Shows
Get Me to the GrayThe Narrative TakeoverWhat happens when public narratives move faster than the systems meant to deliver justice?In this episode of Get Me to the Gray, Paula Lehman-Ewing sits down with filmmaker and commentator Sara Alessandrini to explore how media narratives shape public perception around political figures and social movements. Drawing on Alessandrini’s docuseries This Is What New Yorkers Say, the conversation examines the tension between due process and public accountability, the role of media in amplifying political narratives, and the challenges of navigating truth in an era of polarized storytelling.
2026-03-1034 minGet Me to the GrayIsrael and Palestine: Holding Two Truths at OnceImportant contextual note: This conversation was recorded before the escalation between Israel and Iran this weekend.I’m releasing it as scheduled because the issues we discuss — peace, security, and human dignity — are especially relevant in moments like this. As a narrative consulting agency, we believe that if we only talk about these questions when things are calm, we miss the moments when they matter most. What does peace require in a place shaped by generations of conflict?Paula speaks with peace studies scholar Raphael Cohen Almagor about the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, the condi...
2026-03-0344 minGet Me to the GrayReform Meets Reality: Inside the Limits of Progressive ProsecutionWhat happens when reform ideas collide with real institutions?In this episode, Paula speaks with Cristine Soto DeBerry, founder and executive director of the Prosecutors Alliance and former chief of staff to San Francisco district attorneys George Gascón and Chesa Boudin.Drawing on her experience inside one of the country’s most closely watched progressive prosecution offices, DeBerry describes the challenges of translating campaign promises into policy — and the institutional resistance that often follows.The conversation explores the tension between reform and public safety, the role of internal buy-in inside prosecutor’s offices...
2026-02-2440 minGet Me to the GrayGMG LIVE: Whistleblowers, Abolition, and the Gray Space BetweenRecorded LIVE at Tattered Cover Book Store, Paula Lehman-Ewing speaks with retired NYPD lieutenant, whistleblower, and author Edwin Raymond about the unresolved tension between inside and outside approaches to change in policing.Edwin joined the NYPD after experiencing police harassment as a teenager, determined to challenge discriminatory practices from within. He later became the highest-ranking whistleblower in NYPD history and the lead plaintiff in the federal lawsuit Raymond v. City of New York.Together, Paula and Edwin explore the difficult questions that sit between reform and abolition: Can a system built to resist accountability...
2026-02-1758 minGet Me to the GrayThe Elephant in the StudioWhat happens when a liberal and a conservative sit down — not to debate, but to think out loud together?In this episode of Get Me to the Gray, Paula Lehman-Ewing speaks with Josh Lewis, a CPA, government auditor, and conservative writer behind Saving Elephants, about a core political divide: whether the systems we’ve inherited are capable of correcting harm, or whether they were built to benefit some while excluding others — and therefore need to be reimagined.Paula approaches the conversation from the perspective that questions preserving institutions that have consistently failed marginalized communities. Josh argues...
2026-02-0333 minGet Me to the GrayThe Gray Between Punishment and PreventionWhat do we do when the stories we tell about violence stop helping us solve it?In this episode of Get Me to the Gray, Paula Lehman-Ewing sits down with criminologist David M. Kennedy to confront one of the most uncomfortable questions in public life: how do we reduce violence without falling into either punishment-for-punishment’s-sake or denial that harm is happening at all?The conversation unfolds inside a tension most people avoid. On one side is the instinct to respond to violence with overwhelming force. On the other is the belief that structural change al...
2026-01-2736 minGet Me to the GrayAnd You Thought You Lived in a Capitalist CountryThis episode is about getting to the heart of what capitalism and socialism mean and how no true example of either actually exists.In this episode of Get Me to the Gray, Paula Lehman-Ewing sits down with economist Doug Cardell for a candid, unscripted conversation that cuts through ideology and into reality. Together, they explore how capitalism and socialism are often treated as fixed, opposing systems—despite the fact that no true version of either exists in practice. What emerges is a conversation about power, implementation, and the gap between economic theory and lived experience.Ra...
2026-01-2030 minGet Me to the GrayGet Me to the Gray: Season 1 TrailerWelcome to Get Me to the Gray. This episode is the trailer.Hosted by journalist and author Paula Lehman-Ewing, the show creates space for conversations many of us avoid—across deep disagreement, uncertainty, and difference. This isn’t debate or performance, but dialogue that stays in the room when things get hard.Full episodes launch soon. Follow the show to be part of it from the beginning.
2025-12-1201 min