We Can Do This!
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“We Can Do This!” from the National Consumers League, a nonprofit with a 120+ year history advocating for consumers on marketplace and workplace issues.
In each episode, we talk through some of the major cultural issues and public policy battles of today with individuals helping to shape our nation’s social and economic reforms in health, data and privacy, food and nutrition, labor, and finance.
Hosted by NCL Executive Director Sally Greenberg and NCL’s senior policy staff.
Send inquiries and questions to:
info@nclnet.org
Or reach out to us on social media at:
Twitter — @ncl_tweets
Facebook — National Consumers League
Available episodes
Newest first
Oldest first
Oct 18, 2023
21: NCL Health Podcast Series: Amy Hinojosa, National CEO of MANA
NCL is excited to present the inaugural podcast episode of our new Health Podcast Series under the “We Can Do This!” podcast umbrella, hosted by our Senior Director of Health Policy Robin Strongin. This month we are celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month with our esteemed guest Amy Hinojosa, National President & CEO of MANA. The episode kicks off with the mention of two impactful and “feisty” woman leaders that helped start NCL in 1899. Fast forward to today, two women with similar characteristics are featured on this podcast. Robin and Amy discuss health disparities in the Hispanic community, the great work that MANA does to empower Latinas and what we can all do to work towards equity in the health world.
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Mar 6, 2023
20: Stop Senior Scams!
Happy Consumer Protection Week! While fraud can affect anyone, regardless of age and other demographic information, Fraud.org and NCL are putting the spotlight on scams targeting older Americans. Our host for this episode is NCL’s very own fraud expert, Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications and Fraud John Breyault. John sits down with Lizette Alvarez of the Washington Post and Debra Berlyn of Project GOAL to discuss fraud prevention strategies for seniors and their families. You will hear real life examples of some shocking scams and different ways to fight fraud either for yourself or a loved one. Let’s ALL make a point to speak up about fraud.
In this episode there were some resources referenced and those links can be found below:
* Lizette Alvarez’s Washington Post column on impersonation scams: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/02/08/elderly-scams-protections-targets-finances/
* Fraud.org – http://www.fraud.org
* Better Business Bureau: Ask Why. Verify. - https://www.bbb.org/all/bbbi/impersonation-scams
* Federal Trade Commission: Pass It On - https://consumer.ftc.gov/features/pass-it-on
* Project GOAL - https://theprojectgoal.org/
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Jun 28, 2022
19: Menthol Cigarettes Are Going Up in Smoke
On this episode of “We Can Do This!” our host Sally Greenberg sits down with members of the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council, the country’s leading public health education and advocacy organization taking on Big Tobacco to save Black lives. Dr. Phil Gardiner, Carol McGruder and Charles Debnam break down the FDA’s proposed move to ban menthol cigarettes, how Big Tobacco has aggressively targeted African American communities and eliminating the number one culprit of preventable deaths for Black people in America. The airing of this episode is timely with the news of Juul e-cigarettes being banned last week and ahead of the August deadline for FDA public comments on their proposed new rules that ban the manufacture and sale of menthol cigarettes and all flavored cigars.
Visit savingblacklives.org for more information on these important issues.
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Jun 21, 2022
18: How Did My Medicine Get Here? Behind the Scenes of the Healthcare Supply Chain
Many of us take for granted that our medicines are available at the pharmacy whenever needed. Despite the disruptions of the pandemic, U.S. healthcare supply chains remained incredibly resilient, safe and reliable. Dr. Nicolette Louissaint of the Healthcare Distribution Alliance (HDA) joins NCL’s Executive Director Sally Greenberg for a dialogue about medical supply chains, health equity and access, patient consumer issues, and even predictions on the next pandemic. Dr. Louissant also speaks about her personal journey of becoming one of the leading experts in supply chains and the biomedical field.
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Mar 11, 2022
17: Maintaining Customer Trust in a Booming eCommerce Marketplace
Happy Consumer Protection Week! Are you an online shopper? This podcast is for you! On this episode of We Can Do This!, NCL’s Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications and Fraud, John Breyault, sits down with Alyssa Betz, Director of Public Policy leading Amazon’s Brand Protection and Customer Trust policy team, to discuss protecting consumers, specifically in the online marketplace. John and Alyssa dive into topics such as fake reviews, counterfeit products along with scams that have been on the rise this year.
