Crooked Conversations

By Crooked Media

News & Politics

What's Crooked Conversations about?

One side effect of our national addiction to Trump’s tweets and other news cycle garbage is that fascinating issues, brilliant books and important debates aren't getting the attention they deserve. With a rotating crew of your favorite Crooked Media hosts, contributors, and special guests, Crooked Conversations brings Pod Save America's no-b.s., conversational style to topics in politics, media, culture, sports, and technology that aren’t making headlines but still have a major impact on our world. 

4.5

3,553 ratings

Download our free app to listen on your phone

LAST EPISODE

On The Brink: Changing The ...

03.27.2019

In the last episode of On The Brink, Julissa is joined by Sayu Bhojwani, Founder and President of New American Leaders. New American Leaders works to build the power and potential of first and second generation Americans to run for ...

Crooked Conversations episodes:

03.27.2019 On The Brink: Changing The Face of Politics In the last episode of On The Brink, Julissa is joined by Sayu Bhojwani, Founder and President of New American Leaders. New American Leaders works to build the power and potential of first and second generation Americans to run for ...
03.20.2019 On The Brink: Revolutionizing Fitness for Adaptive Athletes As part of her ongoing series for Women’s History Month, Julissa Arce talks to Stephanie Hammerman. Hammerman is the owner of Hammer Driven Fitness, a functional fitness-focused gym. They talk about how best to demystify the myths surrounding Cerebral Palsy ...
03.13.2019 On The Brink: Winning a Nobel Peace Prize Julissa Arce sits down with Amanda Nguyen to discuss her work with Rise, a non-profit fighting for the civil rights of sexual assault survivors. Amanda shares how the organization has helped pass 20 laws and what it means to her ...
03.06.2019 On the Brink: Running a Presidential Campaign To celebrate Women’s History Month, Crooked contributor Julissa Arce is sitting down with women on the brink of making history. This week she is joined by Maya Rupert. Rupert is only the 3rd black woman to run a presidential campaign, ...
02.27.2019 What did Alyssa Mastromonaco learn from trusting her gut? Jon Favreau talks to Alyssa Mastromonaco about her new book “So Here’s The Thing…“, a book of reflections, essays and interviews on everything from politics and career to motherhood, sisterhood and making relationships in the age of social media. Alyssa ...
02.20.2019 How can we stop the rise of antisemitism? This week Rabbi Brous, senior rabbi at IKAR, is joined by Eric Ward, the Executive Director of Western States Center, to discuss the rise of antisemitism and its ties to white nationalism.
02.15.2019 What is the influence of Black voices in media and television? Winter Minisee sits down with Louis Carr, President of Media Sales for BET Networks, to discuss what inspired him to work in the world of media and advertising and what the future of BET looks like within the changing media ...
02.13.2019 What did the media get wrong about 21 Savage’s detention by ICE? This week, Julissa Arce discusses the detention of Atlanta rapper 21 Savage. She is joined first by immigration activist Astrid Silva who breaks down the recent developments in the case. Then, Julissa sits down with Jonathan Jayes-Green, co-founder and director ...
01.30.2019 How do we get dark money out of politics? Kiran Deol, co-host of Crooked’s Hysteria, talks to documentary filmmaker Kim Reed about the making of the Oscar short-listed film Dark Money, a political thriller which explores the impact of the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling and the influence of ...
01.23.2019 Why aren't there more women of color in fine arts? Julissa Arce is joined by Jazmín Morales, a classical musician based in Los Angeles who runs the Fortissima fellowship for young female musicians of color. Together they discuss the lack of diversity currently found in fine arts and the classical ...
01.16.2019 How do we address inequality in cities like San Francisco? Mayor Michael Tubbs is joined by Matt Haney, Supervisor-Elect to San Francisco’s 6th District, to discuss Haney's decision to run for office, his work as a San Francisco Unified School Board member, and what it means to enact change on ...
01.09.2019 What is the impact of Trump’s presidency on Dreamers? In a two-part conversation, Julissa Arce is first joined by Jin Park. Park is a recent Harvard graduate and a DACA recipient, the first undocumented student to win the Rhodes Scholarship. They discuss their shared experience of being undocumented in ...
12.26.2018 What’s it like to work on a campaign? Priyanka Aribindi is joined by Tommy Vietor, Crooked Media founder and former Obama National Security Council Spokesman, to discuss how a campaign really works, what it was like to work on President Obama’s senate and presidential campaigns, and how to ...
12.19.2018 Can we beat the right without sacrificing our values? Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) explains why Democrats lose winnable fights with Republicans and what steps they should take to turn things around—the topic of his new essay for Crooked.com.
