Episodes
AI for Equality: Orly Lobel
Orly Lobel is the Warren Distinguished Professor of Law and the Director of the Center for Employment and Labor Law. Her latest book is The Equality Machine: Harnessing Digital Technology for a Brighter, More Inclusive Future. We discuss reframing our public discourse around technology in order to proactively use it as a tool for equality.
How the NRA Radicalized America: Ryan Busse
Ryan Busse is a former firearms executive, Senior Policy Advisor to Giffords, and author of Gunfight: My Battle Against the Industry That Radicalized America. We discuss how guns are intricately interwoven through our democratic division and radicalization in our everyday lives and in our politics.
Gen Z for Change: Aidan Kohn-Murphy & Jack Petocz
Aidan Kohn-Murphy is the founder and Executive Director of the organization Gen Z for Change, a youth-led nonprofit working to educate and create change on issues that affect young people. Jack Petocz is a political strategist who also mounted a campaign to recall his local school board in Florida to fight back against anti-LGBTQ board members.
Stop Banning Books: Jonathan Friedman
Jonathan Friedman is the director of free expression and education programs at PEN America. He oversees research, advocacy, and education related to academic freedom, educational gag orders, book bans, and general free expression in schools, colleges, and universities. We discuss the driving forces behind campaigns to ban books and silence teachers.
Fascism Is All Around Us: Jason Stanley
Jason Stanley is the Jacob Urowsky Professor of Philosophy at Yale and the author of 5 books, including How Propaganda Works and most recently How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them. We discuss the logic of fascism and why we need to use it as a concept to make sense of our times.
Fight for Democracy: Steve Pierson
Steve Pierson is the host of the How We Win podcast. He’s an activist, community organizer, and trainer, who started as a “class of 2016” volunteer. He’s currently an elected California Democratic Party Delegate and chairs their Organizing Committee. We discuss the nitty gritty of Get Out the Vote, phone banking, and a whole host of other boots on the ground politics as we head toward the midterms.
The Power of Crisis: Ian Bremmer
Ian Bremmer is a political scientist and he’s the founder and president of the research and consulting firm Eurasia Group. We discuss his latest book, The Power of Crisis: How Three Threats -- and Our Response -- Will Change the World. He argues that the major challenges humanity is facing are spurring us to create a new world order that works against these common threats.
Democratic Thinking and Acting: Christopher Beem
Christopher Beem is Managing Director of the McCourtney Institute for Democracy, co-host of the Democracy Works podcast, and the author of The Seven Democratic Virtues: What You Can Do to Overcome Tribalism and Save Our Democracy. We discuss vices and virtues in the context of democratic thinking, democratic acting, and democratic belief.
The Taxpayers’ Watchdog: Rob Sand
Rob Sand is Iowa’s State Auditor, which is the taxpayers’ watchdog in the state. He’s the first Democrat to beat an incumbent Republican in Iowa in 50 years. We discuss putting public service above politics, delivering good governance, and how to get stuff done even when you are part of a political minority.
Economic Crimes of the Powerful: Jennifer Taub
Jennifer Taub is a lawyer, advocate, and author of Big Dirty Money: The Shocking Injustice and Unseen Cost of White Collar Crime. We revisit our discussion on who gets a pass for committing such crimes, what the actual consequences are to our society, and how to hold the perpetrators accountable.
Break Up Monopolies: Zephyr Teachout
Zephyr Teachout is Senior Counsel for Economic Justice for the New York Attorney General and law professor at Fordham University. We revisit our conversation with her about her book, Break 'Em Up: Recovering Our Freedom from Big Ag, Big Tech, and Big Money. We discuss how monopolies are deeply anti-democratic, how we can break them up by enforcing existing anti-trust laws, and protect our democracy.
Climate Leadership with Vision: Elizabeth Yeampierre
Elizabeth Yeampierre is an internationally recognized Puerto Rican attorney and environmental and climate justice leader of African and Indigenous ancestry, a national leader in the climate justice movement, and the co-chair of the Climate Justice Alliance. She is also the Executive Director of Uprose, Brooklyn’s oldest Latino community-based organization.
Making Government Work: Amanda Renteria
Amanda Renteria the CEO of Code for America, an organization of people-centered problem solvers working to improve government in a meaningful way. We discuss making government work better for everyday people by design.
Universal Civic Duty Voting: E.J. Dionne & Miles Rapoport
Miles Rapoport and E.J. Dionne are the co-authors of 100% Democracy: The Case for Universal Voting. In a time when the erosion of democracy is real and undisputed, they argue that every adult American citizen should be made to vote. We discuss the big idea at the core of America: democracy!
City Life and Remote Work: Matthew E. Kahn
Matthew E. Kahn is Provost Professor at the University of Southern California and the author of six previous books about environmental and urban economics issues. His latest book is Going Remote: How the Flexible Work Economy Can Improve Our Lives and Our Cities. We discuss the future of our cities and the future of work--whether that's remote or in person.
The Suburban Women Problem: Rachel Vindman
Rachel Vindman is the host of the Suburban Women Problem podcast and wife of retired Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman. We discuss the disenchantment of suburban women with our politics–who historically vote in very high numbers, our personal responsibility to use our voices for change, and the war in Ukraine.
End Gerrymandering with Ballot Initiatives: Katie Fahey
Katie Fahey is the Executive Director of The People, an organization working to find common ground and take action to create a more responsive government of, by, and for the people. In 2016, Katie founded Voters Not Politicians, an organization that successfully organized and passed a ballot initiative to end gerrymandering in Michigan in 2018. We discuss the appetite for non-partisan civic engagement and more accountability from elected representatives.
The Asian-American Vote: Sung Yeon Choimorrow
Sung Yeon Choimorrow is the executive director of the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, whose mission is to elevate AAPI women and girls to impact policy and drive systemic change in the United States. We discuss age-old and hardened stereotypes, changing the narrative about who Asian-Americans are, and activating Asian communities to take civic action.
Getting Dark Money Out of Politics: Jeff Clements
Jeff Clements serves as President of American Promise, an organization that is focused on repairing the constitutional foundation to renew freedom for all Americans, to support effective and honest government and an equal shot at the American dream. He is the author of Corporations Are Not People: Reclaiming Democracy from Big Money and Global Corporations. We discuss ratifying a constitutional amendment that would rid American politics of dark money.
Climate Action Within Reach: Amy Westervelt
Amy Westervelt is a climate journalist and the founder and executive producer of the Critical Frequency Podcast Network. She hosts the Drilled and Hot Take podcasts. We discuss the long tentacles of the fossil fuel industry, the key takeaways from this year's IPCC report, and how a small group of people have locked us into climate crisis.