Psychologist and pop culture icon of the 1960s, Timothy Leary, famously instructed San Francisco hippies to take psychedelic drugs in order to "turn on, tune in, and drop out." These days there's a movement in psychology, also centered in Northern California, advancing the use of psychedelics, as well. But the agenda is less about dropping out than about treating serious mental health challenges. This week on Sea Change Radio, we speak to two people about the intriguing new breakthrough that is ketamine therapy. First, we talk to Oli Mittermeier, the CEO and Co-founder of CIT Clinics to get a glimpse of his company’s innovative approach to ketamine treatment for depression, bipolar, and PTSD. Then, we hear from Reuben Steiger, an entrepreneur who found relief from decades of struggling with depression and bipolar through ketamine therapy.

Narrator 00:01 This is Sea Change Radio, covering the shift to sustainability. I'm Alex Wise.

Reuben Steiger 00:14 My experience is dramatically different than those early journeys which were baffling, but now I know how to operate the machine in a little and it's different, but back then all I knew was that there was hope.

Narrator 00:32  Psychologist and pop culture icon of the 1960s. Timothy Leary famously instructed San Francisco hippies to take psychedelic drugs in order to turn on tune-in and drop out. These days there's a movement in psychology, also centered in Northern California, advancing the use of psychedelics as well. But the agenda is less about dropping out than about treating serious mental health challenges. This week on Sea Change Radio, we speak to two people about the intriguing new breakthrough that is ketamine therapy. First, we talked to Oli Mittermeier, the CEO and co-founder of CIT Clinics, to get a glimpse of his company's innovative approach to ketamine treatment for depression, bipolar and PTSD. Then, we hear from Reuben Steiger, an entrepreneur who found relief from decades of struggling with depression and bipolar through ketamine therapy.

Alex Wise 1:50 I'm joined now on Sea Change Radio by Oli Mittermeier. He is the CEO and Co-founder of CIT Clinics that stands for combination infusion therapy. Oli, welcome to Sea Change Radio.

Oli Mittermeier 2:02 Thank you Alex. Great to be here.

Alex Wise 02:04 You specialize in ketamine therapy treatment and I wanted to learn a little bit more about that. Explain a little bit of the history of it and where it is now and then what you see is the future for this treatment.

Oli Mittermeier 02:18 Yeah, so Ketamine is an old drug. It's been around since the 60s. Was used extensively by soldiers in Vietnam. It's an analgesic, meaning it takes away pain. It doesn't affect core brainstem functions, which is what makes it unique. So you can give someone a ton of ketamine. They will continue. Breathing their blood pressure will change slightly, but it's super safe. Right so then, in the early 2000s, frankly just by sheer coincidence, some folks started realizing that Ketamine seemed to have a really positive effect on certain patients that were coming to the emergency room and struggling with suicidal ideations you know? So they had probably injured themselves. Had some kind of a you know trauma and they were given ketamine to take away the pain to perform whatever procedures. And then they found that those patients that had received Academy and a huge percentage of them reported a dramatic reduction or even cessation of suicidal ideations for days. You know, after ketamine, so some folks at the Yale School of Medicine said, well, Gee, we there's clearly something going on here with ketamine. And mental health. Let's explore this and so they designed some studies and they would give patients a sub anesthetic dose of ketamine.

Yes, there will be millions of collective sighs as the deadliest pandemic in a century begins to abate and a more open summer kicks off. But summer also means the beginning of the wildfire season in the American West – a slew of deadly disasters lying in wait. Last year was the worst fire season in California’s recorded history and drought-like conditions portend another challenging summer. This week on Sea Change Radio, we speak to Professor Crystal Kolden of the University of California Merced, a wildfire expert and former firefighter. We talk about current preparations for impending fires, where she believes resources should be directed, and the ethical dilemma presented by California’s reliance on inmate firefighters.

Narrator  0:02  This is Sea Change Radio covering the shift to sustainability. I’m Alex Wise.

Crystal Kolden (CK) 0:25  The reality is that aircraft are one of the least cost effective ways to mitigate wildfire disasters. But the public loves to see you know, 740 sevens in dc 10s dropping lots and lots of pink retardant.

