Building Local Power

It Takes an Avalon Village

Thu, 21 Mar 2024 09:00:06 +0000

Avalon Village is a testament to the resilience of communities and the transformative power of collective action.… Read More

Detroit Has No Time to Waste Food

Thu, 07 Mar 2024 10:00:58 +0000

A Detroit entrepreneur explains how her pilot projects are building community, local self-reliance, and resilience. … Read More

Feeding Detroit

Thu, 22 Feb 2024 10:00:45 +0000

The Detroit People's Food Cooperative represents a vital step towards fostering food sovereignty in a neighborhood historically affected by food apartheid. … Read More

Writing Detroit’s Next Chapter

Thu, 08 Feb 2024 10:00:12 +0000

A Detroit-based bookseller shares the purpose behind her store and its profound impact on the community over the past three decades.… Read More

The City Series

Mon, 29 Jan 2024 10:00:50 +0000

In our new season of Building Local Power, The City Series, we take a tour of cities and towns across the U.S. and talk to guests who are working to make their communities more locally self-reliant.… Read More

How to Get Away With Merger Season Recap

Thu, 21 Dec 2023 10:00:29 +0000

Local initiatives are resisting profit-driven mergers by mobilizing their communities and building robust local economies. … Read More

Cleanup on Aisle 1990

Thu, 14 Dec 2023 10:00:47 +0000

Communities nationwide proactively address food security by opening grocery stores that adopt innovative ownership, access, and governance approaches. … Read More

Sparking a Community Broadband Revolution

Thu, 30 Nov 2023 10:00:18 +0000

Sparklight monopolization of East Carroll Parrish prompts leaders to build a fiber-to-the-home network for fast, affordable Internet. … Read More

Consolidation in the Cord-Cutting Era

Thu, 16 Nov 2023 10:00:57 +0000

From the Capitol to K Street, a Wisconsin native finds a home at Consumer Reports advocating for broadband access and affordability. … Read More

Investment Funds v. A Democratic Future

Thu, 02 Nov 2023 09:00:08 +0000

A community advocacy organization fought to transfer power from a fossil fuel-backed investment firm to community-driven clean energy. … Read More

New Mexicans v. Fossil Fuel Giants

Thu, 19 Oct 2023 09:00:53 +0000

A determined coalition fights to block a private takeover of the state’s largest utility. … Read More

BlackRock v. Black Gold

Thu, 05 Oct 2023 09:00:24 +0000

A NYC composter fights to fend off Wall Street and invest in the land and her community. … Read More

A Rotten Waste Merger

Thu, 21 Sep 2023 09:00:23 +0000

An environmental lawyer and activist calls bigness the most pressing issue in the waste industry. … Read More

Beer Mergers Brew Disaster

Thu, 07 Sep 2023 11:11:41 +0000

A brewer details the struggles faced by smaller breweries in a consolidated beer industry, and highlights the importance of creativity, community, and empowerment.… Read More

How To Get Away With Merger (Season Preview)

Thu, 31 Aug 2023 09:00:21 +0000

Our new season shatters the deceptive facade often employed by merging companies that claim their consolidation will benefit consumers.… Read More

Keeping My Public Options Open

Thu, 06 Jul 2023 09:00:21 +0000

Two advocates for affordable life-saving drugs share their stories exposing America's healthcare woes… Read More

Broadband is Good for Your Health

Tue, 20 Jun 2023 09:00:37 +0000

A Georgian devotes herself to expanding the rural South's broadband for better healthcare access… Read More

Left Out in the Coal

Sat, 10 Jun 2023 09:00:35 +0000

An activist mobilizes hundreds of residents in an effort to shut down a coal plant… Read More

Housing Is Where the Heart Is

Thu, 18 May 2023 09:00:32 +0000

A tenant organizer battles profit-focused private equity firms for safe, affordable housing… Read More

Composters Dreaming, Investors Scheming

Wed, 03 May 2023 09:00:26 +0000

Three composters face funding challenges in an effort to foster land stewardship… Read More

Graying of the Fleet

Tue, 18 Apr 2023 09:00:21 +0000

A fisherman explains how corporations are displacing independent fisherfolk… Read More

