Episodes

  • Labor, the Left, and the Specter of a Strike at UPS

    Labor, the Left, and the Specter of a Strike at UPS
    Jun 29 2023
    This week we’re talking about the labor movement and the political left. How can they support one another? Is the impending UPS workers strike a redux of their successful win in 1997? What are the political implications of a massive workers strike?

    This episode is a companion to our recent Bloc Doc video release, “UPS Strike: Lessons from ‘97”. Our old friend Jeremy Flood comes back to interview Jacobin staff writer Alex Press about the UPS workers organizing this year.

    Jeremy is a Brooklyn based filmmaker who now works as a video producer for the United Auto Workers union.

    Alex N. Press is a staff writer at Jacobin. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Nation, and n+1, among other places.

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    Follow us in your feeds for new episodes every other Thursday, and keep tabs on our Youtube page for our video team’s Bloc Doc series!

    Questions? Answers? Thoughts? Email us at blocpartypod@gmail.com.
    Subscribe to the Bloc Media newsletter for bi-weekly updates from the team.
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    1 hr and 1 min
  • Debate Me, Bro!

    Debate Me, Bro!
    Jun 15 2023
    In this episode, six JD staffers get in touch with their inner high school debate team identity and battle it out.

    Are progressives too online? Should the left run for president in 2024? Is it more impactful to organize around federal or local politics? Do you eat your rice with a fork or a spoon? We’re engaging with the hard hitting topics of today’s discourse.

    We promised a lighter, fun episode and here it is!

    Do you have a debate you want us to engage with in a future episode? Email us at blocpartypod@gmail.com!

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    Follow us in your feeds for new episodes every other Thursday, and keep tabs on our Youtube page for our video team’s Bloc Doc series!

    Questions? Answers? Thoughts? Email us at blocpartypod@gmail.com.
    Subscribe to the Bloc Media newsletter for bi-weekly updates from the team.
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    58 mins
  • An Inch in U.S. Politics Moves Miles On the Ground in Israel-Palestine

    An Inch in U.S. Politics Moves Miles On the Ground in Israel-Palestine
    Jun 2 2023
    How does the Israeli government maintain the invisibility of Palestinian dehumanization? For progress to take place, will Israelis have to stand up to their own government, or will that pressure have to come from the outside?

    In Part 2 of our series about our staffers’ recent trip to Israel-Palestine, Alex and Amira share with Waleed some of the more personal moments of witnessing occupation from their time spent with the IMEU (Institute for Middle East Understanding).

    We also hear more specifically about how Americans can help end the occupation.

    For more from the IMEU: https://imeu.org/

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    Follow us in your feeds for new episodes every other Thursday, and keep tabs on our Youtube page for our video team’s Bloc Doc series!

    Questions? Answers? Thoughts? Email us at blocpartypod@gmail.com.
    Subscribe to the Bloc Media newsletter for bi-weekly updates from the team.
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    1 hr and 14 mins
  • Don't Let Them Take Away Your Joy (w/ Diana Buttu)

    Don't Let Them Take Away Your Joy (w/ Diana Buttu)
    May 18 2023
    Why do Americans see the Palestinian struggle as “complex?” What does it mean to live under occupation? How does the U.S. “see something, say nothing” policy affect military occupation and continued settlement expansions?

    In Part 1 of this two episode series, Amira & Alexandra speak with Diana Buttu about their recent trip to Israel-Palestine with the IMEU. Diana helps contextualize the ongoing protests in Israel, the role the U.S. has played in Israeli-Palestinian politics as well as everyday life, and shares the ways she practices Palestinian resistance by fighting for and celebrating moments of joy in the midst of ongoing oppression.

    Diana Buttu is a former adviser to the negotiating team of the Palestine Liberation Organization and a lawyer specializing in negotiations, international law and international human rights law. Diana is a prominent commentator on Palestine, with op-eds published in the New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Guardian.

    Keep an eye out for Part 2 next time on Bloc Party, where Amira & Alex will sit with Waleed to tell more stories of their trip.

    For more from the IMEU: https://imeu.org/

    Diana’s Podcast, ‘This is Palestine’: https://pod.link/1509337661

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    Follow us in your feeds for new episodes every other Thursday, and keep tabs on our Youtube page for our video team’s Bloc Doc series!

    Questions? Answers? Thoughts? Email us at blocpartypod@gmail.com.

    Subscribe to the Bloc Media newsletter for bi-weekly updates from the team.
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    1 hr and 12 mins
  • ‘To the End’ & Finding the Floor of What Progressives Can Accomplish (w/ Rachel Lears)

    ‘To the End’ & Finding the Floor of What Progressives Can Accomplish (w/ Rachel Lears)
    May 4 2023
    How do progressives navigate holding new found power? How much power should be wielded and when? Should we interpret the IRA as a victory or a loss?

