Episodes
-
What does it mean for the President of the United States to make explicitly racist statements in public? Can an explicitly biased person “faithfully execute the Office of the President of the United States?” On today’s episode, Shaun breaks down why explicit bias is illegal in this country. The President of the United States has broken those laws this week. Are you wondering what can be done about it? Let’s dig in.
-
Trump’s rally last night was one of the most racist public moments in modern political history. Public racism has hit a modern peak. It is so dangerous, so despicable, that we had to move faster than expected. On today’s episode of The Breakdown, Shaun is introducing The Action PAC — to help us all organize for change. Let’s go!
-
Missing episodes?
-
Tomorrow, Eric Garner's murder will have taken place exactly five years ago. Today, we found out that no charges will be filed against the NYPD officer that murdered him. It's horrifying. So many people and systems have failed the Garner family. Shaun is dedicating a triple-length episode to work through how we got here. Because we can grow. We can move forward. But first, there are key lessons that we must learn about how to really effect change.
-
Trump has done so many blatantly racist things, that it probably felt like you couldn’t be shocked ever again. On Sunday morning, he publicly targeted 4 young women of color, Congresswomen, in a Tweet. Shaun is going to break down how we got to this point and will unpack how much danger his words put people of color into.
-
In the last 7 days, more than 6000-people have joined The Breakdown Crew. Today, Shaun breaks down what we achieved together and how we're going to keep the momentum going. Thanks to the energy of our listeners, this podcast has grown into a tool for organizing and change in a way we never expected, so we're taking a minute to thank you. At the end of today's episode, Shaun lays out his favorite episodes of our show so far and lets you know that we are taking a short break. We will be back in a few weeks!
-
You have probably seen the horrible video of police brutality that emerged out of Phoenix at the end of May. When demanding justice for these horrible instances of police brutality, it can be easy for our responses to become routine. Today Shaun explains why justice is so hard to come by in cases like this. Because sometimes we need to be reminded of the larger systems that we’re facing, in order for our fight for justice to be effective.
-
The North Star has always been about liberation, abolition, and freedom. It was about change when Frederick Douglass and Martin Delaney founded the newspaper in 1847, and it still is. Our listeners on The Breakdown have blown us away with your commitment to fight for change with us. You've inspired us, and this week, we're going all in. We are getting systems in place to organize at a new and bigger scale - we're building a team that we need you to join.
-
Trump tweeted a dangerous statement last night – one that should have us all alarmed. With Trump’s reelection campaign kicking off tonight, we need to be more alert than ever because if he acts on his threats, the results would be disastrous. Shaun also needs us to know about two new candidates for Congress in 2020 because just as we need to be vigilant, we also need to be hopeful.
-
If we want to change the criminal justice system from the inside out, we must elect reform-minded district attorney's. Tiffany Cabán, a public defender, is currently running for district attorney in Queens, NY and she is a game changer. If every county and every city could elect a candidate like her, let alone get people like her to run, our criminal justice system would change overnight. On today’s episode of The Breakdown, Shaun tells you about Tiffany Cabán and what he thinks is “the most important election in the country right now.”
-
Every single day of your life, something gets cheated. It could be your health, your relationships, or your work. On this short freestyle episode, Shaun speaks clearly about how you must make the tough choice on what gets cheated - or life will choose for you - and the results can be disastrous.
-
If we want to change the criminal justice system from the inside out, we must elect reform-minded district attorney's. Tiffany Cabán, a public defender, is currently running for district attorney in Queens, NY and she is a game changer. If every county and every city could elect a candidate like her, let alone get people like her to run, our criminal justice system would change overnight. On today’s episode of The Breakdown, Shaun tells you about Tiffany Cabán and what he thinks is “the most important election in the country right now.”
-
A revolution is fully underway in Sudan. Protests started in 2018. On April 11th, 2019, the long-standing dictator stepped down due to pressure from protestors. But now the military is slaughtering those protestors. These three sentences sum-up what we know from mainstream media outlets, but it’s not enough! Today’s episode of the Breakdown is dedicated to breaking down the nuanced historical and political context of this conflict because true understanding is the first step to showing solidarity with the Sudanese protestors. It’s a global responsibility!
-
Casual bigotry is on the rise. Civility and kindness toward fellow humans has become less normal. Yesterday NBA fans laughed in the face of Kevin Durant’s injury, and today, Shaun exposes what the casual cruelty of NBA fans says about the times in which we live.
-
You are helping to make change every time you take an action step from The Breakdown. Your participation is integral to fulfilling our vision at The North Star — to create news that fits the needs of our times by being more transparent, more action-oriented, and more nuanced. On today’s episode, we’re reporting back on the progress that we have been seeing from the action steps thanks to your work.
-
We need to fight for the justice we get. Today, Shaun needs us to fight
together to hold the corrupt prosecutors in the Central Park Five case accountable. The last two
episodes of The Breakdown were dedicated to tackling the injustices of the Central Park Five
case because, for our fight to work, we need to be organized and informed. -
Have you heard of Imbler v. Pachtman? Most people haven’t. It is a Supreme Court case that gives America’s prosecutors and district attorneys absolute immunity, even for the worst misconduct. Shaun breaks it down for you today, because to get justice in the Central Park Five case, we must first understand that prosecutorial corruption is essentially legal in this country. ***This episode contains a description of sexual assault.***
-
Ava Duvernay’s new Netflix miniseries “When They See Us” is powerful. It is an example of what strong storytelling is capable of. Because of her work, we now have a unique opportunity to fight for justice in a decades-old case. The next three episodes of The Breakdown will be dedicated to the infamous 1989 case known as the Central Park Five and Shaun will lead us in a renewed fight against old injustices.
-
We hear questions from you, our listeners, all the time. Sometimes they get personal, sometimes they are serious, and sometimes they're downright silly. Shaun will answer your questions in a special episode once per month, and here's our June Edition! Today Shaun answers your questions about everything from time management to self-care to whether he has personal beef with Joe Biden.
-
Buzzfeed and Injustice Watch just released a study called “Good Day for a Chokehold,” and it is revolutionary. The report gives us quantifiable proof that American police are bigoted by diving into the social media posts of thousands of police officers. Today’s episode is all about the findings of this study, because having hard, quantitative data to prove what we already knew is a big deal.
-
On today’s episode of The Breakdown, Shaun King unpacks the news that Illinois has banned over 200 books in their library – books about race, justice, freedom, and liberation. Shaun needs us to take the action steps that he lays out in this episode to fight back against a decision that furthers the cycle of oppression in our system of mass incarceration.
- Show more