The Round Table: A Next Generation Politics Podcast: Recent Episodes
Next Gen Politics
The Round Table provides a platform for conversation and engagement of civically-minded young people from different parts of the country. We strive to model civil dialogue across various divides--socioeconomic, racial, ethnic, political, and regional. We aim to challenge norms and represent all kinds of diversity--especially of perspective and ideas--enabling listeners to “hear” our thinking.
The Round Table is 100% created and edited by young people committed to building a more just and joyous world.
Atthis week’s Round Table, Emmanuel, Hannah, and Heba spoke with Edward L. Donnellan, Jr., a passionate high school social studies teacher, and three of his remarkable students, Justin Wallace, Lincoln Fischer, and Lonnie McCallister. Together, they’ve undertaken a compelling exploration titled "Searching for Truth in the Garden: Gonzaga's History with Slavery and Freedom House Walk Video." This student-led research project courageously confronts the long-standing ties between Gonzaga High School and slavery.
As featured in an enlightening Washington Post article, this initiative sheds light on a crucial aspect of the school's history, inviting reflection and dialogue. But their journey doesn't stop at uncovering historical truths: through their findings, they were inspired to express their emotions and insights through the profound medium of poetry. In this episode, they graciously share their poignant verses, offering a raw and intimate glimpse into their personal reckonings with Gonzaga's past.
Edward Donnellan and his students delve into the historical context of Gonzaga High School's ties to slavery, shedding light on a lesser-known aspect of the institution's past. We discuss the genesis and impact of the student-led research project from its inception to its far-reaching implications. The guests emphasize the importance of student-driven initiatives in shaping a more inclusive narrative.
We also delve into the transformative power of poetry in processing historical truths. The three students share their experiences of using poetry as a means of grappling with difficult historical realities, highlighting the unique capacity of art to provoke reflection and empathy. Furthermore, they reflect on confronting their school's past in a candid conversation. They share insights into the emotional and intellectual challenges they encountered along the way.
Through candid conversations and captivating poetry readings, this episode illuminates the enduring power of storytelling and advocacy in shaping our understanding of history and fostering meaningful change. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Emily, Emmanuel, and Inyoo spoke with the remarkable Dr. Clover Perez, Founder & Executive Director of A Beautiful HEART Ministries. In this captivating episode, Dr. Perez shares her extraordinary story of redemption and her tireless efforts to reform the criminal justice system.
As a modern woman of faith, Dr. Perez challenges societal norms and perceptions, breaking barriers and stereotypes along the way. From her early days as a motivational speaker to her current roles as an activist, entrepreneur, and ambassador for change, Dr. Perez's impact knows no bounds.
Through her nonprofit organization, A Beautiful HEART Ministries, Dr. Perez strives to improve the lives of formerly incarcerated women and girls, shedding light on the often-overlooked faces behind bars. With her clothing line, Clover Me'She Designs, she promotes self-love and empowerment, embodying resilience and grace in every stitch.
During our conversation, Dr. Perez shares her vision for a more just America, advocating for meaningful criminal justice reform and amplifying the voices of those who have been silenced by the system. Her dedication to creating change is palpable, and her message of hope resonates with audiences around the globe.
From her compelling testimony in Congress to her role as a Justice-In-Education Scholar at Columbia University, Dr. Perez continues to make waves in the fight for justice and equality. Thank you for joining us as we dive into her incredible journey and explore the power of storytelling in driving social change!
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At this week’s Round Table, Emmanuel, Hannah, and Heba spoke with multifaceted writer, community organizer, and labor advocate Raeghn Draperof The Futures Institute. Hailing from the vibrant city of Chicago, Reagan's journey is a testament to the power of narrative, both written and lived, in igniting movements and catalyzing change. Drawing inspiration from the visionary works of Octavia Butler, Raeghn's prose delves into the fascinating realms of social justice and equality. Through her writing, she sheds light on pressing issues, challenging the status quo and sparking conversations that demand action.
But Raeghn's impact extends beyond the written word. As a dedicated community organizer, she specializes in narrative strategy, leveraging stories as tools for empowerment and mobilization. Her work with restaurant workers in Chicago, coupled with the founding of her own non-profit organization, exemplifies her commitment to labor rights and grassroots advocacy.
Central to our conversation is the urgent need for a bold policy platform that champions young people—the Futures Agenda. Raeghn eloquently articulates why amplifying youth voices is essential for shaping a more just and equitable future, and she provides tangible ways for listeners to get involved in this transformative movement. Through our conversation, we also delve into the role of storytelling in movement work. Raeghn shares insights on harnessing the compelling force of narrative to inspire action, build solidarity, and drive systemic change. Her perspective is a testament to the belief in our collective power to shape new realities through the stories we tell.
Raeghn offers wisdom and resilience drawn from her own experiences, navigating dark and difficult times while remaining steadfast in her commitment to social justice. Raeghn's inspiring resilience reminds us that even in the darkest of times, our collective commitment to social justice can be a beacon of hope, guiding us towards a brighter tomorrow. Thank you for listening!
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At this week’s Round Table, Emmanuel and Hannah spoke about the dynamic world of civic engagement and education with esteemed guests June Klees and the vibrant members of Bay State Civic Corps: Chloe Pokovich and Samantha Combs.
Dr. June Klees, a beacon of academic excellence and community leadership, guided us through the rich tapestry of the Civics Corps, shedding light on its inception and evolution. As an educator with a profound commitment to fostering civic awareness, Dr. Klees shared her wealth of experience from Bay de Noc Community College, where she tirelessly champions civics education and the humanities.
In addition, Chloe and Samantha bring their unique perspective and passion to the discussion. Hailing from diverse backgrounds and driven by a shared sense of purpose, these students illuminate what draws them to the Civics Corps and the transformative power of civic engagement.
Together, we explore the profound impact of initiatives like the Veterans Speak Events, spearheaded by these dedicated students, who embody the spirit of service and solidarity. Through their experiences, we uncover the profound connections that can be forged between history, education, and community building.
Furthermore, our conversation delves into the innovative realm of Civic Diplomacy micro-credentialing, a pioneering endeavor empowering students to navigate complex global challenges with resilience and empathy. With Dr. Klees' expert guidance and the students' firsthand insights, we dug deep into the transformative potential of this educational paradigm shift. Thank you for listening!
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We've got a special BONUS episode this week. Christine, Eloise, Jiwan, Theo, and Zarina--amazing Next Gen Civic Fellows who are conducting a Civic Action Project (CAP) on media literacy in collaboration with Ahmed Baba of Rantt Media--are doing a takeover. Listen in as they discuss the intersection between political polarization and social media, the impact of AI, what it means to be media literate today, and what we can all do about it. Thanks for listening!
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At this week’s Round Table, Emily and Emmanuel spoke with visionary leader and change-maker Debilyn Molineaux, founder of AmericanFuture.us.
American Tales isn't just a project; it's a beacon of hope in a world often overshadowed by pessimism. Debilyn's mission is clear: to ignite our collective imagination towards a future filled with possibility, rather than succumbing to the despair propagated by those who profit from conflict. As the host of the newly launched podcast, Terrified Nation, Debilyn invites us to reimagine our national narrative, to dream of a future that transcends the divisive rhetoric plaguing our society.
In this episode, Debilyn delves into the concept of conflict profiteers—those who profit from sowing discord and amplifying grievances. Drawing from Amanda Ripley's astute observations, Debilyn sheds light on how these individuals and entities manipulate our fears and insecurities for personal gain, perpetuating a cycle of division that threatens to lead us down a dystopian path.
In a time in which unity seems elusive, Debilyn offers a compelling antidote—a call to action for all of us to reclaim our agency and to dare to dream of a future where cooperation wins over conflict, and where empathy transcends animosity. Thank you for listening!
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At this week’s Round Table, Emmanuel, Hannah, and Heba conversed with a remarkable young leader, Chelsea Osei. Chelsea, a Ghanaian American high school senior based in Illinois and a member of Citizen University's Youth Collaboratory brings with her a wealth of experiences and insights that inspire and enlighten. Throughout her academic journey, Chelsea has distinguished herself as a passionate advocate for equity and inclusion. As a founding board member of her school’s Student Equity Action Committee and the founder of AP Advisory, she has tirelessly championed the cause of fairness and justice within her educational community.
But Chelsea's activism extends far beyond the walls of her school. Engaging with platforms such as Civics Unplugged and her local Board of Education, she has found her voice and her purpose in effecting positive change on a broader scale. Thanks to her participation in Citizen University's Youth Collaboratory, Chelsea's vision for change has grown stronger: inspired by the resilience and creativity of activists and artists during the pandemic, she is embarking on a power project aimed at elevating young artists who shine a light on societal conflicts and educating others on these vital issues.
At the heart of Chelsea's work lies a deep commitment to community organizing and civic education. Her experiences on the Board of Education and her advocacy for educational equity and diversity, equity, and inclusion have shaped her understanding of the power of collective action and informed her approach to grassroots activism.
Join us as we delve into Chelsea's journey as a young activist, exploring the challenges she has faced, the victories she has achieved, and the lessons she has learned along the way. Together, we'll uncover the transformative potential of youth leadership and the importance of fostering inclusive spaces where all voices are heard and valued. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Emmanuel and Hannah spoke with Isabel Luciano and Serena Prince, whose dedication to empowering communities and advocating for inclusive decision-making processes is truly inspiring.
Isabel Luciano, Director of Training and Curriculum Design, brings a wealth of experience from her tenure as Program Director of the People's Fellowship at the Participatory Budgeting Project. Having worked alongside community members across North America, Isabel has spearheaded initiatives to democratize decision-making by inviting residents to allocate public funds. Her passion for resourcing young people to design their own community engagement and participatory budgeting processes has led to the cultivation of spaces where decisions are made differently, fostering open access to our democracy.
Serena Prince, a Senior and Posse Scholar at Connecticut College, embodies the spirit of youth-led engagement and social change. Inspired by her participation in the Coro Participatory Budgeting youth fellowship, Serena has dedicated herself to exploring the intersections of race, class, education policy, and urban politics. Her commitment to upholding community strength and supporting marginalized populations has been evident through her volunteer work, internships, and mentorship programs.
In this enlightening episode, we delve into the intricacies of participatory democracy, sharing insights gleaned from our guests’ experiences and research. We also further explore the transformative potential of participatory budgeting and other forms of citizen engagement, highlighting the importance of transparent decision-making processes and the role of technology in facilitating inclusive debates.
Furthermore, Isabel and Serena discuss their shared interests in intersectionality, voting rights, housing, and civic engagement, providing nuanced perspectives on the pressing issues facing our society today. Their commitment to amplifying the voices of marginalized communities and empowering youth underscores the transformative power of grassroots activism and civic participation.
Join the movement for inclusive decision-making in your community by volunteering with local organizations. Let's work together to support youth-led initiatives and ensure everyone's voice is heard in policy discussions. Together, we can make a difference! Thank you for listening!
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At this week’s Round Table, Hannah, Heba, and Inyoo spoke with Hajar Yazdiha, a sociologist and author of The Struggle for the People’s King. Our conversation with Hajar explores the ways right-wing movements manipulate the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights figures. Drawing on Hajar’s research, we discuss how these groups use the same historical sources to develop contrasting agendas, leading to polarized debates on issues like LGBTQ rights, immigrant and Muslim rights, and other areas of contention.
Hajar sheds light on the complex relationship between public memory, history, and social justice, emphasizing the ongoing struggle over the narratives we tell ourselves about the past. By examining how sanitized histories perpetuate racial inequality, she underscores the importance of critically evaluating the stories we accept as true and questioning whose interests they serve.
Our discussion also covers the impact of revisionist narratives on our multicultural democracy and the ways progressive and conservative movements come to drastically different conclusions about civil rights history. Hajar's insights reveal how the distortion of history continues to shape contemporary discourse and deepen societal divides.
We challenge you, our listeners, to take action in a meaningful way. Start by reading Hajar Yazdiha's book, The Struggle for the People’s King, and consider sharing it with your community. Look into organizations that advocate for civil rights and get involved in supporting their work. Attend town halls and community meetings to stay informed and make your voice heard. By actively seeking knowledge and engaging with local advocacy groups, you can play a role in reshaping our understanding of history and championing social justice. Thank you for listening!
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At this week’s Round Table, Emily, Emmanuel, Hannah, and Heba spoke with the esteemed Erika Howard, Director of Impact Strategy and External Relations for FRONTLINE. Through her pivotal role at FRONTLINE, Erika leads the charge in using documentary filmmaking as a catalyst for societal change and meaningful dialogue.
With a career spanning impactful roles at POV/American Documentary and now at FRONTLINE, Erika brings a wealth of experience and insight to the table. From crafting innovative film campaigns to forging partnerships with community organizations, universities, and beyond, Erika's dedication to amplifying diverse voices and sparking vital conversations is truly inspiring.
As Erika shares her perspectives on the relevance of investigative journalism in today's world and why staying informed is crucial for all citizens, especially those who are civically engaged, we explored the intersection of civic learning, education, and journalism. She also discussed how FRONTLINE is pioneering efforts to engage younger generations through their new platform, FRONTLINE Short Docs.
But the conversation doesn't stop there. Erika sheds light on the pressing issue of misinformation and disinformation, offering actionable insights on how we can combat it together. Furthermore, we delve into the importance of uplifting the voices of young people in discussions about the future of democracy.
Prepare to be inspired and enlightened as we discuss an engaging exploration of truth, impact, and the power of storytelling. Take the initiative to engage in meaningful discussions with peers and family members, sharing insights gained from this episode to promote media literacy and informed discourse within your community. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Emily, Emmanuel, and Hannah spoke with KJ Mauwong and Sean Schrader, Podcast Fellows of the Democracy Group.. Through their distinct paths and shared commitment to service, they embody the essence of leadership, empathy, and the power of collective action.
As the discussion delved into the intricacies of community engagement, KJ and Sean illuminated the importance of aligning areas of passion with opportunities for impact. They emphasized the transformative power of grassroots mobilization and collective action, highlighting the myriad ways in which individuals can contribute to positive change within their communities. From volunteering at local organizations to spearheading grassroots initiatives, KJ and Sean emphasized the importance of active citizenship and civic participation in shaping the future we envision.
KJ and Sean instilled us with a renewed sense of purpose and agency through their unwavering commitment to promoting civil discourse and community engagement. Their stories served as a powerful reminder that true change begins with each individual's willingness to listen, learn, and engage with empathy and compassion. Reflecting on the profound impact of our shared values, KJ and Sean left an indelible mark on our hearts and minds, igniting a spark of hope and possibility for a more inclusive and equitable future.
Though their journeys may diverge in circumstance and experience, KJ and Sean are united by a common thread—their unwavering belief in the power of community, empathy, and collective action. As you delve deeper into their stories, you too will appreciate the resilience, compassion, and indomitable spirit that defines their respective paths. Through their voices, we find inspiration, courage, and the unwavering resolve to build a brighter tomorrow for all. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Hannah and Heba spoke with Caleb Christen of the InterMovement Impact Project, a dedicated advocate for democracy and civic health. Hailing from the heartland of Wisconsin, Caleb's journey is a testament to his unwavering commitment to service and systems change.
Caleb's illustrious career spans over 16 years of distinguished service in the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General's (JAG) Corps. From overseeing operations across Europe and Southwest Asia to mentoring judges in Afghanistan, Caleb's leadership left an indelible mark on the global stage.
In a bold move to safeguard democracy in a new capacity, Caleb transferred from the Navy Reserves in 2020 and into academia, entering into the hallowed halls of the Duke Divinity School and the University of Oxford's Said Business School. Recognizing the need for systems change, Caleb, along with systems change strategist Walt Roberts, co-founded the Inter-Movement Impact Project (IMIP).
IMIP is not just an organization; it's a force for collective impact. Caleb introduced us to the groundbreaking concept of "local democracy hubs." These hubs, incubated through IMIP's flagship project, the "Local Intersections Project," serve as beacons of holistic support for community needs and priorities.
Caleb also has a deep passion for the role of youth in building power and movement capacity, feeling strongly that movements, unlike traditional organizations, should not limit participation based on age. He believes that the dynamic energy of youth, coupled with their mastery of social media, can revolutionize the landscape of American democracy and civic health.
Whether you're curious about volunteering, supporting projects, internships, or informal movement building, Caleb will have a wealth of insights for you. We’re thrilled to have you join us for a riveting conversation with a visionary leader who is shaping the future of democracy, one local democracy hub at a time. Thank you for listening!
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At this week’s Round Table, Amelia, Emily, Hannah, and Heba engaged in a profound conversation with distinguished guest Emma Addams, Co-Executive Director of Mormon Women for Ethical Government (MWEG). Emma provides invaluable insights into the mission and principles of the organization, which is dedicated to inspiring women of faith to advocate for ethical government, transcending partisanship. Through her leadership, Emma aims to create a collaborative space where women contribute to the complex symphony that is our democracy.
Emma brought a wealth of experience to our conversation, having navigated the realms of contracts negotiation, corporate transactions, and investor relations in Boston and Silicon Valley. Her journey from building and running large piano studios to her current role in Omaha, Nebraska, has uniquely prepared her for the dynamic and collaborative nature of Mormon Women for Ethical Government’s work.
In our discussion, Emma shared insights on being a principled voter, transcending partisan boundaries to embrace a broader political identity,. We explore the nuances beyond the conventional Republican and Democrat labels, delving into the spectrum of political ideologies and the role of temperament in shaping our political engagement. We also talked about the art of building peace within the complexities of democracy. Emma shared her insights on advocating for justice while adhering to the golden rule, emphasizing intentional efforts to de-escalate conflicts and promote reconciliation.
Inspired by the wisdom shared in today's episode with Emma Addams, let's take uplifting strides towards a brighter democratic future. Embrace principled voting as a powerful expression of your values, fostering unity beyond political divides. Strengthen media literacy, engage in enriching cross-generational conversations, and let faith–however you define it– guide your journey to actively contribute to shaping a more harmonious and inclusive democracy. Thank you for listening!
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At this week’s Round Table, Emily, Emmanuel, and Hannah spoke with distinguished Professor Tania Israel of the University of California, Santa Barbara. Professor Israel is not only a beacon of knowledge but a transformative figure in the field. Holding a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology, a Masters in Human Sexuality Education, and a B.A. in Psychology and Women’s Studies, she is at the forefront of academia. As a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and Past-President of the Society of Counseling Psychology, her expertise has been sought after by esteemed institutions, including the Institute of Medicine, Congress, and even the White House.
As our conversation unfolded, it became evident that Professor Israel's expertise extends far beyond academic realms. As the Director of Project RISE at the University of California Santa Barbara, Professor Israel heads a research team dedicated to developing and studying interventions that support the psychological health of LGBTQ individuals and communities, and her passion for this work and for inclusivity shone throughout our conversation. Her TED Talk on bisexuality has captivated many, showcasing her ability to communicate complex topics with clarity and insight.
We discussed the challenges of remaining optimistic and resilient in politically polarized times. Professor Israel shared strategies for cultivating the necessary resilience, drawing from her extensive background in psychology. Her words provided a comforting guide for listeners grappling with the emotional toll of contemporary political climate. Professor Israel also illuminated the various ways individuals can engage in elections beyond the act of casting a vote, from community involvement to advocacy.
We hope you find our exploration of political polarization, resilience, and civic engagement both enlightening and inspiring. Let's carry forward the wisdom shared by Professor Israel in the face of political differences. Let's strive for understanding, empathy, and respectful dialogue. Let's nurture our optimism and resilience, recognizing that collective action can drive positive change. Let’s remember that our engagement matters, not just at the ballot box but in our communities, conversations, and informed choices. Thank you for listening!
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At this week’s Round Table, Emmanuel and Emily spoke with Casey Vincelette, Program Administrator in the New York State Commission on National and Community Service and veteran Americorps member,who shared powerful insights and experiences about her life and personal growth through service.
The mantra "It's not just about me" serves as a guiding principle in Casey's life, influencing her decisions and actions. We explore the profound impact of being part of something bigger than oneself, as Casey reflects on her time with Teach for America and her current role with the New York State Commission on National and Community Service. Casey expanded to share the broader perspective she’s gained through community service and the ripple effects that individual contributions can make to collective goals.
“Defining success” took center stage in our conversation as we dissected the conventional norms and societal expectations that often shape our perceptions. Casey shared her unique perspective on carving out one's path to success, emphasizing the importance of authenticity and resilience. We hope our discussion will inspire listeners to reflect on your OWN definitions of success and challenge the notion that there is a one-size-fits-all approach.
Within our conversation, we also delved into the often-neglected terrain of mental health and challenges experienced, both personally and within the educational context. We explore the significance of having open and honest conversations about mental health, breaking down stigmas, and fostering environments that support well-being–we all feel that being involved with service plays a huge role in our mental health and well being. From navigating the complexities of teaching in underserved communities to weathering the storms of the pandemic, we appreciated Casey's vulnerability and resilience immensely.
We’re excited for you to join us on a transformative journey through the depths of community service, mental health, and personal success alongside the inspiring Casey Vincelette. Thank you for listening!
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At this week’s Round Table, Emmanuel, Heba, and Preena spoke with two extraordinary guests, Sarah Medina Camiscoli and Sa'Real McRae, representing the Peer Defense Project (PDP). PDP is rewriting the narrative on how youth leaders engage with the law, breaking down systemic barriers, and championing civil rights issues. PDP’s web platform connects attorneys with youth leaders, equipping grassroots organizations with the legal tools to advocate for school integration, the abolition of youth policing and incarceration, and voting rights. Through a powerful hybrid model, PDP's lawyers and youth leaders are dismantling systemic racism in schools, courts, and government.
Sarah, with her unique background as a first-generation LGBTQ+ attorney, shared her inspiring journey from being a public school teacher in the South Bronx to co-founding IntegrateNYC and going to law school and subsequently the Peer Defense Project. The intersectionality of her experiences highlighted the crucial link between education, equity, and legal advocacy.
Sa'Real, a beacon of passion for Black liberation and literature, shared her journey as a community organizer who created nonprofit, Restorative Reading, illustrating the importance of literature as a tool for empowerment and education within juvenile detention centers.
We discussed critical topics such as Black liberation and racial capitalism, shedding light on the intertwined dynamics that perpetuate systemic injustice, and the importance of community organizing and mutual aid as powerful tools for social change that illustrate the collective strength inherent in grassroots movements.
Education justice was at the center of our conversation, which underscored the significance of dismantling oppressive structures within educational systems, both within public schools and higher education, to create a more equitable future.
As we conclude this impactful episode, let their stories serve as a catalyst for meaningful action. The transformative work undertaken by the Peer Defense Project underscores the potential of collective efforts in reshaping our society. Now, it's our turn to step into the arena of advocacy and make a difference. Let's support grassroots movements, champion education equity, promote mutual aid, and actively amplify Black liberation. The journey towards change is a collective endeavor, and each step we take contributes to the symphony of transformation. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Emily, Emmanuel, Hannah, and Heba welcomed guest, Alice Siu, Associate Director of the Deliberative Democracy Lab and Senior Research Scholar at Stanford University’s Center for Democracy, Development, and Rule of Law. Dr Siu took us on an intellectual journey through the intricacies of deliberative democracy and beyond, dissecting the quality of arguments that emerge in these critical forums and delving into the heart of her research to explore the effects of socio-economic class within deliberative processes.
Our conversation seamlessly transitioned into the global impact of Deliberative Polling, where Dr. Siu shared her experiences advising policymakers in diverse regions like Mongolia, China, and Brazil. Her insights painted a vivid picture of how deliberative practices can influence policy decisions at both a macro and micro scale. Addressing the pervasive issue of polarization, Dr. Siu provided thoughtful perspectives on its roots and potential remedies. The dialogue extended into crucial topics such as K-12 media literacy, where Dr. Siu emphasized the importance of equipping the younger generation with the skills to navigate the digital landscape responsibly.
The dialogue then took an interesting turn as we explored the realm of AI companions – both in romantic relationships and friendships. Dr. Siu's insights into the ethical considerations and societal impact of these AI relationships added a thought-provoking layer to our discussion, as we dissected the potential benefits and challenges associated with integrating artificial intelligence into educational settings.
As we conclude this enlightening episode, let Dr. Alice Siu’s insights linger in your thoughts. Remember that deliberative democracy holds the power to reshape conversations and bridge divides. Embrace the challenges of polarization, armed with the belief that thoughtful dialogue can pave the way for understanding. Stay inspired, stay engaged, and let the spirit of informed citizenship guide your journey toward a more deliberative and harmonious world. Thank you for listening!
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At this week’s Round Table, Hannah and Heba spoke with Ian Gray of Gray Dot Catalyst, a seasoned consultant whose expertise traverses the landscapes of innovation and development, shaping the course of organizations within the humanitarian sphere. He has navigated the realms of innovation, strategy, and the humanitarian frontier. With a consultancy dedicated to steering organizations through the terrain of Innovation, Strategy, and Partnering, Ian's focus is sharp and purposeful. His clientele spans from groundbreaking STEM education startups in Nigeria to advising the UN Secretary General's Office on innovation and strategy—an eclectic portfolio reflecting his commitment to driving meaningful systems change.
Before founding his consultancy, Ian held pivotal roles as a Senior Leader within an NGO, where he spearheaded strategies, led humanitarian response teams, and analyzed conflicts. During his quarter-century tenure in the sector, he has traveled across 20+ countries and engaged in diverse projects varying in scope and duration. What truly ignites Ian's passion is his exploration of 'futures'-- a realm devoted to unraveling the paths the world might tread. Amidst this, he's deeply committed to addressing the complexities surrounding liberal democracies and the surge of populism, especially dissecting the insidious role of misinformation in shaping these narratives. Recent events have highlighted the struggle in discerning truth from falsehood, particularly in the whirlwind of social media.
But Ian's passion doesn't halt there; it extends to the pursuit of social justice—a driving force underscoring his lifelong dedication to humanitarian and developmental causes. He is ever ready to delve into conversations that foster understanding and action. Through our thought-provoking journey with Ian, we explore different aspects of innovation innovation, the challenges of misinformation, the dynamics of social injustice, and the profound impact these elements have on our global landscape. Get ready for a conversation that provokes contemplation, ignites curiosity, and encourages us to strive for a more informed and just world. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Emmanuel, Emily, Hannah, and Heba spoke with Sabrina Abdalla, a Senior Program Associate at Headstream, an innovation program working to make the digital world safer for young people. Sabrina is a true visionary and advocate for children's mental health and in our conversation, we delve into the beating heart of advocacy and empowerment for our youth. Born in Kenya to Somali parents and raised in Salt Lake City, Sabrina's journey weaves together a tapestry of experiences that fuels her passionate drive for change. Her upbringing exposed her to the struggles of marginalized communities, igniting within her a fervent commitment to community building, education, and the transformative power of cultural storytelling.
Sabrina's multidisciplinary background as an educator, community builder, and creative founder infuses her work with a unique perspective, rooted in the belief that innovation and equity go hand in hand. As part of the Headstream team, she's orchestrated programs and spaces tailored to the fabric of our diverse society. Her focus on youth mental health is unwavering. Sabrina unpacks the intricacies of challenges faced by young individuals today, offering insights into vital resources and support systems. Within this digital age, she spotlights the remarkable entrepreneurs championed by Headstream, fostering groundbreaking ideas, products, and services aimed at nurturing the mental health and wellbeing of our younger generations.
We take a journey together through the landscape of children's mental health, exploring the power of community, education, and innovative solutions, all bound together by the thread of compassion and cultural understanding. Get ready for an inspiring conversation that illuminates pathways toward a brighter, more equitable future for our youth. Thank you for listening!
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At this week’s Round Table, Emmanuel, Hannah, Heba, and Inyoo spoke with Dan Schnur who stands as a beacon of political enlightenment. With a tenure spanning over two decades at the University of California, Berkeley, USC, and Pepperdine University, Dan's teaching expertise has shaped the minds of future leaders. His courses in politics, communications, and leadership serve as the bedrock for a new generation of politically astute individuals. Dan's influence extends far beyond the classroom. His experience in the political arena spans numerous milestones, reflecting a commitment to reform and a keen understanding of governance. As the Chairman of the California Fair Political Practices Commission, Dan implemented pioneering campaign finance disclosure requirements, revolutionizing the state's political landscape. Moreover, his founding of the Voices of Reform project laid the groundwork for California's landmark redistricting reform.
Beyond theory and strategy, Dan's journey encompasses practical experience at the forefront of major political campaigns. With roles in four presidential and three gubernatorial campaigns, including serving as the national Director of Communications for Senator John McCain's 2000 presidential campaign and as the chief media spokesman for Governor Pete Wilson, Dan's expertise is unparalleled. His DEDICATION to non-partisan governance reform is evident in initiatives like Fixing California, a campaign focused on campaign finance and political reform. His bold step as a non-partisan candidate for California Secretary of State in 2014 underscores his commitment to transcending political divides for the greater good.
Dan's voice reverberates across leading publications such as the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and the Los Angeles Times. Furthermore, his role as a trusted analyst and political commentator for major news networks like CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and NPR amplifies his influence, positioning him as a guiding light in navigating complex political landscapes.
Dan is an incisive guide through the labyrinth of contemporary politics, offering not just analysis but also pathways towards a more unified, informed, and participatory political landscape. Join us in our enlightening journey with Dan Schnur, where conversations become catalysts for positive change in American politics. Thank you for listening!
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At this week’s Round Table, Emmanuel and Inyoo spoke with Phil Smith, the National Field Director for The Concord Coalition. Founded in 1992 by former US Senators Paul Tongas and Warren Rudman, The Concord Coalition stands as a beacon of nonpartisan dedication, advocating for fiscal responsibility and educating the public about the federal budget's intricacies. Phil's journey with the coalition spans over two decades, marked by tireless efforts in conducting seminars, town hall meetings, and public policy initiatives across all 50 states.
Phil's expertise transcends boundaries, extending to engagements with major media networks like CNN, FOX, PBS, NPR, CNBC, C-span, the BBC, and CTV, reflecting his commitment to widespread awareness and dialogue about critical fiscal matters. His illustrious career extends beyond The Concord Coalition, having served as the Chief Operating Officer for Georgia's Department of Community Affairs and the Technical College System. Phil's dedication to civic engagement is underscored by gubernatorial appointments to boards like the Georgia Humanities Council and the Georgia Children and Youth Coordinating Council.
Phil's passion lies in fostering understanding about the federal budget's paramount significance and the generational implications of fiscal policy. He unravels the complexity behind upcoming fiscal changes, urging us to grasp their profound impact on society for decades to come. Moreover, Phil delves into the bipartisan essence of budget policy, emphasizing the urgency of cooperation and compromise in steering our fiscal trajectory. His insights extend an invitation for all to engage in these pivotal issues, inspiring action and informed participation. Our conversation dove into the depths of fiscal responsibility, generational equity, and the pathways to a sustainable fiscal future. Thank you for listening!
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At this week’s Round Table, Emily and Emmanuel spoke with the remarkable Gretta Flora Irakoze, an entrepreneur and visionary based in beautiful Burundi, in a conversation that spans continents and cultures.
Gretta, a proud graduate of Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU), has carved her path as an entrepreneur and author with a mission close to her heart. Her upcoming debut in the world of children's literature marks a milestone—a book designed to ignite the spark of literacy in Burundi. What's unique? It's not just in one language, but in English, French, and Kirundi, reaching young minds in their native tongue and beyond.
Gretta’s dedication to promoting literacy in her homeland reflects a passion for education and empowerment. Her work embodies the essence of cultural inclusivity, recognizing the importance of language in nurturing young imaginations and fostering a love for reading from an early age. Amidst the vibrant landscapes of Burundi, Gretta's efforts resonate as a testament to the universal language of storytelling. Her book–a labor of love and dedication–paves the way for children to explore worlds within pages, unlocking the doors to knowledge and imagination.
Join us as we dive into the world of literacy advocacy and entrepreneurship with Gretta Flora Irakoze. Prepare for an enriching conversation that celebrates diversity, language, and the transformative power of storytelling—all encapsulated within the pages of her very first children's book. This inspiring conversation transcends borders and celebrates the power of literacy and storytelling.
Gretta is launching a campaign to raise the funds still needed to print and distribute the book. You can read more about it here -and we'd love any support you can provide--investing in Gretta is a great investment.
Thank you for listening!
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At this weeek's Round Table, Emily, Emmanuel, and Hannah spoke with Chanika Perry and Lance Ozier of Conversation Forward. Chanika, a career educator and Director of Education Programs at Hands On Atlanta, brings over two decades of experience in youth development and education ranging from rural Georgia to the bustling streets of New York City and now Atlanta. Lance, a longtime faculty member at The City University of New York (and a member of our Next Gen Board of Advisors!) has gathered insights from over 20 years in classrooms and camps in Atlanta, New York, and around the world– alongside his unique perspective cultivated growing up on a Georgia farm.
These longtime friends have collaborated for decades at Project Morry and co-founded Conversation Forward in order to foster meaningful exchanges. In our conversations, we delve into topics like identity, racial development, privilege, microaggressions, bias, and creating inclusive spaces in classrooms and camps. We discuss their insightful journeys navigating the intricate complexities of our world through their wealth of experience and thought-provoking perspectives. Our time together exemplified principles of Conversation Forward– it's not just about answers, it's about having the conversations that matter. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Emily, Inyoo, and Hannah are joined by Jillian Youngblood, the executive director of Civic Genius. Jillian has nearly 20 years of experience in politics, government, and strategic communications with a focus on deliberative democracy and solutions-oriented public engagement. On Capitol Hill, she was a lead staffer for the 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, and worked on issues related to health care, urban planning, and appropriations. Previously, she managed New York City’s federal and state legislative portfolios on public health under the Bloomberg Administration, and was a consultant to numerous nonprofit and corporate clients across a range of public policy issues.
In our wide ranging conversations, we talk about what’s wrong with the way we get public input into policy today. We also dive into discussion of what deliberation–a core strategy of Next Generation Politics– is, what it looks like in practice, and how it can improve civic life. We speak about how extreme polarization complicates this and about how, as youth, we can take ownership of our own discussions and experiences to ensure that we are contributing to solutions that lead to greater equity for everyone rather than into the toxic divides that have broken this country apart. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Emily, Emmanuel, Hannah, Heba, and Inyoo welcomed back former podcast hosts extraordinaire Inica, Kenisha, and Madeline for a rousing conversation about, well, everything! It was thrilling to be in conversation with people who have been in our roles in the past and to hear about the impact Next Gen Politics and this podcast have continued to have on how they engage with the world. We loved learning about their experiences in college–and getting their advice on navigating the stresses of high school and the college application process. As they are all at top rated universities, they had great counsel about how to take things in stride and focus on what matters most: our overall health and wellbeing–and getting some extra sleep. YVote/ Next Gen Politics is truly a fellowship and we deeply enjoyed the opportunity to be in conversation and community with our forebears. Thank you for joining us!
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At this week's Round Table, Emmanuel, Hannah, Heba, and Inyoo delve into the realm of civil rights, advocacy and the power of community action with remarkable guest, Elizabeth (Liz) OuYang, a seasoned civil rights attorney whose dedication spans an impressive 37 years. Liz is a force in combating hate crimes, advocating against police brutality, championing immigrant rights, and advocating for voting rights, media accountability, and workplace integration. Her extensive expertise isn’t just confined to the courtroom; Liz shares her wisdom as an educator at both Columbia University and New York University.
Appointed by President Clinton, Liz served as a special assistant to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights in 2000. Her commitment to fostering change shines through her roles as the founder and supervisor of OCA-NY's Hate Crimes Prevention Art Project, now celebrating its 17th successful year. Additionally, she spearheads the APA VOICE Redistricting Task Force, a pivotal coalition driving Asian American representation in New York State. Our conversation proved to be deeply insightful. We dove into the case of Private Danny Chen, a story that resonates with the essence of justice and community solidarity. Liz led an impassioned campaign for justice following Chen's tragic death, which was fueled by racial maltreatment and hazing in Afghanistan.
Throughout our discussion, we explored the vital role of community activism in such cases, emphasizing why such narrative matters, especially to our youth. Liz enlightened us on the significance of advocacy, highlighting the potency of art and storytelling as instruments for change. We were inspired, informed, and engaged as we navigated the world of civil rights with the incredible Liz OuYang. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table Emmanuel, Emily, and Heba dove into a can't-miss conversation with a true pioneer in media transformation: Steve Rosenbaum, the Founder and Director ofThe Center for Sustainable Media.The mission of Sustainable Media Center is to act as a catalyst to change media for the better, working with young people to give them agency over the media they consume, create, and share. With a rich background as an author, entrepreneur, and filmmaker, Steve has been at the forefront of catalyzing positive change in media.
