The Electorette Podcast

What happens when states gain the power to decide which healthcare providers Medicaid recipients can access? In this episode, host Jen Taylor-Skinner is joined by Elizabeth Taylor, Executive Director of the National Health Law Program, to break down the high-stakes Supreme Court case Medina v. South Atlantic. At its core, the case challenges whether individuals have the right to choose their own h...

Tariffs, Tax Cuts & the Corporate Scam Economy In this episode of The Electorette, host Jen Taylor-Skinner sits down with Lindsay Owens, Executive Director of Groundwork Collaborative, to dissect the chaos of Trump’s economic policies—and the hidden logic behind them. From erratic tariff announcements to the looming extension of the 2017 tax cuts for the wealthy, Lindsay reveals how economic “whip...

What happens when disinformation meets cutting-edge AI—and Black communities are caught in the crosshairs? In this powerful episode of The Electorette, host Jen Taylor-Skinner speaks with Esosa Osa, Founder and CEO of Onyx Impact, about the alarming rise in AI-generated political disinformation targeting Black voters. Together, they unpack how misinformation campaigns are designed to exploit emoti...

What if the clean energy revolution isn’t coming—it’s already here, quietly reshaping global power, American manufacturing, and the way we heat our homes? In this episode of The Electorette, host Jen Taylor-Skinner sits down with energy policy expert Kate Gordon to unpack the largest climate investment in U.S. history—and why most Americans barely noticed it. Together, they explore the ambitious t...

The Senate Finance Committee just advanced the nomination of Dr. Mehmet Oz to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), bringing his confirmation one step closer to reality. In this bonus episode, Jen Taylor-Skinner is joined by Nourbese Flint, president of All* Above All, for a critical conversation about what’s at stake. CMS oversees vital programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and t...

How can we combat disinformation in rural communities and empower voters with accurate information? In this episode, host Jen Taylor-Skinner sits down with Sarah Jaynes, Executive Director of the Rural Democracy Initiative, to explore how grassroots efforts, local media, and community influencers are pushing back against misinformation and mobilizing civic engagement in small towns across America....

Amber Nicole Thurman was a 28-year-old medical assistant, devoted mother from Georgia, and one of the first women to die following the Dobbs decision. In August 2022, she sought a medication abortion due to an unplanned pregnancy. Following the procedure, she experienced severe complications, including a grave infection. Despite her critical condition, medical staff at Piedmont Henry Hospital dela...

Congressional Republicans have fast-tracked the SAVE Act (Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act)—legislation that could disenfranchise tens of millions of American voters by imposing strict new citizenship verification requirements. Is this bill really about election integrity, or is it an unprecedented voter suppression effort? Host Jen Taylor-Skinner sits down with Eliza Sweren-Becker from th...

Natalie Davis, CEO of United States of Care, joins The Electorette host Jen Taylor-Skinner to examine the critical postpartum care crisis in the United States. Despite being a high-income nation, America’s maternal mortality rates highlight significant gaps in postpartum support. Davis discusses The 100 Weeks Project, a groundbreaking initiative designed to transform postpartum care by providing c...

For over a century, the NAACP has been a driving force in the fight for civil rights, shaping American democracy through groundbreaking legal victories, grassroots activism, and political advocacy. From dismantling segregation in Brown v. Board of Education to championing the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts, the NAACP’s impact is undeniable. And today, their fight continues. In this episode, I...

The gun violence crisis in America has shown little signs of slowing, and even though most Americans are desperate to stop the violence, congressional gridlock prevents us from making progress. Guns Down America—an organization focused on building a future with fewer guns, weakening the gun industry, and building political and cultural support for policies that will keep us safe from gun violence—...

In this final episode of the season, I have a casual and meaningful conversation with a friend: essayist and National Endowment for the Arts Fellow, Leta McCollough Seletzky. Leta joins me to discuss the impact Black women had on this election, on Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign, and we explore how the campaign affected us personally. We also discuss how the country's treatment of marginali...

Pamela Smith, election security expert and President and CEO of Verified Voting, delves into the critical aspects of voting integrity, and gets into the weeds of voting equipment, voter purges, ballot audits, recount procedures, and the hand-counting process, while addressing every conceivable question on election security. We also revisit the historic 2000 Presidential Election between George W....