A Country with No Farmers

Thu, 30 Mar 2023 09:00:25 +0000

"The Onion Man" gives a first-hand account of what is driving farmers to extinction… Read More

A Food Oasis in North Tulsa

Thu, 16 Mar 2023 09:00:34 +0000

A grocery store owner transforms a food desert into a food oasis… Read More

Toledo Takes Dollar Stores to Church

Tue, 28 Feb 2023 23:40:04 +0000

An Ohio pastor leads the charge against the dollar store invasion in his community… Read More

Shifting the Paradigm, One Community at a Time

Thu, 29 Dec 2022 17:00:58 +0000

For our final Building Local Power episode of 2022, we invited Co-Founder, David Morris, to offer a history lesson on the self-reliance framework that underpins ILSR’s work. He discusses how that framework has evolved over four-plus decades, the organization’s inherent aversion to bigness, and the successes and hardships of ILSR’s early years. … Read More

Community Broadband’s Broad Appeal

Thu, 15 Dec 2022 17:04:09 +0000

On this episode of Building Local Power, Christopher Mitchell and Sean Gonsalves talk about the work that immediately lies ahead for the broad array of communities seeking to free themselves from the unbridled power of monopolistic Internet providers.… Read More

Small Businesses Rise Up

Thu, 01 Dec 2022 17:06:03 +0000

On this episode of Building Local Power, three members of ILSR’s Independent Business team, Lauren Gellatly, Katy Milani, and Kennedy Smith, answer: What challenges are small, independent businesses facing? And what legislative solutions are on the way? … Read More

Breaking Bad Energy

Thu, 17 Nov 2022 17:18:41 +0000

The three members from ILSR's energy team engage in a riveting conversation on the biggest energy stories from 2022, including the Inflation Reduction Act’s big funding for solar, the antimonopoly focus in the Biden administration, how utility companies are continuing to use their financial power to lobby against energy, and a new tool designed to bring distributed solar to more communities.… Read More

Unpacking the Year in Composting

Thu, 03 Nov 2022 16:14:56 +0000

On this episode of Building Local Power, members of the Composting for Community team, Brenda Platt and Clarissa Libertelli, explain how their accomplishments in 2022 have impacted communities across the U.S. and forged a more sustainable future. … Read More

A Renewable Rural America

Thu, 20 Oct 2022 15:51:13 +0000

On this episode of Building Local Power, Josh Ewing, Director of the Rural Climate Partnership, explains how we must put rural America at the forefront of the clean energy transition. … Read More

A Short-Term Win, A Long-Term Target

Thu, 06 Oct 2022 16:11:17 +0000

On this episode of Building Local Power Alejandro Roark, the Chief of Consumer and Governmental Affairs at the FCC tells a captivating journey of his career from working at the Hispanic Technology and Telecommunications Partnership all the way to his current career at the Federal Communications Commission. He speaks about his LGBTQ inclusion work, racial and economic justice in the telecommunications sector, collective action, and how the ACP is filling an immediate and vital need. ILSR's Sean Gonsalves weighs in on how to strategize for longer term Internet solutions that will make our broadband economy more fair and equitable.… Read More

A Renaissance for Black Voices and Spaces

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 16:00:46 +0000

This week on Building Local Power, we are joined by Brandi Collins-Dexter, author of Black Skinhead: Reflections on Blackness and our Political Future and Stacy Mitchell, Co-Director of ILSR. We engage in a riveting conversation on how political parties have monopolistic tendencies, how Big Tech has dominated mainstream media, and the future of Black-owned and led businesses in America. … Read More

Rats Aren’t the Problem in Cities. We Are.

