This season, we jump headlong into the murky waters of American democracy, swimming amongst stories with themes that look at the power that the littlest voices can have to enact the biggest of changes.

On today’s episode, We are Water Protectors. Written by Carole Lindstrom and illustrated by Michaela Goade, this 2020 title tells the story of a young Native American girl who exercises her First Amendment right to engage in peaceful protest. It connects the symbol of a black snake to a contemporary example of collective action–the 2016 Standing Rock Sioux Tribe protests against the Dakota Access Oil Pipeline. And it acts as a rallying cry for readers to protect our shared planet.

Sarah DeBacher is joined on this week’s program by fellow exercisers of free speech, Susan Larson, host of the podcast “The Reading Life”, children’s book author, Freddie Evans, and philosophy professor to the youngest among us, Thomas Warternberg.

We will also hear from 9-year-old Alex and his 7-year-old sister, Harper, who, along with their mother, are members of another indigenous tribe, the United Houma nation, and who welcomed us into their home to listen as they discussed the stunningly gorgeous, and important book, We Are Water Protectors.

It’s time to jump in, and go… beyond the bedtime story.