Ellie 2.0 Radio

Ellie 2.0 Radio – October 19, 2020

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…

Ellie 2.0 Radio – October 12, 2020

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…

Ellie 2.0 Radio – October 5, 2020

Our featured idealist this week is Alexander Vindman, who spoke truth to power during last year’s proceedings to impeach President Trump; the Big Interview is an encore interview of Emily Hunt Turner from All Square, a chic grilled cheese restaurant that provides formerly confined humans an opportunity for a second chance. In my C-Block, I…

Ellie 2.0 Radio – September 28, 2020

For those interested in attending the RBG Tribute event on Oct. 3, here is the link: https://www.facebook.com/events/810170443144838 Our featured idealist for today’s show is Franz Jaegerstaetter, the inspiration behind the movie, A Hidden Life—he lost his life because he refused to swear allegiance to Hitler in 1943. The Big Interview is with Leslie Wright, an…

Ellie 2.0 Radio – September 21, 2020

This week I highlight a huge idealist just lost—Ruth Bader Ginsburg; she did so much to change the world for so many people! The Big Interview is with John Anderson, who is walking 8.46 miles everyday for 8 days to inspire others to stand-up to racism. In my C-Block, I talk about the President’s attempts…

Ellie 2.0 Radio – September 14, 2020

Today’s theme is lawyers as idealists. Our featured idealist is Benjamin Crump, the attorney for the family of George Floyd and many other black and brown people who have been harmed through police misconduct. The Big Interview is with St. Paul attorney Rachael Schromen regarding her pro bono and volunteer work. In my C-Block, I…

Ellie 2.0 Radio – August 31, 2020

This week I highlight the Milwaukee Bucks as idealists for their strike on August 26th, refusing to play and providing a statement about the need for the Wisconsin Legislature to address police violence directed at Black men. The Big Interview is an encore of my August 18, 2019 interview of Dan Blake, a man whose…

Ellie 2.0 Radio – August 24, 2020

Our featured idealist is Linda Sarsour, a Palestinian-American who has worked to curb police violence in NYC and on a larger scale, helped to organize the 2017 Women’s March on Washington. The Big Interview is with Michael Fosberg, author of Incognito: An American Odyssey of Race and Self Discovery, who shares about ways to get…

Ellie 2.0 Radio – August 17, 2020

This week’s featured idealist is Cori Bush, the progressive Democrat who unseated Lacy Clay in Missouri’s 1st congressional district. The Big Interview is with Jillian Chmiel, a champion of domestic violence survivors and presently a therapist with the Sojourner Project in the west metro. (Jillian is also a mentee and “Third Daughter” to me!) In…

Ellie 2.0 Radio – August 10, 2020

For our first show in a new time slot (2-3 p.m. Mondays), I give first-time listeners an introduction to me and the show’s mission. I then pivot to talking about the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights organization and its selection of Dr. Anthony Fauci and Colin Kaepernick as recipients of the 2020 Ripple of Hope…

Ellie 2.0 Radio – August 3, 2020

Our featured idealist is the late civil rights activist, Congressman John Lewis, where I focus on his early life, which included being arrested more than 20 times as he battled Jim Crow. The Big Interview is an encore of my August 2019 interview of Julieanna Richardson, founder of History Makers, a project that documents African…

Ellie 2.0 Radio – July 20, 2020

We begin by examining the “Third Wave,” a Palo Alto high school teacher’s experiment in 1967 to teach his students about how easy it is for fascism to take hold. The Big Interview is an encore of my interview with Bill Doherty of Better Angels, which is working to prevent fascism in America by encouraging…

Ellie 2.0 Radio – July 13, 2020

Our featured idealist is WNBA and MN Lynx star Maya Moore, who paused her red-hot career in part to work on criminal justice reform, which included working to free Jonathan Irons, who was wrongly-convicted of a crime at age 16. He’s now 40 and just released from prison thanks to Maya’s help. The Big Interview…

