Block & Build

Listeners may be familiar with stories from the past few years about left and movement organizations coming under legal attack. These include an indictment against the Southern Poverty Law Center on fraud charges, claiming their strategy of paying informants to expose extremist groups is fraud. Or bad faith accusations by Israel against UNWRA, a relief agency of the United Nations tasked with trying to provide food and other supplies to Gaza amidst Israel’s ongoing genocide. These types of legal attacks can accomplish their intended goal even if they don’t succeed in court. The mere threat of legal action can scare donors out of support for work that formerly seemed innocuous. This week's episode features two organizers who have worked on issues related to how donor-advised funds are unique chokepoints for philanthropic funding. Our guests include Beezer de Martelly, who has over a decade of experience in philanthropy organizing and recently published an article for Convergence on the subject titled “A Blueprint for Donor-Advised Fund Organizing.” Our other guest is Fatema Ahmad, whose work at the Muslim Justice League has included getting UNWRA reinstated as a philanthropic destination for Fidelity, one of the largest donor-advised funds in the world. In this conversation they lay out some of the terms of debanking and donor-advised funds for listeners less acquainted with these models. We then discuss the campaigns seeking to repair these financial relationships and what organizers need to know about the politics of philanthropy. Want more? Become a member to support this show and others like it: convergencemag.com/membership Submit your article proposals to Convergence Enrich your media diet: Movement Media Alliance Contact us: [email protected] Subscribe to Convergence Magazine’s YouTube to catch the video premiere of each episode: Mondays at 7:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM PT

This week we are building our Attention Economy Navigator for the month of August 2026. It's our guide to what you should be paying more attention to, and what you can probably pay less attention to. And why those stories might not be what you’d assume. Joining to help build this month's Attention Economy Navigator in real time are Managing Editor for Convergence, Akin Olla and Senior Multimedia Producer for Convergence, Josh Elstro. You can also read the article version on the Convergence website, or watch the panel plot these stories in real time on YouTube. Stories Referenced in This Episode: Deportation has begun of Haitian migrants whose TPS was recently revoked by the Supreme Court. ICE's Invisible Surge and continued cooperation from local law enforcement Top military brass and Pete Hegseth butting heads over Iran war and more Republicans stand by Max Miller despite horrific allegations of abuse Will Grand Theft Auto 6's release be one of our last monocultural moments? Anti-trans protestors and grifts surrounding WNBA Meta settled a $17.1 billion suit alleging the platforms harm to teen mental health Want more? Submit your article proposals to Convergence Enrich your media diet: Movement Media Alliance Contact us: [email protected] Subscribe to Convergence Magazine’s YouTube to catch the video premiere of each episode: Mondays at 7:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM PT Have we made a difference in your life? Help us keep it going. convergencemag.com/membership

In the past year, this show has explored how organizing against data centers is becoming a unifying rally point that breaks through this country’s typical “red vs. blue” dynamic. From urban cores to rural farm communities, serious organizing is happening to stop or slow the rapid development of these facilities at the local and state level. People are fed up with tech companies massively scaling up development to feed generative AI and large language models at the cost of polluting communities and skyrocketing consumer energy bills. Our guest this episode is Saul Levin, a long-time organizer who saw something fascinating among the diverse and complex experiences of the communities taking on this work. He wanted to go deeper with AI and data center organizers from around the country, zooming in and platforming their personal stories. The result is his fantastic new podcast The Hum, which published its first series of episodes this summer with more coming next month. You can find it wherever you listen to podcasts. Saul discusses the show as well as what he’s learning about the movement against data centers and the corporations forcing them on to our communities. "How Parallel Institutions Challenge Authoritarianism" by Saul Levin and Samantha Markel Want more? Become a member to support this show and others like it: convergencemag.com/membership Submit your article proposals to Convergence Enrich your media diet: Movement Media Alliance Contact us: [email protected] Subscribe to Convergence Magazine’s YouTube to catch the video premiere of each episode: Mondays at 7:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM PT

Leading a union can be difficult. Even more difficult? Leading the educators union in the second-largest school district in the country, United Teachers Los Angeles, through the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, we talk to the woman who did just that: immediate Past President of UTLA, Cecily Myart-Cruz. She was also the first woman of color to be elected to the position. During her tenure, she made strides in racial justice and protections for immigrants. She helped secure more financial protections for the district, its workers, and more. Under her leadership, UTLA was able to expand what is possible through organizing that includes the community, not just its members. But now, public schools across the country are under attack from the right, including the Trump Administration's plans to dismantle the Department of Education.  As she steps away from the position, she joins us to talk about her tenure from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to her transition to a new role as a member of the National Education Association’s Executive Committee. We'll also discuss the threats currently facing public education–a foundational piece of our democracy–everywhere. Want more? Support our summer membership drive: bit.ly/2026memberdrive Submit your article proposals to Convergence Enrich your media diet: Movement Media Alliance Contact us: [email protected] Subscribe to Convergence Magazine’s YouTube to catch the video premiere of each episode: Mondays at 7:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM PT

On November 5th, 2024, New York State voters found an option to vote for Proposition One, or the Equal Rights Amendment, to be enacted into state law. Prop One guaranteed abortion rights and reproductive healthcare for all New York State residents. Prop One easily passed and made its way into law, just two years after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision repealed Roe v. Wade, abolishing federal abortion rights.  New York is just one example of how state ballot initiatives are being used to win back abortion rights in a post-Roe landscape. Some have succeeded, like in Ohio. Other states are caught in back and forth ballot battles. Like Missouri, which protected abortion under Amendment 3 in 2024, and finds a measure asking voters to repeal those same protections in 2026…also under the name “Amendment 3.” Here to talk about this issue and how ballot measures are shaping the November general election is the Policy and Legal Advocacy Director at the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, Jennifer Parrish Taylor. BISC is an infrastructure organization that helps organizations fighting for reproductive justice, the rights of marginalized communities, and others utilize ballot measures across the United States. From this episode: The Deaths ICE Doesn’t Count - Mother Jones Ballot Initiative Strategy Center Want more? Support our summer membership drive: bit.ly/2026memberdrive Submit your article proposals to Convergence Enrich your media diet: Movement Media Alliance Contact us: [email protected] Subscribe to Convergence Magazine’s YouTube to catch the video premiere of each episode: Mondays at 7:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM PT

The Joe Rogan Experience. Modern Family. The Daily Show. Needless to say, the audiences of these types of content are usually on different political wavelengths. A new project from The Radical Communicators Network (or RadComms) and Rising Majority says that in order to build a stronger force willing to fight back against authoritarianism, we need to understand how different kinds of stories and content affect how people perceive issues and digest meaning. Starting there, we can then be strategic about how we build narratives about organizing and activism tailored to specific audiences to better form a movement base; issue by issue. The report distinguishes four different kinds of groups of audiences, from the Fox News crowd, to the types of people eager to watch the latest episode of HBOs “The Pitt.” Analyzing these differences in audience taste and values can help organizers build narrative strategies that bridge divides with the power of storytelling. The full, easily digestible report is linked in the show notes and we strongly suggest those who are interested in any form of movement comms work check it out. Today's guests are two of the authors behind the report, called Rising Narratives for Radical Futures: Talking Across Difference for a Multi-Racial Democracy. Shanelle Matthews is the founder of Radical Communicators Network, which organizes movement communications workers across the US and internationally. And Yewande Addie is a communications scholar and narrative strategist with the BLIS Collective. Want more? Support our summer membership drive: bit.ly/2026memberdrive Submit your article proposals to Convergence Enrich your media diet: Movement Media Alliance Contact us: [email protected] Subscribe to Convergence Magazine’s YouTube to catch the video premiere of each episode: Mondays at 7:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM PT

