Shows
Movement MemosHow We've Resisted ICE: Street Lessons From Chicago“The best way to respond to fear and intimidation tactics is to just show we're not afraid. We're going to keep showing up. We're going to keep speaking out,” says musician Jocelyn Walsh, who is facing federal charges for protesting ICE activity in Chicagoland. In this episode of “Movement Memos,” Walsh and Chicago organizers Gabe Gonzalez and Rey Wences talk with host Kelly Hayes about what activists have learned from months of raids, repression, and escalating authoritarian violence.
Music: Son Monarcas & Songs for Liberation
You can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources...
2025-12-111h 28
Movement MemosFascism at the Door, Neighbors in the Street: Abolition in Practice“We’re very aware that things are awful … That means that we’re alive, and that we want something different. That’s a really important starting point, is just to even have that kind of repulsion and to have that awful feeling about things,” says Tamara Nopper. “So, I want more of that energy, but I want more of that energy to be connected to some more skills.” In this episode, Tamara and Kelly discuss the urgency of political education in our current fascist climate, what people are learning in the streets, and the importance of counter-recruiting for movements against policing...
2025-11-271h 09
Movement MemosBurnout is Not Inevitable: Building Movements That Can Hold UsWhat happens when our movements start to run on empty? In this episode, Kelly talks with organizer and WildSeed Society strategist Aaron Goggans about trauma, dysregulation, burnout, and the myth that we can just push through. They discuss why nervous system regulation is a crucial part of political strategy, how neurodivergent organizers hold essential wisdom for this moment, and why rest, ritual, and mutual care must be built into our fight against fascism. Whether you’re feeling frozen, overwhelmed, or simply exhausted, this conversation offers clarity, compassion, and a reminder that we’re not alone — and we don’t have to e...
2025-11-131h 07
Movement MemosResisting ICE, Building Worlds: Care and Survival in Fascistic Times“It's all hands on deck and we have to fight. This is the only way,” says Leanne Betasamosake Simpson. In this episode, Leanne and Kelly discuss lessons from Leanne’s book Theory of Water: Nishnaabe Maps to the Times Ahead and the ongoing struggle against ICE in Chicago, where Kelly is involved in rapid response efforts.
Music: Son Monarcas and Leanne Betasamosake Simpson
You can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: truthout.org/series/movement-memos/
If you would like to support the show, you can do...
2025-10-301h 14
Movement MemosMaking Things Together: Zines, Strategy, and Survival“We can only be brave together,” says Mariame Kaba. In this episode, Kelly talks with Maraime and writer and organizer Red Schulte about political education, collective courage, and the mistakes we’ll make along the way.
Music: Son Monarcas & Sarah, the Illstrumentalist
You can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: truthout.org/series/movement-memos/
If you would like to support the show, you can donate here: bit.ly/TODonate
If you would like to receive Truthout's newsletter, please sign up: bit.ly/TOnewsletter
2025-10-161h 19
Movement MemosHolding the Line Through Tear Gas and Censorship"You're either on the side that is singing and showing up and holding other people, or you're on the side of the helicopters and the gas canisters and the guns,” says Eman Abdelhadi. In this episode, Eman, Maya Schenwar, and Kelly discuss immigration raids and the violent repression of protesters in Chicago, the administration’s war on free speech and the organized left, and lessons from the upcoming book, Read This When Things Fall Apart: Letters to Activists in Crisis.
You can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: truthout.org...
2025-10-021h 11
Movement MemosRaids, Retaliation, and Radical Solidarity in Chicago“History shows us that repression always breeds resistance. Fear can never kill solidarity," says Chicago organizer Miguel Alvelo Rivera. In this episode, Kelly uplifts the voices of activists and organizers across Chicago as the Trump administration's "Operation Midway Blitz" terrorizes communities across the Chicagoland area. Benji Hart, Stacy Davis Gates, Arti Walker-Peddakotla, Ric Wilson, and others discuss Trump's threats to send in the National Guard, ongoing ICE raids, and the solidarity we need to survive these times.
You can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: truthout.org/series/movement-memos/
If yo...
2025-09-181h 05
Movement MemosThe Trap of Law and Order Under Fascism“There's no rule of law that's going to get us out of where we are,” says author and organizer Andrea Ritchie. In this episode, Andrea and Kelly discuss the role of criminalization in authoritarian and fascist regimes, and why “we need more outlaws” and less fetishization of “law and order.”
You can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: truthout.org/series/movement-memos/
If you would like to support the show, you can donate here: bit.ly/TODonate
If you would like to receive Truthout's newsletter, please sign up: bit.ly/TOnew
2025-09-041h 08
Movement MemosResisting the Authoritarian City, Block by BlockWhat does gentrification have to do with authoritarianism? In this episode, Kelly talks with organizer and author Andrew Lee about how displacement, surveillance, and “quality of life” policing function as tools of social control—and why housing struggles are class struggles. “Anti-displacement fights are interesting,” Lee says, “because of the revolutionary implications of what’s really an incredibly modest demand.”
You can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: truthout.org/series/movement-memos/
If you would like to support the show, you can donate here: bit.ly/TODonate
If you would like t...
2025-08-211h 01
Movement MemosPublic Assemblies Strengthen Community Resistance to Rising Authoritarianism“The People's Movement Assembly process provides a unique opportunity for people to build a democracy that has yet to be born,” says Denzel Caldwell. In this episode, Kelly and Denzel discuss the power and potential of People’s Movement Assemblies, and how the practice of direct democracy can help us fight fascism.
Music: Son Monarcas and David Celeste
You can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: truthout.org/series/movement-memos/
If you would like to support the show, you can donate here: bit.ly/TODonate
If you wo...
2025-08-071h 00
Movement MemosTraitors to the Earth: Fascism, Christian Nationalism, and the Tech Elite“They understand that what they're doing is devastating, and they're doing it anyway,” says Astra Taylor. In this episode, Astra and Kelly unpack the apocalyptic politics of the right—and why we need “a movement that is attuned to the fact that the people we're up against are traitors to this planet, and its people, and the other species who we share the earth with.”
Music: Son Monarcas, Isobel O’Connor & David Celeste
You can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: truthout.org/series/movement-memos/
If you would...
2025-06-261h 09
Movement MemosThe Authoritarian Machine Is Growing — And It Won’t Stop at Immigrants“Fascism and authoritarianism are deployed through law enforcement,” says Silky Shah. In this episode, Silky and Kelly discuss immigration raids, rising authoritarianism, mass protest, innocence narratives, and what it means to organize effectively in this moment.
Music: Son Monarcas & David Celeste
You can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: truthout.org/series/movement-memos/
If you would like to support the show, you can donate here: bit.ly/TODonate
If you would like to receive Truthout's newsletter, please sign up: bit.ly/TOnewsletter
2025-06-121h 01
Movement MemosAwareness-Raising Protests Won’t Threaten the Richest, Most Well-Armed People on Earth“Making durable changes isn't always about the raw numbers,” says Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò. In this episode, Olúfẹ́mi and Kelly talk about protest, why large “awareness raising” events will not defeat Trump, and the kind of actions and formations we need in these times.