We delve into an array of critical topics impacting our digital world, from the recent groundbreaking lawsuit against Meta, challenging the way social networks impact child safety, to exploring the roots of social media's perilous landscape. Steve brings insights to the table on a myriad of crucial points: the struggles young people face in this digital age, the generational gap in understanding, and the crucial steps needed to bridge that divide. Together, we grapple with the complexities of social media, dissect the actions being taken by lawmakers, and explore tangible solutions for a safer and more responsible media environment.
Listen in as we unravel the dark path that turned social media into a minefield, uncovering the real struggles of today's youth, and decoding why adults just can't crack the GenZ code. Brace for a showdown as we explore the clash between generations and reveal lawmakers' potential missteps. Oh, and hold tight for the Meta lawsuit bombshell! But fear not—we're not just here to dissect problems; we’re crafting solutions for a safer digital world. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Emmanuel, Hannah, and Heba spoke with Esmeralda Simmons, Fellow in the Advanced Leadership Institute at Harvard University and Founder of the Center for Law and Social Justice at Medgar Evers College, a community-based racial justice advocacy center that focuses on legal work and research on civil rights and domestic human rights violations. Ms Simmons is an accomplished lawyer and public servant who has spent decades fighting for human and civil rights on the federal, state, and municipal levels. Recently retired, she advocated for equity in public education, voting, policing and the child welfare system as the Center’s executive director for 34 years. Through the Center, Simmons provided community organizations with legal counsel and research assistance.
In this episode, we explored the work she did PRIOR to founding and directing the Center for Law and Social Justice: Ms. Simmons served as First Deputy Commissioner at the New York State Division of Human Rights, where she developed and led the implementation of policy in support of New Yorkers’ human and civil rights, and as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of New York. In addition, she has served on several major public boards in New York City government, including the NYC Board of Education and the NYC Districting Commission.
Outside of this work, Ms. Simmons also volunteers her skills and currently serves on the board of directors of UPROSE, a climate justice organization; the Council of Elders for African Cultural Heritage; and Little Sun People, an African-centered early childhood education center. In the recent past, served on the Boards of several national organizations: the Applied Research Center (now “Race Forward”); Vallecitos Mountain Retreat Center; the Child Welfare Fund; and, the Poverty and Race Research Action Council (PRRAC).
Ms. Simmons has also served as counsel or co-counsel on numerous major federal Voting Rights Act cases and election law cases and has secured victories before the United States Supreme Court. She is a member of the Metropolitan Black Bar and American Bar Associations, Ile Ase, Inc., and the New York Voting Rights Consortium. Esmeralda Simmons is certainly an irreplaceable member of many communities including, now, of ours. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Emily, Erina, and Hannah spoke with Alison Ritz, an AP Government and History teacher in the Bronx. She has taught in the New York City Department of Education for over two decades, striving to connect the present to the past while centering civic engagement for high-school students.
As a former teenage activist, she approaches AP US Government and Politics, Participation in Government, and Economics from the lens of youth empowerment. Ms Ritz also has the honor of working with seniors to support the college-application process and postsecondary transition and serves as Faculty Advisor for the Riley's Way Bronx Council.
We conversed at length about what students would LIKE to know about their teachers but are frequently afraid to ask. We also discussed the joys and challenges of being in the teaching profession, which varies depending on the state you live in. Furthermore, we discussed how Ms Ritz’ own experiences got her into teaching and how exactly teaching keeps her inspired and motivated. Thank you for listening!
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At this week’s Round Table, Emily, Emmanuel, and Heba spoke with Joel Berman, a retired primary care physician who lives in Concord, NH and is a longtime volunteer from The Compassionate Listening Project–something we could all benefit from doing more of these days, which made us excited to engage in this conversation! The Compassionate Listening Project works to empower individuals and communities to transform conflict and create cultures of peace and healing. It accomplishes this through workshops, facilitator training, listening journeys, and partnerships with humanitarian, social justice, and peace-building groups.Compassionate Listening offerings cultivate practices that hold courageous and generative space to bring people together across differences.
We discussed complex and timely questions like “What does it mean to truly create safe & courageous space and what are the best ways to do so and to unleash creativity?” We dove into the power of storytelling as well as the importance of peer support in working to rewire our brains away from tribalism, which is incredibly hard! We acknowledged the intense practice it takes to master it, the degree to which we will sometimes fail--and learn from failing, and the need to be compassionate with ourselves when we do. We also discussed the value of having a compassionate listening practice group to do this work with regularly-a laboratory within which to take risks and receive honest feedback. Joel founded and has been part of one for over a decade!
At a time of such deep divisiveness in Israel-Gaza–and such deep divisiveness in thinking and talking about the issues globally–we were inspired to hear about Joel's four Compassionate Listening Journeys to Israel and Palestine between 2015 and 2019, as well as his Journey to Alabama in January 2020. During these trips, he recorded and transcribed more than 40 listening sessions that form the basis for public presentations designed to humanize the “other” and help local audiences recognize our common humanity and shared values of people across geo-political divides. We sure need approaches like this right now and are grateful to Joel and the Compassionate Learning Project for their valuable work.
f you’re interested in hearing more from Joel Berman and the work he is very passionate about, read some of his articles here: A Third Way to Think About Israel and Palestine, Journey to Alabama with The Compassionate Listening Project
Thank you for listening!
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At this week’s Round Table, Amelia, Dorina, Emily and Hannah spoke with Rachel Janfaza, an amazing journalist covering youth political culture. Rachel founded 'The Up and Up,' a newsletter focused on Gen Z’s political zeitgeist and how young Americans are organizing, mobilizing, and participating in civic life and politics – or, how and why they’re not. She is also a freelancer, with impressive bylines in the New York Times, Teen Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Elle, and Glamour. Previously, Rachel was an associate writer on the CNN Politics team covering young voters, campaigns, and breaking news. Recent stories have been about Gen Z politicians' fashion and style, the Montana climate activists, and efforts to stifle on campus/college student voting.
In our engaging discussion, we dove deeply into topics, such as the uptick in youth voter turnout rates over the past 3 major election cycles as well as the ways that local politics often affect young people's lives more than anything on the national level. In addition, we conversed about young people running for office, the role of social media in youth organizing, and youth voter registration.
Throughout this episode, we were very inspired by the ways in which Rachel amplifies youth voices around political and civic issues. This inspires us in our ongoing efforts to empower youth to create large-scale change. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Amelia, Emily, Emmanuel, Hannah, and Heba spoke amongst themselves about the implications of applying to college in the first year after the Supreme Court’s reversal of Affirmative Action. While students like us are the MOST impacted by this decision, our voices are rarely included in public dialogue about affirmative action. The conversation was cathartic–all of us shared our initial reaction to seeing the Supreme Court’s decision when it was released over the summer. Many of us struggled with the polar divides in response to it, given that while some people celebrated, claiming that racism had ended, many of us struggled, worrying about the adverse impact it would have on us as minority students as well as the impact it would have on diversity on college campuses.
The ruling reversing affirmative action took away something that was so relevant and important to students of color, which was giving us a chance to write our college essays about something that truly defines us that is NOT our race. Since the essay is one of the only places in which we can really express the importance of our identity, many of us now feel we need to use the essay to explain how our identity makes us good candidates for the schools of our choice rather than write more expansively.
We also spoke about why we feel legacy admissions are extremely toxic, in that it perpetuates a continuous cycle in which people who happen to be a part of a generational line of people of privilege are given advantages regardless of how hard they work, which is at odds with efforts we all should be making to close the widening wealth gap in this country.
On the upside, we discussed how this has inspired us to help others and create large-scale change. If you want to have a voice in the decisions that are made, you have to vote if you are old enough to do so–and if you are NOT old enough to vote, you need to educate yourself to be ready when you are. Your right to vote is critical no matter what your political opinions may be. Your voice needs to be heard because if you don’t use it, not only are you being negatively impacted, but others are as well. There are no off years because there are always various elections going on in the state, locally or federally. Whether it is a school board election or the presidential election, your vote makes a difference and can make or break the future of our country. Thank you for listening!
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At this week’s Round Table, Emmanuel, Hannah, and Inyoo spoke with Mitul Gouni, a junior at Allen High School in Texas, an involved member of his community, and author of the bookOne Flag: A Nonpartisan Guide to American Politics. A student in his school’s International Baccalaureate program, Mitul is intensely curious and dedicated to deepening his knowledge of history in particular. Outside of school, Mitul serves as an organizer for Toys for Texans, a regional nonprofit that collects and donates toys to underprivileged children in Texas. He has interned with both Republican and Democratic Representatives through the U.S. Congress, listening to lectures from notable politicians, such as Senator Rounds and Speaker Pelosi.
Through our conversation, we dove into the Gen Z voting bloc that has an exceedingly high amount of potential, honing in on our shared concern that many young voters consistently skip Election Day. Why is that? What role do and can organizations like YVote & Next Generation Politics play in mobilizing young voters? We also discussed the fact that test scores are dropping across America, yet our leaders don’t seem to be focused on counteracting this alarming trend effectively and expansively.
We concluded our conversation with exploration of the qualities we’d like to see from a political leader. We agreed that 1) A political leader should have the courage to compromise, without the fear of criticism and 2) A political leader should emphasize that having youth engaged in civics is important in today's world. Political leaders should modify education policies and start championing civics education because it all starts with youth. Thank you for listening!
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At this week’s Round Table,Hannah, Heba, and Maya spoke with Becky Wang, the CEO and CoFounder of Rabble.io, a social discovery platform for people to find purpose-driven events and actions that bring life back to communities and neighborhoods. For brand partners, they provide a way to sponsor and support people-focused sustainability programs led by the organizers of these live events in order to foster community building. Rabble is technology that operates at the intersection of social media and live events.
Before creating this platform, Becky built the growth and sales functions for several seed & Series A companies; led transformation projects at Crossbeat New York, a digital design consultancy; and served as Head of Data Strategy at Droga5 and Senior Vice President & Global Head of Insights & Analytics at Saatchi & Saatchi. She is the author of Creativity & Data Marketing and has been featured at SXSW, the Financial Times, CBS, Co.Create/Fast Company on the future of media and impact of BigTech on culture & politics. Becky is also a proud Board Member of NALANDA, a Buddhist LGBTQIA+ organization supporting incarcerated queer youth.
In our conversation, Becky talked us through what Rabble is as well as what drove her to start Rabble. We discussed food security at length as it’s been the focus of Rabble’s first activations and is a powerful way to bring together conservationists, justice advocates, and climate activists. We also engaged in fascinating exploration of what matters to various audiences in terms of perks, rewards, and incentives. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Emily and Hannah spoke with Sarah Jakle, Founder and Executive Director of DemocraShe. Previously Sarah served as the Get Out The Vote Director for the California National Organization for Women and National Outreach Director for Field Team 6, leading the innovative effort to register voters using effective issue-based voter registration techniques. Empowering women to hold political office has been a focus since Sarah first interned at the Women’s Council of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in college.
Prior to creating DemocraShe, Sarah practiced as a social worker in Los Angeles, helping adults coping with mental illnesses, addiction, and homelessness. She is a current Fellow with Obama’s Organizing For Action and serves on the Board of Directors for Urban Partners Los Angeles. She discussed her journey in civic engagement from being a social worker through becoming an activist to feeling the need to create DemocraShe for intersectional women stepping into roles of democracy.
A large part of why Sarah created DemocraShe was to build skills into early women's leadership training in response to what she saw happening to women candidates in 2018 and 2020 who were stepping up to try to serve their country yet were brutally attacked and all the more across any intersectional identity. She recognized the need to help women build skills to manage our nervous systems and deal with both the imposter syndrome that can lead us to count ourselves out AND the pushback that comes when we step up to lead.
Sarah explained DemocraShe's curriculum and what it entails, specifically zooming in on the power of incorporating resiliency and political skills for high school students. Getting civically engaged can been difficult for young people and we discussed each of our journeys and how our experiences have been to date, backlash and all. We ended the episode by discussing two concrete skills that we can immediately draw upon in our lives: our practices with Grounding and our Inner Best Friend. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Emily, Hannah and Skyla spoke with Sasha Simon and Rhana Hashemi about harm-reduction based drug education. As the Founder and Principal Consultant at Sasha Simon Consulting, Sasha provides training, technical assistance and consulting services to youth-serving professionals transitioning away from punitive, abstinence-based drug education and policies and towards inclusive, restorative, and health-based structures that support the whole child and their community. Rhana is a Bay Area-based drug educator, a national expert in youth overdose prevention and harm reduction, and a doctoral student in Social Psychology at Stanford. She founded an educational organization called Know Drugs, which works to advance evidence-based prevention and harm reduction drug education for youth to prevent overdoses and risky drug use.
Sasha advocates extensively on issues related to teens and drug use, sexuality and health, adultism, and BIPOC mental health, building intergenerational coalitions and collaborative networks to empower youth as advocates to challenge political issues that directly impact them and to deliver innovative, cross-sector approaches to public health and education. Sasha also co-founded the Fierce Leadership for Youth Academy, a college prep non-profit aiming to remove financial barriers to higher learning for first-gen college students of color.
Rhana translates scientific research and uplifts community youth voices in the design and development of prevention messaging. She was a key contributor to Safety First, the nation's first harm reduction-based drug education curriculum, and has piloted the program across several Bay Area schools. Her work has been featured by major news outlets such as the NY Times, TIMES Magazine, and NBC’s Today Show.
After learning about their fascinating backgrounds, we dug into how they’ve co-designed, piloted, and evaluated Safety First programs WITH teachers and students, which is super inspiring. We also discussed recently updated drug education laws in Illinois and Texas, honing in on the policy changes since the fentanyl overdose crisis. Sasha and Rhana put forth a call to action based on everything that they’ve learned and experienced on how YOU can adopt harm reduction-based approaches to drug education in your community. Thank you for listening!
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At this week’s Round Table, Hannah, Inyoo, Jack, and Kenisha spoke with Thea Sebastian, Director of Policy for Civil Rights Corps, as well as the founding Director of the Futures Institute. In her role, Thea oversees a wide range of initiatives that include policy changes related both to advancing community safety and building cradle-to-career youth opportunity. One of her current projects involves building a cross-disciplinary Futures Agenda, which aims to be a Green New Deal for youth.
Thea’s trajectory is very inspiring: a graduate of Harvard College, Oxford University, and Harvard Law School, she now serves on the board of Harvard University, which she joined as a petition candidate running on a climate divestment platform. Thea started her career as a classroom teacher, teaching special education in the South Bronx prior to working on social and educational policy, including stints in local government and in the White House Domestic Policy Council, leading up to her current role as Director of Policy for Civil Rights Corps.
We were fascinated by Thea’s work at the intersection of law and policy, and her commitment to how youth can take actionable initiatives to make a difference, and think you will be too. This was the perfect episode for me to close out my time with the Round Table podcast as I am now matriculating at Thea’s alma mater, Harvard College. I’ve loved getting to speak with our guests, my fellow podcast hosts, and you each week and look forward to catching you on alumni episodes. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Emily, Heba, and Kenisha spoke with Evalaurene Jean-Charles, a dedicated educator, advocate, and the CEO & Founder of Black on Black Education, an organization that aims to revolutionize education by promoting student-centered approaches and empowering young people of color to become change agents for change. She is also a 9th grade history teacher in the South Bronx, where she continues to make a profound impact on her students’ lives.
Evalaurene’s remarkable journey in education began as a teacher at an alternative sentencing program in Brooklyn, where she worked as a tutor and workshop provider for students who faced gaps in their education due to incarceration. This experience ignited her passion for educational equity and social justice, leading her to pursue further studies.
Throughout her career, Evalaurene has actively sought opportunities to contribute to the field of education beyond the classroom. She has participated in prestigious programs such as the Vocal Justice Fellowship, where she facilitated curriculum focused on developing students’ public speaking skills in a critical and engaging manner. Additionally, she has been involved in the reDesign K-12 Content Mapping Design Studio, collaborating with multicultural content experts to redefine important and relevant disciplinary content for K-12 education.
Evalaurene’s dedication to sharing her expertise and insights extends beyond her immediate community. She has spoken at numerous conferences, engaging educators and students in conversations about educational equity, social justice, and empowering young people of color. Her contributions to the field have been recognized and in June 2021, she was honored with the 30 Under 30 Award, which recognizes emerging leaders of Caribbean heritage who demonstrate exceptional commitment and engagement in their professional, academic, or personal pursuits.
With her combination of hands-on teaching experience, academic expertise, and passion for social change, Evalaurene Jean-Charles is doing an incredible job empowering young people of color and transforming education into a more inclusive, student-centered, and equitable space and will inspire you throughout this episode. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Emily, Heba, and Ruby spoke with Michael Partis, Executive Director of the Redhook Initiative, a Brooklyn-based organization facilitating social change through education, youth development, and local hiring. His current role builds on his experience running the Bronx Cooperative Development Initiative; the Bronx Brotherhood Project, a college success and mentorship program for Black and Latino teens at the New Settlement College Access Center; and South Bronx Rising Together (SBRT), a “cradle-to-career” initiative, along with his experience as a researcher at Fordham University’s Bronx African American History Project and a professor in the Department of Ethnic Studies at the Borough of Manhattan Community College and Department of Anthropology at Brooklyn College. Yes, be impressed, be very impressed.
Michael is very focused on how to create generational wealth in black communities and the intersection with educational equity—as are we! We spoke about how the US economy was historically based on coerced labor and people working without compensation—part of a continuing legacy of social policy with negative economic impact and the grounds for race-based reparations today. We acknowledged that the implementation and distribution of reparations is complicated—as all systems are—but that the principle is worthwhile and logical and should be pursued.
A Society is deeply driven by values and relationships and problems happen when we don’t value people different from ourselves and dominate or control people based on that. This can then bleed into politics and become racism, with a dominant ethnic group distributing resources inequitably. Michael works in education in order to influence redistribution and equity, balancing social vs political efforts for change.
Understanding the history of how things were formed and how things are organized is critical because when you know how something was built, you have better insight into why things are as they are. The present disparities we experience —and the history of black people being underrepresented —starts with a history of being seen as inferior carried over with a compounding effect today.
This of course makes the case for teaching African American Studies—and Michael shared that teaching about and through hip hop is a powerful way to do so—particularly as we celebrate its 50th anniversary this year. He also recommends you check out the Bronx African American History Project oral history archives here. We closed with Michael’s words of inspiration and empowerment to youth which you won’t want to miss. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Emily, Erina, Jack, and Skyla spoke with Sumayyah Rose, the founder of What In the World (WITW). WITW is a publication dedicated to breaking down the news for young people and being a space for them to share thoughts and opinions as well as reflections about culture that young people need to know about because of the relevance it has on today’s world. Having been involved in politics with other youth her entire life, Sumayyah realized that she wanted to build this platform as a way to empower youth to share their opinions, thoughts, experiences, and stories to ensure that our voices are heard and acknowledged.
Sumayyah shared the process of choosing what to write about, and how she works to ensure that there is no bias and that the information presented is accurate and the sources are reliable. She shared how challenging the work has been since when she was starting out, the majority of the work was done by her. She inspired us by sharing the degree to which intrinsic passion outweighs giving up and by emphasizing the importance of persisting even through hardships.
As a Brit herself, who currently lives in the U.S, Sumayyah also discussed what she perceives as the cultural, societal, and political stark differences and similarities between Britain and America. It was very eye-opening to hear how similar, yet disparate, these two “sister” nations are.
We had a wonderful conversation about the various ways we can make politics a more welcoming, and less intimidating, topic for youth as well as how we can break down barriers to young people understanding politics. The fact that politicians, campaigns, and news tend to overlook young people is absolutely not okay and we have to step up and make it clear that young people are NOT apathetic; we are often uninvited. Now lets find out “What in the World” is happening. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, new podcasters Emily and Heba joined Jack and Skyla to speak with Brianna Carmen, political director at Emerge. Emerge is the nation's premier organization that recruits and trains Democratic women to run for office. At Emerge, Brianna not only gets to work through partners at the local state and national level, but also develops strategies for operationalizing all of their training. She has helped Emerge support 1,200+ alums currently in public office and has helped register 600,000 voters, with a focus on youth.
Being raised along the U.S-Mexico border in El Paso, Brianna saw firsthand a community that was impacted by many key issues yet lacked widespread voter participation and political power needed to address them. Her life experiences in an underrepresented community shaped her passion for being involved in large-scale impactful work.
With Gen Z demographically being the most racial and ethnically diverse constituency in most communities, Brianna feels that youth today possess the widest arrays of perspectives and ideas to resolve ongoing issues. She shared with us that “Having more women who are Democrats elected into office will lead to better policies because they are the folks who are dealing with these challenges every day. So why shouldn’t they have a seat at the table to change it?” She is very committed to debunking the myth that young activists don't have the experience or networks to be successful on the campaign trail. Towards this end, Emerge is working hard to both encourage Gen Z to run AND to set them up for success on the campaign trail. This is our 200th podcast episode ( !) and we are grateful to you for listening!rge is the nation's premier organization that recruits and trains Democratic women to run for office.
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At this week's Round Table, Erina, Jack, and Kenisha spoke with Elena Waidmann, a rising fifth year graduate student in the lab of Dr. Erich Jarvis at Rockefeller University, who studies the neural and genetic mechanisms underlying mouse vocalizations. From participating in a neuroscience program through the Center for Talented Youth during high school to studying the neurological facial recognition processes of macaque monkeys in a lab at the National Institutes of Mental Health, Elena shared how all of her experiences have shaped her lifelong love of neuroscience. As a graduate student, she has learned the value of balancing and prioritizing various tasks because of the numerous projects she simultaneously works on. Everyday is different which keeps Elena on her toes as she is constantly surrounded by cutting edge research!
We learned about the relevance Elena’s research places on the advancement of gene editing, such as the FOXP2 gene for humans who have trouble producing speech, and the degree to which the research she conducts on mice can be DIRECTLY applied to humans. She also walked us through common misconceptions that individuals have in terms of animal communication systems, such as people underestimating non-primates and overestimating other primates.
Neuroscience intersects with MANY other fields of study and has a direct application to our everyday lives. If you or someone else you know are in high school and are interested in learning more about this exciting field of study, apply to the Summer Neuroscience Program at Rockefeller University in New York City. Applications open up in January 2024 for the Summer of 2024 cycle. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Jack, Kenisha, and Maya spoke with Rachel Roseberry, the Associate Director of Young Adult Program and Services at The New York Public Library (NYPL), about the vital role libraries play in community building and civic education as well as the various opportunities there are to get involved in breaking literacy barriers. The NYPL is a civic space where people can gather to learn from not just through the books and resources available at the library, but also through each other. At the NYPL, Rachel oversees team programming, such as College & Career Pathways programming, summer programming for teens, and the Teen Civics Ambassadors program that exists across all 89 library branches in the five boroughs.
Being constantly surrounded in educational spaces, Rachel has found a real home in libraries for the exact type of work she loves doing. She loves the inclusivity and accessibility libraries offer to everyone, with every library uniquely inhabiting the culture and history of the communities they serve. Libraries are indispensable to not just the development of children, but also to the democratic growth of communities. Thus, we should utilize the library as a place we can live, learn, and cultivate our ever-growing curiosity.
Next time you find yourself near a library, head inside to be welcomed to a constantly inclusive environment with enriching opportunities and an engaging community of individuals. Whether you are a teen who loves science or an adult who loves the arts, you will be opened up to various opportunities to get involved at the New York Public Library. Thank you for listening!
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At a recent Round Table, Jack, Kenisha, Maya, and Skyla spoke with each other celebrated and reflected on the bittersweet end to their four memorable years of high school. Attending high schools in different locations--and heading off to Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and Amherst respectively--they discussed what made each of their high school experiences unique AND what made them similar. Something very intriguing that was brought up was the idea of connections–that is, there are so many people we come in contact with who we discover some kind of surprising connection with, creating a sense that our big worlds can actually be quite small. This makes them all feel extra excited about the wide array of opportunities that await them at college to network and interact with individuals from many different backgrounds.
They were also very open with each other–and you, our listeners–in voicing concerns they have related to their upcoming college experiences and what they will mean to the sense of community they've felt in their lives leading up to now. They also spoke about how the pandemic has led to even more hyper-competitiveness about admission to prestigious colleges and universities, increasing competition between peers to always be on top of everyone else and even to try to bring others down–something they badly want to counteract. They also, of course, shared concerns about legacy admissions and race-based affirmative action as they speculated about what the recent ruling of the Supreme Court will mean for prospective college applicants. By ending the systematic consideration of race in the college admissions process, they know that educational disparities and inequity will increase.
Throughout this reflective conversation, as they look ahead into college and beyond, they spoke about the skills, lessons, and significant values they will take away from high school as they start a new and exciting chapter of their lives. Over the last four years, they have learned to make peace with “failure,” to not compare themselves with others, and to demonstrate resilience–mindsets they will apply to the beginnings of their post-secondary education. Congratulations to the CLASS OF 2023 and thanks for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Jack and Madeline spoke with Salomón Flamenco, a rising 2nd year Masters student at Georgetown University, whose work currently focuses around the experiences of minorities in America. Being Salvadoran American, Salomon experiences the lack of connection with his Spanish roots, which is a common thread amongst children of immigrants. He created his own podcast, Minority Reports with Salomon Flamenco, which covers the implications of living in a diaspora, and features individuals from many different backgrounds.
We had a fantastic discussion of what it means to be biracial and bicultural in the United States, as I am. We run the risk of losing touch with both sides of our culture, or having labels put upon us that we can’t break out of in our own way. Letting go of preconceived notions and beliefs that have been instilled in us is the only way we can take control of how we look at ourselves and start to shift beliefs, which is very necessary as our country evolves to become a majority minority country.
We also took an interesting dive into AI and the impact it may have at the intersection between culture and film. Salomon raised a few political concerns about AI running the risk of exploiting groups that have historically been exploited and having easy access to committing fraud. All in all, we concluded that AI technology will never replace human creativity BUT it will have widespread ramifications, some of which concern us. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Jack, Kenisha, and Madeline spoke with Mondiant Dogon, human rights activist, refugee ambassador, and author of Those We Throw Away Are Diamonds. Mondiant is the founder of the international nonprofit organization, Mondiant Initiative, with a mission to transform the lives of refugees in Africa through opportunities.. His plan is to expand this initiative all over the world.
Born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mondiant discusses how his life experiences and the work he has done has impacted his life and empowered other refugees to aim for great things. In his moving memoir, he describes his wide ranging experiences from surviving two genocides, being a child soldier, becoming a refugee in Rwanda and surviving on one meal over three days, and later moving to the United States to attend college at New York University with seemingly unlimited resources. Throughout this journey, he has learned the value of giving a voice to people who might not normally have one as well as valuing each refugee as an individual. Living amongst people with different backgrounds and experiences, he’s gotten the opportunity to learn that “once everybody realizes that we’re all human beings, the world will change.” Refugees should be seen as HUMANS and not a political problem or crisis. Mondiant has planted seeds of hope in the refugees he works with, inspiring them to make their own decisions and take control of their lives.
We closed with discussion of how we can empower refugees to shape their own futures despite the adverse set of circumstances they face. But first, they need to be seen and given a voice in order to have a chance at success. Mondiant deeply understands the power of simply listening and talking to refugees, as well as displaying empathy and love. Acknowledging and supporting refugees in any way you can is the very first and most vital step towards empowering them.
The Mondiant Initiative is currently looking for volunteers for the organization to help refugees. If you are interested in helping to transform the lives of others, check out different ways to get involved today by heading to the website https://mondiantinitiative.org/get-involved/ Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Jack & Maya spoke with Daniel Jones, cultural curator at The Cameron Art Museum (CAM), whose work lies in the intersection of art, history, and education. As a curator, Jones collects oral histories and uses artistic expression to continue to push these stories to the forefront of our communities. The CAM is located in Wilmington, North Carolina–one of the last major campaigns of the Civil War and a major port town.
As a place that has always been associated with the “lost cause” of the Civil War, the exhibit he’s curated at The CAM aims at telling a different story about the town and its inhabitants. Changing the narrative of Wilmington, while also instilling a sense of pride in the community that’s been here since the beginning, is extremely important to the mission of the museum. At The CAM, there’s more room to go in depth and talk about history that has often been concealed, bringing it to a variety of different age cohorts. The CAM is committed to fostering insightful conversations surrounding artifacts and history for museum-goers at young ages and ALL ages in order to understand human communities, prepare for real world obstacles, and interact with people who may not be like you.
As we know, there has been a crack down on what can and can’t be taught in many classrooms in the South, leading to a true challenge in making sure full stories get told and shared. Amidst these constraints, we should ask ourselves,“What can we do to ensure that the history of marginalized communities don’t remain buried?” and “What will future generations of America look like if there are similar curriculum crackdowns in the North?” We need to empower all people to share their stories because that is a vital part of who we are. Museums like The CAM can play a valuable role in this. As Daniel Jones said, “We will never get the true human experience until you pull from whoever that story is affecting.” Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Jack, Kenisha, and Maya spoke with veteran educator Kent Lenci, author of Learning To Depolarize: Helping Students and Teachers Reach Across Lines of Disagreement. Kent framed for us that political polarization feels acute because of the negative connotation surrounding this concept. However, his goal is to help educators navigate the complexities of polarization in order to prepare today’s students to face tomorrow’s polarization. Through doing so, youth can be encouraged and supported in facing the challenges of working across lines of disagreement.
We had lots of questions for him: What does polarization look like in educational settings? What WORKS in defusing polarization? What HELPS build bridges against lines of disagreement? We discussed our concerns that too often, education is being used as either a political weapon or a political tool rather than a system to serve people as the bipolar nature of our political divide has grown bigger and more intense. Too often, those who try to encourage viewpoint diversity and to reach out to people we disagree with are met with skepticism, mistrust, and pushback. In the face of threat, Kent noted that rational thinking becomes disabled as individuals develop a “fight-or-flight mechanism” fearing an attack on a crucial part of their identity. It doesn’t have to be this way! Kent inspired us to try to look at things and people in the most charitable light and to embrace perspectives all across the spectrum in relation to issues facing our world today. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Jack, Kenisha, Madeline, Maya spoke with Drashti Brahmbhatt, Participatory Budgeting Project Management Director at the NYC Civic Engagement Commission. We were fortunate to have Drashti discuss The People's Money and its goals for bringing New York City one step closer in having everyone’s voices heard in government on the very day the campaign launched! The People's Money is NYC's FIRST citywide Participatory Budgeting process through which New Yorkers across the five boroughs have an opportunity to vote on how $5 million of the city’s budget should be spent on ideas in their communities.
Drashti recognizes that people’s experiences with government in the countries they’ve immigrated from colors the ways in which they look at government. As a city of immigrants, she believes The People’s Money has the potential to influence their initial outlook on New York City’s government for the good. The power that comes with having a database of ideas created by, and funded by, New Yorkers is truly inspirational and can be what is needed to instill long lasting change to our city. The People’s Money campaign launched on May 10 and so far, people are really enjoying the concept of having the economic power to bring about growth and change in their communities.
Looking ahead into the future, we would love to see far more funding devoted to The People’s Money in order to ensure that all the prevalent issues in our city don’t go unnoticed and get addressed. One of the best things about The People’s Money is that anyone age 11 or older of any immigration status can participate and get involved in democracy in New York City. As such, there’s a path for the engagement of people who aren’t traditionally seen or heard when it comes to voting and civic participation, which is really exciting. Needless to say, young people are a vital target in this campaign and we are excited to engage as many young people as we can between now and when the campaign closes on June 25. Please be sure to vote and encourage everyone you know to vote at on.nyc.gov/pb Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Erina, Kenisha, and Madeline spoke with AMAZING 16-year old DJ Yearwood who is the founder of Vote16 Missouri, a nonpartisan state-wide initiative to lower the voting age to 16. DJ believes that advocacy and grassroots work are some of the most important steps of the civic and political change process and voiced his concerns surrounding lack of youth representation in political processes, securing youth rights, and supporting youth leadership.
DJ underscored that young people don’t lack the urge to participate politically— they often lack the opportunity. Youth are too often seen as inferior or even incompetent but he demonstrates that this should not stop us from being involved in decisions that affect our communities.. Everyone has the capacity to contribute and getting involved at any level— whether through advocacy, organizations, or even door knocking—can help address key civic issues. We need to move beyond performative activism. We should never be content with anyone ruling out an entire category of people. We need leadership at ALL levels. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Kenisha and I spoke with Ivelisse Porroa-Garcia, a Democrat who serves as Senior Vice President at Crossroads Strategies, helping companies and organizations navigate the federal government in Washington, D.C., and Nic Adams, a Republican who is on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Although affiliated with two ideologically different political parties that experience strong tensions, Ivelisse and Nic talked openly and compellingly about how it is possible to find common ground to address issues in a bipartisanship fashion amidst the difficulties of doing so. cx
Ivelisse and Nic reinforced the message that seeking friendships with people who are different from ourselves is extremely important in a world where people have many different values and beliefs. Republicans and Democrats do not have to be enemies. Ultimately, we are all Americans and all want what is best for our country’s well-being. We should continue to approach issues as a team effort because everyone’s opinions and ideas are valid. If we see injustices, we should address them through shaping policy. Taking in different perspectives will lead to collective efforts that are
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At this week's Round Table, Kenisha and Jack spoke with Dr. Aaron Mckain, executive director of The Institute for Digital Humanity, and students Philip Graham and Richard Leyva about how to navigate new emerging technology like Artificial Intelligence and how to use these technologies for good rather than letting them further polarize and antagonize our political process. The Institute for Digital Humanity is a multi-faith, human-focused, bipartisan, and student-run think tank based in downtown Minneapolis. They are passionate about advocating for civil rights issues connected to advances in technology and to fighting against the improper use of algorithms.
Dr. Mckain shared four main challenges that all of this digital technology presens to our lives: AI ethics and unreliability, filter bubbles and misinformation, hate speech vs. free speech, and privacy. With the rising prominence of ChatGPT, these brewing challenges are crystal clear. According to Dr. Mckain, ChatGPT is “a robot spitting out a bad book report.” As ChatGPT gets “smarter” and smarter—and becomes the coin of the realm—there is all sorts of scientific and ethical knowledge about the world that’s going to be misinterpreted, making it easier for injustices to be obscured from the news.
Looking ahead, our guests expressed concern about ChatGPT having a lasting negative impact on the younger generations. Youth may start to “humanize” this software, expecting it to satisfy core human needs that technology never will. This amplifies the value of centering our connections, communications, and relationships with other human beings. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Jack, Kenisha, and Vanessa spoke with Betsy MacLean, the first Chief Engagement Officer of the City of New York. Betsy previously ran her own non-profit organization called Hester Street that sits at the intersection of communities and the government. From cultivating diverse relationships between staff to drastically increasing the national and international scale of their projects, Betsy played a crucial role in helping city agencies engage communities in ways that are inclusive, equitable, and accountable. She strongly believes in the need for communities to work very closely with the government, particularly low-income, marginalized communities that have been historically left out of the policy and decision-making process. This is an outgrowth of her work in East New York over many years, developing housing and directing broader community planning and development. From all of her insightful experiences, she talks about the inspiration she draws from communities working together to create something bigger than themselves, referring to this as a path to “collective liberation.”
Betsy shared why she loves her job: she strongly believes that “We have to have a government that works for us, that works with us, that is powered by us, because it is the entity that can make significant change at scale.” She recognizes that people often feel alienated when it comes to the government. A key issue that needs to be addressed is that there is no central hub for all of the city’s engagement work to be coordinated and no real opportunity for all city agencies to directly communicate with one another to address constraints being experienced by communities.
Betsy spoke with us about how her work aims to address these ongoing issues in order to build city-wide civic trust and well-being. Getting agencies to promote open communication and collaboration with communities will not only result in better policies, but also lead to better outcomes and the closer connection between communities and government that is necessary for true democracy. We must get better at addressing the challenges that groups of individuals experience and blending all of these together to create inclusive, equitable, and effective solutions for our city. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Jack & Madeline spoke with Michael Whidden and his 16 year old daughter Miranda Whidden, founders of American Tributaries. American Tributaries is dedicated to promoting experiential education travel within the United States for U.S. high schoolers through bridge-building itineraries. Their trips emphasize learning from and about fellow Americans in different regions and communities through on the ground face-to-face engagement. They extend to everyone – regardless of background, belief, profession or any other categorization – the four core virtues of civil civic engagement: curiosity, respect, compassion, and humility.
While they explore many different aspects of history, tradition, and culture, the most prominent theme in their trips is food because of its connective nature. Its distribution relies on interdependence between various regions, communities, and professions. The collective experience of a meal in the same physical space promotes conversation, understanding, and fellowship. The Whiddens strive to cultivate the agile intellects and emotions which future leaders will need to navigate, manage, lead, and inspire the disparate people and communities of 21st century America to be able to better understand the world simultaneously through their own viewpoint and others’.