When people outside the state think of Florida politics, they often think of the de-facto MAGA headquarters that is Mar-a-Lago or the reactionary policies of Ron DeSantis–things like book bans, LGBTQ discrimination, climate change denial, and more. In other words? A lost cause for any sort of progressive movement. But in reality, Floridians have long been part of a powerful and unique fascism-fighting force that has united communities across difference to fight for labor rights, racial justice, voting rights, LGBTQ rights, and more, standing up powerful organizations and supporting champions from local government to Washington DC. Following up on our recent Insights From Florida series–available now–Cayden talks to three Floridians who are part of this continuing fight and contributors to that series. In this conversation they had the opportunity to go deeper on some of the work proposed in those articles and build towards what’s next for movement work in Florida and beyond. On the panel is Florida State House representative and current US Senate candidate, Angie Nixon; non-profit and climate justice leader, Andrea Cristina Mercado; and veteran labor organizer Eric Brakken. They discuss how the progressive movement in Florida has been fighting back, and what they think can get the state, and other states that get written off in the national political calculus, out of the grips of MAGA. More From This Episode Hunger strikes are spreading in ICE jails amid widespread due process violations, advocates say – PRISM How the CJP protests have shaken Modi's stranglehold over India – Himal South Asian Want more? Support our summer membership drive: bit.ly/2026memberdrive Submit your article proposals to Convergence Enrich your media diet: Movement Media Alliance Contact us: [email protected] Subscribe to Convergence Magazine’s YouTube to catch the video premiere of each episode: Mondays at 7:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM PT

On June 11th, staff members of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative watched as over one hundred FBI agents entered and raided their offices, questioning workers, and seizing computer files and documents. Agents also reportedly fanned out to homes of volunteers, board members, and staff–fishing for information and electronic devices. The agents were said to have been investigating voter fraud allegations, but a month later, the FBI has released no official statement on or probable cause for these actions. The FBI raids follow similar attacks from the Trump administration, including seizing ballots and records in Fulton County in Georgia, Maricopa County in Arizona, and Wayne County in Michigan. All three of these are in crucial presidential battleground states. The Ohio Organizing Collaborative works to boost voter rights and participation by helping Ohioans register to vote and defending minority groups in court against redistricting efforts as well as other assaults on voter freedoms.  Joining this episode to discuss is former staff member of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative and current Senior Communications Director at Innovation Ohio, Caitlin Johnson to talk about what exactly happened, how communities in Ohio are responding, and what other groups can do to protect themselves against other attacks. Visit handsoffohio.org for more info on how you can support OOC and other impacted organizers. Want more? Support our summer membership drive: bit.ly/2026memberdrive Submit your article proposals to Convergence Enrich your media diet: Movement Media Alliance Contact us: [email protected] Subscribe to Convergence Magazine’s YouTube to catch the video premiere of each episode: Mondays at 7:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM PT

This week we are building July's Attention Economy Navigator, our guide to what you should be paying more attention to, and what you can probably pay less attention to. And why those stories might not be what you’d assume. Joining to help build this month's Attention Economy Navigator in real time is comedian and host of The Bitchuation Room, Francesca Fiorentini. We are also joined this week by Convergence's Senior Multimedia Producer, Josh Elstro. You can also read the article version on the Convergence website, or watch the panel plot these stories in real time on YouTube. Stories Referenced in This Episode: ICE Murders Lorenzo Salgado in Houston, and admits he was the wrong target Supreme Court ends TPS for Haitian and Syrian migrants Over 100 Venezuelans who had just been deported are among the thousands gone missing after earthquake Waymo took the law into its own hands by locking teens in car and driving them to police Graham Platner is out as Maine Senate candidate after latest accusations of sexual assault Mysterious silence surrounds the state of Senator Mitch McConnell's health (Note: this episode was recorded before a "proof of life" photo was released Sunday afternoon) FBI raids homes of Michigan students who participated in pro-Palestinian campus protests Want more? Submit your article proposals to Convergence Enrich your media diet: Movement Media Alliance Contact us: [email protected] Subscribe to Convergence Magazine’s YouTube to catch the video premiere of each episode: Mondays at 7:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM PT Have we made a difference in your life? Help us keep it going. convergencemag.com/membership

This episode’s guests found themselves in a position many long-time political organizers and activists were in back in 2016 following the first election of Donald Trump–family, friends, comrades and more all coming to them and asking “what do we do?” This familiar experience was the catalyst which resulted ten years later in the publication of their book Remaking Democracy: How We Make the Worlds We Want. Co-authors Danielle Chynoweth and Elizabeth Adams took on the task of putting their multiple decades of experience in movement organizing–dating back to the WTO protests of the late 90s–to work for others looking to organize and take on the contradictions of capitalism which must be resolved to make true, multiracial democracy.  The end result is a book full of resources for movement organizers and allies to work through the authors’ theory of progress, referred throughout the book as the “spiral of change.” Remaking Democracy flows in and out of personal stories, practical resources, and accessible theory informed by the authors’ experience as organizers, artists, and teachers. It is available now from Common Notions Press. Want more? Have we made a difference in your life? It's our summer member drive and you can help us keep it going. bit.ly/2026memberdrive Submit your article proposals to Convergence Enrich your media diet: Movement Media Alliance Contact us: [email protected] Subscribe to Convergence Magazine’s YouTube to catch the video premiere of each episode: Mondays at 7:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM PT Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links to Convergence’s Bookshop. Ten percent of purchases made through our bookshop directly support our movement media work.

This week on the show, we’re sharing the recording of the plenary panel Cayden presented on at MediaJustice and Mijente’s Take Back Tech III. Moderated by Tech Policy Press’s Justin Hendrix, Cayden is joined by Associate Professor of Black Digital Media at Georgia Tech, Andre Brock, and independent tech journalist Ariella Steinhorn, who has worked with whistleblowers across the tech industry. The panel discusses the intersection of Big Tech and narrative power. They look at the ways that Big Tech has sold us a vision of the future, and the ways that our communities are in the midst of creating an alternative future, one act of resistance at a time. Want more? Have we made a difference in your life? It's our summer member drive and you can help us keep it going. bit.ly/2026memberdrive Submit your article proposals to Convergence Enrich your media diet: Movement Media Alliance Contact us: [email protected] Subscribe to Convergence Magazine’s YouTube to catch the video premiere of each episode: Mondays at 7:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM PT

This week we are building June's Attention Economy Navigator, our guide to what you should be paying more attention to, and what you can probably pay less attention to. And why those stories might not be what you’d assume. Joining to help build this month's Attention Economy Navigator in real time is cofounder, CEO, and writer at techpolicy.press, Justin Hendrix. We are also joined this week by Convergence's Senior Multimedia Producer, Josh Elstro. You can also read the article version on the Convergence website, or watch the panel plot these stories in real time on YouTube. Stories Referenced in This Episode: Elon Musk has become the world’s first trillionaire with the IPO of SpaceX Graham Platner is making waves in Maine despite skepticism from institutional Democrats and legacy media 15 anti-ICE protestors were indicted on charges of conspiracy to impede federal agents in Minnesota A congressional draft on AI regulation could signal a change in government attitudes toward the technology The White House UFC event hosted for Trump’s birthday was sponsored by a who's–who of scammers and grifters Want more? Submit your article proposals to Convergence Enrich your media diet: Movement Media Alliance Contact us: [email protected] Subscribe to Convergence Magazine’s YouTube to catch the video premiere of each episode: Mondays at 7:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM PT Have we made a difference in your life? Help us keep it going. convergencemag.com/membership

