Democracy & Destiny

In this episode Prof Ciara talks to Lisa Gilbert of Public Citizen about reforms that would help our democracy including those that were in legislation that failed to pass Congress which would have addressed voting rights, dark money, gerrymandering. They talk about improvements in securities law that could help voters post Citizens United v. FEC to know the sources of corporate money in politics....

In this episode Brennan Center fellow @ProfCiara talks to Brennan Center lawyer Marina Pino about money in politics and the solution of public financing for elections in New York City, New York State, Seattle and elsewhere. They discuss the history of Watergate that led to the Presidential Public Financing System, the Supreme Court's upholding public financing in Buckley v. Valeo and Arizona Free...

In this episode ProfCiara talks with CREW's Donald Sherman about seeking legal and constitutional consequences for the January 6th Insurrection at the Capitol using the 14th Amendment's Section 3 aka the Insurrection Clause or Disqualification Clause in Cawthorn v. Circosta, Cawthorn v. Amalfi, White v. Griffin, Griffin v. New Mexico, Anderson v. Griswold and Trump v. Anderson. Discusses updates o...

In this Episode ProfCiara talks to historian Heather Cox Richardson about how she started Letters from an American, American history, Andrew Carnegie's Gospel of Wealth, Reconstruction, the 14th Amendment, the Enforcement Acts, including the KKK Act, voting rights, as well as American and German dark money corporate support of the rise of the Nazi Party and fascism including those charged at Nurem...

In this episode ProfCiara talks to Stephen Richer the former head of elections in Maricopa County Arizona. Mr. Richer ran elections in Arizona's biggest county in 2020. A lifelong Republican, Richer received death threats for standing up for election integrity against the Big Lie. This episode also talks about violence and threats of violence in the midterm election, the Richer v. Lake lawsuit, an...

In this Episode ProfCiara Torres-Spelliscy talks to Slate Amicus Supreme Court reporter Dahlia Lithwick. They talk about the 2024-2025 U.S. Supreme Court term, the birthright citizenship national injunction case (Trump v. CASA Inc.), the presidential immunity case (Trump v. United States), United States v. Wong Kim Ark, Roe v. Wade, Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, Burwell v. Hobby Lo...

In this episode ProfCiara talks with lawyers Andrew Warren and Matt Newton about Florida politics, the ghost candidate scandal, and governor DeSantis's firing of Andrew Warren from his elected position as a state prosecutor in Tampa, which two federal courts ruled was unconstitutional under the First Amendment. This discussion also includes the problem of dark money in Florida elections, FPL and t...

In this episode Ciara Torres-Spelliscy interviews Professor Jennifer Taub who hosts Jen Taub Live on Youtube. They talk about her organization of the Tax March in Trump's first term, the Supreme Court's Citizens United v. FEC case, Trump v. US aka the presidential immunity decision, the pardon power, Trump's pardons of January 6th participants, dismissal of Mayor Eric Adams corruption prosecution,...

This episode of Democracy & Destiny focuses on money in politics including an interview with CREW's Robert Maguire, an expert on following the money in campaign finance. This includes discussion of Citizens United v. FEC, spending in the 2020 election, 2022 election, and 2024 election, and explanations of dark money, Super PACs, multiple campaign finance scandals and the corporate support of the S...

This episode includes discussion of the exoneration of civil rights icon Bayard Rustin for his arrest in North Carolina for integrating a bus and his punishment on a chain gang, as well a the practice of convict leasing, and the long history of civil death including the loss of voting rights which dates back to ancient Greece and Rome. Professor Atiba Ellis speaks about Supreme Court cases the exc...

This episode discusses prosecution of a group who defrauded public schools, the FirstEnergy Scandal in Ohio including Larry Householder, and an interview of lawyer Lisa Graves of True North Research. She talks about the role of dark money, Barre Seid, and Leonard Leo in tilting the American judiciary to the right and the role of Hoffeller in tilting legislatures to the right and the impact on the...

This episode includes reading from the Supreme Court's new corruption case Kousisis v. US, an excerpt of Corporatocracy, and an interview with Professor Richard Hassen of UCLA Law School and the Safeguarding Democracy Project. Professors Hasen and Torres-Spelliscy discuss NY v. Trump, Georgia v. Trump, Trump v. US aka the presidential immunity decision, McDonnell v. US, Rucho v. Common Cause, Shel...

This includes a discussion of the alleged campaign finance crimes by Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX and Alameda and the convictions for ex-Congressman George Santos. It also includes an interview with Larry Lessig about technology policy, AI, disinformation, the Facebook whistleblower, money in politics, the attempt to overturn SpeechNow, Citizens United v. FEC and American democracy. Also includes the ad...

This is the debut of Democracy & Destiny, first aired on WBAI NYC June 21, 2025 featuring an interview by law Prof Ciara Torres-Spelliscy of U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse about The Scheme. This show is based on the book Corporatocracy published by NYU Press 2024. It discusses money in politics, corruption, convicted ex-Senator Robert Menendez, January 6th, dark money, the SAVE Act, the Federalis...

Democracy & Destiny with Ciara Torres-Spelliscy podcast teaser by Ciara Torres-Spelliscy