Best Isiah Rodriguez Podcasts (2024)

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Ep. 108 - Whiskey & Watching: "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" (2022) ft. Alderpersons Rossana Rodriguez & Jessie Fuentes 1:47:54

12d ago1:47:54

1:47:54

BrownTown takes on “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (2022) with Alderhomies Rossana Rodriguez (33rd) and Jessie Fuentes (26th) in the first for Whiskey & Watching installment of 2024! BrownTown and the return guests breakdown the film and its predecessor’s social impact and commentary on imperialism, geo-politics, science and spirituality, diaspori…

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Ep. 107 - Creative Jobs, Life Balance, & Working towards a Liberatory Future within Capitalism 3.0 1:10:10

2M ago1:10:10

1:10:10

BrownTown on BrownTown. Once again, our comrades build on previous discussions from 2019 (Ep. 39) and 2020 (Ep. 59) on the interrelationship between working within and outside of the movement media landscape while balancing a healthy personal life, financial well-being, and everything in between. The duo situate what recent growth means for SoapBox…

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Ep. 106 - Independent Media Creation in the Age of Spin (& Memes) 2.0 ft. Camila Cuevas 1:13:18

2M ago1:13:18

1:13:18

BrownTown talks memes, mass mobilization, and more with Camila Cuevas (AKA @ComradeCami), Chilena expat living in Florida, USA. She uplifts liberation struggles and provides social movement resources through memes and social media via what she calls "thirst-trapping the masses into class consciousness." The team dissects our current moment in the s…

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Ep. 105 - Bring Chicago Home ft. Dixon Romeo 1:22:23

4M ago1:22:23

1:22:23

BrownTown chops it up with Dixon Romeo, Executive Director of NotMeWe and organizer with the Bring Chicago Home campaign. On March 19th, 2024, Chicago voters have the opportunity in the state primary elections to restructure the already existing, one-time Real Estate Transfer Tax (RETT) "on properties when they are sold to create a substantial and …

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Ep. 104 - Voter Guides, Electoralism, & the 2024 Cook County Primaries ft. Stephanie Skora & Raeghn Draper 1:54:50

5M ago1:54:50

1:54:50

BrownTown sits down with co-authors of the "Girl, I Guess" Progressive Voter Guide, three-peat guest Stephanie Skora and newcomer Raeghn Draper to talk all things 2024 Cook County Democratic Primary Elections. From ethics and attitudes in long-form opinion journalism to new endorsement standards surrounding Palestinian liberation, the gang situates…

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Ep. 103 - New Years 2024: A Retrospective ft. Kiera Battles 1:15:33

6M ago1:15:33

1:15:33

BrownTown on BrownTown. BnB audio engineer Kiera Battles is back with her behind-the-scenes insights on the podcast as the team discusses the episodes of 2023. Last year brought the continuation of the Whiskey and Watching series, a host of episodes surrounding the 2023 Chicago Municipal Elections, a resurgent discussion of #NoCopAcademy in the mid…

1
Ep. 102 - Palestinian Liberation in This Moment ft. Muhammad Sankari 1:29:17

7M ago1:29:17

1:29:17

BrownTown invites Muhammad Sankari from the US Palestinian Community Network (USPCN) to discuss this current moment in the struggle to Free Palestine. The gang frames Israel's genocide in Gaza and assault on the other territories in historical context with regards to the long history of resistance struggles across the globe. #FreePalestine. Origina…

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Ep. 101 - Hood Empathy & The Chicago Creative Wave ft. Isiah "ThoughtPoet" Veney 1:27:56

7M ago1:27:56

1:27:56

BrownTown shares space with frequent collaborator, Isiah “ThoughtPoet” Veney, photographer, A&R, organizer, and overall creative from Chicago's South Side. ThoughtPoet and BrownTown unpack the Afro-futuristic and "hood empathetic" themes of his photography work, his and SoapBox's collaboration in the "One Million Experiments" film, lessons from the…

