Episodes
Published 09/26/19
This is Life with Lisa Ling is an investigative docuseries on CNN. Lisa Ling, award-winning journalist and author, immerses herself in extraordinary, unusual, and sometimes dangerous communities across America . What she has learned over several seasons has profoundly changes her as a person, as a mother, and perhaps even as an American. Lisa sits with MouthMedia Network co-founder Marc Raco for a special interview, in which she reveals how the stories that her show covers have impacted her...
Published 09/26/19
From the NFL to Media Executives to elected office, the trust & faith we have in the very organizations that define American culture is has dwindled. But Dr. Jerry Toomer, a 30 year veteran of behavioral psychology, joins the pod to discuss how a few core principles can be applied to catalyze change in our communities, and build a new generation of American leadership that doesn't always require a board room or a podium. Dr. Jerry Toomer serves as an Executive Partner and Adjunct...
Published 03/27/19
While wealth has been used to hack college admissions for generations, the FBI indictment in Operation Varsity Blues underscores vast inequities in higher education. Eric Rath, a 14 year veteran of college counseling & SAT prep, joins the pod to diagnose what's gone wrong with the admissions process, and steps we need to take to break the caste system of education. Eric Rath is founder of Rath Education Group, a test prep and tutoring firm. Before starting his own firm, Eric's 14...
Published 03/16/19
Emily Cherniack & Micah Scharf of New Politics join the pod to discuss why recruiting service members for a second tour of duty -- representing their country, after spending years fighting for it -- is more important now than ever. Emily Cherniack, Founder and Executive Director Emily Cherniack is steeped in the traditions of servant leadership. From her service in AmeriCorps and employment with City Year AmeriCorps, to being part of the founding team of Be the Change — where she...
Published 03/11/19
Dr. Ricardo Leite, a Member of Parliament from Portugal, joins the pod to discuss how multilateral relations between traditional allies is shifting in real time; and what those evolutions mean for countries to tackle shared interests (like public health goals) together. Recorded at the Concordia Summit 2018.
Published 03/06/19
Should Amazon Have Invested In Opportunity Zones? And, what do Napster, Cory Booker, and VP Pence have in common? Even though Amazon was pilloried for seeking tax "incentives" from New York, "opportunity zones" offer investors new tax breaks to revitalize traditionally distressed zones. Eddie Cullen, founder of the Border Freedom Fund, joins the pod to describe how these "zones" can create new hopes in overlooked American communities, including the US-Mexican border.
Published 02/25/19
Why Millennials in America are becoming the face of community organizing, new technologies, and the nation... Founder & Executive Director of the Association of Young Americans (AYA), Ben Brown, joins the pod to discuss why young people in America are increasingly becoming the face of community organizing, new technologies, and the nation. Ben argues how representing their voice in politics will be vital to the growth and competitiveness of the country in the 21st century. Ben Brown...
Published 01/29/19
Showing up at The Women's March in San Francisco, CA - January, 2019 While 2019's Women's March was criticized for size, affiliation, accusations of bigotry and beyond -- women and girls and allies of all backgrounds still showed up in cities across the nation. Join American Enough for live dispatches with leaders, organizers and skeptics of this year's March explaining why it was important for so many to show up. The opinions expressed in this episode do not necessarily reflect those of...
Published 01/23/19
Why working families in the United States struggle to spend time with newborns & raise their families... Executive Director of the nation's leading paid family leave advocacy organization PL+US, Katie Bethell, joins the pod to discuss why working families in the United States struggle to spend time with newborns & raise their families (when the rest of the industrialized world invests in robust parental leave protections) and why hope may be on the horizon in 2019. Katie Bethell...
Published 01/21/19
The transforming of creative content in Hollywood... In an era where entertainment increasingly mirrors the despair contained within our daily news cycle, one studio in Hollywood is doubling down on creative content that seeks to unite Americans with hope & inclusivity. Co-Founder of Wayfarer entertainment, Farhoud Meybodi, joins the pod to discuss how their brand of TV, Film, and Web-driven content can both speak to the issues of our time, while using art to galvanize...
Published 01/08/19
Why Most Americans Can't Afford a $400 Bill Rachel Schneider (Author of the Financial Diaries, and Entrepreneur in Resident at the Aspen Institute's FSP) followed 235 American families to understand why so many American's still feel financial duress even while our economy grows at a rapid rate. She joins to the pod to detail how experimenting with new policies, like short term cash infusions, can address wage stagnation in the country. Rachel Schneider is the Omidyar Network...
Published 12/31/18
With all the promise & fret of automation, artificial intelligence, and robotics -- Karen Bhatia, Vice President of New York City's Economic Development Corporation, joins the pod to discuss how to leverage private dollars & public curricula to train workers for the jobs of tomorrow, today. Bio: Karen Bhatia is an innovative strategist and vision-led leader at the intersection of technology and entrepreneurship. Over 13 years of experience helping businesses start and scale....
