Podcast

This episode features a conversation with Jeff Clements, cofounder and CEO of American Promise. American Promise is a nonprofit dedicated to undoing the damage wrought by the Supreme Court in Citizens United and returning the power to regulate money in politics back to We The People. The way to do this is by a 28th amendment to the Constitution. There is no easy fix to our troubled times, but there is also no question that unlimited amounts of money in campaigns and elections has a distorting and corrosive effect that is destabilizing our democracy. Billionaires, foreign entities, corporations, dark money…

This episode features Heather Cronk, founder of Project 21:12, a group that helps ex-evangelical Christians, or exvangelicals as they are known, find community with others like them, and take action to diminish the power of rising Christian Nationalism, fueled in part by evangelical leaders. Heather and Nancy speak about the power of community within the church and the importance of creating a new community for people leaving it; Evangelicals’ transactional alliances with unlikely partners to pursue their end goals; and how secular progressives are reading the room wrong when it comes to strategically pushing back on the church’s agenda. You…

On this episode, Nancy is joined by guest co-host Betsy Morgan to speak with award-winning documentary filmmakers Kim Snyder and Maria Cuomo Cole about their recent documentary The Librarians. The film is a moving portrayal of the school librarians on the front line in the battle against book bans and censorship. In the film, Kim and Maria deftly explore how the rightwing political movement that started with parental rights evolved into an attack on librarians, traditionally viewed as valued and apolitical members of our society. Their conversation touches on the dark forces behind the book bans, the bravery and conviction…

On this episode, Nancy is speaking with former governor, former presidential candidate and former Democratic National Committee chair, Howard Dean. When Governor Dean served as the DNC chair, he implemented what he called the “fifty state strategy,” a radical idea at the time that supported Democrats in every state in the country, be it red, blue or purple. The strategy was abandoned in 2009 once Obama won the White House, leaving red state Democrats with virtually no support from the party ever since, effectively surrendering those states to Republicans. Governor Dean and Nancy discuss the positive impact of the strategy two…

On this episode, Nancy is joined once again by guest co-host Betsy Morgan for a conversation with Robert Hubbell of Today’s Edition newsletter, the ultimate resource for grassroots Democrats who can’t face the news. In Today’s Edition, Robert provides a digest of the day’s news, couched in hopeful realism. In other words, Robert spends his days immersed in the media landscape so you don’t have to. And on this episode he is giving us a much needed pep talk. Robert, Betsy and Nancy talk about how to keep on keeping on during dark times, the importance of perspective, how to…

If you’re a regular listener of New Faces of Democracy, you’re probably no stranger to the postcard writing groups that have blossomed since the 2016 election. In fact, you may have written some of them yourself. But Nancy’s guest on this episode, Erin Miller, has come up with a different take on the postcard concept with her new group, Cartoons for Democracy. Instead of writing to Democrats to get out the vote as existing groups do, she is targeting Republican and independent voters with postcards featuring political cartoons in an effort to break through corporate media bubbles and get people…

On this episode, Nancy is joined once again with guest co-host Betsy Morgan for a conversation with Brian Derrick of the online Democratic fundraising platform, Oath.Vote. Brian last came on the podcast in July 2024 when many of us were still nervously hopeful that a Democrat might win the election. Now a year later, but feeling like worlds apart from the American democracy as it existed back then, Nancy and Betsy talk to Brian about Oath’s impact in 2024, their big goals for Virginia this fall and bigger goals for the midterms, the difference between witnessing and action, and so…

Nancy is joined by guest host Betsy Morgan on this episode featuring superstar activist Jess Piper speaking about how Democrats can win with rural voters. Jess has become a prominent voice for rural Democrats and in her work at Blue Missouri, she and her colleagues are working to run a Democrat in every race in the state. Jess, Betsy and Nancy talk about the desperate state of affairs in rural Missouri where infrastructure has been gutted by the Republican state supermajority; what Democrats get wrong when it comes to rural voters; and how a relatively small increase in Democratic turnout…

This episode features Jackie Payne of Galvanize Action, an organization that focuses on moderate women living in rural, small town and suburban areas. These women want progress on key issues but aren’t reliably playing a role to get us there. Galvanize Action helps them connect with their values in a way that impacts their civic behavior. Nancy and Jackie talk about the neuroscience and behavioral psychology underlying the work at Galvanize Action; the nuanced concerns of this group of women that constitute the largest voting bloc in the country; and the challenges posed by misinformation and disinformation. To learn more…

This episode features a conversation with Sarah Curmi, Executive Director of Sister District. Founded in the aftermath of the 2016 election, Sister District is a women-led grassroots political group that is dedicated to building lasting Democratic power in state legislatures. The group is powered by volunteers in blue districts that pair or “sister” up with key swing districts where their efforts can really move the needle. Unlike some other groups that have petered out over the years, the folks at Sister District have taken their mandate and run with it, expanding their operations to much more than just elections. Sarah…