Narrator  0:42  Yes, there will be millions of collective size as the deadliest pandemic in a century begins to abate, and a more open summer kicks off. But some are also means the beginning of the wildfire season in the American West. a slew of deadly disasters lying in wait. Last year was the worst fire season in California is recorded history and drought like conditions portend another challenging summer. This week on Sea Change Radio we speak to Professor Crystal Kolden of the University of California Merced, a wildfire expert and former firefighter. We talk about the current preparations for impending fires, where she believes resources should be directed. And the ethical dilemma presented by California’s reliance on inmate firefighters.

Alex Wise (AW)  1:52  I’m joined now on Sea Change Radio by Crystal Kolden. Crystal is an assistant professor at the management of complex systems department at the University of California at Merced. Crystal, welcome to Sea Change Radio.

Crystal Kolden (CK) – Thanks so much for having me.

AW – So California and the rest of the West is about to embark on a very scary time, again, maybe worse than what we had last year around this time of year in terms of dryness, if you can summarize what this last winter meant for the potential fuels that we could see for wildfires this season.

CK  2:31 Yeah, so 2021 is shaping up to be very conducive to wildfire growth and rapid wildfire growth. And the reason for that stems from both the winter conditions that we experienced in California and also from how warm and dry the spring has been leading into early summer. Because California, of course, was in a drought and 2020 that was part of what helped fuel the the large 2020 fire season. And really, across the entire Southwestern us. The last winter was very dry. In some places, it was record dry. Most of the snowpack that the southwestern states rely on for water and particularly for the runoff filling our reservoirs in the spring. That snowpack was at near all time record lows in April 1, which is when they generally measure it for the year. So it really contributed to not just the you know, the trees and shrubs and a lot of the large plants sort of already being really dry. And even in a lot of cases, you know, kind of in that wilty state relatively early in the season. But it also makes the soil very, very dry. And that soil and the surface litter the sticks and the leaves and all those sorts of things. You know, it’s those small fuels and how quickly they dry out in the spring that really fuel that rapid fire growth once we get into summer.

The term "civil liberties" may connote different associations, depending on where you fall on the political spectrum. While some connect the term with the struggle for racial justice or reproductive freedom, for others it may evoke a belief in their right to bear arms. This week's guest on Sea Change Radio is John Stoehr, the founder and publisher of The Editorial Board. In the wake of the latest horrific rounds of gun violence in this country, Stoehr reflects on how America's lack of gun regulations reveals deeper societal flaws. He explains how the violent fervor surrounding so-called 2nd Amendment rights stems from a power structure rooted in white male dominance. He also connects the dots to the impending repeal of reproductive protections and xenophobic approaches to immigration.

Narrator: This is Sea Change Radio covering the shift to sustainability. I'm Alex Wise.

John Stoehr: A gun is a symbol of white power. More guns in circulation means the expansion of a police state that's run by people invested in preserving white power.

Narrator: 00:27 The term “civil liberties” may connote different associations, depending on where you fall on the political spectrum. While some connect the term with the struggle for racial justice or reproductive freedom, for others it may evoke a belief in their right to bear arms. This week’s guest on Sea Change Radio is John Stoehr, the founder and publisher of The Editorial Board. In the wake of the latest horrific rounds of gun violence in this country, Stoehr reflects on how America’s lack of gun regulations reveals deeper societal flaws. He explains how the violent fervor surrounding so-called 2nd Amendment rights stems from a power structure rooted in white male dominance. He also connects the dots to the impending repeal of reproductive protections and xenophobic approaches to immigration.

Alex Wise: 1:26 I'm joined now on Sea Change Radio by John Stoehr. He's the founder and publisher of The Editorial Board. John, welcome back to Sea Change Radio.

John Stoehr: 1:41 Thanks for having me.

Alex Wise 1:42 I've been wanting to talk to you for several months now since we last spoke. It looks like the Supreme Court is overturning Roe V. Wade and then we've had another spate of these horrible mass murderous shootings. The most horrific one out of the many at Uvalde in Texas, so you've written several pieces on both issues. You talk about the hypocrisy of the Republican Party wanting to put government into people's health care and their private lives by regulating women bodies. But then they also kind of just shrug when it comes to the regulation of guns, like what's the point of having laws they're going to break them anyway. Why don't you dive a little deeper into it if you can?

John Stoehr: 2:29 So what is the connection between Roe and the Second Amendment? They seem to be two separate things that really don't have much to do with each other. But they really do. In fact, they also connect to immigration. You really have to think of it in terms of the replacement theory. The replacement theory is pretty simple. It is White Americans in this country who fear being replaced at the center of power, it's not literal like I fear being replaced in this chair. No, it's about being decentered like white. White culture was American culture and now American culture is actually multicultural. It's diverse, it's multitudinous. And that rubs a lot of White Americans the wrong way and has rubbed Americans the wrong way, especially since the election of Barack Obama. So how do we connect these three things together? Well, in terms of guns, you want to expand the circulation. The distribution of guns to such a degree that non-white people in this country people who are already here.