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Ep. 100 - It's a BnB Celebration! ft. Samantha Grund-Wickramasekera & Camille Williams 1:44:53

7M ago1:44:53

1:44:53

BrownTown on BrownTown. Join Caullen and David as they celebrate BnB's 100th episode with guest hosts and homies Samantha Grund-Wickramasekera and Camille Williams. Sam is a long-time listener and SoapBox board member while Camille was one of the first podcast guests. As collaborators and friends of BrownTown, they have seen the podcast and SoapBox…

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Ep. 99 - Whiskey & Watching: "I Like It Like That" (1994) ft. Ricardo Gamboa & Mia Carbajal 1:42:14

8M ago1:42:14

1:42:14

BrownTown again chops it up with the Hoodoisie fam, co-host Ricardo Gamboa and Executive Director Mia Carbajal for "Whiskey & Watching." The team deconstructs the darling 90's comedy-drama "I Like It Like That" (1994), the first large studio film directed by a Black woman. The film centers around an Afro-Latina woman in the Bronx whose life is turn…

1
BONUS - #NoCopTOBER ft. Freedom X 27:16

9M ago27:16

27:16

BrownTown shares space with Chicago Southsider and former #NoCopAcademy organizer Freedom X as they reminisce about the height of the campaign and discuss what the new feature documentary means to them in this moment. Come see the film this #NoCopTOBER and be on the lookout for future screenings at Linktr.ee/NoCopAcademy and SoapBoxPO.com/NoCopAcad…

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Ep. 98 - Coalition-building & Water Solidarity ft. Avalon Betts-Gatson & Tommy Hagan 1:52:01

9M ago1:52:01

1:52:01

BrownTown talks water access, water solidarity, and abolition as presence with Avalon Betts-Gatson and Tommy Hagan, organizers with the Coalition to Decarcerate Illinois (CDI). From indigenous land back struggles to fighting for clean drinking water for incarcerated peoples, water is the most basic human right. The gang gets meta discussing organiz…

1
BONUS - Help This Garden Grow, Episode 1 43:27

10M ago43:27

43:27

BrownTown is delighted to -- for the first time -- share a new series from our movement media fam over at AirGo. Help This Garden Grow is a new six-part podcast documentary series telling the story of Hazel Johnson, a visionary of the Environmental Justice movement and a resident of the Altgeld Gardens community on the far South Side of Chicago. Ha…

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Ep. 97 - Progressive Latinas in the New Chicago City Council ft. Alderpersons Rossana Rodriguez & Jessie Fuentes 1:13:07

11M ago1:13:07

1:13:07

BrownTown chops it up with Alderhomies Rossana Rodriguez (33rd) and Jessie Fuentes (26th) in the inaugural recording within the Harambe Studios at the SoapBox office. Chicago City Council is now the most Black and Latine, the most queer, the most politically left, and with the most female leaders in the city's history (and in some cases, currently …

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Ep. 96 - Advertising in the Activist Resurgence (& So-called "Wokeism") 3.0 ft. Justin Stillmaker 1:34:11

11M ago1:34:11

1:34:11

BrownTown sits down with the original "Ad Man" Justin Stillmaker to reflect on the role of advertising as propaganda, its attempts to co-opt social movement language and optics throughout the past half decade, and the odd trajectory of the term "woke" (and the right-wing obsession with hating it). Now in 2023, with unapologetic anti-LGBTQ+, anti-Bl…

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Ep. 95 - Home 1:18:32

12M ago1:18:32

1:18:32

BrownTown on BrownTown. As SoapBox (the film and movement media hub that powers Bourbon 'n BrownTown) moves into its first-ever office, Caullen and David discuss their journeys finding and curating spaces to call home, personally and professionally. BrownTown affirms housing as a human right while examining Chicago and America's dialectical relatio…

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Ep. 94 - Police Abolition 2.0 ft. District Councilors David Orlikoff & Ashley Vargas 1:27:48

