Reset Critical

In this episode of Reset Critical, Niaz sits down with scholar and filmmaker Rudy Mondragón to explore boxing as far more than sport. They discuss how boxing has long been a site of political struggle, self-expression, and resistance — especially for people from marginalized communities. Rudy explains how ring entrances can function as powerful acts of identity, solidarity, and advocacy, from Indigenous representation to statements on Palestine and immigration. The conversation also traces the racial history of boxing, including Jack Johnson, the “Great White Hope,” and the ways whiteness still shapes the sport today. Beyond symbolism, they examine the brutal economics of boxing and why so many fighters are treated as exploited laborers with few protections. Rudy breaks down how matchmaking, pay structures, and the independent contractor model keep most boxers underpaid and vulnerable, even while the sport generates major profit. At the same time, he makes the case that boxing is also a deeply human community, full of stories of dignity, agency, and survival. This is a rich conversation about sports, race, labor, power, and why athletes should never be told to “shut up and dribble”.

In this episode of Reset Critical, Niaz sits down with Marcie Gilbert and Marcos L. Vann of Calibrate, a Los Angeles nonprofit that helps young people and communities heal through a powerful practice called Connections. They explain how creating safe, structured spaces for people to speak from the heart and listen without interruption can build resilience, strengthen communication, and foster genuine human connection across differences. The conversation explores trauma, shared humanity, emotional safety, and why so many people live in a constant state of vigilance, with far too few spaces where they can truly exhale. Marcie and Vann also reflect on the long-term impact of this work, from students who carry these skills into adulthood, college, marriage, and leadership, to communities learning to move beyond tribalism and toward deeper empathy. They discuss the challenges of doing healing work amid political attacks on mental health, equity, and community support, and explain why demand for this work continues to grow. Along the way, Niaz shares her own experience participating in a Connections circle and why it felt so unexpectedly powerful. This is a moving conversation about healing, listening, community, and what it means to become human again in a world that often pulls us apart.

What if love isn’t just something we feel—but the truth of who we are?
In this episode, Cynthia Marks explores the idea that beneath trauma, conditioning, and societal pressure, every human being is rooted in love. Through deeply personal stories and powerful reflections, she challenges the systems and beliefs that disconnect us from that truth.
From the role of women in shaping future generations to the consequences of emotional suppression, this conversation connects inner healing with the future of society itself. Cynthia shares insights on trauma, identity, relationships, and the unseen patterns that keep us repeating cycles—personally and collectively.
This episode is an invitation to look inward, reclaim what has been buried, and recognize that healing the individual is the foundation for healing the world.

A letter published in The Guardian in late August sparked a firestorm and forced an uncomfortable question on people on every side of the Iran debate. Niaz breaks down the controversy, then turns her sharpest critique on her own side: the progressive left. Is it possible to oppose an illegal war on Iran and refuse to stay silent about the Iranian regime's brutality toward its own people? Niaz argues yes and pushes back just as hard against the right's blanket condemnations. The real question isn't which team an argument comes from. It's whether it's true.

A viral photo. A war that's killed a head of state. A regime that has oppressed its own people for almost five decades. Niaz refuses to pick a side and argues that this refusal is the point. This episode breaks down what's really happened in the war on Iran this year, argues that opposing the war and condemning the regime aren't contradictory positions, and explains why she believes both the U.S./Israel and Iran's government have blood on their hands. Drawing on her own childhood in Iran and years of human rights work, she makes the case for centering the Iranian people themselves, not either side's political narrative.

Everyone's asking if the election will be "stolen." Niaz argues that's the wrong question; the real story is legal, structural, and has been building for years: gerrymandering and mail-ballot restrictions rigging outcomes before a single vote is cast. In minutes, Niaz breaks down what's actually happening on both fronts, including a Supreme Court fight over mail-in voting, and gives you concrete steps to actually protect your vote.Recorded 8/26/2026.

A 34-year-old democratic socialist became the mayor of America's biggest city. So what actually is democratic socialism, and why does the word alone scare so many people? Niaz breaks down capitalism, socialism, and communism in plain terms, explains what democratic socialists actually want (spoiler: it's not the Soviet Union), and traces the fear itself back to Cold War propaganda and the McCarthy era. Plus: the socialist-style tools America has already used, quietly, whenever it helped the right people.

This summer, the State Department published a report accusing Cuba of cultivating "left-wing terrorism" in the U.S. and naming people our host, Niaz Kasravi, knows personally, including colleagues who've spent decades on criminal justice reform and racial equity work. In this episode, she breaks down exactly what the report claims, explains why reframing advocacy as terrorism should alarm you regardless of your politics, and walks through the actual legal definition of terrorism, measured against data showing that the overwhelming majority of domestic terrorism deaths since 2001 have come from the right, not the left. This isn't about scoring points for one side. It's about who gets to decide what counts as a threat and what happens once that power is built.