Madgecast S1E18 - Fight for the Future, Not Just Against the Donald

This week on the Madgecast we're talking about how fighting for the future might be more effective and fun than just fighting against the Donald, because fuck that guy.

• My primary text this week is Alex Steffen's talk entitled "The Heroic Future" -- you should take the time to watch it, it might be the best hour of your day
• And here's a timeline of what exactly needs to happen each decade in order for us to meet our Paris Accord agreements, which were mostly about keeping the temperature increase to only 2 degrees Celsius and here's the abstract of the Science paper it was based on
• The March for Science is happening all over the country April 22 -- I hope you will take part!

Don't forget to subscribe and leave a review on iTunes, and share this with your friends. Thanks as always for listening and sharing your thoughts with me. Xox, Madge

Madgecast S1E17 - We Won! Let Us Gloat, and Talk About How

This week the resistance won a historic battle, and this podcast is all about analyzing how that happened, and what we can learn from it:

• The Republican Party is nothing without a figure to focus their hate on. Republican Representative Tom Rooney from Florida came right out and said this in The Atlantic
• The GOP either lacks wonks, or won't listen to them, and so they created an absolutely terrible bill 
• Citizen action overwhelmed representatives on this bill -- 50 to 1 ratio of calls against and for
• The Art of the Deal LOLOLOLOLOLOL
• If people hate the AHCA, and aren't super fond of ACA, then why not try for something even better? We aren't going to be playing defense forever ...
• What Obama said is totally true: "Our Constitution is a remarkable, beautiful gift. But it’s really just a piece of parchment. It has no power on its own. We, the people, give it power — with our participation and the choices we make. Whether or not we stand up for our freedoms. Whether or not we respect and enforce the rule of law. America is no fragile thing. But the gains of our long journey to freedom are not assured."

I hope you let this wind fill your sails! Thanks for listening, as always, and don't forget to subscribe and leave a review on iTunes, and tell your friends. Let's spread the word about resistance, self-care, and leapfrogging over these retrograde pieces of shit into a future that works for everyone.

Madgecast S1E16 - How Do You Solve a Problem Like Rich White Dudes

This week on the Madgecast we talk about:

• Self care, and how we can break the cycle of activism, exhaustion, depression, and guilt.
• Need to relax? Try staring at the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Live Jellyfish Cam for a while, it might help
• How the outsize influence of rich white men on our culture is fucking us all and why they think their opinions about every single thing under the sun are the ones that matter
• What might be possible if we could spread the power around more proportionally? How might we be able to do that?

You can subscribe to the Madgecast and leave a review if you want, here on iTunes. Thanks as always for listening and let me know what you are thinking and how you are doing. Xox

Madgecast S1E15 - Down With Bullshit Made-Up Hierarchies

This week we talk about

• an ACLU Resistance Training I attended yesterday -- you can watch the broadcast hereand read more about their Freedom Cities project here
• the fact that protest not only impacts policy; it also shapes the narrative
• how much of our culture is built on bullshit made-up hierarchies, and how we can bring them down

You can subscribe to the podcast or leave a review here. If you want to talk to me, drop me a line at belesscrazy at gmail dot com, or leave a comment below. Thanks for listening, xox

Madgecast S1E14 - Who Runs the World? Hermione

This week we discuss

• Why we shouldn't fall for false equivalence arguments like "Angry protesters are just as bad as the things they are protesting" -- and how this kind of tone-policing dismisses important voices in our movement
• How enraging it is when less-informed men come at me with condescending arguments as though I just need to be educated and then I'll think the same way they do
• Why it behooves everyone to honor the words of the Hermione Grangers of the world

If you want to subscribe or leave a review, you can do that here. Thank you as always for listening, xo

Madgecast S1E13 - Unapologetically Intolerant Liberal Seeks Realists of Larger Reality

This week on the podcast I'm a little fired up

• about being asked to reach out to the moderate Trump voter (does this even exist pretty sure no)
• about being asked to be nice about ANY of this, because niceness and tolerance are irrelevant -- what we want is justice
• about what the fuck we are going to do with all these broken-brained people even after Trump crashes and burns
• about where we can possibly go from here? Real-life hero Ursula Le Guin has some ideas which she shares here. She says that we need to be realists of a larger reality, and that's the conversation I'm interested in having -- not soothing someone who's upset they can't enjoy Meryl Streep movies any more.