While we hear plenty of gloomy predictions about how the adoption of AI technologies will take away millions of jobs in the future, it’s already gutting labor rights and alienating workers right now. Alexandra Mateescu and Aiha Nguyen are two of the researchers behind a new report on this matter, “Last Place in the AI-First Economy: How the AI Industry Relies on Worker Disempowerment.” The report shows that workers are facing an increasingly hostile environment as AI not only risks taking away jobs directly, but also corresponds with an erosion in worker’s rights and protections. Alexandra Mateescu is a researcher at the Labor Futures initiative at the Data and Society Research Institute, publishing work that focuses on issues like digital worker surveillance, algorithmic inequality, and harmful practices from the tech industry.  Aiha Nguyen is Alexandra’s colleague at the Labor Futures initiative and director of the program, piloting research on the relationship between technology and labor. This episode is brought to you by the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, a Convergence Headwaters member. Their podcast, Direct Democracy Diaries, is available now wherever you get podcasts. Want more? Submit your article proposals to Convergence Enrich your media diet: Movement Media Alliance Contact us: [email protected] Subscribe to Convergence Magazine’s YouTube to catch the video premiere of each episode: Mondays at 7:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM PT Have we made a difference in your life? Help us keep it going. convergencemag.com/membership

It was a chilly day in Minneapolis in 2013 when Yotam Marom was first told he was “invisible.” He was told this by a team member and close colleague, while working with a tenant organizing group which had emerged from the recent Occupy Movement. His role that week was to facilitate and train leaders in the organization. While Yotam was doing his job well enough – participating and planning activities – they felt he was holding back, shying away from the bold opinions and critical feedback he was known for…and the rest of the team knew it. Shying from wielding leadership or challenging power, Yotam writes in his book, is a common dynamic across Left movements. He argues it’s a major roadblock to meaningful progress. In For Louder Days: Reaching Beyond a Politics of Powerlessness, he argues that countless social movements, from antiwar movements to student causes, shrink their potential or even fail by remaining too insular or refusing to take audacious action outwards to reckon with the responsibility of wielding real power. And that argument is based on his decades of involvement in developing organizations and leaders across the social movement Left. In this episode we are joined by author Yotam Marom to discuss the book. At the core of For Louder Days is an argument about what Yotam calls “the politics of powerlessness.” The book is a call to action for movement organizers, but also as a personal memoir, reflecting on decades of activism and movement work. Catch Yotam live on tour for the book! Want more? Submit your article proposals to Convergence Enrich your media diet: Movement Media Alliance Contact us: [email protected] Subscribe to Convergence Magazine’s YouTube to catch the video premiere of each episode: Mondays at 7:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM PT Have we made a difference in your life? Help us keep it going. convergencemag.com/membership Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links to Convergence’s Bookshop. Ten percent of purchases made through our bookshop directly support our movement media work.

We are joined by New York City tenant organizer and communications expert, Ritti Singh, who recently published an article with Convergence, covering a strategy – which has been implemented in NYC tenant organizing – she calls “surround sound” communications. Then, in early 2025, a group of tenant organizers in New York City began a campaign to Freeze the Rent. The language and values of this campaign were adopted by then mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. Now as acting mayor for five months, Mamdani has yet to fully implement a rent freeze or meet other housing goals laid out by his coalition on the campaign trail.  But the roots of progress are beginning to show. Mamdani has replaced six out of nine seats on the city’s Rent Guidelines Board, which determines city policy on rent control and more. Housing affordability was a major part of Mamdani’s platform and the project of co-governing with his coalitions to deliver on those goals is now under way. We host a panel of tenant organizers who have been a part of this work throughout the whole process and beyond. In today’s episode we’ll explore how “freeze the rent” was part of the narrative infrastructure for Mamdani’s win, and how it has become a center of gravity for developing the practice of movement-driven co-governance in New York. Panelists Include Membership Coordinator of the New York State Tenant Block, Lex Rountree Communications Manager for CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities + CAAAV Voice, Irene Hsu Co-Chair of the Freeze the Rent campaign and Community Action for Safe Apartments Leader, Joanne Grell Want more? Submit your article proposals to Convergence Enrich your media diet: Movement Media Alliance Contact us: [email protected] Subscribe to Convergence Magazine’s YouTube to catch the video premiere of each episode: Mondays at 7:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM PT Have we made a difference in your life? Help us keep it going. convergencemag.com/membership

This week we are building May's Attention Economy Navigator, our guide to what you should be paying more attention to, and what you can probably pay less attention to. And why those stories might not be what you’d assume. Joining to help build this month's Attention Economy Navigator in real time are cultural studies professor, writer, and founder of Pop Smart Media, Dr. Shannon Mancus (AKA Dr. Shan). She also co-hosts Fool Me Once, a weekly livestream with Under the Desk News' V. Spehar, Mondays at 10:00 AM ET. We are also joined this week by Convergence's Managing Editor, Akin Olla. You can also read the article version on the Convergence website, or watch the panel plot these stories in real time on YouTube. Stories Referenced in This Episode: American showing at the 2026 Venice Biennale is simultaneously reactionary and boring. Socialist Chris Rabb wins House primary in Pennsylvania. The San Diego mosque shooting was carried out by extremely nihilistic teenagers bought into white nationalist ideas about race war. Operation Epic Furious, a satirical performance art in the form of a video game, showed up on playable arcade cabinets on the National Mall. Trump earns protection for he and his family from IRS audits and a $1.8 billion slush fund to pay off loyalists who claim to have been harmed by “lawfare”; potentially including now pardoned January 6 rioters. Democrats can't stop trying to punish Hasan Piker, in spite of him using his platform to campaign...for Democrats. Who’s paying creators in the California gubernatorial primary? Want more? Enrich your media diet: Movement Media Alliance Contact us: [email protected] Subscribe to Convergence Magazine's YouTube to catch the video premiere of each episode: Mondays at 7:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM PT Have we made a difference in your life? Help us keep it going. convergencemag.com/membership

Last fall a group of gamers joined up for an event in the wildly popular online video game Fortnite. (If you’re not familiar, just ask your kids.) The purpose of the event was to train players on how to respond to real-life encounters with ICE agents, followed by role-playing encounters within the safety of the game world. This is just one of the many ways the group known as New Save Collective is organizing players and events in an attempt to create a kinder, more progressive environment for the more than 60% of people in the US who regularly play video games (as well as gamers beyond US borders). New Save Collective organizes events like these as well as supportive ways for progressive-minded gamers to find each other and play together on their Discord server, which includes over 800 members. While not perfect, Discord is a powerful social app, popular among gamers. It is rapidly growing as an online organizing tool because it allows communities to moderate and curate both their members and the content members engage with. Think of it a bit like Slack for gamers and hobbyists. We're joined this episode by New Save Collective’s founder, Sijal (known by his screen name PitaBreadFace), as well as one of its Discord moderators, known by her screen name Magick Mayhem. They talk about how and why they are building this digital organizing space centered around gaming. They also discuss why the mission of their work is centered around creating a culture of kindness in gaming. Connect with New Save Collective Discord Instagram kindgamers.com Want more? Submit your article proposals to Convergence Enrich your media diet: Movement Media Alliance Contact us: [email protected] Subscribe to Convergence Magazine’s YouTube to catch the video premiere of each episode: Mondays at 7:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM PT Have we made a difference in your life? Help us keep it going. convergencemag.com/membership

Last fall, Managing Editor Akin Olla began piloting a concept for how Convergence can grow as a space which can develop the voice of organizers trying to communicate big strategic ideas. The result was the Max Elbaum Resident Writers Program (named after our longtime board chair). We received an amazing batch of applications from over 60 organizers from all over the country and chose two to join us for the next 12 months to work on honing their craft as writers and refining their ideas about movement strategy. Each resident writer has a big question they will be exploring across multiple articles they’ll be publishing with us over the coming months. I’m excited to introduce the 2026 Elbaum Resident Writers: Delaney Vandergrift and Whitney Washington. In this episode, both join in back-to-back interviews to discuss what their organizing background and more details about what they'll be publishing with Convergence this year. Want more? Submit your article proposals to Convergence Enrich your media diet: Movement Media Alliance Contact us: [email protected] Subscribe to Convergence Magazine’s YouTube to catch the video premiere of each episode: Mondays at 7:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM PT Have we made a difference in your life? Help us keep it going. convergencemag.com/membership

