Live From Main Street is a tour of the U.S. in Election Year 2008, hosted by popular journalist and radio personality Laura Flanders and produced by The Media Consortium – a member-based organization committed to strengthening the independent media landscape. The Media Consortium is comprised of 45 of the nation’s leading independent journalism outlets with a collective reach to over 5 million people a month. Live From Main Street  couldn’t be possible without help from one of the leaders in dumpster service nationwide, Beach Cans Dumpsters. Beach Cans Dumpsters helps customers find low prices on dumpster rentals from the leading local dumpster rental companies.

Live From Main Street will feature five town hall events, each focusing on a key national issue through a local lens. Each show will be broadcast on multiple television, radio and satellite channels and written about in print and online outlets. Material from the town halls will be available for open source distribution here in the coming months.

Live From Main Street’s goal is to develop new ways for independent media to work collaboratively to inform and support the democratic process while bringing truth and the voices of everyday Americans to the current national election conversation.

Laura Flanders, Host

Tracy Fleischman, Managing Producer

Tracy Fleischman is a producer and communications strategist dedicated to creating and distributing independent media and progressive messages. A native of Los Angeles, Tracy holds a Bachelors degree in History from the University of California, Berkeley and a Masters degree in American Studies from the University of Texas, Austin. She worked as Communications Director for Brave New Films, where she led communications and public relations efforts, as well as action campaigns with partner organizations such as MoveOn.org, ColorOfChange.org and The Sierra Club. As a freelance producer and communications consultant Tracy has created media and strategy for several non-profits and political organizations including The Courage Campaign, California Democratic Party and California Teachers Association. Most recently, Tracy has been working as a producer for Balcony Films, where she continues to collaborate on cause media.

Yoruba Richen, Content Producer

Yoruba has been working as a journalist and a documentary filmmaker in New York City for the past 10 years. Her work focuses on illuminating issues of race, space and power. Most recently, she was a Fulbright scholar in Salvador, Brazil where she began production of Sisters of the Good Death – a documentary uncovering the origins of the oldest African women’s association in the Americas. Before coming to Brazil, Yoruba was a producer for the independent television and radio program Democracy Now with Amy Goodman. In 2004, she won an International Reporting Project fellowship and traveled to South Africa to produce and direct Promised Land- a documentary about race, reconciliation and land reform in post-apartheid South Africa. From 2001-2004, Yoruba was an associate producer for Brian Ross, the Chief Investigative Correspondent at ABC News. She was also an associate producer for a number of films including the BET series Biographies in Black and the feature film Brother to Brother. Yoruba was the co-producer of Take it From Me, a documentary exploring the effects of welfare reform on New York City women. The film was broadcast on the PBS series P.O.V in 2001. She received a B.A. from Brown University and Masters in City Planning from University of California, Berkeley.