Ellie 2.0 Radio – July 6, 2020

I start out the show talking about reparations to make up for the wealth gap between white-color Americans and African Americans—the gap is due in part to white-color people accumulating wealth on the backs of enslaved humans. The Big Interview is with Abdi Sabrie, a Mankato MN school board member who experienced visible marginalization as…

Ellie 2.0 Radio – June 29, 2020

Our featured idealists are the Black Lives Matter movement and one of its founders, Patrisse Cullors. The Big Interview is with Mick (Monique) Dargis, who identifies as nonbinary and who has written a letter to the president of the University of St. Thomas (a conservative Catholic university) asking for it to increase recognition of transgender/nonbinary…

Ellie 2.0 Radio – June 22, 2020

Ellie 2.0 Radio – June 15, 2020

Given how America is reacting in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, I begin this week’s show by talking about the glaring disparities that exist between white-color and people of other colors in Minnesota relative to educational attainment, family income and other things. The Big Interview is with Jessica Meyers, a Sioux Falls idealist who…

Ellie 2.0 Radio – June 8, 2020

Our featured idealist is Larry Kramer, an anti-AIDS activist who founded ACT UP to push for AIDS research in the 1980s; Kramer was also an author and playwright. The Big Interview is with Alabama District Court Judge Martha Reeves Cook, who shares about growing up in Selma and learning early on the value of getting…

Ellie 2.0 Radio – June 1, 2020

Happy Pride Month! In honor of Pride, our featured idealist is Dan Savage of the “Savage Love” advice column; while Savage has generated controversy for some of his statements and positions, he’s for sure an idealist—he founded “It Gets Better,” a website/project aimed at encouraging LGBTQ youth to persist despite bullying and societal challenges. The…

Ellie 2.0 Radio – May 18, 2020

This week, I speak about the “1619 Project,” a New York Times initiative about America’s history of enslaving humans that earned project creator Nikole Hannah-Jones the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary. Our encore interview is with Dr. Mark Goulston, who talks about the neurobiology behind idealism. In my C-Block, I share about my first online…

Ellie 2.0 Radio – May 4, 2020

Our featured idealist is Elouise Cobell, an American Indian who took on the U.S. Department of Interior over its failure to pay decades of oil, gas and mineral royalties to Native American tribes and bands—and won! The Big Interview is with Mikki Morrissette, the owner/publisher of Minnesota Women’s Press. In my C-Block, I talk about…

Ellie 2.0 Radio – April 27, 2020

This week I talk about the 50th anniversary of “Earth Day” and feature its architect, Denis Hayes. The Big Interview is with Diane Muntean, who I worked with to help training 1200 people in Steamboat Springs CO last September. In the C-Block I talk about the first Earth Day in 1970, where my idealism was…

Ellie 2.0 Radio – April 20, 2020

Our featured idealist is the famed chef, Jose Andres, who created World Central Kitchen, a nonprofit emergency kitchen/meal organization to feed survivors of natural disasters and the Covid-19 pandemic. The Big Interview is an encore airing of my 2018 interview of AM950 owner and general manager, Chad Larson. In my C-Block, I talk about my…

Ellie 2.0 Radio – April 13, 2020

We highlight the late singer Bill Withers, whose music has been said to define “soulful selflessness.” The Big Interview is with Elisabeth Samson Lee, a sexual assault survivor/idealist who is working to make it easier to report sexual assaults by law enforcement personnel. In my C-Block, I share about “sprouts”—the joy of planting wildflower seeds…

Ellie 2.0 Radio – April 6, 2020

This week’s historical idealist is the Rev. Joseph Lowery, who was called the “Dean of the Civil Rights Movement,” and who passed at the end of March. The Big Interview is a repeat of my 2018 interview of Bussho Lahn of the Minnesota Zen Meditation Center. I’m my C-Block, I talk about reaching out to…

Ellie 2.0 Radio – March 30, 2020

We’re attempting to offer a dose of normalcy, so we start with idealist Catherine Hamlin, who in 1959, answered an ad to create a midwifery clinic in Ethiopia. Catherine would spend the rest of her life in Ethiopia helping women who suffer childbirth injuries. I also share about a NC police officer who befriended a…

