Powered by SoapBox Productions and Organizing, Bourbon ‘n BrownTown is a conversation-based podcast that fosters radically imaginative dialogues on media, culture, politics, and our various social movements through a liberatory lens. With a Chicago focus, filmmakers and movement workers Caullen Hudson and David A. Moran unpack complex social issues and topics while building relationships with artists, activists, community organizers, educators, social entrepreneurs, and others working towards a…
BrownTown continues the "Chinga La Migra" series discussing how ICE ain't shit with Rey Wences of Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights ( ICIRR ) and Any Huamani of Brighton Park Neighborhood Council ( BPNC ). Fast-forwarding from the last conversation in summer 2025 focusing on the criminal-legal battles against ICE, the team reflects on the experiences, strategies, and lessons…
BrownTown discusses "Life" (1999) with trina reynolds tyler & Maira Khwaja of TM Productions and the Invisible Institute. The double duo breakdown the cult classic's coverage of US incarceration through the decades, respectability politics within Black and Southern white culture, the guilty-innocent dichotomy through an abolitionist lens, and the relatability and timelessness of '90's buddy…
BrownTown shares virtual space with Dina Amin (AKA Dinamiin ), Palestinian filmmaker and singer-songwriter to talk all things art, storytelling, and resistance. Dina shares her journey exploring identity and home through her genre-fluid music and deeply personal yet relatable film work. As the bombardment of war and genocide still cloud the headlines, we refocus our energy on what builds us up in…
BrownTown on BrownTown. The podcast's audio engineers Kiera Battles and Kassandra Borah, and for the first time Jamie Price, assistant producer, step to the mics to talk all things BnB 2025! Last year we dropped our first show trailer; had our first live event since 2018; started our new "Wrap Up" series discussing/promoting SoapBox films; continued our Palestinian Liberation and Whiskey &…
BrownTown heads over to CH Distillery | Jōtō Sushi in Chicago's West Loop for their second-ever live recording with Alicia Hurtado and Qudsiyyah Shariyf of Chicago Abortion Fund . In a moment of further descent into fascism on the federal level, built on decades of policy maneuvers and reactive cultural propaganda through a now resurgent Christian Nationalist and far-right forces, we seek to…
BrownTown shares space with Sadie Soto, consultant, organizer, policy savant, lifelong Chicagoan, and devoted CTA rider. The gang chats about the fall 2025 CTA (Chicago Transit Authority) and RTA (Regional Transportation Authority) budget crisis and the role and responsibility of mass public transit in our lives. As the recent funding crisis put public transit in Chicagoland in the spotlight, the…
BrownTown debriefs No Cop Academy: The Documentary (2023) with campaign organizers, interviewees, and producer/curator of the film, Debbie Southorn and Destiny Harris. The team reunites to discuss the creation, process, and impact of the one-hour SoapBox-produced film and the #NoCopAcademy campaign more broadly. The adult-supported, youth directed coalition and campaign from 2017-2019 was a…
BrownTown sits down for a follow-up conversation to earlier this year , analyzing the shock and awe strategy of the Trump-Musk aligned agenda and how we got there. Fast-forward to fall 2025, BrownTown speaks candidly on Trump's war on Chicago. While the lies and terror of ICE kidnappings, killings, and military-style raids on family housing projects color Operation Midway Blitz, Chicago fights…
BrownTown chops it up with Kiara Hardin and Infiniti Gant, multifaceted organizers with the Obama Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) coalition. Ten years since the announcement of the Obama Presidential Center (OPC) on Chicago's South Side and five years since the passing of the Woodlawn Ordinance that ensured housing protections for some residents, the coalition has continued to organize to…
Welcome to Bourbon 'n BrownTown! Since 2017, BrownTown has fostered radically imaginative dialogues on media, culture, politics, and our various social movements through a liberatory lens. With a Chicago focus, filmmakers and movement workers Caullen Hudson and David A. Moran unpack complex social issues and topics while building relationships with artists, activists, community organizers,…