Digital Politics with Karen Jagoda

Bradley Tusk is a political strategist, venture capitalist, philanthropist, podcaster, and author with a mission to promote and implement mobile voting in US elections.  He points out that the most effective way to combat low voter turnout is to make it easier for people to vote and find out information about candidates and ballot initiatives.  The Tusk Foundation has developed an open-source mobi...

Saru Jayaraman, long-time activist and leader of One Fair Wage ,  joins Deepak Puri , CEO of The Democracy Labs, to discuss the historical origins of the sub-minimum wage for tipped workers in the US and the power of that community to drive higher wages. The movement has now expanded beyond tipped workers to a broader coalition fighting for a living wage for all. Saru emphasizes that any political...

Javan Van Gronigen , Founder of Donately considers 2025 as a year of testing the water for peer-to-peer and crowdfunding for political and advocacy campaigns. AI is enabling organizations to create and deploy fundraising content more quickly and target specific audiences. Increasingly, digital tools are showing effectiveness for all donor levels, whether turning a small-dollar donor into a recurri...

John Fitch, The Fitch Law Firm, joins Deepak Puri , CEO of The Democracy Labs, to discuss the importance of victims reporting sexual abuse not only for their own justice but to break the cycle and prevent perpetrators from harming others. John warns that delayed reporting can lead to the loss of essential physical evidence, making the case harder to pursue.  Deepak and John talk about: The stagger...

Behdad Jamshidi is the Founder of CJAM The Marketing Connector, which has vetted over 1,000 marketing agencies to identify those most qualified to deliver on their promises. The idea of a single agency handling all political and advocacy campaign needs is no longer realistic, as there are an increasing number of channels to reach voters and supporters. We talk about: The vast majority of agencies...

Ivan Pardo , Founder of Solidarity Tech used his organizing platform to successfully manage the over 100,000 volunteers for the campaign of Zohran Mamdani for Mayor of New York. This platform was originally designed to be multilingual from its inception to organize non-English-speaking rideshare drivers. While technology was key to the Mamdani success, the authenticity of the candidate and message...

Nicole Dunger , Vice President of Growth, and Ryan Davis , CEO of People First, highlight the value of integrating influencer content into paid media strategies, a practice becoming more common in the political and advocacy space. The use of micro-influencers is key for state and local races, and the paid amplification can promote authentic voices to hard-to-reach voters. Campaigns are planning th...

Josh Justice , CEO of Peerly, highlights the new Video in Motion technology, an evolution of their previous HD video texting service. This next-generation tool allows for sending 4K high-resolution video to voters' phones via text message, bypassing the limitations of MMS protocols. This is a direct-to-voter messaging model that Josh argues is superior to traditional OTT and CTV advertising becaus...

Aram Fischer , Co-Founder and CEO of Change Agent, joins Deepak Puri , CEO of The Democracy Labs, to discuss values-aligned generative AI and how it contrasts with mainstream AI platforms.  Aram warns about built-in societal biases and misinformation in tools like ChatGPT that need to be identified to better align data with proper action. Deepak and Aram talk about: Shortcomings in existing gen AI...

Ellen Gavin, filmmaker and changemaker, joins  Deepak Puri, CEO of The Democracy Labs, to discuss her latest project, a short film titled "The People United," a collaboration with legendary activist Dolores Huerta that encourages nonviolent community intervention to protect neighbors from ICE.  Ellen drives home the point that effective activism must touch the heart to move the feet and be driven...

Anne-christine d'Adesky, Founder of Resisting Project 2025 ,  joins Deepak Puri, CEO of The Democracy Labs, to discuss strategies to counter the agenda of Project 2025, guiding the Trump administration. She details the growth and significance of the No Kings protests, explaining the goal of reaching 3.5% of the US population — a figure identified as a tipping point for effective nonviolent resista...

Maresa Strano , Director of the Political Reform Program at New America, discusses the role and mechanics of ballot initiatives in the 23 states that allow for citizen-led statewide initiatives. These Initiatives are a tool for direct democracy and are an effective mechanism for achieving political and good governance reform. Once established in a state's constitution, ballot initiative-driven   l...