Thu, 08 Sep 2022 16:00:05 +0000

On this episode of Building Local Power, Bloomberg reporter Linda Poon joins us to talk about how cities are [mis]managing rat infestations. We dive into the decline and spike in rat populations during and after the pandemic, cities' solutions to mitigating rat infestations, and how to shift the public focus from a problem with rats to a more proactive and thoughtful approach to how we discard food.… Read More

Inflation: The True Monopoly Story

Thu, 25 Aug 2022 16:00:09 +0000

On this episode of Building Local Power, Rakeen Mabud the Chief Economist at Groundwork Collaborative and Ron Knox, Senior Researcher and Writer at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, take us on a riveting journey exposing the story of inflation that most economists don't want to tell.… Read More

Creating New Narratives: Youth are the Present — Episode 157 of Building Local Power

Thu, 11 Aug 2022 15:43:38 +0000

The pandemic exacerbated the deeply rooted issues in cities around the nation — but the youth of Worcester, Massachusetts, decided that they wanted to enact change to create a better now. Their action lead to the formation of the Worcester Youth Cooperatives. On this episode of Building Local Power, we are joined by two youth collaborators Mario Harper and Samuel Posner and an adult ally Addison Turner.… Read More

When a Win is a Win, and a Loss is a Lesson - Episode 156 of Building Local Power

Thu, 28 Jul 2022 16:00:50 +0000

This episode previews a new six-part series from the Local Energy Rules podcast. John Farrell highlights the importance of local accountability, failures and successes of cities' trajectories towards controlling their own power, and why exactly you should tune in. … Read More

A Movement to Rectify Digital Inequities

Thu, 14 Jul 2022 15:25:18 +0000

Reggie Rucker and Luke Gannon are joined by guests Shayna Englin and DeAnne Cuellar who discuss how the digital divide is closely tied to housing, healthcare, immigration, and civic education concerns. As the pandemic moved everything online, they explained, we realized that connectivity is an issue that affects the entire human ecosystem. … Read More

How Black Gold (Composting) Combats the Climate Crisis

Thu, 30 Jun 2022 14:58:32 +0000

On this episode of Building Local Power, hosts Reggie Rucker and Luke Gannon are joined by the Director and Project Manager of the Composting for Community Initiative, Brenda Platt and Linda Bilsens Brolis respectively. They discuss waste imperialism, composting equity, and the necessary paradigm shift within our consumer culture.… Read More

Anti-Merger Guidelines Would Stop Corporate Concentration, Revive Local Economies

Thu, 16 Jun 2022 15:52:27 +0000

On this episode of Building Local Power, host Jess Del Fiacco is joined by her colleagues John Farrell, Stacy Mitchell, and Ron Knox, where they discuss the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission's plan to overhaul their merger guidelines. … Read More

Maps Can Make or Break Communities’ Broadband Futures — Episode 152 of Building Local Power

Thu, 02 Jun 2022 16:02:31 +0000

Host Jess Del Fiacco is joined by members of ILSR's Community Broadband Networks team: Ry Marcattilio-McCracken, Sean Gonsalves, and Christine Parker. They discuss the importance of mapping for building broadband networks.… Read More

Policy Progress and Coalition Building — Episode 151 of Building Local Power

Thu, 19 May 2022 12:00:07 +0000

Host Jess Del Fiacco is joined by several ILSR colleagues: Susan R. Holmberg, Senior Researcher and Editor for the Independent Business initiative; Katie Kienbaum, Senior Researcher for the Energy Democracy initiative; and Sophia Jones, a Fellow with the Composting for Community initiative.… Read More

In New York and Oregon, Canning Reduces Waste and Changes Lives — Episode 150 of Building Local Power

Thu, 05 May 2022 17:46:43 +0000

In this episode of Building Local Power, Jess Del Fiacco and Neil Seldman are joined by several guests who are involved in the canning community. Canners, also called waste pickers or scrappers, collect recyclable materials such as cans and bottles from the streets and redeem them at recycling centers. … Read More

Monopolistic Utility Companies Suppress the Use of Customer Data

Thu, 21 Apr 2022 15:59:28 +0000

On this episode of the Building Local Power Podcast, ILSR's John Farrell is joined by Michael Murray, President of Mission Data. … Read More

Building Local Power Highlight: People Love Local Food. Yet Local Farmers are Disappearing. What's Going On?