You can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: truthout.org/series/movement-memos/
If you would like to support the show, you can donate here: bit.ly/TODonate
If you would like to receive Truthout's newsletter, please sign up: bit.ly/TOnewsletter
2025-05-291h 10
Movement MemosWe Live in Fearful Times. Our Safety Comes Through Preparing Together.“Part of my work as a community safety and security practitioner is about offering tools for people to feel and move through fear so that we can continue to keep more of us in this fight,” says Che Johnson-Long. In this episode, Che and Kelly discuss safety planning and practical actions that individuals and organizations can take right now to create as much safety as possible in our lives and our movements.
You can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: truthout.org/series/movement-memos/
If you would like to support the...
2025-05-151h 04
Movement MemosHow to Fight Fascism in a Captured State"We need to think deeply about cultivating that mindset of collective survival, of needing to understand each other and work together, even if we don’t like each other, and would never actually choose each other, because this is the 'us' we’ve got in an us versus them situation," says Kelly Hayes. In this episode, Kelly and guest Shane Burley discuss the realities of organizing under a federal government that’s been captured by the far right.
Music: Son Monarcas and David Celeste
You can find a transcript and sh...
2025-05-011h 13
Movement MemosLet's Be Politically Promiscuous“Our movements are pretty much just made of our relationships — whether we can move together, coordinate, collaborate, figure out disagreements [and] stay loyal to each other when the repression comes down,” says Dean Spade. In this episode Dean and Kelly discuss the lessons of Dean's new book, Love in a F*cked-Up World: How to Build Relationships, Hook Up, and Raise Hell Together.Music: Son Monarcas, Pulsed & David CelesteYou can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: truthout.org/series/movement-memos/If you wo...
2025-04-0356 min
Movement MemosWe Must Burst Our Algorithmic Bubbles and Build Together Across Difference“We need each other, and interdependence is key to survival for human beings,” says Mariame organizer Kaba. In this episode, Mariame and Kelly talk about what their book Let This Radicalize You brings to this moment. They also discuss the fight for reproductive justice, the problem with schadenfreude, and the need to build collective courage.Music: Son Monarcas and PulsedYou can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: truthout.org/series/movement-memos/If you would like to support the show, you can dona...
2025-03-201h 13
Movement MemosFight Fear, Build Power: Community Defense Works“This kind of repression, part of its intention is to isolate people,” says organizer Nikki Marín Baena. In this episode, Kelly talks with Nikki about community defense organizing and how communities are fighting back against Trump’s mass deportation agenda.Music: Son Monarcas and Heath CantuYou can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: truthout.org/series/movement-memos/If you would like to support the show, you can donate here: bit.ly/TODonateIf you would like to receive Truthout's newsletter, please sign up: bit.ly/TOne...
2025-03-0649 min
Movement MemosLet’s Learn and Live Lessons in Collective Survival Together“We are really good at finding what's wrong with each other,” says author and podcaster Margaret Killjoy. “We really need to challenge ourselves to be ready to let people be better.” In this episode, Kelly and Margaret talk about preparedness, collective survival, and the organizing lessons we need in these times.Music: Son Monarcas, Curved Mirror, Pulsed, and David CelesteYou can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: truthout.org/series/movement-memos/If you would like to support the show, you can donate here: bit.ly/TODonateIf you...
2025-02-201h 11
Movement MemosWe Won't Take Risks Alone. Our Relationships Make a Better World Possible.“Our power comes from knowing who's around us, from trusting who's around us, and from strategizing with every lever that we have,” says tenant organizer and Abolish Rent co-author Tracy Rosenthal. In this episode, Rosenthal and their co-author Leonardo Vilchi talk with Kelly about what rent strikes and tenant unions can teach us about the work of collective survival in this moment.Music: Son Monarcas, Isobel O'Connor, and David CelesteYou can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: truthout.org/series/movement-memos/If you would like to support the...
2025-02-061h 02
Movement MemosHow Immigration Organizers Are Gearing Up for Another Trump Era“It’s inherently a racial justice and economic justice fight,” says Silky Shah, executive director of Detention Watch Network. In this episode, Kelly talks with Silky about the threats posed by the incoming Trump administration, how organizers are preparing to defend immigrant communities, and what actions we can take to prepare and respond.Music: Son Monarcas, Curved Mirror & David CelesteYou can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: truthout.org/series/movement-memos/If you would like to support the show, you can donate here: bit.ly/TODonateIf you...
2024-12-051h 04
Movement MemosWe Must Contest the Christian Right’s Agenda in Every Venue of Our Lives“Our enemies are waging a war, and to many of them, it’s a holy war,” says host Kelly Hayes. In this episode, Hayes and guest Talia Lavin discuss the emotional impacts of the presidential election, the expansive agenda of the Christian right, and how everyday people can resist what Lavin calls “our nation's precipitous slide into autocracy.”Music: Son Monarcas, David Celeste & Heath CantuYou can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: truthout.org/series/movement-memos/If you would like to support the show, you can donate here: bit...
2024-11-211h 18
Movement MemosTo Transform Our Trauma, We Must Nurture Movements for Change“We really have a big opportunity right now to decide, within traumatic conditions and circumstances, how we are going to show up, again and again, for ourselves and each other,” says Tanuja Jageranauth. In this episode of “Movement Memos,” host Kelly Hayes talks with radical therapist Dorian Ortega and Healing Justice practitioners Tanuja Jagernauth and Chiara Galimberti about trauma, and some of the tools and practices that can help us heal.Music: Son Monarcas, David Celeste & Peter SandbergYou can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: truthout.org/series/movement-memos/If...
2024-11-061h 22
Movement MemosFrom the Ashes: How Grief Shapes Our Struggles“The capitalist system also doesn't care if we die. So insisting on the value of human life, insisting on grieving, particularly grieving publicly and collectively, is a real statement against this entire death-making system,” says author Sarah Jaffe. In this episode, Kelly talks with Sarah about the lessons of Sarah’s latest book, From the Ashes: Grief and Revolution in a World on Fire. Music: Son Monarcas, David Celeste & Peter SandbergYou can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: truthout.org/series/movement-memos/If you would like to suppor...
2024-10-241h 03
Movement MemosKeeping Each Other Alive: Mental Health and Collective Survival“I've seen a lot of people lashing out at people horizontally, and my gut sense is that sometimes it happens because the folks who are lashing out are definitely super traumatized, in crisis, feel and are really powerless in a lot of ways,” says Disability Justice organizer Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha. In this episode, Kelly talks with Leah and Elliott Fukui, who develops community safety strategies for emotional wellness and safety, about why people are struggling right now, what’s keeping people alive and engaged, and what we need to create together to survive these times.You can find a...
