Bending the Arc

About Bending the Arc

Bending The Arc explores the everyday work of creating inclusive, equitable and racially just communities. This podcast spotlights bold thinking and action by creative, passionate, experienced thinkers and actors from cities and communities around the US and Canada. Join us to learn about strategies to make communities diverse, vibrant places of well-being and opportunity. Bending the Arc is produced by the National Initiative on Mixed-Income Communities at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University and co-hosted by Dr. Mark Joseph and Dr. Amy Khare.

Publisher

The National Initiative on Mixed-Income Communities

Category

society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

28 Sept 2020

Latest episode

17 Aug 2026

Latest episodes

1 of 40 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   17 Aug 2026

   Episode 39: Intergenerational Conversation on Race and Racism

   This episode focuses on the topics of race, racism and antiracism, which we have often done here, but this time we are going to hear the insights of a younger generation. In an especially personal episode for me, I’ve invited the members of my family to join me for this conversation. My co-host for this episode is my wife, Me’lani Labat Joseph, and together we explore these topics with our three adult children, Layla, Malik and Ayande. As a family, we’ve discussed these issues informally for years and I’ve been increasingly curious how they are thinking about these issues in today’s social and political climate. And I thought our Bending the Arc audience might be interested in listening in on this conversation as well! Me’lani Labat Joseph is a youth enrichment and community development professional who has spent her entire career devising ways to expand the horizons of young people, particularly youth of color and young folks in an urban environment. Trained at MIT as a mechanical engineer, and at the University of Chicago in public policy studies, she is now the principal of Transformative Innovations, LLC, her consulting firm that provides strategic thinking and technical assistance to organizations and institutions to help them maximize outcomes for youth. Layla Imani Joseph is currently working on an MD-PhD at Northwestern University with a focus on medical anthropology and the social determinants of health. She is particularly interested in issues of Black women’s health and wellness, the impact of policing and neighborhood violence, and community-based approaches to safety and healing. Layla is a graduate of Stanford and currently a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Research Scholar. Malik Sankara Joseph is building a career in strategic communications and media relations. He currently works as an Account Executive at Rudd Resources LLC., a Black-owned PR and communication services firm based on the south side of Chicago. Malik graduated from DePaul University with a degree in Public Relations and Advertising, and a minor in African/Black Diaspora Studies. One of his primary current projects is staffing the Chicago Reparations Task Force, a 40-member community task force led by the City’s Office of Equity and Racial Justice and tasked by the Mayor with helping to center the lived experiences of Black Chicagoans. Ayande Patrice Joseph just graduated from Harvard University with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He’s moving to Minneapolis where he will be working with Pentair, a global company focused on smart, sustainable water solutions. Ayande currently serves as one of five members of the President’s Youth Advisory Council for Engineers Without Borders International. And while at Harvard, he served as Co-President of the local Engineers Without Borders chapter, making two visits to the village of Kiboun, Kenya to help implement water distribution systems to expand villagers’ safe access to clean water. Joseph family pic (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Aow1fkv8YJ6U7WQKqORo4Gu2pJPXKIEf/view?usp=sharing) NP3: Nurturing People. Power. Place (https://case.edu/socialwork/np3-nurturing-communities)

2. 

   7 Feb 2026

   Episode 38: ThirdSpace Action Lab Episode 6: Reflections and Future Trajectory

   This is the final episode in our podcast series focused on the powerful work of ThirdSpace Action Lab, a racial equity consulting firm based here in Cleveland. We welcomed back the founders of ThirdSpace, Evelyn Burnett and Mordecai Cargill, to reflect with me on the podcast series and consider the path ahead for ThirdSpace. We launched the series with Episode 32, where Evelyn and Mordecai talked to me about the origin story and mission of Thirdspace and set the stage for the episodes focusing on various elements of their work and mission.Evelyn Burnett is the CEO and Mordecai Cargill is the Creative Director of ThirdSpace Action Lab and the ThirdSpace Reading Room. Please check out Episode 32 for much more on their backgrounds and their journey to launching this groundbreaking organization.We are grateful that they joined me to wrap up this very special podcast series on Moving Towards Healing.ThirdSpace Action Lab (https://3rdspaceactionlab.co/)NP3: Nurturing People. Power. Place. (https://case.edu/socialwork/nimc/)

3. 

   19 Dec 2025

   Episode 36: ThirdSpace Action Lab Episode 5: Reflections on the 2025 Summer of Soul

   This is the fifth episode in the podcast series Moving Toward Healing focused on the incredible work of ThirdSpace Action Lab, a racial equity consulting firm based in Cleveland. The series features seven episodes exploring the philosophy, strategies, and achievements of this extremely unique and innovative changemaking powerhouse. In this episode we focus on a specific example of ThirdSpace magic with a deep dive on the monthlong celebration of Juneteenth this past summer that they called the Summer of Soul, with the theme Bet on Black. We’re joined by two of the ThirdSpace team members who had lead roles in bringing the Summer of Soul to life. Dr. Martha Potts (affectionately known as Dr. Bibi) left a career at the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority to pursue a doctorate in organizational behavior at Case Western Reserve University. Her research was conducted in Rwanda, Africa and focused on human systems transformation. She retired from a career in non-profit sector but then came out to retirement to join ThirdSpace Action Lab where she functions as the Awareness Building Manager. Her current interest is supporting and nurturing the multidimensionality of Black identities in an anti-Black society in which systems, institutions and policies built for disenfranchisement. Jenn Short is the Executive Coordinator at ThirdSpace Action Lab. Prior to joining ThirdSpace, she served as the Content Support Coordinator at Ideastream Public Media and as an Executive Assistant at the Cleveland Institute of Art. Drawing on a wealth of experience in administrative coordination and creative collaboration, Jenn is passionate about amplifying impactful projects and fostering meaningful change. ThirdSpace Action Lab (https://3rdspaceactionlab.co/) Juneteenth 2025: Summer of Soul - Betting on Black (https://3rdspaceactionlab.co/bet-on-black-2025-1) NP3: Nurturing People. Power. Place. (https://case.edu/socialwork/nimc/)

Inside a recent episode

Episode 9: Advancing Change with the Person-Role-System Framework - Dr. JaNay Queen Nazaire

Published 4 Apr 2022 · Transcript excerpt

[…] We need to coin a term there because I've gotten from people, well, so what happens when you finally get to a place where disrupting racist behaviors and beliefs. What's next? And so what's the pro activity? What's the pro behavior? What are we working for? What are we working toward? So we have to become anti-racist to do what? And this is a beautiful opportunity to like reclaim and return to our humanity, see each other, love each other, value each other. That is something we can do with our personal power. Yeah, I love it. And to ground that in our community development space, which is much of what this podcast is focused on, at the National Initiative on Mixed Income Communities, where we've arrived, is talking about a quest for human-centered housing and community development. […]

Who has been a guest on Bending the Arc

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Celia Williamson
• Harry Atwell
• Sean Clark

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

7 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

3 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 46 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

63

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

76

Contact Bending the Arc

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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