This week, Nora and Marcus take listeners on a wild ride through America’s collapsing systems, plus the unlikely origin story of this very podcast: part DIY zine, part serendipity, part awkward poetry class with an ex, and a Town Hall conversation that revealed GoFundMe has effectively become our national healthcare system… just with nicer branding. Along the way, they dig into Nora’s groundbreaking work on crowdfunding, showing how desperation got repackaged as an “internet take action button” while the real structural injustices stayed put. It’s a conversation about inequity, resilience, and why mutual aid might be the only antidote to living in the “meanwhile.” Sure, it’s a little enraging, BUT you’ll laugh through the fury (and yes, that counts as your cardio for the day).

Mentioned in the episode:

Marcus’s first article, featuring Nora | Nora & Marcus’s Town Hall Talk on YouTube | Heather Cox Richardson at Town Hall | Crowded Out | White women wasting ICE’s time | Our episode with Dean Spade

Support the pod:

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Read Nora and Marcus’s Books:

Crowded Out: The True Costs of Crowdfunding Healthcare | Readying to Rise 

Nora and Marcus’s work on the podcast is separate from their professional roles and does not represent the views of their employers. 

Music: No Tears for a Wolf · Ahamefule J. Oluo · Okanomodé. Used with permission.

Logo by Nikki Barron.

Transcripts are machine-generated and imperfect.

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