The Greenroom is a podcast produced by FRESH where we learn from some of the world’s most transformational advocates about how they flipped the script.
Listen and follow:
About the Show
Host, author, and FRESH co-founder Courtney Martin, gets into intimate, strategic conversation with the people who are changing the public conversations we’re having about care, money, violence, and love.
Diving deep into longer half an hour episodes and getting straight to the heart of it in bite-sized minisodes, The Greenroom asks and answers big questions about how we co-create new stories and interrupt old ones. For the narratively inclined and the communications curious, The Greenroom wrestles with questions like: How much of their storytelling success is part of a grand plan vs. how much is their ability to harness the magic of a moment? What does that trendy term–narrative change–actually mean? How do geniuses who get psyched out by public speaking take care of themselves before they get on stage?
For people trying to move a radical idea from the margins to the center of the public conversation, this podcast is for you.
The Greenroom is a project of FRESH Labs and supported through a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The views expressed are not necessarily those of the Foundation.
Episode Breakdown
Episode 1 :: Ai-jen Poo – Why changing hearts is more important than changing minds
Courtney dives deep with care champion Ai-jen Poo on the power of a braided strategy, what it takes to change not just opinions but the deeper, emotional beliefs that shape them, and admits that despite being a total genius at it – she doesn’t actually like public speaking.
You can follow Ai-jen, track the release of her new book, and follow her vast roster of organizations at Ai-jenPoo.com.
The Greenroom is an independent production of FRESH Speakers, produced by Courtney Martin, along with Vanessa Valenti, Casey Molina, and Allison Cook. Ali Baughman is our editor. Learn more about our work at FRESH Speakers.
Please give us a rating and a review, and tell a friend. If you learned something from listening to this episode, we want to hear about it! Send us an email at greenroom@freshspeakers.com.
The Greenroom is possible thanks to the support of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Episode 2 :: Ai-jen Poo Minisode on Braided Strategy and Community Power
In this minisode recap, Courtney serves up some of the juiciest pearls from her conversation with Ai-jen Poo with a special focus on collaboration. Honestly, we’re still taking it in that 74 (!) organizations co-wrote the whitepaper on “care as infrastructure” which went on to become a real cultural and political touchstone during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Episode 3 :: Shannon Watts – How your ‘flaws’ can be your superpower
Shannon Watts is owning all of who she is: a pugnacious mama, a brilliant ADHD brain, and a tireless organizer for a world without gun violence. Shannon and Courtney talk about what it means to start an organization from nothing and eat your humble pie along the way, how neurodiversity can be a superpower, and how we all get by with a little help from our friends.
Follow Shannon’s work on her website to order her book, track her newsletter, and just generally be awed.
Episode 4: Shannon Watts Minisode – Knowing what you suck at
In this minisode recap, Courtney gets real about what is so striking about Shannon Watts’ authentic and audacious style of leadership. What might get unlocked if we all took a page out of Shannon’s playbook and said out loud: I’m really great at this! I’m total garbage at that! Imagine just how different our teams and organizations might look?
Episode 5 :: Aisha Nyandoro – Letting the real experts lead
Aisha Nyandoro is crafting new narratives around deservedness, wealth, and what we all need to thrive and we are here for it.. In her conversation with Courtney, these two get into why the term “thought leaders” is so cringe, what a difference it makes to have the folks living the problem crafting the solution, and how to tell if you’re going too far or not far enough in getting your message out in the world.
You can follow Aisha’s at AishaNyandoroSpeaks or get familiar with her work Springboard to Opportunities and Magnolia Mothers Trust.
Episode 6 :: Aisha Nyandoro Minisode – Be the vessel
In this minisode recap, Courtney and Aisha make the case for ditching the term “thought leadership” for the maybe less catchy but all the more powerful “vessel.” We think there’s something to be said for how it captures the way being deeply rooted in who you serve and where you come from reorients how you walk and talk and make your way in the world.
