For our last episode of season 5, we’re joined by Adam Green, a professor who wrote the introduction to Robert Sargent Shriver's posthumous memoir. The main focus of the conversation is Shriver’s work to end poverty in America, and what we can learn from it. In addition to telling us how the book came to be, Green highlights some of the programs and initiatives that made up the “war on poverty” and addresses how we’re tackling poverty differently now than we have in the past.

Our second guest, Kate Breslin of the Schuyler Center, chats about her hopes for the New York state budget: more childcare subsidies and funding to increase the pay for childcare workers. She also talks about the enduring legacy of the Schuyler Center and how they hope to cut child poverty in half by 2030.

For more detailed show notes and a full transcript, see the Invisible Americans website.The Invisible Americans Podcast is a non-profit communications organization. Its mission is to end child poverty. The podcast is hosted by Carol Jenkins and David Ambroz.Music for this and all episodes is provided by Bridget St. John. Audio editing by Sylvester P. Lukasiewicz. Show notes and transcript by Amy Yoder.

From the Mississippi Delta to the State of New York to Wakanda, our guests today talk diapers, child care, and paying it forward.

First up, Chelesa Presley shares she saw a need in her community and took steps to fill it by creating a diaper bank in Mississippi. The services have grown from just their storefront, now taking steps to help families in need through product and policy.

Then Dede Hill of the Schuyler Center gives an update on child care assistance in New York and shares hope for universal child care up to age 13.

We close with Frederick Joseph, who started his first GoFundMe to raise money to take kids to see Black Panther. He ended up creating a record-breaking campaign that has touched more than 700,000 lives.

For more detailed show notes and a full transcript, see the the Invisible Americans website.The Invisible Americans Podcast is a non-profit communications organization. Its mission is to end child poverty. The podcast is hosted by Co-Presidents Jeff Madrick and Carol Jenkins.Music for this and all episodes is provided by Bridget St. John. Audio editing by Sylvester P. Lukasiewicz. Show notes and transcript by Amy Yoder.

Showcasing Ways to Show Up: Longitudinal storytelling,

a million families connected to food resources,

and a foster care dorm 20 years in the making

In the third episode of this season, we start by talking with Emmy-nominated journalist Lauren Mucciolo about her 14-year project, Born Poor. She and her team showed authentic stories of experiencing, growing up, and being generationally poor.

Then co-founder and CEO of Lemontree Kasumi Quinlan shares how she took it upon herself to answer a simple question: Why do folks not use the resources available to them? The answer: They don’t know how to access them. With just her personal cell phone and a huge vision, she created a platform to connect those in need with those providing help.

We close the show with our co-host David Ambroz sharing the project he has been working on for two decades. It’s a brick-and-mortar foster care dorm unit at a college in LA. The path from foster care to homelessness is well-trodden, but David hopes to offer the young adults in this dorm a different way home.

For more detailed show notes and a full transcript, see the Invisible Americans website.The Invisible Americans Podcast is a non-profit communications organization. Its mission is to end child poverty. The podcast is hosted by Co-Presidents Jeff Madrick and Carol Jenkins.Music for this and all episodes is provided by Bridget St. John. Audio editing by Sylvester P. Lukasiewicz. Show notes and transcript by Amy Yoder.

Our episode today kicks off with writer Claudia Rowe. She talks about her in-depth examination of foster care and her book, Wards of the State: The Long Shadow of American Foster Care. She calls for deeper accountability and a deeper commitment to the young people the system is meant to serve.

Dr. Tiffany Younger, clinical scientist and post-doctoral fellow at Yale Medical School, discusses her pioneering research into how Black women in America are impacted by wealth, stress, and their health. She talks to Carol and David about what interventions could actually make a difference.

From the New School's Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy, Dr. David Radcliffe joins us to break down how baby bonds can close the astronomical wealth gap that currently exists in the United States.

Almost 50% of college students are food insecure, and we close the show with college student Katherine Ames. She is part of the Purple Apron Pantry at Hunter College: a no-cost grocery pantry for students struggling to afford food.

For more detailed show notes and a full transcript, visit the Invisible Americans website.

The Invisible Americans Podcast is a non-profit communications organization. Its mission is to end child poverty.

The podcast is hosted by Carol Jenkins and David Ambroz.

Music for this and all episodes is provided by Bridget St. John.