*Due to COVID-19 safety protocols, this episode was recorded remotely. Audio quality may not be consistent throughout.*
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Feb 8, 2022
16: A Woman’s Right to Choose: Equal Access to Health Care Threatened
This episode contains sensitive topics, such as abortion and sexual violence, that may be difficult for some audiences. Listener discretion advised.
As listeners of our podcast know, the National Consumers League believes in equal health care access for all, and that includes a woman's right to choose. With the looming possibility of Roe v. Wade being overturned and the strict abortion laws that have been enacted in Texas and Mississippi, we sat down with pioneering champion of women’s rights — Karen Mulhauser — to discuss her personal story, contraceptive rights, and the upcoming elections.
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Dec 1, 2021
15: The Drug Pricing Middlemen Driving up Drug Costs
Healthcare continues to be front and center in the national discourse, particularly in the midst of the pandemic. As Congress works on policy solutions to lower healthcare costs for consumers, we face an unfair disadvantage when it comes to what we’re paying at the pharmacy counter. Many consumers don’t know that this is largely due to middlemen companies called pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs).
Antonio Ciaccia, President of 3Axis Advisors and Chief Executive Officer of 46brooklyn Research, joins NCL’s Executive Director Sally Greenberg to talk about the role PBMs play in our drug pricing system and how they impact what consumers pay out-of-pocket for their medicines.
*Due to COVID-19 safety protocols, this episode was recorded remotely. Audio quality may not be consistent throughout.*
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May 28, 2021
14: The boom in e-commerce has been a boon for fraudsters
The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly accelerated the growth of e-commerce. And counterfeiters are raking in the cash.
Dr. Jay Kennedy, Assistant Professor at Michigan State University and Assistant Director of Research at the Center for Anti-Counterfeiting and Product Protection, joins NCL’s VP of Public Policy, Telecommunications and Fraud John Breyault to talk about the dangers of counterfeit products and how these products flourish on digital marketplaces.
*Due to COVID-19 safety protocols, this episode was recorded remotely. Audio quality may not be consistent throughout.*
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Feb 26, 2021
13: Does recycling even work?
Beth Porter, Climate Campaigns Director at Green America, join NCL’s Executive Director Sally Greenberg to talk about the American arm of the global recycling movement and the confusing myriad of systems consumers must navigate to lead sustainable, eco-conscious lives.
*Due to COVID-19 safety protocols, this episode was recorded remotely. Audio quality may not be consistent throughout.*
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Feb 10, 2021
12: Women's sexual health shouldn't be taboo
It's 2021, can we speak frankly about women's sexual health yet?
Dr. Crista Johnson-Agbakwu (MD) of Arizona University’s Southwest Interdisciplinary Research Center and Dr. Sheryl Kingsberg (Ph.D.) of UH MacDonald Women's Hospital & Case Western Reserve University join NCL’s Executive Director Sally Greenberg for a straight talk, non-apologetic conversation about women sexual health, societal shyness on the topic, and harmful traditions in immigrant communities.
*Due to COVID-19 safety protocols, this episode was recorded remotely. Audio quality may not be consistent throughout.*
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Sep 22, 2020
11: Advice to get rid of that debt monkey on your back
Michelle Singletary award-winning Washington Post columnist joins NCL’s Executive Director Sally Greenberg and Lisa Hertzberg, director of the LifeSmarts program, to discuss how consumers can manage debt and finances even amidst the global COVID-19 pandemic and the predatory business practices that keep so many Americans in cycles of poverty.
But first, Lisa Hertzberg quizzes David Han, a University of Georgia freshman and LifeSmarts program alumni on personal finance.
*Due to COVID-19 safety protocols, this episode was recorded remotely. Audio quality may not be consistent throughout.*
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Jul 12, 2020
10: Price gouging and usury and fraud, oh my!
Ben Wiseman, director of the Office of Consumer Protection at the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia, joins NCL’s VP of Public Policy, Telecommunications and Fraud John Breyault to talk about the surge of consumer protection issues that have emerged as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the crucial role that state attorneys general play in protecting consumers from predatory businesses and scammers.
