Reckonings

Episodes

1. 35

   Trump concedes. Fake news?

   For the last episode of Reckonings, none other than: Donald Trump. This episode is part of Deep Reckonings — a series of explicitly-marked deepfake videos that imagine Mark Zuckerberg, Brett Kavanaugh, and other public figures having a reckoning. Here, an imaginary Donald Trump concedes the 2020...

   Dec 18, 2020

   5m
2. 29

   #29 || DEEP RECKONINGS

   If Brett Kavanaugh, Alex Jones, and Mark Zuckerberg had a crisis of conscience, what would they say? Reckonings presents Deep Reckonings — a project that uses deepfakes to take Reckonings in a *fictional* direction, and imagine public figures having a reckoning. Watch the full series and learn…

   more
   Sep 16, 2020

   6m
3. 28

   #28 || How To Tackle Trump's Lies

   How do we cover the communications of a president who lies, especially when those lies can be fatal? The traditional rituals of journalism don't really work with a president who doesn't tell the truth, and so, what can we do instead? Reckonings presents Infinite Lunchbox on the topic of how to...

   Jun 23, 2020

   17m
4. 27

   #27 || How do people change?

   How do we change our hearts and minds? What moves us to shift our political worldviews, transcend extremism, and make other kinds of transformative change? That's the $64 million dollar question that gave birth to Reckonings. And that's the question I explore with lessons learned *from*…

   more
   Jun 16, 2020

   41m
5. 26

   #26 || Biden, #MeToo, and Growing in Public

   Joe Biden stands accused of sexual assault. And the Democratic Party leadership, which had been loud in its support for #MeToo, is suddenly……..silent. But, is it possible to support Biden's candidacy without abandoning #MeToo? Can we take Tara Reade's allegation seriously while deeming Biden a...

   Jun 9, 2020

   14m
6. 25

   #25 || Beyond Goliath

   He built Facebook's business model. Then he went on to become the President of Pinterest. And then he realized: he was addicted to his phone. And later: he was complicit in his own — and all of our — addictive relationships with technology. How does an architect of Facebook's business model…

   more
   Aug 8, 2019

   43m
7. 24

   #24 || How to turn a monster into an apologist

   'In writing this apology, I moved him from monster to apologist…and in doing that, he lost power over me.' That's Eve Ensler, talking about her recent *masterpiece* of a book, The Apology. In it, she imagines the apology her father never gave her for the abuse he inflicted on her as a child. It...

   Jul 17, 2019

   50m
8. 23

   #23.5 || Where is Reckonings going?

   Let's take a quick peek behind the curtain on a few things, including the question: where is Reckonings going?

   Jun 11, 2019

   8m
9. 23

   #23 || An uncommon conversation about clergy sex abuse

   She was sexually abused by her Catholic school teacher, a former nun. As a young priest, he sexually abused boys in his parish. Buckle your seat belts for an *uncommon conversation* about clergy sex abuse. Enormous gratitude to the National Association of Community and Restorative Justice...

   May 21, 2019

   1h 02m
10. 22

    #22 || An imaginary reckoning with Pope Francis

    If the Pope had a reckoning, what would it sound like? And then after you listen.....if you're curious *why* this was made, go to episode #23.5 and scroll to 01:18 for an explanation.

    Feb 24, 2019

    6m
11. 21

    #21 || A survivor and her perpetrator find justice

    Sameer met Anwen freshman year. He was into her, and they started seeing each other. Then one night, after a fraternity party, Sameer convinced Anwen to come home with him — which is when he coerced her into sexual activity. Their senior year, Anwen invited Sameer into a process of restorative...

    Dec 3, 2018

    56m
12. 20

    #20 || A journalist reckons with truth

    Alternative facts. Fake news. How are journalists grappling with this moment?? Dive into one journalist's reckoning with truth.