1y ago1:27:48

1:27:48

BrownTown breaks down the relationship between police abolition and state-sanctioned police accountability measures with newly elected Police District Councilors David Orlikoff and Ashley Vargas. The guests square their PIC abolitionist organizing roots with the new accountability structure, Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability…

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Ep. 93 - Coalition-building, Growing Solidarity, & #StopCopCity ft. Chelle Sanders & Jasmine Burnett 1:23:40

1y ago1:23:40

1:23:40

BrownTown virtually visits Atlanta and chops it up with Chelle Sanders and Jasmine Burnett, organizers with #StopCopCity. Chicago’s #NoCopAcademy and Atlanta’s #StopCopCity movements are part of the same struggle: to end violent policing, protect the environment and defend Black and brown lives. As similar as they are, only years apart, they also b…

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Ep. 92 - Whiskey & Watching: "Everything Everywhere All At Once" (2022) ft. Ricardo Gamboa, Charles Preston, & Mia Carbajal 1:33:11

1y ago1:33:11

1:33:11

BrownTown shares space with the Hoodoisie hosts Ricardo Gamboa and Charles Preston and Executive Director Mia Carbajal in the return of "Whiskey & Watching." BrownTown and the Hoodoise deconstruct the Oscar Best Picture "Everything Everywhere All At Once" (2022): When an interdimensional rupture unravels reality, a middle-aged Chinese immigrant mus…

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Ep. 91 - Narratives in Media & Documenting Movements 2.0 ft. Morgan Elise Johnson 1:15:01

1y ago1:15:01

1:15:01

BrownTown reflects on the 2023 Chicago municipal elections and the importance of disrupting dominant media narratives with Morgan Elise Johnson, filmmaker, publisher, and co-creator of the TRiiBE, an award-winning digital publication and production company dedicated to reshaping the narrative of Black Chicago. Local, community, and especially radic…

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Ep. 90 - Electoral & Radical Politics 4.0 ft. Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez & Alderperson-elect Jessie Fuentes 1:23:31

1+ y ago1:23:31

1:23:31

BrownTown continues to dialogue about the relationship between electoral and radical politics with Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez and Alderperson-elect Jessie Fuentes. With the historic 2023 Chicago municipal elections in the rearview, the team situates what this never-before-seen cohort of socialist and progressive alderpeople and new mayor means in …

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Ep. 89 - The Politics of Dress, Pt. 2 ft. Hannah Linsky 1:35:47

1+ y ago1:35:47

1:35:47

BrownTown again invites Hannah Linsky (she/her), vintage stylist, seller, educator, and liver and breather of all things fashion to unpack the politics of dress. In part 2, the friends go macro and discuss fashion within current and historical social movements and its impact on policy and popular culture. From Scottish Resistance to the Black Panth…

1
Ep. 88 - New Years 2023: A Retrospective ft. Kiera Battles 1:25:03

1+ y ago1:25:03

1:25:03

BrownTown on BrownTown. Now-BnB audio engineer Kiera Battles makes her debut bringing in behind-the-scenes insights to the podcast as the gang unpacks the episodes, new series, and various recording environments that made up 2022. For better or worse, here's to 2023! With 11 total full episodes, this shortened year brought 8 guest episodes (3 repea…

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Ep. 87 - Democratizing Philosophy through Identity, Environment, & Ethical Food Pathways ft. Shanti Chu 1:14:27

1+ y ago1:14:27

1:14:27

BrownTown listens, learns, and discusses how to make philosophy more accessible, environmental justice through animal rights, and ethical food pathways with Shanti Chu, philosopher, writer, speaker, and creator of ChiVeg, a dynamic food blog that focuses on ethical eating with vegetarian recipes. The team explores the topics' connections to each ot…

1
Ep. 86 - W.O.R.K. in the Age of Spin 1:02:43

1+ y ago1:02:43

1:02:43

BrownTown chops it up about WORK. Building on previous episodes about labor, unions, and trying to do liberatory work within capitalism, BrownTown contextualizes recent inflation hikes, the state of "hustle culture," and the seven-decade growth of corporate profits on the backs of the working class. While the majority of adults WORK, the propaganda…

