Best David Shorr Podcasts (2024)

1
"There was nothing in the package of police reforms that had to with the reason Tyre Nichols was stopped." — Councilwoman Michalyn Easter-Thomas 50:24

5d ago50:24

50:24

After Tyre Nichols was killed by Memphis Police officers who had pulled him over for a trivial traffic infraction, City Councilwoman Michalyn Easter-Thomas "had never seen so many CNN cars and trucks and people in my life trying to see what was the next step for Memphis." With all that interest and scrutiny, colleagues on the Council assembled a pa…

1
"Community foundations have committed themselves to such broad missions, taking interest in government policy is necessary." — Stephen Saloom 52:46

28d ago52:46

52:46

One interesting angle on advocacy are the effort some people devote to prodding certain key players to get more involved. In sectors like philanthropy, there can be a reluctance because it seems too political. As founder of the Center for Community Foundation Policy Leadership, longtime criminal justice reform advocate Stephen Saloom has been focus…

1
"When key words mean the same thing to all of us, we’re more likely to have the desired impact." — Sarah Stachowiak 43:43

2M ago43:43

43:43

First episode back after a hiatus of several months, so I needed a great guest. Sarah Stachowiak is CEO of the Seattle-based evaluation consulting firm ORS Impact and has been an important role model for me and helped steer me toward becoming an evaluation consultant. Sarah's firm not only does great work for clients, but they provide vital thought…

1
The social worker's skill: "Creativity to innovatively pull resources together." — Sadie Bender Shorr 34:49

6M ago34:49

34:49

This episode is a special holiday edition featuring a conversation with my daughter when they were home for Thanksgiving. Sadie Bender Shorr is in the early phase of a career in social work, currently working in the University of Arizona's counseling center and planning to begin studies next fall for an MSW. Social workers talk about the micro and …

1
"A core part of the story of marriage equality is how people change their opinions." — Sasha Issenberg 59:31

6M ago59:31

59:31

This episode's guest is a journalist rather than an advocate, the author of one of the best books focused on advocacy work. Political reporter Sasha Issenberg's The Engagement tells the story of the 25-year fight for same-sex marriage, documenting the various efforts, strategies, course-adjustments, and outcomes from the perspectives of proponents …

1
"Confidence in elections means participation and every vote counting" — Yael Bromberg 49:56

7M ago49:56

49:56

Election law attorney Yael Bromberg is principal of her own firm and litigation practice. With a specialty in student voting rights, she serves as outside counsel to the Andrew Goodman Foundation—which works on college campuses around the country to promote student voting and is legacy of one of the activists murdered in Mississippi during Freedom …

1
"This is what it takes for policy change to be authentic to the impacted community" — Kathleen Sullivan 55:02

7M ago55:02

55:02

To mark the podcast being ten-episodes old, I invited close colleague and good friend Kathleen Sullivan of Fine Gauge Strategies to listen back to some of the most interesting points made by those first ten guests. Similar to the way she and I delve into our interviews for evaluation projects, I wanted to have Kathleen highlight the insights she gl…

1
"The most useful part of military thinking is the difference between a battle and the war." — Richard Healey 55:32

8M ago55:32

55:32

The podcast's tenth episode was a reunion with the former executive director of the group where I was an intern right after college. Richard Healey was executive director of not only the Coalition for a New Foreign and Military Policy but also the Institute for Policy Studies as well as founding director more recently of the Grassroots Power Projec…

1
"The nature of power is what's interesting to me." — Clarence Edwards 56:37

9M ago56:37

56:37

Clarence Edwards has worked on nearly every side of US foreign policy and politics—from presidential campaign finance to the State Department to the Council on Foreign Relations to lobbying Congress for groups like the Friends Campaign on National Legislation and Bono’s ONE campaign for global treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS. Clarence even wor…

1
"You want to mobilize something that outlasts. That's the ideal." — Eileen Hershenov 52:53

10M ago52:53

52:53

In our conversation, Eileen Hershenov of the Anti-Defamation League kept coming back to the theme of advocacy's broadest challenge: to keep progressing and sustaining change over the long haul. As Eileen explained, the only way to sustain progressive organizing is by getting people involved in the effort. Having activists and leaders who are commit…

1
Communities in Crisis: "Twenty years left, and we'd be shutting the whole thing down" — Terry Woodbury 53:49

10M ago53:49

53:49

When Terry Woodbury was fresh out of his masters program at Princeton Theological Seminary in the late-1960s, an internship with a wealthy Kansas congregation—essentially an experiment in changing local racial relations—sent him on a career path as a community organizer. Terry shares his story of facilitating dialogue between Black and White commun…

