Make It Plain MIP with Rev. Mark Thompson

Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm joins Make It Plain to discuss the Infrastructure bill that is resilient to climate impacts and improves our physical foundations, but also honors the human side of it, which includes things like getting families access to childcare, elder care, internet access--basic human needs that put extra stress people and their budgets.

Executive Producer: Adell Coleman

Producer: Brittany Temple

Distributor: DCP Entertainment

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Scott Dworkin, who is also Founder and Executive Director of the Democratic Coalition and host of podcast “The Dworkin Report,” is here to download us on all sorts of strategy and analysis of what’s up ahead for 2022 and 2024. He shares that it’s believed Trump plans to announce a 2024 run early next year, before primary season, for one specific reason--but could that help Democrats in the long-run? Scott also shares his biggest concerns for 2022, and fills us in on a key race in Virginia, where Terry McAuliffe is back for another run. Breaking from the future to look at the past, Scott explains why Mike Pence is an accomplice to the January 6th insurrection. And Scott also share why he thinks Facebook going out of service was a self-inflicted wound to distract from the whistleblower news, and why he doesn’t think Mark Zuckerberg will be running Facebook this time next year.

Executive Producer: Adell Coleman

Producer: Brittany Temple

Distributor: DCP Entertainment

For additional content: makeitplain.com

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Confederate monuments are coming down every day in this country, but as Connor Towne O’Neill details in his book “Down Along With That Devil's Bones,” we’re still fighting a “Cold Civil War,” where monument removal is a change that is important symbolism but does not get at the systemic problems. Connor became invested in the conversations and arguments happening around Confederate monuments when he moved to Alabama and came upon a memorial for Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate Army general and the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan--a man whose 200th birthday was just celebrated by Neo-Confederates this past summer. Connor shares the story of who Forrest was, the role he played in the Civil War, and why he’s still a hero to some racist white southerners today. And though his busts have come down in Tennessee, there’s much work to be done by white people, specifically engaging in conversations with one another about racism, white supremacy, and the factual history of this country. Because these Confederate monuments didn’t start showing up until the turn of the 20th century, in what is believed to be an attempt to “tidy up the legacy of the Civil War,” and you know Black people weren’t behind that one.

BUY Connor’s book here: https://bookshop.org/books/down-along-with-that-devil-s-bones-a-reckoning-with-monuments-memory-and-the-legacy-of-white-supremacy/9781616209100

Executive Producer: Adell Coleman

Producer: Brittany Temple

Distributor: DCP Entertainment

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Color of Change ran their first campaign against R. Kelly and his alleged abuse in 2017, as they attempted to get his label, RCA, to drop him. Now that he’s been formally charged and found guilty in a court of law, Jade Magnus Ogunnaike, Senior Director of the Media, Culture, and Economic Justice at Color Of Change, discusses how we can move forward and find new ways to rehabilitate the women and girls who survive abuse. And now that R. Kelly has been convicted at the federal level, what will unfold with his state-level charges? Jade explores what might be up ahead for the convicted sexual predator, and why he’s undeserving of a conversation on redemption. Jade also shares with us the news that Color of Change has created a style guide media outlets to assist in their speaking about sexual assault survivors with respect.

Executive Producer: Adell Coleman

Producer: Brittany Temple

Distributor: DCP Entertainment

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Is it time for your booster shot? United States Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy returns to the show for an update on the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine booster shot. He answers questions like: what does the booster do in your body, who is eligible, what happens if you’ve had a Moderna or Johnson & Johnson shot, and how the boosters help the overall population.

WHERE CAN YOU GET THE BOOSTER? Look here: vaccines.gov

Executive Producer: Adell Coleman

Producer: Brittany Temple

Distributor: DCP Entertainment

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Progressives want an infrastructure bill PLUS the Build Back Better legislation, otherwise they’re not voting for infrastructure. Markos Moulitsas, Founder of DailyKos, Civiqs, and podcast “The Brief,” is back to give us the play-by-play on what’s happened so far and what might be around the corner, much of that dependent on the moves made by the so-called-centrist Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema. Speaking of Sinema, what exactly knocked her down to an all-time-low 18-percent approval rating? Civiqs data has the answer. And what is to come with the debt ceiling, what happens if lawmakers don't’ raise it, and how does this ordeal definitively prove that Republicans are trying to sink the economic recovery from COVID-19?