*Due to COVID-19 safety protocols, this episode was recorded remotely. Audio quality may not be consistent throughout.*
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May 8, 2020
9: Child and forced marriage puts the "lock" in wedlock
Fraidy Reiss, activist and founder/director of Unchained At Last, joins Reid Maki, NCL’s director of child labor issues and coordinator of the Child Labor Coalition for a dialogue about the silent scourge of child marriage in America and the continued effort to support women who wish to leave coerced and forced marriages.
*Due to COVID-19 safety protocols, this episode was recorded remotely. Audio quality may not be consistent throughout.*
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Apr 21, 2020
8: Born too soon; the difference a day makes
Dr. Joia Adele Crear-Perry of the National Birth Equity Collaborative and Dr. Kelle H. Moley of March of Dimes joins NCL’s Executive Director Sally Greenberg for a dialogue about premature births, maternal outcomes, and the societal stressors that disproportionately affect some pregnant women more than others.
*Due to COVID-19 safety protocols, this episode was recorded remotely. Audio quality may not be consistent throughout.*
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Feb 24, 2020
7: The invisible child laborers in our fields
Norma Flores López, Governance and Development/Collaboration Manager at East Coast Migrant Head Start Project, joins Reid Maki, NCL’s director of child labor issues and coordinator of the Child Labor Coalition for a dialogue about the plight of workers on America’s farms. Joining them are two young women that have worked in fields as child laborers, Araceli and Jazmin.
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Jan 17, 2020
6: What’s for dinner? Whatever’s in the waste bin
Scott Nash, CEO of MOM’s Organic, joins NCL’s Executive Director Sally Greenberg for a dialogue about America’s shocking food waste epidemic, our food system, and the impact that our dinner plates have on the environment.
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Jan 3, 2020
5: Sorry, fair pay and a safe workplace aren’t on the menu
Diana Ramirez, Federal Senior Policy Advocate at Restaurant Opportunities Center, joins NCL’s Executive Director Sally Greenberg for a dialogue about one of America’s most pervasive sources of inequality: the death of livable wages in the food industry and others.
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Dec 12, 2019
4: Measles; it ain’t over until it’s over
Dr. Linda Fu, general pediatrician at Children’s National Health System and an associate professor of pediatrics at the George Washington University School of Medicine, joins NCL’s Executive Director Sally Greenberg and Patricia Kelmar, previously NCL’s director of health policy, for a dialogue about vaccines in America and debunk the myths that have stoked the current anti-vaccine sentiment.
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Dec 10, 2019
3: Ending the scourge of child labor with Kailash Satyarthi
Kailash Satyarthi—Nobel Peace Prize Laurate and founder of multiple social activist organizations including Bachpan Bachao Andolan, Global March Against Child Labour, and GoodWeave International—joins Reid Maki, NCL’s director of child labor issues and coordinator of the Child Labor Coalition to talk about his journey from local activist to global figure in the fight to end child labor and the state of affairs in the movement.
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Dec 10, 2019
2: Two dynamos of women's rights law crashed through the glass ceiling—part 2
Marcia Greenberger, the founder and co-president of the National Women’s Law Center and Judy Lichtman, president emeritus and senior advisor at the National Partnership, join NCL’s Executive Director Sally Greenberg to continue their look look at how far women have come and the work ahead in the women’s rights movement.
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Dec 10, 2019
1: Two dynamos of women's rights law crashed through the glass ceiling—part 1
Marcia Greenberger, the founder and co-president of the National Women’s Law Center and Judy Lichtman, president emeritus and senior advisor at the National Partnership, join NCL’s Executive Director Sally Greenberg for a look at how far women have come and the work ahead in the women’s rights movement.
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Dec 8, 2019
Indomitable spirits
In this trailer of We Can Do This! you will hear from figures who have paved the way for social and economic reforms as well as those carrying on the fight for an equitable tomorrow. This very special sneak peek of the new podcast from the National Consumers League features two pioneering advocates and attorneys working for women's rights, Judith Lichtman and Marcia Greenberger; Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Kailash Satyarthi; and three young women who grew up working in the farm fields of America as child laborers.
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