Thu, 14 Apr 2022 15:07:49 +0000

Leah Douglas is a reporter at Reuters covering the politics of food, agriculture, and the environment. Douglas discusses how the poultry industry is structured by contract production, how dairy farms are the bedrock for many rural communities, and Earl Butz's conviction for farmers to plant "fence row to fence row" to enable economic food production. … Read More

Corporations Rake in Subsidies at Communities' Expense

Thu, 07 Apr 2022 15:36:29 +0000

On this episode of the Building Local Power Podcast, Jess Del Fiacco is joined by Stacy Mitchell and Arlene Martínez who discuss the use of nondisclosure agreements, the acceleration of mega-deals during the pandemic, and what true economic development looks like. … Read More

The Leaders Working to Build a Robust Small Business Economy

Thu, 24 Mar 2022 16:37:38 +0000

Listen to highlights from a recent ILSR event called "The Progressive Fight for Small Business" featuring Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal and White House Advisor Tim Wu. … Read More

How Monopoly Energy Utilities Impede Innovation

Thu, 10 Mar 2022 17:18:37 +0000

On this episode of the Building Local Power Podcast, Jess Del Fiacco is joined by John Farrell and guest Ari Peskoe who is the director of the energy law initiative at Harvard Law School. They discuss the acts that Congress has passed to increase (but hasn't) competition in electric utilities, the four orders the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) ruled between 1996 and 2011, and the cost utility's evading competitive processes has on consumers. … Read More

Building Local Power Highlight: Democratizing Antitrust with Harry First

Thu, 03 Mar 2022 16:29:31 +0000

Harry First, law professor and co-director of New York University’s Competition, Innovation, and Information Law Program discusses moving antitrust away from a technocratic approach, the politicization of law enforcement, and how to reinvigorate strong antitrust legislation. … Read More

Cities' Exclusive Agreements With Trash Collectors Are Holding Back Community Composters

Thu, 24 Feb 2022 16:28:39 +0000

On this episode of the Building Local Power Podcast, host Jess Del Fiacco is joined by her colleague Brenda Platt who leads the Composting Initiative and guests Sarah Boltwala-Mesina, Monique Figueiredo, and Kourtnii Brown who each run composting programs. They discuss solid waste franchising and how it impacts community composting. … Read More

Building Local Power Highlight: Independent Musicians and the Anti-Monopoly Movement

Thu, 17 Feb 2022 17:36:11 +0000

Kevin Erickson, Director of the Future of Music Coalition discusses how music is being impacted by monopoly power and what kind of marketplace breeds broad participation.… Read More

Local Organizing Efforts Are Reframing the Digital Divide

Thu, 10 Feb 2022 15:44:57 +0000

On this episode of the Building Local Power Podcast, host Jess Del Fiacco is joined by her colleagues on the broadband team, DeAnne Cuellar and Sean Gonsalves. They discuss where the bulk of the broadband funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is geared towards and how to engage local champions to create community broadband strategies. … Read More

Building Local Power Highlight: Centering Racial Justice in the Antimonopoly Fight

Thu, 03 Feb 2022 16:30:29 +0000

In this miniseries, we return to our most insightful podcast conversations. These five minute episodes highlight critical themes that are still relevant today. Jeremy Greer and Solana Rice argue for organizers of color to be embedded and centered in the antimonopoly fight.… Read More

The Movement to Take Back Control From Monopoly Electric Utilities

Thu, 27 Jan 2022 18:46:16 +0000

In this episode of Building Local Power, we share a recording of ILSR's recent event Democratizing Power: New Citizen Initiatives Challenge Monopoly Electric Utilities. Across the country, powerful utilities are actively blocking decentralized solar energy, degrading the reliability of the power lines even as they raise prices, and failing to make the grid investments needed for a clean, carbon-free future. Listen to ILSR's Stacy Mitchell and John Farrell facilitate conversations with the advocates who are leading the movement to take back control from electric utility monopolies. … Read More

Building Local Power Highlight: Is Amazon Picking Winners and Losers Among America’s Cities

Thu, 20 Jan 2022 17:26:33 +0000

In this miniseries, we return to our most insightful podcast conversations. These five minute episodes highlight critical themes that are still relevant today. Alec MacGillis discusses how economic concentration leads to regional disparity. … Read More

ILSR's Year in Review: Shaping Policy to Empower Communities

Thu, 23 Dec 2021 17:00:28 +0000

On this episode of Building Local Power, host Jess Del Fiacco is joined by John Farrell, ILSR Co-Director, and Ron Knox, Senior Researcher with ILSR's Independent Business initiative. They take a look back at ILSR's work in 2021 and share big wins, challenges, and interesting trends from the year.… Read More

