Block & Build

Convergence Magazine
Convergence Magazine
  • 5.0 (24)
  • 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. Sep 14

    25 Years of the “War on Terror” w/ Silky Shah & Darakshan Raja

    In the aftermath of the September 11th, 2001 attacks, the US government enjoyed broad, bipartisan support for mounting what President George W. Bush termed a “War on Terror.” We were told that "war" required new tools, new techniques, and new resources to fight a global, asymmetric foe–one that maybe was lurking inside the United States, and that was driven by a supposedly civilizational grudge match between the Islamic world and the West. Some of those tools, from the Department of Homeland Security, which houses Immigration and Customs Enforcement, to the legal designations used to profile, surveil, debank, and indefinitely detain people and organizations with alleged ties to terrorism, were decried even at the time as massive overreaches of government power. Blanket laws like the PATRIOT Act gave law enforcement unprecedented license to surveil domestic communication. Much of the way this was deployed was driven heavily by Islamophobia. Street violence against people perceived to be Muslim skyrocketed. The FBI infiltrated–sometimes entrapping members of–Muslim community organizations and mosques. Today, in 2026, those tools are in the hands of the Trump Administration. There’s a direct line between the infrastructure built under George W. Bush and NSPM-7, the Trump Administration memo declaring anti-fascists to be terrorists. And the tools they’re using to go after organizers were honed over the past 25 years. To understand how this has impacted movement work today, we’re taking a look back, but we’re not going to stay in the past. Our guests today include Executive Director of Detention Watch Network, Silky Shah and Executive Director of Muslims for Just Futures, Darakshan Raja last week. We had a wide-ranging conversation about our shared political formation in the years after 9/11 and what their organizations are doing, in what feels like a fresh moment of opportunity to question the logic of the so-called War on Terror, to dismantle the weapons built to fight it. Want more? Become a member to support this show and others like it: convergencemag.com/membership 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. Sep 8

    Blueprints for Donor-Advised Funding w/ Beezer de Martelly and Fatema Ahmad

    Listeners may be familiar with stories from the past few years about left and movement organizations coming under legal attack. These include an indictment against the Southern Poverty Law Center on fraud charges, claiming their strategy of paying informants to expose extremist groups is fraud. Or bad faith accusations by Israel against UNWRA, a relief agency of the United Nations tasked with trying to provide food and other supplies to Gaza amidst Israel’s ongoing genocide. These types of legal attacks can accomplish their intended goal even if they don’t succeed in court. The mere threat of legal action can scare donors out of support for work that formerly seemed innocuous. This week's episode features two organizers who have worked on issues related to how donor-advised funds are unique chokepoints for philanthropic funding. Our guests include Beezer de Martelly, who has over a decade of experience in philanthropy organizing and recently published an article for Convergence on the subject titled “A Blueprint for Donor-Advised Fund Organizing.” Our other guest is Fatema Ahmad, whose work at the Muslim Justice League has included getting UNWRA reinstated as a philanthropic destination for Fidelity, one of the largest donor-advised funds in the world. In this conversation they lay out some of the terms of debanking and donor-advised funds for listeners less acquainted with these models. We then discuss the campaigns seeking to repair these financial relationships and what organizers need to know about the politics of philanthropy. Want more? Become a member to support this show and others like it: convergencemag.com/membership 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. Sep 2

    The Attention Economy Navigator, August 2026 w/ Akin Olla and Josh Elstro

    This week we are building our Attention Economy Navigator for the month of August 2026. It's 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 Managing Editor for Convergence, Akin Olla and Senior Multimedia Producer for Convergence, 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: Deportation has begun of Haitian migrants whose TPS was recently revoked by the Supreme Court. ICE's Invisible Surge and continued cooperation from local law enforcement Top military brass and Pete Hegseth butting heads over Iran war and more Republicans stand by Max Miller despite horrific allegations of abuse Will Grand Theft Auto 6's release be one of our last monocultural moments? Anti-trans protestors and grifts surrounding WNBA Meta settled a $17.1 billion suit alleging the platforms harm to teen mental health 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

  4. Aug 24

    Can You Hear “The Hum?” w/ Saul Levin

    In the past year, this show has explored how organizing against data centers is becoming a unifying rally point that breaks through this country’s typical “red vs. blue” dynamic. From urban cores to rural farm communities, serious organizing is happening to stop or slow the rapid development of these facilities at the local and state level. People are fed up with tech companies massively scaling up development to feed generative AI and large language models at the cost of polluting communities and skyrocketing consumer energy bills. Our guest this episode is Saul Levin, a long-time organizer who saw something fascinating among the diverse and complex experiences of the communities taking on this work. He wanted to go deeper with AI and data center organizers from around the country, zooming in and platforming their personal stories. The result is his fantastic new podcast The Hum, which published its first series of episodes this summer with more coming next month. You can find it wherever you listen to podcasts. Saul discusses the show as well as what he’s learning about the movement against data centers and the corporations forcing them on to our communities. "How Parallel Institutions Challenge Authoritarianism" by Saul Levin and Samantha Markel Want more? Become a member to support this show and others like it: convergencemag.com/membership 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. Aug 17

    Securing Public Education’s Future w/ Cecily Myart-Cruz

    Leading a union can be difficult. Even more difficult? Leading the educators union in the second-largest school district in the country, United Teachers Los Angeles, through the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, we talk to the woman who did just that: immediate Past President of UTLA, Cecily Myart-Cruz. She was also the first woman of color to be elected to the position. During her tenure, she made strides in racial justice and protections for immigrants. She helped secure more financial protections for the district, its workers, and more. Under her leadership, UTLA was able to expand what is possible through organizing that includes the community, not just its members. But now, public schools across the country are under attack from the right, including the Trump Administration's plans to dismantle the Department of Education.  As she steps away from the position, she joins us to talk about her tenure from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to her transition to a new role as a member of the National Education Association’s Executive Committee. We'll also discuss the threats currently facing public education–a foundational piece of our democracy–everywhere. 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

  6. Aug 10

    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

  7. 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

  8. 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

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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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