365. Annalee Newitz with Lindy West: Stories are Weapons
Town Hall Seattle Civics Series
Release Date: 08/09/2024
299. Indigenous Peoples’ Day: Turning Adversaries into Tribal Allies to Save Salmon
Town Hall Seattle Civics Series
Our region is facing tremendous setbacks for salmon populations and Northwest tribal treaty rights. Fish runs continue to fall short while Indigenous communities bear the brunt of climate change, political polarization, and existential threats to their way of life. Tribes can’t overcome these issues alone, but it’s not just a matter of finding allies — it’s how to get them in the game. The Billy Frank Jr. Salmon Coalition, formed by Salmon Defense, has taken an innovative approach to protect salmon, restore ecosystems, and build climate resilience by uniting unexpected allies, who...
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398. Speaking of Seattle: After the Ballot
Town Hall Seattle Civics Series
Just weeks after Seattle’s November elections, Town Hall Seattle kicks off a timely, can’t-miss series hosted by Marcus Harrison Green. The panel features political strategist Crystal Fincher, The Stranger’s news editor Vivian McCall, and the South Seattle Emerald’s political columnist Tobias Coughlin-Bogue. Together they’ll cut through the noise to unpack what the results really mean—from who’s setting the agenda at City Hall to what’s looming in Olympia, and connect it all to the turbulent political currents in Washington, D.C. Expect an unflinching, illuminating...
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397. Advancing Climate Resilience with Connected Communities
Town Hall Seattle Civics Series
Town Hall Seattle, Juneau Street Resilience Pod, and the City of Seattle’s Office of Sustainability and Environment hosts an evening with climate justice leaders who are reimagining our climate future in Seattle and beyond; discussing how community leaders, local government and academia can use joy and storytelling to build relationships and actualize climate resilience strategies, and sharing more about the upcoming One Seattle Climate Action Plan Update, including how you can get involved! Moderator Nancy Huizar (they/them/theirs) is an environmental justice activist, facilitator, and...
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396. In the Spirit of Right and Respectful Relations: Conversations about Indigenous Ways of Knowing and Being in Nature
Town Hall Seattle Civics Series
In relationship with , Braided River is celebrating the launch of their newest project, In the Spirit of Right and Respectful Relations: Conversations about Indigenous Ways of Knowing and Being in Nature. As told to Kurt Russo, with a foreword by Jay Julius Xw’tot lhem, and illustrations by Fiorella De La O (Quechua), this book invites readers into a conversation rooted in Indigenous ways of knowing and being in nature. The vision of the project is to draw on ancestral knowledge to further empower and inspire Indigenous-led environmental campaigns with...
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395. Nilanjana Dasgupta with Paula Boggs: How Small Changes Can Make a Big Impact
Town Hall Seattle Civics Series
How can one person fight for social justice? Can everyday people actually make changes in systemic, structural inequality? Social psychologist and author of the book Change the Wallpaper, Nilanjana Dasgupta offers science-driven answers to these questions, arguing that social shifts start with small changes to our “wallpaper,” or the things that we experience in our daily lives. In other words, we need to revise the hyperlocal cultures we live in to make broader change. Dasgupta believes that these small shifts in our cultural “wallpaper” are far more effective in producing...
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394. Shannon Watts with Brooke Baldwin: Fired Up
Town Hall Seattle Civics Series
As founder of Moms Demand Action — the nation’s largest grassroots movement against gun violence — author Shannon Watts has helped thousands of women find their voice and take action. In her new book, Fired Up, Watts outlines a practical and inspiring framework for reigniting purpose, confidence, and ambition. With real-life stories from women across generations and backgrounds, Fired Up offers tools to help readers identify what sparks them and live with greater intention and impact. Watts seeks to challenge the negative narrative that many women hold, asserting that...
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393. Megan Greenwell with Jay Willis: Bad Company: Private Equity and the Death of the American Dream
Town Hall Seattle Civics Series
Did you know that private equity firms have a hand in many U.S. industries, including hospitals, daycare centers, supermarket chains, local newspapers, and prison service providers? They also manage highways, municipal water systems, fire departments, emergency medical services, and a growing swath of real estate. In her new book, Bad Company, journalist Megan Greenwell illuminates how ingrained private equity is, and how it’s preying on the most vulnerable people in our society, controlling congress, and causing destruction in communities around the country. Private equity is a system...
