Laura Flanders
Quick Facts
SagittariusBiography
Laura Flanders (born 5 December 1961) is an English broadcast journalist living in the United States, who presents the weekly, long-form interview show The Laura Flanders Show. Flanders has described herself as a "lefty person." The brothers Alexander, Andrew and Patrick Cockburn—all journalists—are her half uncles. Author Lydia Davis is her half-aunt. Her sister is Stephanie Flanders, a former BBC journalist. Actress Olivia Wilde is her cousin.
Early life
Flanders is the daughter of the British comic songwriter and broadcaster Michael Flanders and the American-born Claudia Cockburn, first daughter of well-known radical journalist Claud Cockburn and American author Hope Hale Davis. She grew up in the Kensington district of London and moved to the U.S. in 1980 at age 19. She graduated from Barnard College of Columbia University in 1985 with a degree in history and women's studies.
Career
Flanders was founding director of the women's desk at the media watch group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), and for a decade produced and hosted CounterSpin, FAIR's syndicated radio program. In January 1993, she appeared on the ABC "Good Morning America" program as a spokesperson for FAIR to discuss how domestic violence increases during the annual Super Bowl.
Flanders hosted the weekday radio show Your Call on KALW, before starting the Saturday/Sunday evening Laura Flanders Show on Air America Radio in 2004. It became the weekly one-hour Radio Nation in 2007, and a daily TV show on Free Speech TV, "GRITtv with Laura Flanders" in 2008. That show aired for three years on Free Speech TV before moving to KCET/Linktv and teleSUR, as a weekly program.
Flanders is a contributing writer for The Nation, and Yes Magazine and has also contributed to In These Times, The Progressive and Ms. Magazine.
Flanders has published several books: Blue Grit: True Democrats Take Back Politics from the Politicians (Penguin Press 2007); Bushwomen: Tales of a Cynical Species (Verso, 2004), a study of the women in George W. Bush's cabinet; and a collection of essays, Real Majority, Media Minority: The Cost of Sidelining Women in Reporting (1997). She edited "At The Tea Party...." (O/R Books 2010) and The W Effect: Sexual Politics in the Age of Bush (2004) and contributed to The Contenders, (Seven Stories, 2008) among others.
Flanders currently airs The Laura Flanders Show multiple times a week on Free Speech TV..
GRITtv
GRITtv is a weekly, 25-minute interview-style show featuring one in-depth interview with authors and thought leaders, including investigative reports, and a commentary by Flanders called "The F Word".
Personal life
Flanders is a lesbian; in 2011 The New York Times stated her partner of 20 years was the choreographer Elizabeth Streb.