Kelly Hall, the Executive Director of The Fairness Project, an organization focused on empowering voters through citizen-led ballot measures, has become the country's largest backers of abortion ballot measures, investing $30M to critical ballot campaigns like those in Arizona, Florida, Missouri, Montana, and Nebraska. Ballot measures have become a critical lifeline to strengthening, restoring and...

Political activist, and co-founder of the progressive organization Indivisible, Leah Greenberg, discusses the early days of the organization, and what she hoped would happen after publishing the first Indivisible Guide in 2016. We also discuss the big tent strategy embraced by the Harris-Walz campaign, and whether the coalition can hold after the election. Lastly, we discuss what you can do NOW, a...

Kelley Robinson, the President of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC.org), the nation’s largest LGBTQ+ civil rights organization, discusses the enthusiasm on the ground for the Harris-Walz campaign. Kelley and the folks at Human Rights Campaign have held GOTV events across the country, in battleground states, on college campuses, and at HBCUs. She provides an update on those events, talks Project 2025...

USAFacts President, Poppy MacDonald, discusses their mission to provide solid, unbiased facts about the United States that are rooted in data. USAFacts is a nonprofit, founded by Steve Ballmer, who assembled a small team of economists, writers, and researchers to help comb through government data. Poppy MacDonald discusses how this data can then be used to shape policy, to inform constituents, and...

In 2018, Liuba Grechen Shirley launched a historic congressional campaign to represent New York’s 2nd District in the U.S. House of Representatives—all while raising two young children under six-years-old. As her demanding campaign schedule clashed with limited access to affordable childcare, Liuba quickly realized the whole thing was untenable. So, six months into her campaign, Liuba petitioned t...

Senior Advisor for Black Engagement for Climate Power, Markeya Thomas, discusses the organization's $10 Million Black Engagement program, aimed at mobilizing Black voters around climate change, in battleground states. Climate Power is focus on educating voters on the differences between the two campaigns—one which has a track record of putting forth policies that create green jobs, with a history...

Historian, educator, and author, Carol Anderson, discusses her book, "One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression Is Destroying Our Democracy." This episode replay is part of The Electorette 2024 Election Coverage series, and is a reply of an important conversation with voting rights scholar, Carol Anderson. Prof. Carol Anderson, the Charles Howard Candler Professor and Chair of African American St...

Aimee Allison, the Founder and President of She the People, the nation’s leading organization dedicated to an America redefined and inspired by women of color, discusses a new poll of women of color, conducted by She the People, in collaboration with The 2040 Strategy Group. The poll found Harris should actually LEAN into her identity, as it motivates this group of voters. It also uncovers the key...

Sociologist, and sexual violence researcher, Dr. Nicole Bedera, discusses her new book, On the Wrong Side: How Universities Protect Perpetrators and Betray Survivors of Sexual Violence. The book is a must-read, and Dr. Bedera's research often spills over into conversations on social media — like a recent thread in which she unpacks how the implicit thread of sexual violence, has seeped into politi...

Liz Walters, Chairwoman of the Ohio Democratic Party, discusses the November election, what pundits get wrong about Ohio voters, crucial initiatives on this November's ballot, and of course, Ohio's own J.D. Vance, and his regressive views about women, and reproductive freedom. This episode was made possible with a grant from the MacArthur Foundation through URL Media. Listen to All Electorette Epi...

Alabama Representative Marilyn Lands, made headlines earlier this year when she defeated a Republican in a special election, and flipped a red district—a district that Trump had previously won by a large margin. And she did it by sharing her own abortion story. Lands joins me to discuss that election, her upcoming legislative goals, as well as, how leaning into a personal narrative, especially on...

Debbie Cox Bultan, the CEO of the NewDEAL, discusses J.D. Vance's harmful worldview as it relates to women, and how his view aligns perfectly with the dark, oppressive vision Project 2025 lays out for women's lives. This episode was made possible with a grant from the MacArthur Foundation through URL Media. From this Episode: Debbie Cox Bultan's podcast: An Honorable Profession The NewDEAL Leaders...