Block & Build

Convergence Magazine
Convergence Magazine
  • 5.0 (22)
  • Politics
  • Updated Weekly

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. 2d ago

    Repro Rights on the Ballot w/ Jennifer Parrish Taylor

    On November 5th, 2024, New York State voters found an option to vote for Proposition One, or the Equal Rights Amendment, to be enacted into state law. Prop One guaranteed abortion rights and reproductive healthcare for all New York State residents. Prop One easily passed and made its way into law, just two years after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision repealed Roe v. Wade, abolishing federal abortion rights.  New York is just one example of how state ballot initiatives are being used to win back abortion rights in a post-Roe landscape. Some have succeeded, like in Ohio. Other states are caught in back and forth ballot battles. Like Missouri, which protected abortion under Amendment 3 in 2024, and finds a measure asking voters to repeal those same protections in 2026…also under the name “Amendment 3.” Here to talk about this issue and how ballot measures are shaping the November general election is the Policy and Legal Advocacy Director at the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, Jennifer Parrish Taylor. BISC is an infrastructure organization that helps organizations fighting for reproductive justice, the rights of marginalized communities, and others utilize ballot measures across the United States. From this episode: The Deaths ICE Doesn’t Count - Mother Jones Ballot Initiative Strategy Center Want more? Support our summer membership drive: bit.ly/2026memberdrive Submit your article proposals to Convergence 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

  2. Aug 3

    Crafting Better Narratives w/ Shanelle Matthews and Yewande Addie

    The Joe Rogan Experience. Modern Family. The Daily Show. Needless to say, the audiences of these types of content are usually on different political wavelengths. A new project from The Radical Communicators Network (or RadComms) and Rising Majority says that in order to build a stronger force willing to fight back against authoritarianism, we need to understand how different kinds of stories and content affect how people perceive issues and digest meaning. Starting there, we can then be strategic about how we build narratives about organizing and activism tailored to specific audiences to better form a movement base; issue by issue. The report distinguishes four different kinds of groups of audiences, from the Fox News crowd, to the types of people eager to watch the latest episode of HBOs “The Pitt.” Analyzing these differences in audience taste and values can help organizers build narrative strategies that bridge divides with the power of storytelling. The full, easily digestible report is linked in the show notes and we strongly suggest those who are interested in any form of movement comms work check it out. Today's guests are two of the authors behind the report, called Rising Narratives for Radical Futures: Talking Across Difference for a Multi-Racial Democracy. Shanelle Matthews is the founder of Radical Communicators Network, which organizes movement communications workers across the US and internationally. And Yewande Addie is a communications scholar and narrative strategist with the BLIS Collective. Want more? Support our summer membership drive: bit.ly/2026memberdrive Submit your article proposals to Convergence 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

  3. Jul 27

    Insights From Florida w/ Angie Nixon, Andrea Cristina Mercado, Eric Brakken

    When people outside the state think of Florida politics, they often think of the de-facto MAGA headquarters that is Mar-a-Lago or the reactionary policies of Ron DeSantis – things like book bans, LGBTQ discrimination, climate change denial, and more. In other words? A lost cause for any sort of progressive movement. But in reality, Floridians have long been part of a powerful and unique fascism-fighting force that has united communities across difference to fight for labor rights, racial justice, voting rights, LGBTQ rights, and more, standing up powerful organizations and supporting champions from local government to Washington DC. Following up on our recent Insights From Florida series–available now–Cayden talks to three Floridians who are part of this continuing fight and contributors to that series. In this conversation they had the opportunity to go deeper on some of the work proposed in those articles and build towards what’s next for movement work in Florida and beyond. On the panel is Florida State House representative and current US Senate candidate, Angie Nixon; non-profit and climate justice leader, Andrea Cristina Mercado; and veteran labor organizer Eric Brakken. They discuss how the progressive movement in Florida has been fighting back, and what they think can get the state, and other states that get written off in the national political calculus, out of the grips of MAGA. More From This Episode Hunger strikes are spreading in ICE jails amid widespread due process violations, advocates say – PRISM How the CJP protests have shaken Modi's stranglehold over India – Himal South Asian Want more? Support our summer membership drive: bit.ly/2026memberdrive Submit your article proposals to Convergence 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

