Advocacy Bites

A Podcast about two accidental education advocates, what they've learned and how you can get involved in making your corner of the world a better place, whether you have one minute or one hour.

95 Justice Denied 09/08/2025

95 Justice Denied Renee and Susan talk about the legislature’s failure to pass a budget (again), as well as the lengthy delay in the Leandro case. Stay connected at /episode/index/show/advocacybites/id/38134545

94 Back To School 08/25/2025

94 Back To School Renee and Susan discuss back to school tips and tricks Stay connected at: /episode/index/show/advocacybites/id/37948200

93 Advocacy Glossary 08/11/2025

93 Advocacy Glossary Renee and Susan review some of the terms used in advocacy and election volunteering. Stay connected at: /episode/index/show/advocacybites/id/37758235

92 Deep Thoughts by Susan and Renee 07/28/2025

92 Deep Thoughts by Susan and Renee Renee and Susan muse over some of the big ideas and feelings that have been floating in their heads recently. There may also be some light emotional breakdowns. Notes: Outclassed: How the Left Lost the Working Class and How to Win Them Back Author: Joan C. Williams /episode/index/show/advocacybites/id/37586170

91 Lies Extremists Tell 07/07/2025

91 Lies Extremists Tell Renee and Susan discuss the various lies and misdirections that extremists use to obscure their actions and goals. Stay connected at: and https://www.facebook.com/people/Advocacy-Bites/100085908254061/ /episode/index/show/advocacybites/id/37308750

90 Budgets and Bans 06/24/2025

90 Budgets and Bans Susan gives us an update on the legislature budget shenanigans, and Renee and Susan discuss Wake County's new cell phone policy. /episode/index/show/advocacybites/id/37134320

89 A Full-Circle Moment: Legislative Update 06/02/2025

89 A Full-Circle Moment: Legislative Update Renee and Susan discuss what bills made (and didn’t make) crossover, and how this represents a full-circle moment in their advocacy journeys. Notes: /episode/index/show/advocacybites/id/36822550

88 Ableism 101 and RFK Jr. 05/12/2025

88 Ableism 101 and RFK Jr. Show Notes: /episode/index/show/advocacybites/id/36539085

87 Maybe It's Poor Service, Maybe It's Deliberate Policy Choices 04/28/2025

87 Maybe It's Poor Service, Maybe It's Deliberate Policy Choices Renee and Susan talk about why everything in the NC government seems both expensive and poorly run. (Hint: it’s the legislature. It’s always the legislature). /episode/index/show/advocacybites/id/36340485

86 What Is SEL, Anyway? 04/14/2025

86 What Is SEL, Anyway? Susan and Renee welcome a special guest to give us the scoop on SEL: what it means, what it looks like in schools, and why it makes extremists mad. /episode/index/show/advocacybites/id/36127975

85 You’ve Gotta Fight For Your Right to Party 04/01/2025

85 You’ve Gotta Fight For Your Right to Party Susan and Renee talk about party politics (again) and the kind of fight they’re looking for in party leaders. /episode/index/show/advocacybites/id/35958960

84 Disability Rights and Trans Kids Under Attack 03/17/2025

84 Disability Rights and Trans Kids Under Attack Susan talks about the latest threats to 504 and Renee highlights our Trans kids as well as our school boards actions. /episode/index/show/advocacybites/id/35733075

83 Eggs and Issues and the Overwhelm of Bad Bills 03/03/2025

83 Eggs and Issues and the Overwhelm of Bad Bills Susan gives a breakdown of the Public School's Forum annual Eggs and Issues Event. Renee gives tips to help us all deal with the overwhelm of bad bills hitting us all at the same time. Show Notes: /episode/index/show/advocacybites/id/35512865

82 Getting Motivated and Helping Others to Stay in the Fight 02/04/2025

82 Getting Motivated and Helping Others to Stay in the Fight Renee and Susan discuss what you can do to stay motivated when it comes to advocacy. /episode/index/show/advocacybites/id/35151560

