Naptown People’s Radio

Our 50th episode features two PSL organizers, one who founded the Indianapolis branch and another who joined two years ago.

As we worked out ideas for our 50th episode, we realized we hadn't spoken much about the organization behind the podcast: the Indianapolis branch of the Party for Socialism and Liberation. On this week's episode, hear co-host Derek Ford dialogue with Sam James, who co-founded the Indianapolis branch in 2018, a...

This week we hear from Haki Shakur, National Spokesperson for the Provisional Government of the Republic of Afrika, on the state of the struggle for New Afrikan independence.

Before we get to the Naptown Breakdown, co-host Dani Abdullah makes plain why we at the Indy Liberation Center always keep the fight for Black Liberation center-stage and work to move it forward. We mean something specific when we refer to "the system:" it is ...

In our final segment in our May Day series, co-hosts Dani Abdullah and Derek Ford ask: How and why did May Day (or International Workers' Day), which originated in the U.S. in the late 19th century, only reappear in popular U.S. consciousness 20 years ago?

But first, the Naptown Breakdown follows up on several stories we've covered. The first is the IDOC settlement of roughly $1.2 million to 31 inmates who were forced to live in da...

As we prepare for May Day 2026, producer Dakota Fronterhouse joins the show to discuss a recent incident in which several of his fundamental rights were defended by his union. First, co-hosts Dani and Derek turn to recent regional labor struggles, and particularly the historic 2011 battle in Madison, Wisconsin. During the early months of that year, workers occupied the Capitol Rotunda and took to the streets for 29 consecutive days...

Kayla Cowels, an organizer in Elkhart, Indiana joins the show this week to discuss the Feb. 8 killing of 17-year-old Bryan Ramirez Gomez, who died after cops Nicholas Ragsdale and Thomas Breneman shot him in a park.

Prompted by the April 8 nationwide day of action against the U.S. war on Iran, Dani Abdullah opens up our Naptown Breakdown by asking her co-host Derek Ford why, with all of the issues we face in this city, it's still n...

We're honored to have Veronika Williams and Keanda Young, loved ones of Jamar and Lamonte Thomas, join Naptown People's Radio this week to debunk the IMPD's lies and correct the media's narratives about the March 7 shooting downtown.

Our Naptown Breakdown covers IMPD Patrol Officer Gary Francis Hadden's assault on Noah Leininger, one of the organizers of the anti-ICE protest over the weekend. After an unknown man grabbed Leininger ...

Director, clinical psychologist, actress, model, paralegal, and activist Dr. Meleeka Clary joins the show this week to discuss her 16-year long battle against her ex-husband and the Indiana courts.

Our Naptown Breakdown starts with two encouraging updates. First we hear a message from Shaka A. Shakur that he sent after finally receiving a copy of his book, Manifestations of Thought: When the Dragon Comes (1804 Books). Up next is an...

Our third episode celebrating Women's History Month feature includes co-hosts Dani Abdullah and Derek Ford discuss more of their women revolutionary heroes and an urgent segment of "Dispatches from Behind the Wire" where we hear from an inmate at Miami Correctional Facility about the horrendous and routine medical neglect he and his fellow inmates–including ICE detainees–face on a daily basis.

First, our Naptown Breakdown pinpoints...

In our second episode celebrating Women’s History Month, co-hosts Dani Abdullah and Derek Ford bring one of the women revolutionaries they study and admire to the table, women who made significant contributions to the anti-imperialist struggle through united fronts, in the theoretical and practical terrains. They didn’t share their choices with each other, so what results is a spontaneous and authentic dialogue that is informative,...

Our first episode in celebration of Women's History Month features social worker and Indy Hope Packages coordinator Rissa Wilson.

After co-hosts Dani Abudllah and Derek Ford provide a quick history of the socialist origins of Women's History Month, Rissa and Dani provide an overview of Indy Hope Packages before getting into the finer details. They discuss how they took inspiration from the Black Panther Party's community outreach p...

On this special episode, co-hosts Dani Abdullah and Derek Ford provide the broader context necessary for understanding why progressives must take a firm anti-war stance and support Iran's right to self-determination. And after several months Shaka A. Shakur is back for another segment of "Dispatches from Behind the Wire" to remind us to defend oppressed nations in the u.s. and urges us to learn from the people of Minneapolis.

On t...

One year ago on February 25, IMPD cop Grant Snyder shot and killed Adam Sykes, a young father. February 25, 2026 marks one year since IMPD officer Grant Snyder shot and killed Adam Sykes on the Near Eastside of Indy. Anniversaries risk becoming rituals of mourning, but this episode marks it as the first time in recent history that the people organized to take on the IMPD. Stephen Lane, who worked closely with Adam's mom, Nikki Schu...

This week we have a special episode featuring a discussion between Derek Ford and our comrade Leon Benson—an artist, author, producer, exoneree, and a good friend of the people joins the show ahead of the official launch of "The Solitary Justice Project."

Before pivoting to the launch, which will take place at the Shri Thanedar Community Center in Detroit on February 28, they discuss the unfortunate circumstances that brought Leon ...

This week, Jay Grillo gives a first-hand account of the sustained anti-ICE uprising in Minneapolis.

In the first segment, co-hosts Dani Abdullah and Derek Ford signal the potential danger in a likely alliance between Indiana and ultra right-wing Turning Point USA. Turning Point, founded by Charlie Kirk, is a project dedicated to silencing dissenting research and silencing faculty and teachers who stand up for justice by threats of ...

Vernon T. Bateman joins the show to discuss the latest developments in his fight for exoneration.

This week's Naptown Breakdown highlights a recent Mirror Indy/Indy Star investigation uncovering that, for more than a decade Mayor Joe Hogsett, used no-bid contracts that benefited his friends and those with ties to the Democratic Party. Hogsett won his first term as Mayor with a proposal called “Disclose Indy," which directly targete...

In this episode, Lucas Lee joins co-host Dani Abdullah to discuss the upcoming mayoral elections and analyze the unknown history of working-class solidarity and uprisings in the Midwest.

The Naptown Breakdown discusses so-called “Voice of Progress” Vop Osili’s announced mayoral candidacy. Although current Indianapolis mayor Joe Hogsett will not seek re-election, Osili and Hogsett maintain close ties and Osili continue to defend Hog...

Wildstyle Paschall joins the show in advance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day to reclaim the real legacy of Dr. King by situating his organizing, leadership, diplomatic moves, and theories in their proper context.

The Naptown Breakdown begins with Saturday's emergency demonstration in solidarity with Renee Nicole Good and all those killed by ICE and the State. The Indianapolis demonstration was one of hundreds across the country a...

We are proud to present 'Season 2' of Naptown People's Radio. We hope everyone got some rest over the holiday break because the struggle is heating up more than ever!

Our first episode this season covers the launch of MaskOff12, a new independent police accountability mechanism, Indianapolis' solidarity with the Venezuelan people, as well as the present and future of the artistic scene in Indy.

Absent Dani Abdullah, host Derek Ford...

This week, our co-hosts are joined by NPR's producer, Dakota Fronterhouse, as they look back at the past year of struggle in Naptown. They begin with late 2024, as groups in and around the Indianapolis Liberation Center started preparing for a heightened era of repression and resistance. They cover in detail the people's fight-back movement against ICE, police terror, mass incarceration, and attacks on oppressed nationalities, draw...