This is our 100th episode of Block & Build! We wanted to do something unique to mark this milestone. We jokingly discussed doing a musical episode. While we don’t have the time or the money to write 55 minutes of original songs about the Supreme Court gutting the Voting Rights Act once and for all and what we’re going to do about it, we thought we’d take some time to share some of our favorite movement music with you. In this episode Convergence Managing Editor Akin Olla and Senior Multimedia Producer Josh Elstro join to discuss some of our favorite movement music. They also delve into the broader state of movement music and counterculture as they see it in the big tech streaming landscape. Songs and Artists Discussed (In Order) Every song discussed, along with other favorites from the Convergence team, are available to listen to as a YouTube playlist we've built for listeners. Dead Prez - Let's Get Free Dillinger Four - Like Sprewells on a Wheelchair Phil Ochs - Love Me, I'm a Liberal Dmitri Shostakovich Le Tigre Bikini Kill Miley Cyrus - Party in the USA Vince Staples - Blackberry Marmalade Which Side Are You On? Propagandhi - Night Letters Leftöver Crack - Born to Die Eminem - Square Dance Bruce Springsteen - Streets of Minneapolis Massive Attack / Tom Waits - Boots on the Ground Anohni - 4 Degrees Run the Jewels - Lie, Cheat, Steal Dead Prez - Happiness Sam Cooke - A Change Is Gonna Come Hurray for the Riff Raff - Pa'lante Carsie Blanton - After the Revolution Santigold - Ushers of the New World Kendrick Lamar - Alright Childish Gambino - Feels Like Summer Want more? More Songs of Resistance from our friend Scot Nakagawa (22nd Century Initiative) Enrich your media diet: Movement Media Alliance Contact us: [email protected] Subscribe to Convergence Magazine’s YouTube to catch the video premiere of each episode: Mondays at 7:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM PT Have we made a difference in your life? Help us keep it going. convergencemag.com/membership

In the fall of 2023 a woman entered a bar and asked if they could put on the final regular season game of the WNBA’s New York Liberty. The bartender told her “I don’t think anyone here wants to see that.” She used that frustration to start organizing. Three years later, it feels like women’s sports are everywhere, especially (but certainly not exclusively) women’s basketball. The WNBA has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years and this spring, the WNBA and the players’ union agreed to a monumental collective bargaining agreement that is a major step towards equitable pay with the men’s league players. Central to this success is the work of fan organizing like this week’s guests. From 23,000 fans signing a petition demanding better play for WNBA players to an in-game protest of thousands of fans chanting “PAY THE PLAYERS” at a Unrivaled league game in Brooklyn this winter, fans have been showing up for the athletes (and workers) they follow and cheer on, on the court and at the bargaining table. This was the result of her work building Women’s Sports Rally, an organization for women’s sports fans to collectively build authentic, powerful women’s sports communities and align as active allies rather than just consumers of the sports they love. They are committed to actions that help to fairly and inclusively distribute the social, financial, and cultural benefits that come with the growth of women’s sports. Our guests this week are the very woman who was told off by that bartender three years ago and the founder of Women’s Sports Rally, Caroline FitzGerald and digital communications and campaign strategist Kathy Plate. Kathy has worked on organizing sports fans as a political and cultural constituency which began in her previous work with Ultraviolet, a feminist organizing coalition representing all women, in all arenas – including sports and culture. @Womenssportsrally on Instagram. Want more? Enrich your media diet: Movement Media Alliance Contact us: [email protected] Subscribe to Convergence Magazine’s YouTube to catch the video premiere of each episode: Mondays at 7:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM PT Have we made a difference in your life? Help us keep it going. convergencemag.com/membership

This week we are building April's Attention Economy Navigator, our guide to what you should be paying more attention to, and what you can probably pay less attention to. And why those stories might not be what you’d assume. Joining to help build this month's Attention Economy Navigator in real time are host of There are No Girls on the Internet, Bridget Todd (her new audiobook Love at First Prompt is available July 14th from Simon & Schuster) and Editor-in-Chief at Truthout, Negin Owliaei. You can also watch the panel plot these stories in real time on YouTube, or read the article version on the Convergence website. Stories referenced in this episode: Using forensic investigation methods, the FBI was able to extract copies of incoming Signal messages from Prairieland defendants' iPhones. Rep. Eric Swalwell drops out of California Governor's race amid many sexual assault and misconduct allegations. The Democratic Congressman and frontrunner for Governor of California has been outed as a serial sexual predator in the workplace. Student organizers are fighting back against 287(g) agreements on campuses, and some of them are even winning. Journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin has been in a Kuwaiti prison for over a month now for re-sharing video coverage of the US-Israel military operations in the Gulf. How people are digesting Peter Magyar's victory in the Hungarian elections – Not everyone is taking the right lessons here, and it's still early days to understand what is happening (and what will happen in a new Hungary). AI-powered facial recognition is being used to deny food benefits to pregnant and post-partum people in India. Is Brooklyn-based band Geese a psyop or nah? Wired repeated the hype from the band's PR firm that claims to have been able to game the algorithm on TikTok to blow up their most recent (and critically acclaimed) album, Getting Killed. The meme war over Iran has commenced, and maybe Iran is winning? AI-generated animated Lego meme videos are covering the internet and they're pretty effective at narrating the war from the Iranian perspective. Erika Kirk is not suing Druski over his "How Conservative white women in America act" skit. Want more? Enrich your media diet: Movement Media Alliance Contact us: [email protected] Subscribe to Convergence Magazine's YouTube to catch the video premiere of each episode: Mondays at 7:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM PT Have we made a difference in your life? Help us keep it going. convergencemag.com/membership

Over the past few years, a series of popular uprisings across the world have been described by mainstream media as “Gen-Z Uprisings” – movements led by young people and described in western media as generally being against government corruption. These movements have been most notably visible in our own media due to their use of technology, including platforms like Discord and TikTok, and internationally consistent adoption of pop culture symbolism, like the flag of the “straw hat pirates,” a black flag depicting a grinning jolly roger wearing a straw hat. The flag is the banner of the protagonists of the long-running hit anime series One Piece whose adventures often find them coming to the defense of marginalized communities around their world. But these movements didn’t come out of nowhere (or the internet for that matter). Understanding their origins – and the elections that have resulted from their successes – can shed light both onto the international struggle against authoritarianism and the challenges we face building an alternative. In this episode we are looking at two countries, Nepal and Bangladesh, where popular uprisings in the summer of 2024 and fall of 2025 have led to elections this year.  In this episode, we are joined by two US based organizers, Sharmin Hossain and Samir Shrestha, whose work as part of South Asian diasporas has rooted them in movement work here in the US while maintaining relationships and solidarity abroad. Sharmin Hossain is a Bangladeshi Muslim organizer from Queens, New York, who is currently the Organizing Director for 18 Million Rising. Samir Shrestha belongs to the indigenous Newari tribe of Nepal, where he was born. He has spent the last 18 years involved in movement work here in the US. Resources From This Episode Himal Southasian Jamhoor Want more? Enrich your media diet: Movement Media Alliance Contact us: [email protected] Subscribe to Convergence Magazine’s YouTube to catch the video premiere of each episode: Mondays at 7:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM PT Have we made a difference in your life? Help us keep it going. convergencemag.com/membership