Building Local Power Highlight: Zephyr Teachout on Building an Antimonopoly Movement

Wed, 15 Dec 2021 15:55:03 +0000

In this miniseries, we return to our most insightful podcast conversations. These five minute episodes highlight critical themes that are still relevant today. Zephyr Teachout and Stacy Mitchell discuss the increased recognition of the intersection between race and antimonopoly. … Read More

New Mexico Co-op Dumps Monopoly Supplier to Offer More Solar

Thu, 09 Dec 2021 16:54:35 +0000

On this episode of the Building Local Power podcast, ILSR Co-Director John Farrell speaks with Luis Reyes, General Manager of the Kit Carson Electric Cooperative in New Mexico. John and Luis discuss the many benefits of distributing solar power through the community and Kit Carson's plan to provide members 100% of their daytime electricity from local solar projects.… Read More

Building Local Power Highlight: David Dayen Talks America’s Monopoly Problem

Wed, 01 Dec 2021 20:14:57 +0000

In this miniseries, we return to our most insightful podcast conversations. These five minute episodes highlight critical themes that are still relevant today. … Read More

Local Farms Key to Healthy and Resilient Food Systems

Thu, 25 Nov 2021 15:00:47 +0000

On this episode of Building Local Power, ILSR's Linda Bilsens Brolis and Sophia Hosain speak with Emma Jagoz, owner of Moon Valley Farm in Maryland. Their discussion focuses on the importance of supporting local food systems and how Emma's farm is operated with community and sustainability in mind.… Read More

Communities Seize the Opportunity to Invest in Local Broadband

Thu, 11 Nov 2021 19:38:16 +0000

On this episode of the Building Local Power podcast, host Jess Del Fiacco is joined by two members of ILSR's Community Broadband Networks initiative: Sean Gonsalves and Emma Gautier. They discuss new research they've been working on, including tracking how communities are spending federal infrastructure money on broadband projects and why shopping for a new Internet service is such a frustrating process. … Read More

Reshaping Appalachia's Coal-Centric Economy with Bottom Up Solutions

Thu, 28 Oct 2021 14:31:42 +0000

Host Jess Del Fiacco and ILSR's Brenda Platt are joined by Jacob Hannah, Conservation Director at Coalfield Development. Coalfield Development works across many sectors -- solar energy, agriculture, manufacturing, deconstruction, reuse, and more -- as it pursues its mission of rebuilding the Appalachian economy. … Read More

Can More Competition Fix an Outdated Energy System?

Thu, 14 Oct 2021 15:59:27 +0000

In this episode of Building Local Power, ILSR Co-Director John Farrell is joined by Chris Villarreal, President of Plugged In Strategies and an Associate Fellow with the R Street Institute. Their discussion focuses on monopoly power in the energy sector, and how lack of competition impacts consumers and stands in the way of progress. … Read More

Chuck Marohn Explains What's Wrong With America's Roads

Thu, 30 Sep 2021 15:50:38 +0000

Host Jess Del Fiacco and ILSR Co-Director Stacy Mitchell interview Chuck Marohn, President of Strong Towns. Chuck is also the author of the new book Confessions of a Recovering Engineer: Transportation for a Strong Town, which explores what conventional transportation planning is costing our communities. … Read More

Building America's Zero Waste Future

Thu, 16 Sep 2021 16:27:21 +0000

On this episode of Building Local Power, host Jess Del Fiacco is joined by Neil Seldman, Director of ILSR’s Waste to Wealth initiative. Jess and Neil interview Gary Liss, Vice President of Zero Waste USA, and Bob Gedert, President of the National Recycling Coalition, about the Recycling Is Infrastructure Too (RIIT) campaign and the proposed American Recycling Infrastructure Plan (ARIP).… Read More

Rethinking Rural Connectivity with Christopher Ali

Thu, 02 Sep 2021 15:56:22 +0000

Host Jess Del Fiacco is joined by Ry Marcattilio-McCracken and Sean Gonsalves, Senior Researchers with ILSR’s Community Broadband initiative, as well as Christopher Ali, an Associate Professor in the Department of Media Studies at the University of Virginia. Christopher discusses his new book Farm Fresh Broadband: The Politics of Rural Connectivity and recent news in the broadband policy space.… Read More