12.12.2018 How are Republicans weaponizing voting? DeRay Mckesson, activist and host of Pod Save the People, sits down with Ari Berman, senior reporter for Mother Jones and author of Give Us The Ballot, to discuss midterm results, where the country currently stands as it pertains to ...
12.05.2018 What can a company do about gun violence? Winter Minisee sits down with TOMS founder Blake Mycoskie to discuss a recent initiative by the company to send over 700,000 postcards to representatives in Washington DC urging them to support universal background checks to help eradicate gun violence. The ...
11.28.2018 How much have things really changed since the Civil Rights Movement? Julissa Arce is joined by D. Watkins, activist, professor and Editor at Large for Salon, to discuss how civil rights have shifted over time and more recently since President Trump and his administration took office.
11.21.2018 How does art affect policy? Winter Minisee sits down with artist and activist Cleo Barnett of the We The People Campaign and Amplifier to talk about how she uses art to shift public policy and the art that has moved her to take action.
11.14.2018 Why are we scared to talk about periods? Julissa Arce is joined by Nadya Okamoto, author of the book Period Power, to discuss stigmatization around menstruation and the various ways in which policies surrounding access to tampons & pads could help change the ways women and those who ...
11.07.2018 Who is the Millennial Mayor Reinventing Stockton? Michael Tubbs joins Symone Sanders to discuss his plan to implement a universal basic income as mayor of Stockton, California. They also discuss the advantages and disadvantages of being elected mayor at age 27.
10.31.2018 What can hospitality teach politics? Priyanka Aribindi interviews Danny Meyer, the CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group (Shake Shack, Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern, Maialino, and more), and the author of “Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business,” to discuss hospitality and ...
10.24.2018 How do we hold corporations more accountable? Activist Winter Minisee is joined by Bozoma Saint John, Chief Marketing Officer at Endeavor, to discuss how she's been able to balance her interest in social justice with the mission of the companies she's worked for from Uber to Apple ...
10.17.2018 Restore the Vote Brian Beutler speaks to five inmates at San Quentin State Prison about why they and prisoners across the country are forbidden from voting, what the right to vote means to them, and what it should mean to the rest of ...
10.10.2018 Defining Us: What is Latinx power actually like in America? In the last episode of their special series, Julissa Arce and Grace Parra discuss what it means to be nearing majority status but not hold majority power. They sit down to talk to Ana Valdez from the Latino Donor Collaborative ...
10.03.2018 Defining Us: Why does Latinx representation matter? Contributors Julissa Arce and Grace Parra explore the role of Latinos in media and entertainment. Then they're joined by prolific journalist Jorge Ramos to discuss his reporting and what he believes is the social responsibility of journalists.
09.26.2018 Defining Us: What's the Latinx contribution to civil rights? Contributors Julissa Arce and Grace Parra explore the Latinx contribution to civil rights in the United States in this special series for Crooked Conversations. They're joined by one of the leaders of the 1968 East LA school walkouts Moctesuma Esparza, ...
09.19.2018 Defining Us: What does it mean to be Latinx? In a special series for Crooked Conversations, contributors Julissa Arce and Grace Parra explore and celebrate the Latinx experience in the United States in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month. In the first of four conversations, the hosts discuss the history ...
09.12.2018 What can we learn from protesting? Jon Lovett talks to host of Pod Save the People DeRay Mckesson about the lessons he's learned from protesting and what gives him hope today. Then we hear an audiobook excerpt from his new book “On the Other Side of ...
09.05.2018 Can Elizabeth Warren Save America From Corruption? Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Crooked Media’s Editor in Chief Brian Beutler discuss two important new bills she has just introduced: One to save American politics from corruption, and one to save American capitalism from itself.
08.29.2018 Will Kavanaugh be Gen Z's Voldemort? Our newest Crooked Contributor Winter BreeAnne interviews former President of Planned Parenthood Cecile Richards about how young people can help the fight for reproductive rights, what the Brett Kavanaugh nomination means and how her upbringing in a political home influenced ...
08.22.2018 The World As It Is: Was Benghazi the beginning of Trump? Ben Rhodes talks to Pod Save America co-host and former U.S. National Security Council spokesperson Tommy Vietor about what the media gets wrong about Benghazi, how that moment led to Trump as president, and what it’s like "running" the Deep ...