2024-10-101h 27
Movement MemosBreaking Down Sudan’s Struggle: What the World Is Missing“This war is not a civil war, it's a counter-revolutionary war against civilians. It's a war of military elites against the entire civilian population,” says Sudanese organizer Nisrin Elamin. Sudan is currently experiencing the largest mass displacement event in the world today. Thousands are dead and famine is “almost everywhere” in the country. In this episode of “Movement Memos,” Elamin, organizer Yusra Khogali, and host Kelly Hayes discuss the historical and political roots of the violence, how global powers are fueling the conflict, and the revolutionary efforts of grassroots mutual aid networks on the ground. This episode unpacks what the world is...
2024-09-261h 05
Movement Memos"Our Power Is Where We Choose One Another”: Abolitionists Discuss Our Moment“This is a moment that is going to be looked back on 50 years from now, 100 years from now, and what is going to be said of us is how we came out of this moment,” says M4BL organizer M Adams. In this episode, Kelly talks with Adams and community organizer Montague Simmons about the last decade of Black-led organizing, the state of movements against police violence, and where prison and police abolitionists should go from here.Music: Son Monarcas, HATAMITSUNAMI, and GuustavvYou can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here...
2024-09-121h 00
Movement MemosRemembering How to Care: Lessons from Deep Space Nine“The immediacy of the crisis that we're in demands a new society and not in some imagined future, but now,” says Rehearsals for Living co-author Robyn Maynard. In this episode, Kelly talks with Maynard and David K. Seitz, author of A Different Trek: Radical Geographies of Deep Space Nine, about the radical legacy of “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” and how science fiction can shape our politics.Music: Son Monarcas, Christoffer Moe Ditlevsen & Howard Harper-BarnesYou can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: truthout.org/series/movement-memos/If you woul...
2024-08-291h 04
Movement MemosIt's “Open Season” on the Unhoused. We Must Oppose It.“We don't have a housing system, we have an unhousing system,” says author and organizer Tracy Rosenthal. In this episode, Kelly and Tracy examine the impacts of the Supreme Court’s recent decision allowing municipalities to criminalize the act of sleeping outside. Tracy and Kelly also examine the larger terrain of criminalization unhoused people face, why cities are working to expel unhoused populations, and how communities can defend their unhoused neighbors.Music: Son Monarcas, Pulsed & David CelesteYou can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: truthout.org/series/movement-memos/If y...
2024-08-1553 min
Movement MemosRadical Acts of Care: From Underground Abortions to Militant Clinic Defense“When you're engaged in political work that is as embodied and vulnerable, uncharted and courageous as self-help, you're really harnessing something like a new world building power,” says Deep Care author Angela Hume. In this episode, Kelly and Angela discuss the work of abortion self-help activists who provided illegal abortions in the 1970s, as well as militant clinic defenders, who repelled right-wing efforts to blockade abortion clinics in the 80s and 90s. As Angela says, “There are deep lessons here about comradery, about fellowship, about friendship, about relationality that we can learn from today, and that can inspire us to do...
2024-08-0159 min
Movement MemosHow Solidarity Falters Amid Repression and How We Can Do Better“This system was designed to do exactly what it is doing and has been doing: concentrating wealth and facilitating racial capitalism and colonialism and extraction,” says author and activist Dean Spade. In this episode, Kelly and Dean discuss some common traps that activists fall into when discussing repression and how we can strengthen our practice of solidarity. Music: Son MonarcasYou can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: truthout.org/series/movement-memos/If you would like to support the show, you can donate here: bit.ly/TODonateIf...
2024-07-181h 04
Movement MemosTo Stay in the Fight, We Must Navigate Trauma and Find the Healing We Need“If you're trying to destroy things that are as massive as the structures and the institutions that we talk about wanting to get rid of, that we talk about wanting to overthrow, you're going to have to sustain yourself,” says organizer and author William C. Anderson. In this episode, Kelly takes a trip to the Northwest Territories and talks with Anderson, Robyn Maynard, Harsha Walia, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, Mahdi Sabbagh, and others about the crises of trauma, grief, and overwhelm in our communities, and the kind of healing activists need to stay in the fight. Music: Son Monarca...
2024-07-051h 13
Movement MemosWhat Today’s Workers Can Learn From Machine Breaking LudditesThe Luddites, who smashed machines in the 19th century, in an organized effort to resist automation, are often portrayed as uneducated opponents of technology. But according to Blood in the Machine author Brian Merchant, “The Luddites were incredibly educated as to the harms of technology. They were very skilled technologists. So they understood exactly how new developments in machinery would affect the workplace, their industry, and their identities.” In this episode, Kelly talks with Brian about the history and legacy of the Luddite movement, and what workers who are being oppressed by the tech titans of our time can lear...
2024-06-2053 min
Movement MemosObjectivity in Journalism Is a Deadly Myth That Serves Israeli Military and Cops“If you think about all the cop shows and you think about the birthright tours and you think about all the friendship visits of U.S. officials to Israel, where it's as if there's no Palestine, and you think about Coffee With A Cop, these are all in the same school of actually deeply violent, militaristic propaganda that tries to soften something that only exists to control vulnerable people,” says journalist Lewis Raven Wallace. In this episode, Raven Wallace talks with Kelly about the similarities between copaganda, which launders the image of US policing, and the pro-Israel bias of corp...
2024-06-061h 00
Movement MemosPalestine Solidarity Encampments Are a Rehearsal for Self-Governance and Liberation“At UChicago, they were chanting, ‘40,000 people dead. You are fighting kids instead,’” says author and University of Chicago faculty member Eman Abdelhadi. “Palestine has laid open all the contradictions that are at the core of our society, and the sheer absurdity of trying to suppress this movement.” In this episode, Kelly talks with Abdelhadi and Alex, who participated in the Palestine solidarity encampment at Northeastern University, about what we can learn from the recent wave of student-led protest, and where the movement should go from here.Music: Son Monarcas, David Celeste & Curved MirrorYou can find a trans...
2024-05-231h 04
Movement MemosOutside Agitators Are Good, Actually"When people come from outside your community or your campus, it makes you feel like you're connected to a bigger whole," says Solidarity co-author Astra Taylor. "It makes you feel like what's happening there matters. It creates a sense of a larger coalition. And that's powerful, which is exactly why the people in power don't like it." In this episode, Kelly talks with Taylor and Leah Hunt-Hendrix about solidarity, divide-and-conquer tactics, and the concept of “outside agitators.”Music: Son Monarcas, Curved Mirror, Pulsed & David CelesteYou can find a transcript and show notes (including links to r...
2024-05-0954 min
Movement Memos“Hope For Me is in The Doing of Things,” Says Mariame KabaWhile Kelly is away on medical leave, we revisit a fan-favorite episode in which Kelly and Mariame Kaba talk about lessons from their book Let This Radicalize You. "I have experienced countless losses, but there have also been some magnificent wins, so I know that these are possible," says Kaba. Music: Son Monarcas & David CelesteYou can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: truthout.org/audio/let-this-conversation-with-mariame-kaba-radicalize-you/If you would like to support the show, you can donate here: bit.ly/TODonateIf you would like...