What is a nurdle, you ask? Is it the latest variation on the popular New York Times puzzle, Wordle? No, not quite. Nurdles are the tiny little petroleum-based building blocks of the plastics industry. And they are literally everywhere. This week on Sea Change Radio, we speak with Neel Dhanesha to learn about the role nurdles play in the half-trillion dollar global plastics industry and why they are a big problem for the environment. Then, we revisit part our discussion with Dan Austin, the founder of The 88Bikes Foundation.

"It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land. The scale of recent changes are unprecedented over many centuries to many thousands of years. Human-induced climate change is already affecting many weather and climate extremes in every region across the globe." These words of warning, read by today's guest on Sea Change Radio, Professor Bill Moomaw, are from the most recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (or IPCC). This week we speak with Dr. Moomaw, a climate scientist and longtime faculty member at the Fletcher School at Tufts University, about the inner workings of the IPCC, on which he has served for many years. We talk about barriers preventing more expeditious responses to the looming threat of climate change, examine the flaws in some quick-fix proposals, and look at realistic paths toward keeping our planet habitable for centuries to come.

Narrator:  This is Sea Change Radio covering the shift to sustainability - I'm Alex Wise.

Bill Moomaw: "It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land. The scale of recent changes are unprecedented over many centuries to many thousands of years. Human-induced climate change is already affecting many weather and climate extremes in every region across the globe."

Narrator:  These words of warning, read by today's guest on Sea Change Radio, Professor Bill Moomaw, are from the most recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (or IPCC). This week we speak with Dr. Moomaw, a climate scientist and longtime faculty member at the Fletcher School at Tufts University, about the inner workings of the IPCC, on which he has served for many years. We talk about barriers preventing more expeditious responses to the looming threat of climate change, examine the flaws in some quick-fix proposals, and look at realistic paths toward keeping our planet habitable for centuries to come.

Alex Wise: I'm joined now on Sea Change Radio by Professor Bill Moomaw. He is a professor at the Fletcher School at Tufts University (my old school) and he's a climate scientist. Bill, welcome to Sea Change Radio.

Bill Moomaw: Thank you for having me.

Alex Wise: So why don't you first explain your role that you've had in the I. P. C. C. we hear about these IPCC reports that come out every year with always more dreadful news want you first give us a summary of your involvement in that and maybe some of the challenges and some of the things that make you more hopeful being involved in this organization.

Bill Moomaw: All right well the intergovernmental panel on climate change was that created in and had his first meeting in nineteen eighty nine it was created by business name implies by governments. Governments said they needed more information about climate and this organization was founded his first report was in 1990 and it said "Gee, climate change is possible!" after there wasn't a whole lot of research actually at that time so they were able to put that together pretty quickly I joined in 1992. To begin working on the second report whichever came out in nineteen ninety six and then four others reports that came out a subsequent that. And as a as a lead author and defer to them of coordinating lead author meeting that I had to do a lot more work to get these various chapters and in and shape a scientist to review all of the written work reports scientific reports government reports industrial reports. And then they they provide a big synthesis of that information and news essay they sometime...

There are forces in the US that like to selectively bring up "states rights" from time to time - with the impending decision stripping the federal protections for access to safe abortion, this is one of those times. But most of us don't methodically monitor what happens in states that are not our own. Wouldn't it be nice if there were a single source where one could find reliable reporting on state-level politics and policies? This week on Sea Change Radio, we speak to the Founder and Publisher of the States Newsroom, Chris Fitzsimon. We discuss the business model for this nonprofit news outlet, the landscape of the online news industry, and why it's more vital than ever to deliver readers truthful, well-presented local news. Then, we revisit part of last year's discussion with Liz King, the Director of Education at the Leadership Council on Civil and Human Rights, as she outlines the battle over civil rights in our nation's public schools.

Narrator: This is Sea Change Radio, covering the shift to sustainability. I'm Alex Wise.

Chris Fitzsimon: Increasingly these this decisions and these huge huge debate for our future are being held in in state capitals and people are still paying enough attention to the people who are making those decisions how they got there who they're beholden to what their point of views are and the fact that L. a sad number of them are simply not telling the truth about key things that are happening in this country.

