We're Still Here with Simon and Julie
The John Fugelsang Podcast
Crossover Media Group
4.8 • 1.5K Ratings
🗓️ 21 March 2026
⏱️ 39 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this episode, John once again welcomes Indigenous advocates Simon Moya Smith and Julie Franciello to discuss the complex legacies of historical figures like Cesar Chavez and the challenges faced by Indigenous communities today. The conversation delves into the painful truths about admired leaders, the intricacies of trauma responses, and the importance of recognizing the contributions of women in movements. Simon and Julie also explore the historical kinship between Irish and Indigenous peoples, highlighting acts of solidarity and the ongoing struggles against colonialism.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Right now, our guests are in the wings, and I don't want to keep Simon, Moia Smith, and Julie Franchello waiting. Simon, of course, is an Oglala Lakota and Chicano journalist, contributing writer at NBCNews and The Nation.com. He's the author of the forthcoming book, Your Spirit Animals at Jackass, one of the sharpest political minds I know, and he is an adjunct professor of indigenous studies at the University of Colorado, Denver. Simon, welcome back. It's good to see you. Thanks for having me, man. |
| 0:23.7 | Thank you, sir. |
| 0:24.5 | Julie French, and adjunct professor of indigenous studies at the University of Colorado, Denver, Simon. Welcome back. It's good to see you. Thanks for having me, man. Thank you, sir. Julie Franchella is a mental |
| 0:25.4 | health professional with over 30 years of experience handling complex drama with indigenous youth and families. |
| 0:30.7 | Julie's an enrolled member of the Ojibwe of Batchewana First Nation Reserve. She teaches |
| 0:34.7 | indigenous studies at Durham College, focusing on the impacts of colonization |
| 0:38.3 | and First Nations people. And I highly recommend her artwork at Julie Franchella.com. |
| 0:43.3 | Julie, it's so good to see you. Welcome back. |
| 0:45.3 | Thank you so much for having us. And today is the equinox. And that basically means equal light, equal dark. |
| 0:53.3 | And right now, that's kind of how the world feels to me, a little bit of equal light, equal |
| 0:57.6 | dark. |
| 0:58.0 | So it's a good day to show up and kind of be balanced, which I appreciate. |
| 1:02.3 | Wow. |
| 1:03.0 | I appreciate that more than I could possibly say right now. |
| 1:06.3 | Julie, I wanted to begin by asking your thoughts about the terrible revelations about Cesar Chavez. |
| 1:14.9 | You know, I've thought for a long time, if there's any community that needs new heroes, |
| 1:20.1 | it is the labor movement, but it's very painful to see someone that I've been raised to admire |
| 1:26.4 | at a time when we don't have a lot of real heroes for labor |
| 1:29.9 | and to learn these ugly, terrible truths. |
| 1:34.4 | I know that we live in this culture that wants to give us a binary of either saying, |
| 1:38.9 | he did great things, let's not tear him down, or saying, well, he did a terrible thing, |
| 1:42.4 | let's burn it all down. |
... |
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