What Takes Root: Stories of Resistance and Reclamation
Claim This Podcastby Karen Given
Podcast Overview
<p><strong>What Takes Root: Stories of Resistance and Reclamation</strong> is a first-person podcast featuring changemakers from the Global South. From how Muslim girls learned to play soccer in India, to political music shaped by Kenya’s long history of resistance, to community radio reaching isolated Indigenous communities in Bolivia, these are intimate stories of people reclaiming power, voice, and possibility.</p><p>Longer series description </p><p>What happens when we stop talking — and start listening?</p><p><strong>What Takes Root: Stories of Resistance and Reclamation</strong> is a first-person storytelling series built around that question. Across nine episodes, changemakers from India, Africa and Latin America share stories of resistance, reclamation, and renewal – in their own words.</p><p>Social justice leader Sabah Kahn, a formerly “puny” kid who had no interest in sports, explains how she helped launch a soccer program for Muslim girls in India. </p><p>Musician and historian Mwongela Kamencu, a.k.a. Mongela, traces Kenya’s long tradition of resistance and reminds us that the people will always rise. </p><p>And Isapi Rua tells the story of how listening became an act of resistance, and how sound, memory, and movement came together in a traveling radio project for isolated Guarani communities in Bolivia. </p><p>These stories, and more, this season on What Takes Root.</p>
Language
🇺🇲
Publishing Since
2/9/2026
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Recent Episodes
April 7, 2026
How a Colombian Biologist Reimagines Care and Resistance in the Forest
<p>Short description: In this episode of What Takes Root, Colombian biologist and community advocate María Clara Botero Zapata shares how growing up in a campesino family surrounded by mountains and forests shaped her understanding of life, care, and resistance.</p><p>She reflects on her family’s decision to create a natural reserve, restoring land that had already been deeply impacted by deforestation and environmental degradation, and how that process transformed not only the ecosystem, but their relationship with their community. Through her studies in biology, María Clara began to question traditional, often colonizing approaches to science, and instead turned toward a more relational and community centered way of knowing.</p><p>At the heart of her story is a deep recognition of care work, especially the invisible labor carried by women and girls who sustain life even in the face of environmental crisis. María Clara invites us to rethink what it means to protect nature, reminding us that we cannot protect what we do not know, and that sometimes, our greatest teachers are the trees, the soil, and the communities who live in close relationship with them.</p><p>For more information about ORA, visit<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://orawards.org/">https://</a><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="http://orawards.org/">orawards.org/</a></p>
April 7, 2026
Cómo una bióloga colombiana reimagina el cuidado y la resistencia desde el bosque
<p>En este episodio de Echando Raíces, la bióloga y gestora comunitaria colombiana María Clara Botero Zapata comparte cómo crecer en una familia campesina, rodeada de montañas y bosques, dio forma a su manera de entender la vida, el cuidado y la resistencia.</p><p>Reflexiona sobre la decisión de su familia de crear una reserva natural, restaurando un territorio que ya había sido profundamente afectado por la deforestación y la degradación ambiental, y cómo ese proceso transformó no solo el ecosistema, sino también su relación con la comunidad. A través de sus estudios en biología, María Clara comenzó a cuestionar los enfoques tradicionales, muchas veces colonizantes, de la ciencia, y a acercarse a formas de conocimiento más relacionales y centradas en la comunidad.</p><p>En el corazón de su historia está el reconocimiento del trabajo de cuidado, especialmente el trabajo invisible que sostienen las mujeres y las niñas incluso en medio de crisis ambientales. María Clara nos invita a repensar lo que significa proteger la naturaleza, recordándonos que no podemos proteger lo que no conocemos y que, a veces, nuestras mayores maestras son los árboles, la tierra y las comunidades que viven en relación cercana con ellos.</p><p>Para más información sobre ORA, visita<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://orawards.org/">https://</a><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="http://orawards.org/">orawards.org/</a></p>
March 31, 2026
She Ran Away to Learn—And Came Back to Change Everything
<p>Growing up in an Adivasi village in Jharkhand, Jacinta Kerketta never imagined she would become a voice for her people. In this episode of What Takes Root, Jacinta recalls how she fled violence in her home and journeyed to the unfamiliar and often hostile world of the city in search of an education. Moving between these two realities, she’s forced to confront caste, gender violence, and the erasure of her people’s stories.</p><p>Jacinta finds her purpose in writing, where she can challenge harmful narratives about Adivasi communities and carve out space for her own voice. But her work doesn’t stop there—what starts as one young woman’s determination to get an education grows into something much larger.</p><p>Returning to the villages that shaped her, Jacinta begins organizing with girls like her—creating spaces to write, speak, and imagine new futures.</p>
13 total episodes available
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- What is What Takes Root: Stories of Resistance and Reclamation?
<p><strong>What Takes Root: Stories of Resistance and Reclamation</strong> is a first-person podcast featuring changemakers from the Global South. From how Muslim girls learned to play soccer in India, to political music shaped by Kenya’s long history of resistance, to community radio reaching isolated Indigenous communities in Bolivia, these are intimate stories of people reclaiming power, voice, and possibility.</p><p>Longer series description </p><p>What happens when we stop talking — and start listening?</p><p><strong>What Takes Root: Stories of Resistance and Reclamation</strong> is a first-person storytelling series built around that question. Across nine episodes, changemakers from India, Africa and Latin America share stories of resistance, reclamation, and renewal – in their own words.</p><p>Social justice leader Sabah Kahn, a formerly “puny” kid who had no interest in sports, explains how she helped launch a soccer program for Muslim girls in India. </p><p>Musician and historian Mwongela Kamencu, a.k.a. Mongela, traces Kenya’s long tradition of resistance and reminds us that the people will always rise. </p><p>And Isapi Rua tells the story of how listening became an act of resistance, and how sound, memory, and movement came together in a traveling radio project for isolated Guarani communities in Bolivia. </p><p>These stories, and more, this season on What Takes Root.</p> - How often does this podcast release new episodes?
This podcast updates daily.
- Where can I listen to this podcast?
This podcast is available on 4 platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. You can also use the RSS feed directly.
- Does this podcast accept guests?
Yes, this podcast regularly features guests.
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