    Sep 21, 2018

    44m
13. 19

    #19.5 || Behind The Mic

    'Behind The Mic' is a series of short pieces I produce periodically, to bring you behind the microphone and reveal a bit of what's going on back here. This time, I'm pulling the curtain on three things: a new creative adventure, the *kinds* of change Reckonings is interested in, and how to bring...

    May 1, 2018

    7m
14. 19

    #19 || How will we become majestic elephants?

    'I could have been a left-wing guerrilla in Columbia. Whatever would have grabbed me at the right time, I was ready for.' What ended up grabbing Frank was neo-Nazism. What ended up grabbing Jesse was jihadi extremism. What do we see when we look beyond ideology? This episode was produced with...

    Mar 24, 2018

    59m
15. 18

    #18 || The defection of a Roger Ailes warrior

    "Very earlier on, Roger called me Ailes Junior. He told my dad, 'I've never met anyone more like me than Joe.'" As the protégé of Fox News chairman Roger Ailes, Joe Lindsley was closer to the man who built Fox News than any Fox executive. He helped write Ailes' speeches, sat next to him at...

    Jan 4, 2018

    40m
16. 17

    #17 || A paid climate skeptic switches sides

    'I can say to climate skeptics on the right, 'I used to believe what you believe. Hell, I wrote your talking points, and for 20 years, I was there! But let me tell you why I'm not there anymore.'' As the head of the Cato Institute's climate and environmental policy shop, Jerry Taylor was a…

    more
    Oct 31, 2017

    41m
17. 16

    #16 || Two teens overcome bullying

    'When I'm angry and I don't know how to get it out, I take it out on other people. I call people names, I say they're ugly, I talk about the way they dress. And when I get into fighting mode, I just start swinging.' When she was in high school, Halley built a reputation for herself as a bully. So...

    Sep 10, 2017

    30m
18. 15

    #15 || From health insurance spin doctor to truth teller

    'I was getting people to make decisions based on misleading information that could have life or death consequences.' That's Wendell Potter, the former head of public relations for CIGNA. As the executive spin doctor for one of the biggest health insurance companies in the country, he was...

    Jul 5, 2017

    32m
19. 14

    #14.5 || Behind The Mic

    'Behind The Mic' is a series of short pieces I produce periodically, to share what's going on behind the scenes. This time, I'm bringing y'all behind the microphone on two things: 1) an event Reckonings hosted back in December, inviting voters to take a post-election stroll in each other's shoes...

    Jun 13, 2017

    9m
20. 14

    #14 || When her daughter became her son (and vice versa)

    'You have all these plans, all these dreams, and then it hits you: my daughter's no longer a daughter, she's a son.' In struggling to accept her daughter as a transgender man, Rita DiNicola had to surrender dreams of wedding dress shopping and biological grandchildren. Similarly, in accepting her...

    Dec 24, 2016

    33m
21. 13

    #13 || Navigating wealth within cross-class relationships

    'I was taught that money is not something you talk about, because once people know you have it, you'll get taken advantage of.' Like many young members of the 1%, Michelle inherited immense wealth at an early age. In a separate but parallel tale, so did Abe. For many years, they didn't talk about...

    Sep 13, 2016

    58m
22. 12

    #12 || A conversion on climate change

    "When my son said, 'dad, I'm gonna vote for you, but you're going to clean up your act on the environment,' it wasn't a threat. It was my son saying, 'dad, I love you, and I want you to be what you can be.'" The force that propelled then-Republican South Carolina Congressman Bob Inglis to shift…

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    Jun 21, 2016

    28m
23. 11

    #11 || The fracture of a fundamentalist worldview

    'I don't know if I can convey how comforting it is to believe that you possess the secret to how everything in the universe works. And as a consequence, we had this amazing bonus: we were going to heaven and everyone else was going to hell.' That's how Chris Ladd describes his upbringing in a...

    May 24, 2016

    34m
24. 10

    #10 || An unlikely friendship transforms the gun debate

    "What really blinds people on both sides is thinking that it's either or: either we do nothing and put up with the horrendous tolls of firearm deaths and mass shootings, or we take all the guns away." That's public health expert and former CDC research director Mark Rosenberg, speaking to one of...

