Crashing The Political Party

Continuing our conversation on the challenges facing American agriculture, AJ is joined by farmer Greg Gunthorp. They discuss the challenges facing farmers who raise livestock, regenerative farming, meat processing, how farming consolidation has hurt farmers and consumers, supporting independent farmers, and book recommendations!

In this episode, AJ is joined by Sarah Carden of Farm Action. They talk about why independent farmers are struggling, how these issues hurt consumers, what policy changes are needed, her experiences as a farmer, and more.

This week, AJ talks with Ben Sooy. Ben is a musician, member of A Place for Owls, and founder/president of the musician-support nonprofit Holy Fool. They get into the band’s backstory, the real challenges new artists are facing right now, how Holy Fool hopes to help working musicians survive, the importance of community, why DIY has become the new normal for many bands, and of course… book recommendations.

For our second episode of Season Four, AJ sits down with Sean Park of the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs to talk about community owned grocery stores. They discuss the different types of stores, why communities in food deserts are turning to them, why we're seeing the need for them in both rural and urban communities, how Sean got involved in establishing them, the connection between community owned stores and community owned agriculture, and, of course, book recommendations!

In this season four premiere, AJ is joined by labor journalist, historian, and troublemaker Kim Kelly. They talked about how she got into covering the labor movement, the history of Illinois as a labor hotbed, shifting attitudes towards labor and unions, recent wins for the labor movement, Kim's books Fight Like Hell and Fight to Win, and additional book recommendations!If you like what you hear please join us over at our Patreon:patreon.com/cppshowAnd our website:https://www.crashingpod.com/