Let's Give A Damn

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❤️ If you love the show and want to support us, ⁠please consider joining our Patreon⁠.

It’s Kat Abughazaleh Day on the podcast! Kat is a 26-year-old, Palestinian American, grassroots congressional candidate running to represent Illinois’ Ninth District. She’s a renter, a formerly uninsured worker, and a union representative running to bring a new generation of leadership to Congress, defend democracy, fight for economic justice, and advance a humane foreign policy.Kat is a badass. Don’t believe me? Go on YouTube, type her name into the search bar, and see for yourself.Lastly, Kat is up against millions of dollars of attack ads by AIPAC and her opponents. Please donate, phone bank, or door knock if you can! ✅ Check out Kat’s website.✅ Follow Kat on Instagram and YouTube.✊

It’s Mohsen Mahdawi Day on the podcast! Mohsen Mahdawi is a Palestinian organizer, human rights activist, co-founder of the Columbia Palestinian Student Union, and a damn good human.Mahdawi was a leading voice during the 2024 protests and the encampments at Columbia University. His leadership during those months and his support for a Free Palestine and an end to the Israeli occupation led to him being arrested in April of 2025 by ICE during a citizen interview in Vermont. Keep in mind that Mohsen is a lawful permanent U.S. resident and was arrested because he participated in peaceful protests. Thankfully, he was released two weeks later and gave a very clear statement as he walked out of jail: “I am saying it clear and loud to President Trump and his cabinet, I am not afraid of you.”Mahdawi’s fight for justice is not over. He could face arrest again in the future. Please follow him and support him in any way that you can. I know for a fact that Mohsen won’t stop—and we cannot stop—until Palestine is free.____

On May 5, Let's Give A Damn co-sponsored an event in NYC called Palestine: The Moral Issue Of Our Time with Gabor Maté and Chris Hedges. It was a sold-out event with 800 attending in persons and hundreds more attended online via our livestream.Most importantly we raised tens of thousands of dollars for Middle East Children's Alliance! MECA works to protect the rights and improve the lives of children in the Middle East through aid, empowerment and education. In the Middle East, MECA provides humanitarian aid, partners with community organizations to run projects for children, and supports income-generation projects. In the US and internationally, MECA raises awareness about the lives of children in the region and encourages meaningful action.This is a unique podcast episode where I'm not interviewing anyone. It's just Gabor and Chris. Oh, and the wonderful Aaron Maté introducing these legends. Listen! Be inspired! Take action! Give A Damn!✅ Donate to MECA! They're incredible.✅ Follow Gabor

It’s Maggie Smith Day on the podcast! Maggie Smith is the New York Times bestselling author of You Could Make This Place Beautiful; My Thoughts Have Wings, a picture book illustrated by SCBWI Portfolio grand prize winner Leanne Hatch; the national bestsellers Goldenrod and Keep Moving: Notes on Loss, Creativity, and Change; as well as Good Bones, named one of the Best Five Poetry Books of 2017 by the Washington Post and winner of the 2018 Independent Publisher Book Awards Gold Medal in Poetry; The Well Speaks of Its Own Poison, winner of the 2012 Dorset Prize and the 2016 Independent Publisher Book Awards Gold Medal in Poetry; and Lamp of the Body, winner of the 2003 Benjamin Saltman Award.In 2016 Maggie Smith’s poem “Good Bones” went viral internationally, receiving coverage in the Washington Post, theGuardian, the Telegraph, Slate, Huffington Post Italia, and elsewhere. To date it has been translated into nearly a dozen languages; interpreted by a dance troupe in Chennai, India; and set to music by multiple

It’s Ed Begley Jr. Day on the podcast!  Ed Begley, Jr. recently starred in Hallmark film, Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story, and was a fan favorite on the very popular series Young Sheldon and Better Call Saul and was recently a series regular on Netflix’s Future Man.  On the environmental front, he is one of the foremost environmentalists in Hollywood, supporting and advocating for multiple eco-initiatives and charity organizations.  He is also the name and face behind the successful ⁠Begley’s Earth Responsible Products⁠, a line of plant-based eco-friendly cleaning and pet supplies.     Begley is a Golden Globe and seven-time Emmy nominated actor who for decades, has been a champion and educator for causes dedicated to protecting the earth.  In support of this work, he starred opposite his lovely wife and daughter on the hit eco-reality shows Living With Ed and On Begley Street. Begley has appeared in the Christopher Guest films A Mighty Wind, Best In Show, and For Your Consideration. Other feature film

It’s Mara Kronenfeld Day on the podcast!  As the Executive Director of UNRWA USA, Mara Kronenfeld leads the strategic vision, operations, and fundraising efforts of the nonprofit organization that supports the humanitarian and human development work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the Middle East. With over 20 years of experience in international development, Mara is a Fulbright Scholar and an expert in designing, implementing, and leading public private partnerships supporting youth development programming in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). UNRWA USA supports the humanitarian work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) through fundraising, advocacy, and community engagement in the United States. UNRWA USA lifts up the voices, experiences, and humanity of Palestine refugees to secure American support for resources essential to every human being, for the promise of a better life. ✅ Download UNRWA USA

It’s Lauren Paul & Molly Thompson Day on the podcast!  Lauren Paul is the co-founder of Kind Campaign and Director, Writer and Producer of Kind Campaign's award-winning documentary, Finding Kind. Finding a way to start a conversation about bullying has been on Lauren’s heart ever since her own life-altering experience in middle school. After studying film at Pepperdine University, Lauren joined forces with her friend and fellow filmmaker, Molly Thompson and founded Kind Campaign, a multi-platform movement that has changed and saved hundreds of thousands of lives, friendships, classrooms and communities around the world. Kind Campaign is the nation's premier anti-bullying movement for girls and has impacted millions through their school assemblies, documentary film, Kind Club Curriculum and global movement. Since 2009, Lauren and Molly have been on the forefront of this conversation, personally speaking in over 776 schools across 26 Founders Tours. Lauren has been awarded with the Public Education Award by

Munther Isaac is a Palestinian Christian pastor and theologian. He now pastors the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem and the Lutheran Church in Beit Sahour. He is also the academic dean of Bethlehem Bible College, and is the director of the highly acclaimed and influential Christ at the Checkpoint conferences.  He speaks locally and internationally and has published numerous articles on issues related to the theology of the land, Palestinian Christians and Palestinian theology, holistic mission and reconciliation. He is the author of The Other Side of the Wall: A Palestinian Christian Narrative of Lament and Hope and the forthcoming Christ in the Rubble: Faith, the Bible, and the Genocide in Gaza which will release in March of 2025. Munther originally studied civil engineering in Birzeit University in Palestine. He then obtained a Master in Biblical Studies from Westminster Theological Seminary and then a PhD from the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies. During our conversation, we discuss his