Freedom Over Fascism: Fireside Chats

Kim Allen, Co-Founder of Power the Vote, talks about Dems’ proactive legal strategy for protecting the vote in Georgia, what recent election rules changes might mean for certifying the vote, and what you can do in Georgia or in your state to protect the vote. www.powerthevote.org to volunteer for voter protection activities. www.freedomoverfascism.us Please subscribe to Freedom Over Fascism at www...

Stephanie talks with Emily Cain, Co-Founder Copper Sky, former State Senator, Orono Maine, former Executive Director of EMILY's List, about women leading the way in politics today. She highlights the impact of organizations like EMILY's List in electing Democratic pro-choice women to office. Emily Cain is also a member of New DEAL leaders. https://newdealleaders.org/members/emily-cain/ https://www...

This is the first episode of Freedom Over Fascism’s pivot to conversations with women who power political change for freedom. Stephanie chats with Michele Hornish, ED of Every State Blue about the need to redefine electoral success to mean running and supporting candidates for every level of the ballot. Every State Blue crowdfunds support for State House candidates in Missouri, Ohio, and Tennessee...

Stephanie talks to Michael Podhorzer, author of Weekend Reading and one of the smartest political analysts in the country. They discuss WHY people vote—or not—and the actual state of the race, which is within the margin of our effort. Podhorzer hosts periodic briefings on the state of the race in cooperation with Research Collaborative and ASO Communications (Anat Shenker-Osorio). They publish a t...

Stephanie talks to independent journalist Scott Dworkin, author of the Dworkin report, about the failure of the corporate media to meet their journalistic obligations to truthful reporting. They discuss where the corporate media is failing, where engaged citizens can get accurate news, and how, ultimately to help people cut the cable news cord. They also focus on the need to engage and work toward...

Stephanie interviews David Callahan, founder of Inside Philanthropy and Blue Tent. Callahan emphasizes the importance of investing in progressive organizations that build long-term political power rather than contributing solely to candidates. He highlights the effectiveness of grassroots funding in battleground and traditionally overlooked states, and discusses how diversified political donations...

Do you ever wish you could magically create speeches, social media prompts, fundraising letters, and newsletters with your messaging and values already built in? YOU CAN! This is NOT an advertisement but Stephanie's conversation with Co-Founder and Co-CEO Aram Fischer of Change Agent AI, which is a generative AI tool imbued with democratic values and trained to use tested messaging narratives (Ana...

Stephanie's conversation with Mayor Zeb Smathers, a New Deal Leader, on local politics in a mountain mill town, where your constituents know where you live, where you grocery shop, and how to find you. He talks about the focus on solutions rather than scoring partisan political points. We focus on the importance of local politics in the midst of a toxic national political environment. www.freedomo...

Since President Joe Biden stepped aside last week and endorsed VP Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee for President, the campaign has generated tremendous excitement and new energy. Humongous organizing calls have raised enormous amounts of money, and interest has spiked for races up and down the ballot. When I spoke to Tara McGowan in April, we spoke about the need for pro-democracy media, si...

From the Freedom Over Fascism Archives: Stephanie speaks with Andra Watkins, author of the substack "How Project 2025 Will Ruin Your Life." We spoke earlier in the year about the coded Christian Nationalist language in Project 2025. Even with all the craziness over the democratic ticket, we need to be talking about Republican plans for governing, which is Project 2025. Don't talk about JD Vance's...

This episode from the archive features Dr. Matthew Taylor, a senior scholar at the Institute for Islamich-Christian-and Jewish Studies. We talk about the batshit crazy beliefs of Christian Nationalists, particularly the New Apostolic Reformation and Seven Mountains groups, and their proximity to Jan 6 and institutional power. See more newsletters and episodes, and subscribe at www.freedomoverfasci...

This is the audio version of my substack newsletter, which you can read at www.freedomoverfascism.us. I'll continue to upload audio of my newsletters as bonus content going forward.  Please subscribe to Freedom Over Fascism at www.freedomoverfascism.us. Part of the Democracy Group of Podcasts.

Bonus episode: Audio of Stephanie's article on www.freedomoverfascism.us "F*CK White Patriarchal Men (old or young, not a lot of difference)." Please subscribe on substack to be notified of every article and podcast episode: www.freedomoverfascism.us Please subscribe to Freedom Over Fascism at www.freedomoverfascism.us. Part of the Democracy Group of Podcasts.

