutionality of the Defense Of Marriage Act. But as of Wednesday, June 26th, 2013, the wait is over. And true love won.  Today on the Flaming Sword of Justice, we bring you three voices from inside the struggle for equality. First, Darlene Nipper of the Task Force tells about the moment she heard the news about DOMA, reflects on the struggle to get here, and fires us up for the fights ahead. Then Jamie McGonnigal, who married his husband one month ago, tells us what it was like to stand in front of the Supreme Court today as the decision came down. (The first sign that we'd won? An eruption of screams.)  And finally, in an interview recorded at the Netroots Nation conference in San Jose, Minnesota's House Majority Leader tells us the tears-inducing story of passing a marriage equality law in her own state—a law that, starting today, will be recognized nationwide.The Defense of Marriage Act has fallen, and family values have triumphed. Don't miss this special celebratory edition of the Flaming Sword of Justice.

Remember the Dean campaign? It never ended. A decade later, the people he inspired are still winning elections coast to coast, using the idea that was always at the heart of his campaign: people powered politics.In 2003, a 22-year-old named Arshad Hasan joined Dean's campaign for president. Today, he's preparing to depart from his post as Executive Director of Democracy for America, the organization that sprang up from the Dean community after the campaign's end. On today's Flaming Sword of Justice, recorded live at the Netroots Nation 2013 conference in San Jose, Arshad tells the story of his path to DfA—and the story of one of his proudest fights, an election battle that seasoned campaign experts were all dismissing as hopeless. Hearing Arshad explain what happened on that race, you can't help but get swept up in the intensity and fervor of it all. And you'll realize that when Howard Dean kept saying "this campaign is not about Howard Dean," he was right. You—we—really do have the power. This week, a ten years ago, Governor Dean struck a match. Today, the flame burns hot on the Flaming Sword of Justice.

There's deadlock in DC, but in Wisconsin—as in 23 other states—Republicans have total control. So what is the party of Palin doing with all that power?  One thing's for sure: those Republican majorities aren't interested in consensus. The GOP is ticking through its wish list (a list that includes wishes for more wishes) and ramming hard-right bills through legislatures all over the country. Unions shut down and jobs eliminated. Women's rights abused. Votes suppressed. And the worst part is, Wisconsin is doomed forever.  Wait, that can't be right. There's hope! On our show today, meet two activists who are fighting extremism and trying to stem the tide—Milwaukee's Biko Baker, ED of the League of Young Voters, who tells tales from the front lines fighting GOP voter suppression, and Madison oncology nurse Anica Bausch, whose silent, nondisruptive act of dissent as the State Assembly passed an extreme anti-abortion bill led to a visit by four looming security officers. What the Wisconsin GOP is doing is ugly. But as long as citizens are ready to fight back, nothing lasts forever. Wisconsin's long political winter isn't just about Wisconsin. It's about all of us. And together, we'll make sure that spring comes once again.

The NSA vs the ACLU: one side knows everything. The other has read the Constitution very carefully. Winner gets bragging rights. And shapes the course of history. On today's show, we'll talk to two of America's foremost experts and advocates about liberty, privacy, and digital security—and the explosive new revelations of omnipresent domestic and global surveillance by the National Security Agency. First, Ben Wizener of the ACLU will tell us about the American Civil Liberty Union's new case: a lawsuit demanding that the Obama administration bring its surveillance activities in line with the law and the US Constitution. And then we go to Margot Kaminski of Yale Law School, who expands the fight from the courts to the halls of Congress and corporate America—and explains exactly how you can help.

Want to win an election? The formula's supposed to be simple: raise a ton of money, buy a ton of TV ads, stir in a little get-out-the-vote action, book your tickets to DC. Except: that's not what the research says.A wave of political science studies have upended the conventional wisdom about what counts in politics, and suggested a very different way to win elections. And on this episode of The Flaming Sword of Justice, our guest—Becky Bond of CREDO—tells the story of how she put that research into action. While billionaires bankrolled a tidal wave of TV ads in the 2012 election cycle, her team targeted ten terrible Tea Party Republicans with the tactics suggested by scientific experiments. What they did, and what happened as a result, will give you hope for the future of American politics.

On March 25, a clothing factory caught fire. Workers ried to escape, but they found the doors locked—and 146 of them died. Sounds like Bangladesh. But this happened in New York City. In 1911. What happened after that has been written in a thousand history books: a national outcry; new legislation protecting workers' rights; and a wave of union organizing that helped transform the lives of workers in this country. Fast forward a century, loop around to the other side of the globe, and you'll find almost exactly the same story—fire, locked doors, death—in Bangladesh last year. But then it got worse: the factory collapse this April, a disaster far far deadlier than either fire. A gruesome story. But maybe, just maybe, another turning point. Maybe you've noticed: in recent weeks, under massive public pressure, more than three dozen huge clothing companies have joined a legally binding agreement for radically improved worker safety protections. On this show, we talk to three people in the heart of that fight: a California fashion industry veteran; a Bangladeshi woman who started working in a clothing factory at age 12, became a union organizer by 16, and now is leading the global fight for worker's rights there; and an international worker's rights campaigner who is helping rack up the victories. Through their stories, you'll get a taste of a life and death struggle—and, amidst tragedy, a rising tide of hope.

