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.

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

65 A Field Guide to Misinformation: Know Your Tropes. 04/22/2024

65 A Field Guide to Misinformation: Know Your Tropes. Susan and Renee discuss common tropes used around public education. /episode/index/show/advocacybites/id/30924208

64 Michele, Oh Hell. 04/01/2024

64 Michele, Oh Hell. Susan and Renee sound the alarm (again) over Michele Morrow, the extremist running for NC Superintendent of Public Instruction. Show notes: /episode/index/show/advocacybites/id/30624483

63 Another Turn on the Leandro-Go-Round 03/18/2024

63 Another Turn on the Leandro-Go-Round Renee and Susan review the most recent developments in the Leandro case, why none of it is ok and why we're still hopeful and determined anyway. Show notes: Video of the February 22 rally: Roundup of press coverage of the Leandro hearing: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1C6If03hz7vkVGZqXygZHULAgpzXB_UUxaJlJ8cMgqmg/edit /episode/index/show/advocacybites/id/30425898

62 The One With the Miscellaneous Updates 03/05/2024

62 The One With the Miscellaneous Updates Susan and Renee talk about what to expect in the upcoming legislative short session, what happened at the most recent meeting of the Futurama Committee, and what's at stake in the primary elections. Show notes: https://www.ncleg.gov/Committees/CommitteeInfo/HouseSelect/218/Documents/17303 /episode/index/show/advocacybites/id/30238423

61 The Futurama Strikes Back 02/19/2024

61 The Futurama Strikes Back Susan and Renee discuss two issues in the news: the return of the Futurama Committee, and the debacle in Durham public schools. Links to the documents considered by the Futurama Commitee: /episode/index/show/advocacybites/id/30013708

60 Funding Wars: A Tiny New Hope 01/29/2024

60 Funding Wars: A Tiny New Hope Susan fills us in on a glimmer of hope for one type of school funding, where the legislature may actually be considering making things better. Article that inspired this episode: Postcard event: And don't forget to vote for us in the Maggy awards! /episode/index/show/advocacybites/id/29695788

59 Looking Ahead 01/16/2024

59 Looking Ahead Renee and Susan talk about what's coming in 2024 and what they think voters should look out for. /episode/index/show/advocacybites/id/29509003

58 The Ugly, Bad, and the Good. Our Year in Review. 12/28/2023

58 The Ugly, Bad, and the Good. Our Year in Review. Renee and Susan break down the year in education. /episode/index/show/advocacybites/id/29263553

57 A Little Help From Your Friends 12/11/2023

57 A Little Help From Your Friends Susan and Renee welcome special guest Sarah Montgomery for a discussion of the importance of working in coalition. Resources: /episode/index/show/advocacybites/id/29021403

56 Hot Off the Press 11/28/2023

56 Hot Off the Press Susan and Renee discuss the importance of local press and provide some tips and how-tos for handling the press and writing Letters to the Editor. /episode/index/show/advocacybites/id/28824708

Advocacy Bites

TOPICS