News and Happenings

Gloria explores the child care labor crisis with Dr. Lea Austin, Executive Director of the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment at the University of California, Berkeley. They get into why so many early educators are leaving their jobs, where they’re going to get better wages and benefits, and what we can do to improve pay disparities and racial inequities within the field. Plus, Lea reveals why she’s more hopeful today than she has been in her entire career studying early education.

Gloria explores how the child care crisis is impacting the people living it every day by talking to a parent and teacher at Ellis Early Learning in Boston. In the second part of our 2-part premiere, she calls up some familiar faces from last season – Shane Dunn and Kiya Savannah. Shane, a parent at Ellis, tells Gloria about how his family has balanced child care and full-time work over the past year, and why he feels like the world is moving on without families with children under 5. Then, Kiya, a teacher and a parent at Ellis, tells Gloria about her life-changing promotion, how she manages raising her own daughter while taking care of so many other people’s kids, and why she’s still thinking about leaving the industry.

Gloria is back and ready to tackle America’s child care crisis head-on. To kick off season 2, she calls up Lauren Cook, CEO of Ellis Early Learning in Boston. We met Lauren back in season 1, where she walked us through the nitty gritty of how much it costs to operate a child care center. This time around, Lauren tears up as she talks about how nationwide labor shortages are reverberating through the child care system, what she has to do to keep the lights on at Ellis, and how the ongoing pandemic has made a bad situation continue to get worse.

Gloria chats with Elizabeth Warren about how we transform our country’s broken childcare system into one that’s accessible for all. “This is the moment to raise your voice. We have this opportunity to do it, but it’s going to take all of us to push until it gets done.” Then, we meet a ragtag group of activists in Portland, Oregon fighting for a free, high-quality, universal preschool program in their community. And “Call It Like It Is” correspondent Kristen Bell joins once more to talk to you – yes you – about how to get involved in the childcare revolution. With Senator Elizabeth Warren, Teresa Ramos from Illinois Action for Children, and parents, educators, and activists from Portland’s Universal Preschool NOW! and Preschool for All movements.

Gloria explores the many places where childcare is working for parents – from Berlin, Germany, to Quebec, Canada, and even Patagonia HQ in Ventura, California. “Women are able to go back to work, families can actually afford good childcare, and the system more than pays for itself? Am I on another planet?” Kristen Bell joins Gloria (from outer space) to clue her in on America’s very own top-secret, high-quality, federally-funded childcare system. Plus, Lauren Kennedy and Sarah Muncey from Neighborhood Villages return to tell us how we can make this childcare dream a reality for all. With Caitlin and Charles Vestal, Pierre Fortin, Linda Smith, Ssgt. Alba Ruiz, and Patagonia’s Jenna Johnson.

Gloria investigates where everything went wrong for childcare in America, and Kristen Bell joins to give Nixon a piece of her mind. “That’s the sound of progress dying in the crucible of American politics.” Gloria digs into the shame, guilt, and divisions baked into our earliest day nurseries, and reveals how old-fashioned gender norms and blatant racism killed promising federally-funded, early childcare programs. With Dorothy E. Roberts, Sonya Michel, Alma Gottlieb, Ruth Hoffman, O’Niel Dillon, and Charlotte Riviera (yes – Gloria’s mom).

Gloria breaks down how we’re all breaking down: parents, teachers, and providers. And Kristen Bell joins to “call it like it is” on the cost of childcare. Parents are languishing on waitlists or drowning in tuition bills. Teachers are underpaid. And providers can barely afford to keep the lights on.

A new limited series hosted by Gloria Riviera and featuring Kristen Bell about America's broken childcare system and how we fix it. Premieres May 20th.