Art of Power

By WBEZSociety & Culture

Art of Power episodes

February 17, 2023 Special: Shoes Off
WBEZ Chicago has a new podcast that we think Art of Power fans will enjoy.
It's called Shoes Off: A Sexy Asians Podcast! It's a show celebrating badass Asians
who are making a mark on pop culture and entertainment. Give it a listen!
43 min
May 12, 2022 Franklin Leonard finds the best scripts in Hollywood
His annual ‘Black List’ elevated films like ‘Juno,’ ‘Argo’ and ‘The King’s
Speech.’ Now he wants to change how Hollywood finds its talent.
Franklin Leonard tells Art of Power’s Aarti Shahani how his nerdy beginnings in
Georgia set the precedent for his career as a revered film executive. He explains
how creating his first 'Black List' broke an unwritten Hollywood rule, what show biz
can learn from the NBA about finding the best talent, and the power of imagery in
dismantling racism and asserting personhood.
37 min
May 05, 2022 Former ‘Roe’ attorney Gloria Allred on NDAs, empowering victims and a world without legal abortion
Back in the 1960s – before Gloria Allred became one of America’s most
prominent women’s rights attorneys – she says she was raped at gunpoint. She became
pregnant and had a back-alley abortion that nearly killed her.
“It did teach me a lesson,” Allred tells Art of Power host Aarti Shahani. “And the
lesson is that abortion should be safe, legal, affordable and available.”
In conversation with Shahani, Allred explains how that traumatic life event changed
her worldview and preceded her decades-long career in civil rights law (10:20). She
explains why she uses a cheeky sense of humor to get what she needs (4:30) and how
she’s represented some of the most famed names in women’s rights, including “Jane
Roe” of Roe v. Wade and O.J. Simpson’s ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson (14:35). Plus,
Allred defends a long-standing practice she’s been criticized for: negotiating
non-disclosure agreements (26:20).
35 min
April 28, 2022 Dolores Huerta on organizing, motherhood and ‘sexual coercion’ in her labor rights movement
She helped organize one of the largest labor movements in history, but her
name is often left out of the narrative. As an organizer in the 1960s, Dolores
Huerta says it was not always easy to assert her power.
“As a woman, I had to do something about the way the women were being treated,” she
told Art of Power’s Aarti Shahani.
Huerta explains how she raised 11 children in voluntary poverty while leading a
nationwide civil rights battle (01:45). She dissects the mechanics of the famous
1965 Delano grape boycott, including how she allied with some of America’s biggest
leaders (13:50). And for the first time, she reveals how higher-ups within the
organization handled an alleged case of what she calls “sexual coercion” less than
gracefully (30:40).
39 min
April 21, 2022 ‘Hangover’ producer Scott Budnick cannot be pigeonholed
Scott Budnick might be best known for producing The Hangover trilogy, one
of the most successful R-rated comedy franchises ever. But making frat-boy comedies
and spending years among ladder-climbers and clout-chasers in Hollywood left Budnick
wanting.
“I just felt empty inside,” he tells Art of Power’s Aarti Shahani.
Budnick tells Shahani about the turn of events that led him to become one of
California’s foremost advocates for criminal justice reform. He explains how he
broke into the film industry — and then why he left it to found the non-profit
Anti-Recidivism Coalition. And he describes his pivot back to creating films —
including the 2019 Michael B. Jordan drama Just Mercy — through One Community, a
production company with an explicitly political agenda.
38 min
April 14, 2022 How 'Queer Eye' Changed The Culture
'Queer Eye,' both the original version on Bravo and the newer Netflix
reboot, is one of the most celebrated reality TV shows on the planet. But it was no
sure thing.
Creator David Collins tells Aarti Shahani the show's amazing creation story. He says
God used him as a vessel to help gain cultural acceptance for the LGBTQ community.
And he reflects on how others can do for their community what 'Queer Eye' has done
for the LGBTQ+ movement.
This episode was originally published on May 6, 2021.
40 min
April 07, 2022 Stacey Abrams does everything
Stacey Abrams is one of the highest profile democracy activists on the
planet. She's also an entrepreneur, lawyer, novelist, and she nearly became the
first Black woman to govern a state in the U.S.
In conversation with Aarti Shahani, Abrams opens up about her inner wiring. She says
she writes novels in order to live the adventurous lives she cannot, she explains
why neither victory nor defeat are permanent, and she reflects on her 2018 election
loss.
"Crisis sometimes changes us, but more often it reveals us," she tells Shahani, "and
my crisis was a revelatory moment."
How does Stacey Abrams recover from heartache? “Slowly.”
This episode was originally published on July 15, 2021.
44 min
March 31, 2022 Sal Khan, Founder Of Khan Academy
First, a lovely update from Aarti. Then, Sal Khan, a man who challenged the
education model we’ve been using for centuries. In so doing, he created the largest
school in existence.
Khan tells Art of Power host Aarti Shahani about the humble origins of Khan Academy,
how he wanted to offer a world class education — like a Harvard or an Oxford —
except online and free for everyone, and how he had the confidence to revolutionize
education.
This episode was originally published on May 20, 2021.
39 min
March 24, 2022 From BLM activist to Congress: Rep. Cori Bush
In this week’s episode of Art of Power, host Aarti Shahani sits down with
Congresswoman Cori Bush (D-Mo.), a former Black Lives Matter activist who lost two
elections before finally winning Missouri’s 1st congressional seat in 2020.
Rep. Bush tells Shahani about her early exposure to politics (12:36), the
adversities she endured in her early life — including eviction, homelessness and
rape (19:12), the 2014 shooting death of Michael Brown Jr. in Ferguson that pushed
her to seek public office (4:00), and why she didn’t quit after two lopsided
electoral defeats (32:45).
40 min
March 17, 2022 Indra Nooyi smiles through the BS
In this week’s episode of Art of Power, host Aarti Shahani sits down with
Indra Nooyi, who became the first woman and immigrant to head a Fortune 50 company
when she was named CEO of PepsiCo in 2006.
Nooyi and host Aarti Shahani discuss her unusual family – where the men pushed her
to be more ambitious. Aarti asks Nooyi how she manages to stay so light-hearted when
people cut her down at work. (It’s something she does over and over again.) Her
answer? It’s not what Aarti expected.
Indra Nooyi’s book, My Life In Full, has a provocative passage. Describing the times
she’s been invited into rooms with the most influential people on the planet, she
writes: “The titans of industry, politics and economics, talked about advancing the
world through finance, technology, and flying to Mars. Family – the actual messy,
delightful, difficult and treasured core of how most of us live – was fringe. This
disconnect has profound consequences…In a prosperous marketplace, we need all women
to have the choice to work in paid jobs outside the home and for our social and
economic infrastructure to entirely support that choice.” (emphasis added)
Aarti dissects that call to action with her. It sounds like the call of a feminist
or labor leader. Nooyi posits her argument is simple economics.
“If you think like an economist, not a feminist, then you say you want the best
resources available, which means that men and women, the best talent, have to be in
the service of the economy,” Nooyi says. “And that requires some social support. …
If you don't provide them a support structure, and then lament about the great
resignation, it's crazy.”
43 min

About Art of Power

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They changed the world. So can you. Each week, award-winning journalist Aarti Shahani meets fascinating humans who've done big things. They answer two questions: (1) How does power work in the real…