Block & Build

Block & Build is a newsmagazine podcast from Convergence Magazine that examines the balance of political forces in the US from a movement perspective. Every week, host Cayden Mak explores what's happening in politics—and what we can do about it. The show takes Convergence's Block & Build framework as a jumping-off point for responding to escalating authoritarianism in ways that focus on preventing harm while building the strength, resilience, and strategy for our movements to win in the long-term. And we're not just talk. Block & Build is made by and for doers: every week we hear from organizers, strategists, movement journalists, and others who are helping to refine our strategy and develop strategic unity in a time of great peril for people and planet. But we have no time for doomerism. This show is about how to fight, and while we are clear-eyed about what we're up against, we're also determined to win. Join us.

  1. 1D AGO

    Preventing Another Epstein w/ Shannon Perez-Darby and Chanelle Gallant

    On Friday, the Department of Justice released millions more documents held in cases relating to Jeffrey Epstein, AKA the "Epstein Files." The files are full of allegations and outright admissions of horrific behavior by elites of the billionaire and political class. However, at this point it seems consequences are unlikely beyond a few days of media headlines about increased "scrutiny." Amidst all the speculation, gossip, and political jockeying by both sides to score points: almost all public discourse around Epstein and his relationships with powerful elites neglects the survivors at the center of those documents. Our guests this week published a piece last month at Truthout.org, “Sex Trafficking Prosecutions Won’t Stop the Next Epstein. Here’s What Will.” It draws on their experience in abolitionist and sex worker justice movements to explore how the Left can reclaim space long ceded to the Right’s “law and order” messaging with a block-and-build strategy rooted in economic, racial, and gender justice that centers survivors while creating the social conditions to address harm and even prevent it in the first place. Chanelle Gallant is the co-author of Not Your Rescue Project: Migrant Sex Workers Fighting for Justice. Shannon Perez-Darby is co-editor of the anthology How to End Family Policing: From Outrage to Action. Additional Resources Mandatory Reporting is Not Neutral on Instagram "Numerous journalists targeted in attack via Signal Messenger" at Netzpolitik.org Want more? Enrich your media diet: Movement Media Alliance Contact us: mailbag@convergencemag.com Subscribe to Convergence Magazine’s YouTube to catch the video premiere of each episode: Mondays at 7:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM PT Have we made a difference in your life? Help us keep it going. convergencemag.com/donate Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links to Convergence’s Bookshop. Ten percent of purchases made through our bookshop directly support our movement media work.

    58 min
  2. The Attention Economy Navigator, January 2026 w/ Shaira Chaer & Jess St. Louis

    JAN 21

    The Attention Economy Navigator, January 2026 w/ Shaira Chaer & Jess St. Louis

    This month on the Attention Economy Navigator, our guide to what you should be paying more attention to, and what you can probably pay less attention to. And why those stories might not be what you’d assume. Joining to help build this month's Attention Economy Navigator in real time are friends of the pod Shaira Chaer, Senior Strategist at ReFrame, and Jess St. Louis, an organizer and narrative strategist based in North Carolina. Just a quick content note: this discussion includes stories about murder, gun violence, an antisemitic attack against a house of worship, revenge porn, and child sexual abuse material. It's been a rough few weeks in the headlines, please take care of yourself! Find the full navigator chart here. You can also watch the panel plot these stories in real time on YouTube. Stories we referenced in this episode: “Transgender Athletes Ask Supreme Court to Overturn State Bans” covered in many outlets. “Project 2026: Restoring America’s Promise” from the Heritage Foundation/Heritage Action for America. “Raw eggs, ‘Scripture-backed fitness’ and a Porsche: The online world of the man accused of burning Mississippi’s largest synagogue” by Michael Goldberg and Molly Minta in Mississippi Today; Beth Israel is committed to rebuilding. The murder of Renee Nicole Good, the narrative meaning of which is being hotly contested right now. Grok’s deepfake features are being used to create nonconsensual pornographic images and other abuse material, only relenting after the government of the UK came after them. “ICE plans $100 million ‘wartime recruitment’ push targeting gun shows, military fans for hires” by Drew Harwell and Joyce Sohyun Lee in The Washington Post; this echoes what Shaira found researching QAnon in 2023. “War Profiteers Furious After Polymarket Refuses to Pay Out on Venezuelan Invasion Bets” by Joe Wilkins in Futurism. We swear we wanted to talk about something lighter that still provides insight, but it’s been a rough couple weeks. Want more? Enrich your media diet: Movement Media Alliance Contact us: mailbag@convergencemag.com Subscribe to Convergence Magazine's YouTube to catch the video premiere of each episode: Mondays at 7:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM PT Have we made a difference in your life? Help us keep it going. convergencemag.com/donate Here's how we're nurturing writers this year.

    1h 4m
  3. JAN 13

    The State of Student Debt w/ Braxton Brewington

    Starting this week, some student loan borrowers in default may receive notice that their wages are being garnished directly from their paychecks in order to restart repayment. This is one of many Trump era changes to student loan repayment programs negatively impacting borrowers. Of the nearly 43 million student loan borrowers in the US, only 40% of them are current on their payments. Since changes made in 2020 to protect borrowers during the early days of the Covid pandemic, confusing rules about payment plans have come and gone between the Biden and Trump administrations. Furthermore, thanks to cuts at the Department of Education, many borrowers are completely lost on how to properly restart their payments or stay on paths they thought would lead to forgiveness of their remaining balance. Joining us to discuss these struggles and how borrowers can organize to protect themselves and others is Press Secretary and organizer for the Debt Collective, Braxton Brewington. He helps us navigate the current state of the shifting and messy student debt landscape and what rights borrowers have. Additional Resources News Brief: How Corporate Media Laid the Groundwork for a Rightwing Incitement Campaign in Minnesota by Citations Needed Want more? Enrich your media diet: Movement Media Alliance Contact us: mailbag@convergencemag.com Subscribe to Convergence Magazine's YouTube to catch the video premiere of each episode: Mondays at 7:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM PT Have we made a difference in your life? Help us keep it going. convergencemag.com/donate Here's how we're nurturing writers this year. Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links to Convergence’s Bookshop. Ten percent of purchases made through our bookshop directly support our movement media work.

    55 min

About

Block & Build is a newsmagazine podcast from Convergence Magazine that examines the balance of political forces in the US from a movement perspective. Every week, host Cayden Mak explores what's happening in politics—and what we can do about it. The show takes Convergence's Block & Build framework as a jumping-off point for responding to escalating authoritarianism in ways that focus on preventing harm while building the strength, resilience, and strategy for our movements to win in the long-term. And we're not just talk. Block & Build is made by and for doers: every week we hear from organizers, strategists, movement journalists, and others who are helping to refine our strategy and develop strategic unity in a time of great peril for people and planet. But we have no time for doomerism. This show is about how to fight, and while we are clear-eyed about what we're up against, we're also determined to win. Join us.

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