“Women are the Secret Sauce”: Talking Activism, with Shannon Watts

For our Season 3 finale, Brittany had no choice but to call up Thee group chat–The Machetes, an unshakeable sisterhood of women who bonded during COVID and haven’t let go. This week Brittany sits down with five of them–community organizer LaTosha Brown, broadcast journalist Cari Champion, co-host of The View Sunny Hostin, sports journalist Jemele Hill, and TheReidOut host Joy Ann Reid for conversation about community, sisterhood, and of course—where they got their name. Listen in…and hold on tight to your own Machetes. We’re going to need each other this year.For timely analysis, updates, and resources on actions from Trump-Vance administration, visit: https://www.democracy2025.org/response-centerStay UNDISTRACTED and subscribe to The Meteor newsletter by visiting WeAreTheMeteor.com/newsletters. Follow Brittany on Instagram, Threads & Tik Tok @MsPackyettiFollow The Meteor on Instagram @themeteor and X @themeteor. Follow Wonder Media Network on Instagram @wmn.media, X @wmnmedia, and Facebook. 

It’s been 10 days since the inauguration—10 days full of executive orders, immigration crackdowns, dismantled DEI initiatives and general panic. This shock and overwhelm is intentional, but if we’re going to make it through the next four years…we can’t traffic in hopelessness. This week, Brittany speaks with activist Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action, to talk about collective action, whether we’ll ever get gun reform, and how to build the “womansphere.” Plus: Brittany brings you this week’s UNtrending news.For timely analysis, updates, and resources on actions from Trump-Vance administration, visit: https://www.democracy2025.org/response-centerStay UNDISTRACTED and subscribe to The Meteor newsletter by visiting WeAreTheMeteor.com/newsletters. Follow Brittany on Instagram, Threads & Tik Tok @MsPackyettiFollow The Meteor on Instagram @themeteor and X @themeteor. Follow Wonder Media Network on Instagram @wmn.media, X @wmnmedia, and Facebook. 

How do you make sense of a day that both honored Martin Luther King, Jr. and ushered in a president determined to demolish progress at warp speed? Brittany calls up two people equipped to do it: group chat members Dr. David J. Johns and Dr. Brittney Cooper. Together, they trace the origin of white obsession with “meritocracy,” the price the country has paid for the success of Barack Obama, the fact that more information does not equal more knowledge, and how we’ll survive this moment the way we would a storm. Plus:  Brittany honors the life and legacy of her friend (and frequent UNDISTRACTED guest) Cecile Richards.Stay UNDISTRACTED and subscribe to The Meteor newsletter by visiting WeAreTheMeteor.com/newsletters. Stay UNDISTRACTED and subscribe to The Meteor newsletter by visiting WeAreTheMeteor.com/newsletters. Follow Brittany on Instagram, Threads & Tik Tok @MsPackyettiFollow The Meteor on Instagram @themeteor and X @themeteor. Follow Wonder Media Network on Instagram @wmn.media, X @wmnmedia, and Facebook. 

Cori Bush is just one week out of Congress—so who better to tell us exactly what to expect over these next four years? In this episode, Brittany sits down with the activist and former legislator for an “exit interview” like no other: all about what her Republican colleagues really told her behind the scenes, why she still thinks public service is worth it, and what the new “radical Cori” will do next. Plus: a special report from environmentalist Leah Thomas on evacuating her LA home.Please consider donating to the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation, which supports the first responders working to quell the devastating California wildfires.Keep an eye on Mutual Aid LA Network’s Fire & Storm Resource document for additional support opportunities. Stay UNDISTRACTED and subscribe to The Meteor newsletter by visiting WeAreTheMeteor.com/newsletters. Follow Brittany on Instagram, Threads & Tik Tok @MsPackyettiFollow The Meteor on Instagram @themeteor and X @themeteor. Follow Wonder Media Network on Instagram @wmn.media, X @wmnmedia, and Facebook. 

