Another Way, by Lawrence Lessig

On this week's episode, Jason Harrow and Adam Eichen of Equal Citizens talk with election law expert Rick Hasen about the impact of COVID-19 on our democracy. Rick is a professor at UC Irvine and the author of the Election Law Blog and the new and eerily-prescient book Election Meltdown. Rick discusses the importance of expanding voting from home and absentee balloting, whether elections can be &q...

In today's episode, Jason Harrow talks with Kathleen Unger, the founder of VoteRiders, about voter ID laws and how her organization is helping more than 1 million people get identification so that they can vote. They discuss the prevalence of voter ID laws, how difficult and expensive it often is to get id, and how the coronavirus crisis is making things even worse. Please consider supporting this...

On this episode, Adam Eichen is joined by Phil Keisling, Chair of the National Vote at Home Institute (www.voteathome.org). The two discuss the spread of Vote at Home—a reform that requires states to mail every voter their ballot before the election—and why this may well be the next frontier of voting reform. Please consider supporting this podcast on Patreon. https://www.patreon.com/EqualCitizens...

With Super Tuesday only days away, we bring you an encore of our conversation about the state of our democracy with Bernie Sanders, the current polling leader for the Democratic nomination. The conversation took place in December in New Hampshire with hosts Larry Lessig and Zephyr Teachout. In it, Bernie promised to make democracy reform a number one priority. Note: this podcast does not constitut...

This week, Jason Harrow and Adam Eichen of Equal Citizens recap the Democratic presidential primary. How important has democracy reform for voters? For the media? Adam then tells stories from the ground in New Hampshire. They conclude by discussing ideas to make the 2024 primaries more small-d democratic. Feedback welcome to info@equalcitizens.us. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Equ...

Adam Eichen is joined by Andrew Perez, a writer and researcher who spent five years as a money-in-politics investigative reporter. Andrew reveals how he uncovered his biggest stories, why money can be so hard to track, and why we need more journalists—now more than ever. Please note: This episode was recorded prior to the Iowa caucuses and does not include information from the most recent FEC fili...

In this special episode, Larry Lessig speaks with Ezra Klein, the Vox media founder and host of the Ezra Klein Show, at a live event in Boston. They discuss Ezra's new book "Why We're Polarized" and discuss why it's really the system and the parties—and not the particular policy disagreements between politicians or the public—that have made our democracy so dysfunctional. The event was h...

In this episode, Adam Eichen is joined by Beth Huang, executive director of Massachusetts Voter Table. The two discuss how the decennial census works, why it is so important, the difficulties involved in enumeration, and what groups are doing to ensure an accurate count. Ultimately, they argue, the census is about power and which voices are heard in our democracy. Support us on Patreon: https://ww...

Equal Citizens founder Larry Lessig speaks with Tiffany Muller, the founder of End Citizens United. The unfortunate occasion is the tenth anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United. Tiffany explains not only the problems that big money has caused but also how we need a comprehensive solution that does more than just overturn Citizens United. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz com...

Larry Lessig speaks with Issue One's Nick Penniman about why Nick left journalism to begin tackling the problem of fixing our democracy. Nick then discusses the difference between putting policies on websites and having politicians prioritize real reform that would de-rig the system and enable real change to happen. And they discuss how to build a coalition across the left, right, and center to at...

As a bonus episode, we bring your our recent conversation with Senator Bernie Sanders on all things democracy reform. Bernie sat down with Equal Citizens' Larry Lessig and reform advocate Zephyr Teachout to discuss gerrymandering, how to fix our broken campaign finance system, how to end corruption, and much more. Note that this episode was released early to Patreon subscribers. To subscribe, chec...

On this episode of the podcast, Adam Eichen is joined by Nick Nyhart, a longtime advocate for public financing of elections. Nick recounts the largely forgotten period of time (1996-2005) when a handful of states adopted public financing measures and the possibilities for reform seemed truly auspicious. The two then deconstruct where things went wrong and why, despite the setbacks, there is reason...