1
"The long-term aim can help unite and bring people around the table." — Sandra Ionno Butcher 54:23

11M ago54:23

54:23

Sandra Ionno Butcher has been chief executive of the National Organisation for FASD for six and a half years—and active in efforts on behalf of the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder for nearly a decade—after spending the bulk of her career advocating for nuclear disarmament. With Sandy having lived as an American in the United Kingdom for even longer…

1
"Flexibility and opportunism in advocacy is a value." — Gawain Kripke 52:44

11M ago52:44

52:44

Prior to launching his consulting firm Double Dogwood, Gawain Kripke spent the bulk of his career with Oxfam America, most of that time as policy director responsible for the organization’s advocacy efforts. That role put Gawain in many different advocacy contexts, including lobbying Congress for measures to help reduce global poverty. As we discus…

1
"You have to speak in the language that the audience hears." — Adotei Akwei 57:43

12M ago57:43

57:43

Adotei Akwei is a seasoned and accomplished advocate who has worked for the American Committee on Africa, Human Rights First, CARE USA, and spent over 25 years with Amnesty International USA. Currently he is Amnesty's Chief Membership Collaborations Officer. That role with the organization represents a shift—one he sought out—toward movement- / pow…

1
"My job is to build and maintain relationships." — Bob Walsh 55:19

12M ago55:19

55:19

Recently retired teachers union leader Bob Walsh shared many useful insights from his career going all the way back to politics on the college campus where we both went. As a student government leader, Bob was the farthest thing from the Tracy Flick stereotype. He was set on making a positive difference from the outset and learned lessons that he d…

1
Racism in the Development Field: "Ten years ago, I would never have been able to be so vocal." — Angela Bruce-Raeburn 51:14

12M ago51:14

51:14

When George Floyd's horrific murder prompted a reckoning with the America's pervasive racism, a nagging concern had been on Angela Bruce-Raeburn's mind for at least a decade over the racism she saw in the global development field. As a Black American who migrated from Trinidad and Tobago as a child, Angela felt it was time to highlight the problem …

1
"Chutzpah and humility are the twin virtues of the work of making change." — Elisa Massimino 54:57

1y ago54:57

54:57

Elisa Massimino shared reflections from a distinguished career in human rights advocacy, including as CEO of one of the major organizations in the field, Human Rights First. Drawing from her 2020 Drinan Lecture on "Chutzpah and Humility: Twin Virtues for Changing the World" at Georgetown Law Center where Elisa teaches, she talked about the importan…

Podcasts Worth a Listen

David Shorr Podcasts

Podcasts Worth a Listen

1
The Battles We Pick

David Shorr

1
"There was nothing in the package of police reforms that had to with the reason Tyre Nichols was stopped." — Councilwoman Michalyn Easter-Thomas 50:24

1
"Community foundations have committed themselves to such broad missions, taking interest in government policy is necessary." — Stephen Saloom 52:46

1
"When key words mean the same thing to all of us, we’re more likely to have the desired impact." — Sarah Stachowiak 43:43

1
The social worker's skill: "Creativity to innovatively pull resources together." — Sadie Bender Shorr 34:49

1
"A core part of the story of marriage equality is how people change their opinions." — Sasha Issenberg 59:31

1
"Confidence in elections means participation and every vote counting" — Yael Bromberg 49:56

1
"This is what it takes for policy change to be authentic to the impacted community" — Kathleen Sullivan 55:02

1
"The most useful part of military thinking is the difference between a battle and the war." — Richard Healey 55:32

1
"The nature of power is what's interesting to me." — Clarence Edwards 56:37

1
"You want to mobilize something that outlasts. That's the ideal." — Eileen Hershenov 52:53

1
Communities in Crisis: "Twenty years left, and we'd be shutting the whole thing down" — Terry Woodbury 53:49

1
"The long-term aim can help unite and bring people around the table." — Sandra Ionno Butcher 54:23

1
"Flexibility and opportunism in advocacy is a value." — Gawain Kripke 52:44

1
"You have to speak in the language that the audience hears." — Adotei Akwei 57:43

1
"My job is to build and maintain relationships." — Bob Walsh 55:19

1
Racism in the Development Field: "Ten years ago, I would never have been able to be so vocal." — Angela Bruce-Raeburn 51:14

1
"Chutzpah and humility are the twin virtues of the work of making change." — Elisa Massimino 54:57

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