We discussed what their experience was in putting together the inaugural trip to South Carolina last year; the bridging experiences they had on the trip, from engaging with a pro-Trump farmer in Charleston, with soldiers at an Army base in Columbia and with SC high school students in Greenville; how simply being curious projected (and invited) respect; and their concerns about the current emphasis in high school travel on overseas trips rather than domestic exploration. More broadly, we discussed how context influences how we prioritize our values and the power of applying the four core civic virtues unconditionally to build bridges and promote understanding–themes that are core to us at Next Gen. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Madeline, Maya, and Skyla spoke with Kevin Rogers, a Senior Associate at Government Executive, a media company which owns and operates multiple publications including City and State NY, where he is responsible for executing programs for entities interested in procuring contracts with the Federal Government. Kevin’s passion for public service and state government stems back to his student days, when among other things, he served as Chief of Staff for the SUNY Student Assembly, the overarching student government organization for SUNY’s 64 campuses and 1.2 million students. His interest in electoral politics was initially sparked through an internship in college that placed people in different government agencies and helped them learn about implementation of on-the-ground state policy plus provided him with a feel for how local government collaborates with state government. Since graduating, he’s worked on a number of local and state campaigns on Long Island and New York City, including as Field Director for the historic campaign of Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright during her independent run for re-election in 2020 and then as her Legislative Director where he helped pass major pieces of legislation such as the NYS Equal Rights Amendment. Through his work, he’s learned a lot about local, state, and federal law and how it affects everyday New Yorkers, and has gotten very good at synthesizing complex ideas for easy consumption. He also learned how much of this work happens through relationships– a LOT of negotiating goes on after hours, over dinner, karaoke, bocci ball…–and that strong community and relationships are forged by colleagues with a shared mission of making people’s lives better and getting things done. Ultimately, Kevin counseled us that we have to be bridge builders and relationship builders and that if we are, we’ll carry those relationships for life. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Kenisha, Maya, and Skyla spoke with Chris Piedmont of Slide 9, a communications, public relations, and digital marketing agency that focuses on creating stories that shift perception and move people to action. Chris himself was moved to action in 2019 when he took time off from the PR world to campaign for Pete joined Pete Buttigieg's history-making presidential campaign. We talked in depth about the high stakes world of campaigns. Having grown up in Charleston, South Carolina with a passion for politics AND communications, he had an existential crisis about which track to pursue, PR or politics. He chose business figuring he could always go back to politics and, after the 2016 election, he realized he HAD to be more involved. He kept a watchful eye on all the candidates in 2018 and, after the CNN town hall where Pete proved how strong a communicator he was and made a progressive splash, Chris realized Pete was his guy, which was confirmed after reading his book. He decided to focus on Pete’s South Carolina campaign, did some good natured stalking and networking, and secured a job as regional organizing director, helming two districts the size of Rhode Island. Chris was the boots on the ground, and his public relations experience helped a LOT as a big part of organizing is networking,developing trust and credibility right away, looking for the influencers who have impact and can help build scale, and getting the candidate’s messages out there. Chris Described his work on the campaign as some of the most engaging, satisfying, and EXHAUSTING experiences of his life, tinged with a life or death feeling each day. He came to feel that volunteers and women are the lifeblood of democracy in this country. Having lived in SC pre DOMA being struck down, pre gay marriage, Chris noted that coming back to a conservative community and knocking on people’s doors on behalf of the first openly out presidential candidate was deeply healing. Several years out and back in the PR world, Chris shared that at the end of the day, there’s nothing like getting someone to pull the lever for Pete. Chris’ energy is infectious and we hope it will inspire YOU to engage in campaign work. Thanks for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Kenisha and Madeline spoke with Debilyn Molineaux, Founder and CEO of The Bridge Alliance, which is working to create a “game changing” movement that shifts the underlying dynamics of power, politics, and participation in our country in order to strengthen values. The Alliance is based on five very powerful principles: See the best in people, Educate each other, Seek solutions, Acknowledge differences, and Act on commonalities. We agreed that we would LOVE to see these principles more in play in schools and society at large. We talked about the power–and challenge–of striving to revitalize civil society through democratic values and working to instill trust in the system and its values. What’s critical is that everyday citizens be at the heart of doing so–Debilyn underscored that the first three words of the constitution are “we the people” and that’s what we should be steeped in. We spoke about how fraught bipartisanship is these days, with Debi sharing her concerns that some older folks have an overly rosy view of it and some young people want to to give up on it altogether because they’ve never seen it work. Debi shared what she refers to as her “embodied sense of optimism,” fueled by belief that the future her generation is leaving young people can be so much better. We all agreed that we need to become the citizens WORTHY of a thriving, just democracy. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Kenisha, Madeline, and Maya spoke with Deo Mwano, a nationally recognized speaker, program designer, and transformational cultural change maker whose work focuses on helping organizations maximize their positive impact. Deo is a bit of a Renaissance Man, who’s had a stratospheric rise since arriving to the U.S. as a refugee when he was just a boy: having graduated with a degree in International Relations and History with an MBA in Strategic Leadership, he’s worked for the federal government, non-profits, universities and tech startups and now runs his own human-centered design strategy consultancy. One of the 40 Under 40 in New Hampshire,. Deo is a gifted storyteller and performer whose family’s story was featured on Dancing With the Stars, which he and his brothers performed on live. On the side, he loves making hip hop and R & B music, dancing and teaching dance, watching documentaries and reading biographies (he gave us some great recommendations too!), and being a dad to three children. We talked about what it was like to migrate from the Congo to New Hampshire–a state many know only from the primaries–as a refugee after his father was assassinated; how he created a personal brand–and traveled across the United States sharing his story–while he was still in middle school; the healing power of storytelling in overcoming fears and traumas; and what he’s learned from cultivating so many interconnected, intimate relationships over the years and across the country. His formative experiences in storytelling and relationship building very much inform his approach to helping organizations maximize their positive impact in the consulting work he does today, creating spaces where people can tell their stories, face their biases, and be authentic. Deo reminded us not to compromise on what love and peace are for us, and how they should be predicated in self identity and grounded in the positive aspects of who we are in order to inform how we show up for all we do. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Kenisha and Madeline spoke with Laura Brill, Founder and Executive Director of The Civics Center, founded in the shadow of the 2016 election to push back again the stereotype of teens being apathetic. The Civic Center is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to improving high school voter registration and civic engagement. This mission is incredibly important, given the 4 million Americans who turn 18 each year, and the 35 states that allow for registration before that birthday. While the vast majority of high school students are eligible to register before they turn 18, just 6% of them are ever asked or encouraged at school to do so. 6%! The impact of the youth vote IF REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED can dwarf electoral margins. The Civics Center has a plan to reach this enormous, unmet potential; the youth leaders they have trained have mobilized tens of thousands of their peers to register and vote—and they aim to train and mobilize thousands more.
Being registered changes the whole political landscape—the reality is you don’t count if you’re not in the voter file and you’re not taken seriously if you’re not registered or pre registered. The other reality is it shouldn’t be this hard to register! We talked about how dispiriting it is that there are so few civics clubs and effective voter registration efforts at schools. The Civic Center is coming out with materials about using high graduation as a crystallizing experience to register voters as a counterpoint to fall student voter registration drives.
We talked frankly and fully about the range of barriers to registration—beyond accessibility and opportunity are the narratives that discourage young people from taking ADVANTAGE of the opportunity to register and vote. We also discussed perceptions of young people, young people’s attitudes towards civics, how they are changing, and how to make progress as a generation despite being handed so many challenges.
The history of our country is that of small groups of people using the tools we have to make enormous changes to expand democracy. We haven’t yet lost the capacity to do that and we are committed to working together—and with you—to advance this vision. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Erina, Jack, Kenisha, and Madeline spoke with Gene Allen, a lifelong resident of Brooklyn who has experienced and thought deeply about the drastic changes in our city over 50+ years due to gentrification. This was super interesting to me because I recently conducted a photojournalism project on gentrification in the Bronx and was eager to learn about similarities and differences beyond the borough. Gentrification has a tangible impact on all of our lives–Kenisha spoke about how dramatically prices have increased in her neighborhood in Queens since she moved to the US, and how the livability metrics she analyzed as part of the NYC Youth Agenda Steering Committee demonstrate this is playing out at the city level and the individual level. Madeline shared that her mother’s stories about growing up in an ungentrified Brooklyn sound like fairytales to her. Meanwhile, our guest Gene powerfully framed gentrification from a Black man’s perspective as another form of Jim Crow, and walked us through the cultural annihilation he feels has been perpetrated upon his community over the decades, starting with the crack epidemic in the 80s. He compared this to the Opium Wars in China, which the English refer to as the worst thing they ever did. Gene talked to us about the decimation of the Black community during the heyday of crack cocaine–and then another kind of diaspora induced more recently through gentrification, when white people crowded into communities where they’d never before even visited. Gene shared his feelings that gentrification can’t be stopped–how can you stop capitalism?--and that NYC is being overdeveloped while simultaneously being drained of its culture, vibrant nightlife, and edge. He also shared his concerns that we’re not having the right talks–we talk about slavery but NOT about repair, because to make reparations we would need to engage with capitalism. Despite all of this, Gene has hope because of OUR generation, which he perceives as the first that’s actually liberated and committed to not being bigots. He thinks we still have the potential to turn things around IF we know and learn from our history. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Jack, Kenisha, and Madeline spoke with Michelle Blanchet, co-author of Preventing Polarization: 50 Strategies for teaching kids about empathy, politics, and civic responsibility. Michelle has taught social studies around the world for many years and was shocked, upon returning to the U.S. a few years ago, by the degree to which politics seems like a team sport, fueled by ego driven conversation and ever-increasing divides. She recognized that we can’t prevent polarization–it’s here!--but it’s what we DO with it. Michele is very concerned about the degree to which dialogues about critical political issues don’t make it into the classroom— which is a disservice to students. Too often books about civics are about facts and take the emotions out. But “just teach the curriculum” doesn’t work —you can’t, for example, teach about the Electoral College without eliciting feelings and reactions. She feels that politics is the soul of civic engagement—and policy is how you shape the world you want to be in.
Michelle believes it's more important than ever to support teachers to facilitate difficult dialogues and to equip students with skills like communication and consensus-building so they can use policy to tackle our country’s most pressing challenges. It’s not about teachers imposing their views–it’s about facilitating dialogue and engaging with the complexity of the “wicked problems” of our time. The goal of her book is to reopen lines of communication. There are simply too many important issues in the world to be in discord. Given the futility of keeping politics out of the classroom, we talked about how to integrate politics into the classroom in a healthy and productive way, how to make discourse more productive (and what makes this so challenging), and the importance of giving young people time and space to do applied civics to learn how to engage productively. We share a love of being in the change maker space to help young people see how they can make things happen. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Jack, Kenisha, Madeline and Vanessa recorded the podcast together live in the P & T Knitwear podcast studio on the Lower East Side of New York City, which was super fun. Sparked by the recent controversy around the College Board’s modification of its Advanced Placement African American Studies course, seemingly in response to criticism from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis that it would violate recently- passed Florida laws banning the teaching of Critical Race Theory, we talked about how history is taught, the lenses it’s taught through, and the lenses we’d LIKE to see it taught through, honing in on what we’d like to see history curricula look like going forward (hint: it shouldn’t be lecture based…) We talked through what specifically has been removed from the new AP curriculum and our feelings about things like SHOULD African American Studies be taught separately from regular history or should there be more emphasis on infusing more African American studies into ALL the APs. We shared concerns about what qualifications teachers will need to teach African American Studies–and what that means in terms of which schools will ACTUALLY teach it? We shared concerns about how to cover the vast swaths of history expected, which leads to teaching to the test rather than to teaching for depth. We also voiced concerns about the removal of contemporary issues from the AP curricula, as well as removing secondary scholars like bell hooks who provide insight about the systemic undergirding of these issues, and our sense of the agenda behind that being to make racism and disparities seem like they are in the past and that we’ve moved beyond these forces as a nation.This plays into our larger concern about the trend of trying to wrap up history with a neat little bow, making us miss the shades of gray and the modern relevance—which is a problem more broadly in school. The point should be to make us think more deeply, not to erase the nuances. More broadly, we grappled with the question of whether politics and history are inextricable, particularly in trying to separate historical injustices from what’s happening today. We feel that it does a disservice to history to try to separate the two, and that it does a disservice to students to not teach them that there are some problems that we haven’t yet solved. The point of school should be to make us independent, capable thinkers–therefore ingraining facts rather than challenging us to use content to think about important issues misses the mark. We did acknowledge that despite the critical lens we are sharing in response to recent revisions, we celebrate the critical need for an African American Studies AP course and applaud the College Board’s attempts to address this need. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Jack, Kenisha, Madeline, and Maya spoke with Max Eden, who heads the Conservative Ed Reform Network at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) think tank. While we are devoted to cross-partisanship, we don’t get to be in deep dialogue with strong conservatives often enough and we really enjoyed our engagement with Max, talking about various aspects of education reform and, most importantly, the impact of schools on the humans who people grow up to be. Max really helped us understand polarization and the culture wars in education reform specifically, and that the debates of today weren’t the debates we were having 10 years ago or even 5 years ago, when the focus was on fixing schools that serve higher need students through various modalities. All of that fell apart in 2015-6 in response to the Common Core Standards being poorly implemented and politically toxic. Foundations aligned with unions around the notion of institutional racism and that schools don’t need policy change, they need cultural change. Max feels there’s been a slow and steady build around DEI from 2016-20 which got ignited with the killing of George Floyd in 2020 and is now an inferno. He feels we have to view the current AP black studies controversy through this lens, and that a lot has gotten thrown into the curriculum inappropriately, including progressive causes that he feels are forced and wouldn’t allow participants to voice their own opinions. Max feels many teachers today are misconstruing their role, and that they should be agents of government rather than agents of social change trying to change the world through youth. Max also shared his perceptions of how progressivism has impacted early childhood in detrimental ways, from lack of emphasis on phonemic awareness to inappropriate attention to gender identity. We also found it helpful to hear about Max’s personal path, from being quite liberal in high school to becoming a conservative at Yale–a somewhat unusual trajectory catalyzed by his intrigue about counter arguments to common arguments he knew–and his commitment to shatter the notion that good people think one way. We closed with a fascinating conversation about whether or not schools should be values free and whether or not they CAN be. We’d love YOUR thoughts on this front. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Jack, Kenisha, Madeline, and Maya spoke with Aissata Diallo, Jolina Jimenez, and Mukilan Muthukumar, members of the NYC Youth Agenda Steering Committee representing CUNY’s Intergenerational Change Initiative and YVote and discussing the 2023 Agenda that will be released at a policy breakfast on Feb 21st. We talked about what exactly the NYC Youth Agenda is, how it came to be, and what it hopes to achieve. We discussed the value of local data gathering; the unique perspective youth bring to policy making, and government more broadly, especially locally; the power of cross-organizational youth coalitions; and the motivation that comes from knowing that we are making a tangible difference. We grappled with the very real struggle to be heard and taken seriously by elected officials, especially as young people–but how it compels us even MORE to do the work we do. Overall, we are encouraged by our progress so far—and know how much further we can and must go. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Erina, Jack, Kenisha, Madeline, and Skyla spoke with Maine State Senator Chloe Maxmin , the youngest woman elected to the Maine House and Senate, and a relentless voice in the fight for progressive politics+climate change. She waged back-to-back successful campaigns in 2018+2020, winning a House district that had a 16 point Republican advantage, then going on to unseat the highest-ranking Republican in the Maine Senate. Maxmin decided NOT to seek another term in order to devote her focus to grassroots organizing outside of Maine via her organization, Dirt Road Organizing, building on more than thirteen years of community organizing with a focus on climate change, including co-founding Divest Harvard, a campaign calling on her alma mater Harvard University to divest from fossil fuels that ultimately drew 70,000 supporters. Chloe’s goal is to activate and support lots of young progressive candidates in rural communities across the country, and share her successful blueprint for how the Democratic Party can rebuild bridges with these rural voters, long abandoned by the Dem Party. She believes she can make a bigger impact by getting lots of folks elected instead of just getting herself elected. As you can imagine, all this made for a very interesting conversation on many levels! We talked about what motivated Chloe to get involved in work like this at such an early age, challenges she faced, and how she’s overcome them in her campaigns and in office. We talked about what it’s like to amplify a movement of progressive politics in rural Maine, what it was like to be the first Democrat ever elected in her district, and how to build a broader base of support in the service of working towards what’s best for EVERYONE, in a bipartisan way, within a very partisan political environment . We talked about urban vs rural divides, and how to move beyond generalizations of rural life outside the city, politically, socially, and intellectually. We talked about the primacy of building power together and aligning around values; as Chloe notes, she never met a Republican who wanted fewer good jobs or more expensive health care–where things devolve are around politics and party. And we talked about the power of local politics and recognizing that the vast majority of decisions that affect people’s everyday lives happen in state legislatures. A signature lesson Chloe learned in state office is that the best policy doesn’t happen WITHOUT grassroots organizing—and that movement building is vital for getting good people elected and keeping them in office. Here’s to it. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Jack, Kenisha, Madeline and Skyla spoke with…each other. Don’t get us wrong: we LOVE our guests but we also love our No Guest episodes when we dig in and speak in depth with one another about issues on our mind. And this week, political language and performative activism were very much on our minds. Tipped off by a paper Madeline recently wrote about the phrase “My Body My Choice” and how the meaning of that phrase has changed over the years, we talked about the language we use to describe our political ideologies, the importance of “sexy slogans” and power of social media to both provide and erode credibility in social movements, and how marketing and catchy slogans can skew narratives and chill discourse rather than enable people to evolve in their thinking. We talked in depth about the spectrum of activism, and whether and under what conditions performative activism can be a gateway to deeper, more authentic activism. Nobody decides to do activism because it’s easy; we agreed that the key to activism is the willingness and resilience that enables us to pick ourselves up and get back at it when we fail or fall short. We also agreed that the way to change is through “slow conversation” that illuminates the human experience, including that of people in the groups we may feel activated against. Hope you enjoy hearing our thoughts as much as we enjoyed hearing one another’s. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Jack and Kenisha spoke with Cornell Woolridge, Program Manager of the Civic Saturday Fellowship atCitizen University (CU). Cornell got involved in politics at an early age– a campaign in 3rd grade—and has been around the political space since then. What brought him to civic work and keeps him in civic work is bringing people together and helping them discover and use the power they have together. Born in Oklahoma, and growing up in Texas, Cornell was “a double PK”—Preacher’s Kid–since both his father AND his mother were preachers. Growing up in a strong faith tradition, today his energies are organized around civic faith, which binds spiritual faith with civic engagement and blends it with belief in the power of community and the intangible connection and energy to create together. Through his work at CU, Cornell is committed to assuming good intent, focusing on finding the chords of connection between people, and helping them understand one another’s experiential realities and why those might lead them to see things differently. This is why he loves coaching people in facilitating Civic Saturdays, to which you invite people who you don’t generally speak with and ideally who may be on opposite sides of an issue and create a powerful and unifying experience through the structure and rituals that bring people together through layers of communication and connection. Cornell noted that “no one leaves a Civic Saturday worse than they came in.” Participants walk out more energized and inspired and if you leave feeling better than when you walked in, you’re more motivated and likely to take action that leads to different outcomes. In the end, it comes down to trust. For any system of government or community to succeed, you have to have trust—in yourself, in your community, and in being able to get something done together that you couldn’t otherwise do. Sign us up! Thank you for listening.
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At this week's Round Table, Ava, Kenisha, and Madeline spoke with Kaz Brecher, founder of Curious Catalyst and Innovation Strategist for Made By Us. As the daughter of two rocket scientists, Kaz loves the process of inquiry and thrives in ambiguous contexts, drawing from her background in psychology, behavioral science, innovation, emerging technology and media. She believes that empowering others is the best way to have impact and spends half her time creating directly and half her time teaching others, striving to help people see what they uniquely bring to groups. She is committed to respecting everyone’s uniqueness and helping people be confident and centered in order to be empowered to do work. She believes that courage is contagious, as are all behaviors. In tackling issues and challenges, she asks, what’s the problem and how do we connect to people who have them? She firmly believes that the more opinions you have, the better the solutions you can come up with BUT there can also be a lot more friction as a result of different perspectives. She encourages us to think about what we can do together that we couldn’t do individually and emphasizes that changing systems—and society—is never easy. Being a translator is critical because different touch points resonate and we must always come back to the basics of what connects us: listening, respect, curiosity. Thank you for joining us for our first podcast of 2023!
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At this week's Round Table, Jack, Kenisha, and Skyla engaged with some of our favorite guests—alumni podcast hosts Inica Kotasthane, now finishing her first semester at Barnard College, and Riya Mehta, midday through her junior year at Tufts University. We think you’ll enjoy catching up with these formerly-familiar voices as much as we did. In the spirit of year-end episodes, we started by rating HOW our respective years have been and why and then talked a great deal about the year in pop culture and its intersection with politics. We discussed how it’s becoming increasingly hard to separate art from politics; whether you can–and should–separate the artist from the art; the importance of artistic freedom; and where, when, and how lines should be drawn and artists should be “canceled”--as well as WHO should make such calls, platforms like Spotify, companies like Adidas, or consumers. We also talked about the challenges of free speech and how Twitter is emblematic of our time, with “free” speech being bought by the richest man in the world, leading to use of the N word instantly increasing by 4 times along with geometric increases of other hate speech, huge layoffs, increases in misinformation and lack of civility, and places getting increasingly less safe, in person and online.
This is a really exciting time on a personal level as well as a cultural one. . Many of us have oriented our whole lives around getting into college and, now that three of us podcast hosts have gotten into the colleges we applied early to–yay!--we have to figure out what’s next. We’ve got some exciting ideas, and resolutions, and book recommendations we think will resonate with you and would love to hear yours too. Thank you for listening in 2022 and we look forward to sharing more podcast adventures in 2023!
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At this week's Round Table, Kenisha, Madeline, and Ava spoke with Lisa Kay Solomon, writer, Associate Professor and Designer in Residence at Stanford Institute of Design, and Co-founder of All Vote, No Play, exploring sports, civics, social change, and the interconnections between them. Lisa teaches an incredibly popular class on futures thinking at Stanford and is also a passionate public educator, spreading the civic gospel well beyond the classroom and onto the courts and playing fields of America. While Lisa is a trained futurist, she emphasizes that thinking about the future is a skill set we all can learn—and it doesn’t require having a crystal ball! It entails thinking about what is the range of possible futures that might unfold–recognizing that nothing is fixed or assured– and how we can learn to bring our preferred future to life. All that’s required is bold imagination and comfort with ambiguity along with socializing and sensitizing ourselves to different perspectives and world views in order to try to understand the fullest range of possible—and then to try to shape it! At root, futures thinking is about shaping systems and looking for levers of change that are high value and go unnoticed. You know, like student athletes, who have been wildly overlooked in the civic space yet if you think about who has influence on campuses, you can’t NOT think of this. On the heels of the murder of George Floyd and the public outcry for social justice reform, this led Lisa to partner with long-time basketball coach Eric “Rev” Reveno ("Rev") on a shared mission to help players register to vote and to flex their civic power more broadly. They asked themselves, “what if we empowered all student athletes to act like citizens, and to model the kinds of behaviors that create the types of societies we want to live in?” Athletes actually have a lot to offer with regard to some of the thorny civic challenges of our time, like bridging differences, which they do every single day in playing on teams and against others. Getting them to transfer those skills to the civic skills is powerful.The pilot Lisa and Rev cooked up together was so successful it led to the participating student athletes proposing legislation to the NCAA to take this an annual event for over 500k students and to form the powerful All Vote and No Play initiative–and they are just getting started! Lisa reminds us that democracy doesn’t just happen: it requires individuals putting themselves in positions—including sometimes at risk of harm or threat— in order to protect the kind of democracy we want to be part of. We are incredibly inspired by the vision of All Vote No Play and think you will be too. Thank you for joining us!
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At this week's Round Table, Kenisha, Madeline, Maya, and Skyla spoke with Alison Gash and Daniel Tichenor, Political Science Professors at University of Oregon and co-authors of Democracy's Child: Young People and the Politics of Control, Leverage, and Agency. Democracy’s Child is a sweeping and innovative study that places young people at the heart of pivotal conflicts, decisions, and transformations in American politics–and our conversation was similarly sweeping. We talked at length about the power and possibility of GenZ, esp coming off of the 2022 midterms and how young people can flex our collective muscles to be increasingly at the center of politics and impact issues. So many political decisions are made FOR young people without our direct input. That cannot stand. Our generation wants to pave the way for change in our democracy. To do so, we want to better understand the history of youth activism–both its successes and shortcomings–and how we can both build upon AND differentiate selves from prior movements. We talked about how much voice teens really DO have, how to keep a focus on youth BEYOND the time of elections when our votes are needed, and how to get beyond the limiting belief that young people don’t have the capacity developmentally to engage fully in politics and public affairs. We talked about how to make politicians understand that they HAVE to care about what we care about and how we need to create politics BY young people, not just FOR young people. What young people learn at pivotal ages stays with us. It doesn’t just influence us in the moment; it transforms us. THIS is why education is so hotly contested, because the values that youth adopt can be threatening to the status quo. Let’s threaten it together. Thanks for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Collin, Erina, Kenisha, and Madeline spoke with Dr. Steven Becton, Chief Officer of Equity, Inclusion and Belonging at Facing History and Ourselves. Dr Becton has spent his career working deeply in and with schools to create whole school culture and transformational educational experiences that equip educators, while also empowering students, to overcome the systemic issues that have placed them at risk. We talked about the structures that uphold racism; the impact of structural racism on communities and schools; the importance of disrupting narratives, and confirmation biases, about what people can and can’t do, whether Black, new immigrants, non cis gendered, or anything outside dominant identities; and the power to teaching difficult history to students along with teaching them to be critical thinkers and giving them space to come to their own conclusions–which is far afield from the purported “indoctrination” that worries people in relation to race. We talked about how America was born in a paradox (not a contradiction), with two competing ideas sitting as truths for people–that is, that all men are created equal at the same time that the founders were enslaving people–and how we still live with paradoxes and the consequences of them. We talked about how as activists, we too often fail to connect change to policy, yet most of what happens in our country is influenced by policy as much as by culture and changing hearts and minds. Dr Becton underscored that the anti-racism movement doesn’t need allies; it needs co-conspirators. He reminded us of the danger of thinking it’s THOSE people who have the problem when we often have to think about OURSELVES–what price are WE willing to pay for equity? History has taught us that it costs upstanders something. Are we willing to give up power? Positionality? Income? Good schools? We encourage you to join us in this self-interrogation–and in taking action based upon it. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Kenisha, Madeline, and Maya spoke with Paul Gabbey, a fantastic teacher of AP Government & Politics/MacroEconomics at Penfield High School in Rochester, NY for the last 28 years–a school that he himself graduated from. Mr Gabbey is the kind of teacher you wish everyone could have–creative, kind, and inspiring, registering thousands of students to vote; supporting many former students in getting involved in local, state, and federal politics; and hosting the biggest political party in Monroe County every four years to make Election Night memorable. We talked about how to teach politics in a productive way at the nexus of history and current events; the challenges of teaching in a time of hyper polarization AND of preparing students for the AP test WHILE making content relevant and relatable; and the power of an interdisciplinary approach in doing so. Mr Gabbey’s key emphasis is on involvement- you can't sit on the sidelines and expect things to get done. He wants to help students to see that politics and government–and teaching!-- can be a noble profession and that making a difference is key. It’s very evident how much of a difference Mr Gabbey has made on the lives of his students–and now on you. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's podcast, Kenisha and Madeline celebrated Thanksgiving by speaking with Eunice Lin Nichols, CEO of Co-Generate and one of Co-Generate’s newest Innovation Fellows, Natilee McGrudder, co-chair of Alabama Leads. CoGenerate is working to bridge generational divides to co-create the future–a mission near and dear to our hearts. We talked about the power of intergenerational conversations and relationships–and also the tensions, judgments, and misperceptions that can arise. All of this can come to a head at Thanksgiving, especially for those of us who many not have engaged with extended family over for a few years due to the pandemic and may now be feeling a bit tentative about having conversations across generational lines. We shared stories about formative cross-generational experiences in our own lives and talked about opportunities for bonding, Modern Elders and Old Souls, the challenges of growing up in a pandemic and the generational implications, and the power of digging into shared problems (you know, like climate change…) together. We also talked about the importance of youth entering spaces with a sense of “I’ve arrived and have something to offer” ALONGSIDE respect; young people speaking their truth does and should arouse elders since the most powerful movements have ALWAYS had youth at the forefront. We emerged with heightened respect for just how powerful co-generating can be. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Maya, Skyla, and Jack spoke with Dr Seema Yasmin, Emmy Award-winning journalist, Pulitzer finalist, and a CNN medical analyst who advocates for media literacy and slowing the spread of false news. In her newest book, “What the Fact? Finding the Truth in All the Noise,” Dr Yasmin offers teens a how-to guide to build the discernment necessary to tell fact from fiction. We discussed and lamented how little media literacy is taught in schools–and how this omission contributes to the drift away from citizenship and towards polarization, fueling a vicious cycle. This is not accidental, and contributes to things like the weaponization of Critical Race Theory, leading to the banning of books and conversations that would expose young people to key information. We must ask ourselves, whose agenda does it serve to have young people lacking the skills to be critical consumers of information? This is a core challenge of our time and it can seem overwhelming BUT Dr Yasmin underscored that it’s fixable. We have evidence based strategies for how to disagree with each other, how to build bridges, and how to debunk myths. A starting place is to TEACH critical thinking to all generations and emphasize that beliefs aren’t binary. It’s important to leave your mind open to new evidence and work to develop “cognitive immunity” to create antibodies that help you resist falling for false information and propaganda. Dr Yasmin’s book WTF is meant to be a self-armoring tool to arm us to challenge systems, help us curate our media diets, and guide us in having productive arguments without challenging people’s core identity/culture/ideology. Be sure to check it out and thanks for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Collin, Kenisha, Madeline, and Maya spoke with Stewart Fletcher, Social Media Coordinator for Living Room Conversations. Living Room Conversations works to heal society by connecting people across divides - politics, age, gender, race, nationality, and more – through guided conversations proven to build understanding and transform communities. Stewart is a political science major at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah who has always been passionate about bringing people together: as the middle of ten kids, he has had lots of experience being a mediator. Living Room Conversations is part of a larger bridging movement working to bring people who think they disagree with one another together to see where they DO agree through guided conversations, resources, and events. Stewart believes people are more similar than we tend to think—that is, under the right circumstances that enable people to tap into their humanity and commonality. He feels Living Room Conversations’ guides help do just this, creating simple, accessible, scalable scaffolds around dozens and dozens of topics that can help the common person do what they might not otherwise do. We talked about the importance of Community Agreements (Next Gen Politics’ and Living Room Conversations’ have a lot in common); how clouded people can be by our own biases; and what a successful conversation looks like and what emerges from them. We hope that YOU will be inspired to engage in your living room conversations. Thanks for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Kenisha, Madeline, and Maya spoke with Alexa Whaley, Media Coordinator, for the Millennial Action Project (MAP) The Millennial Action Project has an audacious mission: activate young leaders to bridge the partisan divide and transform American politics. Its vision is of a diverse democracy where the political culture is grounded in empathy and leaders pursue innovative policy solutions. The Millennial Action Project works directly with our nation’s leading young policymakers on both a national and state level to bridge the partisan divide and lead a new era of collaborative governance. Through her role, Alexa helps MAP amplify its message, perspective, and membership through digital media and press outlets. She passionately believes we all can and must come together around generational issues like climate change, housing, and criminal justice–and MAP is committed to serving as a conduit for doing so. Growing up in a Conservative Christian background and attending an evangelical college majoring in political science led Alexa to want to work in politics without forgetting roots or leaving communities she cares about behind. This made MAP a perfect match, enabling Alexa to use all parts of her tool kit and ideological background in working with lots of bridge builders who are passionate about not silencing the other side. We spoke about the ‘secret sauce’ of how MAP works with young elected officials across divides; the role of the media and social media in creating divisiveness—and how MAP is trying to become a go-to resource for young people on how to navigate politics; why ours is the largest generation registering Independent; and the power of bringing one’s full self to politics without having to hold to a party orthodoxy. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Jack, Kenisha, Kris, and Madeline spoke with Michaela Latimer, Winston Churchill Fellow and Community Manager at Genesis, helping move New Zealand to a sustainable, low-carbon future, powered by renewable energy. Michaela was visiting us as part of her international Churchill Fellowship to learn about community and philanthropic organizations involved in positive youth development in the U.S. and U.K. to inform positive youth development frameworks in New Zealand. We had a great conversation about global philanthropy and its strengths and limitations. Michaela is very cognizant of critiques about philanthropy–and also feels that targeting really big things like poverty and hunger can’t be done piecemeal. She feels philanthropy should be about generosity and making things happen, and is focusing on helping corporations work in the service of creating authentic systemic change. Nonprofits have so many constraints around funding that constrains scale, which she feels has to change given the urgency of issues of our times. She is inspired by a Māori cultural tradition oriented around being a thriving people in a thousand years time–and now we are too. When you think in terms of a thousand years, you make very different decisions, which we as a society need to do. We emerged from our conversation recognizing that while we tend to THINK things are local, there’s a lot more that’s global and there are a ton of common issues across our work and our world. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Erina, Jack, Kenisha, and Madeline spoke with the leaders of our Next Gen Politics’ Rancho Bernardo Chapter: Khushi Patel and Chelsea Reilly. Their community is VERY divided along partisan lines, which carries over into school unfortunately. At a time when many issues are deeply polarized–from vaccines to politics–they had no platform to discuss things with their peers as their teachers avoided such things during the school day. Things had become very divided and divisive with no arena for meaningful conversation to bridge the gaps. People were pushed to extremes of left and right without middle ground for mature conversations–and to have fun through them. And so a year ago, Khushi and Chelsea decided to take this on by building a Next Gen Politics chapter to talk about hot topics in non polarized ways. And it’s been going gangbusters! We talked about what civic engagement– and lack thereof– looks like in high school, how to make politics less intimidating and more engaging, how to bring participants together across broad ideological differences, the power of youth networks, and how more empathy can transform the nation. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Ava, Jack, Kenisha, Madeline, Maya, and Skyla had a really special conversation: with each other. That’s right, no guests which gave us the opportunity to REALLY dig in with one another. We discussed a lot of things: Systemic racism and how it plays out; what we learned through Black@ accounts; whether we are unified between our home self and school self–and where does our true identity lie; how to teach beyond issues that are ingrained in society, and in us; How schools are part of larger systemic issues; if and how it’s possible to create integrated education given segregated neighborhoods; and what we can do to ensure more equitable education that provides youth with a strong foundation to build on beyond that. We had a great time recording this and hope you’ll have an equally great time listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Maya and Kris spoke with Charity Freeman, Associate Director for Teacher Training and Community Education for the Discovery Partners Institute at Pritzker Tech Talent Labs. Charityis passionate about building capacity in computer and data science/analytics at the high school and community college levels–which we 100% endorse (Maya is considering majoring in Computer Science when she gets to college.) Charity comes to this work after many years of teaching at various different kinds and sizes of high schools and she is now co-chair of a commission focused on how to scale k-12 computer science. While Charity doesn’t think computer science is necessarily for EVERYONE, she feels it’s important for everyone to have exposure so they can know what they are saying no to. There are lots of myths and misconceptions about computer science–and, of course, huge disparities in access– and Charity wants to be sure that youth, especially black and brown young people, simply aren’t afraid of it, leading them to opt out of CS as a default. For Charity, relationships are at the core and her #1 goal is helping students find their path–not just what they want to do or what career they want to pursue. Further, one’s goal shouldn’t be to be “productive” --it should be to be fruitful. Charity's calling in computer science has now led her to help other educators find and use their voice to support minoritized students–a term she uses consciously for how systems and structures render students. She underscores that equity doesn’t mean lowering standards, it means extending resources to students who haven’t historically received them. Ultimately, getting amazing results is how you change the world and THAT is what Charity is focusing on. Thanks so much for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Ava, Kenisha, and Madeline spoke with Eric Forteza Romero and Michelle Mairena, two of the many co-founders of Rhizome. Rhizome empowers student-led communities, places college students on paths to lifelong leadership, and shapes a healthier future for local communities and for the country. Eric and Michelle are inspiring ambassadors for the organization–and for civic work more broadly. Both are immigrants now excelling at Ivy League colleges (Harvard and Stanford respectively) and embody the best of what it means to be an American, regardless of citizenship status. Rhizome is truly a collective enterprise–there are 90 cofounders from all across the country, who came together through social media in the summer of 2021 in their shared desire to create a youth led space to give young people agency and to drive social change. 80% of Rhizome participants are low income youth of color–a manifestation of the organizers’ commitment to finding and engaging students who haven’t had time or space to get involved in community organizing. Being TRULY youth-led enables Rhizome to flourish because the organization understands what it takes to foster youth participation and investment, and to get to the grassroots of what people care about. If you give students a platform, they KNOW what they need and what issues they want to focus on. While Eric and Michelle believe that schools SHOULD take responsibility for providing civic education, and that civic knowledge should be incorporated into what we consider essential knowledge, they’re not holding their breath waiting for that to happen; they’re taking action in under-resourced communities all around the country. Eric and Michelle underscored the importance of communicating that democracy is alive and evolving and that youth can participate in it. We firmly agree and we encourage any college students who are listening and interested to apply for the PAID Rhizome Organizing Fellowship. Applications are open through the end of Oct–check out Rhizome’s website to apply. And if you admire Rhizome’s mission and vision as we do, you can donate here. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Ava, Kenisha, Madeline, and Skyla spoke with one of our beloved podcast editors, Vanessa Chen, as well as her collaborators Kimmy Jeon and Matthew Huang, who are working on a documentary about gerrymandering. Yes, gerrymandering. A topic that doesn’t get enough attention by young people yet has a fundamental impact on voting and electoral politics, making our political system inherently already less just and less democratic before people even get to the ballot box. As such, Vanessa and her partners are investigating what young people know and care about in relation to gerrymandering and its impact on voting disparities based on race and social class. Given how political our team is, we were VERY interested in this topic, which most of us knew little about since it’s really not addressed in high school, yet we’ve recognized its impact on our communities. We discussed why voting is important to each of us, how voting can better reflect minority opinions in the decision making process, and the challenges of an orientation that isn’t on uniting the masses but rather firing up parties’ existing bases–and often the most extreme parts of it–thereby further fueling polarization. We all agreed that we HAVE to work to counteract the vision cycle of disempowerment and lack of representation. We also agreed that students across the country SHOULD be taught more about gerrymandering–and the importance of local elections– and how it affects us, not just historically but today. Thank you for listening!