  4. Jul 20

    Hands Off Ohio! w/ Caitlin Johnson

    On June 11th, staff members of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative watched as over one hundred FBI agents entered and raided their offices, questioning workers, and seizing computer files and documents. Agents also reportedly fanned out to homes of volunteers, board members, and staff–fishing for information and electronic devices. The agents were said to have been investigating voter fraud allegations, but a month later, the FBI has released no official statement on or probable cause for these actions. The FBI raids follow similar attacks from the Trump administration, including seizing ballots and records in Fulton County in Georgia, Maricopa County in Arizona, and Wayne County in Michigan. All three of these are in crucial presidential battleground states. The Ohio Organizing Collaborative works to boost voter rights and participation by helping Ohioans register to vote and defending minority groups in court against redistricting efforts as well as other assaults on voter freedoms.  Joining this episode to discuss is former staff member of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative and current Senior Communications Director at Innovation Ohio, Caitlin Johnson to talk about what exactly happened, how communities in Ohio are responding, and what other groups can do to protect themselves against other attacks. Visit handsoffohio.org for more info on how you can support OOC and other impacted organizers. Want more? Support our summer membership drive: bit.ly/2026memberdrive Submit your article proposals to Convergence 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

  5. Jul 13

    The Attention Economy Navigator, July 2026 w/ Francesca Fiorentini

    This week we are building July's 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 is comedian and host of The Bitchuation Room, Francesca Fiorentini. We are also joined this week by Convergence's Senior Multimedia Producer, Josh Elstro. You can also read the article version on the Convergence website, or watch the panel plot these stories in real time on YouTube. Stories Referenced in This Episode: ICE Murders Lorenzo Salgado in Houston, and admits he was the wrong target Supreme Court ends TPS for Haitian and Syrian migrants Over 100 Venezuelans who had just been deported are among the thousands gone missing after earthquake Waymo took the law into its own hands by locking teens in car and driving them to police Graham Platner is out as Maine Senate candidate after latest accusations of sexual assault Mysterious silence surrounds the state of Senator Mitch McConnell's health (Note: this episode was recorded before a "proof of life" photo was released Sunday afternoon) FBI raids homes of Michigan students who participated in pro-Palestinian campus protests Want more? Submit your article proposals to Convergence 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/membership

  6. Jul 6

    How to Remake Democracy w/ Elizabeth Adams and Danielle Chynoweth

    This episode’s guests found themselves in a position many long-time political organizers and activists were in back in 2016 following the first election of Donald Trump–family, friends, comrades and more all coming to them and asking “what do we do?” This familiar experience was the catalyst which resulted ten years later in the publication of their book Remaking Democracy: How We Make the Worlds We Want. Co-authors Danielle Chynoweth and Elizabeth Adams took on the task of putting their multiple decades of experience in movement organizing–dating back to the WTO protests of the late 90s–to work for others looking to organize and take on the contradictions of capitalism which must be resolved to make true, multiracial democracy.  The end result is a book full of resources for movement organizers and allies to work through the authors’ theory of progress, referred throughout the book as the “spiral of change.” Remaking Democracy flows in and out of personal stories, practical resources, and accessible theory informed by the authors’ experience as organizers, artists, and teachers. It is available now from Common Notions Press. Want more? Have we made a difference in your life? It's our summer member drive and you can help us keep it going. bit.ly/2026memberdrive Submit your article proposals to Convergence 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 Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links to Convergence’s Bookshop. Ten percent of purchases made through our bookshop directly support our movement media work.

  7. Jun 29

    Live From Take Back Tech w/ Andre Brock & Ariella Steinhorn

    This week on the show, we’re sharing the recording of the plenary panel Cayden presented on at MediaJustice and Mijente’s Take Back Tech III. Moderated by Tech Policy Press’s Justin Hendrix, Cayden is joined by Associate Professor of Black Digital Media at Georgia Tech, Andre Brock, and independent tech journalist Ariella Steinhorn, who has worked with whistleblowers across the tech industry. The panel discusses the intersection of Big Tech and narrative power. They look at the ways that Big Tech has sold us a vision of the future, and the ways that our communities are in the midst of creating an alternative future, one act of resistance at a time. Want more? Have we made a difference in your life? It's our summer member drive and you can help us keep it going. bit.ly/2026memberdrive Submit your article proposals to Convergence 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

  8. Jun 22

    The Attention Economy Navigator, June 2026 w/ Justin Hendrix

    This week we are building June's 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 is cofounder, CEO, and writer at techpolicy.press, Justin Hendrix. We are also joined this week by Convergence's Senior Multimedia Producer, Josh Elstro. You can also read the article version on the Convergence website, or watch the panel plot these stories in real time on YouTube. Stories Referenced in This Episode: Elon Musk has become the world’s first trillionaire with the IPO of SpaceX Graham Platner is making waves in Maine despite skepticism from institutional Democrats and legacy media 15 anti-ICE protestors were indicted on charges of conspiracy to impede federal agents in Minnesota A congressional draft on AI regulation could signal a change in government attitudes toward the technology The White House UFC event hosted for Trump’s birthday was sponsored by a who's–who of scammers and grifters Want more? Submit your article proposals to Convergence 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/membership

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5
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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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