2024-04-251h 02
Movement MemosFamily Policing is Part of a "Carceral Web"Kelly is still on medical leave, so we are revisiting their conversation with Dorothy Roberts about the fall of Roe and the carceral nature of the family policing system. “This strategy of making fetal protection more important than the lives and freedom of women and other pregnant people began with the prosecutions of Black women, who were pregnant and using drugs,” said Roberts, author of Torn Apart and Killing The Black Body.Music: Son Monarcas and PulsedYou can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: truthout.org/audio/the-end-of-roe-will-lead-to-more-family-separation-and-child-disappearance/If...
2024-04-151h 07
Movement MemosCapitalism is Killing Us and Our Work Won't Love Us BackWhile Kelly is on medical leave, we hope you enjoy this fan favorite from the archives. In this episode, Kelly talked with Sarah Jaffe about surveillance, criminalization, and lessons from Jaffe's book, "Work Won't Love You Back."Music: Son Monarcas You can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: truthout.org/audio/work-isnt-fulfilling-because-capitalism-is-a-death-march/If you would like to support the show, you can donate here: bit.ly/TODonateIf you would like to receive Truthout's newsletter, please sign up: bit.ly/TOnewsletter
2024-03-2950 min
Movement MemosVigil for Palestine: We Mourn and Consider What Solidarity Demands of Us“During a genocide, there is no silent vigil. There are no pauses without action,” says organizer Nadine Naber. In this episode, Naber, Iman Abid, Mike Merryman-Lotze, Leanne Simpson, Shane Burley, Brant Rosen, and others join Kelly to hold vigil for Palestine, and to talk about what solidarity demands of us in this moment.Music: Son Monarcas and David CelesteYou can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: bit.ly/movementmemosIf you would like to support the show, you can donate here: bit.ly/TODonateIf you...
2023-11-071h 00
Movement MemosPracticing New Worlds in a Time of Collapse“Our survival is at stake, and so, let's think about all the best things that can help us better understand how we can ensure the collective survival of as many of us as possible,” says author and organizer Andrea Ritchie. In this episode, Kelly and Andrea discuss organizing, solidarity with Palestine, and why activists cannot defer the work of practicing new worlds.Music: Son Monarcas and David CelesteYou can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: bit.ly/movementmemosIf you would like to support the show, you can...
2023-10-261h 11
Movement MemosIsrael's Tools of Occupation Are Tested on Palestine and Exported Globally“The danger now is not just in Palestine for Palestinians. It's gone well beyond that now. It's exported, the idea that you can export occupation, you can export the tools of occupation, the tools of apartheid. That is where we currently are in the early 2020s,” says The Palestine Laboratory author Antony Loewenstein. In this episode, Kelly talks with Loewenstein about how Israel has used Palestine as a laboratory for surveillance and war-making technologies. Loewenstein argues that Israel is aligning itself with far-right leaders, promoting an ethno-nationalist and authoritarian worldview, and making despotism “shareable with compact technology.” In this episode...
2023-10-121h 03
Movement MemosTo Fight Big Tech, We Must Seize the Means of Computation“If you've never tried to organize a movement without the internet, I'm here to tell you, it's really hard. We need to seize the means of computation, because while the internet isn't the most important thing that we have to worry about right now, all the things that are more important, gender and racial justice, inequality, the climate emergency, those are struggles that we're going to win or lose by organizing on the internet,” says author and activist Cory Doctorow. In this episode, Kelly talks with Doctorow about the lessons of his book The Internet Con: How to Seize the...
2023-09-281h 03
Movement MemosWe Can Survive Together By Becoming Kin“I want the land to know me, to claim me. I want to feel at home in it in a way that's reciprocal … When we talk about land back, we're not talking about laying claim to land the way that the U.S. might say, or the way that other countries might say, of claiming ownership, it's claiming relationship, and it's claiming a relationship that's reciprocal,” says Becoming Kin author Patty Krawec. In this episode of Movement Memos, Krawec and host Kelly Hayes discuss decolonization, and how activists and organizers can redefine their relationships with the land, and with each o...
2023-09-141h 09
Movement MemosOur Movements Need Infrastructure for Care, Recovery and Belonging“What are the ways we could organize people into new social forms in which new human, more humane, more liberatory capacities would emerge that we could use for our own liberation?” asks Aaron Goggans of the WildSeed Society. In this episode of “Movement Memos,” Goggans and host Kelly Hayes talk about how activists can resist the trends of late capitalism, including the alienation imposed by the tech world, by cultivating modes of communication and communal care that defy the norms of our individualist society. Goggans argues that social movements are “responsible for figuring out a liberatory and empowering way of filling...
2023-08-311h 08
Movement Memos“This is just as much of an ideological ploy as the idea that Spain needed to conquer the Americas,” says Mary-Jane Rubenstein.“What we're getting from both Musk and Bezos is this classically new age-y religious drama of disaster and salvation. They preach, they tell us that the end is near, the disaster is coming, that the world is going to end, but there is another world that everybody can build together, a new world and a place that they've never seen and a place that seems totally impossible,” says professor Mary-Jane Rubenstein, author of Astrotopia: The Dangerous Religion of the Corporate Space Race. In this episode, Kelly and MJ discuss the religiosity of “NewSpace,” and how activists can challenge the new “pie...
2023-08-171h 00
Movement MemosAI Won’t Overthrow Us, But It Will Optimize the Capitalist Death Machine“How are these tools going to be used to increase the power of employers and of management once again, and to be used against workers,” asks Paris Marx. In this episode, Paris and Kelly break down the hype and potential of artificial intelligence, and what we should really be worried about.You can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: bit.ly/movementmemosIf you would like to support the show, you can donate here: bit.ly/TODonateIf you would like to receive Truthout's newsletter, please sign up: bit...
2023-08-031h 01
Movement MemosBizarre and Dangerous Utopian Ideology Has Quietly Taken Hold of Tech World“It's really important for people to understand what this bundle of ideologies is, because it's become so hugely influential, and is shaping our world right now, and will continue to shape it for the foreseeable future,” says philosopher and historian Émile P. Torres. In this episode, Kelly and Émile discuss what activists should know about longtermism and TESCREAL.You can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: bit.ly/movementmemosIf you would like to support the show, you can donate here: bit.ly/TODonateIf you would like to rec...
2023-07-201h 19
Movement MemosCop City is Only the Beginning, Unless We Fight“This is a global struggle against fascism, it's a global struggle against the militarization of the police and state violence against folks whose dissent is being oppressed,” says Jasmine, an organizer in Atlanta. In this episode, Kelly talks with authors Alex Vitale and Stuart Schrader about the frightening trajectory of policing in the United States. Kelly also talks with Chicago activist Benji Hart, and Jasmine, an organizer in Atlanta who is engaged in the struggle to Stop Cop City.You can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: bit.ly/MMCopCityIf y...
