Podcast

This week features a guest episode from Democracy Works, a podcast dedicated to answering the question “What Does it Mean to Live in a Democracy?". Each week, the podcast examines a different aspect of democratic life, like voting, criminal justice or the free press. Produced by The McCourtney Institute for Democracy at Penn State, Democracy Works showcases some of the finest academic minds studying these issues today. Like New Faces of Democracy, Democracy Works is focused on the role each of us can play in building and sustaining a healthy democracy. This episode features a fascinating discussion with Robert Lieberman, professor…

This episode features a conversation with Marcia Greenberger, a true pioneer of women’s rights law through her work at the National Women’s Law Center in Washington DC. Marcia and Nancy speak about the early days of women’s rights law, the legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsberg and the path ahead for advancing women’s equality under the law. In the wake of Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s death, Marcia tells us what tools we still have at our disposal to keep up the fight and gives us hope for the future. 

This week’s episode goes local with Gordon Herr, Chairman of the Democratic Committee in Southampton NY, and member of the Board of Elections in Suffolk County, Long Island. Gordon demystifies the voting process for us and will put your mind at ease about voting during a pandemic in this most crucial of elections by telling us everything we need to know about absentee ballots, early voting and more. New Yorkers, this one’s for you, but there’s plenty for others too as Gordon and Nancy talk about standardizing the voting process at the federal level, why to get involved in your…

This episode features a conversation with Jessica Alter and Krisserin Canary of Tech for Campaigns. After Trump’s Muslim ban in 2017, tech entrepreneur Jessica Alter couldn’t take it anymore and asked a few of her fellow tech workers if they were interested in volunteering their skills to help Democratic campaigns, and Tech for Campaigns was born. Tech for campaigns is now the permanent tech and digital arm for Democrats, offering access to best-in-class talent with their 15,000 volunteers focusing on state races. Jessica and Krisserin, a state director in charge of flipping the Texas State House, talk to Nancy about…

This episode features a conversation with Ravi Gupta, an Obama alum, podcast host and founder of Arena, an organization that trains and supports the next generation of Democratic candidates and campaign staff. After working on Obama’s campaign and then administration, Ravi stepped away to start a network of schools in the south but jumped back into political action immediately after the 2016 election. At Arena, Ravi uses his political expertise to identify and support transformative new candidates outside of the traditional political establishment who reflect the diversity of our society. Then he does everything possible to help them win at…

On this week’s episode, Nancy speaks with Katie Paris, founder of of Red Wine & Blue. Red Wine &Blue is an Ohio-based group that’s harnessing the political power of suburban women to save democracy while having a good time. Politics, fun and festive cocktails usually don’t go together but Red Wine & Blue is lightening up the conversation for women who don’t consider themselves political but also don’t want Trump to define them, thank you very much. Katie and Nancy talk about how the path to victory runs through suburbia, the power of personal networks and the joy we find…

This episode features a conversation with Max Rose, founder of Sheriffs for Trusting Communities. Imagine a law enforcement officer with vast power and authority, little accountability and no meaningful term limits. That’s called a sheriff. It’s an elected position but  many of us do not look far enough down the ballot or know enough to cast a vote. Nationwide, sheriffs make 2 million arrests every year, they control our jails and they have immense power in the civil arena as well when it comes to things like evictions, gun permits and civil asset forfeitures. Max and Nancy talk about the…

On this episode, Nancy speaks with Desiree Tims, a young congressional candidate in Ohio’s 10th district. There are a lot of firsts when it comes to Desiree. This is her first time running for office, she is the first member of her family to graduate from a four year college, and if elected, she would be the first African American AND the first woman to represent this district. The southwest corner of Ohio in many ways presents a microcosm of the issues plaguing our country -- with skilled but unemployed or underemployed former steel workers, a crumbling infrastructure and residents…

This episode features Part 2 of the Flipping Florida Series with Dr. Fergie Reid Jr. Dr. Reid talks about his strategy for flipping the state and its 29 electoral college votes blue, based on the work spearheaded by him and his father in Virginia, helping to flip that state in 2019. He explains the simple and intuitive concept to register more voters and run candidates in every race, and why this strategy has been historically underutilized by Democrats. We talk about how Florida is ripe for the picking, with its many races in red districts uncontested by Democrats, and how…