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a t this week's Round Table, Kris,Ava, Madeline, Kenisha, and I spoke with Joy Malonza, founder of The Down Ballot. The Down Ballot seeks to help voters more easily, seamlessly, and intimately engage with the electoral processes that determine their state representatives. Joy’s political values were forged when she moved to the U.S. at age 9. There was lots of talk about politics in her family and lots of frustrations about the broken systems they experienced. She initially planned to work in economic development but became disillusioned—and a socialist :) George Floyd’s murder and the subsequent protests were the catalysts that sparked her recognition of the need for something like The Down Ballot to provide information for activists to become engaged voters. Protests aren’t going to bring us universal health care; it’s only ultimately going to happen in the legislative chambers. Joy recognized how much language around voting is opaque and off-putting which, combined with broad based voter suppression efforts, keeps communities she cares about disenfranchised. She went through tons of data on who votes and doesn’t vote. Spoiler alert: older white people vote, and landlords raising rents always vote. Voting at the local level is POWER. Others are showing up so if you don’t, you cede power. Meanwhile, a lot of people don’t know why midterms matter–so The Down Ballot needs to educate them. Joy has been experimenting with several different depths and displays of content, landing on providing brief interviews with candidates, calling out sneaky language, and more. She’s now going super hard with outreach to try to double their 40,000 followers because the midterms are sooo important. A lot of seats are being vacated and could lead to a change in party power. Joy emphasizes that there are many ways to be an activist; she chooses to focus on the legislative and hopes you will too. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Kris, Madeline, and Vanessa spoke with one of our fantastic YVote alums, Meril Mousoom, now a sophomore at Macalester College. Meril has been involved in activism since they were 13 years in ever evolving ways, coalescing in their investment in youth lobbying. While lobbying doesn’t tend to be centered by youth activists, Meril shared how satisfying it is to work on something with small deliverables that contribute to larger movements. The most exciting initiative Meril is working on lobbying for is a Senate bill sponsored by Elizabeth Warren to create a Commission investigating the atrocities of Indian Board School. We also discussed how to deal with discouragements in activism and as a lobbyist, and the importance of focusing on community care, making sure methods to promote outcomes aren’t exploitative. Meril underscored that part of being an activist is coming to terms with tradeoffs, and navigating tensions and contradictions–for example, in Meril’s current work for a Quaker organization despite being an atheist and despite their antipathy for things churches have done and despite their concerns about shortcomings of white liberalism that plays out within it. The key is finding the right role for oneself within activism–and knowing that it can and should evolve. As Meril notes, the best thing about activism is that there’s always people trying to find solutions. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Kenisha, Kris, Madeline, and Skyla spoke with Cindy Trinh, creator of @activistnyc, a documentary photo project about activism and social justice movements in New York City. Cindy is a photographer, visual journalist and activist who is passionate about social justice and human rights. Their photography comes from a place of wanting to connect with people and places through the art of visual storytelling. Cindy’s work has been published and featured extensively by popular media, and they have exhibited at numerous museums, galleries and art spaces throughout New York City.
We spoke about growing up feeling and being different; the challenges of choosing creative careers in first gen immigrant families; the life of a lapsed lawyer—and how radicalizing law school can be!; the toxic illusion of the American Dream; and the restorative power of taking pictures and working at the intersection of photography, activism, and social change. Oh, and we also talked about how badly society is failing young people and the lost art of just having fun. We were INCREDIBLY inspired by Cindy and know you will be too. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Ava, Madeline, and Maya spoke with Tim Fish, Chief Innovation Officer of National Association of Independent Schools, which works with 2000 private schools nationally. Prior to this, Tim was a headmaster, which informs his lens on leadership and student learning—as does his experience as the father of four kids! Despite 32 years of experience now, Tim’s work is still fueled by his experience as a brand new teacher who didn’t know anything and found himself staring at an empty file cabinet and trying to figure out how to fill it. He initially thought his job as an educator was to talk as much as possible but learned over time that it is to listen and to create conditions within which learning can be constructed. Tim describes his pedagogical philosophy as “structured agency,” within which teachers give back the power and provide students with voice and choice in order to promote self-determination and self-direction. He shared a core conundrum of caring educators wanting to help—and hating seeing students struggle—but recognizing that the learning comes in the struggle. We talked about differences (and similarities) between independent and public schools—and whether the absence of standardized testing promotes more creativity; what innovation looks like within the seemingly traditional and entitled culture of independent schools; what’s working in innovation–and the preconditions for it; and how well high schools are–or aren’t–providing youth for college. We think you’ll get a lot out of this episode. Thanks for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Kris, Madeline, and Maya spoke with Bill Fulton of The Civic Canopy. Bill’s vision for the Civic Canopy was sparked by his experience watching the Berlin Wall come down while he was in college and being inspired by the possibilities for civic transformation across divides. He defines his work to connect civic life and improve communities through the Canopy over the last 25 years as a manifestation of never outgrowing college and the generative possibility of ‘what if.’ The Canopy’s work is rooted in investment in what it takes for diverse groups of people to come together and work productively. Bill describes this approach as a Community Learning Model, getting the right people at the table (or under the canopy…) and having them dream together of a shared outcome. He is a strong proponent that diversity doesn’t need to tear us apart; it can make us stronger under the right conditions. While very real divides exist, he feels the media exacerbates them, and that when relationships are forged that enable us to see one another’s common humanity, true common ground can be forged. While we are hardwired to be afraid of difference, we ALSO have a competitive advantage to be collaborative, underscoring the value of creating ways to manage the tensions. We talked about the pros and cons of social media, the danger of echo chambers, and what it takes to pull towards the center, where it can be hard to stand. The Round Table is trying to create a container within which to do this and we appreciate you joining us in the journey. Thanks for listening!
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At this week’s Round Table, Kris, Collin, Kenisha, and Skyla spoke with Claire Thomas, attorney, consultant, professor and clinical director practicing immigration law and researching global migration, statelessness, human rights, and empowerment for women and girls facing poverty and gender-based violence. Claire recently returned from a Fulbright in Mexico, during which she interviewed asylum-seekers, government officials, and immigration experts to learn about and share cross-cultural best practices in asylum and refugee law. We talked about the challenges of immigration policy which, in Claire’s words, is “a big jumbled mess” and which Claire’s work focuses on the humanitarian side of. Much of today’s immigration policy stems from treaties signed after the horrors of WWII and is predicated in very outdated language and concepts—many other countries are more modern and inclusive. A toxic blend of Misinformation, racism, and outdated laws interferes with progress. We have a true humanitarian crisis because the Mexican border has been closed to asylum seekers since March 2020, making it impossible for anyone to come through and forced those in peril to wait in dangerous Mexican border cities for years. We talked about the dangers of the “close the door behind you” mentality, gender based violence and the deadly absence of gender-based grounds for asylum in the US, what to do about ICE, the hugely disparate treatment of black and brown refugees, what and how the Biden administration is doing on immigration, and what can teens our age do to actually facilitate change in the short and long term. Most importantly, we spoke about how we can open the eyes of those l who have a misconstrued view of what the immigration process is and who immigrants are. We hope this podcast can be part of that process. Thank you for listening!
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At this week’s Round Table, Kenisha, Madeline and Maya spoke with two alums of Next Generation Politics: Frank Yang, now a rising junior at Georgetown University, and Isaiah Taylor, a rising sophomore at Baruch College. Frank and Isaiah both identify as Conservative–and as a minority in their respective communities both in high school and in college. In our time of hyper-partisanship, we were excited to speak with both of them about how they came to forge their political beliefs, what it’s been like to hold and express “less popular” views (at least among our generation), the state of political discourse on campuses and in classrooms, what drives young people AWAY from the Republican Party (and what, if anything, can reverse that), and the benefits of heterodoxy. At a time when the governors of liberal states like Maryland, Massachusetts and Vermont are Republicans and governors of conservative states like Kansas, Kentucky, and Louisiana are Democrats, it’s clear that nothing is entirely fixed. Thank you for listening!
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It's a GREAT time to catch up on some of our podcasters' favorite episodes, like
- Restorative Justice Is a Creative Act
- Revolutionizing the Learning Space Is My Love Language
- We Need to Learn To Live in the Gray
- Transformative Presidencies: Never Let a Good National Crisis Go To Waste
- The Sum of Our Parts
- This Is How We Get Out of Never
- Power Of, By, and For the People
- The Opposite of Hopelessness is Power
Enjoy and look forward to sharing our newest episode with you on Thurs, July 28!
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At this week's Round Table, Kenisha, Madeline and Skyla spoke with Rich Tafel, Managing Director of Raffa Social Capital Advisors and Director of the American Project, a new effort to bring together leading thinkers to imagine new solutions to America’s broken political system. Tafel is also pastor of Church of the Holy City in Washington DC, where he is launching a spiritual entrepreneur hub. Prior to this, he created the Log Cabin Republicans and authored "Party Crasher: A Gay Republican Challenges Politics as Usual," (Simon & Schuster); directed the adolescent health programs of Massachusetts; and served as Assistant to the Minister at Harvard University’s chapel. Rich is a transformative leader at the intersection of faith, politics and social impact and his experiences and insights wowed us. We talked about Rich’s eclectic background (he’s never had a job that existed before he had it…), how political campaigns around gay rights and AIDs have informed his sense of strategy, the complexity of cultural translation work, his desire to provide a language middle America can understand politically (if you want to make change, you need to bring middle America along…), how his faith and principles of inclusion guide his practice, and so much more. W Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Kenisha and Madeline--and new podcasters Ava and Skyla-- spoke with Dr Zackory Kirk, an educational leader, thought-fanatic, and determined voice in innovative media. Dr Kirk knew he wanted to be an educator since he was a child, heeding what he refers to as “a special call to be a resource for the generation that comes after us.” His educational approach is grounded in helping people think more deeply about, and question, what THEY believe– he feels the real goal of education is to always have a choice filled life. His philosophy is grounded in “other care” more than self care: he knows he’ll be ok but others may not be–and his servant-centered heart is focused on trying to make sure they are. Dr Kirk fears that too often people can be too focused on what’s easiest and best for them rather than for our country, our democracy, and our civilization, which is what drives him–and, frankly, most of us podcasters. Growing up in rural poverty and a subpar education, Dr Kirk Doesn’t believe education is the great equalizer but believes it’s a step TOWARDS equalization, which he doesn’t believe will happen in his lifetime but hopes it will in ours. His faith grounds him: he notes that we are living during a time in which it’s hard to do good all the time and often easier to go low but he continuously remember that his job is to do good and empower, particularly through what he calls “micro-influence.” Dr Kirk’s perspective on our times really inspired us: he noted that there are moments in history where we step back, like now, but our society will ultimately move forward in the direction of progress such that our generation will be better than that of any adult alive today. Here’s to it. Thank you for listening!
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At this week’s Round Table, Inica and Madeline spoke with Jade Zaroff, founder of Entertainment for Change. Jade was raised as a performer and from an early age recognized that being an artist is being an observer of life. She’s long asked herself questions like “why don’t we care about the planet? Why do we treat people differently? How can we use art intentionally to tell stories using the 17 Sustainable Development Goals to help people work for change?” This led Jade to found Entertainment for Change, blending the arts, business, and entrepreneurship, and to trademark the term “Impact Artist,” which she was shocked to discover didn’t exist. Last year Jade launched the Impact Artist curriculum for 100 youth ages 9-17 at French Woods summer camp to great acclaim and she’s continuing to grow it. We loved hearing about the innovative programming she’s created and talking about change and success more broadly. Change is very personal for Inica these days. This week’s podcast was her last, after three great years being with you weekly as a podcast host. As she heads off to Barnard College this fall, she look forward to joining you as a fellow listener of The Round Table. Thank you for joining us!
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At this week’s Round Table, Inica and Madeline spoke with inspiring rising high school freshman Lyla Petroske about her work in electoral college reform. Lyla recently founded The Electoral College Reform Movement (ECRM) as part of her mission to fundamentally reform the Electoral College in a way that will destroy its faithfulness to the majority and give a voice to the United States' minorities. She is a fierce advocate for a fractional proportional system that would be a compromise between the Electoral College and the popular vote, and what would provide what she perceives as the best of both worlds. When Lyla first started investigating the Electoral College–back in fifth grade…–she initially thought it should be abolished and that it was standing in the way of democracy, truth, justice and the American Way. Upon deeper investigation, she came to feel that the Electoral College serves a significant role in the United States and should NOT be outright abolished. She came to feel that something more than the popular vote is necessary to incorporate different priorities in different places with integrity, reminding us that the United States is more than just a country: it’s a collection of states. We talked about Lyla’s “click moment”--what activated her around this complex topic at such a young age; the youth enthusiasm gap; and what ECRM is and how you can get involved. Oh and we also celebrated INICA’S FIRST VOTE. Thank you for listening!
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At this week’s Round Table, Inica, Kenisha, andMadeline spoke withthe energizing Ave Mateo, Executive Director of 18byVote. Ava believes deeply in the power of youth and works to spread opportunity for meaningful engagement among teens and young adults. In addition to her work leading 18by, Ava recently completed a Sociology and Education Masters degree at Columbia University, Teachers College, where her research focused on the influence of youth-led organizations and youth-led educational programs on young people’s sociopolitical identity development. Needless to say, we were THRILLED to speak with her and to learn more about what she’s done and what she’s cooking up with 18byVote. We talked extensively about what it takes to get young people ready, excited, and prepared to vote–especially those who haven’t historically been politically engaged. We explored what Ava thinks are the most impactful things young people can do BEYOND voting, the power of nonpartisan approaches, how to channel disagreement into productive discourse, and the core values that draw us to and ground us in this work. We also talked about where work like this should be rooted: Ava shared her belief that public schools should be stimulants for democracy, providing access and education to create informed engaged citizens, BUT schools have instead strayed to be more focused on workforce development. She encouraged as, as young people, to advocate for more civics in and out of the classroom to be active participants in democracy. We will, Ava, we will–and we hope you will too. Thank you for listening!
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At this week’s Round Table, Erina, Jack, and Madeline spoke withGeanne Belton, Director of Baruch College’s High School Journalism Program which hosts the annual Newsies for high school journalists from across New York City and helps prepare teacher advisors to start new school newspapers. As all of us podcasters are involved in journalism, we were particularly eager to learn from Geanne’s perspective as a former journalist who has been teaching for 20 years at Baruch College, where she’s blended her interests in, law, media, and ethics (which can be murky in journalism!) We talked about some of the core tensions in journalism today: ensuring privacy of sources WHILE doing one’s job to inform the public; protecting against plagiarism; promoting news literacy and ethics; and mitigating risks of various kinds. We talked about the challenges and opportunities of the lines between producers and consumers being blurred in ways they didn’t used to be. And we talked about the powerful role student journalists—and journalists across the board!--can play in asking hard questions, bringing issues to the forefront, building community, informing community, and holding community accountable. We emerged from the conversation feeling more committed than ever to our journalistic endeavors. Thank you for listening!
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At this week’s Round Table, Jack, Jedd, Kenisha, and Madeline spoke with Eli Dvorkin, Editorial & Policy Director of the Center for an Urban Future (CUF). CUF is an independent nonprofit research and policy organization focused on building a stronger and more equitable economy in New York City. It’s pretty unique in being deeply place based and focused on driving IMPACT with research by giving policymakers specific and concrete ideas. Eli oversees the development of all publications and advances CUF's research and recommendations on the critical policy challenges facing the city and state, splitting his time between DOING the research and getting it out there. A journalist by trade and passion, Eli loves getting to talk to smart, interesting people and to ask them questions from fresh angles. He also loves working to ensure that what CUF produces is clear, concise, and accessible and has actionable implications on important issues like helping city policymakers unlock the full potential of CUNY and creating a more equitable economy. We talked at length about the challenges of taking on big goals like this given the pull of underlying issues like systemic racism and misogyny that operate outside of public policy and economics. How can journalism be a tool in making systemic change? Eli underscored that while many things conspire to make us feel systemic change is impossible, making incremental progress–for ex, on things like building better and stronger career pathways into adulthood–can still be really satisfying. Rather than just focusing on the bad and negative, he and CUF work to engage with important ideas and create tangible change even if they can’t resolve all of the deepest challenges. We agree and hope you enjoy this conversation as much as we did!
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At this week’s Round Table, Erina, Inica, Jack, and Kenisha spoke with Mika Rao, Communication Partner at Transcend Education and a proud South Asian American, professional, and woman about the role her identity has played in her life and work over the past 25 years. Mika shared how, growing up in a majority white neighborhood in the 1980s, she was curiously “unraced” and didn’t really come to consciousness about her heritage until she reached college, and she’s been making up for lost time ever since. Inspired by Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, we talked about how a person’s identity intersects with their experiences in education (three of us are AAPI women) and how seemingly little things–like having one’s name pronounced correctly in roll call–can affect students’ world view and sense of well being, separating you from the community and make you feel like an outsider over the years. We suspect at least 80% of students of color have had their name stumbled over, in a micro aggression that many have come to accept. This is one of the reasons Mika is so passionate about her work at Transcend, which works to foster leaps towards equitable learning that focus more on belonging and identity than most traditional school reform models do because research shows that students do better when that’s the case. We talked at length about the problems with the model minority myth and Mika shared how what used to irritate her a little bit now outrages her, because minority communities shouldn’t be made to feel we have to compete instead of to work together. She is committed to being a good ally and to recognizing how, although we ALL experience racism and micro-aggressions, the history of African Americans in this country requires all of us to work together for change around anti-Blackness WHILE working to lift up and celebrate our AAPI identities. Thank you for listening!
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At this week’s Round Table, Jack, Jedd, and Madeline spoke with Jennifer Brandel, Co-founder & CEO of Hearken, a company that helps organizations around the world develop and operationalize participatory processes. Jennifer was "an intensely curious kid," and that curiosity has been her guiding principle all her life and what brought her into journalism. Jennifer envisions a shift from a model of readers as consumers to readers as partners, and from a model of journalism as autocracy to journalism as democracy. She is deeply concerned about what makes “a good story.” Currently, the perception is that conflict —two sides opposing each other—is what sells, which is damaging to democracy unto itself. In today’s newsrooms, things are optimized for speed and efficiency and the reader is only involved after something is published. Jennifer’s Hearken aims to involve the public in news coverage at all four stages—pitching, assigning, reporting, and editing. Journalists should see themselves more as stewards for the public: what does the reader want and need to know? This leads to dramatically different stories because the public asks questions that are far more expansive, like what will this city look like 50 years from now? Or What would it be like if our statues were reflective of women and the full population? We talked a lot about the pros and cons of technology in journalism. Jennifer reminded us that tech is like fire: it can be applied in ways that are positive and productive or damaging and destructive. The question she and the Hearken team ask themselves is how can we avoid extractive engagement, in which media is selling your attention and data to third parties and instead use tech to create a reinforcing feedback loop. Jennifer underscored that the introduction of tech into journalism provided great potential to get feedback from readers but was instead designed sub-optimally around comments and opinions, not authentic input into production. As she put it, “When you invite people to ask what they don’t know rather than share their opinions, you open up a new model.” The irony is, it’s not as if the public’s ideas aren’t good and won’t help you meet metrics—quite the opposite! WHEN newsrooms listen to the public, consumption metrics are much higher but it is relatively rare. What gets in the way is capitalism: it is hard to finance investments in tech in a way that doesn’t create negative repercussions down the line. We are particularly excited by Jennifer’s work on The Citizens Agenda– a people-powered approach to journalism applied to elections that focuses on what do people voting need to know in order to be informed at the ballot box? The public actually has FAR more detailed and interesting questions than politicians tend to think and there is deep value in bringing the public into the process of elections, a cornerstone of democracy. Thank you for listening!
Jennifer recommends the books The View From Somewhere: Undoing the Myth of Journalistic Objectivity –and wonders whether objectivity is either possible OR desirable!
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At this week’s Round Table, Kenisha, Jedd, and Neil spoke withDr Frederick (Rick) Hess, senior fellow and the director of Education Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, founder and chairman of AEI’s Conservative Education Reform Network, editor of Education Week’s Straight Up column, and a prolific author, educator, and political scientist. Rick has been studying education reform–and its failures–for decades, and shared his astute analysis of why. At root, schools weren’t built for what we’re asking them to do. Public schools were founded back in 1635 by Protestant New Englanders to promote virtue. Only 1 in 20 citizens WENT to high schools way back then. Today, we have VERY different expectations and demands yet our schools are predicated upon the same model. Meanwhile, most Fortune 500 companies don’t last more than 50 years because they were built on models that have become antiquated or obsolete. Such businesses didn’t reform; they went out of business. Schools don’t have the option of doing so. We’re asking them to do something that’s incredibly hard to do and, unsurprisingly, they fall far short. Rick notes that today, we need schools that are much more comfortable with individualization and personalization–and we need to build systems that are comfortable embracing that, which is a really big lift after centuries of doing things a different way. We talked about intellectual curiosity and equity, whether teachers have a responsibility to meet the needs of every student, the pros and cons of technology in schooling, how schools can balance passion and standardized testing–and what standardized tests are and aren’t good for. Thank you for listening!
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At this week’s Round Table, Kenisha and Madeline spoke with Dr. Adeyemi Stembridge, author of “Culturally Responsive Education in the Classroom: An Equity Framework for Pedagogy” and a giftededucational consultant and thought partner specializing in equity-focused school improvement. We talked about Yemi’s lifelong love affair with teaching– and with equity– sparked by his own experiences in high school at City-As-School, which forged his vision of what education can and should be. As Yemi put it, “There are few situations in which he feels more alive than investigating a worthy idea from multiple perspectives.” We feel the same! Yemi shared his feelings about teaching being the most profoundly human activity there is, doing some of the most important work there is. He wants to help as many teachers as possible be able to teach better and Culturally Responsive Education–along with thinking about who we are being culturally responsive to– is a key way to do so. Cultural identity is the composite of our cultural selves. Well beyond food and fashion and holidays, culture is information that lives in your brain and affects your deepest values. A culturally responsive learning environment is one where students get to build an understanding around a worthy idea by drawing down from their cultural background. In fact, Yemi asserts that learning can’t be truly rigorous unless students pull from the full range of their background to show what they’re coming to understand. As he notes “When you draw on fluencies of what it means to be human, the classroom becomes electric.” It sure does. Yemi has honed in on six key CRE themes–cultural identity, relationships, vulnerability, assets, rigor, and engagement–and he works with teachers through week-long residencies focused on how to operationalize these themes in our classrooms. Yemi underscored–wait for it—that the standardized testing regime we have in the US is a bigger challenge to equity than racism. That’s right. Test scores do not measure the effects of good teaching and the biggest influence on how students perform on tests is zip code so what’s the point? He’s not opposed to testing; he’s opposed to the models we have now and thinks that canceling the tests in 2020 and 2021 was an implicit admission of guilt. If the tests were deemed “not good for kids” in a pandemic, why would they be good for kids at any other time?
Yemi is working on a new book coming out this fall focused on his key insight: teaching that’s effective for closing the equity gap is much more artful than it is algorithmic. You won’t want to miss it. Thank you for listening!
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at this week’s Round Table, Inica, Madeline and Jack spoke with Raj Vinnakota, President of the Institute for Citizens and Scholars. Raj has dedicated his career to educating, empowering, and supporting America’s youth, particularly those from disadvantaged communities. Did you know that the United States spends on average just 5 cents per student on civics vs an average of $50 per student in STEM?? Compound that over four years and you can better understand the civic catastrophe we’ve been living through. A few years back, fueled by concerns about the state of our country, Raj led a national study focused on rethinking civic education, supported by funders across the ideological spectrum. A core conclusion of the report is that developing citizens is much broader than anything that can be taught within the typical senior elective. Schools can’t do it all; this is a societal responsibility and to equip youth for the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century, we must tap into ALL the places citizenship in ALL the places it can be developed. This informs the Institute of Citizens and Scholars’ mission to ensure that a majority of young people become effective citizens who are well-informed about civic issues, productively engaged for the common good, and hopeful about the future of democracy. We couldn’t endorse this mission more and hope you feel the same. Thank you for listening!
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At this week’s Round Table, Inica, Jack & Kenisha spoke with Lina Sergie Attar, Founder and CEO of the Karam Foundation, about the refugee crisis, which is on many of our minds given what’s happening in Ukraine. Karam means generosity in Syrian and the Karam Foundation, founded in 2017, invests in young Syrian refugees to help shape a new generation of kind, courageous future leaders. Lina’s path to, and vision for, refugee education was unconventional from that of many others in the humanitarian field, which provides her with a different perspective on refugee work. With a background in architecture, creativity is at the forefront of what she does. Coming to the work with fresh perspective, and listening DEEPLY to people, she has learned a LOT about what refugees need versus what is actually offered to them. Her work is steeped in notions of radical generosity, which is necessary to help those who have been displaced recover from what they’ve lost and to prepare for lives and livelihoods beyond. The Karam Foundation approaches this work as investment rather than aid. It’s not about providing “just enough” or basic skills–it’s about helping people hone in on their potential and work towards their dreams. Karam is committed to giving refugees’ agency and enabling them to be co authors in forging solutions rather than subjecting them to top down solutions we know don’t work. Through this, Karam creates a ripple effect, instilling the people they serve with commitment to creating positive change wherever they are and whatever they are doing. She–and we–feel it’s not enough just having your life protected; it’s about having your humanity protected. It’s about thriving, not just surviving. Refugees want no less—and need much more. We were incredibly inspired by Lina’s transformative mindset. Refugees are not a monolith and there are no forever solutions, which is why we need people like Lina and the Karam Foundation blazing the trail. If you'd like to support the Karam Foundation's vital work, you can do so here. Thank you for listening!!
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At this week’s Round Table, Inica, Jack, Kenisha, and Madeline spoke with youth civic scholars from the Center for Constitutional Studies at Utah Valley University and the Quill Project, which works to research the history and enhance understanding of some of the world's foundational legal texts. A core goal of the Quill Project, founded in 2016, is making the discussions that led to the creation of great legal documents of our time more accessible to students, and underscoring that what unites these documents is the way that they are written not by a single person but by a collective.
We had a fascinating and far ranging conversation about what a constitution is and means—for real. It’s more important to know, understand, and ground ourselves in the Constitution, at both the federal and state level, than many realize. While in general The U.S. Constitution isn’t seen as a tangible thing that people can relate to, because it feels too removed from people’s lives and too immovable, constitutions are actually much more living documents than we acknowledge. Guest Grace Mallon, incoming Kinder Junior Research Fellow at the Rothermere American Institute of the University of Oxford, grew up in England and was captivated by the US Constitution when she read about it in her history class–so much so that she continued on to do doctoral work about internal inconsistencies between the Constitution and history. Utah Valley Students Joseph Stanley and Antony Jacksonhave focused their academic work on state constitutions and now we understand why. While many of us didn’t even realize that states HAD constitutions, we came to see how states can provide rights for their constituents beyond what the federal constitution does in some very exciting ways, which underscores the importance of local and state government as we always talk about. Thank you for listening!
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At this week’s Round Table, Inica, Jack, Kenisha and Madeline spoke withMichael Mauser and Helen Hankin, two authentic intergenerational allies. Michael is the Co-Chair for theBraver Angels Nevada Statewide Alliance, and both Michael and Helen have both been active in both the Toastmasters International and the Rotary Youth exchange for decades, hosting 11 students from other countries over the years. Michael is motivated by the quotes “it’s not enough to know, you also have to do things” and “When you can work with people, you get along better,” both of which clearly inform his thoughts and actions. Michael first got involved with Braver Angels at a time when he was depressed by the Presidential Debates, which were so different from the debates of his youth, which he felt had been more about seeking understanding. He watched a Braver Angel debate on YouTube between a pro Trumper and a liberal that was very civil and was heartened by what he experienced and how this illustrated his belief that we grow most by engaging with people who have totally different ideas than ourselves. Helen’s ethos is informed by the question of “What does the community need and what will help them the most?” and she enjoys pursuing sustainable projects that can achieve both initial goals and long term objectives. We discussed the importance of seeking connection, not consensus, in conversations across difference; honing in on shared moral foundations; and seeing each other as people rather than parties. At root, though there are very real differences in priorities and values, we’re all motivated to solve key problems of our times, which can be either a very powerful uniter or divider. Thank you for listening!
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At this week’s Round Table, Inica and Kenisha spoke withJohn McNally, a Graduate Student at Teachers College who is studying the evolution and implementation of the Seal of Civic Readiness initiative in New York State as a lever for fostering high quality civic learning in schools. John is very passionate about civics, having served in the U.S. Army for 8 years before going to West Point, teaching social studies for many years, and raising three kids attending public schools in New York. We talked about how to foster civic identity–an issue we too are passionate about; how innovative districts are trying to reach kids where they are; and how to change the social structures around civic education to put it more at the forefront. John is a proponent of bringing civics to life through action civics, which involves students learning how to engage with issues relevant to us and the things that are affecting us, and our future, everyday. We talked about the importance of getting beyond the perception that politics isn’t meant for young people, especially for low income communities of color who we most need to hear from. We explored how we can change the narrative by broadening the image of what civic engagement looks like and working to empower students to tackle local issues— for ex, things in their schools that aren’t working– and to build up from there. We also talked about what civics in school would look like if WE were designing it. Thank you for listening!
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At this week’s Round Table, Jack, Jedd, and Kenisha spoke with Sara Wolk and Ruben Montejano of the Equal Vote Coalition – driving forces behind the exciting STAR Voting system from Oregon that is now starting to spread nationwide. Given our interest in systems of voting that help voices be heard to the greatest extent possible, ensuring elected officials represent us most effectively, and how WE as rising voters can use our power to best effect, we were eager to learn about the STAR voting model— a model that changes the way people think about how they should vote. As Sara noted, voting is the issue that affects all other issues, and the sign of a healthy democracy–or lack thereof. The Equal Vote Coalition researched the history of how we came to vote as we vote and realized that systems that don’t count rankings of candidates aren’t legitimately counting all votes and all voices. Electability has become paramount, which makes split voting and the spoiler effect so problematic and makes voters run a pragmatic calculus that is suboptimal. However, other voting methods like STAR can make electability less salient and put more emphasis on having voters look more closely at candidates and their policy positions. Electoral reform is a puzzle with a lot of pieces that all need to fit together. There are several pieces to make sure voters aren’t at a mathematical disadvantage and to ensure that every voter's vote is equally powerful: strategies that counteract split voting like proportional voting; gerrymandering and electoral college reforms; and eliminating barriers and promoting access to the vote. Sara & Ruben are particularly enthusiastic about STAR Voting, which is a hybrid evolution that is the next generation of voting, akin to a five star rating system in which you can show preferences and level of support for different candidates .This encourages voters to look at all the candidates who might support them, provides for a broader range of expression, AND can ultimately eliminate primary elections which disadvantages voters. Furthermore, implementing it doesn’t require a Constitutional amendment, so we’re not taking on catastrophically difficult things like campaign finance reform. We were excited to learn about it and think you will be too. Thank you for joining us!
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At this week's Round Table, Inica, Jack, Jedd and Kenisha spoke with Chaitra Nagaraja, associate professor of strategy and statistics at the Gabelli School of Business at Fordham University. Chaitra loves statistics and how they can be applied to a variety of social issues to illuminate who we are and how we live in democracy together. She quoted James Madison’s point that if we don’t know about our population, how can we govern? Statistics can help tell us who we are and how we need to improve. They can also help us replicate models that can be used productively in creating policy. That said, Chaitra reminded us that every statistic has politics behind it and, unfortunately, policies based on statistics often aren’t updated and thus don’t reflect the evolution of society. We grappled with a quintessential challenge of statistics– their inability to take into account nuance and human variables. Chaitra feels this is best countered by reminding ourselves that nothing is objective and being cognizant of the decisions behind how to measure something. Understanding statistical principles, such as that correlation doesn’t imply causation, are key to understanding various phenomena in our world. We agreed that melding data analysis and trend analysis with personal stories can be particularly powerful and illuminating. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Inica, Jack, Jedd, and Kenisha discussed an issue on many of our minds: the Russian invasion of Ukraine. As we were doing so, we were keenly aware of how each day brings new developments, some hopeful and many devastating. As high school students born well after the Cold War, we study the historical catastrophes of World War I and II, and had hoped that we were past them. We now find ourselves recognizing the strength of imperialism and trying to figure out the implications. We oscillated between talking intellectually and emotionally, reflecting upon the devastation being wreaked on so many innocent civilians as well as the larger economic implications at a time when so many have already been negatively impacted by Covid. We are all grappling with how to situate ourselves in a global conflict of this magnitude–we can’t divorce ourselves from it as we watch the war unfold and impact people’s humanity in live time. In an article last week, Thomas Friedman noted that one of the most hackneyed phrases in journalism is “the world will never be the same” and yet it may be appropriate to apply to the connected conflict we’re living through. If countries don’t respond in a serious and significant way, we will see more authoritarian land grabs and more groups at risk, so the stakes are very very high. We are living in very challenging times, making us all the more grateful to be in conversation with each other and with you. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Erina, Inica, Jack, and Kenisha spoke with Allison Lichter Joseph, Assistant Professor and Chair of Journalism + Design at The New School. She is the co-author of the Matriarchy Report, a newsletter that investigates solutions for families and care workers from an intersectional feminist perspective. All of us podcasters have a real passion for the intersection of politics AND journalism so this conversation was particularly interesting for us. We loved hearing Allison’s vision of community-rooted journalism rather than parachute journalism, which has done a lot of damage to different communities. We were riveted to learn more about solutions journalism as a counterbalance to so much negativity and pessimism in the press. Allison underscored that for every problem, there are solutions and journalism should be responsible for shining a light on them because solutions exist, at many levels. It’s incredibly important for journalists to engage in asset framing, especially when reporting on communities of color, seeing communities not for their problems but how people are helping each other out. We dug into the model of “Communities of Care” that imagines social systems that truly take care of us so we can take care of each other and expand our belief about what’s possible. We were inspired by Allison’s conception of a journalist as being a facilitator as much as a mouthpiece–listening, convening, brokering resources and knowledge sharing. What will it take for journalism to achieve these ideals? For one thing, people probably have to pay for news– we need to move beyond a model that depends on advertising. Further, young people need to become sophisticated consumers, managing our attention, filtering fact from fiction, navigating the information ecosystem, and driving the news of the future. By listening to this podcast, you’re indicating that you are part of this new wave. We thank you and we hope you enjoy this episode!
