Unwasted: The Podcast

Making Space for Civic Life with Manny Yekutiel

August 03, 2020 Imperfect Foods Season 1 Episode 31
Unwasted: The Podcast
Making Space for Civic Life with Manny Yekutiel
Show Notes

How do we better political conversations? What does it mean to be meaningfully involved in our community? 

To answer these questions, Manny Yekutiel set out to create a one-of-a-kind events space, cafe, and bookshop in San Francisco's Mission district. The result was Manny's, a central and affordable place to become a better informed and more involved citizen.

In this episode, Manny explains how compelling physical spaces are essential to making civic engagement more accessible and why we shouldn't make people choose between having a social life and a political life. 

He also explains how his work is continuing a long tradition of civic gathering spaces in the US and in San Francisco. Together, we explore the importance of physical events in an age where we increasingly cannot have them, discuss how Manny has had to adapt his business to a socially distanced world and talk about the importance of storytelling in successful political movements 

If you're a long time activist, new to politics, or just looking for ways that you can get more involved in the issues that you care about, this episode has stories and lessons that you can learn from and put into action in your life. 

Episode Show Notes:

  1. Learn more about Manny's on their website and be sure to follow them on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter
  2. The food at Manny's is provided by Farming Hope, an organization focused on using food to provide unhouse and formerly incarcerated individuals with job training
  3. Manny's is supported in large part by community sponsors 
  4. Borderlands Books in San Francisco is an excellent example of another community-supported space
  5. To learn more about race in America, Manny recommended the film Just Mercy along with the books White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo and How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X Kendi 
  6. Manny recommended reading Team of Rivals to learn more about Abraham Lincoln 
  7. Manny is pondering what San Francisco and other major metro areas will look like after COVID-19 and found this New York Times article about the decline in tourism in Venice to be thought-provoking
  8. The Ezra Klein Show is one of Manny's favorite podcasts 
  9. Manny recommended Swing Left to learn how about supporting Democratic political races
  10. Manny's go-to karaoke song is "Vanishing" by Mariah Carey