Main Street's Missing Ingredient: Small Scale Manufacturing

Thu, 19 Aug 2021 15:51:12 +0000

Host Jess Del Fiacco, ILSR Co-Director Stacy Mitchell, and Senior Researcher Kennedy Smith are joined by Ilana Preuss, the founder of Recast City, a firm that works with city officials and local leaders to integrate space for small manufacturers into placed-based development projects.… Read More

Rep. Seth Berry on the Movement for Publicly-Owned Power in Maine

Thu, 05 Aug 2021 15:00:08 +0000

John Farrell, Director of ILSR's Energy Democracy initiative, interviews Representative Seth Berry, House Chair of the Maine Legislature's Joint Standing Committee on Energy, Utilities, and Technology. … Read More

Zero Waste Efforts Bring Benefits, Build Community in Gainesville

Thu, 22 Jul 2021 15:44:28 +0000

Host Jess Del Fiacco and Neil Seldman, Director of ILSR's Waste to Wealth initiative, interview three zero waste advocates from Gainesville, Fla. … Read More

Growing a Regenerative Food System

Thu, 08 Jul 2021 15:42:04 +0000

Host Jess Del Fiacco is joined by ILSR's Linda Bilsens Brolis and Amanda Cather of the Million Acre Challenge to discuss regenerative agriculture. … Read More

Beyond Big Tech: Monopoly Power & Our Democracy

Tue, 22 Jun 2021 19:54:35 +0000

On this episode of Building Local Power, ILSR's John Farrell, Stacy Mitchell, and Christopher Mitchell discuss some of the exciting things happening in different sectors of ILSR's work. … Read More

Centering Racial Justice in the Antimonopoly Fight

Thu, 10 Jun 2021 16:26:12 +0000

Host Jess Del Fiacco and ILSR Co-Director Stacy Mitchell are joined by Solana Rice and Jeremie Greer of Liberation in a Generation. They discuss their recent publication Anti-Monopoly Activism: Reclaiming Power through Racial Justice. … Read More

The Role of Antitrust Law in Creating Energy Justice

Thu, 27 May 2021 16:32:11 +0000

On this episode of Building Local Power, ILSR Co-Director John Farrell interviews Jean Su, director of the Center for Biological Diversity's Energy Justice program. … Read More

A Make or Break Moment for Local Solutions

Thu, 13 May 2021 16:45:21 +0000

In this episode of Building Local Power, host Jess Del Fiacco is joined by three ILSR colleagues to discuss recent news and upcoming policy decisions that could have major ramifications on local-level solutions. … Read More

Stop Privileging Large Industrial Sites Over Local Composters

Tue, 27 Apr 2021 16:02:29 +0000

ILSR's Jess Del Fiacco and Brenda Platt are joined by Tom Gilbert of Black Dirt Farm and Lor Holmes of the CERO Cooperative. Their discussion focuses on the need to support local and distributed infrastructure for food scrap recycling and composting.… Read More

Small Business Rising is Fighting Monopoly Power

Thu, 15 Apr 2021 16:09:05 +0000

Small business owners Danny Caine and Natasha Amott discuss Small Business Rising, a coalition that is calling on federal policymakers to reign in monopoly power.… Read More

Can We Be Local in a Digital World?

Thu, 01 Apr 2021 15:00:28 +0000

Jess Del Fiacco is joined by Christopher Mitchell and Christopher Ali, Associate Professor at the University of Virginia. Their conversation focuses around the idea of what it means to be local during a time when more and more pieces of our lives are shifting online. … Read More

Keeping NYC Land Out of Corporate Hands

Sun, 21 Mar 2021 16:00:40 +0000

Host Jess Del Fiacco and ILSR Co-Director Stacy Mitchell are joined by Brad Lander, who represents Brooklyn's 39th District on the New York City Council. Brad shares his perspective on how the pandemic has affected NYC neighborhoods. … Read More

How Big Utilities' Climate Pledges Fall Short

Thu, 18 Mar 2021 17:09:12 +0000

LSR Co-Director John Farrell speaks with John Romankiewicz, Senior Analyst for the Beyond Coal Campaign at Sierra Club. Their discussion focuses on a new report from the Sierra Club called The Dirty Truth About Utility Climate Pledges, which takes an in-depth look at electric utilities' public commitments to lower carbon emissions. … Read More

Is Amazon Picking Winners and Losers Among America's Cities?