Eva Posner , Founder of Evinco Strategies, focuses on the immense challenges facing political campaigns in this current environment of political violence, the 25-minute news cycle, and economic uncertainty. This climate has deterred qualified candidates from running and made it more difficult for campaigns to raise money, particularly from larger donors. We talk about: How the threat of political...

Scott Goodstein , Founder and CEO of Catalyst Campaigns, discusses the evolution and current state of social media strategies in politics in this interview, recorded on September 11 and the day after the murder of Conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Scott was the social media architect for the 2008 Obama campaign and contrasts the early, diverse social media landscape with today's video-dominated...

This is an interview conducted by Deepak Puri of The Democracy Labs, discussing the art of podcasting with me, Karen Jagoda . Being a podcaster since the early days, I have seen my share of great guests, reluctant guests, and unprepared guests.  Listening to other podcasters has helped me understand both the great potential and limited value podcasts and podcasters can have. In addition to the Dig...

Hamid Ghanadan , CEO at LINUS, reports on their recent State of Science research that tracks scientists' sentiment, funding expectations, and barriers to their work. Key findings reveal that the politicization of science and erosion of public trust in science threaten to slow innovation rates and negatively impact public access to accurate information. The survey also shows a direct negative impac...

Deepak Puri, CEO of The Democracy Labs, has developed the FastAlert Now app that allows organizers and non-profit organizations to send alerts to people without requiring their phone number, email, or downloading an app.  This free app is a channel-based system that uses QR codes and URLs to enable users to subscribe to a specific channel and receive push notifications on their phone or computer w...

James Keppel is the Founder and CEO of Sarana Health and a healthcare advocate for an integrated, wellness-focused approach to keeping people healthy instead of simply treating diseases. While the impacts of current policy changes and budget cuts in healthcare and medical research have yet to be seen, all indications point to widening gaps in serving rural populations and those with complex condit...

Brian Rolling, Co-Founder of the MurMur Project ,  joins Deepak Puri, CEO of The Democracy Labs, to discuss how individuals can engage more effectively through digital communication and social media, gaining a deeper understanding of political issues, campaigns, and elections, and have their own voices heard. Brian has a background in filmmaking and content creation, while his mother and co-founde...

Rebecca Markert, Vice President and Legal Director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State , joins Deepak Puri, CEO of The Democracy Labs, to discuss the fundamental American principle of the separation of church and state, as included in the Constitution. The Johnson Amendment, passed 70 years ago, is a critical law that prevents churches and charities from endorsing or opposing po...

Chris Melody Fields Figueredo , Executive Director of the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, discusses the 2.5 Project, an initiative by BISC that provides early, flexible funding to support ballot initiatives focused on economic justice. Recent efforts in Nebraska and Missouri to support minimum wage and paid sick leave ballot initiatives yielded positive results, demonstrating the ability to fra...

Jim Lardner, journalist, activist, and host of the podcast "Good Trouble," joins Deepak Puri, CEO of The Democracy Labs, to discuss the "We Are Your Neighbor" Project, which aims to collect and promote personal stories of people impacted by the Trump administration's policies. The goal is to promote these types of stories in a non-ideological way to reach out to Trump supporters and others who may...

Bill Moyer, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Backbone Campaign , joins  Deepak Puri,  CEO of  The Democracy Labs, to explore the value of creative activism and visual props in promoting causes and values. The metaphor of the backbone is a symbol of moral power and strength that voters are encouraged to draw on to protest, drive awareness, and mobilize to bring about change. The Backbone Ca...

Allen Carroll, cartographer and lead of the Story Maps team at Esri , joins Deepak Puri,  CEO of  The Democracy Labs, to discuss the power of maps and the visualization of GIS data to tell a compelling story. The StoryMaps platform combines multimedia elements to create richer and more engaging maps to spark empathy, raise awareness, and potentially inspire change.  Deepak and Allen talk about: Wh...

Lucian K. Truscott IV, journalist, author, and screenwriter, joins Deepak Puri,  CEO of  The Democracy Labs, to shine a light on the challenges of writing about and reporting on current events, political voices, and cultural trends. Lucian started working for the Village Voice while still a cadet at West Point in the 1960s and comes from a long line of military leaders and political figures. He is...