81 Showing Up in 2025 01/13/2025

81 Showing Up in 2025 Susan and Renee go over what's on the line in 2025. /episode/index/show/advocacybites/id/34840940

80 A Holiday Break 12/16/2024

80 A Holiday Break Renee and Susan celebrate the holidays with an episode about what’s been making them think and bringing them joy recently. Books: Author Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice; and The Future is Disabled: Prophecies, Love Notes, and Mourning Songs Author Colson Whitehead The Underground Railroad Show: Star Trek Discovery, Severance Check out your Local Library and Indie Bookstores: In Raleigh, check out , Trans Artist: /episode/index/show/advocacybites/id/34474860

79 Back To Basics 12/02/2024

79 Back To Basics Susan and Renee review over some ideas for getting started as an Every Day Advocate. /episode/index/show/advocacybites/id/34248925

78 The Landslide Will Bring You Down 11/19/2024

78 The Landslide Will Bring You Down Renee and Susan process the 2024 election. /episode/index/show/advocacybites/id/33988897

77 School Board Meeting Shenanigans 11/04/2024

77 School Board Meeting Shenanigans Renee talks about how a right-wing candidate engineered a controversy at the school board to make herself a free campaign ad. /episode/index/show/advocacybites/id/33775422

76 Pre-Election Grab Bag 10/21/2024

76 Pre-Election Grab Bag Renee and Susan discuss a variety of news/issues that have popped up, including the North Carolina legislature's determination to expand vouchers, the recovery from Hurricane Helene, the bad proposed Constitutional amendment on our ballot, and new (and, it turns out) highly orchestrated attacks on our public schools and trans kids. For the show notes: /episode/index/show/advocacybites/id/33547617

75 The Safety Dance 10/07/2024

75 The Safety Dance Susan and Renee discuss what it means when candidates talk about “school safety.” /episode/index/show/advocacybites/id/33364692

74 We're Judging, and So Should You! 09/23/2024

74 We're Judging, and So Should You! Renee and Susan talk about the important of judicial races this year. /episode/index/show/advocacybites/id/33168382

73 Project Discrimination 09/03/2024

73 Project Discrimination Susan and Renee discuss the Republican plan for federal education policy. /episode/index/show/advocacybites/id/32883087

72 Religious Instruction in Schools 08/20/2024

72 Religious Instruction in Schools Susan and Renee look at Oklahoma and Louisiana and discuss the trend of religious instruction in public education as well as the changes in Title IX. . /episode/index/show/advocacybites/id/32655252

71 Will They Or Won't They? Waiting On A 2024 Budget 07/29/2024

71 Will They Or Won't They? Waiting On A 2024 Budget Renee and Susan discuss two of the most pressing budget items waiting on approval. While there was a little put forth for child care after the recording, the lack of a long term plan remains. /episode/index/show/advocacybites/id/32337057

70 The Eggs Are Not the Issue 07/08/2024

70 The Eggs Are Not the Issue Susan and Renee talk about non-profits and the press handling of extremists. /episode/index/show/advocacybites/id/32053607

69 That's So 2021 06/24/2024

69 That's So 2021 Renee and Susan revisit the ongoing efforts to ban books in school and local libraries. /episode/index/show/advocacybites/id/31864792

68 Representation Matters 06/10/2024

68 Representation Matters Susan and Renee discuss how meaningful and important it is when all different kinds of people are involved in advocacy and leadership. /episode/index/show/advocacybites/id/31686082

67 The Futurama's Last Stand? 05/13/2024

67 The Futurama's Last Stand? Renee and Susan discuss the final report of this year's Futurama Committee (spoiler alert: there's a lot of "we should think about" and almost no "we should do" in the report). Show notes: Committee report: /episode/index/show/advocacybites/id/31262662

66 Behind the Potted Plant: Advocating while Autistic 04/29/2024

66 Behind the Potted Plant: Advocating while Autistic Helpful tips for neurodivergent advocates. Susan talks about her personal experiences as a neurodivergent person in education advocacy and together, Renee and Susan talk about how everyone can do something in the work. Resources: /episode/index/show/advocacybites/id/31035458

Advocacy Bites

TOPICS