    Acclaimed documentary director, producer, & cinematographer Rachel Lears (Knock Down the House, 2019) (The Hand that Feeds, 2014) joins Alex on the Bloc this week with some behind the scenes intel on the making of her latest feature documentary, To the End.

    To the End captures the emergence of a new generation of leaders and the movement behind the most sweeping climate change legislation in U.S. history. The film features our own fearless leader Alexandra Rojas alongside Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, activist Varshini Prakash, and climate policy writer Rhiana Gunn-Wright.

    To the End begins streaming on Hulu on May 8th. You can go to this link to host a screening in your local community now.

    To find out more about the film: https://www.totheendfilm.com/


    Follow us in your feeds for new episodes every other Thursday, and keep tabs on our Youtube page for our video team’s Bloc Doc series!

    Questions? Answers? Thoughts? Email us at blocpartypod@gmail.com.

    Subscribe to the Bloc Media newsletter for bi-weekly updates from the team.
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    58 mins
  • Fighting Back Against Anti-Trans Legislation (w/ Erin Reed)

    Fighting Back Against Anti-Trans Legislation (w/ Erin Reed)
    Apr 20 2023
    When anti-trans legislation floods state legislation across the country, it affects all of us. To quote Amira, “This will sink your boat too, bitch!”

    Journalist Erin Reed joins Becca to break down some of the FOUR HUNDRED AND SEVENTY TWO (and counting) egregious bills targeting trans people and their families, review this latest tactic in the right’s assault on trans rights and bodily autonomy, and discuss what progressives can and should be doing to fight back.

    Erin is an independent journalist and activist. She diligently tracks anti-LGBTQ+ legislation around the world, and both her substack and risk analysis maps have been incredible resources to us in the work we’ve done for this episode.

    Erin’s substack: https://erininthemorn.substack.com/
    Erin’s twitter: https://twitter.com/ErinInTheMorn

    Follow us in your feeds for new episodes every other Thursday, and keep tabs on our Youtube page for our video team’s Bloc Doc series!

    Questions? Answers? Thoughts? Email us at blocpartypod@gmail.com.

    Subscribe to the Bloc Media newsletter for bi-weekly updates from the team.
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    1 hr and 1 min
  • The Revolution Will Be Televised (Whether We Watch It Or Not)

    The Revolution Will Be Televised (Whether We Watch It Or Not)
    Apr 6 2023
    Can cable TV be useful for progressives? What about broadcast media makes it difficult to communicate as a progressive… or are progressives going about our approach to being on TV the wrong way?

    Meet your instructor, Waleed Shahid! In this episode, Waleed walks Becca, Usamah, and Pod Producer Sophie through a media literacy training. You’ll hear from some voices you may recognize from your regular cable TV programming, and then the staff discusses how progressives should relate to broadcast media.

    Follow us in your feeds for new episodes every other Thursday, and keep tabs on our Youtube page for our video team’s Bloc Doc series!

    Questions? Answers? Thoughts? Email us at blocpartypod@gmail.com.

    Subscribe to the Bloc Media newsletter for bi-weekly updates from the team.
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    1 hr and 11 mins
  • 5-4 x Debt Collective (Or How I Learned To Start Worrying and Hate SCOTUS)

    5-4 x Debt Collective (Or How I Learned To Start Worrying and Hate SCOTUS)
    Mar 23 2023
    It’s a double-crossover special with Michael from the illustrious 5-4 Podcast (a very beloved show to those of us here at JD) and Group Chat veteran Eleni Schirmer from the Debt Collective. They join Waleed to review how oral arguments went down in last month’s Supreme Court cases that could make or break Biden’s student loan cancellation initiative.

    First, Michael & Waleed chat about how SCOTUS & minority rule keep getting in the way of us building a real multiracial democracy. Then Eleni joins to remind us how these cases got to the Supreme Court in the first place. Listen in to cringe at Roberts’ lawnmower commentary and stay to reflect on the way Biden is (or more notably…is not) exercising his executive authority.

    5-4 is a show about how much the Supreme Court sucks. Michael is one of three lawyers who host the show and together they dissect a new case every week. Follow them here.

    Eleni Schirmer is a journalist, author, activist, and member of the Debt Collective. You can read her latest New Yorker article (featuring our very own Jeremy Flood!!) here.

    Follow us in your feeds for new episodes every other Thursday, and keep tabs on our Youtube page for our video team’s Bloc Doc series!

    Questions? Answers? Thoughts? Email us at blocpartypod@gmail.com.

    Subscribe to the Bloc Media newsletter for bi-weekly updates from the team.
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    1 hr and 7 mins