“A lot of people in power view knowledge as dangerous,” says organizer Mariame Kaba. In this episode, Kelly speaks with Maraime and organizers Alison Macrina and Katie Clark about why public libraries matter, not just as places to borrow books, but as vital public infrastructure. They discuss libraries as spaces where people can gather without spending money, learn together, and build the kind of shared intellectual life that authoritarianism seeks to destroy. The conversation explores book bans, censorship, austerity, AI, political education, and the bipartisan defunding of public goods, while making a powerful case for libraries as sites of struggle, possibility, and collective survival.

Music: Son Monarcas & Jobii

You can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: truthout.org/series/movement-memos/

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Why do some people change, while others double down? In this episode of Movement Memos, Kelly talks with journalist and author Lewis Raven Wallace about the deeper mechanics of political transformation. Drawing on neuroscience, trauma research, and stories of people who have broken with deeply held ideologies, Wallace argues that real change rarely happens through debate or persuasion. Instead, transformation grows out of relationships, shared struggle, cognitive dissonance, and practice. Together, Kelly and Lewis explore what organizers can learn from the science of neuroplasticity, the role of rupture and confrontation, and why movements need to focus less on “changing minds” and more on creating conditions where people can unlearn harmful beliefs and step into collective action.

Music: Son Monarcas, David Celeste, and Daniel Fridell

You can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: truthout.org/series/movement-memos/

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In this episode, Kelly talks with journalist Andrea Pitzer, author of One Long Night: A Global History of Concentration Camps, about what it means to live under a concentration camp regime — and how people can fight back. Pitzer explains how mass detention systems are built through “end runs” around the law, how they become normalized, and why the rapid expansion of U.S. detention infrastructure signals a dangerous escalation.

Music: Son Monarcas, Ballpoint, and David Celeste

You can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: truthout.org/series/movement-memos/

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“Our days are riding on the learning edge of a whirlwind — crisis management, harm mitigation, helping everyone come to terms with new conditions and new impossible choices that they're faced with,” says Minneapolis organizer Andrew Fahlstrom. In this episode, Andrew and local organizers Jordan and Susan Raffo talk with Kelly about community defense in Minneapolis, the social fabric of collective care under federal occupation, and how people around the country should be gearing up for the long struggle ahead.

Music: Son Monarcas, Daniel Fridell, and Katori Walker

You can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: truthout.org/series/movement-memos/

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“The best way to respond to fear and intimidation tactics is to just show we're not afraid. We're going to keep showing up. We're going to keep speaking out,” says musician Jocelyn Walsh, who is facing federal charges for protesting ICE activity in Chicagoland. In this episode of “Movement Memos,” Walsh and Chicago organizers Gabe Gonzalez and Rey Wences talk with host Kelly Hayes about what activists have learned from months of raids, repression, and escalating authoritarian violence. 

Music: Son Monarcas & Songs for Liberation

You can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: truthout.org/series/movement-memos/

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“We’re very aware that things are awful … That means that we’re alive, and that we want something different. That’s a really important starting point, is just to even have that kind of repulsion and to have that awful feeling about things,” says Tamara Nopper. “So, I want more of that energy, but I want more of that energy to be connected to some more skills.” In this episode, Tamara and Kelly discuss the urgency of political education in our current fascist climate, what people are learning in the streets, and the importance of counter-recruiting for movements against policing and deportations.

Music: Son Monarcas & Daniel Fridell

You can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: truthout.org/series/movement-memos/

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What happens when our movements start to run on empty? In this episode, Kelly talks with organizer and WildSeed Society strategist Aaron Goggans about trauma, dysregulation, burnout, and the myth that we can just push through. They discuss why nervous system regulation is a crucial part of political strategy, how neurodivergent organizers hold essential wisdom for this moment, and why rest, ritual, and mutual care must be built into our fight against fascism. Whether you’re feeling frozen, overwhelmed, or simply exhausted, this conversation offers clarity, compassion, and a reminder that we’re not alone — and we don’t have to earn rest to deserve it.

Music: Son Monarcas, Ballpoint, and David Celeste

You can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: truthout.org/series/movement-memos/

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“It's all hands on deck and we have to fight. This is the only way,” says Leanne Betasamosake Simpson. In this episode, Leanne and Kelly discuss lessons from Leanne’s book Theory of Water: Nishnaabe Maps to the Times Ahead and the ongoing struggle against ICE in Chicago, where Kelly is involved in rapid response efforts.

Music: Son Monarcas and Leanne Betasamosake Simpson

You can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: truthout.org/series/movement-memos/

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“We can only be brave together,” says Mariame Kaba. In this episode, Kelly talks with Maraime and writer and organizer Red Schulte about political education, collective courage, and the mistakes we’ll make along the way.

Music: Son Monarcas & Sarah, the Illstrumentalist

You can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: truthout.org/series/movement-memos/

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"You're either on the side that is singing and showing up and holding other people, or you're on the side of the helicopters and the gas canisters and the guns,” says Eman Abdelhadi. In this episode, Eman, Maya Schenwar, and Kelly discuss immigration raids and the violent repression of protesters in Chicago, the administration’s war on free speech and the organized left, and lessons from the upcoming book, Read This When Things Fall Apart: Letters to Activists in Crisis.

You can find a transcript and show notes (including links to resources) here: truthout.org/series/movement-memos/

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