Audio editing by Sylvester P. Lukasiewicz.

Show notes and transcript by Amy Yoder.

In the first episode of Season 5, Carol Jenkins returns as co-host and introduces us to her new partner, David Ambroz. David brings both personal and professional experience to the issue of poverty in this country, having been at times unhoused and in foster care. He now works to provide support for young adults transitioning out of foster care in California.

Then joining us again is Holly Fogle, founder of The Bridge Project, who gives us an update on the expansion of what was an initial seed of an idea: giving cash directly to mothers. Now with over 4,000 mothers receiving payments across 12 states, Holly tells us how and why it’s working.

Next up, author Brian Goldstone talks about how he went in-depth with several Atlanta families for years, documenting their journeys through homelessness and, in many cases, how they are not “homeless enough” or “the right kind of homeless” to receive help.

Closing out our first episode is Matt Sherman, general manager of Refettorio Harlem. Carol has volunteered at one of their fine-dining services, which they provide to anyone who shows up to eat. Their dinners are free of cost but full of dignity and care.

For more detailed show notes and a full transcript, visit the Invisible Americans website.

The Invisible Americans Podcast is a non-profit communications organization. Its mission is to end child poverty.

The podcast is hosted by Carol Jenkins and David Ambroz.

Music for this and all episodes is provided by Bridget St. John.

Audio editing by Sylvester P. Lukasiewicz.

Show notes and transcript by Amy Yoder.

“It’s managing to trust. It’s not distrusting people in poverty and micromanaging them.”

We bring you three inspiring interviews that focus on the action of creating real change for Invisible Americans:

1. Dr. James Farber talks about matching young people with job training to provide elder care in New York, meeting two needs at once. Two graduates of the Skillspring program, Denim Lee and Chris Kelly-Davis, share their experiences.

2. Dr. Juliet Widoff gets real about her work as an MD practicing "street medicine" and reaching those who need health care the most.

3. Khin Mai Aung gets to the root of how to help those in poverty: bring them into the conversation. The Children's Defense Funds aims to do just that.

For more detailed show notes and a full transcript, see the Podcast page on the Invisible Americans website.

The Invisible Americans Podcast is a non-profit communications organization. Its mission is to end child poverty.

The podcast is hosted by Carol Jenkins.

Music for this and all episodes is provided by Bridget St. John.

Audio editing by Sylvester P. Lukasiewicz.

Show notes and transcript by Amy Yoder.

We open this episode with a clip of one of our previous guests, Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, president of MomsRising, speaking at a 24-hour vigil at the U.S. Capitol with an aim of protecting Medicaid.

Then Carol and our first guest host, David Ambroz, talk to Natalie Foster, president and cofounder of Economic Security Project. They discuss how we can "center inherent worth and dignity of every American" through policy choices like guaranteed income.

Then they speak with Dr. Sarah Cowan, executive director of NYU's Cash Transfer Lab, about how Alaska is leading the way through the Alaska's Permanent Fund Dividend, which pays out directly to all Alaskans every year.

For more detailed show notes and a full transcript, see the Podcast page on the Invisible Americans website.The Invisible Americans Podcast is a non-profit communications organization. Its mission is to end child poverty. The podcast is hosted by Carol Jenkins.Music for this and all episodes is provided by Bridget St. John. Audio editing by Sylvester P. Lukasiewicz. Show notes and transcript by Amy Yoder.

We open with excerpts from Sen. Cory Booker’s 25-hour filibuster and Rep. Rosa DeLauro’s speech reintroducing the American Family Act—described as “an antidote to child poverty.”

Our host Carol Jenkins speaks with Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner (Mom’s Rising) and Fatima Goss Graves (National Women’s Law Center) about the wave of Hands Off protests and the urgent need to resist cuts that target children and families while rewarding billionaires.

We also look ahead to 2026 and the razor-thin margins that could shift control in Congress. With just a few seats deciding the future, the time to get organized is now.

---

For more detailed show notes and a full transcript, see the ⁠Podcast page⁠ on the Invisible Americans website.

The Invisible Americans Podcast is a non-profit communications organization. Its mission is to end child poverty. The podcast is hosted by Co-Presidents Jeff Madrick and Carol Jenkins.

Music for this and all episodes is provided by Bridget St. John. Audio editing by Sylvester P. Lukasiewicz. Show notes and transcript by Amy Yoder