The Round Table: A YVote Podcast

At this week's Round Table, Isaiah, Madeline, and Olivia spoke with Laura Wolk , senior associate at Kirkland & Ellis, who was most recently a clerk for Clarence Thomas in the U.S. Supreme Court--where she was only the second blind clerk in the Court’s history. Laura was mentored at the University of Notre Dame Law School by now Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett, for whom Laura testified...

The pandemic has fundamentally altered the way we do things and the election is no different. As a beacon for democracy and unity (these UNITED States) foreign powers have long looked at America as an example for what to do in adverse situations. In 2020, however, we currently have an incumbent president who refuses to officially acknowledge the election’s results in the midst of a nation who is e...

We will always be a country that other democracies look to as an example. In one of our most recent conversations, Olivia and Inica had the opportunity to speak with Yasmeen Serhan, a staff writer from The Atlantic, and someone who has been covering the election and political matters from the UK. As we now find ourselves in a post-election world, it is particularly crucial for us as young people t...

As we all attempt to collectively move forward with the 2020 election and look towards combating the nation’s pressing issues at hand, it is nearly impossible to do so without taking into account what Donald Trump will do now that he has effectively lost the election. Steve Friess, a reporter from Michigan who is the News & Features Editor at Hour Detroit and writes about the election for @newswee...

The 2020 election has undoubtedly embodied the lack of precedence in every regard imaginable. With the COVID-19 pandemic enabling a monumental surge of mail-in ballots in almost every state in the nation, a wide array of questions and concerns as to how to handle them have inevitably arised. In our recent conversation with Steve Friess, a reporter from Michigan who is the News & Features Editor at...

As we find ourselves in midst of post-election uncertainty, we had the opportunity of analyzing the various outcomes that could arise with the current political situation through an engaging conversation with Yasmeen Serhan from the Atlantic -and now a UK resident. Yasmeen articulated that at this point, we as voters and citizens must wait patiently and see where the numbers actually land in order...

We’re all a bit Election obsessed, and on this week’s podcast, we were fortunate to broaden our perspective through conversation with Yasmeen Serhan from the Atlantic, who is living in the UK. Yasmeen noted that she was in DC for the last election, which she described as a “seismic moment.” She described this election as feeling similar, and noted that there is a lot of apprehension abroad as well...

The Round Table was active this week in honor of the election.  Following on the heels of our conversation with Yasmeen Serhan about international perception of the election, Eliza, Isaiah, and Madeline spoke with Steve Friess , a reporter from Michigan who is the News& Features Editor at Hour Detroit and writes about the election for Newsweek and other national publications. Contested el...

“We have to adjust our expectations, we’re not going to know who the projected winner is at the end of Election Night this year.” In our previous episode with Susan Lerner, the inspiring Executive Director of Common Cause New York, she provided our podcast listeners with a perfectly accurate prediction of the 2020 election days before it even happened. It is now November 5th and indeed, we still d...

At this week's Round Table, the day after the election, our podcast team split up to get multiple perspectives on the political moment.  Olivia and Inica spoke with Yasmeen Serhan , staff writer from The Atlantic, who has been covering the election and political matters from the UK.  Yasmeen framed the U.S. election is a global moment, with global consequences. The world is looking to th...

Susan Lerner, the passionate and inspiring Executive Director of Common Causes New York and our most recent guest in the Next Generation Politics Podcast, addressed our podcasters and young people as a whole on what she believes could be perceived as change from Election Day 2016 to Election Day 2020.

“We are way past the time where voters should be sitting on the sidelines hoping it all comes out okay.” With the fateful night of November 3rd drawing ever closer, Susan Lerner, the inspiring Executive Director of Common Cause New York, directly addressed our podcasters and young people as a whole on the various ways to make an impact on this unprecedented election even if you aren’t able to vote...

At this week's Round Table, Divya, Inica, Isaiah, Madeline, and Olivia speak with Susan Lerner , the passionate and inspiring Executive Director of Common Cause New York . We discussed voting rights--and wrongs. Our conversation was simultaneously sobering, acknowledging the many problems that are playing out in relation to this year’s election, AND inspiring, celebrating the power of the vote and...

Madeline and Inica excoriate the media for hiding the truth from the public and therefore influencing the way voters across America view the upcoming election in such a crucial time.

Isaiah addressed the the social and political impact that the media has as a result of biased coverage and how it can restrict voters throughout the nation from gaining greater information on the actual platforms and campaigns of each individual candidate.

Madeline Mayes shared with fellow podcasters that whether we like it or not, how a prospective candidate comes across and how we resonate with them matters a lot, which has been on her mind during the debates

At this week's Round Table, Eliza, Inica, Isaiah, Madeline, and Olivia spoke with MaryAnn Makosiej. MaryAnn was a Founding Fellow in our Next Generation Politics' Civic Forums way back in 2017-18. Now, she’s a third-year Biology major at the University of Vermont AND a first-year Master's in Public Health student at the Larner College of Medicine AND the Director of Policy for Kesha Ram, who is ru...

At this week's Round Table, Eliza (our correspondent from Real Talk), Inica, Isaiah, and Madeline spoke with...each other. That’s right, no guests this week--by design!  Much as we love having amazing guests join us each week, we realized we don’t have enough opportunity to be in conversation with one another and plan to devote an episode to internal conversation every month or two.  Thi...

Anna Salvatore is HS SCOTUS makes clear that there’s a balance btw the court being too loud—aka in the spotlight taking up every hour of our lives-and being too quiet—aka out of public view such that of people don’t understand what’s going on. Information about the Supreme Court is less widely available and understandable than what’s happening in Congress or the Oval Office so it requires a bit mo...

Anna Salvatore, founder of HS SCOTUS, explains why young people generally fail to regard the SCOTUS on the same level as other government branches but more importantly, she dives into what we can do as young people to improve on this matter. ---Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/nextgenpolitics/message

Anna Salvatore, the founder of HS SCOTUS, shares why it’s crucial for teenagers and young people as a whole to grasp a greater understanding of the law and our court system as she details how it directly impacts our everyday lives on a significant level.

Anna Salvatore, founder of HS SCOTUS, shared the “founding story” of her blog. It WASN’T because she came from a long line of lawyers or wanted to be a lawyer—she actually thought law was very boring, but she WAS interested in politics. One morning in study hall she stumbled upon an article about a Supreme Court immigration case. She read through the whole article—and was hooked!

At this week's Round Table, Divya Ganesan,  our correspondent from Real Talk , Isaiah Taylor, Madeline Mayes, and Olivia Becker speak with Anna Salvatore , the 18 year old founder of HS SCOTUS, a blog she founded in early 2018 with the goal of analyzing Supreme Court cases that affect high schoolers. Anna founded her blog with the recognition that the judicial branch is the least understood p...

Peter Loge reminds us that If you’re a candidate, you’re going to behave in a way that’s going to help you get elected. You’re going to seek to pass legislation, raise money, be on TV to raise your profile. So if we want change, it entails changing the incentives. That means voting for people you may not agree with 100% because you think compromise is important. We have to be willing to vote for c...

From Peter Loge’s perspective--not as an academic or as a professor--but as someone who has had to pay the bills by advising candidates and electeds on issues, is that a lot of it comes down to incentives. Nobody gets into politics because they like yelling at each other, or because they want to meet a lobbyist, or wear loafers. They get in because they want to make the world a better place and th...