Ellie 2.0 Radio – March 23, 2020

In light of the COVID-19 crisis, we have a special show. In the A-Block, I talk about facing our fears and how everyone has far more grit and resiliency than they believe; the Big Interview is with Dr. Kurt Nelson, who shares strategies for addressing fear and how to take a breath from all the…

Ellie 2.0 Radio – March 16, 2020

This week’s featured idealist is Rose Pastor Stokes, a cigar factory worker turned journalist turned union organizer in the early 1900’s. The Big Interview has Nick Alm of the LGBTQ-focused nonprofit Mossier return for an update on his work; did I mention that Nick is only 23 years old? In my C-Block, I talk about…

Ellie 2.0 Radio – March 9, 2020

Alright, it’s another Ellie’s Talking Head show, but don’t despair—we’ve got great stuff! In the A-Block, I talk about an unexpected—and for some, repulsive—idealist, Larry Flynt, the creator/publisher of Hustler Magazine. Say what you will about Flynt, but he was instrumental in helping to protect First Amendment rights to engage in parody—otherwise, Saturday Night Live…

Ellie 2.0 Radio – March 2, 2020

Our A-Block has me talking about my recent trip to South Dakota where I gave several press interviews and a community training on resetting the conversation about how we “Other” humans and the need to protect younger transgender humans from marginalizing laws. The Big Interview is with Caitlin Rogers of Next Day Animations—you’ll love this…

Ellie 2.0 Radio – February 17, 2020

Ellie 2.0 Radio – February 10, 2020

Our featured idealist is Ta-Nehisi Paul Coates, columnist and author of Between the World and Me. The Big Interview is with Susan Williams, founder and executive director of The Transformation Project SD, which helps families of transgender children/youths and who is fighting South Dakota legislators’ attempts to criminalize health care for trans humans younger than…

Ellie 2.0 Radio – February 3, 2020

This week’s featured idealist is Ingrid Newkirk, the founder of PETA, the animal rights organization. The Big Interview is with Greta Kaul of MinnPost, who talks about Beltrami County MN’s decision to not accept refugees and who shares about being a “realist” rather than an idealist (which doesn’t mean that I didn’t urge her to…

Ellie 2.0 Radio – January 27, 2020

We’re celebrating Dr. King a week late—in the A-Block, I revisit his 1963 Letter from a Birmingham Jail; the Big Interview is with Rev. DeWayne L. Davis of All God’s Children Metropolitan Community Church in Minneapolis, who shares what it’s like to be an African American man in America and about being married to another…

Ellie 2.0 Radio – January 20, 2020

We start the show by talking about Bono, of the U2 rock group, who turns out to be quite the idealist for his work to eliminate the debt of 20+ African nations and who’s worked to combat AIDS. The Big Interview is with Rob Greenough and Jim Scheibel of Hamline University, who talk about unsuccessful…

Ellie 2.0 Radio – January 13, 2020

Our featured idealist is Native American Rosalie Fish, who as a high school long distance runner ran with a red handprint over her face to bring attention to the plight of murdered and missing Indigenous women. By all means, please listen to the show, but also check out an interview that Rosalie gave last year:…

Ellie 2.0 – January 6, 2020

As we start the new year, our featured idealist is Nancy Pelosi—we all know the woman, but what’s the story behind her? The Big Interview is with Michael Mader and Sam Harper, founders of Hippy Feet, which puts homeless young people to work finishing sock products. In the C-Block, I share some resolutions for 2020…

Ellie 2.0 Radio – December 16, 2019

This week’s featured idealist is Fred Rogers of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood; it turns out he was about as idealistic as a human can be. The Big Interview is with Sarah Drake of herARTS in Action, a St. Cloud nonprofit working to provide clean water and personal hygiene resources in Burkina Faso in West Africa. In…

Ellie 2.0 Radio – December 9, 2019

It’s show number 100 of Ellie 2.0 Radio! Ellie takes your calls and also speaks with Dr. Kurt Nelson of Behavioral Grooves.