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At this week’s Round Table, Inica, Jack, Kenisha and Madeline spoke with Ross Dakin of the New Jersey Office of Innovation. Ross is a technologist whose background spans Silicon Valley startups, corporate enterprise, federal/state/local government, national non-profits, and academia. This made him a perfect match to work for New Jersey’s first Chief Innovation Officer, a role created as part of Gov Murphy’s commitment to making the state cutting edge and to showing how government can be more innovative in how it provides services. Ross currently focuses on alleviating unemployment and facilitating small business growth, with a special emphasis on Covid recovery, and loves the opportunity to translate work he did as a White House Presidential Innovation Fellow from the federal to the state level. Ross helped us understand how ubiquitous and important tech is–and as such, the enormous equity questions it creates. We talked about the tensions of being cutting edge vs being built to last, the importance of trust–and the dangers of the current widespread distrust of government; and the challenges of scale–the government can’t (or shouldn’t…) choose its customers.. We shared eye-opening insights about what, and who, the government is. Ross underscored that the United States is a 250 year old experiment whereas China is a 2000 year empire. As such, we can’t rest on our laurels and we NEED technology to help us address the many threats of our time. Ross encouraged us–and our listeners–to go into public service, emphasizing that if you have ability and enough passion, there’s no way you won’t change the world. You’re sure to be inspired by this episode. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Inica, Jack, Kenisha and Vanessa spoke with Halley Potter, Senior Fellow at The Century Foundation, where she researches public policy solutions for addressing educational inequality with special focus on school integration. We talked about issues our education system is facing and what we can do with them, what equality in education would look like, and how we can reconcile what we currently see in schools and classrooms with what we want to see. Halley underscored that we value diversity… as a concept; it’s far harder to achieve in practice. She underscored that school segregation didn’t happen by accident or by individual choices. Decades of policy have created the systems and structural barriers that lead to segregation as the default. Charter schools have potential to be sites of integration as a result of combining choice and enrollment features and diversity controls IF diversity goals are front and center, which they generally aren’t. These things can’t just be left to the free market; as things stand, charter schools are not very integrated as a whole. The challenging reality is that you can’t tell if a school is integrated by looking at demographics along–you really need to analyze who is attending, who is teaching and in what configurations (for example, gifted programs within schools are often highly segregated), is the curriculum reflective of all students’ experiences, and more. One thing we agreed could help us as we strive to build a better path is to step back and question assumptions about what the best learning environments are. Just because a school may have the best test scores does not make it the best school and unfortunately many of the most screened schools are segregated pressure cookers that don’t benefit youth. Overall, Halley emphasized that choice isn’t bad or good, it’s a tool. We hope that listening to this episode will help you use that tool for good. Thank you for joining us!
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At this week's Round Table, Inica, Jack, and Kenisha spoke withIan Rowewho, with apologies to Dos Equis, may be the most interesting man in the world. Ianis a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he focuses on education and upward mobility, family formation, and adoption. Family, Ian underscores, is the first Institution every child is exposed to and the stability or instability of it influences everything else. Ian’s academic and professional trajectory are the stuff that dreams are made of, and ultimately led to him heading the Public Prep network of charter schools for 10 years. School choice is not a theoretical construct, especially in places like the South Bronx where only 2% (!) of students graduate on time and at college-ready level. This informs his newest and most exciting endeavor launching a virtues based International Baccalaureate High School called Vertex Academies in the South Bronx in Fall 2022. Ian explained that schools are ALWAYS helping forge the character of students by the practices they put in place. They are ALWAYS sending messages about “what is the way we want you to operate in the world” so why not be explicit and intentional about it? Vertex will be oriented around four cardinal virtues–courage, wisdom, justice, and temperance–with an emphasis on how to live these virtues in action and across all curriculum for both the diploma and career pathways. One of the most important things students can learn is how to gain insights to make decisions that are right for you, which Vertex Academies aims to do. Ian noted that young people today are caught between two narratives: blame the system or blame the victim, both of which are very disempowering. He aims to counter this with his FREE framework– Family, Religion, Education, and Entrepreneurship–underscoring that young people who live by a moral code tend to do better. You’ll be riveted by this episode. Thank you for joining us!
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At this week's Round Table, Jack, Inica, and Kenisha spoke with Hassan Javed and Zoey Belyea of Citizen University’s Youth Collaboratory, which focuses on equipping the next generation with the skills to build civic power and use it for good—right up our alley. We have to change narratives of power as part of this. Zoey and Hassan underscored that we can’t solve problems with the same old strategy; we NEED to help young people realize and wield our individual and collective power. It’s a key to transformation and empowerment, both societal and personal. Hassan talked about the pain of wanting to call out and address injustices he saw but not having a vehicle to do so. So HOW do we build power? By organizing of course! One person can bring four more people in. By building community and networks, especially of young activists, we can become civically super charged and start to change culture and, ultimately, cultural change is even more important than policy change. Yet it doesn’t happen overnight or even over many nights and we have to hold the vision and be willing to work for it, day after day and night after night, and to pursue multiple avenues to find what works. The more we learn now—and maybe even the more we fail now—the more effective we’ll be in 20-30 years. We loved how Zoey talked about using creative capacity to combine a logic framework with a heart centered approach to enable each of us to show up in ways that are fulfilling, loving, and inspiring and that help the world become the best version of itself. Here’s to that version–and thanks for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Inica, Jack, and Kenisha spoke with Naomi Schaefer Riley, a senior fellow at the conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute, where she focuses on child welfare and foster care issues. For decades, Naomi’s work has focused on understanding how to identify and attend to those who are most vulnerable and at risk and how we can better support them. Today, that translates to focusing on the impact of remote schooling and the mental health crisis being experienced by adolescents, especially the most vulnerable, for whom things have gone from bad to worse while they have simultaneously become more invisible. The data is sobering: rates of suicide and suicidal ideation and substance abuse and overdosing have gone dramatically up. We talked about the impact of school closings and how important it is to adjust to Covid as the new normal and not be overly cautious: Naomi shared that a child is as likely to die from Covid as to die from playing Little League. She encouraged us to think of Covid like we think of the flu, for which 20,000 kids are hospitalized every year and we survive. Naomi feels that the billions of dollars the Federal Government has poured into schools hasn’t been well used, and that schools are trying to adhere to too many policies to their–and our– detriment. Further, she would get rid of quarantining as she thinks it’s impossible to run institutions with it. We also talked about the foster care system–there are 440,000 kids currently in the system and rampant cases of abuse and neglect—and what it would take to reform it in meaningful ways. It was a super interesting conversation; we hope you enjoy it as much as we did. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Jack, Kenisha, Madeline, and guest podcaster Jedd spoke with John Pelissero, senior scholar on government ethics at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University and a Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Loyola University Chicago. Ethics are something many of us don’t think or talk about enough yet, as Jack put it, are an underlying bedrock that, if properly addressed, could help solve a lot of our current societal challenges. What ARE government ethics? It’s a broad framework to contextualize the ethical issues and awareness that we seek from public officials in the political system–for example, campaigns, elections, issues that confront voters. The foundation comes from Aristotle and other ancient philosophers and is organized around the notion of the common good and how the public interest can best be served through the powers given to the government. At the founding of our country, people gave up some of their individual power to a collective government with the belief that everyone would benefit–has that value proposition been achieved??? Government ethics don’t make things utopian: Professor Pelissero underscored that there will always be winners and losers in a political system. Morally, that’s not wrong BUT if there’s a pattern and a population is consistently left out, we are demonstrating bias and NOT serving the public good. Being good fiduciary actors and ensuring that we are being fair in how we protect people and allocate the benefits of the government. We talked about the age old question of delegate vs trustee government–that is, should elected officials be beholden to their constituency or to what THEY think is best? What are the appropriate ways for representatives to check in with people. And, surprise surprise, we spoke about the need for basic education in civics and ethical awareness to undergird all this. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Jack, Kenisha, and Madeline spoke with Tedman Getschman, Founder of Common Sense for Uniting America. Ted is anative Nevadan who served as a U.S. Naval officer for 28 years, during which time he was stationed in Japan, Spain, Germany, and the UK. He’s now retired from the military and spends his time spreading the word that there IS a common sense approach to ending political divisions–-so of course we wanted to speak with him! While developing training programs all over the world, from Armenia to Azerbaijan, Ted became excruciatingly aware that there were lots of disjunctions from administration to administration in the U.S., which prevents our country from having and working towards the kind of long range vision that many other countries have (think China) This, combined with the divisiveness of the last two elections, and the all or nothing feeling from people on both sides of the aisle, led him to feel that our government is a beautiful idea but it doesn’t work in practice. He feels there’s a simple issue with the government with a simple fix that would make political division go away. After all, if you think about all the problems we have in our country/world, shouldn’t we ALL be focusing on answers to these challenges, even if we come to the answers through different pathways in life? One key thing Ted feels needs to change is our two party system and plurality voting, which inevitably makes people feel left out, voiceless, and disempowered. It’s not that we don’t and won’t have differences of opinion. We do and we should. It’s that the current system forces people towards extremes. We think you’ll enjoy learning more about Ted and his thoughts in this episode. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Inica, Jack, Kenisha, and Madeline spoke with Charles Tocci, Assistant Professor of Social Studies Education at Loyola University Chicago. Professor Tocci’s work explores the connections between American education and democracy in the past and in the present–so as you can imagine, we had a vibrant conversation. We talked about what makes for good civic education–and how often the reality of what’s on offer falls short of that. Civics has many facets and many features. We agreed that a good civics class should focus on power: how do we access, exercise, and share power? What role do each of us play? How do we make decisions that address the common good? How can we have a collective mindset that makes us feel powerful rather than powerless and rudderless? We agreed that highlighting that we all have a relationship to power—through whether or not we vote, through writing to council members, etc–and reflecting upon how we participate in and circulate power, both currently and over the course of our lives, should be central. As young people, we often don’t see ourselves pictured in government—but we should: we are the missing link. Charlie shared that the bar is often lower than we might think: if 13 constituents reach out to a legislator about an issue, that legislator will often investigate. That said, another key civics lesson we discussed is that you’re going to lose. A lot. It’s important to build civic persistence and resilience if we aspire to be lifelong change-makers. We need to play the long game, and collectively imagine new ways to do politics. Thank you for joining us!
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At this week's Round Table--our last of 2021, Inica, Jack, and Kenisha had the special holiday treat of being in conversation with two of our amazing alumni podcasters: Julianna Davis, from our founding podcast team and now a sophomore at American University—deemed by some as the most “liberal school in America”-- and Divya Ganesan, from last year’s podcast team who is now a freshman at Stanford University. It provided a good opportunity to reflect on core values from NGP that they have carried with them to college: pragmatism, commitment to broadening and deepening our understanding, investment in hearing others’ perspectives and thinking about how people’s backgrounds affect their views, how vilification prevents us from being able to hear others, the value of learning from experts on topics of interest. We had an open and constructive conversation about the challenges of polarization on campus and how those are exacerbated by online exchanges and social media (“anyone can be a keyboard warrior” as Julianna put it.) We debunked some myths: that the path to and through college is linear (it’s curvy!), that college culture is cutthroat (it’s collaborative!), that there’s a tradeoff between freedom of thought and expression (it’s essential for true learning!), and that members of Gen Z aren’t mature enough to engage in sophisticated political conversations (which just may be operating under a different belief system…) Most importantly, we enjoyed reconnecting with one another and connecting with you, our beloved listeners. Thank you for joining us!
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At this week's Round Table, Inica and Madeline spoke with Bhawani Venkataraman, Associate Professor of Chemistry and Chair and Departmental Faculty Advisor for Natural Sciences and Mathematics at The New School. Professor Venkataraman focuses on how chemistry can be made relevant to students and to issues of social justice and equity, and to how to get students thinking deeply and becoming informed voters—pretty cool, right? Connect macro with molecular with social
Making sense of the world today requires integrating multiple disciplines, and so she strives to connect the molecular world with macro social issues. More specifically, Professor Venkataraman’s work tackles challenges around safe drinking water. We all have an intimate relationship w water and know it is essential to keeping us alive but what is it about the properties of good old H2O that makes it so? Water dictates so much about public health, safety, educational opportunities and is a POWERFUL medium for exploring the interconnections of human existence yet we rarely examine its centrality to our way of life, until after a tragedy like Flint, Michigan occurs. Professor Venkataraman works to make the invisible, visible–and visceral! She encourages us not to look at individual issues discreetly but rather to connect dots and look at systems, and to always hold issues of justice and equity at the forefront.
She has a book coming out in February that connects the chemistry of water to the policies and management issues around drinking water, a connection we found fascinating and think you will as well. Life cycles should be at the forefront of policy making, esp for vulnerable populations. As such, Professor Venkataraman’s work also focuses on how best to communicate basic scientific research on issues such as water quality, air pollution, and climate change to non-scientists–something we non-scientists really appreciated. Thank you for listening!
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Sunny day, sweeping the clouds away...At this week's round table, Inica, Jack, & Kenisha spoke with Michael Preston and Rafi Santo from the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop about how teens are engaging with public media, and media and social media more broadly today. We all expressed nostalgia for public broadcasting, connecting it to our youth, while not fully connecting it to our present. Which didn’t surprise our guests because it mirrors findings in their By/With/For Youth: Inspiring Next Gen Public Media Audiences initiative, in which they spoke with tweens and teens across the U.S., asking them for their advice about what media producers should do if they want to engage with people their age, and how their lives have changed during the pandemic, producing the report The Missing Middle: Reimagining a Future for Tweens, Teens, and Public Media.
We’ve grown up with access to the world at our fingertips, able to access anything, anytime, with the lines between work and play blurring because so much of both happen online. Our lives have been shaped by online interactions, which is a blessing and a curse. Technology evolves as quickly as we do—and what our younger siblings experience through technology may be very different than what we have. We loved discussing what a good, credible media technology ecosystem could look like--amidst the crisis of misinformation, disinformation, and polarizing media consumption--and the values that should undergird it.
We loved speaking with our guests about the authentic learning lives of youth, and how to honor the very rich learning and problem solving that happens beyond the classroom, in large part thanks to what technology makes available to us . At root, questions about technology boil down to questions of values--what do we want to spend our time doing and learning, how do we create breathing space in our tech-dominated worlds, and what kinds of possible futures do we want for young people and for our citizenry? Most youth don’t know what public media is, where to find it, and what’s different from commercial media, but public media has an important role to play in a healthy democracy, particularly given how few purely public goods we have in the U.S. that aren’t driven by profit.
We all agreed that youth should play an active role not just in selecting what media we watch but in producing it: which is of course a core value of this for GenZ, by GenZ podcast. Thank you for joining us!
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Decisions, decisions, we make them everyday. Simple and hard decisions are a part of life: Blue or red? Pizza or chips? Within these decisions, there’s debate about what’s right, wrong, & what you believe. The classroom is a huge part of developing skills to make decisions. At this week's Round Table, Jack, Kenisha and Madeline spoke with Mariel Halpern, the program coordinator of the Debate and Decision-making Workshop at Columbia University Teachers College, a 4 week long workshop for middle schoolers focused on civic discourse about contemporary issues. Debate is so important during middle school years, especially in a complex world where there are so many shades of gray. Students are placed with a peer with an opposing viewpoint each week to converse for about 25 minutes, after which they write a short position piece on their stance and watch their feedback video to evaluate what skills they’ve gained. Since the pandemic started and the workshop shifted online, Mariel and her colleagues discovered that the anonymity Zoom affords makes participants feel freer to express ideas they may not have otherwise, and that participants have stayed more focused on the issues than the identity of their partner, while noting that the absence of in-person cues has pros and cons. Interesting, right?
As Mariel finishes her graduate work, her main question is about how students value the things they learn in the classroom through thinking and discussing critically and, of course, whether this translates BEYOND the classroom into our democracy. Now YOU can practice these skills by making the decision to keep on listening to learn more about the program, its impact, and what’s next for Mariel Halpern. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's roundtable, Erina, Inica, Jack, Kenisha, and Madeline spoke with Alexios Rosario-Moore, clinical associate professor of educational policy studies in the Urban Higher Education program of the University of Illinois Chicago--the only graduate program that focuses on higher ed specifically in urban context. We dug into findings from his recent study, “Shocks to the System: An Ecological Analysis of the Pandemic’s Disparate Impact on Undergraduate Students at UIC,” which surveyed 1273 undergrads with a 74 item questionnaire asking about academic, economic, social, and other impacts they’ve experienced through COVID. The study explored what factors are most disruptive and--surprise surprise--found a big difference between young people who are in well resourced homes vs those who aren’t, in terms of being more adaptive to adversity. Students who were burdened with family responsibilities have generally fared worse through Covid. Interestingly, Alexios has found that self perception varies and that some students experience more adversity than others but don’t perceive it as such--for ex, a student might perceive having to work out of a room shared with a sibling as more stressful than another student who has lost a family member. The disruption of peer networks likely had a significant negative impact on mental health and academic engagement across the board. What are the implications, now and for the future? Tune in to hear our takes. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Inica, Kenisha, Madeline, and Vanessa talked about the complexities involved in reflecting on and celebrating Thanksgiving (and many holidays), building on last year’s #RedefineThanksgiving episode. We engaged with a panoply of important questions: Is it OK to celebrate Thanksgiving? Should we be changing how we celebrate based on what we understand about the historical roots--and should Native Americans be the ones reshaping the tradition? Should we be celebrating native people, or native suffering? How do we appropriately honor the historic legacy--and debunk false ideas--within and beyond classrooms? How can we walk the fine line between celebrating a holiday that has sentimental value for many of us without belittling very real historical suffering and exploitation? Are the ideals of gratitude and cooperation worth celebrating symbolically even if they’re not rooted in historic precedent? Is what the holiday has come to mean in America today more important than whatever happened 300 years ago? Does repeated reflection on the oppression Native Americans faced in fact draw attention AWAY from current issues, honing our focus on past wrongs instead of present ones? But what are the dangers of overlooking historical atrocities? And, perhaps most importantly, how do WE as individuals acknowledge all the baggage and still have a good time this holiday, given that coming together for celebration is so important—more this year than ever in the wake of Covid? Madeline reminded us that there’s nothing we can do about the past, it’s how we look at things moving forward that matters, and the deeper and more diverse education we can provide on these fronts, the better. We hope this podcast is part of that education. Thank you for listening!
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At the week's Round Table, Kenisha, Inica, Jack, and Madeline spoke to Sam Laskin, a sophomore at Dartmouth College who is the Head of Growth and Outreach for the Left-Middle-Right, a student-run multi-media publication aiming to elevate the civil discourse in a time of division and extreme political polarization. Every week, LMR publishes three political perspectives on a single issue to expose their audience to content they wouldn’t seek out themselves. LMR is committed to countering misinformation, exaggerated or partial truths, and non facts by providing articles from varying perspectives to ensure people are getting information from a variety of sources rather than just hearing from far right or far left. Further, LMR’s articles are labeled yes, no, and maybe rather than Democrat, Republican, and Center to avoid knee jerk responses. This is also responsive to what LMR’s founders hear from fellow college students about not necessarily having preconceptions about politicians and appreciating nuance and individuality. LMR wants to make people more aware without having to choose sides or perceive of things or people as bad just because we disagree--a refreshing change to media that amplifies extremes and makes us seem more divided than we are. This is a critical component of helping readers think about our biases and how we can set them aside to build the solutions our country needs. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Erina, Kenisha, Jack, and Madeline spoke with Sandra Sirota, Assistant Professor in Residence in Human Rights and experiential global learning with the Human Rights Institute at the University of Connecticut. As teens, even though we have a passion for justice, we typically don't know or understand our basic fundamental human rights and how they can be violated, which is essential to live our best lives. Human rights education can help us comprehend many issues our society faces, such as the impact structural racism has had on our systems for years. Professor Sirota emphasizes that youth social justice is crucial, and young people should use our voices to work to create necessary changes in our world. As teens, we can use advocacy as a way to dive into the world of making social change. Sandra emphasized three key pieces of human rights education: what you learn, how and where you learn (with dignity) and what it’s for--that is, how you take action to create transformation. She is launching a 3-year program to further explain how human rights education impacts people from all over the world and why social justice movements are important for youth. We can’t wait to learn from the results. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Inica, Kenisha, Jack, and Madeline spoke with Alexander Cooley, the Claire Tow Professor of Political Science at Barnard College and Director of the Harriman Institute for the Study of Russia, Eurasia and Eastern Europe at Columbia University, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year! Professor Cooley helped us understand international politics and historic domination by the US by drawing an analogy to Walmart that we won’t soon forget. Change can come from places we don’t expect and things that seem dominant can be toppled—like Amazon superseding Walmart. So what went wrong? Professor Cooley talked us through the many variables. We talked about the War on Terror, the illiberalism of most international orders, the CNN effect and how the rise of global media has mitigated it, the benefits and limitations of international rankings, and American hypocrisy—along with the role of technology in making the gap between rhetoric and reality more apparent. Professor Cooley helped us understand how states are social creatures that, like all social creatures, want to project certain images. He helped us recognize that the United States can’t be all things to all countries; we have to be principled and to think about priorities and not be in constant competition with everyone else. All politics is about power but also about trade offs and figuring out what we are willing to give up to advance what we care most about. Thank you for joining us!
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How can you make meaningful change in politics if you don’t have the resources and networks to do so? Well that won’t be a problem if Nick Guthman, the founder of Blue Future, achieves his vision. At this week’s Round Table, Inica, Jack, Kenisha, and Madeline sat down with Nick to talk about how to empower and equip youth change makers in their own communities. Blue Future is a youth progressive political action committee striving to provide youth with the resources, knowledge, networks, skills, confidence, and support to join and create social and political movements. Nickwas inspired to launch Blue Future throughhis own experience as a teen activist, both in terms of what worked for him and barriers to engagement that others face, especially coming from more under-resourced backgrounds. Interested in learning more about Blue Future & the impact they’re making on elections? Interested in learning about the training process for youth? Tune in, you don’t want to miss this one. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Inica, Jack, and Madeline discussed the TV show that’s taken the world—and our podcast—by storm: Squid Game. Unless you’ve been living under a rock (or, perhaps, in North Korea…) you’ve undoubtedly heard about Netflix’ most successful series ever. We were reeled in just like the rest of the world and were eager to discuss with each other--and our listeners--what does it mean, and what are the implications for our lives? The show is both very in your face AND very symbolic. We found it somewhat thrilling to watch—and deeply unnerving to reflect on societal implications. How should we engage with the social commentary? How much is it a parable for capitalism and the state of affairs in South Korea--and beyond? Is the lesson that greed and desperation will trump decency and humanity--or the opposite? Our conversation got deep and dark at points, as we wondered whose squid game are WE in? And does it ever end? Please note: there are spoilers galore in this episode so you won’t want to listen if you haven’t yet watched the show or plan to. But if you’ve watched it or are gore-averse, listen in and let us know what YOU think. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Inica, Jack, Kenisha, and Madeline sat down with leaders of the National History Academy. President and co-founder Willam (Bill) Sellers noted that there are many STEM programs, business programs, and law programs over the summer, but not history programs. That’s what inspired him to start the National History Academy: to give a voice to history and create academic opportunities for students to discuss our country’s history. Guest Katie Smolar, a former teacher who is currently the director of educational programs for the National History Academy, underscored the need for entities like National History Academy to help students expand their historical and civic knowledge, since many textbooks have been outdated since SHE was in high school. Additional guests Ben Kellerhals & Dominique Castanheira, two past National History Academy scholars, shared how their love of history was nurtured by the National History Academy--and how they discovered the community they’d been looking for-- and are now pursuing college coursework in history. From case studies to field trips to debates, we discussed the challenges facing America. Throughout the episode, we discussed how we must rethink the way we teach history and civics and encourage thought, discussion, critical analysis, and interaction with others. History isn’t just learning names and dates, it’s also about putting yourself in historical situations and taking the diverse knowledge you learn from all kinds of different people to bring it back to your communities. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Erina, Inica, Jack, Madeline, and Kenisha decided to not have any guests In order to discuss our perspectives on how it’s been adjusting to the environment of in-person school. We discussed both our pressing concerns about the role the pandemic has played on the school system alongside the utter pleasure of meeting classmates after a year in remote learning. Through this pandemic, we agreed that we all have changed so much and gained new profound interests. But much was lost as well: family members have passed, friendships are gone, connections between people have been lost, school was no longer something to look forward to. Most students’ mental health declined as the need for social interaction is vital for our teenage lives and we were deprived of it. As in-person instruction has resumed, we asked each other hard questions:. Is going back to school worth it in a pandemic? How can we follow guidelines when it is sometimes physically impossible to do? Is the joy of going back to school worth it if the cost is a few positive Covid cases? In short, in this podcast episode, you’ll hear our takes on being back in school. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Inica, Jack, Kenisha, and Madeline spoke with Carolyn Sufrin, MD/PhD and an assistant professor of gynecology and obstetrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Director of the Advocacy and Research on Reproductive Wellness in Incarcerated People program; and who serves on the board of the National Commission on Correctional Health Care. Dr Sufrin worked as an OB GYN in a jail for 6 years. Fun fact: imprisoned folks are the only population who legally have guaranteed healthcare stemming from a Supreme Court case in 1976 in which not providing healthcare was deemed cruel and unusual punishment and a violation of the 8th amendment. Sadly, this guaranteed provision does NOT translate into quality--there is LOTS of neglect and getting screenings, getting ADEQUATE care, getting abortions, and getting appropriate medications are hard to come by in prison. Unfortunately, getting unnecessary surgeries isn’t--Carolyn told us about myriad women in CA who have been unnecessarily sterilized.
Carolyn was influenced by reproductive rights activism she did in high school, and seeing the potential of medicine to activate social justice. She was further influenced by the field of reproductive justice, which centers black women whose experiences have been devalued and diminished, and contextualizes these violations within a broader human rights framework. As a first year Resident in Medical School, she was called to support the delivery of a baby by a woman who was SHACKLED TO THE BED--and her career path advocating for health care for incarcerated women was set. Through her work today, Carolyn looks at both statistics AND stories to get behind stereotypes. There are 218,000 women behind bars today, the majority btw 18-45, and 60% of whom are mothers responsible for children. The impact of incarceration is not just on women but families and communities. Further, as we know, there are profound racial disparities in incarceration that don’t track w crime rates due to people having suffered from structural and systemic forces that have impacted them and the crimes they’ve committed, along w racism within the criminal legal system. We were so inspired by Dr. Sufrin and we know you will be too. Thank you for joining us!
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At this week's Round Table, Inica, Jack, Kenisha, and Madeline spoke with David McCullough of the American Exchange Project (AEP) AEP is a first-of-its-kind, free exchange program in which you stay in your own country. That’s right, you don’t need a passport to experience different cultures given the diversity of America and how deeply the political landscape varies in different regions. Based on his own experiences and conversations with some of the best thinkers about bridging divides in America, David recognized that one of the best ways to learn about different people and places is to experience them directly and so he cooked up this way to expand young people’s perspectives by traveling, exploring, and learning more about the United States before they head into college. We talked about how the American Exchange Project came to fruition, what’s been successful--and what’s been challenging, and how David hopes to build out AEP in order to create the generational change we need. David reminded us that rather than worry about ‘saving America’, young people can and should start with kernels of connection that can be forged by having fun, communicating with one another, and being the teenagers we are. Sounds good to us. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Inica, Jack, Kenisha, and Madeline spoke with Sasha Simon, leader of the BIPOC Mental Health Coalition, established in May 2020 and funded by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. The Coalition is an emerging and diverse group of 30 youth-serving organizations across the nation and is dedicated to helping the mental health of BIPOC youth and advancing racial justice. Given the impact of Covid 19 over the past 18 months, social isolation, anxiety, depression, intergenerational trauma, and other issues have increased and the language, desires, & experiences faced by BIPOC youth have evolved. Sasha actively listens to youth for their input & learns more about the ways that intergenerational politics have stunted the mental health resources available to BIPOC youth. She reminds us, “As BIPOC folks, we have probably experienced our trauma for generations and there’s a lot that needs to be unpacked. We need to speak, normalize, and seek out support.” Sasha encourages us, as youth, to have a liberating and revolutionary approach to mental health advocacy: she challenged us to start a petition, find resources for your community, to make mental health matter. We’re posing that question to you too: how can YOU make a positive change around mental health in your community? Thank you for listening!
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We came to this week's Round Table on our own--no guest-- so that we could speak in depth with one another and so you could get to know our newest podcasters, Jack and Kenisha, as well as veterans Inica and Madeline, a bit better than you might in an ordinary episode. We talked about the issue on most teens’ minds--what will it be like to head back to school? Many of us are a year and a half older than when we were last in an actual school building. Are we a year and a half wiser? We talked about various tensions at hand--whether or not we think vaccines and masks should be mandatory; how do we socially distance in a school of 5000 at 150% capacity; how do we handle school lunch, which can’t be done with a mask; how to we address the detrimental mental health impact of the pandemic; how can we empathize with those who have very different perspectives on all of this than we do? One thing is for sure--the year isn’t going to be boring… Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Inica and Madeline spoke with Jennifer Wilson, Dean of Eugene Lang College and Associate Professor of Mathematics at Eugene Lang College.Dean Wilson loves math and she loves social change so she has found ways to entwine the two in her work. She studies the ways in which we make decisions and the fairness properties embedded in that, for good and for bad. Voting is a quintessential way citizens make decisions and thus is of particular interest to her. Dean Wilson is deeply invested in plurality vs majority systems, and is closely analyzing the recent primaries in New York City, which used ranked choice voting (RCV) for the first time. Of course SOME aspects of RCV can be approached mathematically (like the spoiler effect) and others can’t (like does it impact how candidates approach the campaign) but analyzing it mathematically can help us step back, gain objectivity, and think LESS about campaigning as a sport and MORE about the structures we use to make decisions--and then to critique and improve them. A mathematical lens (specifically collective game theory) can also be helpful in analyzing the bandwagon effect--that is, what are the reasons for candidates to support one another as they’re gaining momentum—and gerrymandering to produce more or less competitive races. Needless to say, Jennifer Wilson’s work and this episode will help you think differently and more deeply about electoral math. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Madeline and Kenisha did something a bit different for the podcast, along with Elijah from the Department of Youth & Community Development and Caroline from NYCVotes We Power NYC: interviewed Danny Frost, Senior Advisor and Director of Communications for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office for an episode of We Got Issues on Facebook Live. We Got Issues is a monthly partnership of YVote/Next Generation Politics, DYCD, and NYCVotes that illuminates what different elected officials do, seeking to build voter and citizen knowledge AND to humanize the office and officials. In this episode, we talked about the role of the District Attorney (spoiler alert: it’s NOT to nail em and jail em), Danny’s responsibilities as the chief spokesperson and Public Information Officer of such a high stakes office, what’s different working as an attorney for government vs a private firm, and how the DA’s office works to engage youth and leverage Community Partnerships. We also talked about pressing current events, like how the District Attorney’s office dealt with arrests of protesters during the Black Lives Matter Protest in 2020 and how Danny has seen criminal justice in New York change over the course of his tenure. The role of the DA isn’t to win, it’s to seek justice--which aligns with our ethos at Next Generation Politics as well--so it was an exciting episode for us. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Inica, Jack, Kenisha, and Madeline spoke with Shaylyn Romney Garrett-- writer, speaker, and thinker-- who is trying to change America and the world for the better through connection and community in order to heal and renew our societies. Shaylyn is the coauthor with Robert Putnam of The Upswing: How America Came Together A Century Ago and How We Can Do It Again, which provides critical insights for weaving a stronger, more united future for our country. Today, it seems the only thing we can all agree on is that America is in a bad place and on the wrong track. So Shaylyn and Professor Putnam engaged in vast, data driven work to examine the last 125 years of history through four lenses-- economic, cultural, political, and social-- to better understand ‘how we got here’. They made a breathtaking finding: all four lenses map the same trajectory, a trajectory that looks like an inverted bell curve. At the turn of the 20th century, we were extremely polarized and narcissistic across economic, cultural, political, and social matters, after which things started moving in a better direction for the ensuing 70 years until about the mid 60s, when everything started sliding back to the way it looked at the beginning of the 20th century. You could characterize that 100 year period as an I-We-I-century: polarized and narcissistic at the beginning and end, but unified and communal in the middle. Today, our country looks very similar to the America from the turn of the century- Gilded Age America. The lesson, however, is surprisingly optimistic. Instead of disparaging, The Upswing teaches us to learn from and act upon what actually happened after the Gilded Age: an age of unprecedented peace and shared prosperity. We’ve been here before and we can get out of our current toxic culture if we learn from and build on historical precedents. One thing we learned during the last upswing is that progress didn’t come overnight. It took 60+ years, and even with all that was accomplished, not everything changed and progress around things like race and gender were insufficient. We have to do better in creating OUR upswing, and Shaylyn was the perfect guest to guide us in doing so. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, guest podcaster Sophia, Madeline, and Kenisha spoke withAnooj Bhandari, Network Coordinator for Restorative Justice Initiative and an overall warrior for all things restorative. Anooj is a Community Organizer with passions for the relationship between community education and the transformation of harm. He focuses on exploring alternatives to, diversions from, and the elimination of, the carceral state. He is first and foremost an artist, creative storyteller, and a visionary who believes deeply in art as a process to ask quiet questions publicly. Anooj asks, what does it mean to dream of a world that can address harm AND healing--and how do we bring it into existence? He asks, in a landscape in which people are getting further and further from one another, how do we humanize one another and do so in anti racist ways? He asks, how might we shift resources in society differently if we recognize that harm is often about needs not being met? He asks, what if we meet people who have committed crimes with belonging rather than isolation and help them know they don’t need to do this alone? Anooj helped us understand that storytelling can help people burst through the binary of bad and good within criminal justice to believe in something else--and to get beyond ‘who did what’ to instead ask ‘what do you need?’ He helped us understand that being an artist is a way you move through the world and infuse curiosity and wonder into everything you do. It comes with responsibility to bring that more into the world. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, guest podcaster Vanessa, Inica, Kenisha, and Madeline spoke with renaissance womanCharli Kemp, founder ofChange The Tuneand doctoral candidate in education leadership at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Charlie has tapped into EVERY kind of schooling over the course of her own education and professional career, which enables her to state with confidence that our systems are perfectly designed for the outcomes they create—and they’re designed to fail. Students spend 80% of their lives OUTSIDE of school. By the time they reach 6th grade, this results in affluent kids having 6000 extra hours—or four extra years--of learning. It’s not about creating better schools--even utopian schools can’t touch that opportunity gap and, resultantly, the wealth gap. Change the Tune aims to, well, change that tune by leveraging universal connectors--things like music, food, and sports--through programming like “Just Us” Time, Holistically Dope, and Possibility Panels--to reimagine the extended learning experience for youth in a way that creates mastery and memories, which is where true learning happens. For her, education isn’t about equality or equity--it’s about liberation. Charli believes music is “the universal language of the soul,” a way to say “I see you,” and a panacea for societal problems--and she did a pretty great job convincing us of this throughout the episode. Thank you for listening!
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At this week’s Round Table, Inica, Jack, Kenisha, and Madeline spoke with Seth Radwell, author of the recently released American Schism: How the Two Enlightenments Hold the Secret to Healing our Nation. Seth is an internationally known business executive and leader in consumer marketing--who left it all to start a bottom up movement to, in his own words, “fight unreason with reason”. Seth helped us understand what the American Schism is and where it comes from through his investigative retracing of the roots of division, which is vital to understanding where we are today, how we got here, and what we have to do to heal our seemingly unbridgeable divisions. Indeed, rifts aren’t uncommon in our history--our founders themselves had very different views of what the world should be; what’s different today is the level of rancor and the dismissal of objective truth. Seth traces two long standing orientations, moderate and radical--and the tensions between them--through six different periods up through today in order to distill core questions necessary to save democracy. Seth reminds us that democracy is a hard system of government. It requires an educated populace and educated points of views. If we reject objective truth, it can’t be sustained. We so appreciate listeners like you who are committed to truth, justice, and democracy. Thank you for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, Inica, Kenisha, and Madeline spoke with Jeanette Castellanos,Vice President of the Social Impact Collective at Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU). Jeanette’s career has been at the intersection of social justice, education, and innovation. We talked about what social justice means today; what it looks like in a professional context, formally and informally; and how it does and doesn’t play out in education today. Jeanette underscored that as long as there’s not equity in education, there’s unlikely to be equity elsewhere. Having access to high quality education for everyone, regardless of your zip code or economic status, is a linchpin for everything else. We talked about how social justice should be more fully woven into the K-12 curriculum, especially at the middle school level, which is a critical crossroads for civic identity. We talked about the need to disrupt the traditional notion of school THEN employment to instead explore how learning and earning can be more integrated. We all agreed that we have to broaden our conception of education to extend well beyond the classroom--and to include things like this podcast. Thank you for joining us!
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At this week's Round Table, Jack, Kenisha, and Madeline spoke with Eric Torres, a doctoral student at Harvard School of Education, about political identity and the history and future of polarization, which he studies and, come this fall, will teach a course at Harvard on. Eric developed his fascination with these issues through his undergraduate studies in philosophy, metaphysics, and ethics. As he saw the country shifting and dividing, he found himself pondering what makes for productive dialogue and arguments, and wanting to be involved in helping foster and facilitate them. Eric feels that it’s not that politics are getting further apart, it’s that our political identities have become wrapped up in sectarian conflicts since the 1960s and that we now make judgments about people’s character and morality based upon their political views. He feels this stems from a swirl of factors including elite political behavior, social media, demographic shifts, income inequality, and the decline of religiosity, all of which drive us to act in more tribal ways. Today, too often political identity is grounded in anger and socio-emotional needs rather than civic responsibilities and participation, but it doesn’t have to be so. Eric helped us think about how we can forge individual and collective political philosophies that “rebel” against the toxic political environment. We hope you’ll join us in this rebellion. Thanks for listening!