08.22.2018 Was Benghazi the beginning of Trump? Ben Rhodes talks to Pod Save America co-host and former U.S. National Security Council spokesperson Tommy Vietor about what the media gets wrong about Benghazi, how that moment led to Trump as president, and what it’s like "running" the Deep ...
08.15.2018 The World As It Is: Why it was such a big deal President Obama visited Cuba Ben Rhodes talks to former spokesperson for the United States National Security Council Bernadette Meehan about the diplomacy efforts that went into repairing the U.S. - Cuba relationship and why it was such a big deal when Obama visited.
08.08.2018 The World As It Is: From Russia With Treason Ben Rhodes chats with Former White House Communications Director Jen Psaki about what they knew about Russian interference in 2016 and the impact it’s having around the world, as part of his series “The World As It Is” for Crooked ...
08.01.2018 The World As It Is: Writing for Obama In a special series for Crooked Conversations, Ben Rhodes takes a deeper dive into some of the issues and themes that he deals with in his memoir "The World As It Is" about his 10 years working as Deputy National ...
07.25.2018 What Would Happen If We #AbolishICE? Julissa Arce is joined by UCLA Law professor Hiroshi Motomura to discuss the origins of ICE, the role it plays in government and whether the movement to abolish ICE is possible. You can read more of Motomura's work in Americans ...
07.18.2018 What if your local post office doubled as your bank? Crooked Contributor Symone Sanders talks to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand about how postal banks can protect people from predatory lenders, what the Supreme Court Justice decision will mean for maternal health and what the immigration detention centers at the border are ...
07.11.2018 Are unions still relevant? A conversation between host of Majority 54 Jason Kander and Richard Trumka, the president of AFL-CIO, about the importance of unions and how collective action has increased over the past couple years to help working people.
07.04.2018 What does it mean to call America home? Julissa Arce is joined by poet and activist Yosimar Reyes to discuss what it means to be undocumented and American on the 4th of July.
06.27.2018 Why should we care about non-unanimous jury verdicts? Pod Save the People host DeRay Mckesson talks to Oregon Representative Jennifer Williamson about non-unanimous jury verdicts and what’s flawed in our judicial system.
06.20.2018 Can a photo make us care about climate change? Crooked Contributor Julissa Arce talks to National Geographic photographer Cristina Mittermeier about the role of art in conservation.
06.13.2018 Wanna listen to part of Dan's new book? Pod Save America co-host Dan Pfeiffer reads an excerpt of his new book "Yes, We (Still) Can: Politics in the Age of Obama, Twitter, and Trump" out on June 19th and chats with Jon Lovett about the writing process and ...
06.06.2018 Can Donald Trump be impeached? Crooked.com Editor in Chief Brian Beutler talks to Harvard Professor Laurence Tribe, co-author of To End a Presidency about constitutional law, the history of impeachment, and whether Republicans have made themselves immune from it.
05.30.2018 Will psychology save us? Jon Lovett talks to Adam Grant, a behavioral psychologist and host of the podcast WorkLife from TED, about how psychology can help us fight groupthink, reach voters, and get politicians to actually agree on policy.
05.23.2018 What happens after the protest? Crooked Contributor Julissa Arce talks to founder of IssueVoter Maria Yuan and co-creator of the Occupy Wall Street protests Micah White about what constituents can do after protests to make lasting change.
05.16.2018 What do millennials think about politics? Crooked Contributor Symone Sanders talks to Harvard’s Director of Polling John Della Volpe and Student Chair Teddy Landis about what the polls tell us about voter participation, gun reform, #metoo, immigration and other key issues.
05.09.2018 Can RBG do more pushups than you? Crooked Contributor Erin Ryan talks to Betsy West and Julie Cohen, co-directors of RBG, a new documentary that profiles the life of the great Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg.
05.02.2018 How do you do a late night show in the Trump-era? Host of Pod Save The People DeRay Mckesson talks to Robin Thede, host of The Rundown on BET, about how late-night has changed since Trump became president.
04.25.2018 Why are Republicans beating Democrats at the Internet? Crooked Contributor Symone Sanders talks to Guy Cecil, chairman of Priorities USA, about how Democratic super pacs are investing in digital ads and pulling out of TV, as well as what this means for the midterms in advance of 2020.
04.18.2018 Can we have medicare for all? Pod Save America co-host Jon Favreau talks to Andy Slavitt, the board chairman of the United States of Care, and Adam Gaffney, an instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School and secretary of the advocacy organization Physicians for a National ...

Older episodes