Ellie 2.0 – Radio 12.2.19

The featured idealist this week is Irene Morgan, who was arrested in 1944 for refusing to give up her bus seat in favor of white-color persons in Virginia. She kicked the sheriff who tried to take her off the bus and tore up the citation he gave her. Eventually, she was arrested but she took…

Ellie 2.0 Radio – 11.18.19

This week’s featured idealists are the Gulabi Gang (which isn’t a gang at all but an organization) which mobilizes women and some men in India to press for reforms around domestic violence and unprosecuted rapes of women. The Big Interview is with Michael Rexford, a Los Angeles attorney and idealist who’s founded LightHopeLife.org, a suicide…

Ellie 2.0 Radio – November 4, 2019

Our highlighted idealist is Bayard Rustin, who began trying to change the world while in college and went on to be one of the most important civil rights organizers of the 20th century. The Big Interview is with me, moi, Ellie Krug; my producer Brett Johnson asks me about idealism and keeping hope in 2019…

Ellie 2.0 Radio 10/28/19

An Ellie’s Talking Head Show, we start out recognizing Brittany Spencer, a Fond du Lac, WI restaurant server who refused to wait on the table of two older customers who were making disparaging comments about a transgender customer in the restaurant—it was “morals vs. money.” We shift to the life and legacy of Elijah Cummings,…

Ellie 2.0 Radio – October 14, 2019

We start out featuring Fannie Lou Hamer, a Mississippi civil rights activist who suffered a horrific beating as she worked to register African Americans to vote in the early 1960’s. The Big Interview is with Benjamin Saulsberry of the Emmett Till Interpretive Center, who shares about how the death of Emmett Till has been called…

Ellie 2.0 Radio – October 7, 2019

An Ellie’s Talking Head Show; we start with Aimee Stephens, who was fired by her Michigan funeral home employer because she’s transgender and whose case will be argued before the U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 8. In Block B, I talk (emotionally, I’m sorry) about Sandeep Dhaliwal, the first Sikh hired as a Harris County…

Ellie 2.0 Radio – September 30, 2019

The theme this week is females making a difference. I highlight Greta Thunberg, the sixteen-year-old Swedish climate protection activist who speaks truth to power. The Big Interview is with Stephanie Glaros of Humans of Minneapolis talking about her work around empathy building. In the C-Block, I share the story of a dad who regretted for…

Ellie 2.0 Radio – September 23, 2019

This week’s show starts with remembering the 9/11/71 death of Margaret Ann Knott in Choctaw County, Alabama and how it’s taken local leaders 48 years to acknowledge her sacrifice. The Big Interview is with Richard Johnson of Auto Technical Inc., a nonprofit that repairs automobiles and donates them to people in need; the catch is…

Ellie 2.0 Radio – September 16, 2019

It’s another hodgepodge show; we start off featuring Dorothea Lange, a 20th century photographer who used her camera as a tool for social change. The Big Interview is with Dan O’Neil, the executive director of PeaceMaker Minnesota, which is working to eliminate bullying and violence in schools. In my C-Block, I talk about upcoming talks…

Ellie 2.0 Radio – September 9, 2019

We cover enslaved people, historical and modern day. I feature Cudjoe Lewis, the second-to-last formerly enslaved African to die in the U.S. (in 1935); he had been abducted from his West African village and smuggled into Alabama in 1860. The Big Interview is with Marshall Tanick re: how enslaved people were brought to Minnesota with…

Ellie 2.0 Radio – August 26, 2019

This week’s theme is idealists in or about education. Our featured idealist is Erin Gruwell, who is the heroine of the movie, The Freedom Writers. The Big Interview is with Michael Ciresi, a prominent Minnesota attorney whose foundation, the Ciresi Walburn Foundation for Children, is working to highlight the horrific educational achievement disparities between white-color…