Nerd Farmer Podcast

Caste by Isabel Wilkerson is a meditation on the social conditions Black Americans have been subjected to in US society and an examination of how the various systems in the US are influenced by and have influenced the caste systems in India an Nazi Germany, yep… Nazi Germany. All societies have some sort of caste structure, but only a few have such a rigged, entrenched, legally codified caste system. The book is one part memoir, one part history text, and one part comparative sociological study.

This is a roundtable conversation with people working to educate various populations about caste and white supremacy. We will have a follow-up conversation in a few days about caste in K-12 and law enforcement with Logic Amen.

A special thanks to all the listeners who contributed tweets to this conversation, especially Sandy Boyd, Aron Early, Richard Thomas, Don Borst, and Karl-Peter Hammer.

Cast(e) of Characters

• Erin Jones – DEI Consultant – Twitter
• Halley Knigge – Tacoma Against Nazis – Twitter
• Allan Belton – PLU President – Twitter

The Nerd Farmer Podcast is available on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play and is brought to you by Libro FM 

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Jenn Smith is the engagement editor for the Seattle Times’ Education Lab. She relocated to Seattle late last year to join the Ed Lab Team. Ashley Gross is the youth and education reporter for NPR affiliate KNKX. She made a prior appearance on the show to talk about the budget situation in Kent Public Schools in 2018. We welcomed them both onto the pod to talk about the education stories and trends they are keeping an eye on in 2021.

They each brought in five stories to watch this year. They talked about everything from the upcoming Seattle Superintendent vacancy, the Phonics Wars, teacher mental health, and the effectiveness of remote learning.

This episode opens with some host commentary about ongoing issues of police accountability and the Tacoma City Council’s oversight of both TPD and the City Manager.

Cast of Characters

• Jenn Smith – Twitter
• Ashley Gross – Twitter

Going Further 

• Seattle Times Education Lab
• Education Lab on Twitter

The Nerd Farmer Podcast is available on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play and is brought to you by Libro FM 

Please consider supporting the podcast by joining Channel 253 as a member

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Although I have been talking about housing issues, literally for years, I am really just now getting my head around the extent to which existing homeowners and their advocacy are the cause and cure of what ails us. In a rising housing market, increases in supply threaten the equity of existing homeowners. Because capitalism is stupid, for too many families home equity is their main source of familial wealth. Consequently homeowners are often the most vociferous opponents of creating new housing, particularly low-income housing, in their communities. Weird, huh?

Into this conversation walks erstwhile realtor Marguerite Martin, creator of Move to Tacoma. Marguerite has taken a step away from from selling homes. She now works as a matchmaker, helping first-time homebuyers and folks moving to the region find agents. If you are a homeowner, like me, who has built a bunch of equity post-crash, this is an episode for you, with a call-to-action.

This conversation is a continuation of recent episodes with Jasmyn Jefferson (#107), from Windermere about advice for millennial homebuyers and our conversation with Rebecca Parson (#113), spokesperson for Tacoma Housing Now.

Cast of Characters

• Marguerite Martin – the Pod Aunty – Move to Tacoma

Going Further 

• Caste – Join us for #NerdFarmReads Bookclub, we record this month

The Socials

• Move to Tacoma – Twitter

The Nerd Farmer Podcast is available on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play and is brought to you by Libro FM 

Please consider supporting the podcast by joining Channel 253 as a member

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Sometime around 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan 23, 2021, a crowd gathered at 9th and Pacific in Downtown Tacoma, watching one or more cars spin and burn circles in the intersection. A Tacoma Police Department SUV arrived on scene, and when the crowd gathered around the vehicle, the driver revved the engine and drove into the crowd, running over at least one person. Videos immediately hit social media.

What happened here? What does this tell us about the Tacoma Police Department? What does this tell us about Tacoma’s government and city leadership?

And what do we, as residents, need to demand now?

This joint Nerd Farmer/Crossing Division (Nerd Crossing) episode features hosts Nate Bowling and Evelyn Lopez, joined by attorney Shannon McMinimee, discussing the events of January 23 and a shocking failure of leadership in the aftermath. We have a right to something better that this in our city, and it’s time to demand changes.

Feedback on this episode? Get in touch:

• Nate Bowling: @nerdfarmpod
• Evelyn Lopez; @True_Tacoma
• Shannon McMinimee: @SMMcMinimee

In addition, you can find all of us on the Channel 253 Member Slack Channel–the most interesting discussions in the city!

Also: We said that no one from the city’s leadership had commented, but there is a comment now from City Councilmember Chris Beale per TNT reporter Allison Needles.

The Nerd Farmer Podcast is available on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play and is brought to you by Libro FM and the OG Move to Tacoma

Please consider supporting the podcast by joining Channel 253 as a member

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I couldn’t bring myself to do a year in review episode. Besides, it is beyond cliche to complain about 2020 being hot trash. So instead, we decided to look ahead.

On this episode we talk to fellow hosts on the Channel 253 Network about the stories they are following and looking forward to covering on their shows in 2021. In addition to the stories they intend to cover, each guest also gave a very specific prediction about 2021.

Note, this conversation was recorded 1/7, the day after the Capitol Coup, so it includes discussion of the events in the intro and segment one. If you don’t like hearing “I told you so, you might want to skip the intro.”