2023-06-011h 05
Movement MemosPalestinian Organizers: We Honor Our Grief by Practicing Hope“Whenever there is grief, there is unity, and in unity, there is strength, and we feel it.,” says Jalal Abukhater. In this episode of Movement Memos, host Kelly Hayes talks with Abukhater, a Palestinian writer living in Jerusalem, and Palestinian activists Jeanine Hourani and Lea Kayali, about the 75th anniversary of the Nakba, resistance in the face of Israeli aggression, and how hope sustains their work.You can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: bit.ly/movementmemosIf you would like to support the show, you can donate here: bit.ly/T...
2023-05-1857 min
Movement MemosTo Transform Conflict in Movements, We Must Learn How to Stay in It Together“It's never too late to pause and reevaluate the purpose, the structure, or the norms that you're operating with as a group of people trying to make a change in the world or get something done together,” says Aarati Kasturirangan. In this episode, Kelly talks with facilitators Aarati Kasturirangan and Rebecca Subar about how organizers can transform conflict in movement spaces.You can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: bit.ly/movementmemosIf you would like to support the show, you can donate here: bit.ly/TODonateIf you...
2023-05-051h 12
Movement MemosLet This Conversation With Mariame Kaba Radicalize You“Hope for me is in the doing of things,” says Mariame Kaba. In this episode of Movement Memos, host Kelly Hayes talks with Mariame Kaba about their upcoming book, Let This Radicalize You: Organizing and the Revolution of Reciprocal Care.You can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: bit.ly/movementmemosIf you would like to support the show, you can donate here: bit.ly/TODonateIf you would like to receive Truthout's newsletter, please sign up: bit.ly/TOnewsletterMusic: Son Monarcas & David Celeste
2023-04-201h 02
Movement MemosLatin American Feminism Has Much to Teach US Left on How to Fight for AbortionIn this episode of Movement Memos, Kelly talks with Camila Valle, translator of Set Fear on Fire: The Feminist Call That Set the Americas Ablaze by LASTESIS. Kelly and Camila discuss the struggle for abortion rights and access in Chile and Argentina, the need for democratic structures in movement wor, and how LASTESIS has used art and performance to bring feminist theory to the streets.You can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: bit.ly/movementmemosIf you would like to support the show, you can donate here: bit.ly...
2023-04-071h 00
Movement MemosLabor History Can Help Us Learn to Fight Like HellIn this episode of Movement Memos, host Kelly Hayes talks with Kim Kelly, labor reporter and author of Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor, about labor history and how understanding union struggles, past and present, can help us get free.You can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: bit.ly/movementmemosIf you would like to support the show, you can donate here: bit.ly/TODonateIf you would like to receive Truthout's newsletter, please sign up: bit.ly/TOnewsletterMusic: Son Monarcas...
2023-03-231h 00
Movement MemosWe Need Collective Healing, Not Commodified “Self-Care”In this episode, Kelly talks with Cara Page and Erica Woodland, authors of Healing Justice Lineages: Dreaming at the Crossroads of Liberation, Collective Care, and Safety about collective healing, collaborative care, and surviving the onslaughts of our oppressors.You can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: bit.ly/movementmemosIf you would like to support the show, you can donate here: bit.ly/TODonateIf you would like to receive Truthout's newsletter, please sign up: bit.ly/TOnewsletterMusic: Son Monarcas & David Celeste
2023-03-091h 01
Movement MemosDisability Justice Organizers Dream Big and Resist a Culture of DisposabilityIn this episode of Movement Memos, host Kelly Hayes talks with Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, author of The Future is Disabled: Prophecies, Love Notes and Mourning Songs about disability justice, interdependence, rejecting human disposability in the COVID era and the practice of grief as stewardship.You can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: bit.ly/movementmemosIf you would like to support the show, you can donate here: bit.ly/TODonateIf you would like to receive Truthout's newsletter, please sign up: bit.ly/TOnewsletterMusic: Son...
2023-02-231h 00
Movement MemosAntifascists Are Adapting to a Strange New WorldIn this episode of Movement Memos, host Kelly Hayes and Shane Burley, editor of No Pasarán!: Antifascist Dispatches from a World in Crisis, discuss the state of the far right, antifascism and how we can build power and sustain empathy in these times.You can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: bit.ly/movementmemosIf you would like to support the show, you can donate here: bit.ly/TODonateIf you would like to receive Truthout's newsletter, please sign up: bit.ly/TOnewsletterMusic: Son M...
2023-02-091h 08
Movement MemosThe Death of a Forest Defender at Stop Cop City“It's all hands on deck for the forces of the prison industrial complex, the forces of capitalism … they are willing to use any and all tactics and tools available to them, whether that's literal murder, whether that's trying to deter the broader movement by slapping people with domestic terrorism charges. As environmental catastrophe is upon us, I think the forces of capital are organizing themselves,” says Atlanta organizer Micah Herskind. In this episode of Movement Memos, Herskind and host Kelly Hayes discuss the death of Tortuguita, a forest defender who was gunned down by police while resisting the construction of Cop...
2023-01-261h 05
Movement MemosBuilding New Worlds in an Era of Collapse“We know that capitalism, which is already racial, gendered and violent, is not inevitable. And there's nothing natural about it,” says Robyn Maynard. In this episode, host Kelly Hayes talks with Rehearsals for Living authors Robyn Maynard and Leanne Betasamosake Simpson about about organizing and parenting amid catastrophe, and how organizers can build new worlds, even as the worlds we know collapse around us.You can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: bit.ly/movementmemosIf you would like to support the show, you can donate here: bit.ly/TODonate
2023-01-121h 03
Movement MemosNavigating Grief and Cultivating Hope at the End of 2022“How do we practice deep and reciprocal relationships as resistance to our culture of transactionalism and extraction?” asks Tanuja Jagernauth. In this year-end episode of “Movement Memos,” Jagernauth and host Kelly Hayes discuss the cultivation of hope, how activists can practice reciprocal care, the importance of celebrating big and small victories, and how to process painful feelings without being consumed by them.You can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: bit.ly/movementmemosIf you would like to support the show, you can donate here: bit.ly/TODonateIf you w...
2022-12-161h 11
Movement MemosWe Need Harm Reduction With a Liberatory Vision“Liberatory Harm Reduction is concrete. It is a framework, but it is also a daily practice, and it is also a set of strategies. So what strategies do we need that prioritize self-determination and body autonomy right now? And how can we come up with whatever it is that we need collectively to get us through?” asks Shira Hassan, author of Saving Our Own Lives. In this episode, Shira talks with Kelly about healing justice, the radical origins of harm reduction, and how we can save ourselves and one another in these times.You can find a tran...
