The Electorette Podcast

Erin Matson and Pamela Merrit founded Reproaction in order to uphold abortion rights and advance reproductive justice as a matter of human dignity. They take bold action and hold all leaders to accountable to upholding reproductive rights in direct and aggressive ways. We discuss reproductive rights, fake abortion clinics, political allies and of course the Brett Kavanaugh nomination. https://www....

Prof. Carol Anderson, the Charles Howard Candler Professor and Chair of African American Studies at Emory University and author of the bestseller, "White Rage," discusses her new book "One Person, No Vote," which chronicles the government's longstanding commitment to limiting democracy through voter suppression. From the passage of the 15th amendment to now, America's are still fighting to have fu...

Aimee Allison, the President of Democracy in Color and founder She the People, discusses the goals of her organizations including how we an return the country to a progressive, multiracial majority in government via increasing new voter turn out. We also discuss midterms and the direction Democrats should go in order to in future elections. Lastly, we discuss the She the People summit aimed at ele...

In this conversation with Daniella Gibbs Leger, Senior Vice President of Communications & Strategy at the Center for American Progress and co-host of the podcast, Thinking Cap, we discuss midterms, women running for office and how they are viewed by party insiders, feminism, the state of the democratic party, and voter suppression. Thinking Cap Podcast: https://soundcloud.com/amprog Center for Ame...

Sayu Bhojwani, an advocate, speaker and writer, discusses her journey to American citizenship, her role as New York City’s first Commissioner of Immigrant Affairs, her organization New American Leaders, and her forthcoming book, "People Like Us: The New Wave of Candidates Knocking at Democracy’s Door." https://www. NewAmericanLeaders.org/ http://www. SayuBhojwani.com/ https://amzn.to/2MpSFe3 Learn...

This episode explores a new report from Reveal News reporter Sinduja Rangarajan and delivers the clearest picture of Silicon Valley’s diversity yet. The report provides a first-of-its kind analysis of 177 of the largest San Francisco Bay Area tech firms revealing large disparities in racial and gender disparities. Our conversation explores hiring and corporate cultural practices that lead to these...

Shauna Dillavou is a security innovator, weaving together her experiences in intelligence, free speech, technology, and trauma. We discuss creating safe environments online and offline for women politicians and women generally, as well as, how technology and social media companies fail to create processes and products that are conducive to online safety. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit meg...

Wagatwe Wanjuki is a feminist activist, writer, speaker, and digital strategist best known for her work as a national campus anti-violence advocate. She's a founder of the anti-rape organization Survivors Eradicating Rape Culture and is a founding co-organizer of Know Your IX’s ED ACT NOW campaign. She also has a podcast about the experience of survivors called "I, Survivor" which debuts on July 3...

Dr. Ruth Defoster, professor and author of "Terrorizing the Masses," walks through the myths around the causes and solutions to America's gun violence epidemic and debunks NRA and GOP talking points. We discuss gun laws and violence in Chicago, the role of mental illness and video games in mass shootings, as well as, the predictable patterns that nearly all mass shooters exhibit. We also discuss r...

Lily Herman, is the founder of Get Her Elected, a political network of over 2,000 volunteers offering their skills pro bono to more than 220+ progressive women candidates running for office. We discuss women candidates, campaign strategy, and of course, midterms. We also discuss how growing up as a liberal in a conservative region of the country shapes your view of politics. www. GetHerElected.com...

This episode features domestic abuse advocate, activist and creator of the #WhyIStayed hashtag, Bev Gooden (www. BeverlyGooden.com). A survivor of domestic violence herself, Bev Gooden created the viral hashtag, #WhyIStayed, to give others who've experienced domestic abuse a sense of community and safe space to discuss their experience. Gooden talks about her own experiences, her inspiration behin...

In this conversation with Professor and author Shelly Grabe (https://bit.ly/2lOW3ja), whose research includes women’s rights violations and social justice in a global context, we explore the Women's Autonomous Movement in Nicaragua. We discuss her book "Narrating a Psychology of Resistance" (https://amzn.to/2lLmZ37); and through our conversation and exploration of the movement, we uncover the para...

This episode features a conversation with Jennifer Kavanagh, a political scientist and researcher for the RAND Corporation. We discuss their new study, Truth Decay. RAND defines Truth Decay as the diminishing role of facts and data in American public life. We discuss the four trends that characterize Truth Decay as well as examine some recent and historical examples. We also make the distinction b...

Kelly Dittmar is an Assistant Research Professor at the CAWP or the Center for American Women and Politics, a unit of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University. We discuss how the political strategy for women politicians is shaped when it's crafted through a gendered lens, including examining Hillary Clinton's 2008 and 2016 strategies as examples. We also discuss the PinkWave and CA...

Mila Johns is a candidate for Maryland State Delegate, 18th District. A terrorism analyst and researcher by training, Mila Johns decided to run for Maryland's House of Delegates after turning down a job vetting Syrian refugees for U.S. Customs and Border Protection after Trump when elected. We discuss her platform including her work as an activist for reproductive justice, domestic violence awaren...

"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