When a government is doing wrong by its citizens, it never knows in advance the moment that will prove to be the last straw. Sometimes, it's a new tax on stamps on the colonies in North America.  Sometimes, it's the harrassment of a fruit vendor on a Tunisian street.  And sometimes it's the arrival of bulldozers to rip out hundred-year-old trees in a Turkish park, and build yet another shopping mall in its place.  You never know the last straw in advance. But once it's happened, there's no going back.  On today's show, we land in the streets of Istanbul, Turkey, scene of a historic uprising—a people's revolt that began in Gezi Park and has engulfed the nation.  Our first guest, Yigit Aksakoglu, speaks to us live from Gezi Park and tells us how it felt to be a part of the resistance.Second, Defne Suman, whose blog post What is Happening in Istanbul? brought the protests to a worldwide audience, talks about the affect the protests are having in Turkey and their affect on participatory democracy there.Third, we're joined by an anonymous activist who was one of the first hundred people on the ground in Gezi Park, before the bulldozers came. She describes what it felt like to be a part of the protests in those first few days and what the protestors want to have change.Finally we talk to Omer Madra, a lifelong activist and radio host, who brings us his ears and his eyes, but more importantly, his insight: the inside story of the years-long leadup that made this moment so explosive.  The arc of a fiery Turkish scimitar is short, and it bends towards justice—right here, in a dispatch from the heart of the revolution.

Imagine paying $3000 to visit America through a cultural exchange/guest-worker program--and then being forced to live on a cot in a packed basement room, abused at work, and threatened with expulsion if you called out your boss... who owns both the McDonald's where you work and the basement where you live. He can get you kicked out of the country with a single phone call. Do you try to bear it? Or do you fight back? Today's guests took the latter option--with some help from labor organizing pioneer Jess Kutch and her new organization, Coworker.org. Four guests, outrageous injustice, and a very satisfying ending... all on today's Flaming Sword of Justice.

When the AP announced this week that it would stop using the phrase "illegal immigrant," American media (and Americans in general) took notice. But in all the many, many news accounts of the AP's decision, few reporters acknowledged the highly coordinated, strategic, and empathic campaign that made it happen—a campaign that built on work by leaders and citizens in social movements dating back decades. Our guest, Monica Novoa, the coordinator (and sole full-time employee) of the "Drop the I Word" campaign, was at the heart of making it happen—and in this episode, she tells her story, and the story of this movement, like you've never heard it before. You'll laugh, sing, cry, and cheer. Tune in and spread the word!

Gaby Pacheco arrived in the US at age 8, and thrived here. It wasn't until middle school, when her sisters were rejected from college because they lacked immigration papers, that she found out she wasn't a citizen. But in the years to come, instead of hiding the truth, she did something unusual: she decided to speak out.Her activism earned her the ire of immigration authorities, who rounded up her family and demanded that she stay quiet if she wanted to prevent their deportation. But she fought back, waging a years-long battle for change. On January 1, 2010, she began a journey that would take her to the national stage: she and three friends began a 1500-mile journey, on foot, that soon made national headlines as the "Trail of Dreams." By the time they reached Washington, DC that May, they had faced down the Ku Klux Klan and built a 30,000-strong petition for reform. Months later, one of them met with Obama to discuss immigration reform--and, just last week, Gaby Pacheco was the one undocumented immigrant to testify for immigration reform at the United States Senate.To hear Gaby tell her extraordinary story of courage, resilience, and hope is to realize that the xenophobes are outmatched, whether they're in Klan robes or pinstripes. Tune in!

For years—for decades—the Boy Scouts didn't just discriminate. They insisted on discriminating. They forced local troops to throw out gay scouts. They won a Supreme Court case to defend their right to discriminate. They told the press, over and over, that nothing was going to change.And then, suddenly, something changed. This is how that happened. This is the story of how an Ohio mom, a Iowa Eagle Scout, and a gay teenager in California sparked a nationwide movement that ended one of the most hotly-defended policies of discrimination in America. This is the story of how their voices inspired millions to join the cause—to sign petitions and make phone calls, to march and lobby and send in their merit badges in protest. How they fought, and fought, and refused to give up. In this episode of the Flaming Sword of Justice, we interview Mike Jones, the behind-the-scenes campaign director at Change.org who worked with the public heroes of this campaign to win a change that many had dismissed as an impossibility. And then we talk to Jennifer Tyrrell, the mom whose petition sparked the wildfire—reaching her by phone the day after the vote to allow gay scouts. (The fight now continues to end the ban on gay leaders.) This is the first time anywhere that you can hear the whole story, from the inside, of how it all unfolded. It's inspiring, and it's more than that: it's a case study of how to beat the odds, from the bottom up. Below: see photos of our guest, Mike Jones, and the heroes of the story; and a timeline of the scouts campaign.

