The Electorette Podcast

"When I come across a story involving police interactions with black women, it's hard to tell whether a story took place in 1863, in 1963 or 2013." This is just one of the points you'll here in this interview with Andrea Ritchie, author of "Invisible No More: Police Violence Against Black Women and Women of Color." We discuss how Black women, Indigenous women, and women of color experience racial...

Lisa Hunter is a candidate for City Council in DC's Ward 6 and if elected, she would be the first Latino elected to the City Council. Hunter has a long history of serving her community and just three days after graduating from college, she boarded a plane to Guyana to begin service in the Peace Corps. Once she returned to the US, Hunter took a job at Barack Obama’s campaign headquarters. She was l...

In my conversation with University of Georgia Law Professor and author, Mehrsa Baradaran, we explore the history and origins of today''s racial wealth gap. We discuss the history of segregated industries and black economies that were created in an effort to overcome the financial effects of slavery. We also discuss attempts be recent administrations to close the racial wealth gap as well as what i...

"Democracy isn't just about the ability to vote. Democracy is about being an informed citizen..." This is just one of the points you'll hear in my conversation with data-skeptic, author and mathematician, Cathy O'Neil. We discuss her book "Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality & Threatens Democracy," and the ways in which algorithms dictate nearly every aspect of our lives...

In this episode, I talk with Dr. Wendy Osefo, Professor of Education at The Johns Hopkins University and progressive political commentator and strategist. We discuss the success of March For Our Lives and the movement against gun violence driven by the students of Stoneman Douglas High School. We discuss ways in which these movements fail often fail at garnering public support for students and act...

Our the two guests for this episode turned their energy following the 2016 election into organizational change. Cristina Tzintzún, a nationally recognized advocate and leader in the Latino community, founded Jolt - a Texas-based multi-issue organization that builds the political power and influence of Latinos in Texas. Also we talk with Amanda Litman, the founder of Run For Something, which recrui...

In a Day’s Work: The Fight to End Sexual Violence Against America’s Most Vulnerable Workers by Bernice Yeung explores sexual harassment, assault and rape for the most vulnerable women in our society. In our conversation, we discuss the ways in which sexual violence is compounded by low wages, precarious working conditions and being undocumented. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm...

"Girlhood Interrupted: The Erasure of Black Girls’ Childhood" is a groundbreaking report published by Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Inequality, which revealed that adults view Black girls as less innocent and more adult-like than their white peers. In this episode, Thalia González, an Associate Professor at Occidental College and co-author of the report, discusses the ways in which adults p...

Spread the Vote is an organization that tackles undemocratic voter ID laws by directly working with citizens in marginalized groups to help them obtain their state ID. Spread the Vote founder, Kat Calvin, discusses the original motivation by her organization's start, as well as the cost and challenges many eligible voters face in getting the necessary ID in order to vote. We also discuss the many...

In this episode, we've pulled together some of the most compelling moments from earlier interviews which explore racism and xenophobia in America, both during the Trump administration and following 9/11. This episode includes highlights of interviews from Maryam Zaringhalam, Catherine Squires & Ruth Defoster. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"They're afraid of the 2.6 million people who came out and marched on the anniversary of the Women's March. They are afraid of the young black activists and Black Lives Matter who are standing up... They’re afraid of our activism, and our civic awareness, and awakening that I think is happening.... There is a civic awakening that I think is happening and I think that, that's powerful because what...

This episode features an interview with Sharon Fairley, candidate for Illinois Attorney General and the first candidate to receive the endorsement of the American Women's Party. Sharon Fairley has an incredibly impressive background, serving as federal prosecutor with the US Attorney General’s office for the Northern District of Illinois for eight years; she's also served as an Assistant Attorney...

Jan 22nd 2018 marks the 45th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision issued in 1973 on the issue of the constitutionality of laws that criminalized or restricted access to abortions. In this episode, with award-winning professor and author of the book "Scarlet A: The Ethics, Law & Politics of Ordinary Abortion" (https://amzn.to/2KAGW7A) Katie Watson, we discuss the deeper s...

