Rooted Cash Podcast: Recent Episodes
Be Loud Studios
In 2021, a small group of seniors at the Rooted School in New Orleans were given a set amount of 50 dollars every single week for a whole year. No tax, no strings attached, just cold hard cash.
In partnership with Rooted, 4.0 Schools was investigating the potential impact of earned income and the positives that come from giving young people the money needed to live, work, create, and learn.
Two participating seniors became fascinated with this pilot- so fascinated that they decided to make a podcast about it. In the Rooted Cash Podcast, Dj Villain and DJ Bio will interview organizers and leaders on the earned income movement and reflect on how this pilot shaped their last year of high school.
To better understand how the $50 study is impacting the Rooted community in Indianapolis, we interviewed Nyarian. Nyarian is an aspiring pediatricians that loves to work with kids. She shared with how the money helped support her family and pay for her long list of extracurriculars and sports.
For the next few episodes, we will interview students from Indianapolis Rooted. This episode, we talked to Caleb, a senior from Rooted Indy and an aspiring film maker. Although initially skeptical of the study, he shares how the money has changed his impacted his life and relationship to money.
If you want to follow us on social media, follow us @the50dollarstudy on Instagram. There, we will be sharing pictures, videos, and reflections on this study from the ROOTED Community.
We talked with La'Nyah, an impressive junior from Rooted Indianapolis. La'Nyah is a creative entrepreneur starting her own photography business while also juggling a ton of different hobbies and hustles. We talked about how this study has given her he opportunity to launch her business and support her siblings at home.
For the next few episodes, we will interview students from Indianapolis Rooted. First up, we talked with Dwayne, an impressive junior from Indianapolis or what he called, “the land of cold and corn”. He is an aspiring track runner, future software developer, and just an overall amazing young person. We talked about how this study has given him everything from more money to hang out with friends to a different outlook on financial discipline.
Back in December, we sat down with Rooted students on the first day of the “$50 Study”. They had JUST learned that they were chosen to participate and were still wrapping their head around this research, its mission, and why it exists. For this episode, we wanted to share with you their individual goals for the year ahead and their bigger dreams around “financial freedom”.
Lastly, Rooted started this study with the fundamental belief young adults can be trusted with money AND that access to cash at this earlier age might disrupt income inequality. We believe that money is a necessary tool that many students simply don’t have and we wanted to ask Rooted students why youth should be trusted with money. Listen to students explain how this study could impact their lives in big and small ways
Follow us on social media, follow us @the50dollarstudy on Instagram. There, we will be sharing pictures, videos, and reflections on this study from the Rooted Community.
AND we are back!
Rooted Schools is conducting the “$50 Study”- providing 83 Rooted students with $50 a week unconditionally, no strings attached for 40 weeks. Why? The goal see what happens when youth are given unconditional cash transfers. How will this money improve their academic performance? Social-emotional wellbeing? Professional prospects? There will be a team of scientists from University of Pennsylvania measuring their academic performance as well as conducting interviews that will explore the impact on students’ lives including: mental, physical and financial health, family relationships, personal fulfillment.
And the Rooted Cash Podcast will follow along- to record, capture, and amplify the voices and experiences behind the data points. We know that each student has an important story that reflects not only the need that drives this groundbreak study, but the potential that lies ahead.
Follow us all season as we interview students about their experience and ask them to reflect on their financial goals.
And if you want to follow us on social media, follow us @the50dollarstudy on Instagram. There we will be sharing pictures, videos, and reflections on this study from the Rooted Community.
We “sat down” over Zoom with Dr. Amy Baker and Dr. Stacia West- the founders of The Center for Guaranteed Income Research at the University of Pennsylvania. They explained the current movement behind basic income policies and how a similar study conducted in Stockton, CA influenced the design of the cash transfer pilot at Rooted.
Grateful to Denzell Caldwell of the Nashville Economic Justice Alliance (or NEJA) for making the time to share his experience organizing and advocating for fair income in Tennessee. In this interview, we talk about the many different challenges in this work and the potential impact it could have on local community.
An amazing conversation with 4.0 CEO Hassan Hassan about his own personal journey and how that drives his leadership behind the cash transfer pilot. We also talked about the legend of 2pac, what it means to be financially literate, and our own dreams for the future.
We close our interviews with Jonathan Johnson- founder and CEO of Rooted School. We look back on the early days of Rooted, our upcoming graduation, and what the cash transfer pilot means for the future of our community.
DJ Villian breaks down what the term "Universal Basic Income" means and the potential impact that similar policies would have for the New Orleans community and beyond.
For their very first interviews, DJ Villian And DJ Bio interview Kaitlin Karpinski- the founding principle of The Rooted School in New Orleans. Their conversation covers everything from the main motivation behind the school's design to the real need for the Cash Transfer Pilot. Big shout out to "Karp" for her time to connect and reflect with us.
Welcome to Rooted Cash Podcast. What is it? Why are we doing this? Listen to Rooted senior Vernell Cheneau break down their vision and purpose behind this podcast.