1
Ep. 85 - The Politics of Dress, Pt. 1 ft. Hannah Linsky 1:41:09

1+ y ago1:41:09

1:41:09

BrownTown invites Hannah Linsky (she/her), vintage stylist, seller, educator, and liver and breather of all things fashion to unpack the politics of dress. The friends use their experiences with clothing and fashion growing up to dissect the often overlooked yet important cultural artifact. As an everyday window into individual and collective belie…

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Ep. 84 - Whiskey & Watching: "Passing" (2021) ft. Sophie Elizabeth James & Pearl Quick 2:08:46

2y ago2:08:46

2:08:46

BrownTown again shares space with Sophie Elizabeth James, sociologist and Unpaid Emotional Labor podcast host, and Pearl Quick, farmer, pastor, and poet extraordinaire, in the sophomore episode of our recurring "Whiskey & Watching" series. BrownTown and guests deconstruct, recontextualize, and, dare we say, decolonize popular films, TV shows, books…

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Ep. 83 - “We Are More” Pt. 3: Re-entry, Combating the "Law & Order" Narrative, & the SAFE-T Act ft. Melvin Farley 1:06:26

2y ago1:06:26

1:06:26

BrownTown links up with Melvin Farley, formerly incarcerated friend of Illinois Prison Project. In Part Three of the "We Are More" series, BrownTown and Melvin discuss re-entering society after incarceration, combating the "law and order" narrative and resurgent fear-mongering politics tactics, as well as the much talked about Illinois SAFE-T Act t…

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Ep. 82 - “We Are More” Pt. 2: Transforming Systems & Community Organizing after Incarceration ft. Dyanna Winchester 1:13:55

2y ago1:13:55

1:13:55

BrownTown sits down with Dyanna Winchester, Decarceration Organizer with Live Free Illinois. In Part Two of the "We Are More" series, BrownTown and Dyanna discuss organizing against and within institutions to disrupt dangerous policy, addressing intracommunal violence with interpersonal relationships, supporting re-entry after being incarcerated, a…

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Ep. 81 - “We Are More” Pt. 1: Redefining False Narratives & Disrupting Trajectories of Women in Prison ft. Sandra Brown 1:07:29

2y ago1:07:29

1:07:29

BrownTown shares virtual space with Sandra Brown, formerly incarcerated survivor and current Senior Advisor and Visiting Scholar with the Women’s Justice Institute (WJI). In Part One of the "We Are More" series, BrownTown and Sandra discuss the four leading criminal legal system trends that have spurred the rise in women's mass incarceration and me…

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TRAILER - The "We Are More" Series 8:47

2y ago8:47

8:47

BrownTown brings you the "We Are More" campaign series! The podcast extension of SoapBox's micro-doc video series with the Illinois Prison Project centers the experiences of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people, and pushes back against fear-mongering “tough on crime” rhetoric and policies resurging in the 2022 election season. With the sup…

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Ep. 80 - Remapping, Electoralism, & Challenging the Border Myth ft. Stephanie Skora 1:40:41

2y ago1:40:41

1:40:41

BrownTown chops it up about electoral politics, the remap process post-2020 Census, borders and anti-Zionism, and much more with repeat guest (Ep. 60) Stephanie Skora, movement worker and creator of the popular "Girl, I Guess" Progressive Voter Guide. The gang again takes on the nuances of engaging in electoralism while holding radical politics and…

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Ep. 79 - Whiskey & Watching: "The Batman" (2022) ft. Sophie Elizabeth James & Pearl Quick 1:20:32

2y ago1:20:32

1:20:32

BrownTown is again joined by Sophie Elizabeth James, sociologist and Unpaid Emotional Labor podcast host, and Pearl Quick, farmer, pastor, and poet extraordinaire, in the inaugural episode of our recurring "Whiskey & Watching" series. BrownTown and guests deconstruct, recontextualize, and, dare we say, decolonize popular films, TV shows, books, and…