On the wall of my high school theater classroom, at Madison West High, my wonderful teacher posted a bumper sticker bearing a famous and accurate quote: "Feminism is the radical idea that women are people."  Today's immigrant rights movement is premised on a similar, and similarly radical, idea: the notion immigrants are people too.  And on today's show, we'll explore an idea more radical still—an idea grounded in demographic fact: half the time, the people who are immigrants...  are also people who are women. So, immigration reform? It's a feminist issue. On today's show, we talk to the co-chairs of the We Belong Together campaign: two nationally acclaimed advocates—one best known for her work for immigrant rights, the other best known as a feminist activist. They've already won some crucial victories on amendments in the immigration reform bill, and they've got some amazing things in store.Think you can support justice for immigrants without being a feminist? Think you can be a feminist without supporting immigration reform? Listen to this podcast.

At some point, you go from taking care of your kids and grandkids... to needing someone to take care of you.  That's hard. And it can be hard on the grown-up kids who are trying to juggle their parents the the children of their own. It's one of the hardest personal issues that families face.  But think about it for a second: if every family has to deal with it, why is this just a personal issue?  On today's show, we talk to Ai-Jen Poo, co-founder of the Caring Across Generations campaign, who realized that this is one of the fundamental questions facing the country as a whole—especially now, when another American turns 65 every 8 seconds.  You'd think that an aging population is a problem to be solved. But in this interview, Ai-Jen lays out a breathtaking vision for how the so-called "silver tsunami" is actually an opportunity: how tackling it can bring together solutions not only for the aging of the baby boom generation, but also for immigration, the economy, women's rights, worker's rights, and even climate change. And it's bigger than even that: this is a moment that calls on us to remake our institutions, and our own actions and beliefs, in accord with our most fundamental value: love. 

It's a doctor's worst nightmare. You arrive at the hospital--and the hospital has collapsed. In the rubble, a thousand people are near death. You have no medicine. You have no equipment. You've never been in a situation like this before. And yet: you have to act.  Three years ago, that's what Dr. David Walton found when he arrived at what had once been the biggest hospital in Haiti, 48 hours after the earthquake.  From the US, it's easy to forget that the deadliest disaster of the 21st century occurred just a two-hour flight away from the United States. And it's easier still to think that so many people died because of a "natural disaster." But as Dr. Walton makes clear in this unforgettable, searing, and ultimately hopeful interview, the deadliness of disasters is something that we, as human beings, can do something about.  And here's some evidence for his case: In the next few weeks, the inpatient clinic will open at a state-of-the art teaching hospital: a hospital powered entirely by solar energy, with its own eco-friendly water treatment system and a groundbreaking new system to support decentralized medical care. In the middle of rural Haiti. The story of Mirebalais Hospital is a story of hope rising out of tragedy. Dr. Walton over oversaw the hospital's construction. And when you hear his story, you'll never think about poverty, health, Haiti, medicine in the same way. 

If troops from another country invaded American military bases and sexually assaulted tens of thousands of american service men and women, our response would be instant, all-out war.  But when sexual predators and abuswrs within America's own military done exactly the same thing, the response - for years - has been to pretend that nothing was happening.  But now—thankfully—finally - that's starting to change.  Our guest today survived sexual trauma as a young sailor in the US Navy. And by telling her story, and joining with others to do so, she has awakened the conscience and outrage of a nation.  Now, she's taking her case to Congress--and America's elected leaders are rushing to respond.  Today's show is intense. But stay with us and you'll hear a story of hope.

You want a job in America so you can support your family. They say that, for a fee, they can help you do everything by the books--you'll get a good wage, overtime, and a green card. You only make $10 a day, but somehow, borrowing from friends and family, you scrape together $4000. And then you enter a nightmare. On today's show, we talk to Annabelle Sibayan--a survivor of labor trafficking who tells her story, a story that shouldn't happen to anyone. And we talk Candice Sering of FiRE (Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment), an artist working with Annabelle and other survivors to craft a powerful play, opening this weekend in New York, that tells four women's stories of struggle and resilience in the face of this modern-day American bondage. Plus: the very first Magic MoveOn Moment of Movement Momentousness.