Shows
Craft of CampaignsSpecial Episode Part 1: James Mumm, Stephanie Luce, and Bill Fletcher on knowing your target, learning from successful failures, and building a united frontThis episode is part one of a two-part special episode. You can listen in any order. Unlike our standard episodes where we zoom in on one particular campaign, we’re zooming out around broader strategy themes. To help us zoom out, we invited five insightful thought leaders, who each recently wrote vital resources for campaign organizers, to talk with Andrew. In part one, we talk with three guests. First James Mumm grounds us in ‘what is organizing’ anyway, the importance of thinking like a target in power analysis, and why campaigns must contest for mainstream values...2025-07-0153 min
A Public AffairHow to be a Practical Radical with Stephanie Luce
On today’s show guest host David Aherns speaks with Stephanie Luce about her new book, co-written with Deepak Bhargava, Practical Radicals: Seven Strategies to Change the World. Luce describes organizing as an ecosystem of strategies instead of a zero sum game of winners and losers. She follows the example of past campaigns like the abolitionist movement and the Occupy movement. The book came out a class Luce and Bhargava teach to labor organizers across the country, and Luce says that protests need organization and that practicing collective care is a key part of good or...2025-01-2253 min
Practical Radicals13. Finale: What did we learn? Where do we go from here?In this, our final episode of the Practical Radicals Podcast, we hear from over a dozen progressive leaders, including several former students, and reflect with them about what we’ve learned since the book Practical Radicals came out last November and what we make of the path ahead — as the U.S. and the world face a daunting and overlapping set of crises.
We offer thoughts on the seven strategy models, looking at exciting developments in the field as well as areas that could improve. Base-building, in the form of community organizing, is in a lull. Sulma Aria...2024-07-231h 12Practical Radicals12. Learning from Opponents with Munira Lokhandwala of LittleSis.orgMost famous guides to strategy are written for overdogs. (Think of Machiavelli’s The Prince or Sun Tzu’s Art of War.) And overdogs today invest in strategic education at a scale that dwarfs anything on the left. Their commitment is captured in the slogan of the right-wing Leadership Institute, which has trained over 200,000 people: “You owe it to your philosophy to learn how to win.”
In researching Practical Radicals, Stephanie and Deepak found that overdogs rely mainly on three strategies to gain and keep power: 1) weakening underdogs’ sources of power; 2) employing what’s known in the...2024-07-0249 minPractical Radicals11. Abolitionism & the Seven Strategies with Manisha SinhaIn the struggle to abolish slavery — the social movement that arguably set the template for all that followed — organizers used all seven strategies we identify in Practical Radicals. According to our guest, historian Manisha Sinha, the abolitionists were “radical in their goals . . . but pragmatic in implementation” — the quintessential practical radicals. Stephanie and Deepak begin this episode by talking about the concepts of movement cycles and movement ecosystems and how conflict within movements can be generative. Then Stephanie and Professor Sinha explore some themes from Sinha’s award-winning 2016 book The Slave’s Cause: A History of Abolition. As Sinha explains, the convention...2024-06-1855 minPractical Radicals10. Collective Care in the AIDS Crisis with Tim SweeneyUnderdogs often respond to systemic oppression through collective care – acts of mutual aid and cooperation with the goal of meeting people’s basic survival needs when the state fails to do so. Some people feel collective care is just what we should do as decent human beings, but that it isn’t a strategy for systemic social change. Others are more critical, noting that collective care can turn people away from strategies to change systems through organizing and political action. But when we (Stephanie and Deepak) taught our graduate class on Power & Strategy, one of our students, Walter Barrientos, an exp...2024-06-041h 27Practical Radicals9. Momentum with Mae Boeve of 350.orgSometimes social movements can spread like wildfire. From the sit-ins of the Civil Rights movement to the sea change in support for marriage equality, from the divestment campaign to end apartheid in South Africa to the climate justice movement winning the largest climate bill in history (2022’s Inflation Reduction Act) — the strategy model known as Momentum has proven powerful time and time again. Although Momentum has helped movements succeed for centuries, the framework has gained increased attention in recent years as the internet has made it possible to organize action at a larger and larger scale. In 2014, a new insti...2024-05-2158 minPractical Radicals8. Inside-Outside Strategies with Felicia WongIn the right circumstances, progressive groups can work with progressive insiders in government to win big policy changes. In this episode, we consider “inside-outside campaigns,” including what makes them possible and some of the inevitable tensions that they create, for example about when and how to compromise when a coalition doesn’t have enough power to win all its demands. Stephanie and Deepak reflect on their own experiences with living wage campaigns and federal policy, including the campaign to pass the Affordable Care Act in the Obama years. Deepak then talks to Felicia Wong, who played a key role in mak...2024-05-071h 17Practical Radicals7. Electoral Change with Maurice MitchellEpisode 7: Electoral Strategies with Maurice Mitchell
