Meyerside Chats: Government, Policy & Civility

In this episode of Meyerside Chats, Evan Meyer speaks with Cesar Hidalgo, a Chilean Spanish-American scholar known for his contributions to economic complexity, data visualization, and applied artificial intelligence. They discuss the problems with democracy today, such as political polarization and identity-based politics. They also explore the idea of augmented democracy, using AI agents to supp...

Welcome to another exciting episode of Meyerside Chats! In today's episode, we have the pleasure of hosting Leslie Crutchfield, an author, educator, and social change expert. Leslie is the Executive Director of Business for Impact at Georgetown University McDonough School of Business, and her latest book, "How Change Happens: Why some movements succeed while others don't," has...

In this episode of Meyerside Chats, Evan Meyer interviews Rammayya Krishnan, Dean of Public Policy and Information Systems @ Carnegie Melon University, an expert in digital transformation and technology management. They discuss the role of decision-making models in voting, particularly in local and state issues. Krishnan highlights the importance of an informed populace and the challenges of acqui...

In this episode, we delve into the critical issues of leadership, transparency, and distorted narratives that impact the construction of a more perfect union in the United States. Our guest, David Satterfield, brings a wealth of experience and firsthand knowledge from being in the room where important conversations take place. We explore the limitations of public information and the potential cons...

Maria Madison is the interim Dean of Brandeis University. A trained global public health researcher, Madison holds a Doctorate in population and international health from Harvard. She joined Brandeis with over two decades of international experience, designing, implementing and managing various projects and studies including clinical drug trials and registries, where she oversaw large, complex, mu...

Summary Intro to Nolan McCary | 0:00 What is Democratic backsliding and are we experiencing it?  | 5:15 Why every president is blamed or praised for his successes and failures depending on what side you're on? |  6:30 How the train derailment in East Palestine exemplified the fundamental toxic polarization issue? | 7:40 Politics of confirmation bias | 10:55 Why does every election gets delegi...

Recorded January 19, 2023 Evan Meyer welcomes Former Texas State Representative, Kyle Biedermann (R-TX) on this episode of Meyerside Chats.  Meyerside Chats seeks to eliminate the "us and them" narrative and toxic polarization by striving to create virtuous community leadership and authentic conversation.  The intent is to showcase the humanity in those that take on the often thankless j...

Recorded February 1,, 2023 Evan Meyer welcomes the Dean of Public Policy at New York University, Sherry Glied on this episode of Meyerside Chats.  Meyerside Chats seeks to eliminate the "us and them" narrative and toxic polarization by striving to create virtuous community leadership and authentic conversation.  The intent is to showcase the humanity in those that take on the often thank...

An informative chat with U.S. Congressman, Jay Obernolte on this episode of Meyerside Chats. Please subscribe to my channel to help eliminate the "us and them" political narrative. Please pardon my less-than-ideal microphone during this episode filmed during my travels. Meyerside Chats seeks to eliminate the "us and them" narrative and toxic polarization by striving to create v...

Support the show About Evan Meyer Tech entrepreneur and civic leader - he founded mygovtools.org , a platform to drive government efficiency, constituent representation, and civic engagement; BeautifyEarth.com , a platform accelerating urban beautification through art; and its sister nonprofit, transforming schools in underserved areas. He also co-founded RideAmigos.com , a platform that optimizes...

With so many issues at the forefront of today’s society, polarization in our political climate is at an all-time high. From the issues of trans rights to tackling homelessness, everyone seems to have varied opinions on what to prioritize. Here to share thoughts on the matter is Senator Scott Wiener , representative of District 11 in the California State Senate. He joins Evan Meyer to discuss his L...

Continuing his deep dive into the local government of Wrocław, Poland, Evan Meyer chats with Councilman Michal Kurczewski. Together, they discuss how their two-party system works and how they solve conflicts when passing mandates. Michal explains why a proper feedback-gathering mechanism must be implemented to ensure every constituent is heard, minimizing huge conflicts and disagreements. He also...

The world is vast, and with it comes different places that have different ways of looking at things. What can we learn from them? Here to shed some light on what it’s like to live under the local government of Wrocław, Poland, is Councilman Bartlomiej Ciazynski. He is the Deputy Chair of the city council and Social Advisor to the Mayor of Wroclaw for Tolerance and Counteracting Xenophobia. The cit...