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At this week's Round Table, guest podcasters Kenisha, Mateo, and Sharona spoke with Allie Swatek, Director of Policy and Research for the New York City Campaign Finance Board about the recent municipal election in New York and the advent of Ranked Choice Voting. We’ve had 110 mayors in New York. None of them have been women and only one was non-white. This year, that won’t be the case. While we don’t yet know who the mayor WILL be, it won’t be a white man. More women, and more women of color, ran for office in NYC than ever before. And more than ever seem to have won—it looks like 29 of the 51 City Council Members will be women (up from just 14 currently) and a black man is in first place for mayor with a black woman and a white woman neck and neck for second and third place as things continue to be tabulated. Multiple factors are at play--and many feel that Ranked Choice Voting played a significant role. Cities are laboratories of democracy, so how might Ranked Choice Voting impact cities more broadly now that the biggest one has left plurality voting behind, quadrupling the number of people in the U.S. who are voting through ranked choice voting? Were people prepared? We couldn’t have a better guest to help us understand the issues at play than Allie Swatek, who was part of the 2019 Charter Revision Commission that brought RCV onto the ballot and who has been working tirelessly to help citizens understand and prepare for it. Thank you for joining us!
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At this week's Round Table, Inica, Isaiah, Kenisha, and Madeline spoke with Sherene Crawford and James Brodick from the Center for Court Innovation about their visionary criminal justice reform work. They are both very mission driven: Sherene sees criminal justice as the civil rights issue of the 21st century and James is compelled by conviction that we are all one and thus must drive community change together, focusing on those who have been most poorly served by the systems we currently have. They both feel strongly that community based organizations are a critical bridge between communities and courts--and the best way to inspire community problem solving. We talked about their work finding more holistic alternatives to the broken system of incarceration, the challenges of solving problems when there’s a lack of trust across stakeholders, the pendulum swings of responses to crime, the importance of holding government accountable for doing well by all who are impacted by the carceral state, and their hopefulness about the rise in progressive prosecution. They encouraged us to think about reform from within the system as well as outside of it. We honed in on the fact that we ALL want the same outcome: safer communities. The friction is around HOW to do it. We are inspired by the fact that there has been serious progress made in reducing incarceration—AND we still have a long way to go. Thank you for joining us!
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At this week's Round Table, Inica, Isaiah, and Madeline spoke with two of our O.G. podcasters, Julianna Davis and Riya Mehta. If you haven’t listened to our first season podcasts from last year, we highly recommend you go back to hear their great work. We reflected on the very unusual 2020-21 school year through the lens of first year college students, discussing the heated political environment on college campuses; the social cost, and value, of being political in college; and the implications of most “political dialogue” transpiring through Instagram stories. We also talked about the value of “talking with” vs “talking at”--and ensuring that “talking with” includes people with divergent perspectives; pervasive lack of respect for nuance; and the importance of not jumping to conclusions about who someone is based on their views or posts (or lack thereof) and instead thinking about WHY people think the way they do. Together, we pondered the scary rise in hate crimes; whether more and, more importantly, different kinds of dialogue could help resolve some seemingly intractable divides; and how our views about social justice have or haven’t changed over the course of this strange year. Thank you for joining us!
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At this week's Round Table, Inica, Kenisha, Jack, and Madeline spoke with Micky Ayoub about his experiences as a campaign and community organizer and about his recent article Four Ways To Actually Understand Someone You Disagree With. Micky was honest about just how hard this can be to do in practice--and why it’s important to keep trying. We talked about the value of not defining someone by their political alignment and beliefs; the importance of trying to establish a shared set of facts; and the necessity of figuring out where we DO and SHOULD draw a line and set personal boundaries. We also talked about what distinguishes Gen Z’s approach to things--and why Micky thinks we are going to create powerful generational change. Micky lives by three core values-- community, service, and leadership--all of which came across loud and clear in our conversation. Thank you for joining us!
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At this week's Round Table, Madeline and guest podcaster Kenisha spoke with NPR Correspondent Martin Kaste, who has been covering law enforcement and privacy over the past seven years. The big story, as he sees it, is the gap between perception and reality when it comes to understanding the complexities of law enforcement and public safety--and the galvanizing impact of video and social media. Seeing something fundamentally changes the dynamic, and throws lighter fluid on the issue. This has radically changed what the public perceives as acceptable use of force. Video illuminates--and it also distorts. Public perception of the number of people shot by police is FAR higher than the reality. There are about 800,000 police officers in the US, and many millions of criminal contacts per year. The vast majority of officers never shoot their guns. That said, of course ANY unnecessary killings are tragedies to be avoided to the greatest extent possible. So what can we do? What are we as a society willing to accept? With 18,000 independent police departments across the U.S., Martin encouraged us not to think of the police as a monolith but rather to think about systems of policing, so that’s what we strove to do in this conversation. Thank you for joining us!
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At this week's Round Table, Inica, Isaiah, Madeline, and guest podcaster Jack Flanigan spoke with Eric Torres, a doctoral student at Harvard School of Education, about promoting dialogue across political differences but with a switch--this time our guest asked questions of us instead of the other way around. We talked about the state of civil discourse in and outside of classrooms, what it takes for dialogue to be productive rather than argumentative, and concerns about the absence of facts in too many of these conversations or, as I put it, how “every one is an expert on everything without actually knowing anything.” We all agreed that productive political dialogue in schools is almost an oxymoron and that building students’--and teachers’--skills around engaging in hot button dialogue would be very, very valuable. Thank you for joining us!
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At this week's Round Table, Divya, Inica, and Madeline spoke with Willoughby Winograd, on leave from his junior year at Stanford serving as Program Director of Deliberations.US atEqual Citizens. Willoughby's work focuses on getting Americans to discuss the issues we SHOULD be discussing in order to restore the core promise of political equality. This includes conducting Deliberative Polls around the world-- events which bring together people from a range of backgrounds to discuss the political issues facing their communities to foster thoughtful, informed opinions. We talked about his (unexpected) path to this work, perceptions about the rise of polarization in the U.S. (spoiler alert: data shows that there hasn't been much of a change in our country’s political divide since the 1970s), and what fuels--and counteracts--polarization. We also talked about how to set up effective deliberations that help us get beyond echo chambers and orthodoxy--something we are all deeply invested in. Thank you for joining us!
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At this week's Round Table, Divya, Inica, Isaiah, and Madeline spoke with Andy Danilchick, CoFounder and Director of the Project for Mental Health and Optimal Development (PMHOD) at Penn Graduate School of Education. We spoke about the impact of the last 14 months on students’ mental health and well being--and the conditions that will nurture them on the other side. Andy shared the guiding question he and his Center have operated by during the pandemic: how do we help in this time of intense pressure and change that educators and students are facing? We talked about the toll Covid and other stressors are taking on both students and teachers--and how differently they’re playing out for some than others; the importance of learner-centered approaches; and what else schools can do to support students’ mental health and flourishing. Oh, and we talked about our OWN mental states. Thank you for joining us!
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At this week's Round Table, Divya, Inica, Isaiah, and Madeline spoke with three of NYC’s We Power Ambassadors: Caroline Ji, Felicia Trestin, and Nathaniel Valdivieso. They are among 32 Youth Ambassadors chosen from all across New York City to inspire and promote voting and civic engagement on behalf of the New York Campaign Finance Board’s NYC Votes initiative. And inspire they did--we loved hearing them share what motivates them to do this work, what they’ve been learning through it, and how they hope to make an impact. We grappled with some of the traditional questions that come up around youth and politics: DO our voices matter? CAN the issues we care about influence elections? We talked about the challenges of opportunities of doing civic engagement outreach in COVID; the power--and peril--of social media; the dangers of raising a misinformed generation; and the importance of getting involved no matter how young you are. Thank you for joining us!
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Olivia noted that she’s never experienced teachers paying as much attention to feelings as they have this year because at this most impressionable time, students have also had the least amount of social interaction. So the emphasis on mental health--understanding that learning from the confines of one’s bedroom takes a toll beyond grades and performance--has been important. That said, she underscored that there’s an important balance to be struck--she doesn’t want things to go so far on the pendulum that merit doesn’t matter but she does appreciate teachers checking in and being flexible about deadlines and other matters.
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We spoke with our podcast guest Jal Mehta about whether there is a distinction between progressive education and deeper learning. Jal explained that deeper learning happens at the intersection of mastery, identity, and creativity. Progressive education at its best brings these three things together, but we’ve all been a part of truly terrible projects characterized by shallow learning--think dioramas… Emphasizing mastery and expertise is key. True mastery requires discipline, practice, and feedback from more knowledgeable others.
Ideally, progressive education has these attributes but the traditional progressive virtues are more rooted in identity, intrinsic motivation, falling in love with a subject--which may or may not emphasize mastery.
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In our conversation with Jal Mehta, we explored how to present a more accurate and holistic picture of the pandemic student in the college application process. Much like an athlete submits recruiting videos or an artist submits a portfolio, we think there’s real power in students submitting an organized and purposeful collection of their best work to complement traditional assessments and grades.
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Our guest Jal Mehta talked about the difference in the depth of understanding that comes when you are DOING something rather than just passively listening or receiving it. In studying a high school theater program, some of the students told him, “When you read a play, you’re the audience; when you put on a play you’re the teacher.” The practice of trying to do something over time helps you understand things in more depth plus you are far more likely to remember it years later.
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Our podcast guest Jal Mehta of Harvard Graduate School of Education helped us understand what deeper learning is and entails—and what a contrast it is from the shallow, sanitized learning that happens too often in school.
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At this week's Round Table, Eliza, Inica, Isaiah, Madeline, Olivia, and new outreach director Tarika spoke with Jal Mehta from Harvard Graduate School of Education, where his work focuses on the modest topic of what it would take to improve American education. We talked about what deeper learning is--and isn’t, why we shouldn’t blame teachers for failing to foster it, why we need to think much more radically about what and how we teach--in and beyond the pandemic, what authentic assessment that could drive deeper learning could look like, and why extracurriculars like Next Generation Politics are powerful examples of deeper learning.
In this year when PowerPoints have too often substituted for meaningful learning experiences, and zoning out has become more prevalent than ever thanks to Zoom, this episode is super timely and important. Thank you for joining us!
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At this week's Round Table, Inica, Isaiah, Madeline, and Olivia spoke with Lily Howard Scott, an outstanding educator, curriculum developer, and social and emotional learning coach who has been doing research on learning gains during the pandemic. Recognizing that this year has been full of challenges for students, parents, and teachers, Lily focuses on the creative opportunities that have arisen now that teachers literally have a portal (known as Zoom) into students’ worlds and are forced to think about the whole child in a dramatically enhanced way. We discussed how complex it is to create change in teaching and learning at scale--and how powerful it is to have some models for doing so, but how this year has the potential to move us forward--OR backward--by leaps and bonds. We want to know: what learning will YOU hold onto beyond the pandemic? Please leave us a voice memo or pop us an email sharing your experiences. Also, let us know what you think about our new Monday morning posting schedule. Thank you for joining us!
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Our guest Josh Zeitz reminded us that if you look at some of the most successful political movements over the last 50-60 years, a lot of them have been on the conservative front. This was an outgrowth of a powerful and emboldened political right in response to liberal consensus that arose from the 1930s-60s, that knew very clearly what it didn’t like and what it wanted, and that has spent decades building power to do what they want. The remaking of the federal judiciary is a great example. He underscored that this ability to not just work against something but work FOR something--deeply and dedicatedly for decades--is the challenge at hand for the Left.
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Our guest, historian Joshua Zeitz, reminded us that many government programs that provide social benefits are very controversial at first--Social Security was initially decried as being very socialistic--yet become untouchable and beloved by the American people.
He also drew our attention to recent changes in civic participation. Our guest Joshua Zeitz noted that former President Trump, and despite his efforts to roll back democratic norms, excited a genuine interest in American politics and voting among supporters and opponents alike in a way that no president has in many many years, inclusive of less traditional voters from rural areas and who lack college education. The 2020 election ignited record-breaking voter turnout--followed by current efforts to pull back on voting rights.
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Our podcast guest, historian Joshua Zeitz, referenced the world of Arthur Schlesinger, a renowned historian and leading light of liberalism, who popularized the concept of the imperial presidency. He wrote biographies of FDR and Andrew Jackson, both of whom he viewed favorably in terms of how they used executive power to drive popular democratic reform. However, by the early 1970s in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, he had grown skeptical of an imperial presidency that overshadows the other branches of government. Former president Trump took this to a new level and in doing so, may have demonstrated the limits of an imperial presidency.
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At this week's Round Table, Inica, Madeline, and Olivia spoke withJoshua Zeitz, a historian, contributing editor at Politico Magazine, and New York Times best-selling authority of books including Building the Great Society: Inside Lyndon Johnson's White House and Lincoln Boys. Josh helped us make sense of the current presidential administration, which is going big and going quick in its first 100 days. While the imperial presidency has loomed large for the last several decades, the presidency hasn’t always been what it is, and the last four years have suggested strong parameters in just how far a President can go. We had a fantastic conversation about the abilities and limitations of presidents; the impact of polarization--historically and currently--on civic participation; the influences of FDR, LBJ, and Obama on the Biden administration; and how to strike the right balance of looking back and looking ahead. The Biden administration is betting on people wanting more, not less, government right now, which goes against the winds of recent years. We’ll see how it goes.
Please note: we're experimenting with a new weekly pod publication date, shifting from Thursday to Sunday morning. Let us know what you think.
Thank you for joining us!
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At this week's Round Table, Divya, Inica, Isaiah, and Madeline spoke with Jordan Thomas, a 20 year old activist who has done quite a few remarkable things in his first two decades. Jordan served as his high school’s class president, was featured on the news in 2019 for taking an NYC subway to his prom, served as a supervisor at JFK airport at age 19 during the early part of the pandemic, and further capitalized on the pandemic to move himself to the city of Baltimore to pursue a career in law enforcement over the summer. Jordan’s goal in life is to be a public servant, to defend the defenseless and give voice to the voiceless, and be seen as a positive influence on people--goals we share and deeply admire. We talked about what it means to be a youth activist, differences between New York City and Baltimore, and what it will take for people to trust the NYC subway system--and so many other parts of city life--again. We always love learning about what makes people like Jordan tic and think you will too. Thank you for joining us!
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While we may all be experiencing some Census fatigue given the attention the Census has been accorded over the last year, the Bureau is already hard at work on next decade’s Census. The Biden administration has demonstrated interest in including new language on gender and sexual identity. That would generate the most comprehensive data set ever about the LGBTQ+ population in the United States.
People who wanted to share that information in 2020 Census couldn’t: the only question was about sex, and there were only two boxes to choose from. A lot of research still needs to be done to figure out how to best gather that information in advance of the next Census, as there are generational differences in the ways people want to describe their gender identity and sexual orientation.
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Hansi Lo Wang didn’t mince words in sharing how the pandemic upended the 2020 Census much like it upended everything else. In person counting (AKA doorknocking) is the Bureau’s main way of reaching undercounted populations, but this year got off to a later start plus people were likely more reluctant to answer their doors in the midst of lockdown. Many households may have been missed.
Further, there was a lot of moving happening during the pandemic, especially on what is considered Census Day--April 1. Technically speaking, wherever you are living on April 1 is considered where you live, but the reality was far more dynamic in this pandemic year. While you are supposed to identify with your primary residence, people who were living elsewhere may well have been counted wherever they were on that date. This was particularly confusing for college students, who SHOULD have been counted on their college campuses, but since many were living at home, they may well have been counted there. All of this could have confounded the accuracy of the data and could really throw off the numbers for the next 10 years.
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It’s interesting how an inherently personal decision--what box you’re going to check--gets quantified into something far more rigid when it comes to the Census. This is tricky because, as Hansi underscored, racial and ethnic labels shift over time--for ex, who identifies and is identified as White. The Census Bureau has conducted research that shows that some people identify themselves in one racial category in one Census and then a different one ten years later. Racial and ethnic identity is not static. When it comes to the Census, personal identifications get translated into very concrete implications through political processes, but we should keep in mind that these categories that are not set in stone and assumptions based on how one group may identify today may not turn out to be accurate moving forward
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Many of us are wondering what changes in demographics will be demonstrated by the 2020 Census. Hansi Lo Wang underscored that we don’t have Census results yet, but based on existing trends, we can expect to see a U.S. population that is getting older, that Gen Z and millennials are becoming a bigger share of the workforce which has major implications for what the country will look like. Further, there are projections that we are becoming a racial and ethnic plurality, with racial and ethnic groups growing in many parts of the country with younger generations made up of a greater share of Latinx, Asian, and black.
Olivia added in that it will be interesting to see how these demographic shifts impact electoral politics.
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Madeline asked Census Reporter Hansi Lo Wang a question that may be on many of our minds: why should teens care about the Census? Firstly, Hansi noted that many teens may ALREADY be filling out the Census if, for example, they are the strongest English speaker in the house.
Beyond that, he noted that teens should be concerned for the same reason ALL Americans should be concerned: this is a fundamental set of information, data, and numbers that affects almost every aspect of everyday life, whether or not we are aware of it. If you don’t care about House seats, or Electoral College votes, you may care about how federal money for healthcare, for schools, for roads, for infrastructure is distributed, which is guided in large part by Census information. It’s vital information that illuminates who is living where in this country--and who may be living where going forward, which can help project demographic shifts and enable communities to prepare accordingly.
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You may recall that former President Trump wanted to add a kind of citizenship question that had never been included on every census form. As such, the Census Bureau conducted research in advance of 2020 to test out the anticipated impact of a citizenship question. It sent out a form that looked like the Census, half of which had a citizenship question and half of which didn’t. The Bureau found that there WAS a sensitivity and hesitancy amongst Latinx and Asian households when that question was asked, which could lead households with non-citizens not to participate in the Census. He noted that this can particularly imperil mixed status households, where some are citizens and some aren’t, risking not only non citizens not being counted but citizens.
Hansi noted that if the goal was to get a more detailed count on how many citizens and noncitizens there are, there’s a less expensive and more accurate way to do so: using government records already conducted through other agencies. However, the Biden administration has countered the Trump administration in deciding that estimates conducted through the American Community Survey are adequate.
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Our podcast guest Hansi Lo Wang emphasized that trying to “force” people to respond to the Census--for ex, through a door knocker--may not provide the best and most accurate information because people can be stressed, rushed, or disinvested in full disclosure. We have to have people WANT to participate. That is predicated on having the public’s trust. Unfortunately, Public perception is a delicate thing, particularly in light of the Trump Administration’s attempt to have a citizenship question. We must remember that federal law PROHIBITS the government from releasing any personally identifiable information for 72 years. Further, Census information cannot be used against someone or in court. That said, although there are laws on the books, people have to believe those laws will be enforced if there are violations, and there were doubts about that during the Trump administration.
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There is a long and thorny history of who has been counted in the U.S. Census and how the count was conducted--a legacy that continues to have reverberations today. For reasons known and unknown, people of color, renters, and rural residents are just some of the groups who have been undercounted decade after decade.
As a result, the data that we have about certain population groups based on Census data is likely less accurate than what we have for the non-Hispanic white population, which is a cause for concern. Having inaccurate data collected is a big problem, especially at a time of shifting demographics in the country, because it risks decisions not being made on the most accurate and up-to-date information, which would disproportionately affect historically undercounted populations.
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Our podcast guest Hansi Lo Wang underscored that there has never been a perfect Census--there have always been historically undercounted groups. This emerged from our Constitution itself, which stated that an enslaved person should be counted as ⅗ of a free person (!) and specified the exclusion of Native Americans who were not taxed. Thankfully, this changed through the passage of the 14th Amendment after the Civil War and by 1940, the Census Bureau also determined that all American Indians should be counted so that was the first year that ALL Americans were used for apportionment to determine House seats and Electoral College votes.
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At this week's Round Table, Divya, Madeline and Olivia spoke with Hansi Lo Wang, national correspondent for NPR based in New York City who reports on the people, power, and money behind the 2020 census. The Census is one of the most consequential things the government does every decade, yet few of us deeply understand its operations and implications in the way Hansi does. The U.S. government has conducted the Census every 10 years since 1790, and there’s a long, complicated history about who has been counted and how they’ve been counted. This year--amidst pandemic and polarization--was no exception, and we don’t yet know how things panned out during this most unusual 2020 collection period. There’s a lot of distrust of the Census, which works at odds with getting an accurate count. The reality is, there has never yet been a perfect Census—we have always excluded people or categorized them in ways that can be limiting or that shift over time. Hansi is already starting to focus on some of the exciting ideas percolating for the 2030 Census as we continue to strive towards a more perfect union. Thank you for joining us!
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Our podcast guest Aviv Ovadya reminded us that entertainment is where we gain our sense of what it means to be a person and thereby has a HUGE influence on us.
There are so many opportunities for unethical behavior. Social media platforms are used by everyone, and thereby can be a very POSITIVE force, across demographics and generations, if they are structured to bring out ethical behavior (although Aviv DID confess that your grandparents may not be on TikTok…) Isaiah underscored that the power of social media, and tech companies, is indescribable so why not use it for something good?
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We loved Bernie Sanders recent interview with Ezra Klein, and his response to a question about how a guy as old as him garnered so much support from young voters. His secret? He loves young people, treats us with respect, and talks about real issues to us. Bernie underscored that young people are the most progressive generation our country has ever had: we are firmly anti-racist, anti-sexist, anti-homophobia, anti-xenophobia and a generation that believes in economic, environmental, and social justice. Further, we’re a generation that is economically hurting--the first generation slated to have a lower standard of living than our parents, on average--and that was BEFORE the pandemic. Younger workers are making less money than our parents, having a harder time buying a home, and getting stuck with tremendous student debt. Ours is a generation that wants the government to address the economic pain we are feeling. Is there any reason we love Uncle Bernie?
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Our guest Aviv Ovadya shared his fondness for a methodology popularized by Michael Caulfield with the acronym SIFT--Stop and take stock, Investigate the source, Find better coverage, Trace the claims, quotes, and media to find the original coverage. What’s exciting is that this can actually be done pretty quickly (albeit a bit slower and more of a pain on your phone.) Ideally platforms themselves will start helping contextualize information and promote more embedded media literacy bc there is too much coming at us too quickly, but until then, we must put ourselves in the driver's seat
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Navigating the complex world of social media can be hard, especially during these polarizing and inflammatory times we find ourselves in. When it comes to facing adverse or defining circumstances, it’s always better to traverse them with like-minded individuals who are ready to give support to one another. In our recent Round Table episode, we spoke with Aviv Ovadya and Robin Ehrlich of The Thoughtful Technology Project. They underscored the importance of setting intentions and goals when handling social media and, ideally, even writing them down. They encouraged us to ask ourselves questions like “who do you want to be?” and “What values do you want to represent?” You can then hold yourself--and others--accountable for this.
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Our podcast guest Robin Erlich of The Thoughtful Technology Project reminded us that a big part of media literacy is emotional literacy--that is, how do we as individuals respond to the very emotionally intense news that swirls around us and our friends’ reactions to them? The murder of eight people in Atlanta, six of them women of Asian descent, last week, and the trial of Derek Chauvin, the officer who killed George Floyd, this week strongly fit this triggering criteria.
Robin encouraged us to each take a second to pause and think, “how is this making us feel? What reactions and judgments are coming up?” and putting that through our internal lens before engaging. She underscored that there are two sides to the same coin: half the battle is to provide education and foster critical thinking, and the other half is individuals’ responses and the responsibility we bear to ourselves and others to interrogate how this all makes us feel on a deep level
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At this week's Round Table, Inica, Isaiah, and Madeline spoke with Aviv Ovadya and Robin Ehrlich of The Thoughtful Technology Project. The Thoughtful Technology Program focuses on ensuring that our information ecosystem has a positive impact on society—that it can facilitate the understanding, trust, and problem solving needed for a well-functioning civilization. They underscored that being given access to a platform is like being given access to a road--there are endless possibilities but if you don’t know how to drive safely, significant danger can ensue. So what should we do to promote safety online? Emotional literacy needs to be a key part of our individual and collective toolkits--for example, taking time to pause and think before we act and interact online; approaching ideas that seemingly conflict with our own constructively; empathizing with experiences of others. We also talked about the roles that platforms themselves can and should play in promoting safety and well being. Our guests introduced the idea of Compromise Circles, which is something we will definitely be carrying forward. Thank you for joining us!
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Of the many projects Macon Phillips worked on while in DC, there were two he’s particularly proud of. One was the White House petitions platform, premised on the idea that if a lot of people are excited about something, White House leadership should probably know about it and be able to respond directly. The administration received petitions on everything from online poker to building a new Death Star to topical issues like gun safety to international affairs.
Another project he’s proud of, from when he transitioned to the State Department after five years, is the Young African Leadership Initiative, which used technology to connect young African leaders with their peers across Africa and with folks in the U.S.. They developed training kits to unpack international priority areas and to teach about things like the difference between climate and weather, what climate change actually means, and the importance of women’s leadership not just from a moral and cultural standpoint but from an economic one. It was exhilarating work that left a lasting legacy.
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Madeline was curious to know more about the specifics of the tech work our guest Morgan Phillips did in the Obama White House. The first thing he did when he arrived in early 2009 was (surprise!) redesign the White House website and think about what specifically the administration wanted it to communicate to people.
Macon noted that at the time, it was challenging to get access to computer systems--security at the time required all work to be done onsite (!) so if they wanted to post the transcript of the President’s radio address, which is given at 5AM on Saturday mornings, they’d actually have to go to the White House on Sat at 5AM (imagine!) Macon underscored how hard they worked to modernize the technology so that people could work when and where they wanted to. Further, at that point, people weren’t using their phones to interface with these systems (how quaint!) as the mobile revolution of work on the go was just beginning to be a thing-- for better and for worse as we now know…
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Our guest Macon Phillips noted, unsurprisingly given his tenure in the Obama White House, that he gets asked a lot about Barack Obama’s “secret sauce” for using technology so effectively. The secret is that there wasn’t really a secret as much as an underlying ethic about wanting to really understand a community. After Obama graduated from college, he spent time as a grassroots organizer on the South Side of Chicago, knocking on doors and asking people what their problems are. Macon thinks we need to be applying those same strategies today, thinking about the small steps we can take to reach out to others, even when online and in a pandemic.
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Our guest Macon Phillips shared that while never studied or planned to work on government, he found himself working on the tech team for Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign and ultimately going to the White House with him to try to translate the tools that had been so successful in the campaign into effective governance.
Macon noted that they thought about their work in three different areas when they entered in 2009: 1. How to amplify the president’s message 2. How to make the work of the White House—which can be very complicated!— more accessible to people 3. How to use technology to give people meaningful ways to participate in government
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At this week's Round Table, s part of our series on creating healthy discourse online, Divya, Inica, and Madeline spoke with Macon Phillips, founder of Starling Strategies. Macon headed President Obama’s White House’s digital strategy during Obama’s first term after playing a central role in the 2008 presidential campaign’s pioneering use of new media and technology to mobilize supporters. Much of what he learned and applied there informs his worldview and the work he’s doing today, including starting a podcast of his own called “Talk About Power.” And talk about power we did! Macon talked us through the evolutions he’s seen in tech over the last dozen years and their implications. He shared the projects he’s proudest of having worked on in the White House and State Department, and even shared Obama’s “secret sauce” in using tech and social media. Macon named his firm after starlings because of the way the birds flock together in powerful formation, creating something greater than the sum of our parts—like democracy itself. Thank you for joining us!
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Cathy underscored the importance of keeping safe space for dissent, and for representation by lots of different voices. Members of the Swedish counter-speech group I Am Here talk about how when they used to go online, they felt like all the comments they would see were toxic. It made them feel like, “is this my country? Am I the only one who feels this way?” because they didn’t see their viewpoints represented online, until they found their counterspeech movement and came to feel like they belong.
The real danger is allowing hateful voices online to feel so powerful and intimidating that people don’t talk back and call out what’s not right. Commenting is important for people who will come upon it later and see the push back.
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How do we keep collective action from turning into countering hate speech with hate speech? There’s an international group, hubbed in Sweden, called I Am Here. They have very firm rules about how to engage in counter speech. They require members to not espouse hate speech, not spread rumors, and to not even correct someone’s grammar (I mean, we all know that can get pretty heated!) They try to set an example of the discourse norms they want to see online. Not all counter speech efforts are as tightly coordinated nor have as much solidarity as this one does. Many collective efforts emerge more organically in a moment.
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In an era dominated by social media and its unique ability to provide a voice for all perspectives and ideologies, platforms and their users have a responsibility to promote an environment characterized by free speech in a ‘controlled’ environment.
In this week’s podcast with Cathy Buerger of the Dangerous Speech Project she depicted that it is increasingly difficult for the government to step in and ‘regulate’ social media interactions with speech laws without overstepping its boundaries as other foreign nations have done recently. In a country essentially founded on the significance of free speech and expression, we must remember that there’s a distinction to be had between encouraging productive and healthy dialogue and disagreement and strictly controlling and operating what is said across all levels of online interaction, not to mention fostering transparency and consistency in regulation.
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Hate speech has many different definitions in different contexts, which is part of why The Dangerous Speech project has chosen a slightly different term. Countries that have laws against incitement don’t necessarily define hate speech in the same way that social media companies do.
Our guest Cathy Buerger underscored that one person’s free speech can be another person’s hate speech, and one person’s joke can do devastating damage to another person. This makes it difficult to regulate, and makes it difficult for activists to push for regulation, because who do we trust to decide what we can or can’t say? They say if there’s been a government that you don’t trust anytime over the last 50 years, you shouldn’t push for regulation
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Our guest Cathy Buerger told us about the genesis of the twitter handle, “Yes, you’re racist”--a great example of counter speech. It was started by Logan Smith after searching for posts that started with “I’m not racist but” which, inevitably, WERE followed by something very racist. So he started retweeting such posts under the “Yes, you’re racist” handle. And the account now has 350K followers.
Smith’s goal is not to change the minds of the original posters--he’s pretty aware the public shaming isn’t a way to change people’s beliefs. But it IS a good way to raise awareness that this racism and these attitudes exist online.
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On this week’s podcast, we had the pleasure of being joined by Cathy Buerger of the Dangerous Speech Project (DSP.) The DSP studies the relationship between speech and intercommunity violence and, most importantly, different effective methods to respond to hateful speech to diminish harmful impacts.
Cathy is an anthropologist by training, with a specialty in studying how communities come together to improve spaces and shift norms in a positive direction through protest and advocacy. Her doctoral research focused on human rights defenders in Ghana who were trying to shift norms to create healthier communities. There are parallels in her work at DSP studying groups of people who are trying to change things to make online communities healthier and safer.
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At this week's Round Table, Divya, Isaiah, Olivia, and Madeline continued our series on creating healthy discourse online in conversation with Cathy Buerger,Director of Research at the Dangerous Speech Project at American University. Today, many fear that free speech can go too far and feel it should be regulated in some way--but who do we trust to make decisions about what we can say and not say to prevent hate speech?Dangerous speech is a more specific term than hate speech, defined as speech that can inspire violence. DSP works to find ways to counter dangerous speech without constraining free speech--which we found SUPER interesting and empowering, as we are proponents of ensuring that discourse allows for dissent and representation of different views.
Over the past few years, Cathy has been investigating user-led counter speech efforts from around the world. She’s interviewed over 50 individuals globally, and recently completed a digital ethnography of one of the largest groups of counter-speakers, which has over 74,000 members currently working to improve online discourse in Sweden. As an anthropologist by training, Cathy brings valuable lenses to this work and ones we greatly benefitted from in this conversation with her. Thank you for joining us!
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At this week's Round Table, Eliza, Inica, Isaiah, Madeline and Olivia spoke with Ben Gordon ofCitizenLab, a digital democracy platform that facilitates communication and co-creation between cities and their communities. Residents can post, discuss, and upvote their own ideas or choose to vote, prioritize, and fund projects and programs that their city is considering. Over 200+ cities around the world use CitizenLab to engage, consult, and deliberate with their residents and manage their ideas - both asynchronously and live through their online workshops feature. This helps cities become both more responsive and more efficient in their engagement efforts. This is, of course, all the more important since we’re all stuck at home. Ben notes that social platforms initially had no norms, so a lot of bad behaviors evolved. Conversely, CitizenLab creates vibrantly democratic online spaces for governments to engage and learn from their communities, and for residents to discuss and deliberate with one another about the local issues that matter to them. CitizenLab is working to create an expectation of two-way communication and a culture of continuous engagement between constituents and elected officials. We’re VERY excited about this proposition and hope you will be too. Thank you for joining us!
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Madeline shared her recommendation that people take time to understand their emotions when heading into heated conversations--which can be really hard when you’re feeling a lot of things all at once! But if we make an effort to be aware of our feelings, we can make more of an effort to really listen to another person.
She noted how right now, we can express our feelings in so many different ways in different mediums. We’ve become “spoiled” by being able to use emojis to demonstrate a very specific way we’re feeling in a text or an email (Madeline is partial to the laughing emoji, and to the crying emoji.) But when you’re just speaking with another person, you can’t easily express what you’re feeling visually, or know what the other person is feeling--at least until some tech company figures out how to create emojis in spoken conversation, which some are probably working on right now… Until then, listening for feelings--your own and other people’s--could really help.
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Isaiah noted that talking with people you don’t agree with is never easy but it IS important. A first step is recognizing that you’re speaking with someone who sees things differently than you and not attacking them or being belligerent. Isaiah underscored that hard conversations ARE necessary for growth. One can’t ONLY speak with people one sees eye to eye with and if you are, that’s limiting since we learn so much by conversing with people from opposite standpoints. Isaiah cited his involvement in Next Gen Politics and YVote as providing productive contexts for expanding political awareness and understanding. As a conservative in New York City, Isaiah noted that he is often in dialogue with people who see things differently and learns a great deal through it.
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Madeline spoke reverently of the “personable charm” of local coverage. She talked about the comfort of seeing a face or hearing a voice and connecting it to another human being, which doesn’t happen in the same way through an article or social media.
She noted that if we slowed things down and took more time to pay attention to other human beings, listen to the radio, watch the local news, it could have a unifying impact and could help move our country in a very positive direction in terms of countering partisanship.
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John talked about the shift in our nation’s politics, which he feels is actually rooted at the local level. Although people tend to talk about what’s happening in The Senate and Congress, it’s really at the grassroots where a lot of these tectonic changes are happening. Without a press to observe and report on political parties and individuals, it doesn’t take a lot to gain undue power. It creates a dangerous breeding ground for polarization and misinformation.
Local news doesn’t get the attention it deserves but plays a vital role in our democracy
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John Davidow underscored the incredible responsibility public media has to get the story right AND to get it out to where people are. Social media helps amplify and extend radio’s ability to do that.
He also noted that COVID is a quintessential local news story (as well as, of course, being a global news story.) People really cared what was going on and public radio leaned into being needed, doing things like creating a daily newsletter that went to 25,000 people’s homes every morning. Figuring out how to get your message out is both fun and vital.
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John Davidow shared his assessment of the biggest questions facing digital public media today: “How well are we meeting the demands of the public? How do our newsrooms reflect the values of our increasingly diverse audience?”
He noted that recent years have led to a moral and ethical reckoning for leaders in journalism to grapple with questions like, “are we meeting the needs of our audiences? What biases are we bringing? Who are the voices in the newsroom who are making the editorial decisions? What has informed their lives?” While these are the challenges journalism has always faced, they are ever more pressing today
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John Davidow talked about the pros and cons of digital media, noting that it’s very broad and affects people in different ways. There are a million ways to tap into an audience and a million ways for them to be engaged. In some ways, it’s very empowering since once can listen to it when and how you want. It can be a much more layered and deeper OR it can be a quick hit, Buzzfeed Top 5 ways to do whatever. Of the many things that it can be, he notes that the most dynamic and creative and the one that’s getting the most energy now is telling stories across platforms.
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This week we were fortunate to interview John Davidow, who has spent his career in broadcast news, until recently running digital for WBUR public radio for the last dozen years. He shared with us that there’s a phrase in television, “it’s off to Venus”: you put it in the air and it dissolves into electrons. There’s no true historical record. John noted that news is a disposable commodity--people don’t tend to go back to look at yesterday’s news. It’s good in the moment but calorically not very fulfilling.