Many progressives are cynical about electoral politics. But our guest today explains why engaging in electoral politics is crucial for building the kind of society we want. Maurice Mitchell is the National Director of the Working Families Party, a savvy, independent political organization that has given progressives greater voice and leverage in cities and states around the country, most notably by taking advantage of fusion voting. Maurice describes his own trajectory, from being a local organizer to a leader in the Movement for Black Lives, who ultimately came to see movements...2024-04-2356 minPractical Radicals6. Narrative Shift with Cristina Jimenez Moreta and Alan JenkinsIn the past two decades, progressives have gotten far more savvy at the strategy we call “narrative shift,” learning how to challenge the dominant story and change the common sense on key issues. For example, on same-sex marriage, activists drove a sea change in public sentiment — from 27% support in 1996 to 71% in 2023. And research shows that Occupy Wall Street, which some criticized as a “blip,” was, as one organizer put it, actually a “spark” that ignited mass movements for economic justice, from the Fight for $15 and a Union to the campaigns of Bernie Sanders, and changed how everyday people think about economic...2024-04-091h 26Practical Radicals5. Disruptive Movements with Frances Fox PivenIn this episode, we explore the strategy of disruption and talk with one of its leading theorists and practitioners, the legendary scholar and activist Frances Fox Piven. Stephanie and Deepak begin by distinguishing protest from disruption, two types of action that are often confused. They consider famous instances of disruption, like the mass actions on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation that blocked the Dakota Access Pipeline, and lesser-known ones, like the 1975 “Women’s Day Off” that helped win equal rights for women in Iceland. They also reflect on how overdogs use disruption, citing the “Brooks Brothers Riot,” a protest by GOP ope...2024-03-2645 minPractical Radicals4. Base-Building in Community Organizing with Make the Road NY’s José Lopez and Ángeles SolisIn the Spring of 2021, dozens of immigrant New Yorkers, mostly women, launched a hunger strike that lasted 23 days and was the climax of a campaign to win an unprecedented $2.1 billion relief package for workers who had been excluded from unemployment benefits, federal stimulus checks, and rent relief. At the time, many thought the campaign’s demands were out of reach, but as our guests Ángeles Solis and José Lopez of Make the Road New York explain, years of base-building made this seemingly impossible victory a reality — one that spawned similar demands in eleven other states. Founded in 1997, Make the Road N...2024-03-1255 minPractical Radicals3. Base Building in the Labor Movement with Greg Nammacher of SEIU Local 26To succeed, any social movement needs people power. And, as the great Ella Baker preached, that takes a lot of slow, respectful work to forge relationships — what she called “spadework.” Base-building is the first of the “seven strategies to change the world” that we elaborate on in our book Practical Radicals. And base-building is so important that all of the other six strategies depend on it. So we’ve decided to devote two episodes to the topic: one on unions and one on community organizing.
Today’s episode focuses on base-building in the labor movement, especially the thrilling upsur...2024-02-2753 min
Talk World RadioTalk World Radio: Stephanie Luce on Seven Strategies to Change the WorldThis week on Talk World Radio, we're talking about a new book called PRACTICAL RADICALS: SEVEN STRATEGIES TO CHANGE THE WORLD by Deepak Bhargava and our guest Stephanie Luce.2024-02-2629 min
KPFA - The Ralph Nader Radio HourPractical RadicalsRalph welcomes Professor Stephanie Luce of the City University of New York, who has co-authored Practical Radicals: Seven Strategies to Change the World. and together they outline the challenges and the strategies that face underdogs trying to change the system. Plus, our resident constitutional scholar, Bruce Fein, joins us to discuss the death of Russian dissident, Alexei Navalny.
Stephanie Luce is Professor of Labor Studies at the School of Labor and Urban Studies, and Professor of Sociology at the Graduate Center at City University of New York. Professor Luce is best known for her research on living w...2024-02-2659 min
Ralph Nader Radio HourPractical RadicalsRalph welcomes Professor Stephanie Luce of the City University of New York, who has co-authored “Practical Radicals: Seven Strategies to Change the World,” and together they outline the challenges and the strategies that face underdogs trying to change the system. Plus, our resident constitutional scholar, Bruce Fein, joins us to discuss the death of Russian dissident, Alexei Navalny.Stephanie Luce is Professor of Labor Studies at the School of Labor and Urban Studies, and Professor of Sociology at the Graduate Center at City University of New York. Professor Luce is best known for her research on l...2024-02-241h 05Practical Radicals2. What is Power? + Ilyse Hogue on right-wing strategiesThe Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King famously said, “Power without love is reckless and abusive, and . . . love without power is sentimental and anemic.” But many on the left seem allergic to power. This episode starts with a fundamental question: What is power?