Cast of Characters

• Evelyn Lopez – Host, Crossing Division
• Steve Ketelsen – Host, Flounder B Team
• Hope Teague-Bowling (pod spouse) – Host, Interchangeable White Ladies

Going Further 

• Caste – Join us for #NerdFarmReads Bookclub, we record this month

The Socials

• Evelyn on Twitter
• Steve on Twitter
• Hope on Twitter

The Nerd Farmer Podcast is available on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play and is brought to you by Libro FM and the OG Move to Tacoma

Please consider supporting the podcast by joining Channel 253 as a member

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On January 7th, a day after the coup and fascist insurrection at the nation’s Capitol, a Confederate flag suddenly appeared on the wall of a student in a virtual classroom in Tacoma, WA. Natalie Bowman, a parent of a first grader in the class, witnessed this. What she did next is an object lesson in being an ally and what anti-racist white people should do when they see symbols of hate in our schools and in greater society.

The flag came down, but the conversation that Natalie wants to have with the community is ongoing and is worth your time.

Yes, it’s all of our work.

Going Further 

• Natalie’s campaign to purchase anti-racist books for Tacoma students and families
• Caste – Join us for #NerdFarmReads Bookclub, we record this month

The Socials

• Natalie on Twitter

The Nerd Farmer Podcast is available on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play and is brought to you by Libro FM and TAPCO Credit Union

Please consider supporting the podcast by joining Channel 253 as a member

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Even if you aren’t from Tacoma, homelessness is likely an issue in your community. Tacoma Housing Now is a recently created community coalition committed to engaging in direct action protests in order to pressure local policymakers into taking meaningful action to house people in Tacoma. I think this point is worth emphasizing–they are by design a protest group.

The organization was created this winter in response to perceived inaction by City of Tacoma and Pierce County officials. Among their demands are the leveraging of vacant government properties to house people experiencing homelessness.

Parson, a former candidate for the 6th Congressional District, is a spokesperson for the organization. This interview was conducted right before Christmas, before the group’s direct action protest at the Travelodge in Fife, WA, which she briefly mentions in the conversation.

In segment two, we broadly discussed the landscape for progressive activism under the incoming Biden Administration.

Going Further 

• Occupying vacant Gault Middle School
• KNKX story on Tacoma Housing Now
• GoFundMe for Tacoma Housing Now
• Caste – Join us for #NerdFarmReads Bookclub, we record this month

The Socials

• Tacoma Housing Now – Twitter
• Tacoma Housing Now – Facebook (man, I really hate FB)

The Nerd Farmer Podcast is available on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play and is brought to you by Libro FM and TAPCO Credit Union

Please consider supporting the podcast by joining Channel 253 as a member

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After an appropriate period of mourning, it’s time to put a bow on the 2020 MLS season and the Sounders run to MLS Cup. It was a weird year. If we’re being honest, I’m not sure we should have been playing at all. There were on field racial justice protests, the MLS is Back Tourney, Vancouver playing home matches in Portland, Ben Olson finally getting the axe, and the Sounders having miracle after miracle but coming up short at the end.

In this conversation we welcomed Dave and Carol the erstwhile hosts of the Hands Free Footy Podcast onto the pod. We discussed moments and stories of the year, our picks for player of the year, end of season awards, and roster wishes for the off-season (some old-fashioned #rosterbation).

A highlight is Carol’s theory that Coach Schemetzer’s mom cyberbullied Fox Sports’ “analyst” Alexi Lalas.

Going Further 

• Dave & Carol’s Show Hands Free Footy (HFF)
• My prior visit to HFF
• Caste – Join us for #NerdFarmReads Bookclub

The Socials

• Hands Free Footy on Twitter

The Nerd Farmer Podcast is available on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play and is brought to you by Libro FM and TAPCO Credit Union

Please consider supporting the podcast by joining Channel 253 as a member

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In November, Chris Reykdal was re-elected to a second four-year term leading OPSI, the state’s department of K-12 education. Chris was elected in 2016 and he and his deputy, Dr. Michaela Miller, have spent much of the last four years butting heads with the current Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos on a variety of issues impacting students in Washington.

We had them both back the show on to talk about what they want in the next Secretary of Education. We also discussed how the state’s schools and districts are handling Covid, Reykdal’s policy vision for the next four years, and listener questions.

Going Further 

• Chris’ prior visit to the Farm
• Michaela’s prior visit to the Farm
• Caste – Join us for #NerdFarmReads Bookclub

The Socials

• Chris on Twitter
• Michaela on Twitter

The Nerd Farmer Podcast is available on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play and is brought to you by Libro FM and TAPCO Credit Union

Please consider supporting the podcast by joining Channel 253 as a member

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One of my favorite things to do on the show is have someone who is way smarter than me walk me through a topic I am curious about. This episode we’re looking at post-conflict states and what lessons we can apply from them to help us better understand life in the US in 2020.

Dr. Michelle O’Brien is a sociologist and demographer focused on the consequences of violent and non-violent political conflict. Her research has examined how political conflict — from neo-nationalism in Russia to genocide in Rwanda — has changed the institutional landscapes in those places, creating long-lasting social change.

Going Further 

• Michelle @ NYUAD
• Anatomy of Fascism
• War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning
• Caste – Join us for #NerdFarmReads Bookclub

The Socials

• @OBMich 

The Nerd Farmer Podcast is available on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play and is brought to you by Libro FM and TAPCO Credit Union

Please consider supporting the podcast by joining Channel 253 as a member

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS