Ellie 2.0 - Am950 The Progressive Voice Of Minnesota

We begin with a story about Stockton CA’s experiment of giving 125 random people $500/mo. for two years, no string attached. The results of this experiment are in and they show that overwhelmingly, people didn’t spend the stipend on cigarettes or alcohol, but instead on necessities in ways that greatly improved their lives. I also…

Our featured historical idealist is Chiune Sugihara, who as a Japanese diplomat posted to Lithuania in the summer of 1940 provided thousands of visas to Jews seeking to escape persecution. By some estimates, Chiune’s actions benefited 100,000 people (those who escaped and their descendants). The Big Interview is with Benya Kruas, co-founder of Lead for…

With this Ellie’s Talking Head Show, I start out highlighting Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland’s 8th District, who served as impeachment manager for the second impeachment. I then pivot to a wonderful story about a Louisiana man buying a basketball hoop for an eight-year-old-boy he saw using a garbage can for a hoop. From there,…

It’s a rare live Show! The theme is “Sacrificing for the Common Good”; would you be willing to give up money or resources or time or a luxury to benefit others who didn’t have the same opportunities as you? I also highlight U.S. Capitol police officer Eugene Goodman, who’s quick thinking and bravery on January…

We start the show with an explanation of how Black History Month originated; from there, we pivot to Rosa Parks and the little-known story of the sacrifices she and her family made in the wake of her 1955 arrest for refusing to give up her Montgomery, Alabama bus seat for a white-color person. The Big…

This week I give an update on Amanda Gorman, who’s been selected to read poetry at the Super Bowl—a first! I also share about a man who was spotted $12 by a Cedar Rapids HyVee checker; that man later launched a GoFundMe to honor the checker’s generosity. So far, the GoFundMe has raised $4700+. The…

It’s an Ellie’s Talking Head Show and this week’s featured idealist is Amanda Gorman, the 22-year-old Poet Laureate who recited at the Inaugural. I also share about two instances of humans being good to other humans. In my C-Block, I make an offer to speak at schools and churches in my effort to spread a…

We begin with an audio blog post by Frank Schaeffer, a former evangelical conservative turned liberal democrat who talks about the January 6th insurrection being the product of evangelical white nationalism. The Big Interview is with Jen Bowen of the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop, which helps humans experiencing incarceration tell their written stories. In the…

Our first show of ’21 has a nonprofit, Invisible People, and its founder, Mark Horvath, featured for their work in telling the stories of humans who are experiencing homelessness. The Big Interview is with U of M professor Dr. Keith Mayes, who talks about historical and current-day structural racism in the Twin Cities. In the…

We’ve got a holiday show with Attorney Larry McDonough, a nationally-recognized expert on landlord-tenant law, who talks about the plight of renters in Minnesota and the eviction moratoriums that are in place. Larry—a man for all seasons—is also an accomplished pianist and vocalist, so in between important information sharing about how the virus has adversely…

We start today’s show highlighting PandemicofLove.com, a mutual aid organization that directly matches donors with people in need; in barely 9 months, the organization has helped to transfer $40M in resources to folks in need. The Big Interview is with Kate Cimino of Citizens League, where we hear about the incredible work this 6-person nonprofit…

It’s an Ellie’s Talking Head Show! We start out highlighting Poetic Justice, an Oklahoma nonprofit that teaches writing and poetry to women who are incarcerated. In lieu of The Big Interview, I talk about allyship and share stories of how a neighborhood in North Little Rock Arkansas showed unique support for a family that was…

We begin by highlighting an Atlantic Magazine interview of the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II re: the need to avoid returning to “normal” (e.g. historical inequity) with the Biden-Harris Administration. The Big Interview is an encore of my March 2020 interview with Caitlin Rogers of Next Day Animations—you’ll love this young idealist’s spunk and…

We start the show highlighting Melissa Statz, a fourth-grade teacher at Cooper School in Burlington, WI, who ignited controversy by teaching her students about Black Lives Matter and structural racism. The Big Interview is an encore of my interview of another Wisconsinite, Jessica Greb, from earlier this year—she had organized other women to support restaurant…

Our featured idealist is soon-to-be First Lady Dr. Jill Biden; despite the cache of being married to Joe Biden for 30+ years, she’s taught in public schools and community colleges because she wanted to make a difference. The Big Interview is with Rachel Pilgrim, whose work in investigating the identities of five black women who…

Ellie Krug fills in for Brett and takes listener calls on what’s going on with the election.

It’s a pre-election live show! For a break from politics, our featured idealist is Woody Faircloth, who has created a nonprofit to supply refurbished RVs to survivors of the Nov. 2018 Camp Fire that swept Paradise, Calif., destroying 14,000 homes and leaving 50,000 people homeless. The Big Interview is with Dr. Kurt Nelson, a behavioral…

We start with our featured idealist, Pham Doan Trang, a Vietnamese journalist, blogger and author, who was imprisoned by the Vietnamese government on October 6th for advocating for democracy and freedom. The Big Interview is an encore of my January 6th interview of Hippy Feet founders Michael Mader and Sam Harper. In my C-Block, I…

This week’s featured idealist is Delores Huerta, who helped galvanize migrant farm workers and who later championed women in politics; there’s so much she’s done to make the world a better place! The Big Interview is with Laura Belin, curator of the blog, Bleeding Heartland, which covers Iowa politics. In my C-Block, I talk about…

It’s a rare live show! The first half includes me sharing about the origins of Indigenous Peoples’ Day, and because we are live, we could take calls; one caller shared about being American Indian and how she saw firsthand young Native children being taken from their families and put in “Indian Schools.” It was a…