The Round Table: A YVote Podcast

While police brutality and anti-black institutional racism have been with us for a long long time, Michael Jackson reflects on differences of the current moment, noting the very different composition of the current protests and the degree to which media marginalized protesters in the past and made them look like radicals whereas today the media is finally acknowledging there’s a very real problem.

Michael Jackson of the Center for Community reflected with us this week about the Black Lives Matter movement and this particular moment. He underscored that issues we’re dealing with are not new. Today we’re STILL dealing with police brutality, power, anti-black racism, institutional anti-blackness—the same things that sparked the race riots in Watts back in 1964

At this week's Round Table, Inica, Julianna, Olivia, Riya, and Sara spoke with Michael Jackson , political analyst and researcher with the Center for Community Change. Four months ago, we spoke to him about why the Black Lives Matter movement matters. This week, we wanted to revisit and deepen our conversation with him in light of recent issues of police brutality and racial inequality-- and prote...

Karen Sherman, president of Akilah Institute, talks about the importance of giving women voice and choice through economic empowerment and education —the two things that help women around the world to make change in their lives, families, and communities.

At this week's Round Table, Inica, Julianna, Olivia, and Riya spoke with Karen Sherman , President of Akilah Institute , Rwanda’s only women’s college, and author of the new book Brick by Brick -- Building Hope and Opportunity for Women Survivors Everywhere . Karen is a tireless advocate for women’s education and economic participation globally--particularly for those from conflict-ridden countrie...

Author and CNN contributor Michael D’Antonio noted that people can be reticent to speak with reporters because of distrust, which hinders communication and understanding. He shared an anecdote about a journalist approaching an angry protester, asking her to share her message for the country, and the power of the protester taking the time to speak and to let her voice be heard beyond her emotions....

Barbara McQuade discusses the rampant sexism women from the 1970s endured in the work place and how they paved the way for women like her, creating opportunities those women didn’t have. She underscores that this doesn’t mean sexism, sexual assault, or sexual harassment are gone but that she’s very encouraged by the culture we’re seeing in many workplaces—including the judiciary.

At this week's Round Table, Inica, Olivia, and Riya spoke with   Michael D'Antonio ,  a regular contributor for CNN and author of more than a dozen books, including Never Enough: Donald Trump and the Pursuit of Success , The Shadow President: The Truth About Mike Pence , and A Consequential President: The Legacy of Barack Obama . Needless to say, he had lots of say about the state of pol...

Legal analyst and law Professor Barbara McQuade responds fo Riya’s question about the line between political strategizing and intentionally spreading misinformation; what is the check for that; and how can the public use the legal sphere to counter misinformation Trump is spreading.

Barbara McQuade, former US Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan until being abruptly fired among many by the Trump administration in 2017, talks about the drivers of the decision, and the implications of it

At this week's Round Table,  Inica, Julianna, Olivia, and Riya speak with Barbara McQuade, Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School, and a legal analyst for NBC News and MSNBC . McQuade previously served as the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan from 2010 to 2017--the first woman to serve in the role in the region--taking on challenges like public cor...

Graham Brownstein shares his feelings about well off white people telling people to stay home given dependence on other people’s labor, often people who are non wealthy and nonwhite. He feels it’s racism wrapped up in do your service, civic duty, patriotic, protect our vulnerable people, we’re at war rhetoric but most people aren’t on the front lines, they’re sitting at home.

Graham Brownstein shares his serious concerns about the response to COVID19, noting that “you can’t re-engineer the human animal on the fly.” He warns us that if you hear anyone in a position of power proposing a solution to a problem that is literally impossible to do, then it’s not a good solution

At this week's Round Table, Inica, Julianna, Riya, and Sara speak with Graham Brownstein , Chief Strategy Officer for Global Water Farms. Graham is a strong proponent that the country has gone too far for too long with shelter- in- place orders in relation to Covid-19, with catastrophic consequences for communities that are disproportionately low income and of color. He shares his concerns and rat...

Avi Green of SSN talks about how insular academics can be and how important it is to get beyond campuses into their broader communities to meet new people and try to create compromises and shared projects. But ultimately, he thinks we need to change the political system and get out of the two-party doom loop.

Avi Green of Scholars Strategy Network talks about how in order to create political change, we need to create situations in which about 60% of people agree on the changes we need and then win power and use it. There are powerful historical examples of this: the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Motor Voter Act of 1993. Change CAN happen when we figure out which changes are necessary and then make sur...

Avi Green of SSN talks about the gifts and the burdens left to us by our country’s founders. He underscored that to fix these things, we need a really good diagnosis of what they are. Some things are easy to diagnose: slavery Other things are harder: elections He shared his belief that for elections to work will require transforming our two party system and learning from other countries rather tha...

Avi Green of Scholars Strategy Network talks about how bipartisanship was a larger force in the U.S. when there was a heavy external threat. After the Cold War, we went back to the “normal” way of two parties fighting each other like crazy. We need to find a way out of that negative spiral

At this week's Round Table, Inica, Julianna, Olivia, and Riya spoke with Avi Green , Executive Director of the Scholars Strategy Network (SSN), which helps researchers use relationship-building and communications skills to increase the impact of research and evidence on public policy and to develop reciprocal relationships with government officials and policymakers on both sides of the aisle, and...

Sam Abrams shared his views on the importance of open dialogue on all topics from all perspectives in the classroom which, while controversial to some, are broadly embraced by many college students. He warns that just because there’s a loud voice doesn’t mean it’s the right voice, and that we have avoid tyranny of the minority, which may not represent what people want and need.

Scholar Sam Abrams talks about the limitations of echo chambers and how it’s too pervasive at many colleges today. He characterizes the strength of NYC as being that the city is so diverse, with such a mix of cultures, and that people push, are critical, and debate.

Scholar Sam Abrams underscores how Gen Z are open, thoughtful, and more centrist in the service of understanding and making the world better and not being concerned with labels and dogmatism. He characterizes Gen Z as the biggest hope we have for the future, esp now that the age group compromises 10% of the electorate.

At this week's Round Table, Inica, Julianna, Olivia, and Riya spoke with Sam Abrams , a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, where he focuses on questions of related civic and political culture and American ideologies; a professor of politics and social science at Sarah Lawrence College; and a faculty fellow with New York University’s Center for Advanced Social Science Research....

Enjoy this one minute overview of what The Round Table is all about!

Global Girlhood’s Pranjal Jain contextualizes the organization’s emphasis on intersectionality—what it is and how they achieve it—as well as the sources of her “raging feminism”