Subscribe and leave a review for the podcast here, and let me know what you're thinking about, my friends. Thanks as always for listening.

Madgecast S1E12 - The Donald Is America's Abusive Boyfriend

This week on the Madgecast we discuss

• The concept of a circle of care or concern, and how we can and must expand what we care about to include vulnerable people on both sides of the political spectrum
• How I found a bit of red state in me, with a friend's help
• How so many Trump voters are vulnerable to his manipulations and are basically in an abusive relationship, and how we can support them in leaving it
• An amazing article I forgot to mention on the podcast but you should totally read -- Intolerant Liberals -- all about the fallacy that liberalism is about tolerance. It's not. It's about justice.
• Beyonce's Grammy performance. WEEPING WITH JOY
• A Tribe Called Quest and Busta Rhymes showing up and standing up
• The amazing turn out at Jason Chaffetz's Town Hall Meeting. Do your job!
• Pro-Planned Parenthood rallies dwarf the Anti ones

Thanks for listening! Subscribe here and let me know what you're thinking about. Xox!

Madgecast S1E11 - We Will Not Go Away / Welcome to Your Every Day

This week's podcast has it all! There's a little bit of me talking a little bit about how the shit show that is America right now is triggering AF. And then there's an interview with my new pal Katie Farnan, one of the leaders of Indivisible Front Range Resistance, in which we discuss:

• the Indivisible principles and methodology
• the role of self-care in making the movement sustainable -- this is my favorite recent article about it
• one fundamental difference between left and right (it's not just that we are smart and they are dumb)
• Katie's inspiration recommendation: a video of singers flooding the Utah State Capitol building. GOOSEBUMPS!!

You can subscribe here, and thanks for listening / leaving me a review / dropping a line to say hi. Helpfulness is my goal here, so if there's anything I can help you with, please don't hesitate to holler at me <3

Madgecast S1E10 - Shit Is Complicated But Glossing Over It Isn't the Answer

This week we talk about a known bug in the human brain called the Fundamental Attribution error, and why insisting on ideological purity is a mistake. The answer to complexity isn't to shut it out or deny it; it's to develop our capacity for handling it:

• The Folly of Purity Politics is an interview with Alexis Shotwell, author of a new book called Against Purity. She argues that purity isn't an attainable goal for anyone, and our attention is better spent on trying to understand and navigate the real-world complexity around us (hat tip to Lisa Rokusek for sharing this)
• Ideological purity is verrrrrrrry close to fundamentalism, and here is an interview where Issac Asimov talks about the danger of it

As always, you can subscribe to the Madgecast here, and I would love to hear your thoughts in a comment below or via email at belesscrazy at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening, xox.

Madgecast S1E9 - White Women: Let's Love Solidarity More Than Our Privilege

Intersectionality: it's not just a fancy word made up by progressives to drive nice white women crazy. It describes the way that different forms of oppression intersect and can't really be divided in how they show up in the lives of individuals and groups.

• This is the video from Robin DiAngelo, coiner of the phrase White Fragility, showing us how racism underpins almost every aspect of our lives, even/especially if we are not aware of it. It's about an hour long, and it's worth every second of your time.
• Ta-Nehisi Coates on why the abolitionist and suffragists broke apart
• A superhelpful post I read on Luvvie Ajayi's Facebook page, written by Leah Roberts Peterson, on what do with the confusion and upset we will definitely feel as we learn to confront our own privilege
• Intersectionality primer: So You Wanna Be An Intersectional Feminist? Amazing resource here, check it out!

You can subscribe to the Madgecast here, and please feel free to drop me a line at belesscrazy at gmail dot com, or leave a comment below, to let me know what you are thinking about.