In this episode, we've pulled together some of the most compelling moments of episodes from 2017. This episode includes highlights of interviews from 1) Ruth Defoster, professor and author of Terrorizing the Masses 2) Pamela Nettleton, professor, domestic violence and media expert 3) Kate Manne, professor and author of Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaph...

"There is this a danger that if we hold misogyny to be a deep psychological property of individual agents, then it will become very difficult to know or justifiably believe if someone is a misogynist. " This is one of the points you'll hear in my conversation with author Kate Manne. In her book, "Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny," Manne thoroughly explores the meaning of misogyny; her examination,...

In my conversation with Professor Allison McKim, we discuss her book "Addicted to Rehab: Race, Gender, and Drugs in the Era of Mass Incarceration (Critical Issues in Crime and Society)" in which she compares two addiction rehabilitation programs: one is linked to the criminal justice system and the second, is private and is covered by private insurance. We discuss the ways in which gendered treatm...

"For some reason, all of the tropes and the explanations and the frames that came out of the Columbine coverage, have been repackaged and recycled in media coverage of almost every mass shooting since." This is just one of the points you'll hear during my conversation with terrorism scholar and mass shooting expert, Dr. Ruth Defoster. We discuss the consistent features present in all mass shooting...

"We've been asking the wrong questions. We ask 'why does she stay' instead of 'why is he hitting her...'" This is just one of the points you'll hear in my conversation with Dr. Pamela Nettleton. We discuss how the media's coverage of violence against women perpetuates a culture of violence. We also discuss how our social systems are set up to burden women who are victims of violence. Learn more ab...

Dangerous Discourses: Feminism, Gun Violence & Civic Life | This is the first in a series of episodes in which I'll cover gun violence from several angles. In this episode, I discuss the essay titled "Making Visible Victimhood, Bringing Intersectionality to a Mass Shooting - #SayHerName, Black Women & Charleston" with Professor Catherine Squires. We discuss the Charleston shooting, the need to bri...

If you've been following the news around the deterioration of our voting rights, including how gerrymandering and redistricting efforts or voter suppression efforts have further stripped equal access to the ballot, you'll want to listen to this episode with Think Progress journalist, Kira Lerner. We discuss the history of the recent destruction of voting rights starting with the Karl Rove Op Ed in...

"We need more Americans to connect, on a very deep level with a sense of empathy, for the experience of others..." This is just one of the points you'll hear during my conversation with Lauren Leader Chivee, author of "Crossing the Thinnest Line: How Embracing Diversity—from the Office to the Oscars—Makes America Stronger" and co-founder of All In Together, an organization dedicated to non-partisa...

Mia Brett and Maya Contreras are the co-founders of the American Women's Party, an advocacy group fighting for equal representation, participation, and policy development for women in the Democratic Party. We discuss their role in creating "underground Hillary Clinton support groups" during the 2016 election as a safe space for women to discuss politics free from the threats of online attacks and...

"If a male politician is in his 20’s and 30’s he’s an ambitious go-getter, who’s a rising star - no one asks “what about his kids, why isn’t he at home?” This is just one of the points of discussion you'll hear during my conversation with Dr. Teri Finneman, author and professor of journalism. We discuss her book "Press Portrayals of Women Politicians, 1870s–2000s" including the media coverage of w...

"If the left has had one shortcoming, it's a failure of imagination when it comes to the audacity of the right to lie, to upset custom, to do anything they can to get around the law to achieve their aims." This is just one of the points made by Rebecca Buckwalter-Poza, a political and legal analyst. Rebecca has been blocked by Trump of Twitter and we discuss how silencing dissenting voices in a pu...

"We can't expect marginalized communities, especially ones that find that their lives are constantly under threat, to stand up for themselves in places where they don’t feel safe…" This is just one of the points made in this emotional conversation on xenophobia, Islamophobia, science policy and gerrymandering with science policy fellow and public scholar, Dr. Maryam Zaringhalam. Dr. Zaringhalam is...