UnityNow!

Angela McArdle is Chair of the national Libertarian Party, serves as Co-Organizer for the Rage Against The War Machine, and is a two time candidate for California’s 34th Congressional District.  Angela joined forces with Bret Weinstein and Matt Tune to create "Rescue the Republic", an event happening in Washington D.C. Sunday September 29, 2024.  Go to jointheresistance.org to learn more and RSVP....

Toby sits down with Kara Jarzynski, Executive Director of  @Resolutionaries  to discuss the Building Civic Bridges Act(BCBA). The BCBA is a bi-partisan bill recently introduced in Congress that will provide funding for programs that help get people talking again – the crucial first step toward dealing with the many challenges that affect us all. Learn how Kara got her start in the Common Ground bu...

Toby sits down with sound and dialogue editor and our friend Todd Niesen .  Todd shares his journey from depression to a low point where he and his wife decide to use a controversial treatment: Ketamine. Todd takes our audience through a Ketamine experience, what Ketamine is, and how "addictive" Ketamine and other psychedelics really are. Todd Niesen has been nominated for 7 Emmys for series such...

Toby sits down with Julian Adorney, a writer and adventurer about his article on Quillette: " The Perils of Affective Polarization ".  Julian takes us through his journey in life and politics from a Polarized individual to understanding the affects it has on your well being.  The two discuss what Affective Polarization is, the resulting damage it can have on your health and relationships, and the...

Toby sits down with Tim Redmond, a PhD in political science, an award-winning educator, and author of over one hundred articles on critical thinking and politics. Toby and Tim sit down to discuss Tim's new book “Political Tribalism in America, How Hyper Partisanship Dumbs Down Democracy and How to Fix It”. Learn about Tim's origin story including something he has in common with our host, hear abou...

Toby sits down with Chris Forman , PhD, an Author, and Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts. Toby and Chris discuss Chris' advocacy for Deliberative Democracy and how it relates to his work in physics, if at all. As Chris describes it, the way science has been used and abused in politics fuels his mission for a better democracy. Chris discusses how he inadvertantly created a deliberation proces...

Toby sits down with Spike Cohen , 2020 Libertarian VP candidate and Founder of You Are the Power. Toby and Spike cover a broad range of topic from Spike's entrepreneurial spirit and the need to help others to his 2020 VP Candidicy to You Are the Power, and the 2024 Election. Spike tells us why Third Parties haven't won any major elections and how the system is rigged to keep it that way. What is t...

Toby Davis, host of UnityNow! podcast, sat down with Zachary Elwood , an unlikely, yet compelling podcaster on the challenge of political polarization. Zach is a world-leading expert on poker tells. In this wide-ranging conversation, Zach gave expert tips on understanding political differences and building productive conversations. His book Defusing American Anger is newly-released and can be foun...

Toby Davis is joined by Julie Mastrine; Writer and Director of Marketing and Media Bias Ratings at AllSides. AllSides™ is a media solutions company that strengthens our democratic society with balanced news, media bias ratings, diverse perspectives, and real conversation. The two discuss Julie's background and what lead her to creating media bias ratings as well as what it means to be biased and h...

Toby Davis is joined by Eugene Volokh to discuss his blog the Volokh Conspiracy and, along with Rumble and Locals, a challenge to New York's Law that requires Social Media Networks to publish a plan for for responding to alleged hate speech by users. Eugene wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal titled “NEW YORK STATE WANTS TO CONSCRIPT ME TO VIOLATE THE CONSTITUTION” . We discuss this article...

This week, UnityNow's Toby Davis sits down with Michelle Dickson of Citizen Connect, a Bridge Alliance initiative. Michelle is a Service Coordinator with Citizen Connect helping to coordinate over 500 bridge-building organizations in America. Citizen Connect is a non-partisan platform dedicated to one thing only – helping Americans find ways to heal our political divides and strengthen our democra...

This week, UnityNow's Toby Davis sits down with Eric Bronner, founder of Veterans for Political Innovation. Eric graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1997 where he served eight years as a Naval Flight Officer. Eric describes how his time as board president for “Show Me Integrity”, a political reform organization became a springboard to form Veterans for Political Innovation or VPI. Li...

