Daring Dissent

A gigantic thank you to all my listeners over the last 9 months. I am taking a much needed break and calling this the end of Season 1. This episode is a tiny thank you to all of you. I really loved making this show and I'm super proud of it. If you want to reach out and say hi, you can give a holler on Instagram @daringdissent or shoot me an email at [email protected].  D

In January 1893, Queen Lili’uokalani looks out the 2nd floor window of her Honolulu palace and sees 160 US Marines marching down her street. They are there to illegally overthrow her and help nonnative White people seize power over the kingdom.  Does she give into the demands of these invaders? Would she risk violence erupting across the islands in order to protect their ind

The Young Lords were a Chicago street gang turned radical political activists. The NY chapter fought for universal health care, working public services, and they tackled poverty in East Harlem. Along the way these young Puerto Rican/Black/Latino/a dissenters collaborated with the Black Panthers, the Young Patriots, STAR and tons of other progressive groups from the era. Listen in t

In May of 1963, hundreds of African American children aged 4-18 took to the streets of Birmingham, Alabama to demand an end to some of the most vicious segregation laws in the country. They were met by fire hoses and attack dogs under the command of Public Safety Commissioner/racist super villain Eugene “Bull” Connor. The children kept coming. Listen in to hear about the inspir

Covid has been kicking my butt, so I'm taking a sick week. I'm reposting my favorite episode on Abbie Hoffman and will be back with a new episode on the Birmingham Children's March on 8/22. "How can humor be used to fuel a revolution? 1960’s counterculture icon Abbie Hoffman founded the Youth International Party (Yippie) with the goal of stopping the Vietnam War, combatting racis

Florynce “Flo” Kennedy was a rabble-rousing feminist and civil rights advocate in the 1960’ and ‘70’s. Both her outfits and voice were always the loudest in the room. With her organizing and oratorical skills she helped bridge a connection between the Feminist and Civil Rights Movements. In 1974, People magazine called her “the biggest, loudest and, indisputably, the ru

Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld was a German sexologist in the early 20th century. He was called the “Einstein of Sex” and his research and advocacy into sexual freedom for people of all sexual orientations and gender identities was beyond revolutionary. In this episode we explore Hirschfeld’s attempt to combat homophobia, meticulously research all forms of queer identity and help peop

Emma Goldman was the most controversial woman in America at the turn of the 20th Century.  Future FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover called her “the most dangerous woman in America”.  The Russian emigre was an oratorical tour de force that barnstormed across the U.S. Along the way, she was arrested over a dozen times by a government that was increasingly censoring any radic

Marsha “Pay it no Mind” Johnson faced oppression from so many different angles as a Black, gay, transgender woman living in poverty.  She was at Stonewall for nights of protest/rioting. She was at the first Pride parades. When the Gay Liberation Movement largely left trans voices behind, she refused to be silenced and she helped create one of the first trans rights organiz

The Gay Rights Movement doesn’t start at Stonewall. Frank Kameny was one of the earliest pioneers of Gay Rights. In the 1950’s he was fired from his job as an astronomer for the Army Map Service.  His crime: being gay. This leads him to a life of advocacy that starts at a time when it is incredibly dangerous to be gay and out. He takes on Congress, the American Psychiatric