Jesse Brown is a City-County Councilor for District 13 on Indianapolis' Near East Side and one of the loudest progressive voices in local government. Recorded live at Patina Art Gallery & Alley Cat Ceramic Studio in front of a crowd for Third Space Indy's one-year anniversary, Michael sits down with Jesse to talk about his unlikely path from punk anarchist to elected official, the frustrations of fighting a rubber-stamp city council, and why a better world is actually possible.

Sponsors:

City Rising (cityrising.org)

Proformus Urban Planning & Design

Intro music: Scared Rabbit by Jennasen

Timestamps

0:51 — Welcome & sponsors (live at Patina Art Gallery & Alley Cat)

3:03 — Happy birthday, Third Space Indy

5:32 — Introducing Jesse Brown

6:32 — Who is Jesse Brown?

9:49 — Pike Township to Irvington

11:52 — Cathedral High School and dreadlocks

13:55 — Turning down Princeton

15:28 — The Sam Masarikia Scholarship

17:00 — Teaching

19:52 — Salting at the Westin Hotel

25:08 — On Burnout

28:13 — Late Intro

30:52 — How local government fails to build community

37:26 — What is a third space to you?

40:33 — A third space that no longer exists

42:22 — If you were a plant, what plant would you be?

44:15 — Q&A: How do you grow good villagers in a third space?

49:33 — Q&A: What's missing from leftist organizing in Indianapolis?

54:21 — Q&A: Cronyism and city contracts

1:02:09 — Q&A: How do you actually follow through?

1:06:01 — Q&A: What's giving you hope today?

1:06:45 — Q&A: Is Indiana any closer to legalizing marijuana?

1:10:34 — The Socialist Party of Indiana and building a new ballot line

1:15:42 — Where to find Jesse Brown