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At this week's Round Table, Divya, Inica, and Madeline spoke with John Davidow, who has spent his career in news, most recently running digital for WBUR public radio for a dozen years. John’s current focus is on how we can represent a broader multitude of views and voices inside and outside of the newsroom in order to generate better news. He is well aware that news can be disposable--quick hits that are rather under-nourishing--AND it can also be incredibly enriching--an intimate and immediate “lean back” experience in which listeners are kept in great company, particularly through public broadcasting. At the heart of it is, of course, telling good stories AND, in some cases, contributing to the historical record by leaving a footprint others can go back. We loved hearing the questions John feels newsrooms should be accountable for: how well are we meeting the needs of the public, and how well do our newsrooms reflect the values and lived experiences of our audience? Are we providing them with relevant, lively content that feels authentic and compelling? Are we taking action to broaden our audience? Who are the voices making the decisions? What are the biases we’re bringing? Thank you for joining us!
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It’s not always easy or straightforward to know how to quantify the success of a movement. Our podcast guest Hardy Merriman shared that there are two main ways scholars do so. One way is to look at was the direct goal set--for ex, did the policy get changed? Another way is to look atthe collateral effects of the movement--to recognize that the policy may not get changed right away BUT the stage was set for future change by building skills and bringing people into community who may not otherwise have worked together.
It’s valuable to look at both “Did the movement achieve what they said they wanted to achieve AND what is the accumulated impact of the movement even beyond its stated goal, since we know that meaningful change doesn’t happen easily or overnight
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At this week's Round Table, Divya, Eliza, Inica, Madeline, and Olivia spoke with Hardy Merriman, President and CEO of the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict. At the Center, Hardy studies nonviolent movements that are fighting for freedom, justice, and independence all over the world, historically and currently. We talked about what sparks protests, why some movements succeed and others fail, how to quantify success, what strategies work, and what sorts of skills make a difference. We talked about the power of connecting activists and scholars in order to do work more effectively. Hardy helped contextualize protests and acts of civil resistance within a noble tradition. Democracy is more than government buildings and the legal system; some of the things our country can be proudest of--women’s suffrage, labor rights, civil rights-- were achieved through civil resistance. Over the last decade and a half, we’ve seen a backslide in democracy and an increase in authoritarianism internationally--and we’ve seen a commensurate rise in civil resistance, which inspires hope. Thank you for joining us!
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Our podcast guest, principal Dimitri Saliani, went to NYC public school himself, attending Brooklyn Tech during its most diverse period, and that diversity was a vital part of his high school experience. Unfortunately, Eleanor Roosevelt has become far less diverse over the years, which concerns Mr Saliani. As he noted, he didn’t become a school leader to educate the elite but rather to educate young people and be part of their lives.
As the school became more coveted, it changed the culture of the school, such that grades came to feel like currency and it had an impact on how youth treat one another. The school community is trying to shift this, and to figure out how to balance academics, social emotional learning, and being a global citizen. He notes that the desire to learn about other people is what drove him to become a social studies teacher. Now, as a principal, it’s driving him to try to prioritize more diversity in the authors that are read, the areas of the world that are studied, and throughout the curriculum more broadly.
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Divya raised a question about how Mr Saliani handled a very ugly, very public racist incident at the school last year. Mr Saliani noted how “heinous and upsetting” the incident was, and how important it was to help the community heal. He shared how challenging it was to balance competing demands--for ex, demands for expulsion of the students involved vs taking a restorative approach to educate the aggressor alongside disciplinary procedures while ensuring that the victim’s needs are at the forefront. A positive outgrowth of the incident was that it led to the school partnering with a community based organization that helped catalyze and navigate next steps around diversity, equity, and inclusion
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We were fortunate to speak with an outstanding New York City High School principal for this week’s podcast to get a better understanding of what it’s like to lead a school in the time of COVID. Dimitri Saliani has been an educator for 24 years, helped found Eleanor Roosevelt High School as a high school teacher, and has been leading the school for a dozen years. Needless to say, this year has been one of the most challenging. But Mr Saliani has been seeking to make the most of it. He noted his desire to provide as much normalcy and continuity as possible in the midst of the pandemic, enabling youth to connect with one another and their teachers but in different ways--for ex, shortening periods to 18 minutes. He’s also been paying attention to what might actually work BETTER, noting that some students have excelled in this context, which is helping their school community think differently and more deeply about teaching and learning.
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At this week's Round Table, Divya, Eliza, Inica, Isaiah, and Madeline spoke with Dimitri Saliani, principal of Eleanor Roosevelt High School on the Upper East Side of New York City about the challenges of running a New York City public high school from one’s kitchen. Leading a school in the time of COVID is no joke, and it was eye-opening and humbling to learn more about all that goes on behind the scenes. We also spent a good deal of time talking about Mr Saliani’s attempts to foster more integration at the majority white school, as well as to deal with some very challenging racial incidents that have occurred in recent years. His ultimate goal: building global citizens who are equipped to tackle the challenges and opportunities of our time. His short term goal: making the most of distant learning. We’re grateful for his efforts and investment in doing this well. Thank you for joining us!
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At this week's Round Table, recorded on the evening of Wed, Jan 20, Eliza, Inica, Isaiah, Madeline, and Olivia spoke with friend of the pod Nicholas Stefanidis, veteran teacher of Government and U.S. History and the PERFECT guest with whom to discuss the days historic inauguration. Our podcasters were all in middle school during the last inauguration, making this inauguration all the more meaningful--especially after an insurrection exactly two weeks ago and an impeachment exactly one week ago. We were so inspired by Biden’s words and tone, and by his emphasis on civility and working across divides. We also, of course, recognize that very hard work lies ahead, and Nicholas reminded us that although change might feel too slow for us, and too fast for others, meaningful progress IS happening, as the inauguration exemplified. And yes, we also fan-girled and boyed out on 22 year old inaugural poet Amanda Gorman. Thanks so much for joining us!
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At this week's Round Table, Divya, Eliza, Inica, and Madeline spoke with Brianna Cea, Cofounder and CEO of Generation Vote, which is building a movement of young people to advance youth voting rights and transform the way young people engage in politics. In light of recent events, we wanted to discuss the history--and future--of civic unrest, protest and, most importantly, movement building and the importance of young people being at the center. Movements don’t get talked about--or built--nearly enough in our view so we broke it down in order to build ‘em up. We talked about the importance of story, strategy, and structure in change-making movements--and of ensuring that all participants have internalized them. We talked about different paths to creating change--outside in as activists vs inside out as electeds--and the power of bringing these paths together. We talked about how to use our voices as citizens most effectively--and the importance of building and broadening support for democracy and public institutions. And we talked about the power of nonviolent movements remaining nonviolent even in the face of violence and attacks. Thank you for joining us!
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At this week's Round Table, Eliza, Inica, Isaiah, Madeline, Olivia, and I spoke with Michelle Mason and Shanakay Salman from the Institute for Innovation in Prosecution (IIP) at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. We recorded this conversation on the evening of Jan 6, just hours after a mob incited by President Trump stormed the Capitol to disrupt Congress certifying the election--and Trump openly condoned the supporters--AND the day after the Special Election in Georgia resulted in two Democrats being elected to the Senate--one black, one Jewish, both historic. It was a rollercoaster of a day and this, along with the treatment of today’s protesters in Washington DC vs treatment of protesters responding to the killing of George Floyd this summer, further demonstrated the stark divisions in our country. These disparities play out very significantly in criminal justice, the work to which Michelle and Shana have devoted their professional lives. We delved into the issues of the day, which are both disheartening and galvanizing for our work. We hope you emerge feeling as energized for the hard work ahead as we did. Thank you for joining us!
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Next to learning, being seen and known within a school community is paramount yet sadly, school can sometimes be a very anonymous place. As our guest Frank Stebbins noted, “just a simple hello in the hallway can go a long way.” In a school year dominated by virtual learning this is harder but the principle is still alive. Schools are places to interact with a broad range of people like and unlike ourselves. We should not conflate diversity with inclusivity, and must be cognizant to honor both. So when you're in class, either on Zoom or in-person (hopefully soon!), be sure to reach out to that person who could maybe use an extra boost--you never know what might come from it!
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Willingness to listen is so, so important. Our guest Frank Stebbins noted that one of the lines that tends to get emphasized in classrooms is creating safe space. While obviously that’s important, when we start discussing topics with students who may feel marginalized, or may feel their voice isn’t represented, they may be giving up some of that safety and they’re becoming brave. Engaging in conversations with people who may not agree with our point of view DOES often entail giving up a full sense of safety and what we know. Distinguishing between ensuring safety and demonstrating bravery is important. The richness of the resulting dialogue is reward enough, even if you leave the conversation with more questions than answers.
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Frank talked about how much his daughter’s pre-school experience informed HIS perspective and teaching as a high school teacher, underscoring Shortly thereafter, he participated in professional development with Facing History and he was hooked and started to incorporate exploration of identity in his classroom. His response from the juniors and seniors he taught was that they had never thought about things through this lens. Frank was struck by how many missed opportunities there had been to introduce these frameworks earlier in their school career. That got him to pursue opportunities for his students beyond their immediate community--and led him to be a founding Civic Mentor and bring groups of his students to participate in NGP Civic Forums. How can we challenge the status quo and build beyond it?
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“I remember going to my daughter’s school and looking at the textbooks to see if my own name was there from many years ago.” Unfortunately, it often takes a looong time for curricular materials to evolve. Our guest Frank Stebbins told us about working with a group of teachers to make a pie graph representing all voices in their curriculum, both when THEY went to school and now in the schools they teach in, and to examine whether they mirror each other or are they different. He emphasized the importance of really focusing in on how we can include more stories that represent diverse points of view. Memoirs are particularly valuable in providing this, and Frank cited favorite memoirs like Night, Warriors Don’t Cry, along with current literature by people who are defining who they are as Americans in their own voice. Without this representation, we run into the danger of identifying others with our OWN perspective on who they are rather than being able to truly learn from other perspective.
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We were honored to be joined by Facing History and Ourselves Program Associate and longtime educator Frank Stebbins this week. Frank supports educators across the state of New Jersey, supporting them in doing work is centered around the power that identity and perceived identity can have on the stories that we learn and the stories that we tell. He focuses on who gets to belong and who feels marginalized, whether it’s in our school communities or our global communities, and what the implications are when strategies are determined, when policies are shaped, and when people don’t have an active voice. Importantly, and in ways that are very consonant with NGP, Frank looks at how to incorporate ways to engage in authentic dialogue--not in debate and trying to prove each other wrong but in the service of learning from one another. Another key component of his work is how we can look at events of the past, appropriately memorialize them, and look at the legacy and impact of them on how we live today and how we choose to participate in our communities.
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At this week's Round Table, Eliza, Inica, Madeline, and Olivia spoke with Frank Stebbins, Program Associate at Facing History and Ourselves and longtime educator. Frank shared his belief that identity should be the cornerstone of any classroom, and we discussed what students and teachers need to commit to for that work to happen. We agree that asking questions, digging into diverse histories, engaging in dialogue with people different than ourselves, and listening deeply with a desire to find common ground are keys to good teaching and good learning. We also talked about the importance of finding communities where we can extend learning beyond the classroom. Frank underscored the degree to which teachers often learn as much from their students as vice versa and, not surprisingly, engaged us in exploration of what we believe makes an inclusive and focused classroom. Thank you for joining us!
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Eliza asked Sara about her goals for joining Student Council at Columbia University. Sara underscored her aim to foster dialogue and create space for free flowing exchange of ideas--both amongst students AND between student and administrators. She noted that there is often a lack of trust between students and administrators, which can lead to hostility. Sara feels this stems from lack of understanding as a result of administrators not communicating reasons for their actions, or when their actions differ from those of peer institutions, which can lead to students lashing out in frustration and to make themselves heard. The current response to Covid and administrators decisions about housing this past semester was an example of this--first year students had been told they’d all get housing on campus up until August, which led to hostility from the student body about why they hadn’t been warned earlier.
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Riya notes that although she goes to a pretty liberal college, it doesn’t always do a great job of including all viewpoints nor of honoring people of all ethnic backgrounds. In this clip, she shared a sobering story about how institutional racism and policing play out even on the campus of a small, ostensibly “woke” liberal arts institution. On the upside, she shared that it has sparked constructive conversation on the issue, and an increased commitment to including marginalized populations rather than writing them off.
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We were thrilled to have the OPs (Original Podcasters…) join us for a Reunion Episode this week upon finishing their first semester of college! Madeline asked them to share how their transition to higher education had been amidst, you know, a pandemic. Founding Podcaster Julianna shared that her last few months of high school didn’t FEEL much like school--she didn’t really have formal classes, didn’t have to wake up at a certain time, didn’t even see some of her teachers until graduation (on Zoom…) As such, while she wasn’t on campus at American University this semester, the expectations of participating in live time in long classes of remote learning in college felt more jarring--albeit in a welcome way--especially since her college took away what breaks they would have had.
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At this week's Round Table, Eliza, Inica, Isaiah, Madeline, and Olivia were excited to speak with our founding podcasters--Julianna Davis, Riya Mehta, and Sara Chough--freshly home for the holiday break after finishing their first semester at college. Of course, “coming home” is metaphorical for some in COVID--Julianna has been home throughout her first semester at American University, as so many college students have been. It was so good to reunite with the founding team and hear their reflections about what it’s like starting college in a pandemic, lack of diversity--racial, socioeconomic, and political--on campus and the limitations that creates, the need for better communication by administrators, the importance of student voice in decision making, and more. Our podcast founders also provided some invaluable advice for those of us still in high school. Thank you for joining us!
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The backbone of democracy is relationships: relationships with elected officials, with political ideals, and most importantly with each other. Now more than ever, with polarization the norm in American politics, it is essential to note that the rifts did not begin four years ago. It is a result of an unwillingness to compromise and work together to achieve meaningful change for decades. Like any other broken friendship, we must start listening to each other and find common ground and common purpose from which to build upon. Our guest Karen Murphy strongly believes that this is the only way we can bring about significant progress in this nation.
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Podcaster Madeline referenced the degree to which people are being dehumanized amidst calls to make America great again. There are competing ideas for our future and whether we are heading towards destruction or a renaissance. She asked our guest Karen Murphy what we can learn from the history and culture of dehumanization, as well as how we can learn from history of pushing institutions in positive directions. She also inquired about how to distinguish between what we hope to do as a country and what we can ACTUALLY do.
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Amid growing tensions and increased polarization in the U.S., it’s helpful to look back to the idea central to our nation’s founding. Citizenship was not based on birth or blood--it was about the idea of committing to a principle of being elastic and inclusive. We must recognize, of course, that “we the people” referred to a very narrow band of people at that time but the guiding principle as enabled the American PEOPLE to push the country and its leadership and institutions in vital ways Our guest Karen Murphy underscored that this is a critical differentiator that has the potential to propel much-needed progress today.
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Our guest Karen Murphy is a proponent of teachers being as highly trained and valued as top medical professionals. She noted that if one is trained as a surgeon, in an emergency that professional is likely able to apply those skills even in an area that isn’t their specialty. With teachers, the more confident and skilled one is with teaching as a practice, the more one can apply that to other things that you teach. This is all the more important when it comes to teaching about very difficult moments in our history, ESP those moments with which we may have an intimate connection. It’s a sophisticated skill to be able to conduct difficult conversations about things that are personal and close and have consequences.
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Our guest Karen Murphy reminded us that we think about as history changes over time.--not just what we care about and who we care about but what is considered history. Facing History and Ourselves came to be in 1975 when its founders met at a conference on the Holocaust and it was the first time they’d learned about that history despite ostensibly being well-educated teachers and citizens. We take for granted now that the Holocaust is something people need to know, but it’s a history that needed to be fought for--as is still the case for many nondominant histories today.
Karen reminded us that just because a decision is made about the importance of a historic event--that we should all know about Frederick Douglass or read Toni Morrison or know about the NY Draft riots--doesn’t mean it will be continued forever unless decisionmakers (classroom teachers, education officials, textbook writers) sustain commitment to it being important.
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At this week's Round Table, Divya, Inica, Isaiah, Madeline, and Olivia spoke with Karen Murphy, Director of International Strategy for Facing History and Ourselves. Karen had a lot to contribute to our series on national identity, inclusion, and belonging through her global lens, drawing upon lessons learned from Northern Ireland and South Africa. Her worldview is predicated on the belief that we have to know where we come from--individually and collectively--in order to make decisions about where we are, where we’re heading, and what it will take to get there. We talked about how the history we learn changes over time—not just in terms of the what and the who but what is actually considered history--and how what is omitted is often as important as what is included. We talked about how to reckon with the contradictions of our history—for example, that our forefathers idealized freedom while keeping a significant portion of the population from being free. And, of course, we talked about warring visions for the future direction of our country, the period of transition we are in, and the need to restore not just institutions of democracy but habits of democracy and relationships that have been breaking down for quite some time. Thank you for joining us!
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2020 has shown us that the #covid_19 pandemic has impacted every aspect of our society and immigration is no exception. Our podcast guest @bethfertig underscored that with the inability to hold hearings and proceed with trials in a timely manner—only people seeing judges have been immigrants held in detention —the vast majority of immigrants with court cases have been frozen in time for 8 months. In early Dec, the immigration court system put out a memo saying that all cases and filings will now be done by paper--not even by video conferences or by phone--leading to a lot of concerns about what the implications will be and how this will impact the existing backlog of more than 1 million cases...
With the imminent transition of the Biden-Harris administration, it is evident that @joebiden’s plans for immigration reform will have to promptly address the inefficiencies that are impacting immigration on a massive scale in this country.
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There are a lot of potential changes in immigration policy on the horizon through the incoming Biden administration. Our podcast guest @bethfertig, helped us think about what can be determined by Executive Order--such as overturning the Muslim travel ban--and what requires Congressional approval—such as how to handle DACA and creating a path to citizenship and full legalization for everyone in the Dreamers’ families. There are potentially 11 million undocumented immigrants in the US, an issue that has been a political football since the Obama Administration. This is in fact what led Obama to create DACA since Congress hasn’t been able to agree on sustained immigration changes in decades.
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As we head closer to Inauguration Day and the beginning of a new administration, we anticipate dramatic differences in orientation, and immigration is at the top. In this week’s Round Table Podcast episode, we spoke with Beth Fertig, Senior Reporter for WNYC Radio for immigration, exploring key differences in the immigration policy agenda of President Obama vs President Trump--and what we can and should anticipate in the Biden Administration over the years ahead.
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Beth Fertig, Senior Reporter for Immigration, Courts, and Legal Affairs, shared what brought her to her beat, after years covering immigration. She noted that in 2016, she started covering the courts. She was clear that she didn’t just want to cover broad themes of justice; she wanted to see how it was affecting people. Once Trump was elected, it was decided that she would cover immigration courts and she immersed herself in learning all about them. Did you know that it’s not a regular court but rather run by the Department of Justice? Or that immigration judges are technically lawyers who work for the Attorney General, so there’s questions of how independent they can be She underscored how fascinating it’s been to see all the ways a presidential administration could affect the immigration courts and the people going through them, even so far away from the border.
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At this week's Round Table, Eliza, Inica, Isaiah, Madeline & Olivia spoke with Beth Fertig, Senior Reporter for WNYC Radio for immigration, courts, and legal affairs. We discussed what brought Beth to the immigration beat and what she’s learned covering the biggest, busiest immigration court in the country--especially during the time of COVID. We explored key differences in the immigration policy agenda of President Obama vs President Trump--and what we can anticipate in the Biden Administration. We examined the degree to which immigration has been a political football for years, and talked about what issues are handled through the Department of Justice--meaning under direct Presidential control--versus what needs to be approved by Congress, which has bottle-jammed immigration reform for many decades. The conversation reminded us of how immigration is a bedrock of this country, and how diverse and dynamic each of the stories are. We’re pleased to be able to share some with you this week. Thank you for joining us!
Background Articles
On immigration courts and why so backlogged now
On last ditch efforts by the Trump administration and what Biden can do
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Our guest Shawnda Chapman noted that entrenched systems of injustice like racism and sexismcan make us feel helpless. Often what we try to do to remedy such feelings is provide help, when what we really should focus on is providing power--the power to determine one’s own life and one’s own destiny. Rather than determining what’s best for girls and “giving” it to them in a paternalistic way, the goal should be to help them live into their fullest potential and make decisions for themselves.
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Our guest Shawnda Chapman notds that we don’t have great answers or solutions for many youth who are survivors of sexual violence--when she was growing up, there wasn’t even language for talking about it, only stigma. Many get sent into the foster care system which too often devastates their lives even further. Others get punished, for ex, being sent into the juvenile detention center, which doesn’t help either. If anything, it solidifies one’s identity as “troubled” or “bad,” which one then tends to live into. A lot of behavior that gets criminalized is really, at root, resistance to unfair treatment in schools, violence in communities, family life that doesn’t honor identity. Shawnda notes that what many young women of color most need is someone to believe in them and ask them what they need.
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In response to a question from Divya about the distinct problems girls of color face, Shawnda noted how seeds are planted in childhood that have the potential to lead to healthy or unhealthy growth. She cited the degree to which girls of color often don’t get to control their environment--their family context, their economic well being --yet are expected in adulthood to perform as if they’d had equal opportunities. So Shawnda’s desire is to empower girls early and to try to counteract some of the negative thinking and internalization of stereotypes before they can take root in a diminished sense of self.
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Our guest Shawnda Chapman called attention to the dance of progress and regress at play in our country. She noted that today’s youth are not wedded to fixed concepts of gender and sexuality--even she gets checked on binary thinking by younger thinking--and she loves the expansion of inclusivity. Unfortunately, simultaneously she cites how racial progress has moved in the wrong direction as a result of the current administration giving people license to be their worst selves. Although Shawnda experienced racism all her life growing up in the South, now people are authorized to be racist and sexist in public, which is shocking and frightening. Her hope is that it’s the last dying breath of racism creating space for young people to lead in a very different direction
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Our guest Shawnda Chapman shared some of the challenges of supporting girls of color, noting that too often false hierarchies around whose needs are greater get created, and how anytime people speak up for girls of color, they get pegged as being hostile and asked “what about the boys?” when the same question doesn’t get asked to those supporting boys of color. TThese narratives are counterproductive and complicate getting support for either boys or girls. Shawnda recommends shedding such binaries--particularly since many youth being served don’t identify with gender binaries overall!
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Our guest, Shawnda Chapman, Director of the Girls Fund Initiative at the Ms Foundation, shared that she once hit her biographical details, fearing that they would make people take her less seriously at the decision-making table. Over time, she recognized that her lived experiences are part of her superpowers--that our experiences, even the toughest ones, need not be viewed as weaknesses as they are often our strengths and that those closest to the problems are also closest to the solutions
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At this week's Round Table, Divya, Eliza, Madeline and Olivia spoke with the stellar Shawnda Chapman, Director of the Girls Fund Initiative at the Ms Foundation. This is the second episode in our series on national identity, inclusion, and belonging. We talked about how the intersection of racism and sexism cooperate to keep the experiences of girls and women of color silenced and “invisibilized”--and why they are important to include in public narratives. We talked about ways in which our national identity and the image of who we are as a people is simultaneously expanding and contracting. We talked about the depression to prison pipeline, and how what gets characterized as “bad” is often resistance. And, importantly, we talked about what it means to build power within social justice movements. Shawnda reminded us that the people closest to problems are closest to solutions, and that our vulnerabilities can be our strength. Thank you for joining us!
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Inica underscored the sheer gravity of this country’s current political climate--“Now we’re in a fight over democracy, with the very fabric of America that is at stake. She underscored that we need to be able to sew the fabric back together and repair what was once considered a melting pot of a country. She spoke about how precarious our current situation is if we continue in the direction we’re going, because there won’t be anything to bind us together. She shared her belief that unity is achievable if we make it so, but we need to be able to look beyond the labels that are tearing us apart as a country and connect with the humans beneath the labels.
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Isaiah noted that he doesn’t really see how we could have one holiday that truly speaks to everyone. He wondered about how close we can get to a holiday that speaks to everybody--he once thought maybe it was the Fourth of July but then read Frederick Douglass’ What To The Slave Is the Fourth of July. Madeline proposed that perhaps we need to start a new holiday, noting that a holiday about unity, combining the joyful spirit of Christmas with the patriotism of the Fourth of July and the coming-togetherness of Thanksgiving--along with a day off from school--would be epic
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“As kids we’ve been manipulated into believing we have a sweet sugar-coated history only to grow up and find out the sugar is rotten," Inica noted in this week's podcast, underscoring the “loss of innocence” that comes with trying to figure out an appropriate response to recognition of the stained history of Thanksgiving and so many other holidays. Should we stop celebrating Thanksgiving? Should we even acknowledge it as a holiday?
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Isaiah shared a striking analogy about the distinction between the shining surface of American holidays and the more complex and confusing narratives underlying them, which often run at odds with values that America prides itself on.
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Eliza pointed out that if she were an Indigenous person, her feelings about the Thanksgiving holiday would likely be radically different. She also underscored how marginalization gets carried forward to today, for example, in the heightened rates of coronavirus on reservations and lack of access to health care. So while some communities can celebrate the holiday with no baggage, for others, it carries a different weight that needs to be acknowledged.
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Inica underscored that the falsified tale of Thanksgiving is part of a pattern throughout American history and many of our holidays. Too often there seems to be a dark truth that has been sugarcoated for children for the sake of portraying America as a nice, happy narrative with everyone getting along and without any kind of racist or sexist past. She pointed to how important it is to recognize the foundation that America was built upon; otherwise we’re going to keep living a falsified reality. She shared the rebranding of Columbus Day to Indigenous People’s Day by many as an important example of recognizing history and its implications. If we continue to call it Columbus Day, then we’re living in a world in which Columbus HAS a day and on which we celebrate his so-called discovery of the Americas, whereas if we call it Indigenous People’s Day, we’re celebrating the people who lived and thrived on the land AND who were compromised by Columbus’ “discovery”
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Madeline shared her thoughts that Thanksgiving in a modern sense is less about the original event that occurred (or didn’t occur…) and more about the idea about gratitude and family and belonging. Although the idea of the holiday may have STARTED with the idea of Native Americans and Europeans meeting and exchanging cultures, whether in a positive or negative sense, in the larger sense, that’s not what we’re celebrating anymore--if it ever was. It’s now about American culture rather than about the act of finding a new land and interacting with new people. And she doesn’t think we NEED to have a struggle between these two ideas because it comes to point at which the two alternate universes collide into one
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Eliza spoke about the challenges of the factual inaccuracies underlying Thanksgiving, and the ways many of our families have handled this holiday since we were young, as being about practicing gratitude, visiting our grandparents and cousins, and really warm family traditions. Eliza proposes that we capitalize on the holiday to value competing narratives and to understand that there are multiple perspectives that reflect our experiences. Because of the “falsified foundation” Inica characterized, many have very positive family experiences associated with Thanksgiving and at the same time, if you look at the real history behind the holiday, it’s really about settler colonialism. So how do we best grapple with and makes sense of the competing truths about this holiday and so many others?
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Inica shared her growing up reflections of Thanksgiving always being framed as a holiday about putting aside our differences and Squanto the good Indian; however, that was NOT the reality the first holiday was built on. So we have an unstable and falsified foundation that is starting to crumble now that reality is being shown
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Our conversation led Madeline to reflect on Columbus. On elementary school, it was a patriotic holiday about celebrating our differences. We weren’t taught the things I learned about in middle school, when my social studies teacher started talking about the violence that occurred as a result of Columbus’ exploration to the new world. she had never previously heard about violence and war between the native people and Europeans. It led to multiple classes and conversations over the years about whether we should frame Columbus as a hero or a villain. Initially, she was really excited to frame him as a villain, to challenge everything she’d previously learned. Now in high school, she’s come to see value in finding middle ground around Columbus and other dark chapters of our country’s past.
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We’re excited to launch our series on national identity, inclusion, and belonging! We’ll be exploring this through many perspectives , starting with this episode on holidays and how what we celebrate does or doesn’t reflect our values. We all know the American mythology of a melting pot doesn’t reflect the complexity of reality and what we’ve seen, both recently and historically, is that not everyone is included in that reality. In this week’s episode, our stellar podcasters grapple with holidays vs reality, and how we might broaden the narratives that inform our holidays, starting with (surprise!) Thanksgiving.
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At this week's Round Table, Eliza, Inica, Isaiah, and Madeline reflect on Thanksgiving and, more broadly, how to grapple with competing narratives about our national holidays. We discuss the ways in which our own understanding of holidays and national identity has shifted through the stages of our lives. We talked about the importance of understanding history so we can shape a more just and inclusive future. We interrogated whether and how we can #RedefineThankgiving--not by erasing the past, but by thinking critically about the America we want to help build--which feels more necessary than ever this year. This marks the first in a series about national identity and belonging, and we look forward to continuing to explore these themes from various angles with you over the coming weeks. Thank you for joining us!
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Professor Hajnal noted that one of the great problems with today’s media is echo chambers. If we’re a conservative, we’re very likely to be tuning into Fox and online we’re likely to be looking at sites where our own views are being reflected back at us. And when it comes to social media, they’re trying to get more clicks by putting forward more and more extreme and salacious content which may be making us more extreme than we would otherwise be. He underscored how important it is to get cross-information going, and for liberals to hear what conservatives are hearing and for conservatives to hear what liberals are hearing.
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Isaiah asked Professor Hajnal what role he thinks the media could play in voter education. Prof Hajnal noted that there are any number of roles. He shared his concern that so much of media coverage is akin to covering a horse race rather than really delving into issues and policies, which of course SHOULD be driving our voting choices. Providing more real information about candidates and their stances, as well as addressing the MISinformation going haywire, is vital and the media is still playing catch up.
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Understanding the political implications surrounding COVID is the first step in understanding the challenges that will still face us after a vaccine is distributed. 2020 saw the largest number of voters in a U.S. presidential election in history partly due to the unprecedented events occurring in this country related to the pandemic, but also due to outrage at inequality and to the drastic levels of partisan polarization permeating American politics.
In discussing whether America’s rise in political participation to endure in the years ahead, our guest Zoli Hajnal, professor of political science at the UC San Diego’s School of Global Policy and Strategy, underscored his feelings that despite Biden’s best efforts, polarization is likely to remain a big challenge--which actually drives voter turnout but with consequences.
What issues are most on your mind about what we’ll have to deal with after we can get beyond the pandemic?
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Prof Hajnal is skeptical that this year’s high turnout will last. All the barriers there BEFORE the election are still there--the process is complicated and convoluted, there are only two choices, we vote on a Tuesday instead of a holiday--and they affect some populations disproportionately. Professor Hajnal explained how this works against young Americans--we’re more mobile so we have to re-register each time we move, we might not know where our polling place is--so our enthusiasm has to be great enough to overcome the barriers. Further, we’ve got a lot going on in our lives--we’ve got school, we’re thinking about all kinds of things in addition to politics--and all of these factors contribute to why young people turn out at lower rates than other groups, even in 2020. Given all this, Professor Hajnal noted that he is hopeful but skeptical that increased turnout will be sustained. In local elections, the trend from the 1980s until well into the 2000s has been for turnout to decline.
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Our guest Professor Zoli Hajnal noted that we know, based on amazing experiments, that mobilization works, and that good door to door outreach increases the odds of turnout quite significantly. Conversely, we DON’T have any evidence that the billions that we spend on advertising make a difference or persuade anyone. So in his view, we’re wasting billions of dollars on advertising that could be redirected to the mobilization that we know works.
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In this week’s conversation with professor Zoli Hajnal, we discussed the measures our nation needs to bring forth to ensure that this year’s high levels of political participation and involvement transcend a single election cycle, with an emphasis on less enfranchised voters.
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Towards the closing of our podcast, Laura Wolk turned the (round) table on our podcasters to learn more about our responses. Isaiah shared his avoidance of the media circus. Olivia shared her disappointment in how performative the hearings were, with Democratic senators posturing with their questions.
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At this week's Round Table, Divya, Inica, Isaiah, Madeline, and Olivia spoke with Zoli Hajnalprofessor of political science at the UC San Diego’s School of Global Policy and Strategy. Professor Hajnal is the author of multiple award-winning books and a respected scholar on U.S. politics and policy, with a special focus on how disadvantaged populations are represented in American politics and what can be done to ensure better representation of these groups. Our conversation touched upon why people vote in such low numbers in municipal elections--and what can be done to counteract that, what reforms can lead to more equitable distribution of resources and opportunities, the record high youth voter and overall voter turnout this election--and how and whether it can be sustained, and what voter reforms we’d all like to see in the future. Thanks for listening!
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When asked about her thoughts on judicial reforms such as the recent talks about court packing and eliminating life tenure, Laura Wolk provided podcast listeners with her take on what are becoming fiercely contested conversations about judicial reforms. She shared her feelings about the importance of maintaining nine Judges and the continuity of the Supreme Court through its policy of life tenure,
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Laura Wolk expressed concerns about the media’s bent in Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation hearings. She felt there was a deep undercurrent that seemed to suggest that Judge Barrett, or Originalists in general, really want to take people’s rights away--for ex, they want to overturn the ACA. She feels this includes three presumptions about Conservative judges: 1) that they are pre-committed to certain policy goals, which she feels is unjustified, 2) that they would be disingenuously trying to sneak their policies in through the backdoor, 3) that their policy preferences and the answers they come to by analyzing the statutes are always the same. She disagrees with all of these and shared a frame of reference from her personal experience, noting that she personally is uncomfortable with the death penalty but since the Constitution allows it, she wouldn’t allow her own personal biases to override it
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Laura Wolk shared a glowing assessment of Justice Barrett’s skills as an educator, addressing pros and cons of every legal question and taking the opposite side to whatever a student is arguing about a case in order to push their thinking
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“It’s disappointing to see the media going along with that (character assassinations).” This week’s guest on the Roundtable Podcast, Laura Wolk, senior associate at Kirkland & Ellis, who was most recently a clerk for Clarence Thomas in the U.S. Supreme Court and mentored by Amy Coney Barret at the University of Notre Dame Law School, addressed the undeniable influence the media has on the way people generate their positions on certain political matters and how it consequently distracts from the relevant information needed to make an accurate conclusion on the issue at hand. Most recently shown in the media’s interpretation and selective coverage of ACB’s confirmation hearings, Laura stressed the value of having the ability to see clearly past the narratives crafted by the media that seem to be simply for the purpose of gaining widespread attention. As we attempt to navigate the sometimes complicated landscape of American politics, we encourage you to dive deeper whenever you can.
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With the Senate’s recent confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court, it is particularly important to understand the different philosophies of these two women. Justice Barrett, like her mentor Antonin Scalia, is an Originalist in how she interprets the Constitution and the law that governs the nation’s entirety. Originalism was explained to us by our recent podcast guest Laura Wolk, senior associate at Kirkland & Ellis, who clerked last year 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 at her recent hearings. While many consider Originalism exclusive, leaving out people who were not originally included in the Constitution, or as so narrow as to be useless, because there are so many questions that are not explicitly addressed in the text of the Constitution. Laura, who considers herself an Originalist, notes that Originalism is not ideal and doesn’t give us the best and most just solutions to all questions. But she feels Originalism “is the philosophy that is most faithful to the structure of the government that we set up.”
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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 at her recent hearings. In the course of the hearings, originalism--the doctrine embraced by Coney Barrett and HER mentor Justice Scalia-- was referenced, but Laura was troubled that no time was given to what originalism really is, so she was eager to provide us with a deep dive into it. We delved into what judicial reforms Laura would and wouldn’t like to see, what it’s like to work for the Supreme Court, and why her training as a singer and a psychologist was the best prep she could have hoped for. Thank you for joining us!
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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 eager to move forward and address the devastating pandemic and the lives that have been lost as a result. In our most recent podcast, Olivia and Inica gained an entirely different perspective as they spoke with Yasmeen Serhan, a staff writer from The Atlantic, and someone who has been covering the election and other political matters from the U.K.
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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 to help bridge the gap in our nation and come together as one as we move forward in taking on the issues at hand. As Yasmeen duly noted, the whole world is watching us.
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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 @newsweek, paints our podcast listeners a picture of what the nation and the status of the presidency could potentially look like knowing that Trump will attempt to do anything in his power to stay in the White House and spare himself and his administration from suffering the legal consequences of his actions over the past four years.
“I just hope you folks do a much better job than we have.” With a palpable touch of optimism in his closing words, Steve Friess addressed our podcast team and young people as a whole in hopes of encouraging collective change now that we find ourselves heading into a new era with a new leader.
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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 Hour Detroit and writes about the election for Newsweek and other national publications, our podcaster Eliza asked him how he believes mail-in ballots will affect the voting count and the election as a whole as we move forward from November third. “The sheer volume of absentee or mail-in ballots this year is extraordinary and there are only so many people that work in the elections department in a given place.” In the midst of all of the surrounding uncertainty looming over the election’s aftermath right now, we invite you to tune in.
