Episode Description
How To Citizen with Baratunde reimagines the word “citizen” as a verb and reminds us how to wield our collective power. With humor and empathy, Baratunde explores societal topics that affect us all, speaks with people using their relationships and power for the benefit of the many, and offers audience members ways to participate. With so much media focused on what is wrong with our society, this show focuses on what is right and how to build on it. Our democratic experiment is up for grabs, and we the people will decide, through our action or inaction, where we go next.
Listen to episode | Show Notes And Actions | Transcript | Subscribe
This is just a trailer! No major show notes for this one.
We love feedback. If you have some, share it. If you have ideas for people or organizations to feature, or actions to suggest, share that too. Use comments@howtocitizen.com.
Sign up for Baratunde’s newsletter to learn about upcoming guests and live tapings, and more.
Follow him on Instagram or join his Patreon. You can even text him, like right now at 202-894-8844.
How To Citizen with Baratunde is a production of iHeartRadio Podcasts. executive produced by Miles Gray, Nick Stumpf, Elizabeth Stewart, and Baratunde Thurston. Produced by Joelle Smith, edited by Justin Smith. Powered by you.
Listen to episode | Show Notes And Actions | Transcript | Subscribe
Yo, I'm Baratunde and I want to tell you a crazy story from my childhood. When I was nine years old, my mother gave me a special assignment.
She said it was up to me to come up with the system we would live under after democracy and maybe capitalism had failed. I repeat, I was nine years old. I know! That's a wild assignment. One apparently I failed at because all the headlines 33 years later, are talking about "Democracy's In Crisis!" "Democracy Is At A Tipping Point!" And I agree, but which way our democracy tips, that's up to us. And that is the spirit of my new show. How To Citizen with Baratunde.
By the way, I'm the "Baratunde" in that title. There's no other Baratundes. It's a one-Baratunde show. But it's not an only-Baratunde show. Because in this show, I'm going to introduce you to people who are tapping into that collective power we are all a part of, organizing communities to make a difference and change outcomes in areas as diverse as public safety, worker rights, voter turnout, even our food systems.
Did you know that we can keep ourselves safe without giving all of our money to the police department? Did you know that we can build an economy that works without giving all of our money to Jeff Bezos? I know! It's wild!
This show is going to involve you in that project, cause it'd be very authoritarian for me to make a show called How To Citizen where I just talk down at you. Instead, I'm inviting you in, literally to be a part of the tapings of the show which we do live with the audience. And also to convert some of that news rage you're probably sitting on into action, where we are going to give you things you can do to be a better citizen.
Our media isn't fake, but it is incomplete because so far, much of the message we've been getting is how broken the world is, as opposed to all the work being done to mend it. Much of the message we've been getting is how alone we are, how powerless we are. But there's another side to the story that talks about us as a part of something greater, something that we can do together, that sees the current moment as an opportunity -- with pandemic, revolution, and all -- to reimagine and reclaim this word "citizen." Take it back from those who've weaponized it against people who don't have the right paperwork, and convert it into a verb big enough to invite us all to participate in determining our society, how it works, and for whom, the whom being the many, not just the few.
How To Citizen with Baratunde. It literally takes all of us. That includes you.
Coming August 27th to the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.