With a sharp focus on culture, economics, and politics, Art of Citizenry explores how historic oppression persists and evolves, confronting the colonial legacies that shape our systems today. With an emphasis on intersectional justice, this podcast challenges listeners to unlearn and consider more restorative, community-centered approaches. Join us as we critically explore, challenge, and unravel mainstream narratives with nuanced perspectives. Support our work:…
Subscribe:.rss.atom.json.md.m3u.pls
Live Last read · last published · next check
Saves to your Listen queue, to pick up on another day or another device.
What happens when the way we make sense of the world is mediated by platforms designed to reward speed, outrage, and attention? In this episode of Art of Citizenry , host Manpreet Kaur Kalra speaks with Dr. Kate Starbird, professor at the University of Washington and co-founder of the UW Center for an Informed Public. They discuss rumors, misinformation, disinformation, conspiracy theories,…
Patagonia is a vast region spanning southern Chile and Argentina. It is also the name of a multibillion-dollar outdoors company that has spent more than 50 years turning the region’s landscapes and mythology into a symbol of wilderness and adventure. Now, Patagonia Inc. is suing drag queen and climate activist Pattie Gonia for trademark infringement and dilution. But beneath all the legal…
Instant Pot didn’t just go bankrupt, it became another casualty of private equity’s complex financial maneuvers. In this episode of our series The Private Equity Playbook , host Manpreet Kaur Kalra and collaborator Anna Canning trace how one of the most beloved kitchen gadgets of the 2010s became a textbook case of everything private equity does to the things we own, the places we live, and the…
We're taught to think of economics as an objective truth. But what if economics isn't neutral at all? What if it's a story shaped by power and by a history that has been carefully edited? A story that celebrates innovation and progress while quietly erasing extraction, exploitation, and the violence behind how wealth became concentrated geographically. In this episode of Art of Citizenry Podcast ,…
In December 2025, the University of Utah became the first major college athletic program to take private equity investment, spinning off its commercial operations into a for-profit company. Half a billion dollars and a public university now answering to Wall Street. In this episode of our series The Private Equity Playbook, host Manpreet Kaur Kalra is joined by collaborator Anna Canning to trace…
Starbucks built its brand on the idea of the “third place.” But over the past decade, the company has quietly unraveled the very conditions that made that promise possible. In this episode of Art of Citizenry Podcast , Manpreet Kaur Kalra speaks with Megan Erickson, a Philadelphia-based barista and member of Starbucks Workers United, about the growing labor movement inside Starbucks. Together,…
Artificial intelligence (AI) is often framed as a technological breakthrough. But behind the headlines is a deeper question: who owns the infrastructure shaping how we communicate, create, and understand truth? In this episode of Art of Citizenry Podcast, we slow down the AI conversation to ask harder questions – not just about what these systems can do, but who built them, who profits from them,…
In this episode of Art of Citizenry Podcast , Manpreet Kaur Kalra speaks with Minnesota State Senator Erin Maye Quade from the epicenter of ICE’s siege. Across Minnesota, intensified immigration operations have made daily life unsafe and unpredictable, destabilizing families and threatening people’s basic autonomy and human rights. From masked agents going door to door and idling near schools to…
JOANN (forever “Joann Fabrics” in our hearts) didn’t just “go out of business,” it was engineered to collapse. In this episode of our series The Private Equity Playbook, host Manpreet Kaur Kalra is joined by collaborator Anna Canning to trace how a beloved craft-store chain went from being a hub for makers to a debt-loaded financial instrument. This isn’t a story about changing consumer tastes or…
Impact investing is often framed as a win–win: do good, generate a positive social or environmental impact while still earning a financial return. But what does that actually look like in practice and who carries the risk when things don’t go as planned? In this episode of Art of Citizenry, Manpreet Kaur Kalra is joined by Dr. Peter Hinton, impact investor and Associate Fellow at Oxford’s Saïd…