There is no hotter topic than politics. And with the midterm elections coming up, Evan Meyer chats with Pete Peterson to talk about what politics looks like and discusses important topics, including perceived threats from overseas, the COVID pandemic, and social issues that continue to drive US politics and policies. They also share their insights on how truth has become subjective and how disagre...

Evan Meyer welcomes Senator Brian Dahle to this edition of Meyerside Chats. Interested in any of the civic topics below? Please tune in to Meyerside Chats on the Santa Monica Daily Press. California State Senator and Republican gubernatorial nominee Brian Dahle talks about the need for government leaders to go beyond the sound bites and work on common sense solutions to make things better for the...

Evan Meyer welcomes California State Senator, Ben Allen on this episode of Meyerside Chats. Interested in any of the civic topics below? Please tune in to Meyerside Chats on the Santa Monica Daily Press.   California State Senator Ben Allen was elected in 2014 (and reelected in 2018) to represent the 26th Senate District covering the Westside, Hollywood, and coastal South Bay communities of Los An...

Evan Meyer welcomes BraverAngels.org on this edition of Meyerside Chats. Interested in any of the civic topics below? Please tune in to Meyerside Chats on the Santa Monica Daily Press.   Evan Meyer welcomes John Wood and Randy Lioz with BraverAngels.org on this edition of Meyerside Chats. Interested in any of the civic topics below? Please tune in to Meyerside Chats on the Santa Monica Daily Press...

Evan Meyer welcomes David White to this edition of Meyerside Chats. Are you interested in any of the civic topics below? Please tune in to Meyerside Chats on the Santa Monica Daily Press.   David White is the current City Manager for the City of Santa Monica. White joined in October 2021 after serving as deputy city manager in Berkeley, where he championed reimagining public safety, including a ne...

Evan Meyer welcomes Chief of Police Ramon Batista to this edition of Meyerside Chats. Interested in any of the civic topics below? Please tune in to Meyerside Chats on the Santa Monica Daily Press.   Ramon Batista is the current Chief of Police for the City of Santa Monica. "Putting values into action" is one of his fundamental approaches to law enforcement leadership. The strategy for d...

Evan Meyer welcomes Debbie Lee to this edition of Meyerside Chats. Interested in any of the civic topics below? Please tune in to Meyerside Chats on the Santa Monica Daily Press.   Debbie has been the Chief Communications Officer for the City of Santa Monica for the past 8 years. Previously working for SM Travel & Tourism, and Downtown SM, Debbie has dedicated her professional career to our ci...

Evan Meyer welcomes Lana Negrete to this edition of Meyerside Chats. Interested in any of the civic topics below? Please tune in to Meyerside Chats on the Santa Monica Daily Press.   Meyerside Chats seeks to eliminate the "us and them" narrative and toxic polarization by praising those who lead by example, virtuous community leadership, and authentic conversation. The intent is to showca...

Evan Meyer sits down with Councilman Phil Brock on the latest episode of Meyerside Chats.   Summary: – The power of art. – The many opportunities for SM to be a “cradle of the arts in LA”. – We need a “crusade of culture”. – More art and music opportunities at our parks. – Santa Monica’s rich history. – Why is there distrust and how do we get rid of it? – Embracing disagreeing parties, news and in...

Community building is more than just doing acts of charity or being a law-obedient individual. At its more profound level, it is about creating a solutions-oriented public discourse between leaders and citizens. Evan Meyer explains how to achieve this common ground with Councilwoman Gleam Davis of Santa Monica. She discusses why politicians and people can make their cities a better place by settin...

After serving Downtown Santa Monica as its CEO for over two decades, Kathleen Rawson is now leaving to assume a new leadership role at The Hollywood Partnership. In this conversation with Evan Meyer, she looks back on vastly changing the landscape of Downtown Santa Monica, which she proudly considers her life's work. She explains how she started the Downtown Ambassador Program and now leaves...

What's business like in Santa Monica post-pandemic? Joining Evan Meyer to shed light on the situation is Laurel Rosen, CEO and President of Santa Monica Chamber, for 23 years and running. As a civic leader, Laurel shares what the current state of business is like and what leaders should be doing for their business, their employees, themselves, and each other.  Laurel and Evan always have wond...