On March 28th, Indivisible Project, one of the two primary organizations behind the No Kings protests, held its third such event. Along with their partners, the 50501 Movement, an estimated 8 million people were mobilized and took to the streets across the country at over 3,300 different sites. Last month's event is now the largest single day political protest in American history. Last week Cayden spoke with co-founder and co-executive director of the Indivisible Project, Leah Greenberg, just a few days after the March 28th day of protest. In our conversation we considered the impact of mobilizing so many people, and what the mainstream media reports that focus only on the marches miss in the year-round work of Indivisible and other organizations developing everyday people into leaders. We also contend with the challenges posed by media, funding, and more as we seek to convert that energy into a larger, better-organized movement. Want more? Enrich your media diet: Movement Media Alliance Contact us: [email protected] Subscribe to Convergence Magazine’s YouTube to catch the video premiere of each episode: Mondays at 7:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM PT Have we made a difference in your life? Help us keep it going. convergencemag.com/membership

Examples like Zohran Mamdani’s win in the New York City Mayoral race last year or Brandon Johnson becoming mayor of Chicago a few years earlier, are some of the highest profile examples of progressive movement candidates winning local office. They’ve demonstrated that movements can win as well as how challenges can arise when working to place a single elected official into a local seat amidst a sea of colleagues to their political right. Meanwhile, left leaning electeds often immediately face criticism about their commitments to the movement organizers and the communities who helped put them in office the day their tenure in office begins. But in Philadelphia, City Councilmember at Large Kendra Brooks, along with the community organizations who serve her constituents and shaped her values, have stayed in the difficult work of governing together. Councilmember Brooks is a member of the Working Families Party who holds an at-large minority seat on the city’s council. She contends that this role requires a diligent tending to the feedback between her office and the communities she serves if she is going to deliver the promises she campaigned on. We had the opportunity to talk with Councilmember Brooks as well as two of the community stakeholders she continues to work with as a sitting Philadelphia city councilmember. They are Pennsylvania Director for the National Domestic Workers Alliance, Nicole Kligerman and Director of Amistad Law Project, Nikki Grant. In the episode we discuss the opportunities and challenges they’ve faced together winning material victories for working people in the city. Want more? Enrich your media diet: Movement Media Alliance Contact us: [email protected] Subscribe to Convergence Magazine’s YouTube to catch the video premiere of each episode: Mondays at 7:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM PT Have we made a difference in your life? Help us keep it going. convergencemag.com/membership

This week we are building March's Attention Economy Navigator, our guide to what you should be paying more attention to, and what you can probably pay less attention to. And why those stories might not be what you’d assume. Joining to help build this month's Attention Economy Navigator in real time are founder of Creator Congress, Rynn Reed and National Press Secretary for the Working Families Party, Ravi Mangla. Together, they co-publish the Substack newsletter, Signal Break, which is all about agitating, disrupting, and challenging the prevailing orthodoxy around how we communicate and charting a new way forward. You can also watch the panel plot these stories in real time on YouTube, or read the article version on the Convergence website. Stories we referenced in this episode: Dark money groups offered influencers $1500 per post to attack, specifically, progressive candidate Kat Abughazaleh in Illinois 9th District congressional primary. Exploring if the mythical moderate Democrat voter really exists. AKA Chuck Schumer's favorite fictional family of voters, The Baileys. Resignation of Director of National Counterterrorism Center, Joe Kent – making the correct moral move for the wrong reasons. The "Creator Wars" which broke out over the highly contested Texas congressional primary race between Jasmine Crockett and James Talarico. Data centers are becoming an electoral wedge issue. Trump can't stop talking about taking over Cuba. Open AI's Sam Altman has suggested a model in which all their stolen "intelligence" is sold back to us like a utility. Want more? Enrich your media diet: Movement Media Alliance Contact us: [email protected] Subscribe to Convergence Magazine's YouTube to catch the video premiere of each episode: Mondays at 7:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM PT Have we made a difference in your life? Help us keep it going. convergencemag.com/membership

Social movements are often centered around the law: who it protects and who it does not. And as you heard in this week's headlines, we also find ourselves in an era of increasing weaponized “lawfare” by MAGA and its allies. On top of the "antifa" domestic terror case in Texas, there have been other recent attempts by the federal government to criminalize dissent, from the RICO cases against Atlanta’s Stop Cop City movement, to more recent charges against protestors in Minnesota this winter. Legal representation for these cases and others is necessary as the systems of power which marginalize these communities in the first place seek to criminalize our work toward liberation. This is the work of “movement lawyering.” Movement lawyering is when attorneys and other legal professionals align their work with the values and politics of movements for liberation. Our guests this week recently published a guide and handbook for legal professionals and organizers alike. We were recently joined by the coauthors and coeditors of Lawyering for Liberation: A Tool Box for Movement Lawyers. They are movement attorney Ameca Reali and Associate Professor of Law at CUNY School of Law, Marbré Stahly-Butts. We discuss the work lawyers need to do to bring their work and values into alignment with liberation movements, as well as how organizers can think about how to work closely with legal professionals who share their goals. Want more? Enrich your media diet: Movement Media Alliance Contact us: [email protected] Subscribe to Convergence Magazine’s YouTube to catch the video premiere of each episode: Mondays at 7:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM PT Have we made a difference in your life? Help us keep it going. convergencemag.com/donate Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links to Convergence’s Bookshop. Ten percent of purchases made through our bookshop directly support our movement media work.

Tabletop games like Magic the Gathering, Dungeons & Dragons, and many more have long been a natural community building space for those of us who have felt culturally marginalized. But as fandom has expanded, so has the ability of neoliberal capital to commodify and profit from just about any niche “nerd” interest you can think of. A massive tabletop industry has grown which requires a growing customer-facing workforce. In the past decade both Magic and D&D have come under ownership, and begun generating massive profits for, the multi-billion dollar toy and entertainment publisher Hasbro. A cottage industry of tabletop game stores to support these games, products, and their fans has also risen. But these businesses are more than just stores; they are community spaces new and dedicated gamers depend on for play space, social support, and more. This necessitates a staff skilled in customer service, deep game knowledge, and even childcare for school students attending aftercare programs. As this business grew, workers at a collection of game stores in New York City unionized as Tabletop Workers United in 2023. Throughout their long journey to a contract last spring, they were supported by a partner organization of volunteers known as the Tabletop Solidarity Committee; a group of dedicated customers who love the stores and their workers as community resources and want to see the employees who run the spaces supported by their employers. Our guests this week are two members of that Tabletop Solidarity Committee out of NYC, Gabor Fu and Sam LeDoux. They’ll tell the story of how their organizing supported the workers’ journey to a contract and why these game stores are such valuable community and organizing spaces. Want more? Enrich your media diet: Movement Media Alliance Contact us: [email protected] Subscribe to Convergence Magazine’s YouTube to catch the video premiere of each episode: Mondays at 7:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM PT Have we made a difference in your life? Help us keep it going. convergencemag.com/donate

It is deeply unsettling how quickly mainstream media headlines and narratives moved on from Trump and DHS’s so-called "Operation Metro Surge” in Minnesota. The removal of Greg Bovino and the “drawdown” was a concerted attempt to force public attention to move along, in spite of the fact that there are still a disproportionate number of agents on the ground in the state.  This operation yielded two highly visible, extrajudicial murders of peaceful American protestors by the state. No one was held accountable. Communities are still grieving the loss of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, as well as the kidnapping and disappearance of thousands of their neighbors by DHS. The operation brought the country perhaps the closest it has come to civil war since the last one ended. However, the administration has tried to leverage the nature of the attention economy to force us to dust off our feet and move on like it never happened. Internally at Convergence, we think deeply about the importance of slow media, as well as preserving historic and institutional memory, as a counterweight to the hypernormalization of dizzying MAGA brand fascism. The administration pushes to normalize the violence being visited upon communities all over the country. We continue to see stories of abuse and overreach from DHS which aren’t making it “above the fold” in the mainstream press. So we’re going back to Minnesota as the subject of this episode, because Minnesota still has lessons for us. I was joined last week by longtime Minnesota organizer and former Executive Director of Faith In Minnesota Action PAC, Doran Schrantz. We discussed what she and her neighbors experienced and continue to experience from Trump’s DHS invasion in their state, including some crucial warnings and lessons for us all. Want more? Enrich your media diet: Movement Media Alliance Contact us: [email protected] Subscribe to Convergence Magazine’s YouTube to catch the video premiere of each episode: Mondays at 7:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM PT Have we made a difference in your life? Help us keep it going. convergencemag.com/donate

