The Nation Podcasts

No one is comfortable with police surveillance in the US, which is why there’s a bipartisan backlash to Flock cameras. Jason Koebler joins Paris Marx to discuss the rise of Flock, how their cameras are being pitched by right-wing politicians and police agencies, and how they’re being used to stalk residents from coast to coast.Jason Koebler is a co-founder of 404 Media and co-host of the 404 Media Podcast.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Eleanor Janega and Luke Waters, co-hosts of the We’re Not So Different podcast and our collaborators on Welcome to the Crusades (Season 2 out now!) are on the show to help tell the story of Halloween. They explore Halloween's Christian (and possibly pagan) origins, medieval beliefs about death and purgatory, ghosts and the Protestant Reformation, the origins of costumes and jack-o'-lanterns, its commercialization and global spread, and the rise of sexy Halloween costumes.Don't forget to subscribe to ⁠Welcome to the Crusades: The Second Crusade⁠! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Trump's efforts to interfere with voting, and with certification of the results, have not been successful. Rick Hasen of the UCLA Law School says “We're doing well on election protection”: the courts have been strong, the blue states have been a bulwark, and—most important—early voting has been big. Rick is also director of the Safeguarding Democracy Project and editor of the Election Law Blog.Also: If the election goes roughly as the polls say it will, next Tuesday will mark the beginning of the end of the Trump era. Harold Meyerson comments, focusing on getting to 51 in the Senate—or, better yet, 52. Harold is editor-at-large of The American Prospect.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

We haven’t had any political candidates on Fighting Fascism yet. But we decided to make an exception for Jane Kim, who is running to be the next insurance commissioner of California. Part of that exception is because Jane is an old friend. But part of it is because the office she’s running for touches on such interesting and important issues. We don’t think often about insurance, particularly property and casualty insurance. But it’s the foundation for so much of our economic world. And right now it’s not working. Well, it’s actually working great for the massive corporations raking in billions in profits while denying and underpaying claims and saddling us with massive climate risks. But Jane believes a better way is possible. And we think you will, too, after listening to our conversation.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

“No one has a right to tell you how to organize, to free yourself, and to liberate yourself.”The fight over Cop City was never just about a police training center. In Atlanta, a multiracial, multigenerational movement brought together environmental justice, land conservation, police abolition, and grassroots organizing to challenge the destruction of a forest and expansion of police power.In this episode of A People’s Climate, Shilpi Chhotray talks with organizer Kamau Franklin about the strategies behind the Stop Cop City movement—and the lessons it offers for fights still to come. Although the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center was ultimately built, the movement showed how organizers can build power across ideologies, work through decentralized networks, shape the public narrative, and connect struggles that are often treated as separate.Franklin and Shilpi also discuss the criminalization of protesters, including the killing of forest defender Manuel “Tortuguita” Terán. They examine what it means to organize under state repression and ultimately, what the Stop Cop City movement can teach those fighting for justice.Key TopicsClimate & the forest: Why protecting Atlanta’s South River Forest was an environmental justice fightMovement tactics: The organizing strategies behind Stop Cop City, from town halls and petition drives to direct action, civil disobedience, and decentralized organizing.Defining violence: Why organizers challenged the idea that property destruction is equivalent to violence—and who gets to define legitimate protest.Organizing across differences: How a decentralized movement brought together people with different ideologies, tactics, and political traditions.The power of narrative: How organizers turned “Cop City” into a powerful frame and pushed back against efforts to portray protesters as outsiders or extremists.Criminalizing dissent: The killing of forest defender Manuel “Tortuguita” Terán and the sweeping RICO charges brought against protesters.Building power under repression: How movements can organize when the state is working to divide, intimidate, and silence them.Lessons for future fights: What Stop Cop City can teach organizers fighting for climate, racial, and environmental justice beyond Atlanta.ResourcesCommunity Movement BuildersNo Cop City, No Cop World: Lessons from the Movement Edited by Micah Herskind Mariah Parker, and Kamau Franklin CreditsPresented by Counterstream Media and The NationPowered by Wildseeds FundHost: Shilpi ChhotrayExecutive Producer: Mindy Ramaker Engineer: Ameeta GanatraProject Manager: Asia SimmsKamau Franklin Kamau Franklin (he/him) is the founder of Community Movement Builders. He’s been a dedicated community organizer for over thirty years. For 18 years, Kamau was a leading member of a national grassroots organization dedicated to the ideas of self-determination and the teachings of Malcolm X. He’s spearheaded organizing work in areas, including youth organizing, police misconduct, and developing sustainable urban communities. Kamau has coordinated community cop-watch programs, liberation schools for youth, electoral and policy campaigns, large-scale community gardens, organizing collectives and alternatives to incarceration programs. Kamau was an attorney for ten years in New York with his own practice in criminal, civil rights and transactional law. He now lives in Atlanta with his two children.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy