The Anti-Authoritarian Podcast

The stories we tell and how and to whom we tell them can be the difference between winning and losing in political struggle. Scot and Sue chat with Malkia Devich-Cyril from MediaJustice about the difference between communication strategy and narrative strategy. Short term communication strategy is helpful for the policy debates of today, but long term cultural change requires a deep understanding of narrative strategy. Authoritarians and political elites offer a false narrative rooted in fear and violence - how must we in the pro-democracy movement shift the narrative to protect our futures? What has worked for us in the past, and how might we adapt?

Malkia Devich-Cyril, is an activist, writer and public speaker on issues of digital rights, narrative power, Black liberation and collective grief. Devich-Cyril is also the founding and former Executive Director of MediaJustice — a national hub boldly advancing racial justice, rights and dignity in a digital age. For over 20 years, Devich-Cyril has championed the media and technology rights of communities of color and other under-represented groups to demand and win equity in a digital age.

Authoritarians rely on scapegoat tactics to distract the public from root problems and isolate groups that have historically faced discrimination. Scot and Sue are joined by Sulma Arias, an immigrant herself, who for decades has fought to block authoritarian policies, restore faith in democracy, and build a multi-racial majority that wins together. She reflects on her time organizing in Kansas against anti-immigrant and authoritarian politician Kris Kobach, and makes the case for how a revival of community and worker organizing is key to stopping authoritarianism.

Sulma Arias brings over 20 years of organizing experience to her role as Executive Director for People’s Action. She immigrated to Kansas from El Salvador at the age of 12 and ultimately went on to lead Sunflower Community Action, where she worked on training organizers and building a base of volunteers to fight for driver’s licenses and tuition access for immigrants and fighting harmful policies during the Kobach era. Sulma’s organizing work spans many issues including immigrant rights, voting rights, and economic justice, and her practice has always centered directly impacted people to build power.

In this episode, Scot and Sue hear the wisdom of Maurice Mitchell, National Director of the Working Families Party. Maurice explains why working-class families feel ignored by politicians on both sides of the aisle as material conditions worsen, and how authoritarians weaponize fear to gain support for their ideas. So how do we overcome the two-party system that ignores root causes, and media feedback loops that spread misinformation and intentionally polarize us? We organize and build working-class solidarity. By finding common ground and achieving shared political commitment, we make government work for us.

Maurice Mitchell is the National Director of the Working Families Party. Maurice is a nationally recognized social movement strategist, a visionary leader in the movement for Black lives, and a community organizer for racial, social, and economic justice. Born and raised in New York to Caribbean working class parents, Maurice began organizing as a teenager and has never stopped.

In this episode, Scot and Sue are joined by Rachel Kleinfeld, Senior Fellow for the Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Rachel gives us insights into the authoritarian playbook and how over the past 20 years the Right has polarized our politics and our culture. How are they strategically fighting across race, place, and gender lines, and how must we counter this attack to overcome polarization and build the multiracial democracy we deserve?

Dr. Rachel Kleinfeld advises governments, philanthropists, and activists on how democracies make major social change. Raised in a log house on a dirt road in Fairbanks, Alaska, Rachel received her BA from Yale University and her Masters of Philosophy and Doctorate of Philosophy at Oxford, where she was a Rhodes Scholar. As a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Rachel is a leading expert on how democracies – including the United States – can improve, with a particular focus on countries facing poor leadership, polarized populations, violence, and corruption.

In this episode, Scot and Sue discuss Harnessing Our Power to End Political Violence (HOPE PV), a new report and training program from 22CI and the Horizons Project, with report author Hardy Merriman and Rev. Naomi Washington-Leapheart of Political Research Associates. The vast majority of people in this country do not condone the use of violence to settle political disputes, yet political violence is on the rise and some politicians and elites stoke these flames with their rhetoric. Hardy and Naomi help us define political violence, explain how large the problem has grown, and detail how participation in HOPE PV trainings can equip community leaders with the strategy and tactics to organize against political violence.

Hardy Merriman is the author of the HOPE PV report and President of the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict. For over 20 years he has focused on nonviolent civil resistance movements using a range of tactics-such as strikes, boycotts, protests, and acts of noncooperation-to advance human rights, freedom, and justice around the world.

Reverend Naomi Washington-Leapheart is the Strategic Partnerships Director at Political Research Associates, a social justice research and strategy center. Previously, Rev. Naomi served the City of Philadelphia as the Director for Faith-Based and Interfaith Affairs, and was the Faith Work Director for the National LGBTQ Task Force, the country's oldest national LGBTQ justice and equality group.

In this episode, Scot and Sue sit down with Suzanne Pharr, a Southern queer feminist and anti-racist organizer, strategist, writer, community organizer, and educator. Over her decades of work, she has contributed to the advancement of many social justice movements and worked on historic campaigns against authoritarian attempts to exploit popular prejudice for political and financial gain. With much wisdom and experience, Suzanne paints a clear picture of how we have arrived at this political moment with authoritarians infiltrating our governments and communities, and the direction the pro-democracy movement needs to move.

Suzanne Pharr is the founder of Women’s Project in Arkansas, the former director of the Highlander Center, and founding member of the Southern Movement Assembly. She is the author of Homophobia: A Weapon of Sexism, one of the ground-breaking books of second-wave feminism; In the Time of the Right: Reflections on Liberation; and Transformation: Toward a People’s Democracy.

The Anti-Authoritarian Podcast is here to help anyone concerned about creeping authoritarianism and fascism in the US and beyond to confront strategy questions that will strengthen their work to advance multiracial democracy and stop the rise of authoritarianism. Our core message is: We can block authoritarianism, bridge across lines of differences, and build an inclusive multiracial democracy–if we act more strategically. The show features provocative and valuable conversations with hosts Scot Nakagawa and Sue Hyde and their guests.