This week we are building February's Attention Economy Navigator, our guide to what you should be paying more attention to, and what you can probably pay less attention to. And why those stories might not be what you’d assume. Joining to help build this month's Attention Economy Navigator in real time are Chris Melody Fields Figueredo, bruja, Bad Bunny super-fan, and Executive Director of the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center; and Steven Renderos, DJ, culture critic, and Executive Director of MediaJustice. Find the full navigator chart here. You can also watch the panel plot these stories in real time on YouTube. Stories we referenced in this episode: Chris draws our attention to the emergence of "competitive authoritarianism": The SAVE America Act; FBI raids Fulton County, GA, election office; The arrest of Don Lemon and Georgia Fort; Steve Bannon wants ICE at polling places. Ring walks back from "Search Party," which was featured in a super creepy Super Bowl commercial, Nancy Guthrie's offline Nest camera footage, and the community-powered surveillance we didn't sign up for. Colbert says CBS blocked interview with James Talarico, but now the video has over 8 million YouTube views. Benito Bowl is a rich text. Prairieland 19 trial kicks off and immediately gets declared a mistrial; how this case might be a bellwether for the state of protest to come. Is something big happening with AI, or is Matt Shumer just trying to get us to join his weird cult? The MAHA Boys are hitting the gym in this bizarre sensory nightmare of an ad, featuring Kid Rock (and apparently Kid Rock's home gym?). Want more? Enrich your media diet: Movement Media Alliance Contact us: [email protected] Subscribe to Convergence Magazine's YouTube to catch the video premiere of each episode: Mondays at 7:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM PT Have we made a difference in your life? Help us keep it going. convergencemag.com/donate

At the end of 2024, Michigan’s state-level Democratic trifecta passed a massive tax incentive for data centers to the tune of $90 million in exchange for, essentially, an IOU for future “community benefits.” Organizers saw this as representative of a two-pronged problem: desperation on the part of local and state governments to bring in revenue, and corporate control of the functions of democracy. In the time since, Michigan has fast tracked data centers, and those community benefits have been…elusive. As pushback against data center development has ramped up as a non-partisan community issue across the country in the time since this tax break was passed, organizers in the state have begun circulating petitions for two ballot measures which address each side of the problem. Invest in MI Kids is a ballot measure that would repair a regressive tax and require the rich to pay their fair share into the education system and Money Out of Politics would dismantle the system of lobbying which allows corporate control of their state assembly. Joining this episode to discuss are Co-founder and Organizing Director of 482Forward and steering committee member of the Invest in MI Kids ballot initiative, Molly Sweeney, Executive Director of Voters Not Politicians and steering committee member of the Michigan Money Out of Politics ballot initiative, Christy McGillivray, and Director of the Tishman Center for Social Justice and the Environment at the University of Michigan, Michelle Martinez. Additional Resources One Solution to Data Centers? Tax the Rich in Convergence Magazine Want more? Enrich your media diet: Movement Media Alliance Contact us: [email protected] Subscribe to Convergence Magazine’s YouTube to catch the video premiere of each episode: Mondays at 7:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM PT Have we made a difference in your life? Help us keep it going. convergencemag.com/donate

Art Against Empire, hosted by textile artist Ian Danger Capstick, examines the intersection of creativity and politics through conversations with artists, craftspeople, and activists who use making as a form of resistance. The show features interviews with dozens of artists, crafters, and theorists from around the world exploring the history of makers fighting back against capital control of their craft—including Convergence’s very own Kimmie Dearest. Art Against Empire, Episode 1 – Our Hands Know How to Build the World We Want Quilters, blacksmiths, weavers, embroiderers - 25 artists across four countries using craft to fight systems of power. Welcome to Art Against Empire! This series introduction launches a 16-episode journey featuring over two dozen artists, craftspeople, and theorists across four countries. You'll hear from quilters stitching memorials to police violence victims, blacksmiths forging tools as acts of reclamation, embroiderers translating climate data into thread, and weavers who are building queer community. Ian traces why empires from Rome to Britain built their wealth on controlling cloth, and why makers have always fought back. The history runs from the 1378 Ciompi Revolt through Gandhi's spinning wheel to the AIDS Memorial Quilt that covered America's National Mall. Additional Resources G92 - Learn more about those organizing to protect immigrants in Springfield, OH Want more? Enrich your media diet: Movement Media Alliance Contact us: [email protected] Subscribe to Convergence Magazine’s YouTube to catch the video premiere of each episode: Mondays at 7:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM PT Have we made a difference in your life? Help us keep it going. convergencemag.com/donate

On Friday, the Department of Justice released millions more documents held in cases relating to Jeffrey Epstein, AKA the "Epstein Files." The files are full of allegations and outright admissions of horrific behavior by elites of the billionaire and political class. However, at this point it seems consequences are unlikely beyond a few days of media headlines about increased "scrutiny." Amidst all the speculation, gossip, and political jockeying by both sides to score points: almost all public discourse around Epstein and his relationships with powerful elites neglects the survivors at the center of those documents. Our guests this week published a piece last month at Truthout.org, “Sex Trafficking Prosecutions Won’t Stop the Next Epstein. Here’s What Will.” It draws on their experience in abolitionist and sex worker justice movements to explore how the Left can reclaim space long ceded to the Right’s “law and order” messaging with a block-and-build strategy rooted in economic, racial, and gender justice that centers survivors while creating the social conditions to address harm and even prevent it in the first place. Chanelle Gallant is the co-author of Not Your Rescue Project: Migrant Sex Workers Fighting for Justice. Shannon Perez-Darby is co-editor of the anthology How to End Family Policing: From Outrage to Action. Additional Resources Mandatory Reporting is Not Neutral on Instagram "Numerous journalists targeted in attack via Signal Messenger" at Netzpolitik.org Want more? Enrich your media diet: Movement Media Alliance Contact us: [email protected] Subscribe to Convergence Magazine’s YouTube to catch the video premiere of each episode: Mondays at 7:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM PT Have we made a difference in your life? Help us keep it going. convergencemag.com/donate Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links to Convergence’s Bookshop. Ten percent of purchases made through our bookshop directly support our movement media work.

