The Progressive Happy Hour

Most of the time, we hear about gun violence in the context of mass shootings. But gun violence is about more than mass shootings – and too often, those stories can get sidelined by the media. In the May 31 episode of “The Progressive Happy Hour,” cohost Diallo Brooks and guest host Derrick Crowe talk to Markus Batchelor, communications and program coordinator for PFAWF’s YEO Network and local school board representative, about how we can think about gun violence prevention more holistically.

Extreme abortion bans are spreading like wildfire, more and more of Trump’s judicial nominees refuse to affirm Brown v. Board of Education, making  the federal courts – one of our favorite topics on the podcast –particularly salient these days. In the April 26 episode of “The Progressive Happy Hour,” cohosts Cici Battle and Diallo Brooks talk about the impact that federal judges and Supreme Court justices have on our rights, and how their decisions affect Black communities and people of color.

It’s been a busy few weeks since we bid farewell to Drew, but worry not: the podcast will live on! In the May 10 mini-episode, cohosts Cici Battle and Diallo Brooks share a quick update and offer our listeners a chance to share your suggestions for the Progressive Happy Hour.

Since we launched the “The Progressive Happy Hour” podcast in October 2017, cohosts Drew Courtney and Cici Battle have covered political and pop culture issues ranging from the right-wing judicial takeover to intersectional organizing to Game of Thrones. We’ve gotten to know our cohosts a little more with every new episode, making this week’s farewell to Drew a bittersweet one.

Trump’s attacks don’t just devalue science’s role in learning, problem-solving and developing new technologies – they also shape our health, public lands and democracy. In the April 19 episode of “The Progressive Happy Hour,” cohost Drew Courtney and guest host Diallo Brooks talk to Jacob Carter, a research scientist for the Union of Concerned Scientists, about Trump’s attacks on science and what it means for our democracy.

Today, Trump’s trans military ban passed. This is a dark moment for the trans community and activists and allies, but the newly-introduced Equality Act offers a glimmer of hope for the LGBTQ+ community. In the April 12 episode of “The Progressive Happy Hour,” cohosts Drew Courtney and Cici Battle talk to Jen Herrick, PFAW’s senior policy analyst, about the Equality Act, and what progressives can do to advance equality for the LGBTQ+ community.

In addition to racial bias, systemic racism – the kind of racism that is manifested in our country’s institutions, laws and policies – our country’s laws and policies also plays a key factor. In the April 5 episode of “The Progressive Happy Hour,” cohosts Drew Courtney and Cici Battle talk to Diallo Brooks, PFAW’s senior director of outreach and public engagement, about racial disparities in police violence and what will take to create positive systemic change.

William Barr’s letter cherry-picked information from Mueller’s Russia report. Many media outlets took Barr’s letter at face value and reported that Mueller found no proof of collusion, but no one knows the facts. No one outside DOJ has actually seen the report. In the March 29 episode of “The Progressive Happy Hour,” cohosts Drew Courtney and Cici Battle talk to PFAW Executive VP Marge Baker about what we still don’t know about the Mueller report and the questions still unanswered.

The Supreme Court and lower federal courts have a direct impact on our rights and liberties, but the president is stacking the bench with narrow-minded elitists who serve the interests of corporations and the rich at the expense of all of us. In the March 20 episode of “The Progressive Happy Hour,” cohosts Drew Courtney and Cici Battle talk to PFAW Senior Fellow Elliot Mincberg about the damage done by Trump-appointed judges and what progressives can do to fight Trump’s judicial takeover.

One especially shameful detail of the college admissions scandal is that many students faked learning disabilities to game the admissions system. In the March 15 episode of “The Progressive Happy Hour,” cohost Drew Courtney and guest host Diallo Brooks talk to Dara Baldwin, director of national policy for the Center for Disability Rights, about the forms of discrimination that people with disabilities experience and what progressives can do to support disability rights.

The importance of the census is far reaching and having accurate data is critical to protecting equity, voting rights and civil rights. In the March 6 episode of “The Progressive Happy Hour,” cohosts Drew Courtney and Cici Battle talk to Beth Lynk, the campaign director of Census Counts 2020 at the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, about the ways that the census data could disproportionately harm communities of color, low-income people, and LGBTQ+ people.

The rise of extremist ideology, leaders and government isn’t just gaining steam in the U.S. – it’s happening in Europe and around the world. In the March 1 episode of “The Progressive Happy Hour,” cohost Drew Courtney and guest host Diallo Brooks talk to PFAW’s Right Wing Watch Research Director Addie Stan about what’s driving the transnational rise of the far Right and what it means for our democracy if these trends continue.

Resilience is critical in sustaining our work as progressive activists, but as bigotry thrives under the Trump administration, the trend to “cancel” even our comrades and allies for their mistakes is on the rise. In the February 22 episode of “The Progressive Happy Hour,” cohost Drew Courtney talks to guest and cohost Cici Battle about what cancel culture reveals about today’s diverse group of activists, and how learning from our mistakes helps build resilience and diversify our vision of justice.

Members of the Religious Right remain some of the president’s most ardent supporters, in part because of the access they now have to the White House. But that unprecedented access has grave implications for our policies. In the February 15 episode of “The Progressive Happy Hour,” cohost Drew Courtney and guest host Diallo Brooks talk to PFAW Senior Fellow Peter Montgomery about Capitol Ministries, a right-wing evangelical organization, and the beliefs they’re trying to push into policy.

Between Trump’s government shutdown over border wall funding, ICE’s unprecedented levels of violence and terror, ongoing mass deportations and family separations, a surge of anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies continue to instill fear and cause damage to immigrants across the country. In the February 8 episode of “The Progressive Happy Hour,” cohosts Cici Battle and Drew Courtney talk to PFAW Political Director Lizet Ocampo about the immigration crisis and what we can do to support immigrants’ ri