All Ears with Abigail Disney

Jane Fonda is a towering figure and an American legend. From Barbarella, to Klute, to 9 to 5, to her workout videos, she’s been gracing our screens for more than 50 years. And, though she may be best known for her role as an artist, surprisingly Jane says that’s not how she thinks of herself: “I consider myself, first and foremost, an activist.” And she has for quite some time. For the final episode of Season four, Abby talks with Jane about the power of activism– work that Jane defin...

In a recent New York Times op-ed, “America Is in a Disgraced Class of Its Own”, sociologist Matthew Desmond writes about the shameful amount of poverty in America, and our responsibility for it. He also writes about solutions. He points to B Corp as a beacon of light, a resource for people who want to support corporations that actually respect workers, their communities and the environment. Our guest this week, Jay Coen Gilbert, is one of B Corp’s founders. He’s also someone Abby consulted wi...

If you've been paying attention, you've heard how unionization efforts are popping up all over the country, from Starbucks, Amazon and Apple; to airports, nursing homes and college campuses. Indeed, in numbers not seen in generations, American workers are fighting for higher wages, better benefits and, yes, a little more dignity on the job. This week, Abby talks about what all this portends with Mary Kay Henry, president of the nation’s second largest union, the Service Employees Internationa...

Settle in with Abby and labor organizer Erica Smiley for a free-wheeling conversation about unions, democracy, history, and so much more. Smiley is the Executive Director of Jobs with Justice, a national labor group working to change the meta-narrative about who the economy is for and what it should look like. She is also the author, along with Sarita Gupta, of The Future We Need: Organizing for a Better Democracy in the Twenty-First Century. The book focuses on where the labor movement has b...

A week after President Joe Biden’s fiery State of the Union address focused on re-growing America’s middle class, Abby has a lively conversation with millionaire reformer Nick Hanauer about what Biden is doing and why it’s so important. Hanauer, a venture capitalist and activist, has long been sounding the alarm on our inequality crisis, warning that trouble is coming our way if nothing is done to address the problem. In fact, he argues that that trouble will likely involve angry people with ...

Kicking off the fourth Season of All Ears, Abby gets on the line with one of her economic heroes, Robert Reich. Reich understands the issues at the heart of The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales, Abby’s new documentary, better than almost anyone, because he’s been speaking out about exploitative labor practices and corporate greed for decades. From within the halls of power, when Reich was Secretary of Labor under President Clinton, he was vocal about rising inequality, and he’s in no mood...

It’s our final episode of the season, and who better to finish it off with than feminist icon and Abby’s longtime friend, Gloria Steinem. Steinem has been a pioneer and leader in the feminist movement for more than half a century. Her political and cultural impact is truly immeasurable, but it’s undeniable that she, alongside women like Dorothy Pittman Hughes and Florynce Kennedy helped lay the foundation for the modern feminist movement. She’s spent much of her extraordinary life traveling t...

With the United Nations’ 26th annual climate change conference–aka COP26–happening in Glasgow, Scotland this week, we thought it was the perfect time to re-air Abby’s conversation with environmental activist Varshini Prakash. Varshini is the executive director and co-founder of the Sunrise Movement, a youth-centered climate activist group that’s helped bring the climate crisis to the forefront of national politics in the United States. The organization has made a name for itself by coordinati...

This week on All Ears, Abby is joined by Imara Jones. Imara is an activist, journalist and the creator of TransLash Media, a cross-platform journalism, storytelling and narrative project. She’s also the host of the TransLash podcast, a show that centers trans narratives and experience. Imara’s and Abby’s conversation was so rich and varied, we decided to split it up into two episodes. In this week’s conversation, she discusses the love and acceptance she found in her family after transitionin...

This week on All Ears, Abby is joined by E. Jean Carroll. Carroll is a journalist, memoirist, and the author of America’s longest running advice column. She’s also one of the many, many women who have come forward with sexual assault allegations against former President Donald Trump. When Trump denied the allegation Carroll sued him for defamation, and oral arguments are set to begin on December 3rd. Here, Carroll tells Abby her side of the story in vivid and exacting detail. What follows is ...

This week on All Ears, Abby is joined by Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA. Sara is a force to be reckoned with. As one of the most powerful labor leaders in the country she’s devoted her career as a flight attendant and union member to improving the conditions of working people. At the height of the pandemic, she helped assure that aviation workers got paid and kept their healthcare, by negotiating for some of the strongest protections in the CARES act. And d...

As the country struggles to reset from a global pandemic, why does it seem that so many women continue to bear the burden of this ongoing crisis? In Season 3 of All Ears, Abigail Disney interviews a slate of creative and courageous thinkers who are pushing back on old systems and reimagining what “normal” should look like for all people.

This week, as the Sundance Film Festival launches a virtual festival for the first time, Abby talks to the festival's director, Tabitha Jackson. After spending 25 years in non-fiction filmmaking, Tabitha moved from head of the Sundance Documentary Program into the festival chair, beating out 700 applicants and becoming the first woman, and first person of color, to hold the job. What came next was a year of tumult and challenge, in which she unexpectedly faced the task of transforming America...