    May 3, 2016

    37m
25. 9

    #9 || Defecting from the Donald

    "One of my co-workers said, 'Trump supporters are without exception the worst people I've ever met, they're almost sub-human.' And I'm standing there thinking, you know, we're friends, but I think I'll keep my mouth shut." That's Alex Mamach, a young white Chicago native who grew up in a poor and...

    Apr 26, 2016

    35m
26. 8

    #8.5 || Behind The Mic

    There's so much that goes on behind the microphone, and I'm going to start bringing you back here. This is the inaugural 'Behind The Mic' piece, stay tuned for more. For this first one: what is Reckonings, and why did I create it?

    Apr 25, 2016

    4m
27. 8

    #8 || Transcending a lineage of violence

    "I called myself a Karma King, because I was distributing the shit that had been given to me." The finale of Season 1 features Daniel Gallant, a former violent extremist turned anti-violence activist, counselor, and scholar. Violence is what he experienced growing up, what he became a perpetrator...

    Jan 21, 2016

    34m
28. 7

    #7 || Emergence of a conscientious objector

    'I realized that my excuses for justifying war had nothing to do with what we were trying to achieve. I justified war because I wanted to believe that the things I'd done were right, and that my fellow soldiers hadn't died in vain.' Those are the sobering words of Afghanistan war veteran and...

    Jan 13, 2016

    36m
29. 6

    #6 || From addiction to recovery and beyond

    'My mantra back then was I hate my life...My mantra now is I love my life.' Paige Sargent is a singer and song-writer, who once struggled with alcohol and cocaine addiction. The destruction of her addiction was vast and damaged every part of her life — especially her relationships, and in...

    Jan 5, 2016

    35m
30. 5

    #5 pt. 2 || The conscience of a public intellectual

    'What I regret is not being aware of the extent to which what I was pronouncing as right or wrong for the world was motivated by my own personal issues.' So admits Glenn Loury, prominent academic economist and one of the nation's foremost black intellectuals. Loury's story is expansive, involving...

    Dec 23, 2015

    28m
31. 5

    #5 pt. 1 || The conscience of a public intellectual

    'What I regret is not being aware of the extent to which what I was pronouncing as right or wrong for the world was motivated by my own personal issues.' So admits Glenn Loury, prominent academic economist and one of the nation's foremost black intellectuals. Loury's story is expansive, involving...

    Dec 23, 2015

    32m
32. 4

    #4 || Revelations of a tough-on-crime prosecutor

    'I went through 4 years of college, 3 years of law school, and a 2-year judicial clerkship without ever really thinking about the way our criminal justice system functions.' That's the admission of Preston Shipp, a former tough-on-crime prosecutor for the state of Tennessee. Tune in to find out...

    Dec 15, 2015

    34m
33. 3

    #3 || Mother of an ISIS militant

    "He wanted a purpose." Those are the words of Christianne Boudreau, whose son Damian left Calgary for Syria, to join ISIS. She raised him Christian, but he was convinced by Islamic State recruiters to take up jihadism. Damian kept his activities hidden and Boudreau knows there's little she could...

    Dec 8, 2015

    29m
34. 2

    #2 || White-collar criminal turned whistleblower

    'The top executives from Enron, WorldComm, and ADM — we went to jail for narcissism.' Mark Whitacre was the FBI informant in one of the biggest price-fixing cases in US history, against global food conglomerate Archer Daniels Midland. While undercover, he was convicted for embezzlement, lost his...

    Dec 1, 2015

    28m
35. 1

    #1 || Drug cop turned drug war critic

    "When you call something a war, everyone believes that they're a warrior." Neill Franklin is a former Maryland State Police Major, who oversaw 17 drug task forces. Take a ride on his journey from narcotics agent to vocal critic of the drug war and Executive Director of Law Enforcement Against...

    Nov 17, 2015

    28m