1
Ep. 78 - Black Farming & Finding Your Food Story ft. Pearl Quick 1:40:52

2y ago1:40:52

1:40:52

BrownTown breaks bread with long-time homie Pearl Quick, soil science educator, farmer, and pastor as they discuss the histories of Black, brown, and indigenous farming practices while navigating the relationship and resistance to oppressive institutions, and what it means to decolonize our food systems. Full transcription here! GUEST Hailing from …

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Ep. 77 - Independent Media Creation in the Age of Spin (& Capital) ft. Sophie Elizabeth James 1:40:21

2y ago1:40:21

1:40:21

BrownTown gets meta with return guest Sophie Elizabeth James, sociologist, program manager in the anti-human trafficking sector, and creator of the Unpaid Emotional Labor podcast. The team dissects our current independent media landscape and the digital and socio-political histories that make it up. While they center their own experience in making …

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Ep. 76 - Surveillance Capitalism & Abolitionist Tech, Pt. 2 ft. Alyxandra Goodwin 1:55:05

2+ y ago1:55:05

1:55:05

BrownTown spills even more the tea on in part two of the surveillance capitalism and abolitionist tech conversation with Alyx Goodwin, currently a Deputy Campaign Director on Policing and Incarceration at the Action Center on Race and the Economy (ACRE), organizes with BYP100 Chicago, and is a co-founder and writer with LEFT OUT Magazine. Alyx and …

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Ep. 76 - Surveillance Capitalism & Abolitionist Tech, Pt. 1 ft. Alyxandra Goodwin 1:37:27

3y ago1:37:27

1:37:27

BrownTown spills the tea on surveillance capitalism and talks abolitionist tech with Alyxandra Goodwin, who is recently organizing the #StopShotSpotter campaign in Chicago. In part one of this two-part episode, the gang unpack surveillance in various forms from policing to social media while unpacking the many intricacies and insidious ways it cont…

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Ep. 75 - Youth Radio: Inside & Out ft. Simone St. Pierre Nelson & Stories by Youth Incarcerated in Seattle 1:33:57

3y ago1:33:57

1:33:57

BrownTown and Simone discuss the power of youth radio in this episode that includes three (3) full audio stories produced by and featuring teens incarcerated in Seattle. In April 2021, Simone, David, and Caullen worked with the teens to create the featured stories in a two-day workshop with KUOW Radioactive Youth Media. They discuss the importance …

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BONUS - The Collective Freedom Project: Debrief 1:12:16

3y ago1:12:16

1:12:16

In the first recording since the Collective Freedom Project (CFP) series, Caullen and David debrief on the series' conversations, producing the project behind-the-scenes, as well as unpack previously unheard material. Caullen outlines the timeline of SoapBox's journey in the Collective Freedom Project and what it was like pitching the podcast serie…

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Ep. 74 - The Collective Freedom Project, Pt. 4: California & #Budget2SaveLives ft. Sandy Valenciano 1:27:25

3y ago1:27:25

1:27:25

BrownTown listens, learns, and breaks down California's state-wide efforts for a just budget, to resist immigrant detention, and advance alternatives to incarceration, especially on the onset of COVID-19 with Sandy Valenciano. Watch the micro-docs, listen to the series, and take action at CollectiveFreedomProject.org/Multimedia. Similar to Part Thr…

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Ep. 73 - The Collective Freedom Project, Pt. 3: Texas & #ShutDownHutto ft. Rebecca Sanchez & David Johnson 2:02:21

3y ago2:02:21

2:02:21

BrownTown links up with Rebecca Sanchez & David Johnson of Grassroots Leadership in Austin, Texas. In Part Three of the Collective Freedom Project series, they discuss the the socio-political climate in Austin, the #DefundAPD campaign(s); #ShutDownHutto and other campaigns to close or halt construction of new jails; and the intersections of technol…

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Ep. 72 - The Collective Freedom Project, Pt. 2: Atlanta & #CloseTheJailATL ft. Denise Ruben 1:08:09