Narrator: There are forces in the US that like to selectively bring up "states rights" from time to time - with the impending decision stripping the federal protections for access to safe abortion, this is one of those times. But most of us don't methodically monitor what happens in states that are not our own. Wouldn't it be nice if there were a single source where one could find reliable reporting on state-level politics and policies? This week on Sea Change Radio, we speak to the Founder and Publisher of The States Newsroom, Chris Fitzsimon. We discuss the business model for this nonprofit news outlet, the landscape of the online news industry, and why it's more vital than ever to deliver readers truthful, well-presented local news. Then, we revisit part of last year's discussion with Liz King, the Director of Education at the Leadership Council on Civil and Human Rights, as she outlines the battle over civil rights in our nation's public schools.

Alex Wise: I'm joined now on Sea Change Radio by Chris Fitzsimon - he is the founder and publisher of the States Newsroom. Chris, welcome to Sea Change Radio.

Chris Fitzsimon: Thanks for having me, I appreciate it.

Alex Wise: I bet a lot of our listeners have read pieces that have gone through the States Newsroom network but haven't even been aware of it. Maybe explain your organization's model and why you've decided there was a need for what you do.

Chris Fitzsimon: Well I think we are founded on a fairly simple principle and that is that the level of government that is has the most effect on people's lives and is covered the less if you combine those two things that state government a lot of people always want and I do too I'm very interested in what's happening in Congress and the White House and the Supreme Court specially recently but for the most part most Americans daily lives are impacted more by what happens in their state than any other a level of government and that has been happening well the people that the number of the of people who cover that has been dramatically shrinking over the last decade as the national media's undergone its contraction that's a lot of times the first place people could cut the legacy newspapers cut so we exist to help fill that void and to try to step into ca...

With around a billion dollars in annual revenue, The Nature Conservancy is the largest organization of its kind in America. Their stated mission is to "conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends” and they boldly claim to have "done more than anyone else to advance conservation around the world." And yet, this large, powerful group is under fire from a set of progressive grassroots environmental justice advocates. This week on Sea Change Radio, we welcome the Reverend Leo Woodberry and Danna Smith to the show. Woodberry is pastor of Kingdom Living Temple in Florence, South Carolina and the executive director of the nonprofit New Alpha Community Development Corporation, and Smith is the executive director of the Dogwood Alliance. They explain why they are critical of The Nature Conservancy's stance on carbon offsets, wood pellet usage and its dubious alliance with the wood products industry.

Narrator: This is Sea Change Radio, covering the shift to sustainability. I'm Alex Wise.

Danna Smith: Now we have a 158 organizations that have signed onto a letter to her, again asking TNC to help us solve this problem of protecting forests from industrial logging and wood production in the US.

Narrator: With around a billion dollars in annual revenue, The Nature Conservancy is the largest organization of its kind in America. Their stated mission is to "conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends” and they boldly claim to have "done more than anyone else to advance conservation around the world." And yet, this large, powerful group is under fire from a set of progressive grassroots environmental justice advocates. This week on Sea Change Radio, we welcome the Reverend Leo Woodberry and Danna Smith to the show. Woodberry is pastor of Kingdom Living Temple in Florence, South Carolina and the executive director of the nonprofit New Alpha Community Development Corporation, and Smith is the executive director of the Dogwood Alliance. They explain why they are critical of The Nature Conservancy's stance on carbon offsets, wood pellet usage and its dubious alliance with the wood products industry.

Alex Wise: I'm joined now on Sea Change Radio by Danna Smith and Leo Woodberry. Danna is the executive director of the Dogwood Alliance and the Reverend Leo Woodbury is the executive director of the New Alpha Community Development Corporation. Reverend, Danna welcome back to Sea Change Radio.

Danna Smith: Thank you.

Leo Woodberry: Thank you so much.

Alex Wise: Yes Reverend Woodberry, we had you on in 2018 to talk about the People's Climate March which you coordinated with the Dogwood Alliance. Danna, I want you to tell us about your organization's mission and what you're currently focusing on.

Danna Smith: Sure, Dogwood Alliance is based in the southern U. S. and our mission is focused on advancing environmental justice and climate action through protecting southern forests from destructive industrial logging practices and our big effort right now is focused on stopping the growth of the wood pellet market across the southern US which has expanded like wildfire in just the last ten years causing a lot of damage to forests and negatively impacting environmental justice communities across the south as well.