Madgecast S1E8 - Getting Around Big Daddy

This week, we talk about how conservatives are much better salespeople than liberals, and how we can change that:

• George Lakoff's essay on A Minority President: Why the Polls Failed and What the Majority Can Do
• Women's March on Washington Statement of Guiding Vision and Defining Principles

Thanks for listening! Would you consider leaving me a review on iTunes? I so appreciate your help getting the word out about the Madgecast and hope it's helpful to you. Holler at me and let me know what you think! Thanks xox

Madgecast S1E7 - How To Become An Activist

This week's podcast is about

• A simple 3-step process for becoming an activist, or re-engaging with activism
  • Step 1: Find a way in
  • Step 2: Show up
  • Step 3: Keep showing up
  • Why it's good to be a satisficer rather than a maximizer when looking for a way into activism
  • If you are looking for an organization you can vibe with, this Jezebel article lists a ton of activist groups and what they are working on.
  • Indivisible: A Practical Guide For Resisting A Terrible Person's Agenda

The important thing is to just get started.

Let me know what you are up to in the comments or via email (belesscrazy at gmail dot com). And if you want to subscribe, leave a rating, or write a review, you can do any of those here.

Thanks for listening, xox

Madgecast S1E6 - We're Our Only Hope

This week we discuss the radical value of simply taking care of other people.

• Sick Woman Theory -- this is an important read, especially if you, like me, have fallen into the trap of de-valuing the feminized work of care-taking
• The quote "Prettiness is not a rent you pay for occupying a space marked 'female'" comes from this article on Dress A Day
• Threshold Singers: This is the video that made me want to join them!

Madgecast S1E5 - Why Don't You Run For Office?

Show notes

• Alex Steffen's outstanding story on the Carbon Bubble: Trump, Putin and the Pipelines to Nowhere
• Indivisible: A Practical Guide to Resisting Donald Trump, all about how to work with and influence our legislators
• Introduction to Gerrymandering, with good reference links
• The GOP's Attack On Voting Rights Was the Most Under-Covered Story of 2016
• Are you Ready to Rumble Run?
• MJ's research on how diversity in decision-making leads to better decisions:
  • How Diversity Can Drive Innovation (Harvard Business Review)
  • How Diversity Makes Us Smarter (Scientific American)
  • We're Making the Wrong Case for Diversity in Silicon Valley (Harvard Business Review)
  • Raising the Bar (Podcast)

Subscribe to the Madgecast on iTunes here, and thanks as always for listening <3

Madgecast Episode S1E4 - Love Doesn't Just Win

On this week's podcast:

• An activist training I attended and what I learned from it
• Why we need to stop using cliches like "Love wins"
• The End of Protest by Micah White, one of the co-founders of Occupy Wall Street

Don't forget you can subscribe on iTunes here. You can also leave a rating and a review to help others find the podcast too.

Thanks for listening! Xox

Madgecast Episode S1E3 - Of Many Minds

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In which we discuss

• How weird it is to be perfectly happy and completely terrified at the same time
• Looking at some of the maps by which I navigate the world, and how they, and the ground they describe, are changing
• Trumpgrets, and how some of them are hard to enjoy
• This article informs some of my thoughts on building a politics of empathy this week: Please Stop Thinking You're Better Than Trump Supporters
• And -- A CHALLENGE! Find a community or activist meeting in your town this week and go to it! And let me know how it goes.

Thanks for listening <3

Madgecast Episode S1E2 - What Would Olamina Do?

In which I talk about

• How to process feeling like I NEED TO DO SOMETHING RIGHT NOW AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!
• Octavia Butler, brilliant author and apparent psychic (Parable of the Sower, Parable of the Talents)
• And why it's super important that we not abandon "identity politics" in an attempt to win more racist votes

Here's some links for you, too

• You can subscribe to my podcast via iTunes by clicking here
• The essay by Timothy Snyder that I discussed originally appeared on Facebook here and here's the same essay on a non-Facebook site
• Ijeoma Oluo's work is fantastic, on her site The Establishment, and on her Facebook live videos
• This post-election episodes of Another Round and Smartest Man in the World podcasts returned my life to me

Let me know what you think! Xox

Madgecast Episode S1E1 - Holding It Together

I started a podcast today, to get some thoughts out on how I'm holding it together in the space after this fucking bananas election. If you get a chance to listen, let me know what you think? Xox