Ellie 2.0 - Am950 The Progressive Voice Of Minnesota

Our featured idealist is Pussy Riot, the Russian music/performance group that is a big thorn in Vladimir Putin’s side. The Big Interview has me speaking to Bethany O’Neil and Cresston Gackle, attorneys who wrote about how MN’s system of selecting juries, which often fails to reflect the diversity of the community, perpetuates bias against criminal…

It’s a Live Show! I begin by talking about recently presenting in Albert Lea MN and discuss how greater/rural MN is becoming more diverse; as a consequence, those with power (usually white, Christian men) need to cede some power in order to make their communities more inclusive and welcoming. I also talk about the Dylan…

We begin with highlighting the idealists who are working against efforts to marginalize transgender people with an update on NE state legislator Michaela Cavanaugh and a story about MT state legislator, Zooey Zephyr, the state’s only trans person in the legislature, who spoke up against efforts to pass a gender affirming care ban. As a…

I begin with talking about sociologist/Princeton University professor Matthew Desmond and his book, Poverty, By America. His thesis is that paying low-income wages subsidizes the lifestyles of well-off Americans. The Big Interview is with Jennifer Pizer, the Chief Legal Officer of Lambda Legal, who talks about that organization’s great work in representing LGBTQ+ people for…

Ellie interviews Thom Hartmann.

We start out with featuring the idealistic MSNBC host Chris Hayes and his meteoric rise in broadcast journalism (he is the youngest person to ever host a news show) and my belief in his honesty. The Big Interview is with Emily Strasser, author of Half-Life of a Secret: Reckoning with a Hidden History, a fascinating…

This week’s featured idealist is LeBron James, who just broke the NBA scoring record. In August 2018, I shared about the “I Promise” school his family foundation helped to create in LeBron’s hometown of Akron, Ohio. Today we revisit how that initiative is impacting hundreds of students who might otherwise get lost in the educational…

To commemorate World Holocaust Remembrance Day, we begin with a story about CANDLES (Children of Auschwitz Nazi Deadly Lab Experiments), a nonprofit in Terre Haute IN and the stories of three Holocaust survivors who lived in Terre Haute. It’s quite a collective story about survival and idealism, with the survivors believing that if their personal…

It’s a live show! We begin with an interview of Lehman Riley, the author of the Papa Lemon children’s books series—stories that seek to teach children the basics about respect, equality, allyship and how not to bully. Lehman is a magnetic personality who goes into the classrooms to help children get excited about learning and…

We start off the brand new year with our featured idealist, Hakeem Jeffries, the newly elected House Minority Leader, who’s proven to be determined and persistent in his professional and political careers. The Big Interview is with Greg Anderson, the curator of the podcast, Living in Carver County, who talks about the need to get…

Ellie talks about the political scene in Iowa.

It’s a live show beginning with James Curry of Building Remembrance 4 Reconciliation, a nonprofit that’s working to help Hastings MN and other communities heal from histories of racial intolerance. From there, I talk about how the Respect for Marriage Act, contrary to popular opinion, is not a federal law guaranteeing marriage equality or biracial…

A live show where I talk about CNN journalist Jake Tapper’s article in The Atlantic highlighting the injustice of our legal system that appoints incompetent attorneys to represent the indigent. I also share about idealist Chris Stout, a wounded service member who has devoted his life to creating the Veterans Community Project in Kansas City,…