3y ago1:08:09

1:08:09

BrownTown chops it up with Denise Ruben as they discuss the #CloseTheJailATL campaign and coalition. The Atlanta City Detention Center (ACDC) was built in preparation for the 1996 Summer Olympics as the "extra jail" in Atlanta and previously was divided into two sides — the "city side" and the ICE side. The campaign won legislation in May 2019 to c…

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Ep. 71 - The Collective Freedom Project, Pt. 1: Chicago & #EraseTheDatabase ft. Xanat Sobrevilla 1:10:20

3y ago1:10:20

1:10:20

BrownTown shares virtual space with Xanat Sobrevilla as they discuss the #EraseTheDatabase campaign to abolish and repair the harm done by the City's gang database as well as breakdown the broader connection between local police and ICE. BrownTown and Xanat set the stage for Chicago as a site with a longstanding tradition of coalition-building nodd…

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TRAILER - The Collective Freedom Project: A Four-Part Series 13:21

3y ago13:21

13:21

Caullen and David of BrownTown and organizers across the U.S. discuss fighting for a world away from police and ICE violence and towards a world with life-affirming institutions, respect for our natural environments, collective freedom and liberation. The nuanced conversations in the series allow for a more complex, dynamic, and frank digestion of …

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Ep. 70 - Narratives in Media & Documenting Movements ft. Mateo Zapata 1:46:39

3y ago1:46:39

1:46:39

BrownTown reflects on the turbulent events of March and April 2021 in Chicago within the context of the community-based media, truth in journalism, and participating in and documenting social movements with Mateo Zapata. Mateo shares his introduction into organizing for immigrants' rights in resistance to the Sensenbrenner bill in 2006 (1, 2). He a…

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Ep. 69 - Restorative Justice ft. Mashaun Ali Hendricks 1:36:04

3y ago1:36:04

1:36:04

BrownTown shares a virtual circle with Mashaun Ali Hendricks. Together, they listen, learn, share, and unpack restorative justice from its ancestral beginnings to its modern direct opposition the prison-industrial complex and everything in between. Restorative Justice (RJ) has gained in popularity over the decades. We know it to be not only a philo…

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Ep. 68 - Identity, Power, & the Invention of Race ft. CA Davis 1:47:50

3+ y ago1:47:50

1:47:50

BrownTown listens, learns, and breaks down the myths and histories of racial identity with CA Davis, filmmaker, digital storyteller, and creator of a LATTO Thought -- an immersive audio documentary that dismantles post-racial myths about mixed race identities. CA begins this special conversation outlining how he came to create a LATTO Thought and c…

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Ep. 67 - #DefundCPD, Responsive Institutions, & Turning Moments into Movements ft. Bettina Johnson 1:34:04

3+ y ago1:34:04

1:34:04

BrownTown invites Bettina Johnson to talk all things #DefundCPD campaign, nuances and strategies for abolitionist organizing, non-hierarchal structures, building responsive institutions, and training the newly politicized. The gang compares and contrasts their work and thoughts on abolition and broader "defund police" campaigns pre- and post-George…

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Ep. 66 - Advertising in the Activist Resurgence (& Post-George Floyd) 2.0 1:49:08

3+ y ago1:49:08

1:49:08

BrownTown reflects on advertising and internet-based media post-COVID lockdown, post-George Floyd uprisings, and post-2020 elections. Building on the first May 2019 installment, BrownTown updates their analysis on the ways in which corporate and independent media co-opt movements and historical events to help their bottom line, improve their public…

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Ep. 65 - Sex & Body Positivity ft. Christina Wilborn 1:24:14

3+ y ago1:24:14

1:24:14

BrownTown shares virtual space with Christina to discuss sex and body positivity. She opens up to BrownTown as they unpack power, social norms, and patriarchy regarding we construct, present, and navigate sex and our own bodies. Christina (AKA "C-Dub") centers her lived experience as well as her work co-creating Womxnvibe into the conversation as a…

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Isiah Rodriguez Podcasts

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