Last week, Minneapolis-based poet and activist Kyle Tran Myhre hosted a virtual workshop called What Can Artists Do? What Are We Doing? in light of the massive ICE and CBP surge in his city. His expectation was that a few dozen people might attend. Instead, over 500 people joined to discuss and wrestle with the ways artists can engage and show up to help get ICE out of Minneapolis and beyond. His follow up article is now cross-published by us and Minneapolis outlet Racket. It explores how artists can use their time, energy, and resources to support local resistance to ICE operations. In this episode, Kyle joins us to discuss that experience as well as what he is seeing on the ground in his community as ICE continues to aggressively disrupt and terrorize Minnesota communities. Additional Resources What Can Artists Do? What Are We Doing? Kyle "Guante" Tran Myhre - artist page Want more? Enrich your media diet: Movement Media Alliance Contact us: [email protected] Subscribe to Convergence Magazine’s YouTube to catch the video premiere of each episode: Mondays at 7:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM PT Have we made a difference in your life? Help us keep it going. convergencemag.com/donate

This month on the Attention Economy Navigator, our guide to what you should be paying more attention to, and what you can probably pay less attention to. And why those stories might not be what you’d assume. Joining to help build this month's Attention Economy Navigator in real time are friends of the pod Shaira Chaer, Senior Strategist at ReFrame, and Jess St. Louis, an organizer and narrative strategist based in North Carolina. Just a quick content note: this discussion includes stories about murder, gun violence, an antisemitic attack against a house of worship, revenge porn, and child sexual abuse material. It's been a rough few weeks in the headlines, please take care of yourself! Find the full navigator chart here. You can also watch the panel plot these stories in real time on YouTube. Stories we referenced in this episode: “Transgender Athletes Ask Supreme Court to Overturn State Bans” covered in many outlets. “Project 2026: Restoring America’s Promise” from the Heritage Foundation/Heritage Action for America. “Raw eggs, ‘Scripture-backed fitness’ and a Porsche: The online world of the man accused of burning Mississippi’s largest synagogue” by Michael Goldberg and Molly Minta in Mississippi Today; Beth Israel is committed to rebuilding. The murder of Renee Nicole Good, the narrative meaning of which is being hotly contested right now. Grok’s deepfake features are being used to create nonconsensual pornographic images and other abuse material, only relenting after the government of the UK came after them. “ICE plans $100 million ‘wartime recruitment’ push targeting gun shows, military fans for hires” by Drew Harwell and Joyce Sohyun Lee in The Washington Post; this echoes what Shaira found researching QAnon in 2023. “War Profiteers Furious After Polymarket Refuses to Pay Out on Venezuelan Invasion Bets” by Joe Wilkins in Futurism. We swear we wanted to talk about something lighter that still provides insight, but it’s been a rough couple weeks. Want more? Enrich your media diet: Movement Media Alliance Contact us: [email protected] Subscribe to Convergence Magazine's YouTube to catch the video premiere of each episode: Mondays at 7:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM PT Have we made a difference in your life? Help us keep it going. convergencemag.com/donate Here's how we're nurturing writers this year.

Starting this week, some student loan borrowers in default may receive notice that their wages are being garnished directly from their paychecks in order to restart repayment. This is one of many Trump era changes to student loan repayment programs negatively impacting borrowers. Of the nearly 43 million student loan borrowers in the US, only 40% of them are current on their payments. Since changes made in 2020 to protect borrowers during the early days of the Covid pandemic, confusing rules about payment plans have come and gone between the Biden and Trump administrations. Furthermore, thanks to cuts at the Department of Education, many borrowers are completely lost on how to properly restart their payments or stay on paths they thought would lead to forgiveness of their remaining balance. Joining us to discuss these struggles and how borrowers can organize to protect themselves and others is Press Secretary and organizer for the Debt Collective, Braxton Brewington. He helps us navigate the current state of the shifting and messy student debt landscape and what rights borrowers have. Additional Resources News Brief: How Corporate Media Laid the Groundwork for a Rightwing Incitement Campaign in Minnesota by Citations Needed Want more? Enrich your media diet: Movement Media Alliance Contact us: [email protected] Subscribe to Convergence Magazine's YouTube to catch the video premiere of each episode: Mondays at 7:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM PT Have we made a difference in your life? Help us keep it going. convergencemag.com/donate Here's how we're nurturing writers this year. Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links to Convergence’s Bookshop. Ten percent of purchases made through our bookshop directly support our movement media work.

We are off until the new calendar year. In the meantime we hope you enjoy a sampling of episodes from our network of podcasts! Episode Description from November 14, 2024: Following last week's elections, Scot and Sue are joined by Daniel Hunter, co-founder of Choose Democracy, to discuss how we respond to authoritarians emboldened by the election results. In the episode, they take a deeper look together at Daniel's recent post-election essay 10 Ways to Be Prepared and Grounded Now That Trump Has Won (first published by Waging Nonviolence and then shared by Convergence). What should we be doing to defend our democratic institutions? What can we learn from other countries fighting the rise of authoritarianism in their borders? Daniel also touches on the transformative power of trusting ourselves and making space for grieving in movement work.  Subscribe to the Anti-Authoritarian Podcast for more. Support our end-of-year fundraising drive. Connect with Block & Build and more Contact us: [email protected] Subscribe to Convergence Magazine's YouTube to catch the show live: Fridays at 2:00 PM ET / 11:00 AM PT Support this show and movement media like it: convergencemag.com/donate Movement Media Alliance

We are off until the new calendar year. In the meantime we hope you enjoy a sampling of episodes from our network of podcasts! In this episode, Sha Grogan-Brown talks with guest Le Tim Ly, Chief Operating Officer of Center for Empowered Politics, about how multi-entity infrastructure can improve the resilience of organizations. Subscribe to the Rad Ops Podcast for more. Support our end-of-year fundraising drive. Connect with Block & Build and more Contact us: [email protected] Subscribe to Convergence Magazine's YouTube to catch the show live: Fridays at 2:00 PM ET / 11:00 AM PT Support this show and movement media like it: convergencemag.com/donate Movement Media Alliance

This week we are joined by the editors of the new anthology We Will Rise Again: Speculative Stories and Essays on Protest, Resistance, and Hope. The book champions realistic, progressive social change using the speculative stories of writers from around the world. To assemble the book, editors Karen Lord, Annalee Newitz (@ghidorahnotweak), and Malka Older put writers, organizers, scholars, and others in conversation with one another to dive deep on the messy work of making change. Read a story from the book online! "Where Memory Meets the Sea" by Laia Asieo Odo was previewed at Electric Literature. Want more? Enrich your media diet: Movement Media Alliance Contact us: [email protected] Subscribe: Block & Build YouTube Have we made a difference in your life? Help us keep it going. convergencemag.com/donate Here's how we're nurturing writers this year. Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links to Convergence’s Bookshop. Ten percent of purchases made through our bookshop directly support our movement media work.

Producer and director Chris Landry's new film series Reimagining Philanthropy critically examines the issue of philanthropy as the financial driver of movement and social justice work, and how movement leaders believe it can be fixed. Joining Chris is historian of US philanthropy and the author of White Philanthropy: Carnegie Corporation's “An American Dilemma” and the Making of a White World, Dr. Maribel Morey. Dr. Morey appears in the series' first episode, alongside many other leading voices reshaping the field and challenging long-held assumptions about how philanthropy operates. Connect with Block & Build and more Contact us: [email protected] Subscribe to Convergence Magazine's YouTube to catch the show live: Fridays at 2:00 PM ET / 11:00 AM PT Support this show and movement media like it: convergencemag.com/donate Movement Media Alliance Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links to Convergence's Bookshop. Purchases made through our bookshop support our movement media work.

This week on the show we are debuting a new format we’re calling the Attention Economy Navigator. The goal of Block & Build has always been to help organizers figure out what’s happening, how people are responding, and get a sense for what’s working out there in the world. The Attention Economy Navigator came out of a conversation Cayden had at the Narrative Power Summit about Naomi Klein’s 2023 book, Doppelganger. An interesting takeaway from the book is that Klein suggests a new political spectrum in addition to left and right defining political division in our society, and the determining factor is how prominently conspiratorial thinking shapes our political views. Joining to help build this month's Attention Economy Navigator in real time are Convergence Managing Editor, Akin Olla, and co-host of the Citations Needed podcast, Nima Shirazi. Before diving in, we are joined by co-founder and co-director at Siembra NC, Nikki Marín Baena, to discuss what organizing's happening on the ground in North Carolina with ICE's recent mobilization in the region. This month's navigator chart can be found here. Stories we referenced in this episode: Corporate media refuses to report on racism from sitting GOP politicians against Zohran Mamdani at In These Times. Electronic Arts is taken private by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners, for some $55bn at PC Gamer. The AI bubble is bigger than you think at The American Prospect. Is the MAGA Era "over?" Some mainstream media seems to think so, like The Boston Globe. The US and Russia put together a "peace plan" based mainly on Ukrainian capitulation, at The Guardian. FAIR's roundup of corporate media's refusal to cover the Handala hack vs. Drop Site News's analysis of the data dump. This horrible Charlie Kirk memorial AI slop song, we're sorry. It's like Creed, but worse.

