Podcast

On this episode, Nancy speaks with Alex Kramer of Knock for Democracy. Alex is an actor and writer who discovered he had a talent for political organizing after the 2016 election. What started in a living room with a few dozen friends had grown by 2020 to more than 5,000 volunteers who had knocked on countless doors and dialed literally millions of numbers all in the name of, yes, democracy. Alex and Nancy talk about how making the volunteer experience fun keeps people coming back for more; the power of community experience that feels joyous, connected and personal; and bringing…

Welcome to Season 3 of the New Faces of Democracy podcast! If politics and a polarizing pandemic has got you down, Season 3 of the podcast will help you by making your activism energizing and fulfilling, not angry and exhausting. We will introduce you to people engaged in vitally important work to make our country and planet a better place and give you ideas of ways to get involved. These conversations will help you find a path to sustainable, restorative activism that, like a great yoga class, takes a little work but feels really good. Please join Nancy for Season…

This episode features Professors Melody Barnes and Laurent Dubois, co-directors of the Democracy Initiative at the University of Virginia. This interdisciplinary initiative brings together a diverse range of scholars, government leaders, practitioners and students to study the urgent challenges facing democracy today and to advance its prospects for the future. Nancy, Melody and Laurent discuss the threats to democracy from both Melody’s public policy and government background and Laurent’s historical perspective; the inherent conflict within democracies between disempowered groups voting for change and entrenched interests that seek to restrict access to the ballot; and while we have a lot of…

This episode features a conversation with Manny Yekutiel, founder of San Francisco phenomenon Manny’s, a civic gathering space that brings people together for coffee, bagels and discourse. In this comfortable and friendly space, people gather for debates, to hear candidates like Kamala Harris and Cory Booker, and for something increasingly rare in our country today: dialogue. Nancy and Manny talk about how people are craving in-person experiences in an increasingly digital world; how to heal our political discord; and how to make politics fun, accessible and exciting.   https://www.welcometomannys.com

This episode features a conversation with Eliza Nemser, an earth scientist who is worried about the earth. So worried, in fact, that she pivoted from science to politics to found Climate Changemakers, a group of concerned citizens who take meaningful action to elect climate candidates and advance climate policies. Eliza and Nancy talk about how we can’t science our way out of climate change, it’s a political issue; why her group is defiantly non-partisan; and what we can achieve when we carve out just one hour a week for productive, collective climate action.  To learn more, visit www.climatechangemakers.org.

This episode features Alyse Nelson, President and CEO of Vital Voices, and renowned artist Gayle Kabaker, talking about their artistic collaboration in the name of women’s empowerment around the world. Self-described as "two crazy women with bold ideas," this dynamic duo came together to create a book and exhibition entitled “Vital Voices: 100 Women Using Their Power to Empower.”  The project includes portraits of 100 global women leaders redefining power and celebrates Vital Voices’ mission to support women’s leadership to solve the world’s greatest challenges. Alyse, Gayle and Nancy talk about how women lead differently and how that leadership style…

This episode features a conversation with Elizabeth Fernandez of Movement Voter Project. Movement Voter Project is based on the ingenious concept of empowering local grassroots groups that work in and are trusted by their communities every day to bring home important wins for Democrats during elections. MVP provides local groups around the country with support and training and frees them up from time-consuming fundraising to focus on their important work helping and advocating for their neighbors. And when elections roll around, these organizers are perfectly positioned to get out the Democratic vote in ways that no outsider could replicate. MVP…

This episode features a conversation with Katie Michel, owner of Planthouse Gallery in New York City and a member of Victory Garden Collective, a group of women artists using their craft to exercise their patriotic duty. While the group started in 2016 to support Hillary Clinton in anticipation of her victory, it morphed into an act of political resistance under Trump, and their work is now found in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum and Yale's Beinecke Library, among others. Just as victory gardens in WWII provided sustenance and nurturing, so has the Victory Garden Collective in providing sustenance to…

This episode features a conversation with Lisa Guide, co-founder of the Women Effect Action Fund, a group dedicated to achieving economic equality for women in our country. Lisa and her colleagues have spent the last four years focused on turning out the caregiver vote, and thanks to them, women came out in force to vote in this past election, motivated by care economy issues. These are working moms, who have silently struggled for decades to fulfill their historical caregiver roles while also holding down jobs, often as the primary wage earners in their homes. Lisa and Nancy talk about why…

This episode features a conversation with Aditi Juneja of Protect Democracy, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting efforts to undermine our right to free, fair, and fully informed self-government. In other words, while you spent the last four years calling your senator and phone banking, the superheroes at Protect Democracy have been doing nothing less than preventing our country from sliding into authoritarianism. Nancy and Aditi talk about the work the group did to protect the guardrails of democracy, what accountability should look like, and what changes we need in our government going forward to win back the faith…