2022-12-011h 05
Movement MemosAbolition Is About Escaping the Death Trap of “Normalcy”“There's no doubt that we have to abolish the carceral state. And there's no doubt that policing and racial capitalism go hand in hand so that we can't be pursuing abolition in a capitalist context,” says author and organizer Andrea Ritchie. In this episode, Andrea and Kelly talk about why the Democrats will not save us, the relationship between abolition and the state, and why it’s so hard for most people to imagine political transformations.You can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: bit.ly/movementmemosIf you would like t...
2022-11-171h 02
Movement MemosCopaganda Arrests Our Imaginations"There's so much deference to police around everything to do with public safety. What they say is taken as gospel without question, without requiring proof of concept, without requiring any kind of accountability for when what they're saying actually doesn't line up with the facts or people's experiences," says author and organizer Andrea Ritchie. In this episode of Movement Memos, Andrea and Kelly discuss Ritchie's new book, No More Police, co-authored with Mariame Kaba, and talk about how copaganda "shapes our imagination about what policing is, what it's doing, what it's not doing, and the necessity of it."
2022-11-031h 05
Movement MemosPrepping for the Apocalypse Means Building Community“Our mutual investment in one another’s survival is our greatest resource, and our greatest hope,” says Kelly Hayes. In this episode of “Movement Memos,” Hayes talks with anthropologist and survivalist instructor Chris Begley about the lessons of his book The Next Apocalypse: The Art and Science of Survival, and why many of us might be preparing for the wrong apocalypse.You can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: bit.ly/movementmemosIf you would like to support the show, you can donate here: bit.ly/TODonateIf you would...
2022-10-201h 06
Movement MemosConfronting the “Elite Capture” of Identity Politics in Our Movement Spaces“We have to be politically serious about how much agreement and how much alignment we're going to require in a world of a resurging far-right fascist movement across the globe,” says philosopher and author Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò. In this episode of Movement Memos, Táíwò and Kelly Hayes discuss the lessons of Táíwò’s book, Elite Capture: How the Powerful Took Over Identity Politics (And Everything Else).You can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: bit.ly/movementmemosIf you would like to support the show, you can donate here...
2022-10-061h 11
Movement MemosPhilly Families Faced With Eviction Are Rising Up, Refusing to Leave Their Homes“I want you to fight, I want you to organize, I want you to talk to your neighbors, I want you to have a meeting, I want you to get a spreadsheet and just the same way that we can organize a barbecue, we can all figure out what it means to actually take control of some of these housing units,” says organizer Sterling Johnson. In this episode, host Kelly Hayes talks with Johnson and UC Townhome resident Rasheda Alexander about gentrification, organized abandonment and an ongoing struggle in West Philadelphia, where dozens of families are resisting the demolition of a...
2022-09-221h 08
Movement MemosFascism Has Gone Mainstream“Forces that have been awakened are not ones that can be tucked away. And it will be a struggle, perhaps, for the rest of our lives,” says Tal Lavin, author of Culture Warlords: My Journey into the Dark Web of White Supremacy. In this episode, Lavin and host Kelly Hayes talk about how right-wingers get radicalized, liberal and left-wing complicity, and the avoidance of despair.You can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: bit.ly/movementmemosIf you would like to support the show, you can donate here: bit.ly/TODo...
2022-09-091h 06
Movement MemosAs Attacks on Queer and Trans People Accelerate, We Need Solidarity Now“The stakes right now are really high when it comes to queer and trans life. I can say in terms of my own lifetime, I haven't felt like it has been this dangerous ever,” says journalist Melissa Gira Grant. In this episode, Kelly talks with Gira Grant about right-wing attacks on trans people, Republican school board takeovers, and how the right’s “groomer” discourse has expanded to include queer people, drag performers, and public school teachers.You can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: bit.ly/movementmemosIf you would like to su...
2022-08-2555 min
Movement MemosAs Attacks on Queer and Trans People Accelerate, We Need Solidarity Now“The stakes right now are really high when it comes to queer and trans life. I can say in terms of my own lifetime, I haven't felt like it has been this dangerous ever,” says journalist Melissa Gira Grant. In this episode, Kelly talks with Gira Grant about right-wing attacks on trans people, Republican school board takeovers, and how the right’s “groomer” discourse has expanded to include queer people, drag performers, and public school teachers.You can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: bit.ly/movementmemosIf you would like to su...
2022-08-2555 min
Movement MemosCapitalism Is Making Us Sick and Sucking Us Dry“Framing health as a personal responsibility doesn't work. And it's one of the greatest tricks that capitalism has ever pulled,” says author and podcaster Beatrice Adler-Bolton. In this episode, Adler-Bolton and host Kelly Hayes discuss the extractive nature of the U.S. health care system, the dominance of COVID nihilism, and why we cannot give up on universal health care.You can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: bit.ly/movementmemosIf you would like to support the show, you can donate here: bit.ly/TODonateIf you woul...
2022-08-1158 min
Movement MemosNothing Ends With the Law. Let’s Talk About Life After Roe.“It is about 5:30 in Alabama on the first morning of there being no legal abortion when our clinic should be open. And it's probably not an exaggeration to say that this is the point where I broke,” said Robin Marty, Director of Operations at the West Alabama Women’s Center. In this episode, Kelly talks with Marty, as well as Rafa Kidvai, the director the Repro Legal Defense Fund, and Ash Williams, who is an organizer and abortion doula in Asheville, North Carolina, about what happens next and what we can do about it.You can find a tran...
2022-06-301h 04
Movement MemosTo Build the World We Desire, We Must Dream Deeply Together“Get with your people … and just take a second to appreciate yourself for the ways in which you are surviving a truly unprecedented time,” says organizer Tanuja Jagernauth. In this episode, Jagernauth and Kelly discuss the work of cultivating hope amid catastrophe and how activists can craft a vision for action. This episode is the second installment in a three-part conversation about the practice of hope.You can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: bit.ly/movementmemosIf you would like to support the show, you can donate here: bit.ly/TODo...
2022-06-241h 03
Movement MemosAbortion Funds Are Preparing For a Storm. To Help, “Get In Where You Fit In.”“We have to be thinking and dreaming and planning really expansively … because when Roe falls, band-aid solutions are not going to be enough,” says Meghan Daniel, a support coordinator with the Chicago Abortion Fund. In this episode of Movement Memos, Daniel and host Kelly Hayes talk about the end of Roe, abolishing police and prisons and how funding abortions builds power.You can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: bit.ly/movementmemosIf you would like to support the show, you can donate here: bit.ly/TODonateIf you wo...
2022-06-1650 min
Movement MemosAttacks on Trans Youth Are a Fascist "Moral Battering Ram"“Alabama was able to pass a felony ban on healthcare, essentially, potentially punishing doctors and parents with up to 10 years in prison for providing or supporting trans people in accessing medically necessary and life-saving medical treatment [and] it barely registered on any mainstream news.” In this episode, Kelly talks with activist and attorney Chase Strangio about worsening attacks on trans youth and the “extreme violence” of the current political moment. Links to educational and organizing resources mentioned during this episode can be found in the show notes at the bottom of this episode's transcript on our website: bit.ly/movement...