This week, UnityNow's Toby Davis sits down with Connor Boyack, founder and president of the Utah-based Libertas Institute. Throughout this free-flowing conversation, Boyack shares his experience and perspective on working towards consensus-based, common ground solutions at his think tank, and how he's been able to make real political change. From small businesses' battles against regulation, to th...

UnityNow's Toby Davis sits down with Bruce Bond, CEO and Co-founder of Common Ground Committee, a nonpartisan, citizen-led nonprofit dedicated to reducing polarization. Throughout their conversation, the two explore the founding and mission of the Committee. Bruce and his Team began hosting events that bring individuals from different ends of an issue. The two discuss the issue in an attempt to fi...

With so many great writers featured on previous interviews, UnityNow's Kimberly Kolb Eakin decided to get to the bottom of how they got so good at formulating and articulating their ideas. So this week, she sat down with Brittany King - now a teacher of writing at Indiana University, in addition to being a prolific writer herself - to do just that. Throughout their conversation, the two explore wh...

UnityNow's Kimberly Kolb Eakin sits down with Jessica Carpenter, RCMO at BridgeUSA. Jessica, a 2021 graduate of Arizona State University, shares the story of her and BridgeUSA's journey to try to bring open and civil discourse to Generation Z, fighting against both the political apathy and the apprehension towards sharing views that has become all too prevalent across college campuses. Throughout...

This week, UnityNow’s Toby Davis sits down with Isaac Saul, editor of the Tangle political newsletter. Saul discusses his efforts to break people out of their political bubbles by covering the issues of the day through a holistic look at perspectives from left, right, and center, and an earnest effort to present the strongest arguments from each side. Throughout this discussion, the two men explor...

This week, UnityNow's Kimberly Eakin welcomes guest David Webb, a fellow volunteer for the Unity2020 project, and a pivotal player in that organization's primary. While UnityNow was being born elsewhere on the team slack, Webb was working on revolutionary new ranked choice voting software to help find the first ever Unity ticket. He shares his experience on that project, from signing up for the ta...

This week, UnityNow’s Toby Davis sits down with Jacqueline Merrill, head of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Campus Free Expression Project, to discuss her team’s findings on key questions of viewpoint diversity and discourse on American college campuses. How does the social media-driven political tension of today compare to ’50’s McCarthyism and ‘80’s / ‘90’s political correctness? Do college stude...

In this episode, we welcome Jefferson Shupe, author of the new YA novel, the Bathwater Brigade. Focusing on a college student’s journey through campus politics in the wake of a police shooting controversy, Bathwater Brigade explores the challenges and rewards of finding unity, and helping others find unity, in a time of hostility and division - something that might just be related to what we do he...

In this brief interlude from our usual political fare, UnityNow's Toby Davis sits down with rapper Kuf Knotz and harpist Christine Elise, to discuss the pair's journey towards creating one of today's most unique, and unifying, musical experiences. Our guests share their origin stories, including Kuf's early days as an MC and Christine's life-changing Music Therapy study. The pair then discuss the...

In this very special episode, Toby Davis is joined by UnityNow’s all-star, all-volunteer crew to look back at the podcast’s journey from the humble “unofficial” pod of the Unity2020 movement to what it is today. The gang shares their favorite clips from the show’s run so far, highlighting the guests and the moments that made them rethink how they look at the world, that captured and articulated th...

In this episode, journalist Heather Blakeslee and former Facebook employee Cody Hill share their thoughts and perspectives for an important conversation on censorship. In the wake of UnityNow's own run-in with the Powers that Be, is the corporate suppression of deemed misinformation going too far? Is it a necessary tool for today’s incendiary political environment, or is it simply fanning the flam...

UnityNow's Toby Davis sits down with Blair Walshingham, Deputy Political Director and Volunteer Coordinator of the nascent Forward Party, to ask the tough questions about the new, Andrew Yang-led effort. Where do they stand on the issues? How do they view their own weaknesses? And will they be making any runs in 2022? We also discuss her own journey, from growing up in a conservative household, to...

UnityNow's Toby Davis sits down with Matt Tune and Louisa Clary, founders of the Washington, D.C. Defeat the Mandates March. The two share stories of how they got to be involved with the group, and how they hope to make their January 23rd event a unifying effort, from appealing to vaccinated and unvaccinated alike, to bringing in representatives from BLM and groups across the political spectrum, t...