Engaged Citizen

Holly + Josh Hudley
  • 5.0 (8)
  • SOCIETY & CULTURE
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Engaged Citizen is a podcast with Holly and Josh, a couple of ordinary people interested in helping you stay informed in a thoughtful and truthful way. We are saturated with news, so we will take three to four issues each week and discuss why they matter. We’ll end with a bright spot because people still show courage, compassion, and love!

  1. FEB 11

    Engaged Citizen

    Let’s talk about what’s working. Protests are working. Going to city council meetings to refuse permits to privately run human warehouses works. Voting works. Calling your reps works. So does checking on your neighbor and documenting what you see. Shoot, we saw artwork in powerfully during the Super Bowl! We are far too creative a species to take this lying down!

    44 min

  2. FEB 3

    Engaged Citizen

    In an unconventional move, Judge Fred Biery wrote these words in his opinion ordering the release of Liam and Adrian Conejo Arias: “Jesus wept.” I don’t read it so much as an imposition of Christian values on the legal system, but as highlighting the moral depravity of an administration that is willing to detain children to prove a point. I’ll link to her commentary below, but a Lawyer and Mother wrote that his use of this verse speaks less to a political failing (though it is) and more to a spiritual failing. In its simplest form, religion, from the Latin relegare, means to bind together. To practice being bound to one another does not require a particular doctrine, only a belief that each person is worthy of dignity and reverence, and to treat them as such.

    33 min

  3. JAN 27

    Engaged Citizen

    The past week has brought an onslaught of events and emotions. We’ve seen ICE double down on Minnesotans, and we’ve seen these resolute midwesterners triple down en masse. It seems the whole state showed up for the protest on January 23. The very next day, we saw ICE brutally murder another citizen advocate, Alex Pretti. Minnesota hasn’t let up. Following the death of Alex Pretti, their National Guard was mobilized and armed with donuts, coffee, and cocoa for the residents they were called to protect. All of this in sub-freezing temps amidst one of the worst winter storms in recent history. I am both dismayed and inspired.

    33 min

  4. JAN 20

    Engaged Citizen

    We recorded on MLK day in the US, and we end this podcast by reading one of his well known quotes from his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” It reads, “In a real sense all life is inter-related. All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” The US has all but forgotten this truth of reality. We are all the faces of this country. I would ask each of us to examine the face we are showing and how we are using our power and privilege in such a time as this.

    36 min

  5. JAN 13

    Engaged Citizen

    We address three topics this week: what we are learning about Venezuela, ICE actions against Renee Good in Minnesota, and voters’ privacy in the upcoming election cycle. As crazy as it seems, there are parallels between what Trump says his purpose was in Venezuela and what occurred in Minnesota. The abduction of Maduro was not about holding him accountable or limiting his power; it was about mimicking it. Days after criticizing Maduro for actions against his own people as a way to justify actions taken by the US, Trump justified ICE’s killing of Renee Good. Get this through your heads — the president of the United States is justifying the killing of an unarmed civilian and citizen. The administration is denigrating the victim, calling her a left-wing terrorist, and protecting its paramilitary. Trump is not interested in removing a dictator from power. Just look who he instated as the substitute! He is interested in minimizing his competition and asserting his own authority. As my friend Jimmy Patterson says in his Substack, “Some Grace Maybe,” our best recourse is to protest peacefully. This podcast is our form of peaceful protest. What is yours? The other recourse we have is to participate in elections and demand better. As we stand, our glorious state of Texas has handed over a complete list of registered voters to the DOJ. DNC litigators argue this violates federal election law and risks using the information to manipulate outcomes. Gov. Abbott is also trying to take control of Harris County elections — the largest Democratic stronghold in the state. All the more reason why we must vote and protest against the loss of freedoms. Stay informed and stay engaged, y’all. We got work to do!

    37 min

  6. JAN 7

    Engaged Citizen

    …and many are asking for a refund on 2026 already! Shortly after midnight on January 3, the Trump administration took military action against Venezuela, which resulted in the extradition of Maduro and his wife to the US to be accused and tried for drug trafficking. All of this was performed without congressional approval. Strangely, Trump let Fox and Friends know before informing our elected officials! While there is a precedent for not obtaining approval for military action, the event underscores the broadening authority modern presidents exercise over military force. The jury is out on whether the actions taken were illegal, though many say they were a violation of international law. We’ll see how the UN responds.

    37 min

  7. 12/16/2025

    Engaged Citizen

    One of the things we talk about in this episode is stamina - how do we keep pressing for the kind of change we need to see in this country? How do we swing back toward democracy? Many are turning a blind eye to the lack of legal processes in our country right now, not least of all the Supreme Court. They are playing to a bully, but they are also getting a taste of power. We are a split population, but there is evidence that the bullies are losing popularity. There is evidence that the hydra is being chipped away. Deep change ultimately calls for long game energy, where short-term wins are achieved bit by bit. It took almost 15 years to oust Ferdinand Marcos, Sr. from power in the Philippines, but it was the people on the ground who played the long game. This is what we need right now so that we do not casually and passively slide further away from a government for the people by the people. Do we have it in us?

    1 min

  8. 12/09/2025

    Engaged Citizen

    Though it’s been a couple of weeks, the Trump administration keeps on providing plenty of fodder for podcasts. The whole “let’s strike every boat coming out of Venezuela” strategy seems a great distraction to Trump’s growing unpopularity. When six democratic lawmakers pleaded to the military to remain faithful to the Constitution rather than a despot, Trump called for these people to be executed. Ummmm, what do we call an act of sedition called for by the president himself?? This is from the playbook of Christian Nationalism, an underlying philosophy of Project 2025. They call for political violence in the name of religion and patriotism. Looks to me like idolatry.

    30 min
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About

Engaged Citizen is a podcast with Holly and Josh, a couple of ordinary people interested in helping you stay informed in a thoughtful and truthful way. We are saturated with news, so we will take three to four issues each week and discuss why they matter. We’ll end with a bright spot because people still show courage, compassion, and love!

Information

  • Creator
    Holly + Josh Hudley
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    44
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Show Website
    Engaged Citizen