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392. Anna Malaika Tubbs with Florangela Davila: What American Patriarchy Has Hidden from Us
Town Hall Seattle Civics Series
One guiding principle for resisting the patriarchy in the United States is to demand equal rights for men and women. Yet, author and multidisciplinary expert Dr. Anna Malaika Tubbs argues that fighting patriarchal culture is more complicated than that. Tubbs believes that this fabricated hierarchy became so deeply ingrained over time that it now goes unnoticed. She outlines the history of patriarchy in the United States along with everything it intentionally conceals. Pulling from her latest book, Erased: What American Patriarchy Has Hidden from Us, Tubbs highlights how the United States...
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391. Building a Bikeable Seattle: A Bike Everywhere Day Bash!
Town Hall Seattle Civics Series
Is Seattle on the cusp of a biking Renaissance? From Beacon Hill to SODO to the Waterfront and Downtown, the next few years will bring major improvements to Seattle’s growing network of connected and separated bike lanes and bike paths. That’s good news for people who want a safer, healthier, more equitable and climate-friendly city. Join Cascade Bicycle Club on Bike Everywhere Day for a conversation with climate journalist and bike advocate Paul Tolme, Biking Uphill in the Rain author and Seattle Bike Blog founder Tom Fucoloro, and Cascade Bicycle Club Policy Manager Tyler...
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390. Alec Karakatsanis with Erin Papworth: Copaganda—How Police and the Media Manipulate Our News
Town Hall Seattle Civics Series
What if everything you thought you knew about crime and punishment was shaped by those who profit from it? Join us for a discussion with civil rights attorney and author Alec Karakatsanis as he examines “copaganda”—the deliberate manipulation of public perception by police, prosecutors, and the media. Despite historically low crime rates, the United States imprisons far more people than it did just decades ago, driven by a sprawling and profitable punishment industry. Karakatsanis will explore how media narratives fuel fear, distort public policy, and divert attention from systemic...
info_outlineHave you ever thought what #FakeNews might have looked like 200 years ago?
While we may be experiencing a new era of disinformation, the tactics aren’t necessarily original. Drawing from their latest book, Stories Are Weapons, journalist and science fiction author Annalee Newitz traces back in history how disinformation, propaganda, and violent threats — all elements of psychological warfare — have evolved into tools of today’s domestic culture wars.
Newitz argues that America has a deep-rooted history with psychological operations. Beginning with Benjamin Franklin’s Revolutionary War–era fake newspaper, then the nineteenth-century wars on Indigenous nations, Newitz follows disinformation to its peak of today’s online influence campaigns. Newitz zeroes in on conflicts over race and intelligence, school board fights over LGBTQ students, and campaigns against feminist viewpoints to show how damaging our cultural storytelling can be. Newitz argues that, in each case, specific groups of Americans are singled out and treated as enemies of the state.
Newitz also shares their insights from speaking with the researchers and activists who are pushing against these stories, working toward psychological disarmament and cultural peace. Since #FakeNews isn’t a new concept, Newitz believes we can learn from history and build a better story.
Annalee Newitz is a journalist and author of science fiction and nonfiction, including the national best-seller Four Lost Cities. They write for the New York Times and New Scientist and co-host the Hugo Award–winning podcast Our Opinions Are Correct. They live in San Francisco.
Lindy West is the co-host of the NPR podcast Text Me Back and author of the movie newsletter Butt News. She is a former contributing opinion writer for The New York Times, and is the author of Shit, Actually, the New York Times bestselling memoir Shrill, and the essay collection The Witches Are Coming. Her work has also appeared in This American Life, The Guardian, Cosmopolitan, GQ, Vulture, Jezebel, and others. She is the co-founder of the reproductive rights destigmatization campaign #ShoutYourAbortion. Lindy was a writer and executive producer on Shrill, the Hulu comedy adapted from her memoir. She co-wrote and produced the independent feature film Thin Skin.
