Baratunde explains what "defund the police" means to him then takes you to the room where it happens as the Los Angeles City Council hears directly from Black Lives Matter activists presenting their case to reimagine public safety and the city budget. Find out more about the participatory budgeting effort at peoplesbudgetla.com  Visit Baratunde's website for his newsletter, TED talk, and more. Follow him on Instagram or join his Patreon. You can even text him, like right now at 202-894-8844.

Baratunde speaks about the stark difference between the protests again public health precautions and the Black Lives Matter protests. In discussion with actor and activist, Kendrick Sampson, and North Minneapolis resident, Gunnar Carlson, Baratunde explores the way two Americas have diverged under the dual pandemics.  Visit Baratunde's website for his newsletter, TED talk, and more. Follow him on Instagram or join his Patreon. You can even text him, like right now at 202-894-8844.

Using his emotionally raw reaction to Amy Cooper calling the police on a birdwatcher and his powerful TED talk on diagramming sentences to better articulate abuse at the hands of police, Baratunde reveals how the rise of the COVID pandemic exposed the racial pandemic that?s stunted this country since it?s foundation. Derek Chauvin killing George Floyd was appalling, but it took a pandemic for the entire country to notice. 

It's true. We all feel it in the United States. We are having some kind of moment. Where it goes, we can't say, but right here, right now, something significant is happening involving race and in particular, policing. In this limited run series, Baratunde Thurston explains and explores what feels like a defining moment in American history. When Mitt Romney joins a Black Lives Matter march, when NASCAR bans the Confederate flag, when major cities actually contemplate defunding the police, and when Adidas retweets Nike in support of Black lives, something big is going on.