The recall succeeds in removing one county supervisor, Leonard Moty. But it’s enough to gain the majority on the county board of supervisors. What do far-right leaders plan to do with their newfound power? One thing is clear: Top officials from across the county government leave in a mass exodus, as threats intensify. Far-right activists mount another campaign – this time for more elected county positions: The sheriff, the registrar of voters, school superintendent. What happens to Shasta as they try to take over?

The recall succeeds in removing one county supervisor, Leonard Moty. But it’s enough to gain the majority on the county board of supervisors. What do far-right leaders plan to do with their newfound power? One thing is clear: Top officials from across the county government leave in a mass exodus, as threats intensify. Far-right activists mount another campaign – this time for more elected county positions: The sheriff, the registrar of voters, school superintendent. What happens to Shasta as they try to take over?

Bedrock, USA is a podcast about political extremism, small town life and the fight for democracy, hosted by Laura Bliss, a reporter at Bloomberg CityLab. 

In a super-divided, pandemic-era America awash in conspiracies and misinformation, it’s about a group of people who didn’t like what they saw happening in their local governments, and decided to get involved - whether that meant holding a rally, running for office, recalling an official or storming their government with bullhorns and threats. 

Their stories show how far-right ideologies enter into local politics - sometimes quietly, other times at full volume - and what it takes for regular people to fight back. They show the beauty as well as the risks, struggles and pitfalls of being an active participant in democracy today. And together they create a human-level portrait of a democracy that is fracturing, and the role that extremist ideologies are playing. (And they’re not going away.)

Where do their stories point us as a country? 

Bedrock, USA is a podcast about political extremism, small town life and the fight for democracy, hosted by Laura Bliss, a reporter at Bloomberg CityLab. 
In a super-divided, pandemic-era America awash in conspiracies and misinformation, it’s about a group of people who didn’t like what they saw happening in their local governments, and decided to get involved - whether that meant holding a rally, running for office, recalling an official or storming their government with bullhorns and threats. 
Their stories show how far-right ideologies enter into local politics - sometimes quietly, other times at full volume - and what it takes for regular people to fight back. They show the beauty as well as the risks, struggles and pitfalls of being an active participant in democracy today. And together they create a human-level portrait of a democracy that is fracturing, and the role that extremist ideologies are playing. (And they’re not going away.)
Where do their stories point us as a country?

Bedrock, USA

Winner Takes All

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/af424ad1-595f-41ea-bae0-aeec0109a35f/transcript

In the final chapter of “The School Board Queen” we dig in with Bridget Ziegler. Her opponents have called her names – transphobic and racist. But she says she’ll take “the arrows of being called whatever” for what she believes in. She’s a champion of the Florida Parental Rights in Education Act – that’s the so-called Don’t Say Gay bill, which critics call unsupportive of the LGBTQ community. We want to know what it’s like to be a student living with the bill, and we spend time with a trans teenager, an eleventh grader, who surprises us with their clear-eyed perspective.

“The School Board Queen” is reported, produced and hosted by Kathleen Quillian and Samantha Storey. For more information visit bloomberg.com/bedrock-usa. Have a suggestion or comment? We’d love to hear from you: kquillian@bloomberg.net or samanthastoreywrites@gmail.com. 

In the final chapter of “The School Board Queen” we dig in with Bridget Ziegler. Her opponents have called her names – transphobic and racist. But she says she’ll take “the arrows of being called whatever” for what she believes in. She’s a champion of the Florida Parental Rights in Education Act – that’s the so-called Don’t Say Gay bill, which critics call unsupportive of the LGBTQ community. We want to know what it’s like to be a student living with the bill, and we spend time with a trans teenager, an eleventh grader, who surprises us with their clear-eyed perspective.
“The School Board Queen” is reported, produced and hosted by Kathleen Quillian and Samantha Storey. For more information visit<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/bedrock-usa"> bloomberg.com/bedrock-usa</a>. Have a suggestion or comment? We’d love to hear from you: kquillian@bloomberg.net or samanthastoreywrites@gmail.com.