Mason Kalinsky is an organizer in Kentucky. He’s the director of Hood to the Holler, an organization founded by Charles Booker focused on leveraging momentum for positive change in Kentucky to build broad coalitions, breaking down barriers of race and class, and fueling a people centered movement to build power and transform our future. He organizes in the hood of Lexington and Louisville, Kentuck...

Stephanie chats with Dr. Heidi Beirich, the co-founder and chief strategy officer for Global Project Against Hate and Extremism. The authoritarian movements across the world share underlying discriminatory ideologies, and too often have been exported from the U.S. The consequence of the growth in these movements is violence and the dangerous integration of bigoted and racist ideas into societal di...

Abby Kisciki, a Gen Z alumna of Arena Academy ( check out Ep. 47 Lauren Baer, Mg Dir ), is an organizer for Newtown Action Alliance and gun violence prevention. We talk about coping with hope, and using hope responsibly, especially in gun violence prevention. Abby started getting involved in political advocacy as a college student and, after surviving the Highland Park shooting, she became active...

Stephanie talks to Charles Gaba, an ACA data analyst and activist who started raising money for Dem candidates online in 2018. He operates a simple website, blue24.org with links to slates of Democratic candidates on Act Blue that makes it easy to donate to several candidates at a time, or just one or two. In 2020, he raised a total of 6 million dollars for Democratic candidates and organizations....

Stephanie chats with Nancy Thompson, founder and head of Mothers Against Greg Abbott about the fascism Texas is fighting right NOW, and how Nancy had enough, showed up with a sign to protest, and launched a movement that grows every time Greg Abbot, TX Gov, speaks. https://mothersagainstgregabbott.com/ Questions: sgwilson@gmail.com Please subscribe to Freedom Over Fascism at www.freedomoverfascism...

Stephanie talks with Madeline Eden, CTO of Movement Labs and Contest Every Race. We’re letting 100,000 Republican candidates win every year without a challenger. We all know that when we put up Democratic candidates in state and local races, even in deeply red districts, more voters turn out, more people become engaged, and Democrats can win seats they’ve lost by default. Madeline Eden is CTO of M...

Stephanie chatted with Shion Desarkar about creating community among pro-democracy activists. Right now I know we’re on a billion social media platforms to try to reach people who will reach others in real life. The promise of Unified is that if activists have a single platform to talk to each other, we can learn from each other, contact each other, share strategies, and multiply our effectiveness...

Stephanie talks to Paolo Cremidis about running candidates who are young and diverse in rural areas. Outrun coalition has gone from electing 6 candidates in upstate NY in 2020 to more than 470 across the country currently. They believe that anyone and everyone should run for office and reject the notion that rural=white. Here are a couple of organizations Paolo recommends donating to—most of whom...

Stephanie talks with Dmitri Melhorn, cofounder of the Invest in US investment fund with Reid Hoffman. Stephanie and Dmitri discuss what investments Melhorn believes are the most effective for President Biden to win in November. The organization invests in advocacy organizations, voter outreach groups, media outlets, electoral strategy groups, and other organizations devoted to opposing former Pres...

Stephanie speaks with Brianna Wu, a former congressional candidate in MA and present activist and fundraiser. They discuss running for office and post October 7 dynamics of the progressive movement, Jew-hatred, compassion, and inclusion. This was recorded before the events at Columbia, University (and other colleges and universities across the country), where protesters shouted their support for H...

Stephanie talks to NYT Bestselling Author Andra Watkins about Project 2025 and its Christo-Fascist core. Watkins is the author of the substack newsletter, “How Project 2025 will Ruin Your Life,” which decodes the Heritage Foundation authoritarian playbook for a Trump or Republican presidency. Project 2025 is written in “evangelicalese,” coded so that a Christian Nationalist audience understands an...

Stephanie talks to Brian Hansbury, one of the co-founders of Media and Democracy Project. They discuss what the corporate media is doing wrong, and how we can make a difference, participate in the Media and Democracy Project’s actions, and tell people we know IRL about what Republicans plan to do TO THEM if they win at the national level. www.mediaanddemocracyproject.org Questions:  sgwilson@gmail...