How We Build This

Ilana Berger: Building Care Power, Fighting Private Equity

May Boeve welcomes Ilana Berger, director of New York Caring Majority and Caring Majority Rising [https://caringmajorityrising.org/]. Ilana shares how older and disabled New Yorkers, family caregivers, and home care workers came together to win major raises for home care workers, and why that victory still wasn’t enough. Together, May and Ilana dig into the fight against private equity’s takeover of New York home care, the mutual-aid “water cooler” spaces that helped people survive a broken system, and why care organizing is both deeply personal and politically transformative.  How We Build This [https://howwebuiltthis.substack.com/] is created and hosted by May Boeve [https://substack.com/@mayboeve?utm_source=global-search] Producer: Phil Surkis [https://www.philsurkis.com/] Theme music: ‘Within’, composed by Ruthie Dineen, and performed by Negative Press Project. [https://www.negativepressproject.com/] Instagram & Bluesky: @hwbtpod can find us on Instagram and Bluesky at HWBT Pod, and on Linked in and Substack at How We Build this Pod.  Thank YOU for taking the time to tune in and helping build the movement!

Movement Dispatch #1: From Shadow Dockets to May Day

In this first ever Movement Dispatch, May Boeve offers a rapid-fire look at the political moment, and what it means for movement building. From a federal investigation into the Southern Poverty Law Center to the growing influence of the Supreme Court of the United States “shadow docket,” May connects the dots between authoritarian tactics, fossil fuel industry power, and attacks on civil society. May closes with a clear call to action: stay engaged, connect the dots, and get involved in one of thousands of May Day actions happening across the country by checking out MAY DAY STRONG [https://maydaystrong.org/]. Dig Deeper:  * The Inside Story of Five Days That Remade the Supreme Court [https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/18/us/politics/supreme-court-shadow-docket.html] * Maya Wiley Statement on Southern Poverty Law Center [https://civilrights.org/2026/04/21/attacks-on-civil-rights-movement/?s_src=264lcchrnonprofitprotections1all&s_subsrc=email&utm_source=264lcchrnonprofitprotections1all&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=fy26nonprofitprotections&autologin=true] Investigation * Hungary’s election: a breakthrough – but not a simple win [https://www.opendemocracy.net/hungarys-election-a-breakthrough-but-not-a-simple-win/] How We Build This [https://howwebuiltthis.substack.com/] is created and hosted by May Boeve [https://substack.com/@mayboeve?utm_source=global-search] Producer: Phil Surkis [https://www.philsurkis.com/] Theme music: ‘Within’, composed by Ruthie Dineen, and performed by Negative Press Project. [https://www.negativepressproject.com/] Instagram & Bluesky: @hwbtpod can find us on Instagram and Bluesky at HWBT Pod, and on Linked in and Substack at How We Build this Pod.  Thank YOU for taking the time to tune in and helping build the movement!

Hahrie Han: The Missing Link Between Outrage and Power

In this episode, May Boeve speaks with political scientist and author Hahrie Han, one of the leading scholars studying how movements actually build power. Drawing on her research, Hahrie challenges the idea that scale alone wins change, arguing instead that how we engage people determines whether movements succeed. They explore why quick, individual actions often fall short, how real power comes from relationships and collective capacity, and why so many people feel like consumers rather than participants in public life. From surprising lessons in faith communities to the urgent need for “democracy gyms,” this conversation offers a clear, grounded framework for turning outrage into lasting power. How We Build This [https://howwebuiltthis.substack.com/] is created and hosted by May Boeve [https://substack.com/@mayboeve?utm_source=global-search] Producer: Phil Surkis [https://www.philsurkis.com/] Theme music: ‘Within’, composed by Ruthie Dineen, and performed by Negative Press Project. [https://www.negativepressproject.com/] Instagram & Bluesky: @hwbtpod can find us on Instagram and Bluesky at HWBT Pod, and on Linked in and Substack at How We Build this Pod.  Thank YOU for taking the time to tune in and helping build the movement!

Heather Cronk: Leaving the Church, Building the Movement

May Boeve sits down with Heather Cronk, longtime organizer and founder of Project 21:12 [https://www.project2112.org/], about her journey from deeply committed evangelical Christian and anti-abortion activist to queer progressive movement leader organizing against Christian nationalism. Heather shares how a childhood in the South and years of rigid theology shaped her worldview, and then how community and lived experience slowly unraveled it. She reflects on the deconstruction process that led her out of evangelicalism, why so many people are leaving those spaces now, and how Project 21:12 is working to find, connect, and organize ex-evangelicals who often leave not just a church, but an entire social world behind. Plus: Heather offers an unexpectedly practical hot tip for organizers who love a training plan but hate swimming. Skip the triathlon, try a biathlon! Discover the archive of the The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee [https://snccdigital.org/] (SNCC) How We Build This [https://howwebuiltthis.substack.com/] is created and hosted by May Boeve [https://substack.com/@mayboeve?utm_source=global-search] Producer: Phil Surkis [https://www.philsurkis.com/] Theme music: ‘Within’, composed by Ruthie Dineen, and performed by Negative Press Project. [https://www.negativepressproject.com/] Instagram & Bluesky: @hwbtpod can find us on Instagram and Bluesky at HWBT Pod, and on Linked in and Substack at How We Build this Pod.  Thank YOU for taking the time to tune in and helping build the movement!

Tomás Garduño: Fundamentals of Electoral Organizing

May Boeve talks with Tomás Garduño, organizer, strategist, and author of The Fundamentals of Electoral Organizing [https://www.fundamentalsofelectoralorganizing.org/], about what it takes to build real working-class political power. Tomás traces his path from the 1999 WTO protests in Seattle to leading electoral work with groups like Southwest Organizing Project and, now, with Many Hands, an incubated project of Addition focused on organizing in under-resourced, often-red congressional districts. Together, they unpack a core tension in movement life: why so many organizers are skeptical of electoral politics. Their conversation explores how mass mobilization, canvassing, city council fights, and elections all fit together, not as competing strategies, but as different tools in the same toolbox. Plus: a surprisingly useful hot tip on mold remediation!  How We Build This [https://howwebuiltthis.substack.com/] is created and hosted by May Boeve [https://substack.com/@mayboeve?utm_source=global-search] Producer: Phil Surkis [https://www.philsurkis.com/] Theme music: ‘Within’, composed by Ruthie Dineen, and performed by Negative Press Project. [https://www.negativepressproject.com/] Instagram & Bluesky: @hwbtpod can find us on Instagram and Bluesky at HWBT Pod, and on Linked in and Substack at How We Build this Pod.  Thank YOU for taking the time to tune in and helping build the movement!