2022-06-0956 min
Movement MemosAttacks on Trans Rights and Abortion Rights Are “Bound Together”“The people who want to harm, subjugate and destroy us have not been deterred by warnings that their political vision is too radical, or even impossible. We cannot afford to restrict our own aspirations in the face of such enemies." In this episode, Kelly talks with author Shane Burley discuss the connection between attacks on abortion rights and the barrage of anti-trans laws that have passed in recent months.If you need a transcript, you can find that on our website: bit.ly/movementmemosIf you would like to support the show, you can donate he...
2022-06-0350 min
Movement MemosHope Is Not a Given. We Must Cultivate It Together.“It's time to get clarity and we can actively create that clarity. This is the time to find our alignment,” says activist Tanuja Jagernauth. In these challenging times, how are activists and organizers holding onto hope? In this episode, Kelly talks with organizer and healing justice practitioner Tanuja Jagernauth about the maintenance of hope as a discipline.If you need a transcript, you can find that on our website: bit.ly/movementmemosIf you would like to support the show, you can donate here: bit.ly/TODonateIf you would like to receive Trut...
2022-05-2653 min
Movement MemosAre You Preparing for a Post-Roe World?“We are in truly dire straits right now. We are overwhelmed. We are overrun,” says Robin Marty, Communications Director for the West Alabama Women's Center and author of The New Handbook For a Post-Roe America. In this episode of Movement Memos, Robin and Kelly talk about how people can prepare, personally and politically, for the realities of a post-Roe world.If you need a transcript, you can find that on our website: bit.ly/movementmemosIf you would like to support the show, you can donate here: bit.ly/TODonateIf you would like...
2022-05-1946 min
Movement MemosThe End of “Roe” Will Lead to More Family Separation and Child Disappearance“This strategy of making fetal protection more important than the lives and freedom of women and other pregnant people began with the prosecutions of Black women, who were pregnant and using drugs,” says Dorothy Roberts, author of Torn Apart and Killing The Black Body. In this episode Kelly and Dr. Roberts and host Kelly Hayes discuss the leaked draft SCOTUS opinion that would end Roe and how the child welfare system will ramp up family separations in a post Roe world. If you need a transcript, you can find that on our website: bit.ly/movementmemosIf...
2022-05-121h 07
Movement MemosIndigenous Abolitionists Are Organizing for Healing and Survival“We want a world where people are supported, where our people are not made forcibly vulnerable to violence, and where interventions occur long before someone goes missing." In this episode of Movement Memos, Kelly talks with and Morning Star Gali talk about how Indigenous abolitionists are addressing the crisis of missing and murdered women, girls and two spirit people.If you need a transcript, you can find that on our website: bit.ly/movementmemosIf you would like to support the show, you can donate here: bit.ly/TODonateIf you would like to...
2022-04-2854 min
Movement MemosPolitics as Usual Has Never Prevented Mass Shootings. We Must Break the Cycle.Our entrenched, public reactions and political rituals around mass shootings are growing shorter, as these nightmare scenarios become an almost normalized aspect of the U.S. landscape. In this episode, Kelly talks with author and educator Patrick Blanchfield about what isn’t working, why and what we need to do instead.If you need a transcript, you can find that on our website: bit.ly/movementmemosIf you would like to support the show, you can donate here: bit.ly/TODonateIf you would like to receive Truthout's newsletter, please sign up: bit.ly/T...
2022-04-2258 min
Movement MemosRuth Wilson Gilmore on Abolition, the Climate Crisis and What Must Be Done“For anybody who is caught up in the systems that are shaped by extractive capitalism and organized violence, there is a cumulative and compounded effect on their persons and their lives,” says scholar and activist Ruth Wilson Gilmore. In this episode of “Movement Memos,” Gilmore talks with Kelly Hayes about prison abolition, the climate crisis, and what must be done.If you need a transcript, you can find that on our website: bit.ly/movementmemosIf you would like to support the show, you can donate here: bit.ly/TODonateIf you would like to...
2022-04-141h 22
Climate Front LinesDestruction of Amazon Rainforest Accelerates as Elections Loom in BrazilJair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s far right president, is launching a reelection bid and currently trailing in the polls behind former president and liberal rival Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Bolsonaro and conservative lawmakers have worked to slash environmental protections and promote development of the Amazon rainforest, where deforestation appears to be accelerating as Brazil prepares for elections in October. Deforestation is a major cause of climate change and a threat to Indigenous people who are organizing to resist land grabs and toxic pollution from illegal mines. To learn more, Truthout’s Mike Ludwig interviewed Romulo Batista, a Brazilian envir...
2022-03-3035 min
Movement MemosO'ahu Organizers Are Defending the Earth Against U.S. Militarism“The Pentagon has a blanket exemption from all global climate agreements – in effect, a license to kill the natural world without consequence,” says Kelly Hayes. In this episode, Kelly and Kawenaʻulaokalā Kapahua discuss the U.S. military’s role in environmental devastation and explore lessons from the campaign to shut down the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility on the island of O'ahu – and what activists and organizers can learn from this struggle.If you need a transcript, you can find that on our website: bit.ly/movementmemosIf you would like to support the show, yo...
2022-03-2435 min
Movement MemosDean Spade Is Asking Activists, “How Much Bolder Could You Be?”“None of us know where this is going,” says author and activist Dean Spade. “It's not looking good, but what do I want to spend the rest of my life doing? Being fully alive, being with other people, being in it together, taking risks, being really, really caring, [and] learning to love people even if they annoy me.” In the spring of 2020, the U.S. saw an unprecedented wave of mutual aid projects in response to the pandemic. What became of that energy, and what lessons have organizers learned from efforts that thrived and projects that collapsed? In this episode...
2022-03-1754 min
Movement MemosHarsha Walia: “To Become Ungovernable Is Central”“I think we can reframe and re-understand the immigrant rights movement, not just as one of many movements, but something that is fundamentally connected to how we remake the world,” says Harsha Walia. In this episode, Kelly and Border & Rule author Harsha Walia talk about the plight of Black students fleeing Ukraine, borders, the climate crisis, and taking action in these times.If you need a transcript, you can find that on our website: bit.ly/movementmemosIf you would like to support the show, you can donate here: bit.ly/TODonateIf you...
2022-03-1037 min
Movement MemosIncarcerated Organizers Are Resisting Amid Deteriorating ConditionsWhile officials spin false narratives blaming violent crime on bail reform, and police insist too many people are getting out of jail, conditions in U.S. jails and prisons remain nightmarish. In this episode, Kelly Hayes talks with organizer Brooke Terpstra about a hunger strike at the Santa Rita Jail in California, and about some of the complexities and political dynamics of organizing in jails and prisons.If you need a transcript, you can find that on our website: bit.ly/movementmemosIf you would like to support the show, you can donate here: bit...