Thu, 04 Mar 2021 16:47:20 +0000

Host Jess Del Fiacco and ILSR Co-Director Stacy Mitchell are joined by award-winning journalist Alec MacGillis to discuss his new book, Fulfillment. Their conversation focuses on how the shift toward online shopping — led by Amazon — has reshaped America. … Read More

How Recycling and Reuse Created Thousands of Jobs and a $1 Billion Boost to Austin's Economy

Thu, 18 Feb 2021 18:13:39 +0000

Gena McKinley of Austin, Texas, discusses the economic and environmental benefits of the city's Circular Economy Program — including highlights from a recent economic impact report that found it resulted in more than $1.1 billion in total economic activity and approximately 6,300 permanent jobs.… Read More

Connecting Indian Country to the Benefits of Broadband

Thu, 04 Feb 2021 17:15:01 +0000

On this episode of Building Local Power, host Jess Del Fiacco is joined by three members of ILSR's broadband team to discuss new resources that focus on tribal broadband projects and municipal broadband projects throughout the country. … Read More

Should Big Utilities Pay for Their Bad Choices? — Episode 117 of Building Local Power

Thu, 07 Jan 2021 16:54:02 +0000

John Farrell, Co-Director of ILSR, interviews Leslie Glustrom, founding member of Clean Energy Action about how we can equitably transition to a clean energy future. … Read More

A Vision for Landfills that Challenges the Status Quo

Thu, 10 Dec 2020 16:17:38 +0000

Host Jess Del Fiacco is joined by Neil Seldman and Captain Charles Moore, author of Plastic Ocean, to discuss Moore's his vision for turning landfills into "resource recovery parks."… Read More

A Cornucopia of Policy Opportunities in the New Year — Episode 115 of Building Local Power

Wed, 25 Nov 2020 18:53:13 +0000

From small business relief to a solar homes stimulus, we look ahead to policy opportunities in the new year and beyond in this episode of Building Local Power. … Read More

Voters Turn Out to Support Climate, Broadband, Other Local Initiatives in 2020 Election

Mon, 09 Nov 2020 22:00:14 +0000

Host Jess Del Fiacco is joined by ILSR staff members John Farrell, Christopher Mitchell, and Ron Knox to discuss the 2020 election and what the results may mean for ILSR's work.… Read More

In Seattle, Corporations Must Pay Their Fair Share to Support Climate Justice

Thu, 29 Oct 2020 16:04:54 +0000

Host John Farrell interviews Jill Mangaliman of Got Green and Abigail Juaner of Puget Sound Sage about Seattle's JumpStart tax. The tax will be used to fund local projects centered around affordable housing and the city's Green New Deal. … Read More

Is It Finally Time to Break up Big Tech?

Fri, 16 Oct 2020 16:03:11 +0000

Stacy Mitchell and Ron Knox dig into the new report from the House Antitrust Subcommittee on monopoly power in digital markets.… Read More

How the Baltimore Farm Alliance is Fighting Food Apartheid and Building Community Resilience – Episode 111 of Building Local Power

Thu, 15 Oct 2020 15:17:07 +0000

Host Jess Del Fiacco is joined by Denzel Mitchell, Deputy Director of the Baltimore Farm Alliance, and Sophia Hosain, leader of ILSR’s composting work in Baltimore.… Read More

One Size Fits None: Why Connecting California’s Least Connected Requires a Tailored Solution (Episode 110)

Thu, 01 Oct 2020 15:39:43 +0000

ILSR's Christopher Mitchell interviews Rebecca Woodbury and Air Gallegos, who helped lead a local effort to build a Wi-Fi mesh network to connect residents in the Canal neighborhood of San Rafael, Calif.… Read More

How Local Control Empowers Cities to Fight Climate Change (Episode 109)

