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How To Citizen with Baratunde

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.

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

Watch this first video story from the Week of Citizening on Instagram or LinkedIn: https://newsletter.baratunde.com/p/1st-story-libraries-are-hubs-for?r=204q7
 
What if every library in the world was a hub for citizening—a space where people could come together, tell their own stories, and build new ones? It’s already happening. And Cossit Llibrary in downtown Memphis is leading the way.
 
🎙️ Meet Ena Esco — Innovator-in-Residence for podcast programming. In a city that’s majority Black and shaped by deep economic challenges, Ena is turning a traditional library into a platform for power.
 
Inside this public library you’ll find:
 
📸 A podcast studio
 
🎥 A video + photo lab
 
🎭 A performance space
 
All free. All open to the public.
 
“We live in an era where a lot of people are being silenced. I’m proud to mentor folks and watch them realize: they can say what they truly want to say.” — Ena Esco
 
This is what it looks like to practice power. To citizen.
 
🔗 Want more stories like this? Visit https://stories.howtocitizen.com 
 
Story produced by Tess Novotnoy
 
This is part of the Week Of Citizening stories jointly amplified by How To Citizen, Jon Alexander, and Baratunde Thurston
 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Libraries Are Hubs for Citizening - Story 1

It’s Tax Day in the U.S., a moment when many of us think about how we fund collective life. So today’s story? It’s about layoffs — but not the kind we’ve come to expect.
 
See the visuals for this story and all our Week of Citizening stories here:
https://newsletter.baratunde.com/p/this-tax-day-solidarity-and-consent 
 
We’re often told democracy is too slow or messy for hard moments. But this episode shows that it’s exactly in those moments that shared power matters most. This isn’t just a story about layoffs. It’s a rejection of the authoritarian reflex in boardrooms, governments, and beyond. It’s about choosing to citizen, even — and especially — when it’s hard.
 
This story is not the teary CEO on Zoom. Not the cold memo. Not the decision handed down from above. This story is different. Kate “Sassy” Sassoon helped an organization in financial crisis involve everyone in the decision-making process. Together, they:
 
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Cut costs with consent
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Shared the burden of leadership
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Kept more people employed — and all people respected
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 “They felt like complete, full humans. Seen. Heard. Valued.” — Kate 
Sign up to share and discover more stories like this: https://stories.howtocitizen.com
 
Video Produced by: Tess Novotnoy
 
Week of Citizening Collaborators: Baratunde Thurston, Jon Alexander, Shira Abramowitz, Elizabeth Stewart

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A Tax Day Message about Layoffs With Consent

We’re told America is hopelessly divided. But zoom in—like, say, to a school board in South Central Pennsylvania—and a different story emerges.
 
Full video viewing options for this story plus links to the Instagram and LinkedIn versions:
https://newsletter.baratunde.com/p/proof-we-can-overcome-division-3rd 
 
This episode features Steph and Lance: one conservative, one liberal, both neighbors, both school board members. With the support of Urban Rural Action, they chose relationship over partisanship. Listening over labeling. Curiosity over contempt.
 
And the result? A school board that works. For the kids. For the community. For all of us. This is what it looks like to citizen:
 
Listen deeply. Speak honestly. Resist the pull to polarize. Build something different—together
 
🧭 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 Anne Gutteridge.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Can a School Board Teach Us to Overcome Division?

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.

People Know What They Need

Today, we head to Chicago, where a civic gathering called Chi Hack Night is bringing technologists, designers, policy nerds, and everyday residents together to build a better city.
 
Access to visuals for this story are here:
 
https://newsletter.baratunde.com/p/we-found-the-anti-doge-in-chicago 
 
and that conversation on Life With Machines with Deb Roy is here
 
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/life-with-machines/id1766829040?i=1000703577941 
 
mRelief, a woman-led initiative that’s made it easier for people to access food benefits. Since 2018, it’s helped unlock $2 BILLION (yes, with a B) in SNAP support for people across the country.
 
In a time of DOGE and digital distrust, it’s tempting to think all tech can do is tear things down. But this is what happens when we invite everyone—not just the billionaires—into the process of shaping solutions.
 
This is what citizening looks like:
 
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🧑‍🤝‍🧑 People-powered innovation
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🏙️ Tech rooted in place
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💡 Making tools with communities, not just for them
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💬 Seen something like this in your community, an org that asks first?
 
Visit https://stories.howtocitizen.com, join our list, and let us know you have a story to share. These stories are everywhere — and we need them more than ever.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We found the Anti-DOGE in Chicago

Today we bring you Story #6 in our Week of Citizening. We’ve already shown you how people are rethinking democracy through libraries, labor, and school boards. Now we’re headed to a place often overlooked but brimming with democratic possibility: West Virginia.
 
See the visuals and links to all these stories here: https://newsletter.baratunde.com/p/dont-wait-for-better-leaders-become 
 
We’re told politics is about picking the lesser of evils. Ordering off a fixed menu. But what if we left the table… and headed for the kitchen? That’s what the folks behind West Virginia Can’t Wait are doing. And it’s a clear sign that democracy is evolving.
 
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They’ve passed legislation that’s rare even in liberal strongholds
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They don’t run candidates but communities
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They help hold elected officials accountable and offer ongoing support
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This is what Jon Alexander calls the shift from Consumer Democracy to Citizen Democracy. Not just new processes like Citizens’ Assemblies or Participatory Budgeting (though we love those too) — but real people getting a grip on the systems we’ve got, starting from where we are.
 