Published 12/17/18
Dealing with changing Federal policy in immigration affairs departments in major US cities... Dr. Linda Lopez, Chief of Immigrant Affairs to LA Mayor Eric Garcetti, joins the pod to discuss how Cities can still connect immigrants to the promise of the American dream at the local level, even while the Administration attempts to water that dream down at the national level. Recorded on location at the 2018 Concordia Summit in New York. Linda currently serves in a senior leadership role with...
Published 12/10/18
Lyft’s Head of Social Impact, Mike Masserman, joins the pod to talk about how a tech company can still invest in social good — even in an era of heightened government scrutiny across some of the world’s largest technology corporations. Mike Masserman is currently the Head of Global Policy & Social Impact at Lyft, where he works on initiatives related to civic engagement, autonomous vehicles, opening global markets, and smart cities.  Michael was previously the Senior Director for...
Published 11/26/18
Presidential speechwriters, Pentagon advisors, and the staff who help confirm Supreme Court justices don't often grace the front pages of newspapers or tabloids. But in their book The West Wingers, 18 former White House staff detail how their own personal stories helped shape the work of the nation. Editor Gautam Raghavan, and contributing writers Aneesh Raman & Stephanie Valencia, join host Vikrum Aiyer.
Published 11/22/18
New forms of work, through apps like Uber, and new forms of automation -- are sparking both new opportunities and considerable angst among American workers. CEO & Co-Founder of The Workers Lab, Dr. Carmen Rojas, joins the pod to discuss how to build a 21st century set of organizing principles around preparing and protecting workers, while balancing the innovations that are fueling this century's growth. Dr. Carmen Rojas is the Co-Founder and CEO of The Workers Lab, an innovation lab...
Published 11/19/18
Bush v. Gore Florida recount attorney, and veteran campaign operative, Todd Elmer joins the pod to describe what the chaos inside an election recount looks like, while reflecting on the opportunity America has to protect the voices of voters in Georgia, Arizona, and Florida. Todd Elmer has built a 20 year career at the intersection of politics, law, communications, and artificial intelligence policy. Most recently, he served as part of the DNC’s national Deployment Project, which sent...
Published 11/15/18
The first openly transgender staffer to The White House, Raffi Freedman-Gurspan, outlines how Americans can stand up to a White House plan to rewrite definitions of sex in this country, and undercut protections for millions of non-gender conforming citizens. Raffi Freedman-Gurspan is the Director of External Relations at the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE), where she oversees public education and field organizing operations. She was both a Senior Associate Director for Public...
Published 11/12/18
As the nation turned out to the ballot box in record numbers for the November midterm elections... ...the world watched in awe as Americans were pitted against each other with threats of migrant caravans and the loss of healthcare. But what does the make-up of the new Congress (and the promise of newly minted elected officials) actually mean for Immigration? Privacy? Infrastructure? Or American civility?
Published 11/09/18
Chicago, immigrants, and American identity... Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has stood up to anyone who tries to point at a finger at an immigrant in Chicago and imply that they're not welcome in this country. Seemi Choudry, the Director of the Office of New Americans, is the muscle behind that backbone and has built new sources to help anyone afraid of losing their American identity, keep it, and reimagine the promise of this country.
Published 11/05/18
Ahead of the November 6th elections, executive director of the College Republican National Committee (CRNC) Ted Dooley  joins Vikrum Aiyer. on location at the Concordia Annual Summit in New York City, to discuss how the GOP engages college campuses across the country to  be an "R" in the age of Trump. Ted Dooley is the Executive Director of the College Republican National Committee. Prior to that, he served as the organization’s National Co-Chairman, Regional Vice-Chairman, and was a...
Published 10/29/18
Politico's Daniel Lippman and seasoned investigative journalist Tim Burger join the pod to discuss what the gruesome death of Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi and The White House reaction means for a free & open media at home, and around the world. Daniel Lippman is a reporter for POLITICO and a co-author of POLITICO's Playbook, the most indispensable morning newsletter for the biggest influencers in politics. He graduated from The Hotchkiss School in 2008 and from The George...
Published 10/24/18
How blockchain could transform the world... As revolutions in technology continue to change the way we interact with the world, perhaps no one tool promises to change the way we move assets around the world other than Blockchain. The mystique of blockchain technologies and cryptocurrencies continue to be investigated by skeptics by are being leveraged by believers to change everything from the way we bank, to the way we vote, to the way we build governments. Sam Cassat, the Chief Strategy...
Published 10/22/18
Has our broken immigration and criminal justice systems locked too many people out from the American dream? Todd Schulte, Executive Director of FWD.us, a bipartisan political organization that believes America’s families, communities, and economy thrive when more individuals are able to achieve their full potential, joins Vikrum Aiyer at the 2018 Concordia Annual Summit in New York City. In this episode: The Trump administration's political rhetoric vs. policy The objective of...
Published 10/15/18