Thu, 17 Sep 2020 16:32:26 +0000

Host Jess Del Fiacco talks with John Farrell, Director of ILSR's Energy Democracy Initiative, about how cities are taking action around climate change.… Read More

Zephyr Teachout on Building an Antimonopoly Movement (Episode 108)

Thu, 03 Sep 2020 15:00:37 +0000

Zephyr Teachout, author of the new book Break 'Em Up, shares her thoughts on building an antimonopoly movement, what she finds encouraging and discouraging in our current moment, and how she approaches antimonopoly work as a democracy activist.… Read More

Can the People Take Power Back From Big Tech? (Episode 107)

Thu, 20 Aug 2020 16:00:41 +0000

ILSR's Stacy Mitchell and Ron Knox discuss the House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee's recent hearing on monopoly power in online platforms, which featured testimony from the CEOs of Facebook, Apple, Amazon, and Google. The hearing was part of an in-depth, year-long investigation of anti-competitive behavior in these companies — the first time in more than 40 years that Congress has conducted a detailed investigation of monopoly power. … Read More

David Dayen Talks America’s Monopoly Problem (Episode 106)

Thu, 06 Aug 2020 14:33:11 +0000

On this episode of Building Local Power, David Dayen discusses his latest book, Monopolized: Life in the Age of Corporate Power, which tells the story of the daily impact of monopoly power on Americans’ lives. … Read More

Why Our Best Opportunity to Challenge Corporate Control is at the Local Level (Episode 105)

Thu, 23 Jul 2020 14:10:08 +0000

In this episode of Building Local Power, host Jess Del Fiacco is joined by Zach Freed, researcher with ILSR's Independent Business initiative, and John Farrell, ILSR co-director. The three discuss the Fighting Monopoly Power guide, ILSR's latest release, which spans the banking, broadband, electricity, food and farming, pharmacy, small business, and waste sectors. … Read More

Is Energy Still a “Natural Monopoly”? (Episode 104)

Thu, 09 Jul 2020 14:00:04 +0000

On this episode of Building Local Power, John Farrell, ILSR Co-Director and Director of the Energy Democracy initiative, interviews Scott Hempling, a lawyer and professor with decades of experience working on utility regulatory issues. Scott and John talk about why energy utilities were once considered to be "natural monopolies," and how that assumption is being challenged by new energy technologies and the push for more choice in the energy market.… Read More

Mainers Consider Putting Electricity, Internet in Local Hands (Episode 103)

Thu, 25 Jun 2020 14:00:19 +0000

On this episode of Building Local Power, host Jess Del Fiacco is joined by Christopher Mitchell, director of ILSR's Community Broadband Initiative, and Representative Seth Berry of Maine.… Read More

Local Compost Enterprise Cultivates a Just and Healthy Community (Episode 102)

Thu, 11 Jun 2020 15:01:57 +0000

In this episode of Building Local Power, host Jess Del Fiacco is joined by Brenda Platt, Director of ILSR's Composting for Community Initiative, and Kesiah Bascom, founder of OffBeet Compost.… Read More

How Cities and States Are Stepping up to Help Small Businesses in Crisis (Episode 101)

Thu, 28 May 2020 14:49:33 +0000

Host Jess Del Fiacco talks with Kennedy Smith, Senior Researcher with ILSR's Independent Business initiative, about efforts at the state and local level to support small businesses affected by the pandemic.… Read More

Locally-Owned Hardware Stores Show Flexibility and Resilience in the Face of COVID-19 (Episode 100)

Thu, 14 May 2020 14:52:43 +0000

Host Jess Del Fiacco and ILSR Co-Director John Farrell speak with Gina Schaefer, ILSR board member and owner of A Few Cool Hardware Stores in the D.C. area. Gina talks a little about how she got into the hardware business and explains how they have adapted operations to safely serve customers during the pandemic.… Read More

Small Businesses Wait for Help While Amazon Profits From Pandemic (Episode 99)

Thu, 30 Apr 2020 15:20:03 +0000

Chris, John, Stacy, and Jess discuss the bumpy rollout of federal relief funding for America's small businesses, which are facing an unprecedented crisis in the COVID-19 pandemic. … Read More