This week on the show, we will first talk about how on the ground organizing was a factor in Zohran Mamdani’s historic 10-point victory in the New York City Mayoral election last week. We are joined by a panel of leaders from different local organizations who worked on the campaign to learn more about their work and strategies. Guests Include Organizing Director of CAAAV Voice (Coalition Against Anti-Asian Violence), Alina Shen Political Director of DRUM Beats (Desis Rising Up and Moving), Jagpreet Singh Policy Director of New York Communities for Change (NYCC), Alicé Nascimento Then we talk with activist Rafael Uzcátegui, who has been part of the Venezuelan human rights movement for decades. He discusses how the American Left can orient itself to show solidarity as Trump aggressively pursues violent intervention in and around the country. Connect with Block & Build and more Contact us: [email protected] Subscribe to Convergence Magazine's YouTube to catch the show live: Fridays at 2:00 PM ET / 11:00 AM PT Support this show and movement media like it: convergencemag.com/donate Movement Media Alliance

In this episode, we are joined by Co-Founder and Organizing Director of Kentucky Tenants Union, Josh Poe to discuss how their organizing strategy successfully brings people together to fight and win against landlords in a red state. Resources from this episode Kentucky Tenants Union Linktree Tenant Union Federation "NYC-DSA Strategy in Zohran's Race Shows the Path to Mass Municipal Governance" - Grace Mausser, Convergence Magazine Connect with Block & Build and more Contact us: [email protected] Subscribe to Convergence Magazine's YouTube to catch the show live: Fridays at 2:00 PM ET / 11:00 AM PT Support this show and movement media like it: convergencemag.com/donate Movement Media Alliance

This week on the show we are joined by Chicago-based writer, organizer, and podcaster Kelly Hayes, whose new edited volume, Read This When Things Fall Apart: Letters to Activists in Crisis, is out November 4 from AK Press. You may also know Kelly from their excellent podcast, Movement Memos, their newsletter, “Organizing My Thoughts,” or their previous book, with Mariame Kaba, Let This Radicalize You. Connect with Block & Build and more Contact us: [email protected] Subscribe to Convergence Magazine's YouTube to catch the show live: Fridays at 2:00 PM ET / 11:00 AM PT Support this show and movement media like it: convergencemag.com/donate Movement Media Alliance

This week on the show we are joined by historian Gerald Horne, whose 2025 book, The Capital of Slavery: Washington DC 1800-1865 explores the early history of the capital city of the United States and the role of enslaved people in how it was built. This is explored in the book both in terms of the hands that did the labor to build its edifices and monuments, and in terms of how fear of free Black people shaped the law, policy, and governance of the District, in ways that echo today. Connect with Block & Build and more Additional works by Gerald Horne Contact us: [email protected] Subscribe to Convergence Magazine's YouTube to catch the show live: Fridays at 2:00 PM ET / 11:00 AM PT Support this show and movement media like it: convergencemag.com/donate

This week we are joined by Marzena Zukowska and Shanelle Matthews. Together they are the co-editors of the new book Liberation Stories: Building Narrative Power for 21st Century Social Movements. This anthology of essays and interviews distills successful theories, strategies, and tactics from the movement left for anyone wanting to understand and participate in modern progressive movements. Connect with Block & Build and more Contact us: [email protected] Subscribe to Convergence Magazine's YouTube to catch the show live: Fridays at 2:00 PM ET / 11:00 AM PT Support this show and movement media like it: convergencemag.com/donate

This week on the show we take a look at the Trump administration's multifaceted attacks on immigrants as testing grounds for authoritarian control, how we got to this point, and what efforts are being made to push back. Joining to discuss is Program Director at Detention Watch Network, Stacy Suh. Resources from this episode Troops in the Street: What Does an Authoritarian Takeover Look Like? with Barbara Ransby and Barbara Weinstein Connect with Block & Build and more Contact us: [email protected] Subscribe to Convergence Magazine's YouTube to catch the show live: Fridays at 2:00 PM ET / 11:00 AM PT Support this show and movement media like it: convergencemag.com/donate

This week on the show we are joined by Executive Director of State Power Caucus, Margie Del Castillo. Their organization is currently focusing on work that goes beyond mobilization to build lasting governing power at the state level across the country – we talk in this episode about what that looks like in different states. State Power Caucus is a multi-state organizing project primarily focused on the “build” aspect of Block & Build strategy. They do this by supporting state based organizations in the process of moving from short-term mobilization into consistent state based infrastructure, leadership pipelines, and co-governance capacity. By bringing organizations together to think about long-term goals, they build alignment and share skills to strengthen movements in the long run. Resources from this episode Global Sumud Flotilla for updates and ways to support imprisoned activists Connect with Block & Build and more Contact us: [email protected] Subscribe to Convergence Magazine's YouTube to catch the show live: Fridays at 2:00 PM ET / 11:00 AM PT Support this show and movement media like it: convergencemag.com/donate

This week on the show we are joined by Lina Srivastava, Founder of the Center for Transformational Change. She’s developed a framework to help communicators, creatives, and organizers think through the infrastructure we must develop to build narrative power–the power not just to tell the stories we want told, but to shift the landscape of common sense about the issues we’re struggling to win. Lina joined us a few weeks ago for this recorded conversation, but the insights and lessons are more relevant than ever as we navigate the changes looming on the horizon as factions of the far Right fight among themselves about the meaning of the horrific murder of right wing propagandist, Charlie Kirk, and our movements face intensified scrutiny and attacks as scapegoats. Connect with Block & Build and more Contact us: [email protected] Subscribe to Convergence Magazine's YouTube to catch the show live: Fridays at 2:00 PM ET / 11:00 AM PT Support this show and movement media like it: convergencemag.com/donate

We take a closer look at the case of journalist Mario Guevara, who has been in ICE detention since mid-June despite being in the country legally with all criminal charges thrown out. Cayden is joined by Atlanta area freelance reporter Sam Barnes. Read Sam's full story in the Georgia Recorder. Then we take a broader look at the escalating normalization of state violence and erosion of civil liberties being enacted by the Trump administration's deportation programs and more. Cayden is joined by the International Associate General Secretary for American Friends Service Committee (or AFSC), Kerri Kennedy. Connect with Block & Build and more Contact us: [email protected] Subscribe to Convergence Magazine's YouTube to catch the show live: Fridays at 2:00 PM ET / 11:00 AM PT Support this show and movement media like it: convergencemag.com/donate

We explore local organizing to stop the construction of new data centers which form the material basis for big tech to deploy computationally expensive class war technologies like AI and crypto. The data centers and resources that fuel these highly speculative tech markets often show up in already poor and marginalized communities with little say from the people impacted by their pollution and cost. Guests include Senior Movement Building Director at MediaJustice, Myaisha Hayes, Organizer with the No Desert Data Center Coalition in Tucson, AZ, Vivek Bharathan, and executive director of Memphis Community Against Pollution, Keshaun Pearson (@keshaunpearson). Connect with Block & Build and more Contact us: [email protected] Subscribe to Convergence Magazine's YouTube to catch the show live: Fridays at 2:00 PM ET / 11:00 AM PT Support this show and movement media like it: convergencemag.com/donate