Alex Wise: And Leo why don't you talk about the mission of your organization and how it intersects with Danna's work.

Leo Woodberry: Sure what we're finding is that with the increase impacts from the climate crisis it is especially impacting gone far state communities will rather than leaving our trees standing all farmers to being decimated by log game...

More than 20 years ago, sociologist Barry Glassner wrote his bestseller The Culture of Fear, where he explains why Americans tend to be unreasonably afraid of things like crime, drugs, people of color, immigrants, teenagers, etc. He writes, "The short answer to why Americans harbor so many misbegotten fears is that immense power and money await those who tap into our moral insecurities and supply us with symbolic substitutes." This week on Sea Change Radio, the second half of our discussion with San Francisco deputy public defender, Peter Galloway. We delve further into the danger of cherry-picked crime statistics, look at the upcoming recall election of San Francisco’s relatively new District Attorney, Chesa Boudin, and examine the recent recall trend in the nation’s most populous state.

Narrator: This is Sea Change Radio covering the shift to sustainability Alex Wise.

Peter Calloway: So their support of all of these things that chase dean has done yeah there's a contingent that does not support him generally because they've been misinformed right they've been told that he's responsible for increasing crime but we know that increase isn't even happening we know that he's also not responsible for the decrease in crime that I've described in in that thread and on the show.

Narrator: More than twenty years ago sociologist Barry Glassman wrote his best seller the culture of fear where he explains why Americans tend to be unreasonably afraid of things like crime drugs people of color immigrants teenagers at cetera he writes the short answer to why Americans harbor so many misbegotten fears is that immense power and money await those who tap into our moral in securities and supply us with symbolic substitutes. This week on Sea Change Radio the second half of our discussion with San Francisco deputy public defender Peter Calloway. We delve further into the danger of cherry picked crime statistics look at the upcoming recall election of San Francisco's relatively new district attorney chase a blue gene and examine the recent recall trend in the nation's most populous state.

Alex Wise: I'm joined now on Sea Change Radio by Peter Calloway - Peter is a public defender in San Francisco. Peter, welcome to Sea Change Radio.

Peter Calloway: Alex, thank you so much I'm happy to be here.

Alex Wise: So as a public defender in the city the size of San Francisco Peter you work with people who have crimes perpetrated against them and perpetrate them and the idea that you would be quote unquote soft on crime I think it's pretty preposterous and as you mentioned but we can't be offended if we want to change hearts and minds can we own.

Peter Calloway: No certainly not and I don't I I really don't let it bother me I was actually somewhat pleased by the extent to which the responses to this thread you know which were which were numerous right I got much more attention than I ever would have predicted but that the responses to this even the ones that were sort of hateful and not in good faith didn't affect me I wasn't sure that that would be true but it was and maybe part of that is because I'm sort of as a public defender and somebody with politics like I do around these issues I'm used to. As a starting point having people react negatively to some of the positions that I hold right and I've spent a long time with family and friends and others having conversations around these issues and with some time I think people who are acting in good faith will come to understand the realities that those of us who have studied this have come to learn right which is again that you can't prosecute o...

In his astute and timeless book, How to Lie with Statistics, Darrell Huff writes, "The secret language of statistics, so appealing in a fact-minded culture, is employed to sensationalize, inflate, confuse, and oversimplify." This statement is at least as true as it was in 1954 when it was first published. Among the subjects most prone to statistical abuse: criminal justice. Our guest today on Sea Change Radio is Peter Calloway, an outspoken public defender whose Twitter thread about crime in San Francisco went a little bit viral last week. In the first half of our two-part conversation, we discuss the significance of US Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who is not only the first Black woman to serve on the highest court, but also the first public defender. We also talk about the role of the public defender's office and why people tend to fall for sensationalized crime statistics.

Narrator: This is Sea Change Radio - covering the shift to sustainability. I'm Alex Wise.

Peter Calloway: Society has decided I think for fairly obvious reasons to focus on these other crimes right we have chosen we've made it a choice a political choice a cultural choice to focus on certain crimes and not others right even what we define legally as crime is a is a political choice but then there's another choice made among those things that we've labeled crime which are the ones that we're going to devote law enforcement resources toward which are the ones that were going to prosecute and what are we going to ignore.

