Episode 15: Colleen Wood on Florida's Education Cuts and Standardized Testing

Colleen Wood founded the first grassroots education advocacy group in Florida, 50th No More, back in 2007. She tells us what's next for the organization (including some exciting national actions), her run-ins with Jeb Bush's Astroturfing education group, and how exactly we can protect our students from the "reform" movement and improve things beyond that. DOWNLOAD HERE, press play below, and read the TRANSCRIPT.

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"Marion County is Moving Forward, And We're Starting With Our Children" -- Public Education Advocate Ray Seaman on Yes For Marion Schools

(I mentioned in the Site News that I'm dropping the podcast for a while, but still doing interviews. Here's my first "print-only" interview, a follow-up on an interview from April.)

“It’s time to stop letting the shrill and reactionary few determine the fate of so many. Let’s show ourselves and our neighbors that for the first time in a very long time Marion County is moving forward, and we’re starting with our children.” - Ray Seaman

Ray Seaman is the Founder of the Awake the State movement and the Online Director for Progress Florida. I interviewed him back in April; you can read it here, or download the podcast here. We talked about a lot of different things, but five months later I was curious how exactly his Marions United campaign is going, as well as how progressives and conservatives approach Get Out the Vote efforts here in Florida. Here are his emailed responses to my questions.

Follow this link for the interview.

Site News

Somehow, I wound up two months late with the next podcast. (I said in Clip Show 3 it would be available in August.) I got distracted with other things, and my sincere apologies to listeners kept waiting and to my great guest who has many important things to say about the state of Florida’s education. Please give it a listen or a read. It’s really great.

That will be my last podcast for a while, but I’m looking forward to doing the show again one day, especially via more face-to-face interviews by traveling the state. There are so many great activists out there whose causes deserve more attention.

In the mean time, I’m going to do non-podcast interviews. I’m not sure what to call them: print interviews? Text-only? Regardless, I’ll be renaming the site FloridaProgressives.Com Interviews and the first installment of the non-cast is already up.

Finally, I’ll have some new features in the sidebar, starting next week. The first will be me chatting (well, text-only) with someone who’s been following the fallout of the 2008 financial crisis very closely.

Thanks for all the support on this site. I’m decreasing the workload for a while so that I can focus on my own activism. I hope my guests in these 15 episodes have been inspiring to you as well.

Clips From Episodes 11 - 15

Trying the show for the first time? Check out these clips from the past four episodes, plus a preview of the next one, coming out next week!

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Episode 14: Susan Smith on Gun Laws and Violence

Democratic Progressive Caucus of Florida President Susan Smith returns to discuss a topic I've long wanted to hear from her about: guns. Which regulations does she support? Which have large support from the American people (not that you could tell, based on Congress' actions)? Join us for a wide-ranging discussion on the issue, as I conclude my #5interviews5days event! DOWNLOAD HERE, press play below, and read the TRANSCRIPT.

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Episode 13: Patricia Metro-Patrick and Mike Patrick on DECs, The Indian River Lagoon, and High-Speed Rail

Patricia Metro-Patrick and Mike Patrick of the Martin County DEC discuss the important issues facing their county, including politicians giving too much attention to "All Aboard Florida" and not enough to their highly polluted lagoon. They also talk about their various activist jobs and campaigns. This one is twice the length of a regular episode and packed with interesting discussion. You can DOWNLOAD HERE, press play below, or read the TRANSCRIPT.

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Episode 12: Joe Snodgrass on The Labor Movement and Democratic Candidates

Activist Joe Snodgrass joins the program to talk about traveling the state in his Nan Van, the work he's doing for Congressional candidates, and the role of the labor movement in history and in the American economy. You can DOWNLOAD HERE or press play below, and you can read the TRANSCRIPT. 

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Facebook Fan Page / Twitter / michael.c.eidson@gmail.com / #5interviews5days