People Know What They Need

People Know What They Need

Author: iHeartPodcasts April 17, 2025 Duration: 6:42

We’re told some people just need to be saved. But what people really need is to be needed. This community of young single mothers in Lexington, Kentucky reveals a version of this story.

Full video viewing options for this story plus links to the Instagram and LinkedIn versions:

https://newsletter.baratunde.com/p/young-mothers-asked-to-lead-and-they-did

This episode features Tanya Torp, Executive Director of Step by Step, a nonprofit that chose to stop assuming what young mothers needed—and started asking.

These moms didn’t just receive support. They shaped it. They requested Narcan training. They showed up. They led. They built trust and built community. And in the process, they reminded us:

People need dignity. Agency. The opportunity to contribute.

More stories and updates: https://stories.howtocitizen.com

🎙️ This story series is a collaborative effort by Shira Abramowitz, Jon Alexander, Elizabeth Stewart, and Baratunde Thurston. Video produced by Alexa Lim.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.


Finding your place in a world that often feels broken can be disorienting. How To Citizen with Baratunde, from iHeartPodcasts, tackles that confusion head-on by treating "citizen" not as a static label but as a series of actions we can all learn. This podcast moves beyond the headlines and the outrage to explore the tangible, often surprising ways we can participate in shaping our communities and systems. Each episode is a deep dive into the mechanics of collective power, featuring conversations that span society, culture, technology, and news. You'll hear from people who are actively redefining what it means to belong and contribute, offering practical insights that replace helplessness with agency. The discussions remind us that while voting is crucial, a functioning democracy requires much more from all of us. This isn't about abstract theory; it's about the real-world application of citizenship. Tune in for a thought-provoking and actionable guide to wielding your influence, discovering how to move from being overwhelmed to being effectively engaged. The entire premise of this podcast is built on the idea that we can learn to citizen better, together.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 69

How To Citizen with Baratunde
Podcast Episodes
Introducing: Season 2 of How To Citizen with Baratunde [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:13
How do we wield our collective power for the many, not just the few, in order to live together even with our differences?We feel the dangerous divisions within our democracy daily: the pandemic response, racial oppressio…
To Be Less Polarized, We Must Humanize (with Esther Perel) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:04:59
Baratunde ends Season One focused on the state of our relationships, a key pillar of how to citizen, and thus the health of our society after the most contentious election in modern history. In conversation with world-re…
Flexing Our Civil Resistance Muscle (with Jamila Raqib) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:08
Baratunde wrestles with how to handle rising political violence in the U.S. by learning from a leading steward of strategic nonviolent action. Jamila Raqib, executive director of the Albert Einstein Institution, shares l…
Making Our Returning Citizens Whole (with Desmond Meade) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:50
Baratunde learns to think about sacrifice and having skin in the game in terms of a ham, egg, and cheese sandwich analogy. Desmond Meade, founder of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition (FRRC), reminds us that to err…
Making Our Presence Felt (with Angela Lang and Quentin Palfrey) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:05
Baratunde digs into the feeling of disconnect and neglect felt by the black community in Milwaukee during the 2016 election and learns from Angela Lang, Executive Director of Black Leaders Organizing Communities (BLOC MK…
Making Our Votes Count (with Sherrilyn Ifill) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:50
Baratunde speaks with Sherrilyn Ifill, the President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund about the very long history of voter suppression, why it still exists (hint: white supremacy and rac…
Making Our Voices Heard (with Maria Teresa Kumar) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 33:30
Baratunde speaks with Maria Teresa Kumar, President of Voto Latino, about the power in numbers of Latinx voters and the work of relationship-building for this moment. Maria shares stories of what effective government loo…
Building Bridges, Not Walls [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:02:08
Baratunde ignores the headlines about Chicago and heeds a listener’s advice to learn more about the southside from a local artist who is building bridges in her community and literally helping people find common ground.