Ep. 31: Participatory budgeting: When government really is by the people

Dominique Walker left her hometown of East Oakland for university, only to come back to find it gentrified and her neighbors displaced. This week, she shares the story of how she and Moms 4 Housing, an activist group pushing for American recognition of housing as a human right, took direct action against a real estate speculator and reclaimed its property for the people.

The Next System Podcast is presented by The Next System Project at The Democracy Collaborative. The Next System Podcast is available on iTunes, Soundcloud, Google Play, Stitcher, Tune-In, and Spotify.You can also subscribe independently to our RSS feed here. The Podcast is hosted by Isaiah J. Poole and produced by Luís Garcia de la Cadena. The music heard on this podcast is "A New Start" by Zoë Blade.

( full transcripts are available at thenextsystem.org/podcast )

As a Black woman leading one of the nation's most prominent philanthropic organizations, La June Montgomery Tabron is taking on the challenge of addressing the impact of systemic racism on families and communities. She talks with Rev. Ronnie Galvin Jr., The Democracy Collaborative's vice president for racial equity and the democratic economy, about the work of truth-telling, racial healing and "looking at the systems that need to shift so that families and children can thrive."

The Next System Podcast is presented by The Next System Project at The Democracy Collaborative. The Next System Podcast is available on iTunes, Soundcloud, Google Play, Stitcher Radio, Tune-In, and Spotify. You can also subscribe independently to our RSS feed here.

This podcast is hosted by Isaiah J. Poole and produced by Luís García de la Cadena. The music, "A New Start," is by Zoë Blade.

Full transcripts of all our episodes are available at www.thenextsystem.org/podcast.

New Belgium Brewing has been held up as a shining example of what could be possible through worker ownership. Bu now that it's been purchased by an international conglomerate, there are new questions about the best strategy and models for turning workers into owners. We talk to Jessica Rose, co-founder of the worker ownership advocacy organization Fifty by Fifty, and to two experts in advancing alternative ownership models, Camille Kerr and Jason Wiener. 

The Next System Podcast is presented by The Next System Project at The Democracy Collaborative. The Next System Podcast is available on iTunes, Soundcloud, Google Play, Stitcher Radio, Tune-In, and Spotify. You can also subscribe independently to our RSS feed here.

This podcast is hosted by Isaiah J. Poole and produced by Luís García de la Cadena. The music, "A New Start," is by Zoë Blade.

Full transcripts of all our episodes are available at www.thenextsystem.org/podcast.

Today's so-called "full-employment economy" still fails millions. We examine the campaign for a federal jobs guarantee and why now is the time to fight for transformative changes in the job market. We talk to Policy Link's Sarah Treuhaft about the "Job Guarantee Now!" campaign PolickLink is helping to lead and Darrick Hamilton of the Kirwan Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity about the systemic transformation of the workforce that would be possible.

The Next System Podcast is presented by The Next System Project at The Democracy Collaborative. The Next System Podcast is available on iTunes, Soundcloud, Google Play, Stitcher Radio, Tune-In, and Spotify. You can also subscribe independently to our RSS feed here.

This podcast is hosted by Isaiah J. Poole and produced by Luís García de la Cadena. The music, "A New Start (Radio Edit)," is by Zoë Blade.

Full transcripts of all our episodes are available at www.thenextsystem.org/podcast.

This week, we sit down with Marjorie Kelly and Ted Howard, co-authors of The Making of a Democratic Economy. Illuminating the principles of a democratic economy through the stories of on-the-ground community wealth builders and their unlikely accomplices in the halls of institutional power, this book is a must read for everyone concerned with how we win the fight for an economy that’s equitable, not extractive. You can purchase their book online at ademocraticeconomy.org, where you can find an independent bookstore in your area.

Music: A New Start (Radio Edit) by Zoë Blade

The Next System Podcast is available on iTunes, Soundcloud, Google Play, Stitcher Radio, Tune-In, and Spotify. You can also subscribe independently to our RSS feed here.

Full transcripts of all our episodes are available at www.thenextsystem.org/podcast.

This is the second in a two-part discussion with Clark Arrington, a pioneer in the cooperative movement, an innovative legal practitioner, and a leader in the movement for Black economic empowerment.  In Part 2, Arrington discusses his work in Tanzania, following his successes at Equal Exchange, and in the United States today as general counsel for The Working World, which provides innovative, nonextractive financing and support for cooperatives. He is interviewed by John Duda, The Democracy Collaborative's communications director.

Part 1 of a special two-part edition of The Next System Podcast features Clark Arrington, a pioneer in the cooperative movement, an innovative legal practitioner, and a leader in the movement for Black economic empowerment. He now works as general counsel for The Working World, which provides creative, nonextractive financing and support for cooperatives. He is also known for his work in helping Equal Exchange grow from a niche organic coffee importer to a $70 million business. He is interviewed by John Duda, communications director for The Democracy Collaborative.

The United States is in the midst of a housing affordability crisis, with at least 21 million households spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing, and an estimated 553,000 people are completely homeless. Its roots are systemic, and this edition of The Next System Podcast features people at the front lines of the crisis and activists fighting for transformative solutions based on the principle that housing is a human right. You will hear from Christy Respress of Pathways to Housing DC, Stephanie Bastek of Stomp Out Slumlords, Tiana Caldwell of KC Tenants, Tara Raghuveerof People's Action and The Next System Project's Peter Gowan. See a transcript and previous episodes at thenextsystem.org/podcast.

In this episode, we’re discussing how to further democratize rural electric cooperatives and what that means for the communities that these institutions serve. In this podcast, we’re joined by The Democracy Collaborative’s Johanna Bozuwa, Nikita Perumal from Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, and Chris Woolery from the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development. We’re talking about their recent collaboration on the New Economy Coalition’s latest toolkit on rural electric cooperatives. Be sure to check it out! https://www.electriccooporganizing.org/

The Next System Podcast is available on iTunes, Soundcloud, Google Play, Stitcher Radio, Tune-In, and Spotify. You can also subscribe independently to our RSS feed here.

Full transcripts of all our episodes are available at www.thenextsystem.org/podcast.