“One of the things I’m most proud of in my career is helping to demystify politics. It’s just everyday work for everyday folks.”
 
— Rosemary Ketchum, West Virginia Can’t Wait
 
This isn’t happening in some liberal stronghold. This is Appalachia — a place many assume to be too red, too rigid, too far gone. But that’s just not the whole story. I’ve seen firsthand the level of commitment and creativity in Appalachia through my recent travels there for my PBS America Outdoors show. Trust me, these stories are happening in all sorts of underestimated places.
 
💬 Who else is opening politics to everyday people?
 
Sign up to share and discover more stories like this: https://stories.howtocitizen.com
 
Video Produced by: Tess Novotnoy
 
Week of Citizening Collaborators: Baratunde Thurston, Jon Alexander, Shira Abramowitz, Elizabeth Stewart

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Don't Wait for New Leaders. BECOME Them

We head to Eliot, Maine, where a multiracial, multidisciplinary group of artists have reimagined what a conference can be. At SeaCHANGE, creativity isn’t an afterthought—it’s the starting point. The gathering opens with movement and dance. It invites deep connection through shared meals, collaborative workshops, and artistic expression. And it creates space for belonging, especially for artists of color.
 
Full video viewing options for this story plus links to the Instagram and LinkedIn versions: https://newsletter.baratunde.com/p/how-we-gather-is-how-we-citizen-7th 
 
🧭 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 Tess Novotnoy.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How we gather is how we citizen

There is a model for how we rebuild and heal after the human-made disaster being inflicted on the USA right now. Welcome to Dena Heals—a mutual aid marketplace and wellness center born in the aftermath of the Eaton Fire in Altadena.
 
See the visuals for this story and all our Week of Citizening stories here:
https://newsletter.baratunde.com/p/this-is-how-we-recover-from-disasters 
 
This is our final story (for now) in the Week Of Citizening. Join our mailing list and share the stories you’re seeing. stories.howtocitizen.com 
 
When the 💩 hits the fan, we are told people become selfish and look after themselves alone. Every disaster ever proves otherwise including after the most devastating fire to hit Los Angeles. Something extraordinary took root. Not fear. Not isolation. But care for each other.
 
Rebecca Solnit said it well: “When all the ordinary divides and patterns are shattered, people step up—not all, but the great preponderance—to become their brothers’ keepers. And that purposefulness and connectedness brings joy even amidst death, chaos, fear and loss.”
 
Rooted in Indigenous wisdom and the Black Panther 10-Point Program, Dena Heals is a blueprint for what happens when we lead with love, show up for each other, and practice power together.
 
They’ve supported 3,500+ people from over 500 families. This is what it looks like to citizen in the midst of disaster. Not with despair—but with collective action, healing, and hope.
 
We saved this story for last in our Week Of Citizening series because it reflects all the pillars of How to Citizen:
 
🌱 Show up & participate
 
⚡ Understand power
 
🤝 Commit to the collective
 
❤️ Invest in relationships (including nature)
 
This is how we rise. This is how we rebuild. This is how we citizen. Happy Earth Day
 
Sign up to share and discover more stories like this: https://stories.howtocitizen.com
 
Video Produced by: Revolve Impact
 
Week of Citizening Collaborators: Baratunde Thurston, Jon Alexander, Shira Abramowitz, Elizabeth Stewart

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We Know how to Rebuild Our Democracy - final story

This is our wrap of our Week of Citizening that I've been doing with Jon Alexander. We found 8 stories from across the U.S. — across sectors, communities, and divides — where people are coming together to make life better, together. See them all here.
 
See the visuals for this story and all our Week of Citizening stories here: https://linktr.ee/weekofcitizening 
 
Join our mailing list and share the stories you’re seeing. stories.howtocitizen.com 
 
The story is everywhere.

It’s happening in libraries, tech hubs, small towns, and fire-stricken neighborhoods.
It’s happening in real politics, real businesses, and real lives.
It’s what humans do — when given the chance.

🌎 We believe it’s time to tell a bigger, truer story about who we are.
💥 We’re just getting started — and we need you with us.

👉🏽 Sign up to get all 8 films + hear what’s next.

Let’s tell this story. Let’s be this story.
 
Video Produced by: Chilli.app and Summer Solstice
 
Week of Citizening Collaborators: Baratunde Thurston, Jon Alexander, Shira Abramowitz, Elizabeth Stewart

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The true story of who we really are

Welcome to a special bonus episode of How To Citizen. We are sharing Baratunde's appearance on the What Could Go Right? podcast, created by The Progress Network. Baratunde discusses technology, and specifically generative artificial intelligence, and how it might help or hinder human progress and how it aligns or deviates from our concept of citizen as a verb.
 
As always, find How To Citizen on Instagram or visit howtocitizen.com to join our mailing list and find ways to citizen besides listening to this podcast! Please show your support for the show by reviewing and rating. It makes a huge difference with the algorithmic overlords and helps others like you find the show!
 
How To Citizen is hosted by Baratunde Thurston. He’s also host and executive producer of the PBS series, America Outdoors as well as a founding partner and writer at Puck. You can find him all over the internet. 
 
 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

BONUS: Baratunde On Peril and Promise of AI

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