What do the election results and mass violence have in common? Among other things: men—angry American men whose path to radicalization seems to be moving faster and faster. Why is it happening? What can we do about it, both in our politics and in our own lives? And whose responsibility actually is it to fix all this? In this episode, Brittany speaks with journalists Anand Giridharadas and Liz Plank about the manosphere, who profits from it, and what should take its place. Plus: Brittany breaks down the UNtrending news, from Bad Bunny to Biden.Please consider donating to the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation, which supports the first responders working to quell the devastating California wildfires.Keep an eye on Mutual Aid LA Network’s Fire & Storm Resource document for additional support opportunities. Stay UNDISTRACTED and subscribe to The Meteor newsletter by visiting WeAreTheMeteor.com/newsletters. Follow Brittany on Instagram, Threads & Tik Tok @MsPackyettiFollow The Meteor on Instagram @themeteor and X @themeteor. Follow Wonder Media Network on Instagram @wmn.media, X @wmnmedia, and Facebook. 

Happy New Year! To ring in 2025, Brittany calls up the group chat—Dr. David J. Johns and Dr. Brittney Cooper—to hear their resolutions (crafting, joy, and a little “intentional silence,” among other things). Then, she sits down with Rev. Neichelle Guidry, director of the Sisters Chapel at Spelman College. No matter what faith you practice, this is a conversation to tune into, about radical politics, the roar of conservative evangelical values, and the power of quiet conversations.Stay UNDISTRACTED and subscribe to The Meteor newsletter by visiting WeAreTheMeteor.com/newsletters.Follow Brittany on Instagram, Threads & Tik Tok @MsPackyettiFollow The Meteor on Instagram @themeteor and X @themeteor. Follow Wonder Media Network on Instagram @wmn.media, X @wmnmedia, and Facebook.

Donald Trump has made his cabinet nominations, and many have something in common: allegations of sexual misconduct. Has disrespect toward women somehow become an actual job qualification? To make sense of the moment, Brittany sits down with Natasha Stoynoff, who says Donald Trump assaulted her when she was a reporter for People, and Eliza Cooney, who claims that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. groped her when she was a part-time nanny for his family. They talk about what every Senator weighing in on these confirmations should do next—and the “strange sorority” of women with similar stories. Plus, Cooney has words for other women considering coming forward.Follow Brittany on Instagram, Threads & Tik Tok @MsPackyettiFollow The Meteor on Instagram @themeteor and X @themeteor. Follow Wonder Media Network on Instagram @wmn.media, X @wmnmedia, and Facebook.  

We all have mamas! And some of us are mamas. So why are onscreen mamas so often so…plastic? This week, Brittany invites actor and comedian Ilana Glazer over to talk about how they’re pushing back on binary ideas of motherhood in their own work. Together they get into Glazer’s forthcoming Hulu stand-up special “Human Magic,” their own parenting joys, and why onscreen fathers are always Homer Simpson or Tony Soprano. Plus: Brittany brings you this week’s UNtrending news on everything from the Black maternal health crisis to all the glory that is hip-hop starlet Doechii.  Follow Brittany on Instagram, Threads & Tik Tok @MsPackyettiFollow The Meteor on Instagram @themeteor and X @themeteor. Follow Wonder Media Network on Instagram @wmn.media, X @wmnmedia, and Facebook. 

Everyone’s got an opinion about the media…and almost everyone has a complaint. But why, exactly? And what does the fractured nature of what we read and listen to cost us? This week, Brittany sits down with Semafor’s Max Tani, who breaks down how trust in the media has unraveled, what gender and race have to do with it, and the reason people are still fixating on why Kamala Harris didn’t go on Joe Rogan. Plus, this week’s UNtrending news: health benefits for sex workers!Follow Brittany on Instagram, Threads & Tik Tok @MsPackyettiFollow Max on X and BlueSky Follow The Meteor on Instagram @themeteor and X @themeteor. Follow Wonder Media Network on Instagram @wmn.media, X @wmnmedia, and Facebook.

UNDISTRACTED celebrates its 100th episode! Brittany is joined by Alicia Garza, the activist and co-founder of the Black Lives Matter Organization, to reflect on the past four years, the state of our movements, and to discuss how we can chart a path forward. Plus: Brittany talks about post-election news, including the state of Ohio’s Haitian migrant community, victories for the Working Families Party. And: a new report on school segregation, and a glimmer of hope in the Washington Spirit soccer team.Follow Brittany on Instagram, Threads & Tik Tok @MsPackyettiFollow The Meteor on Instagram @themeteor and X @themeteor. Follow Wonder Media Network on Instagram @wmn.media, X @wmnmedia, and Facebook.