Narrator: In his astute and timeless book, How to Lie with Statistics, Darrell Huff writes, “The secret language of statistics, so appealing in a fact-minded culture, is employed to sensationalize, inflate, confuse, and oversimplify.” This statement is at least as true as it was in 1954 when it was first published. Among the subjects most prone to statistical abuse: criminal justice. Our guest today on Sea Change Radio is Peter Calloway, an outspoken public defender whose Twitter thread about crime in San Francisco went a little bit viral last week. In the first half of our two-part conversation, we discuss the significance of US Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who is not only the first Black woman to serve on the highest court, but also the first public defender. We also talk about the role of the public defender’s office and why people tend to fall for sensationalized crime statistics.

Alex Wise: I'm joined now on Sea Change Radio by Peter Calloway. Peter is a public defender in San Francisco. Peter, welcome to Sea Change Radio.

Peter Calloway: Alex, thank you so much I'm happy to be here I guess I should note that I am speaking to you today you know in my personal capacity not as a representative of my office but again thanks for inviting me on.

Alex Wise: First why don't you explain to our listeners what a public defender does and what motivates attorneys to become public defenders.

Peter Calloway:  So, you know, a public defender is a lawyer who is appointed by the court to represent somebody who's been accused of a crime that could conceivably result in them being jailed and who cannot afford to hire their own attorney they've existed you know essentially since the middle of the last century I won't go into the origins necessarily but the main point is you know there are attorneys there are defense attorneys and among the defense attorneys or public defenders and a lot of people who choose to become public defenders are doing it. You know because they feel sort of a a connection to the sort of disenfranchised right people who have been in various ways you know harms by our society cast aside and you know so...

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. famously instilled optimism with his proclamation that, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” He was speaking in relation to the long struggle for racial equity, but the words are also applicable to the advancement of civil rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people. This week on Sea Change Radio, we speak with Kevin Jennings, the CEO of Lambda Legal, one of the nation’s leading advocacy groups for the LGBTQ community. We look at some of the key legal battles unfolding in courtrooms around the country, discuss the political ramifications of social wedge issues, and examine the efficacy of hate crime legislation.

Narrator  0:01  This is Sea Change Radio covering the shift to sustainability. I’m Alex Wise.

Kevin Jennings  0:18  They picked a convenient scapegoat that they can paint any way they want. Because most people don’t have tremendous knowledge about trans people, most non trans people, I should say, cisgender people, and they’re taking advantage of the fact that there hasn’t been the kind of education that needs to happen in our country around that issue to demonize and terrified people, even if it is based in myth, like the idea that somehow trans people are running around in bathrooms, assaulting people, which there’s no criminal evidence of any kind to support.

Narrator  0:49  Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Famously instilled optimism with this proclamation that the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. He was speaking in relation to the long struggle for racial equity. But the words are also applicable to the advancement of civil rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people. This week on Sea Change Radio, we speak with Kevin Jennings, the CEO of Lambda Legal, one of the nation’s leading advocacy groups for the LGBTQ community. We look at some of the key legal battles unfolding in courtrooms around the country, discuss the political ramifications of social wedge issues, and examine the efficacy of hate crime legislation.

Alex Wise  1:41  I’m joined now on Sea Change Radio by Kevin Jennings. He’s the CEO of Lambda Legal. Kevin, welcome to Sea Change Radio.

Kevin Jennings 1:49  It’s nice to be here with you, Alex. Thanks for having me on.

Alex Wise  1:52  So Lambda Legal is one of the foremost organizations of its kind to protect LGBTQ rights. Why don’t you tell us a brief history of the organization and what the mission of your organization is?

Kevin Jennings 2:08  Sure, Lambda Legal is actually America’s oldest LGBT rights organization. We were founded in 1973. And we work to achieve full legal and lived equality for all LGBTQ people and everyone living with HIV. We do this through three means what we’re most famous for is our impact litigation, where we bring lawsuits to make new law to protect the rights of LGBTQ people and everyone living with HIV. We have been doing this for almost 50 years. And one of the things that I think most listeners might be interested to learn is that most of the major advances for LGBTQ rights that have happened over the last 50 years have come through litigation, not legislation. For example, the right to marry which Lamba legal was co counsel before the Supreme Court and the Obergefell versus Hodges case in 2015, six years ago, was one through an impact litigation lawsuit that was heard by the Supreme Court, it was not passed by legislatures. So Lambda Legal has been a part of virtually every major advance for LGBTQ rights Since our founding in 1973, including such things as winning the rights of students to have college LGBT student groups,