The School Board Queen: Chapter 3

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/6e93406c-6e86-448e-90f5-af8d018597d7/transcript

Bridget Ziegler is against the teaching of CRT and gender identity. She believes parents should have ultimate control over their children’s education. In chapter two of “The School Board Queen” we explore where these stances come from. We hear from a Republican woman who fought against communism in her kids’ schools in the 1950s. We hear some of the first instructional videos made for sex ed classes, including one on how to groom yourself and another on whether or not to go steady. Two historians, Michelle Nickerson and Natalia Mehlman Petrzelawho studied the era, take us on a tour, drawing a through-line from the mothers of yesterday to Bridget Ziegler today.  

“The School Board Queen” is reported, produced and hosted by Kathleen Quillian and Samantha Storey. For more information visit bloomberg.com/bedrock-usa. Have a suggestion or comment? We’d love to hear from you: kquillian@bloomberg.net or samanthastoreywrites@gmail.com. 

Bridget Ziegler is against the teaching of <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-02/how-critical-race-theory-became-a-political-target-quicktake">CRT</a> and gender identity. She believes parents should have ultimate control over their children’s education. In chapter two of “The School Board Queen” we explore where these stances come from. We hear from a Republican woman who fought against communism in her kids’ schools in the 1950s. We hear some of the first instructional videos made for sex ed classes, including one on how to groom yourself and another on whether or not to go steady. Two historians, Michelle Nickerson and Natalia Mehlman Petrzela who studied the era, take us on a tour, drawing a through-line from the mothers of yesterday to Bridget Ziegler today.  
“The School Board Queen” is reported, produced and hosted by Kathleen Quillian and Samantha Storey. For more information visit<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/bedrock-usa"> bloomberg.com/bedrock-usa</a>. Have a suggestion or comment? We’d love to hear from you: kquillian@bloomberg.net or samanthastoreywrites@gmail.com.

The School Board Queen: Chapter 2

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/49dc642b-5464-4131-8e87-af8d01649505/transcript

Ever since the pandemic saw school boards explode into shouting matches over mask mandates, nothing has been the same. And Florida has been the epicenter of some of those battles. Leading the charge is Bridget Ziegler, mother of three, and chair of the Sarasota school board. She is against the teaching of CRT and gender identity, but she is pro protecting the rights of parents. And Governor Ron DeSantis endorses her. Bloomberg spent several days with Ziegler, and over the course of three episodes we got to know her – and her opponents. 

In chapter one of “The School Board Queen” we meet Ziegler and her family, and we learn her origin story. There were mean girls in high school. She didn’t finish college. And it was a surprising suggestion from her husband that set her on the school board path. We also talk to a former school board member who was so put off by Ziegler’s “shenanigans” that she left the Republican party and registered as a Democrat. 

“The School Board Queen” is reported, produced and hosted by Kathleen Quillian and Samantha Storey. For more information visit bloomberg.com/bedrock-usa. Have a suggestion or comment? We’d love to hear from you: kquillian@bloomberg.net or samanthastoreywrites@gmail.com. 

Ever since the pandemic saw school boards explode into shouting matches over mask mandates, nothing has been the same. And Florida has been the epicenter of some of those battles. Leading the charge is Bridget Ziegler, mother of three, and chair of the Sarasota school board. She is against the teaching of <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-02/how-critical-race-theory-became-a-political-target-quicktake">CRT</a> and gender identity, but she is pro protecting the rights of parents. And Governor Ron DeSantis endorses her. Bloomberg spent several days with Ziegler, and over the course of three episodes we got to know her – and her opponents. 
In chapter one of “The School Board Queen” we meet Ziegler and her family, and we learn her origin story. There were mean girls in high school. She didn’t finish college. And it was a surprising suggestion from her husband that set her on the school board path. We also talk to a former school board member who was so put off by Ziegler’s “shenanigans” that she left the Republican party and registered as a Democrat. 
“The School Board Queen” is reported, produced and hosted by Kathleen Quillian and Samantha Storey. For more information visit<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/bedrock-usa"> bloomberg.com/bedrock-usa</a>. Have a suggestion or comment? We’d love to hear from you: kquillian@bloomberg.net or samanthastoreywrites@gmail.com.

The School Board Queen: Chapter 1

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/103b1214-4c32-4b69-b7de-af8d01818306/transcript

Winner Takes All

Bedrock, USA

In 1 playlist(s)

Bedrock, USA

Social links

Follow podcast

Recent clips