Executive Producer: Adell Coleman

Producer: Brittany Temple

Distributor: DCP Entertainment

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Sojourner Gibbs was slipping into diabetic shock, so someone called 911 to help her. When the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies arrived, they accused her of drug use, swept her feet out from under her, slammed her to the dirt face-first, and zip-tied her hands together. Even as she screamed, “I’m diabetic! I need help!” The officer who knocked her down was later promoted to detective. This disturbing event and lack of consequences for the officers does not surprise the residents of Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. Richard Webster, a New Orleans-based investigative journalist, produced a story on the horrifying abuses of power, and the physical abuse of local residents, at the hands of Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies. He details the stories of Sojourner and several others, in hopes of bringing much-needed attention to the police violence in the district, similar to what is being implemented in New Orleans to improve conditions. And in a first sign of hope for change, the ACLU has called for a federal investigation.

READ the full story here: https://www.propublica.org/article/across-the-parish-line

READ the ACLU calling for investigation: https://www.propublica.org/article/aclu-calls-on-federal-prosecutors-to-investigate-the-jefferson-parish-sheriffs-office

Executive Producer: Adell Coleman

Producer: Brittany Temple

Distributor: DCP Entertainment

For additional content: makeitplain.com

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Williams Evans and Omar Holman created a community on their popular website BlackNerdProblems.com as a response to the lack of diversity in comic and gaming culture. What grew from that is their new book of the same name, featuring a collection of essays that they call a “love letter to nerd culture” that also speaks to the sometimes-complicated intersection of race and nerd culture. The founders and authors talk with Mark about what it is to be a modern-day nerd, a title that no longer bears a negative connotation. Beyond that, what is it to be a Black nerd? What exactly are “Black nerd problems?” The three also discuss the death of Darrien Hunt and the potentially dangerous side to “cosplaying while Black.”

BUY their book here: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Black-Nerd-Problems/William-Evans/9781982150235

READ their website here: www.blacknerdproblems.com

Executive Producer: Adell Coleman

Producer: Brittany Temple

Distributor: DCP Entertainment

For additional content: makeitplain.com

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Dr. Katharine Hayhoe is the author of “Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World,” and in today’s episode, she impresses the importance that we all have a critical role to play in slowing climate change. Building off some details from a recent conversation with the White House Climate Advisor, Dr. Hayhoe and Mark examine heat-related deaths disproportionately impacting Black and Brown communities. And as Dr. Hayhoe outlines for us, climate change is responsible for 9 million deaths every year, but is never framed as a life-or-death emergency and is not often being discussed as a top priority on mainstream news networks. And Dr. Hayhoe gives her take on something we’ve wondered about many times on MIP: how do you overcome the apathy or helplessness when it comes to fighting climate change? Bonus… if you’re a TikTok-er, Dr. Hayhoe also talks about her debut on the platform and what kind of content she plans to share, including some jaw-dropping statistics that are sure to shock you.

BUY Dr. Hayhoe’s book here: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Saving-Us/Katharine-Hayhoe/9781982143831

Executive Producer: Adell Coleman

Producer: Brittany Temple

Distributor: DCP Entertainment

For additional content: makeitplain.com

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At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands of people were released from prison to finish their sentences on home confinement, many of whom are elderly and immunocompromised. Now, those people are at risk of being sent back to prison when the pandemic recedes--unless President Biden acts NOW. Scott Roberts is the Senior Director of Criminal Justice and Democracy for Color of Change, and he shares the reality many are facing if the administration fails to follow through on promises to reduce the federal prison population AND grant clemency to those who were already released.

GET INVOLVED BY TEXTING “CLEMENCY” to 55156

Executive Producer: Adell Coleman

Producer: Brittany Temple

Distributor: DCP Entertainment

For additional content: makeitplain.com

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy