Girl and The Gov, The Podcast

We’re back with Ben, Ben Sheehan to be exact, for an episode on the case that has us politicos at the edge of seats – Moore v. Harper. A case that calls upon a once fringe theory, Independent State Legislature Theory, we talk about whether or not SCOTUS taking this case on will take us on the express train to a constitutional crisis. Naturally, we talk about what’s likely to happen here, how this...

We’re trying something ~new and different~ and releasing our top stories of the week segment on Tuesdays. Basically top stories has a new home, making a move from the backend of our weekly interviews to its very own weekly special. You can expect our run throughs every Tuesday covering a few (not all) of the top stories we have our eyes on. This week’s round up of events include: Congress is back...

We talk about getting involved with campaigns until the cows come home, but we’ve often left one part out – what on earth do the many roles on campaigns actually do! And, what they are specifically. And, how they operate together. And, what the experiences are with each. Basically, the fine print. To solve this, we brought in our friend Drisana Hughes who is a well-known and accomplished campaign...

One of the many layers of the abortion conversation is adoption. It’s a layer we have yet to cover – until this episode, where we were joined by Gretchen Sisson PhD, Sociologist, an expert research in the field to discuss the many nuances of when the adoption conversation crosses path with the abortion conversation. Our conversation of course covers the basics on this intersection, but also what w...

If you’re not following Katie Grossbard, I’m going to need you to kindly go follow her, rn. Okay, fine, you can finish reading this description first. She is not only a founding member of the popular voting information resource - i am a voter - but she’s quite the online activist herself. Known for her roundups of top tweets on all-things politics and her in the know shares on politics happening i...

This is an interview that feels less like an interview and more like you’re overhearing a convo at the brunch table, and quite frankly, that’s the whole idea. We were joined by our amazing friend, Miss Tennessee, Tally Bevis for a chit chat on civic literacy, all-things voting, and definitely some things, political journey. Tally shares with us her civic literacy vision with her org, Vote With A M...

From the title of this episode, you might’ve gathered that this episode is a deep dive into what attorney generals do, how they’re elected, and how they work with their respective state legislatures. Okay, you might’ve just gotten the first bit on that list, but we do cover the other two as well with Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. And importantly, we cover the AG’s current run for re-elect...

As of May 26, 2022 there had been 214 mass shootings. There have been additional since that stat was compiled by Insider. It is clear that we have a gun issue in the US (last time we checked, the numbers don’t lie). This issue needs real solutions – now, not later – and there is one elected official that has stepped by to the plate. Cue, the Mayor of San Jose, CA, Sam Liccardo who has introduced i...

Now if the name Shannon Williams sounds familiar in the context of Girl and the Gov®, that would be because our amazing guest for this week’s episode has also been a guest on our IG lives. This icon in activism and action is the Director of the Equal Pay Today Campaign at the ERA gave us the 411 on the wage gap, equal pay, occupational segregation, and legislation that can change the status quo. W...

WATCH ON YOUTUBE/GO SUBSCRIBE PRETTY PLZ!  This episode is super special for a number of reasons. First things first, this is our first ever episode featuring TWO interviews. Our guests are two amazing women in politics, both Democrats running for office – one in a traditionally blue state at the federal level and one in a traditionally red state at the state level. The topic of conversation is re...

WATCH ON YOUTUBE/GO SUBSCRIBE PRETTY PLZ!  The headlines currently read something along the lines of “Roe v. Wade will be overturned.” But, how did we get here? What took us from almost 50 years of precedent to this unnerving outcome? A ~little~ case titled Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization paired with a conservatively stacked SCOTUS is the dual-pronged answer to that q. In this episode...

Electing pro-choice candidates at every level is vital. This sentiment is one that EMILY’s List built on and one that we dive into in our interview with Executive Director of EMILY’s List, Emily Cain. This week’s episode takes a tour around the organization, its goals, and how it supports candidates. In conversation, we also chatted about Maine politics from the former elected official (teaser: sh...

TBH, ‘Under The Sea’ from the Little Mermaid is stuck in our heads as we write this description, rn. For one, because it’s a great tune, and secondly, because on today’s episode we’re diving into ocean pollution. We’re joined by the amazing Cassia Patel, Director of Programs at Oceanic Global who got us up to speed and more on what ocean pollution is, its intersection across other sectors of pollu...

Some names in politics are infamous – two of them are in the title of this episode. What they also have in common, is that they’re running for the same Congressional seat for North Carolina. District 11 to be exact. Currently held by infamous person one – Madison Cawthorn (R), the race is heating up. Yes, even in primary season (insert rant here about how vital participating in primaries is here)....

We love the tea, we love the receipts, and we absolutely love Public Wise’s Insurrection Index. If you’re curious who the players are, and oh, who may have graced the steps of the Capitol on January 6, this Index is going to have you screaming. Like, literal scream and squeal. Honestly, the deats might even put Deux Moi to shame and you know we love Deux Moi. Alas, we got the fulllll skinny on how...

It’s far from unknown that to run a campaign in this day and age, fundraising is critical. Money, money, money, as they say is a key consideration as to whether a campaign will be successful or not. You’d think it would be based on who’s the best possible representative for a community…but alas, that’s a rant for another day. In this episode, we explore the difference between how state and federal...

This week’s episode features an interview with Wardah Khalid, the amazing founder of Poligon, which works to amplify Muslim voices in Congress. Do we chat about the organization’s work? Yep! Do we chat about Wardah’s journey into politics? Also, yep! And, do we chat about the issues the organization tackles through a policy lens, like Islamophobia? Yep x 3! The conversation takes on these three di...

This week the SCOTUS confirmation hearings are off to the races with the aim of confirming Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the bench. We love to see it and we’re excited to bring you an episode discussing the ongoing process and Judge Jackson’s epic/next-level qualifications. What’s a public defender? What’s a clerkship? What happens if a nominee isn’t confirmed? We get the answers to these through...

This week we’re joined by the big leagues, and when we mean the big leagues, we mean the Anti-Defamation League. Also known as the ADL, the organization is a leading anti-hate organization, and one founded in response to rising antisemitism. So, what is antisemitism? We get into and more with the ADL’s Director of Community Engagement, Carly Pildis. We also talk about extremist groups, the rise in...

Florida has been hitting the news cycle BIG TIME these days. We wish we could say it was because they were having a puppy convention or something just as cute and insta-worthy, but unfortunately, the current Governor Ron DeSantis and his Republican state legislature have made sure that anything they do is FAR from cute. From the Don’t Say Gay bill to a 15-week abortion bill passed in the middle of...

We’re back with part two of our Ukraine explained series with Dr. Margarita M. Balmaceda, Associate at Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute and Professor at SHU School of Diplomacy and International Relations. Taking this conflict from a different angle, this episode we learn about the economic elements of this crisis. Specifically, we talk about sanctions, their impact – what they even are in the...

Part one of our two-part explainer series on the war unfolding un Ukraine begins with our interview with Dr. Mai’a K. Davis Cross. The Editor of the Journal of European Integration and Professor of Political Science and International Affairs – oh, and also the author of books including European-Russian Power Relations in Turbulent Times AND The Politics of Crisis in Europe – Dr. Cross walked us th...

We’re not screaming, you’re screaming! Okay, we’re screaming too because this week’s conversation with Adrienne Bell, who is the Executive Director at Brand New Congress is motivation 101 for getting clued into the midterm elections. Like, if you’ve been putting it off or dragging your feet, Adrienne gives the 411 inspo on why this is the time to get involved and how to do that. Additionally, and...

TW: The following episode contains conversations on spousal rape and domestic violence. This episode takes toward a topic we haven’t yet covered – the policy matters of domestic violence, spousal rape, and more. A conversation that makes you yet again scratch your head at how many laws could possibly exist (or not exist) in 2022, we discuss where policy is currently on violence against women. More...

Fangirl alert – this episode features an interview with an activist that we look up to in all the ways. Like, we are still screaming that she came on the show. Jamira Burley, the Director of Social Impact for Adidas North America joined us this week for a conversation on corporate responsibility. Tapping into understanding what this means as a whole, what corporations are doing (or not doing) in t...