A Look Back at this Year's Conversations

This year we had some great conversations on our podcast Assembly Required. As we pause for rest and celebration these next few weeks, I wanted to take moment to highlight some of the conversations I most enjoyed. Missed some of them?

Check them out now ⬇️

In April, we spoke with Beth Benike, founder of Busy Baby, and Richard R. Oswald, Vice-President of the Missouri Farmers Union, on the devastating effects of Trump’s tariffs on small businesses.

We had a fantastic conversation with Aaron Parnas and Kahlil Greene about what Democrats need to do to stay ahead of the online curve, what makes social media truly effective for change, and why understanding people—not just platforms—is the key to being heard.

Violent ICE raids and the military occupation of our cities have become normalized, but we shouldn’t look away. We talked about this with MSNBC's senior Washington correspondent and co-host of MSNBC's the Weekend, Eugene Daniels and Immigrant Defenders Law Center (IMMDEF) attorney Yliana Johansen-Méndez.

We were joined by joined New York Times best-selling author Jessica Valenti, and by Monica Simpson—executive director of the pioneering women of color reproductive justice collective SisterSong to talk about how authoritarianism is stripping women of their rights.

Fashion editor and Pulitzer Prize–winning writer Robin Givhan joined us to break down how fashion reflects our culture back to us and what that reflection reveals about the political moment we’re in.

Propaganda is a powerful tool for autocrat’s. That’s why we spoke with New York Times reporter Emma Goldberg and wellness content creator and podcast host kate glavan about the MAHA movement and the wellness to right-wing radicalization pipeline.

There is a political theory that says if just 3.5% of a nation’s population engages in sustained nonviolent civil resistance, they will succeed. That’s why I was so excited to be joined by Erica Chenoweth, the professor and political scientist behind the 3.5% theory.

Samantha Bee, comedian, podcast host, writer, and former host of Full Frontal joined us to discuss comedy’s role in pushing back against political censorship with relentless humor.

I’m grateful to every one of our listeners. We’re taking a breath, but we’ll be back and ready to keep going in the new year.