How Phoenix Became an Unlikely Champion of Local Business (Episode 60)
We talk with Kimber Lanning, founder of Local First Arizona, about her organization’s pioneering work to strengthen Arizona’s entrepreneurs and its local economy. … Read More
Reining in Dollar Stores (Episode 59)
Co-hosts Stacy Mitchell and Marie Donahue speak with Tulsa City Councilwoman, Vanessa Hall-Harper. Earlier this year, the city council of Tulsa, Oklahoma passed an ordinance restricting dollar stores from building new locations in north Tulsa, a predominantly African-American area. … Read More
City Ballot Initiatives: A New Tool for Clean Energy Equity (Episode 58)
Host John Farrell, is joined by Alan Hipólito of Verde. Alan is leading the movement for clean energy equity in Portland, Oregon and spearheading a campaign for an important initiative on the ballot this year.… Read More
What’s Going on With the Internet? (Episode 57)
Host, Hibba Meraay, is joined by Chris Mitchell, Director of the Community Broadband initiative, for an update on the progress of community broadband networks. They also discuss the Internet in current events including: California passing statewide net neutrality, why Colorado always seems to have a municipal network related ballot initiative, and the buzz around 5G.… Read More
Midterms and Monopolies with David Dayen (Episode 56)
Stacy Mitchell, ILSR’s co-director, chats with author and journalist David Dayen. His work focuses on the underlying policies that allow the big and powerful to rig the economy and get away with it. David connects the dots between systems of injustice and corruption with people’s everyday experiences of corporate concentration whether that’s exorbitant airline ticket prices or terrible cable service.… Read More
The Case for Decentralized Recycling (Episode 55)
Host John Farrell is joined by Neil Seldman, ILSR’s co-founder and director of the Waste to Wealth program, to discuss how convenient single-bin recycling may have made things easy for the consumer, but harder for cities to capture the economic benefits of recycling.… Read More
How Cities are Transitioning to 100% Renewable Energy (Episode 54)
Host John Farrell, ILSR’s Energy Democracy Initiative Director is joined by Mayor Dale Ross to discuss Georgetown’s switch to renewable power.… Read More
Running for Congress on an Anti-Monopoly Platform (Episode 53)
Host Stacy Mitchell is joined by Austin Frerick, former Iowa congressional candidate, to discuss election campaigns that focus on challenging concentrated power. … Read More
Local Storage is Changing the Decision Making Power of the Energy System (Episode 52)
In this episode of Building Local Power, host Nick Stumo-Langer sits down with Energy Democracy initiative director John Farrell to discuss John’s latest report on solar and storage. … Read More