Drawing on the influential sociologists Michael Mann and Erik Olin Wright, Stephanie and Deepak present a novel typology, identifying six forms of power and giving examples of each. Then we hear from a guest who has brilliantly analyzed right-wing strategies to build power over the past several decades: Ilyse Hogue, former president of NARAL Pro-C...2024-02-131h 03Practical Radicals1. What is Strategy? with Maria Poblet and Alex Hertel-FernandezProgressives need a strategy upgrade, and this episode points the way, first by delving into one of the greatest victories of the civil rights movement and the strategic masterstroke of Rev. Wyatt T. Walker. Next, we talk with Maria Poblet, Executive Director of the Grassroots Power Project, who argues that “the way strategy is being developed in progressive movements now in the United States is failing us.” She calls for progressives to build skill in what’s known as conjunctural analysis (pioneered by the great theorists Antonio Gramsci and Stuart Hall) and shares case studies of how it can lead t...2024-01-271h 02
Practical RadicalsPractical Radicals TrailerDeepak and Stephanie welcome listeners and give a preview of some organizers and thinkers who will appear in future episodes: Maurice Mitchell of the Working Families Party, longtime progressive activist Ilyse Hogue, legendary activist and scholar Frances Fox Piven, and historian Manisha Sinha.
You can buy the book and find out more about the show at www.practicalradicals.org2024-01-2304 min
Reinventing SolidarityEpisode 46 - "Practical Radicals: Seven Strategies to Change the World"In the work of creating a more just and sustainable world, which strategies hold the most promise for overcoming the enormous obstacles inherent in 21st century capitalism? A recent book, Practical Radicals: Seven Strategies to Change the World by Deepak Bhargava and Stephanie Luce, tackles this question head on. Based on interviews with leading activists, the authors draw vital lessons from organizations and movements – including the New Georgia Project, Make the Road, the Fight for 15, Occupy Wall Street, and the Gay Men's Health Crisis – that have achieved substantial victories. Here, we present the book’s authors in conversation with MacArthur fellow...2023-12-2840 min
The Great BattlefieldThe Authors of Practical Radicals, Stephanie and DeepakDeepak Bhargava and Stephanie Luce join The Great Battlefield podcast to talk about their recent book "Practical Radicals: Seven Strategies to Change the World".2023-12-1849 min
New Books in Politics and PolemicsDeepak Bhargava and Stephanie Luce, "Practical Radicals: Seven Strategies to Change the World" (The New Press, 2023)In the tradition of Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals and Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, Deepak Bhargava and Stephanie Luce’s Practical Radicals: Seven Strategies to Change the World (The New Press, 2023) offers winning strategies, history, and theory for a new generation of activists. Based on interviews with leading organizers, this groundbreaking book describes seven strategies to bring about transformative change. It incorporates stories of organizations and movements that have won, including Make the Road NY, the St. Paul Federation of Educators, the welfare rights movement, the Working Families Party, New Georgia Project, Occupy Wall Street, 350.org, the Fi...2023-12-0133 min
New Books in Public PolicyDeepak Bhargava and Stephanie Luce, "Practical Radicals: Seven Strategies to Change the World" (The New Press, 2023)In the tradition of Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals and Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, Deepak Bhargava and Stephanie Luce’s Practical Radicals: Seven Strategies to Change the World (The New Press, 2023) offers winning strategies, history, and theory for a new generation of activists. Based on interviews with leading organizers, this groundbreaking book describes seven strategies to bring about transformative change. It incorporates stories of organizations and movements that have won, including Make the Road NY, the St. Paul Federation of Educators, the welfare rights movement, the Working Families Party, New Georgia Project, Occupy Wall Street, 350.org, the Fi...2023-12-0133 min
New Books in Critical TheoryDeepak Bhargava and Stephanie Luce, "Practical Radicals: Seven Strategies to Change the World" (The New Press, 2023)In the tradition of Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals and Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, Deepak Bhargava and Stephanie Luce’s Practical Radicals: Seven Strategies to Change the World (The New Press, 2023) offers winning strategies, history, and theory for a new generation of activists. Based on interviews with leading organizers, this groundbreaking book describes seven strategies to bring about transformative change. It incorporates stories of organizations and movements that have won, including Make the Road NY, the St. Paul Federation of Educators, the welfare rights movement, the Working Families Party, New Georgia Project, Occupy Wall Street, 350.org, the Fi...2023-12-0133 min
The Ezra Klein ShowNow All Biden Has to Do Is Build ItIn the past few months, Joe Biden’s agenda has gone from a failed promise to real legislation.Taken together, the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act (along with the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act) have the potential to put America on a path to decarbonization, develop some of the most advanced and crucial supply chains in the world, and build all kinds of next-generation technologies. It’s hard to overstate just how transformative these plans could be if they are carried out in the right way.But that’s a big “if.” Because Biden’s le...2022-09-161h 09