We're Back (Kind of) with More Stories All Week

We're Back (Kind of) with More Stories All Week

Author: iHeartPodcasts April 14, 2025 Duration: 5:42

It's been almost two years, and I (Baratunde) am back with an experimental drop because democracy is something we DO, not something we HAVE (or don't), and this moment calls for that reminder. So...

I’m teaming up with my friend and fellow citizenist Jon Alexander (author of CITIZENS) to do something we believe is urgent and necessary: shine a light on the everyday people practicing democracy in extraordinary ways.

We’ve gathered a week’s worth of short, powerful stories from across the U.S.—people showing up for their communities, bridging divides, building something better.

We’re releasing one story per day this week on LinkedIn and Instagram. But we know there are more.

We’re not doing this for clicks. We’re doing this to prove there’s demand for a different kind of story.

One where people aren’t problems to be fixed, but solutions already in motion.

Here’s how you can help:

📩 Sign up at https://stories.howtocitizen.com

✅ Follow @baratunde, Jon (@thecitizensguy), and @HowToCitizen on Instagram

💬 Engage. Comment. Share. Tag someone doing similar work.

📣 Know someone with a platform or newsletter? Ask them to help spread the word.

We want to show funders—and each other—that this kind of storytelling matters.

Let’s make this the week we saw the democracy we deserve and counterprogram the nonsense and chaos with something beautiful and joyful already happening.

Major appreciation to Shira Abramowitz who has run point on finding the stories we are releasing this week. And to Elizabeth Stewart for great partnership.

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
Love is a Renewable Resource (Nsé Ufot) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:01:25
We all know that voting alone won’t save democracy. But it does help…a lot. No one understands that better than voting rights organizer Nsé Ufot. She’s the former CEO of the New Georgia Project, where she leveraged techn…
Democracy, Fractals, and Sci-fi (adrienne maree brown) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:29:25
Saving our democracy isn’t just about registering people to vote, ending gerrymandering, and so on. It’s about getting back to the basics of living together well through micro, everyday moments. To kick off season four o…
Crafting a Citizen Story (Jon Alexander) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:10:37
The stories we’re told & tell about ourselves shape the ways we act and how we citizen. And the story we’ve been living in for decades now is one of consumerism and self-interest. Baratunde talks with reformed ad-man and…
Season 4: Creating a Culture of Democracy [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 3:45
The podcast for people tired of tuning into bad news is back with a fourth season and brand new ways to interpret the word “citizen” as a verb! This season we’re asking, how can the practice of “citizening,” in ways big…
BONUS: Homelessness Is Solvable (with Aras Jizan) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:15:25
In this bonus episode, Baratunde learns how data, well-defined goals, and a sense of collective ownership are helping those at the front lines of America’s housing crisis work to solve, not manage, homelessness. His part…
Those We’ve Left Behind (with Shaka Senghor & Teresa Hodge) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:48
Baratunde asks how can we citizen with tech when we disconnect millions from technology and from society as a whole by incarcerating them? He closes the season in conversation with two people who’ve served time for felon…
Blockchain Chickens and Empathetic Tech Workers (with Xiaowei Wang) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:01
Baratunde is reminded that “tech companies” are really just people and asks what it would mean for tech employees to think critically about their work and its impact and use that power to remake the industry from the gro…
When The Data Is Us (with Krystal Tsosie) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:48
Baratunde continues his journey to discover how we can embed more justice into the data driving our increasingly automated lives and focuses on the most intimate data there is: our DNA. He talks with Krystal Tsosie, an i…
Arsenic in My Muffins (with Kasia Chmielinski) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:07
Baratunde knows what is healthy to eat or not, thanks to the required nutrition labels on our food. But how do we know the ingredients in the algorithms and AI we depend on are safe to use? Baratunde speaks with Kasia Ch…
Defending Our Collective Psyche (with Sander van der Linden) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:52
Can we inoculate ourselves against misinformation and conspiracy theories in the way we do for infectious diseases? Instead of debunking, can we “pre-bunk?” Sander van der Linden, co-founder of Inoculation Science, has c…