In our last episode of 2019, Jason and Adam hold their "equality of citizenship" awards show to recap the good and bad of democracy reform in 2019. Who or what made things more equal this year? What made it less equal? What are we watching for in 2020? You'll have to listen to find out! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and...

On the first part of a two-part year-end extravaganza, Jason and Adam discuss democracy-related results from the November elections, Equal Citizens' participation in the MOFA awards, and they give a little bit of credit—just a little bit—to the debate moderators from November's debate. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of per...

Comedian Paul Rodriguez and politician Rocky Chavez join Equal Citizens' Jason Harrow for a discussion about why they support a popular vote for President as California Republicans—and why they joined Equal Citizens' lawsuit trying to abolish winner-take-all for just that reason. They also discuss why they are in the minority as Latino Republicans, how the need to raise money makes it hard for pol...

This week, Diet for a Small Planet author Frances Moore Lappé joins Adam Eichen to discuss her reasons for joining the democracy reform movement, her theories on democracy, and why she feels hopeful in the current political moment. Lappé is the author or co-author of 19 books about world hunger, democracy, and the environment, and she is the principal of the Small Planet Institute. Hosted by Simpl...

This week, Adam Eichen talks with political strategist Kyle Bailey about the incredible fight to bring ranked-choice voting (RCV) to Maine. They discuss how to get voters to respond to the bipartisan message that we must improve our democracy, and how to win a fight that incumbent politicians of both parties are resistant to. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for inform...

Larry Lessig speaks to John Pudner of Take Back Our Republic about the bipartisan need for democracy reform. Pudner is a Republican political strategist who talks about how democracy reform is consistent with conservative principles, the need to reduce politicians' reliance on lobbyists, the rise of "SCAMPacs," and more. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for i...

Larry Lessig talks with Democratic presidential candidate John Delaney about his nuanced view of why Congress is so broken and so badly polarized. They talk about money in politics, campaign finance reform, the need of Congresspeople to constantly be raising money, the impact of gerrymandering, and other innovative ideas to improve our democracy. They also discuss the issue of whether—and why—it's...

On a bonus episode, Jason and Adam recap a recent Equal Citizens event where Republican Presidential candidate endorsed major ideas of democracy reform and even pledged to fix democracy first. Jason and Adam discuss what this means for the movement and the 2020 presidential race. You can livestream the whole Weld event on Facebook at Facebook.com/EqualCitizens or on YouTube at https://www.youtube....

This week, Joan Mandle, Executive Director of Democracy Matters, joins Adam Eichen to discuss the role that students play in the Democracy Movement and how to get more of them involved moving forward. If you know a student who would like to be trained as a democracy organizer, visit www.democracymatters.org. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our co...

Jason Harrow is joined this week by Sam Berger to talk about key topics on the democracy reform agenda. Sam is the Vice President of Democracy and Government Reform at Center for American Progress, a leading left-leaning think tank. The two go deep into the weeks of public financing of campaigns, gerrymandering, and HR 1 2.0—that is, the next version of this critical bill. You can now be a Patron...

In a bonus episode, Jason and Adam of Equal Citizens discuss how democracy issues came up in the last Democratic debate, and then they deliver a knowledge drop about Ohio voter rolls. And they announce that you can now become a Patron of Another Way by going to Patreon.com/EqualCitizens. Join now! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection an...

Larry Lessig talks with Montana Governor and presidential candidate Steve Bullock about fighting corruption as a red state governor, including Bullock's problems with Citizens United, his efforts to overturn it or get around it, and his plans to increase disclosure and transparency in political funding. They also discuss Bullock's novel plan to end constant campaigning and give politicians space t...

Larry Lessig begins the episode with a plea to focus on campaign finance reform. Then, Larry talks to U.S. Senator and presidential candidate Michael Bennet on how to create enduring democracy reforms that can unclog what he calls a "paralyzed Congress." Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for adverti...