2022-03-0335 min
Movement MemosYoung Activists Are Challenging the U.S. War Machine as Tensions Escalate With Russia“What we cannot do is rally our compassion on the basis of whether or not we think the U.S. war machine can drop some bombs and make it better. Making things better is not what the war machine is for,” says Kelly Hayes. In this episode, Kelly talks with organizer Yaira Matos from the youth anti-war group We Are Dissenters about militarism, international solidarity, and why the U.S. war machine cannot be made good.If you need a transcript, you can find that on our website: bit.ly/movementmemosIf you would like to s...
2022-02-2551 min
Movement MemosTrans Youth Are Facing Right-Wing Attacks and a Solidarity Shortage“What we have is a situation where our opponents are fixated on us and our allies are leaving us behind,” says trans attorney and activist Chase Strangio. Republicans have made attacks on trans youth a signature policy item at the state level. In this episode, Kelly and Chase talk about the avalanche of transphobic legislation Republicans have generated, the role of fascist politics in this onslaught and why trans students are not getting the support they need.If you need a transcript, you can find that on our website: bit.ly/movementmemosIf you would like...
2022-02-1747 min
Movement MemosActivists Are Building a Counterculture of Care in Apocalyptic Times“This will be an era defined by who is deemed worthy of survival, and who isn’t, who gives a damn, and who doesn’t, and how we keep each other alive during and in between catastrophes,” says Kelly Hayes. In this episode, Kelly talks with Shane Burley, the author of Why We Fight and Fascism Today, about right-wing power, the apocalypse, and organizing a counterculture of care.If you need a transcript, you can find that on our website: bit.ly/movementmemosIf you would like to support the show, you can donate here: bit.ly/T...
2022-02-1044 min
Movement MemosAbolition Means Reclaiming the Commons and Rejecting Securitization“When you have a power that is designed to be unaccountable and has been unaccountable for so damn long, the reforms that stick to it just make it stronger and more efficient as they cover it in a veneer of legitimacy." In this episode, Kelly talks with abolitionist criminology professor and activist Brendan McQuade about how securitization has shaped popular ideas about what it means to be free, and how we can build something better.If you need a transcript, you can find that on our website: bit.ly/movementmemosIf you would like to su...
2022-02-0332 min
Movement MemosCorporations Are Funding Police RepressionFrom the Amazon to Hubbard County, Minnesota, corporations are funding the repression of protesters. In this episode, Kelly talks with Alex Vitale, author of The End of Policing, about the history and future of corporate collaborations with the police. Kelly also talks with attorney Mara Verheyden-Hilliard about newly exposed documents that reveal the lead prosecutor in Hubbard County sought corporate funding for the prosecution of Line 3 protesters.If you need a transcript, you can find that on our website: bit.ly/movementmemosIf you would like to support the show, you can donate here: bit...
2022-01-2731 min
Movement MemosBree Newsome Bass: "Capitalism Has To Collapse"“Capitalism is the unfolding catastrophe,” says activist Bree Newsome Bass. “It's this thing that has grabbed us all in its arms and it is just plummeting down.” In this episode of Movement Memos, Kelly talks with activist and artist Bree about long COVID, voting rights and getting organized in these times. If you need a transcript, you can find that on our website.If you would like to support the show, you can donate here.If you would like to receive Truthout's newsletter, please sign up!
2022-01-2041 min
Movement MemosThe Fight Against Fascism Isn’t Over“We're talking about a heavily armed populace that's radicalizing itself [and] self traumatizing through its own mythology.” In this episode, Kelly talks with author Shane Burley about the state of fascism in the Biden era, mutual aid, and building movements during apocalyptic times. For a transcript, audio and show notes, you can check out our website: https://truthout.org/series/movement-memos/
2021-06-0255 min
Movement MemosGetting Real About Prisons and Why They Don’t Make Us Safer“People end up in prison for a reason, but it's not the reason that we're fed by all of these cop shows." In this episode of Movement Memos, Kelly Hayes talks with journalist Victoria Law about prisons, why they don’t work, and what even well-meaning people tend to get wrong about incarceration. You can find a transcript, audio and show notes on our website: https://truthout.org/series/movement-memos/
2021-05-261h 05
Movement MemosWhat the Mainstream Media Never Told You About Palestine"The goal of a supremacist state is to have a monopoly on the legitimacy of violence," says Palestinian writer and organizer Lea Kayali. In this episode, Kelly and Lea Kayali explore the history of Israeli violence against Palestinians – and the colonial dynamics that enable it – and discuss what you can do about it. For a transcript, audio and show notes, you can check our website: https://truthout.org/series/movement-memos/
2021-05-191h 06
Movement MemosA New Wave of Jim Crow Laws is Here. Here’s What You Need to Know.Republicans are waging a nationwide attack on voting rights and the right to protest. Kelly compares these efforts with the laws and conventions that ushered in the Jim Crow era, and talks with voting rights organizer Toni Watkins about how targeted communities are fighting back. For a transcript, audio and show notes, you can check out our website: https://truthout.org/series/movement-memos/
2021-05-0531 min
Movement MemosPolice Convictions Are Not the Goal. Minneapolis Abolitionists Have Bigger Dreams.After a year of upheaval and pandemic, and the unlikely conviction of a police officer, Minneapolis organizers Jonathan Stegall and D.A. Bullock talk with Kelly about what they have built and learned in the last year, what Derek Chauvin’s conviction does not accomplish, and what they hope people will do now as the struggle against policing continues. For a transcript, audio and show notes, you can check out our website: truthout.org/series/movement-memos/
2021-04-2853 min
Movement MemosYou Cannot Divorce Policing From Murder“There are so many ways the system robs people of life, and police are out there daily, enacting that theft.” Kelly talks about the Chauvin verdict and the murder of Adam Toledo, and discusses the history and current state of policing with Alex Vitale, author of the book, The End of Policing. You can find a transcript, audio and show notes on our website: truthout.org/series/movement-memos/
2021-04-2156 minClimate Front LinesMutual Aid Means Survival in Texas as Winter Storm Collides with Housing CrisisFueled by warming temperatures in the Arctic, the deadly winter storm that froze much of the country last week collided with a housing crisis that has exploded during the pandemic. Despite a federal “moratorium” on evictions, activists in Dallas, Texas were already fighting to keep people in their homes before the storm hit. To learn about how people came together to survive as temperatures plunged amid deadly power outages, Truthout’s Mike Ludwig spoke with Cooper Feste, an organizer with a local tenants’ union called Dallas Stops Evictions.Music by Dan Mason.
2021-02-2432 min
Movement MemosGetting Real About Fascism: What You Need to Know ft. Shane BurleyHas Trump dragged the U.S. beyond the bounds of democracy? Kelly Hayes talks with Shane Burley, a Truthout contributor and author of the book Fascism Today: What it is and How to End It, about the current political moment and how we can fight back.
2020-02-241h 08