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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 to move forward accordingly. If you are like most people throughout the country right now and are wondering what can arise from this uncertainty, we invite you to listen!
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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. Yasmeen made us aware that as Americans, we sometimes fail to appreciate the degree to which this is a global moment, with truly global consequences. As a world leader, the world looks to the U.S. to see what path it’s going to take. Yasmeen shared that people stayed up all night in the U.K. to track election results. She reminded us that the world is watching and will continue to watch as things play out.
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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 elections aren’t new to Steve: he was a reporter in Palm Beach County during the 2000 election. We explored many of the questions on people’s minds: the unusual nature of this particular election, the challenge of how some states are handling absentee ballots, how far some of the polls seemed to be from how results are actually turning out, and the future of Trumpism beyond Trump’s time in the Presidency. This is an anxious time for many of us across the political spectrum, and we feel fortunate to engage in some civic sense-making with Steve and now with you. Thank you for joining us!
- Check out Steve's recent article I Wouldn't Have My Son Without the Help of a Trump Superfan
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“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 don’t know who the projected winner is. As we wait anxiously for all of the votes in key states to be fully counted in key states like Nevada and Pennsylvania, we can’t help but look back on our insightful conversation with Susan Lerner and urge you to do the same.
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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 the U.S. to see what path it is going to take. The world is watching as the results, and the response to the results, unfold, and will continue to watch. We hope you appreciate the opportunity to stretch beyond our borders in order to put this election in a broader perspective. Thank you for joining us!
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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.
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“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 just yet. Guiding our conversation with Susan, this election night will inevitably look drastically different than those in the past and we should approach our way of making an impact accordingly.
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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 the heroism on display by the many many millions of people who have committed to not letting the pandemic get in the way of our democratic power. Wherever you fall on the political spectrum, the next week (and possibly well beyond) is likely to be nerve-wracking. We’re particularly happy to have you join us for this episode and look forward to working together to make the most of what lies ahead.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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 running for State Senator in Vermont, among many other things. We had a fascinating conversation about MaryAnn’s trajectory from Civic Fellow to civic superstar, her thoughts about the impact COVID has had on Burlington, VT--and what will be necessary to drive the community forward, and the importance of bringing moral courage to politics. MaryAnn exemplifies the advice she gave us, “don’t limit yourself and don’t label yourself--you can and should explore so many different facets of yourself and the world around you.” Thank you for joining us!
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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. This week, we spoke about the Vice Presidential Debate between Kamala Harris and Michael Pence, transparency in politics, and what impact Donald Trump’s COVID diagnosis will have on anything and anyone. Thanks for joining us!
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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 more of an effort to stay informed and engaged.
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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
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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.
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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!
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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 part of our government, yet courts are relevant to EVERY aspect of our lives. Having Anna on in the wake of RBG’s passing and just days after the announcement of Amy Coney Barrett as the nominee to replace her made the conversation all the more fascinating. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did. Thanks for joining us!
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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 candidates who aren’t pure. If we want the world to be a better place, we need to reward people who are making it better. We can talk all we want about why isn’t it better and why isn’t discourse more civil, but unless people get rewarded for it, it’s not likely to happen. Telling is different than rewarding.
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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 they care about issues. The problem is that we say we want more compromise, but that really means I want more people to agree with me. Politicians behave in a way that responds to electoral incentives because if they don’t, they lose their jobs.
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Professor Peter Loge, who heads the Project on Ethics in Political Communication at George Washington University, makes clear that we don’t reason by facts, even though we often THINK we do.
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In honor of our One Year Anniversary, we’re revisiting our archives and sharing some clips from our early episodes last year. Here, Professor Howard Schneider, founder of the Center for News Literacy, shares his thoughts about how journalists should avoid bias in the media.
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Gabe Fleisher shared that he’s always thinking about what he can write or what details he can add to make the readers really understand what’s going on and make them feel like they know what happened at momentous events and momentous places. You’re trying to represent things for people in a way that makes barriers fall away and makes them feel like they’re right there too, because he’s at places where important things are happening, as being part of a six person press conference with Bernie Sanders earlier in the day demonstrates.
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Gabe talked about his excitement to bring original reporting to the newsletter now that he’s at college in DC rather than St Louis. In his few weeks in DC, he’s interviewed Senators in the Capitol, covered the vigil on the steps of the Supreme Court on the night RBG died, was one of just six reporters reporting on Bernie Sanders’ first press event since ending his campaign, and covered Nancy Pelosi’s speech by the Washington Monument about coronavirus deaths. His goal is to be everywhere he can, cover as much as possible, and make readers feel as if they are there with him, which is the goal of any journalist.
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Gave Fleisher notes that he thinks How hard you are willing to work, or how much you are willing to learn, are much greater determinants. His age DOES provide a different perspective in his writing. He’s deeply committed to making politics as accessible as possible, and often adults aren’t as focused on this —a lot of politics can be complex and dense and not that easy to follow. As a young person, he asks himself “would my peers be able to follow this?” which is a litmus test for good political writing
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Gabe Fleisher talked to us about the challenges of figuring out what to cover and what NOT to cover in his daily newsletter. He tries to stay focused on several specific areas—The White House, Congress, The Courts, and Elections—and DOESN’T cover things like foreign affairs or state level politics. Then there are things like coronavirus that in some ways fits into all those categories and in other ways is in its own category.
He underscores that politics runs into everything and everything comes back to politics so it can be hard to have firm filters. But for the most part, he focuses on what happened yesterday, and what’s going to happen today, in the core institutions he covers, which impacts you whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican and thus entails being as close to objective as possible.
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Gabe Fleisher recognizes that criticism is inevitable. Some people think that’s sad but Gabe thinks journalists should ALWAYS be open to to receiving critical feedback. He notes that he loves hearing from readers—and doesn’t let it dictate his writing. You can’t control how people are going to respond to your journalism so it’s wisest for a writer to focus on what one sees to be the truth. Gabe emphasized that he tries to be subjective, while recognizing that we all have biases. He takes pride in the fact that he receives criticism from both sides of the political aisle.
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We were so fortunate to speak with Gabe Fleisher, the 18 year old founder of the Wake Up To Politics daily newsletter, this week. Gabe talked about how all encompassing the impact of politics is, for young people even more than older ones, given that politics affects the air we breathe, the water we drink, the schools we go to. Everything is a political decision.
WE are able to influence those political decisions w our vote, and it’s so important bc the decisions being made today, whether for President, or Congress, or when it comes to judicial appointments on the courts, will be affecting us for decades and decades and our entire adult lives. Really big decisions about our climate, our health care, any issue you’re can think of, are being made right now and it’s important for us to have voice in them.
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At this week's Round Table, Inica, Isaiah, Madeline, Olivia, and our new correspondent from Real Talk, Eliza Goler, spoke with Gabe Fleisher, the 18 year old founder of the Wake Up to Politics newsletter. Every morning, 50,000 readers wake up to Gabe’s newsletter, which he started as an email to his mom when he was 10. Gabe has been interviewed by the New York Times, NPR, The Washington Post, Samantha Bee, and now The Round Table :) Given all that’s been happening politically, we were thrilled to speak with Gabe about how he decides what to cover and what not to cover each day, how he’s grown his readership, and how he strives to be cross-partisan in such polarized times. His enthusiasm about politics is infectious and we think you too will want to wake up to politics (subscribe here) Thanks for joining us!
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Pat Joseph underscored that the Census is the civil rights fight of our lifetime. We don’t have freedom of privacy. Journalists are potentially being restricted in acting in the American Way that we know—to be informers. When he sees people being exiled or imprisoned for revealing heinous things the government has done, and the climb towards totalitarianism with our current president, he sees the Census as a way of fighting these things. While that may sound grandiose, it really is. If you’re not counted, you don’t really exist in the eyes of the government. It’s a relatively easy way to demonstrate that you are here and that you matter.
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Pat Joseph emphasized that getting community groups involved was key to marketing the Census in a way that never could have happened at the city level. They represented a lot of those historically underrepresented community groups and reached out to them in a more personal way. The winning forum was multiple languages, leveraging grants team, and casting—actively looking for representatives from the communities that really needed to be counted. And (surprise!) they found them. The Census team leveraged all the connections they’d made in communities, and the diversity in their office, which led to their communications team casting people who represented a wide range of New Yorkers for a refreshing change
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Olivia noted that she wouldn’t necessarily associate Pat Joseph—as a young man of color—with the Census, bc the Census conjures images of an old white man with a pencil for her. She asked him how he and his team worked to “rebrand” the Census.
Pat noted that part of it is that the Census office is the most diverse he’s ever worked in, which led to the generation of lots of fresh ideas, since people had so many lived experiences and diverse understandings of the world. They also had tons of opportunities for cross-pollination with different parts of the organization to produce the most impactful products. He’s also talked about the offices huge emphasis on language, given how many languages are spoken in nY. They produced things in 13-20 languages and leveraged grants to 150 orgs to further communicate with their communities.
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Pat Joseph approaches things from a humanist standpoint, noting that he doesn’t think he’s any different than someone who emigrated here, like his parents did, particularly given that most people in the U.S. originally came from somewhere else if you go back far enough. He underscores that the benefit of counting immigrants—and fully including them in all ways—is to society at large. The higher the count of people in one’s state, the more dollars the state receives. So pragmatically, why would you want to exclude anyone? But politically, he recognizes that there is intentional exclusion of certain groups for political reasons, both from the Census and from voting. Political representation gets allocated alongside money, so the issue is inherently political and, unfortunately, politicized.
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Pat Joseph notes that he didn’t have a lot at stake in the 2016 election btw Trump and Clinton, because he felt that both candidates were going to do things that he would find absolutely appalling when they came to power. Neither one of them was interested in ending the industrial war complex, or peace in the Middle East, or legalizing marijuana, or making college free, or providing universal healthcare to all Americans, or ending police brutality. These issues were not going to be touched by either candidate so as a voter, he felt he’d only be voting for the lesser of two evils. Conversely, he feels the Census gives people much more direct power in the sense that the numbers do the talking. If one’s community shows up, the data’s there, it’s public, and can’t be interfered with, the government can’t deny funds without being taken to task by advocates.
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Pat Joseph describes how he and his team treated getting people to fill out the Census like a multi-faceted social justice campaign. One of his colleagues referred to the Census as “the great civil rights battle of our time.” Because when you think about the communities that aren’t counted, it’s pretty predictably black and brown. Who are the people who don’t fill out the Census? It’s immigrants, it’s people who don’t have trust in the government, it’s people who think their communities will suffer regardless of whether or not they’re counted.
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Pat Joseph notes that when people think of the census, they think about being counted—of someone knocking on the door and asking how many people are in your home. Some people, erroneously, think of it as being about citizenship, which it’s not—ALL people are meant to be counted. But it also serves a much larger purpose. The Census determines our representation in Congress, through the apportionment clause of The Constitution. It also represents the federal funding that goes to states. States are actually in competition during the Census. The more people you get counted, the more money you get—percentage wise. You want to ensure that you get money equivalent to the people you need to support through services. The Census also provides vitally important data about the ethnic backgrounds of people, the languages they speak, where they are concentrated, etc. This is a critical piece of determining the needs of different communities and channeling resources accordingly.
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Much though Pat loved his work for the Manhattan Borough President, he saw there was quite a lot of harm being done around him. His big learn was there was that it isn’t just a classroom or school based issue causing inequities; there are quite a lot of problematic behaviors and policy making in the political arena causing inequity in schools. He didn’t feel elected officials were necessarily doing what he thought should be done to address those evils. So he decided to head back to pursue his PhD, but took a pit stop doing something else connected to the funding side of education: working on the 2020 Census through the Mayor’s Office
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Pat Joseph comes at things from an educational perspective. He taught HS special ed for 4 years and experienced educational inequity first hand, teaching in predominantly white schools on the Upper West Side and in schools serving predominantly students of color in the South Bronx —resource disparities, treatment of students, presence of police. He saw education policy as a route to correct some of the evils he experienced as a teacher (which he hadn’t been aware of as a student growing up in the Bronx). Things panned out for him when he got a job working for the Manhattan Borough President coming out of grad school as a senior advisor of education policy issues.
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At this week's Round Table, Inica, Isaiah, Madeline, and Olivia spoke with Patrick Joseph, PhD student at Teachers College and Graduate Research Assistant for the Center for Educational Equity, where he works on civic diversity. Patrick’s commitment to educational and political transformation has played out through his work as a classroom teacher, as the Senior Education Policy Advisor for the Manhattan Borough President, and most recently, as Grants and Policy Manager for the NYC Census. You’ve probably heard a lot about why the Census is important, the implications of undercounting, and how far behind we are in the count given COVID-19. Pat takes conventional thinking about the Census to a different and deeper dimension, coupling it with deep analysis of representation, power, and what is necessary to create the political and civic change we need. Thank you for joining us!
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Podcaster Madeline shared her concerns about social media being a wormhole that she doesn’t want to get sucked into. Simultaneously, she feels a need to stay updated about what’s going on amongst GenZers, so she forces herself to go on a bit. She also gets “ambient news” from her mom listening to WNYC in the background, as well as notifications from her school’s subscription to the NYTimes. Overall, she feels news and information is circulating in so many different ways today that you don’t get it from one spot but from a larger swirl.
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Olivia asked about whether one group or party would be more negatively affected than others by media policy decisions. Robyn noted that the implications are much more equal than people tend to think. If you look at the top media that’s shared on FB, it always tends to be conservative. Robyn and colleagues studied demonetization across a range of genres and found it happening at every single level of the ecosystem.
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Media analyst Robyn Caplan talked about how politicians are engaging in debate as to whether platforms will follow rules and norms of the US or elsewhere, given that they operate globally. There’s concerns about whether this could lead to tech companies playing to the lowest common denominators rather than American values—for ex, Europe has more of an investment in freedom FROM speech than we do and, since the First Amendment is not a protected right for private companies, conservative politicians have expressed concerns about free speech being undercut.
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Robyn Caplan notes that she has every belief that Facebook will change its political ad policy before the election. She agreed that it could definitely backfire. There are Concerns that essential voter information won’t be able to get out in a timely fashion, and that grassroots false information could dominate the platforms w/o campaigns being able to contradict misinformation. The intention is to mirror media blackouts in different countries, but that’s very different than blacking out political ads. There’s research that political ads actually do little to change voters’ intentions that close to an election, but they DO help get necessary information out to the public.
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Robyn Caplan discussed the distinction btw mediation and moderation as strategies used by platforms to increase trustworthiness of information online. Users tend to engage in moderation but a lot of platforms use a system of mediation to determine what is a trustworthy source and to then highlight that and bring it to the top. She noted that one isn’t necessarily better than the other—both need to be critiqued and examined, as do all media decisions, from what they publish to the composition of the team making the decisions
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Robyn Caplan underscored the importance of policies that prioritize a protected class. She explained the distinction between freedom from speech and freedom of speech. In the U.S., they are collapsed and freedom TO speak is prioritized over freedom from speech.
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Robyn Caplan contextualized that the U.S., unlike many other countries, doesn’t have the notion of protected class. As such, a lot of platforms have policies against hate speech that don’t take power relationships into account and instead paint with a broad brush.
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Robyn Caplan shared that since 2016, tech companies that had once been heralded as models of innovation and where the American economy needed to be headed, have been much more critiqued, both as monopolies and for the impact of their dominance on that election and on so many facets of life. In response, companies are taking on a lot of different strategies to try to change the narrative about the impact they’re having. But they are trying to deal with a problem that’s constantly unfolding. In come cases, they’re making different policy choices now, but we won’t know the impact of those choices for years to come.
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Media analyst Robyn Caplan shared how fundamentally her psych degree informs how she makes sense of social media (as it should for all of us...)
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Robyn Caplan started off pursuing psychology but sort of “fell into” writing about the business of media because she was seeing a lot of fascinating things behind the scenes. Early in her career she looked at things like how l metrics influence the things that get published and how different audiences—“old” media and new media—come into conflict with each other. Through this, she started doing global media policy because there were a lot of questions coming up that she became interested in—for ex, jurisdictional issues around cloud storage and how you hold people responsible based on where information is stored vs where it’s accessed. Before she knew it, she was a media analyst and writer and she hasn’t looked back
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At this week's Round Table, Inica, Isaiah, Madeline, and Olivia spoke with Robyn Kaplan about Facebook’s recent decision to ban political ads in the week leading up to the election. As a technology researcher at Data & Society and a doctoral student in Rutgers University’s School of Communication and Information Studies, Robyn helped us think through the potential implications of this decision as well as think more deeply about the intersection of politics, policy, media, and social media. Thank you for joining us!
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Karin most wants students to know that although NYC Schools is putting health and safety first, they still want to keep student voice at the center. She urges students to not let the challenges of school structures silence you, bc you know better than anyone else what is and isn’t working in education and the drive forward can only come when young peoples voices are in the dialogue.
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What does Karin hope the lasting legacy of Covid will be, good bad or ugly? Given that Covid has laid bare all of the existing inequities that were already there, one legacy Karin hopes will be sustained is the willingness of people to have really tough conversations with one another and to push on the public institutions that do or do not serve them well
She also hopes that the way we use time in school will change. When schools shut down in the spring and we were all locked down in our apartments, she noticed how much time we waste in schools doing stuff that is dumb and useless, like lining up in the halls. It turns out there IS time to do really cool stuff of you don’t have to do the annoying logistical
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Nor does 6 hours and 20 min on a Zoom call with the same adult. Karin Goldmark talked about finding the right balance between structure and flexibility. What does seem to work is a mix of interactive sessions AND time when you do all see each other AND time working on your own. Ideally, students will be learning with teachers from their own school BUT that won’t always be possible because of the staffing challenge of supporting both in person and remote learning students simultaneously.
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It’s hard to make decisions that will work well for the many different kinds of school buildings and contexts in NYC and the disparate conditions and constraints they face.
Like many things, these struggles predate the pandemic but the pandemic highlighted and exacerbated them and puts them in a life and death context in which the school system has to get the answers right.
One of the biggest challenges has been around scheduling because there’s the need for some uniformity—for example, of bus schedules for elementary schools— along with the need for flexibility.
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Karin Goldmark notes that mask mandates can be adhered to without violating one’s democratic right to protest or to exercise or to go about one’s life. People have found ways to adapt without bringing the case count up. Public health officials are clear that keeping the mask on or keeping 6 feet of distance is usually an either-or but the DOE is doing a both-and approach recognizing sometimes people will need to be closer than 6 feet, or will need to take their masks down to take a sip of water. This is a doing all of these activities to the greatest extent possible model. The Department of Ed has consulted with the Department of Health every step of the way and DOH agrees that voluntary compliance is the way to go; you can’t punish your way into compliance at the level that is needed
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Karin Goldmark underscores the importance of teaching people about the science—why its important to wear a mask, why it’s important to wash our hands frequently, why it’s important to maintain six feet of distance. People are much more willing to respect the rules when they understand them. The Department of Education has drawn a firm line around the wearing of masks—if a student or adult refuses to wear one then they cannot attention in-person school. There is no way to keep one’s self safe and keep everyone else safe if not wearing a mask and anyone not adhering to this mandate will need to do remote learning.
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Karin Goldmark, Deputy Chancellor of the country’s biggest, most diverse school system, shared her concerns, both as a school leader and as a parent, that safety and health precautions would not only be complicated and hard to do, they would make school joyless. But the Regional Enrichment Centers the city established for emergency child care back in March have demonstrated that it doesn’t have to be so. They’ve created new spins on games that respect safety precautions yet are still fun, and ways for kids to be in community with one another and to be athletic, or artistic, or musical.
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At this week's The Round Table, we welcome in two new podcasters--Madeline Mayes and Isaiah Taylor--as Julianna, Riya, and Sara have headed to college. Inica, Isaiah, Madeline, and Olivia interviewed Karin Goldmark, Deputy Chancellor for School Planning & Development at the NYC Department of Education. We spoke about the challenges of opening schools safely and equitably. With 130,930 schools in the US serving approximately 56.6 million students, this is a really, really big question. Karin walked us through some of the complex decision-making she and her colleagues have undertaken. There is NO way to make everybody happy or satisfied during a time like the one we’re living and learning through, especially in the country’s biggest school system--New York City. We appreciated this window into what’s going on behind the scenes--we don’t envy the decision makers but we DO strive to understand them… Thanks for joining us!
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Cyrus talks about parallels and differences btw strategies for social justice undertaken by Muslim vs Black Lives Matter activists. He notes that there’s tremendous overlap btw black and Muslim communities since over half of Muslims in America are blacks from the African diaspora. What that means in thinking about American Islam in the BLM moment and this chapter in activism for black rights is a very divided community. Many like Cyrus are products of black radical politics and consider Malcolm their Imam and without him, Islam in America would be very different if it would exist at all
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Cyrus McGoldrick’s worldview is very influenced by his being half Iranian and half Irish. He looks to the Irish freedom struggle —part of Ireland (Northern Ireland) is still partially occupied by England through their two estate solution. The Irish still remember all of their political prisoners and support their families from Dublin to Belfast. Cyrus hoped to see the same kind of response within the Muslim community, but the War on Terror is a comprehensive effort, and a bipartisan one that has been supported by both parties, making it even more important to maintain a human rights framework focused on the dignity of all human beings
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Cyrus McGoldrick shared how disheartened he was seeing young people going into prison and losing every appeal , fighting cases that were clearly political. When every court in the land declares someone guilty, within a civil work framework, organizations generally have to wash their hands of the case and say the checks and balances have left us in this position and their hands are tied. This led to to his radicalization and thinking more deeply about the law and the system, and to what degree do and don’t such checks and balances protect us from government oppression and tyranny. It also led to him moving to a national coalition to focus more on protecting political prisoners.
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Cyrus McGoldrick talks about his hero, Malcolm X. Malcolm was a product of, and one of the great producers of, a black internationalism and a radical black politics that lives on and is very much alive anywhere people are protesting the state.
Malcolm tried to move people beyond the conversation of civic rights, which limited them to the courts, to the law, to an American identity. Malcolm’s feeling was that law is not the determinant of right and wrongs, that human beings are born with inalienable rights and dignity and anything less than that should be resisted until we achieve it, for ourselves and others.
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Cyrus McGoldrick talks about the importance of knowing who you are and who your community is in building a successful campaign. The word community is too often used cavalierly as an ideal or an imagined backdrop to the work we are doing. We talk about cities as a community but that doesn’t really exist. New York City, as an example, is a collection of villages. Can 12 million people share a community? Not really. Even one neighborhood of Brooklyn or the Bronx isn’t necessarily one community in a real way. When Cyrus thinks about building campaigns, he tries to focus small, on the things that are immediately around him and the people he’s in community with.
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Cyrus McGoldrick, doctoral student currently living in Turkey, shared his evolution as a human rights activist. He tried to plug into the anti war and anti Bush efforts, but notes that he and his peers didn’t have a practical idea of how politics and power worked and how decisions were made. It wasn’t until going through university and, even more, connecting with real activists —people on the ground—that he was really able to wrap his mind around strategy and do meaningful hands-on work. He’s since collaborated with folks committed to similar causes around the world—in New York, in Turkey, in Iran, in Norway.
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At this week's Round Table, Inica and Olivia--along with Julianna, Sara, and Riya in their last episode before heading to college!--spoke with Cyrus McGoldrick, a lyrical artist of Iranian and Irish descent and an American Muslim activist who has worked for and with civil and human rights organizations for the last 10 years. Living in Istanbul, Turkey for the last five years doing doctoral work has given him a great vantage point to watch our United States from a distance. We talk about the generative possibilities of this moment in which, more than ever, space is not a barrier, we can build relationships across divides, and people have woken up to injustice because of our ability to SEE and connect and coordinate communities around the world. We talk about Cyrus' role model Malcolm X and the need to move, as Malcolm did, from a civil rights to a human rights perspective that foregrounds common good and common dreams globally. Thanks for joining us!
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Mark Hanis remembers when Hillary Clinton was running for president, a lot of people talked about the need for their to be more women in government. This made him curious about how many women worked for Clinton when she was Secretary of State. He found there was initially a 2:1 ratio of men to women (it got better over time) EVEN WITH someone who was a champion for women. This influenced his founding of Inclusive America—he wanted to know who was working on this and what the solution was And, when he found out that no one was working on diversifying appointed positions, Inclusive America was born.
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Mark Hanis notes that too often when we focus on diversity and inclusion, we just focus on one aspect like gender or race. It’s important to be conscious and vigilant about who’s not in the room. Intersectionality plays an important role in this—asking not just “is there a woman in the room?” but “is there a woman of color?” or “is there a woman of color with disabilities or veteran status?” It can be a lot of work but it’s important to start a meeting not just by saying what are we going to do but acknowledging who’s missing, why, and what can we do to get them at the table so that their voice can be part of the debate. This is vital to truly representative democracy
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Mark Hanis shares his concerns that people who are younger tend not to be taken as seriously in government. At Inclusive America, when they look at categories of diversity in order to ensure a more level playing field , age is one of them along with gender, race, sexual orientation, disability, religion, and veteran status. They also plan to go beyond this to look at first generation college, first generation American, gender identity, geographic and socioeconomic criteria. People like Bill Clinton and Al Gore were often seen as too young by earlier generations. Folks in the Obama administration were often very young, in part as a result of the Office of Technology bringing in younger folks.
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Mark Hanis talks about how much he enjoyed his time working for the Office of Vice President Joe Biden. He notes that too often we focus on the individual and not enough on the team or on movements, yet rarely is any social change possible without large groups of people. We do a disservice by just talking about the person who has their name or their face on the top of the ticket. He characterizes Biden’s team in the White House as some of the smartest, kindest, most well meaning people he’s worked with. He’s excited by the idea that if Biden wins the presidency, many of those veterans will return ALONG with bringing in many new and fresh faces, which was a hallmark of the Obama Administration
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Given this, Mark Hanis shares his feelings that when Biden says he’s going to only select from a very qualified pool of women candidates, you could argue that it’s tokenism or affirmative action or you could say it’s almost impossible for a woman to make it to the very end. Hillary Clinton got the closest and she was one of the most highly qualified, well known candidates ever and didn’t have to pay for a lot of ads to get her name out there. Someone like Kamala Harris, however, needs to spend LOTS of money on ads. There are some countries like Rwanda where 50% of the Parliament needs to be female, and many of the countries in Scandinavia have quotas. What Inclusive America is saying let’s look at the data and if there are problems, let’s tackle them
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Mark Hanis notes that Inclusive America looks at the feeders for positions and notice there are strong “tracks” to getting jobs in government. A really troubling thing about the 5000 appointments the Executive Branch makes is that they violate all hiring practices. Very few have formal job descriptions, very few are publicly posted. A lot of them are acquired through who you know, which perpetuates biases. If a lot of white men from Yale Law School hold these positions, they often will hire other white men from Yale to be their colleagues. So Inclusive America works a lot with existing feeders and encourage them to do better in terms of engaging a more representative base.
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Mark Hanis shared troubling trends about demographic makeup in the Executive Branch. We’ve never had a woman ambassador in the US for many countries like Germany, Israel, Spain, Russia, China, and Turkey although there have always been very talented women to serve in these positions. We’ve never had an African American serve as Under Secretary of State, which is third highest position in the State Dept. We’ve never had an openly gay person serve on the Federal Reserve Board. The theory of Inclusive America is if we have more diversity at the table, the policies that come out of these positions will be more sensitive and inclusive to better serve our public
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As a White House Fellow working for the National Security Council as part of Vice President Biden’s team, Mark Hanis couldn’t help but notice that most of the people around him were white men. He inquired about who was trying to make government representative of our populace. There were some great examples— but they were almost all focused on Congress. There weren’t as many efforts or resources focused on the Executive Branch but that is actually the largest employer in our country, and hires more than 2 million people! The President can appoint almost 5,000 of those—every ambassador, every cabinet member, and many levels below. Yet no one seems to know how many of those are women, people of color, older or younger, people with disabilities, veterans. That’s what Inclusive America is trying to do—first to diagnose and then to figure out whether we’re giving the best people in our country a fair shot to serve our people.
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At this week's Round Table, Inica Kotasthane, Madeline Mayes, and Olivia Becker spoke withMark Hanis, serial social entrepreneur and most recently co-founder of Inclusive America AND Progressive Shopper. Did you know that the Executive Branch is the largest employer in government, employing over four million people inclusive of those in the military? Having worked as a White House Fellow in the Office of the Vice President under Joe Biden, Mark has a keen understanding of the context he seeks to influence--and of what a prospective Biden administration might be like. We spoke with Mark about what diversity means and how to achieve it in government without being tokenistic, including tackling one of the kinds of diversity that is most lacking in government: age diversity. Thanks for joining us!
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Sarah Hurwitz underscores how much wisdom there is to be mined in our religious traditions, especially about dealing with hard times. So she wanted to write a book that both covered the basics of Judaism and unearthed Judaism’s deepest, most transformative, most helpful wisdom for dealing with the daily challenges of our lives—how we treat each other, how we lead moving, spiritual lives—and that did it in a way that was fun and conversational.
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Sarah Hurwitz shared how the Obamas riffed and wrote for weeks in advance of giving a speech out of respect to the audience, so that by the time they were in front of an audience it was well structured and presented coherently. There’s a myth that the greatest speeches happen when you get up to the podium and abandon your script to speak spontaneously from the heart, yet that is only true maybe 5-10% of the time if you’re an MLK kind of orator.
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Revisiting Judaism as an adult, Sarah Hurwitz found that it had thousands of years of wisdom for millions of humans on what it means to be human: what it means to be a good person, what it means to lead a truly worthy life, and how to find spiritual connection.
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Sarah Hurwitz shared the degree to which authenticity resonates with audiences, from Michelle Obama to Donald Trump. With Trump, people feel that nothing about him is hidden, which appeals to many people, even those who don’t like him. Sarah thinks it’s a response to the kind of speaking and speechwriting that has been overly polished and scripted, which is very insulting to the American people. Trump is the counterbalance to that, which works for a lot of Americans.
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Sarah Hurwitz underscores how much context matters in remembering a great line—and the degree to which there’s an element of randomness. Michelle Obama had used the line “when they go low, you go high” in previous speeches but it was in the context of the 2016 convention—that moment in time, that magical speech—that the phrase struck and stuck.
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Speechwriter Sarah Hurwitz unpacks when and why a line like “When they go low, we go high” (which Michelle Obama wrote herself) is so powerful.
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Sarah Hurwitz underscores that what people remember is stories and images, not adjectives. Think about how Michelle Obama started her 2016 Convention speech. She didn’t say, “on my daughters’ first day of school at the White House, I was anxious and scared and worried.” She said, “on my daughters’ first day of school, they climbed into those big SUVs with all those men with fins and I saw their little faces pressed up against the window and I asked myself, what have we done?” That image conveys sooo much more.
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Sarah Hurwitz shared that tbe second great truth of effective speechwriting is say something true. Often people will try to think what will make me sound smart or funny or powerful or what does the audience want to hear but your first question should be what is the deepest and most helpful and most important truth that I can tell right now. I think about then Senator Barack Obama’s first line in the DNC in 2004 : “Llet’s face it. My presence on this stage tonight is pretty unlikely.” And then he went on to talk about his Kenyan grandfather. NO consultant would have advised him to do this. But he got up there and shared who he truly was and people were electrified by that. They felt he respected them enough to tell them the truth.
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Sarah Hurwitz shared the key truths of really good writing The first is writing that sounds like a human being would actually say it. You have NEVER turned to a friend and said, “hey, do you want to leverage our platform to catalyze a zoom call tonight?” or turn to a family member and say, “I just think hardworking American family values are the heart of our country”. That’s not how people talk. She underscored that if you wouldn’t say something to one person, don’t say it to many people. It actually doesn’t get better.
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Sarah Hurwitz shared that people often ask her how she nailed Michelle Obama’s voice in speeches she’d write for her. Sarah notes that what she thinks people are REALLY asking is how did you, a white Jewish woman “get” the voice of a black woman when you have very different backgrounds? Sarah notes that while it’s true that they have very different backgrounds, they have a very similar sensibility about what makes good writing and good speaking. It comes down to touching people and moving them emotionally. Spending a lot of time with MO to get her voice also helped
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So HOW do you write a speech for someone else—esp someone famous and iconic? Sarah Hurwitz shared that the key is to know them and their voice really well and to listen very carefully.
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Sarah Hurwitz LOVED working w Michelle Obama. Michelle stayed true to herself rather than saying or doing things for political expediency. She never wanted to give some boring, weedy, wonky speech—she wanted to tell people stories, and touch their hearts, and honor their struggles, and make people feel seen and heard and respected and admired. Sarah considers MO her speechwriting soulmate and feels she won the lottery working with her.
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Sarah Hurwitz shared her journey to becoming an (ace) speechwriter. After a bumpy start—and a number of campaign losses—she was hired by then-Senator Barack Obama’s campaign. She ended up being “loaned” to Mrs Obama to write her convention speech in ‘08. She was so compelled by MO’s warmth, smarts, and “relentless authenticity” that she took a “demotion” to work for the First Lady instead of the First Man
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At this week’s Round Table, Inica, graduating podcaster Julianna, incoming podcaster Madeline, and Olivia spoke with Sarah Hurwitz, author of “Finding Meaning, Spirituality, and a Deeper Connection to Life — In Judaism (After Finally Choosing to Look There)” Sarah Hurwitz was a White House speechwriter from 2009 to 2017, starting out as a senior speechwriter for President Barack Obama and then serving as head speechwriter for First Lady Michelle Obama. No, she didn’t write the iconic “when they go low, we go high” line but she did write a lot of other great ones! She provided us with incredible insights about how she became a speechwriter, what it takes to write and deliver an effective speech, why she went from speechwriting to writing a book about Judaism--something she found super boring as a kid, and, yes, what it was like to work so closely with Michelle Obama (spoiler alert: we should all be so lucky…) Thank you for joining us!
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Riya Mehta shared her views that there isn’t l anything wrong with having “anyone but Trump” be the Democratic Party’s unifying call right now. She noted that ultimately, the focus of America is the middle class, the working class, and that’s what Trump and Biden are battling for. While she doesn’t feel Biden was the best choice for the Democratic Party in terms of its future goals she noted that if there was ever a time for Biden to be a nominee, now is it because as more people from GenZ vote, she finds it hard to see a future in which America does not become more progressive. As such, she doesn’t see this nomination as as much of a setback as it may seem.
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Inica shares her concern that defeating Trump is the only thing the Democratic Party is worrying about and standing for right now. She expresses concerns about Biden staying silent and not talking about the issues he plans on focusing on when in office. Once we get closer to Nov, voters are going to want more clarity on what specifically Biden is going to do to reverse the past four years and to allow for a better next four years. She shares her concern that the campaign isn’t ready to answer those questions because they can’t satisfy everyone.
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One of the biggest things the primary was focused on was electability. Calvin Cullen shares his strong beliefs that the establishment part of the Democratic Party was wrong to feel the party couldn’t nominate a Bernie Sanders or an Andrew Yang because they’d be called radical leftists and that would kill the ticket. The reality is that attack ads are inevitable—Biden and Harris are getting them and will continue to. ANYONE will be called a radical leftist because that’s just a buzzword the right uses these days.
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Calvin Cullen, creator of the podcast CC’s World based in Birmingham Alabama, notes that when it comes to electoral strategy, he feels Biden boxed himself into a corner when he committed to picking a woman. He feels Biden should have focused on policies more than identity, and that this pick in fact signifies an avoidance of focusing on policy. Overall, he anticipates this being a verrrry close election.
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At this week's Round Table, Inica, Olivia, Riya, and Sara spoke with Calvin Cullen, college student, Birmingham Coordinator for Take Back Our Republic, and creator of CC’s Word, a weekly opinion podcast about current events and the politics of the day. We spoke about, wait for it, Joe Biden’s newly announced vice presidential pick, Kamala Harris, and the implications of the choice. Yes, everyone is talking about this but we dig a bit deeper, as usual. We talk about the value of detaching from individuals and attaching to policies, being skeptical of mainstream news--which serves the establishment of both sides, and doing independent research. Thanks for joining us!
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Divya and Eliza of Real Talk note that where they as students come in is in helping teachers know what exactly students are going to be most receptive to in civil discourse. They underscore that they don’t have all the expertise—they’re still students themselves. What they DO know is how to engage high schoolers in a space that is student led, how to do things that are relevant to them, and how to create a space that people feel is truly open to discussion, which is something that many classrooms lacking. Many teachers ARE trying to do these things in their classroom, and are aware of the need for civil discourse, they just don’t know how to do it well.
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Divya and Eliza use REAL TALK as an acronym to explain their core principles for productive discussions, like E for Embrace Discomfort and K for Know Yourself. This is coupled with a core curriculum of seven lessons that cover core skills that connect what happens in rue classroom with what is really applicable for learning about civic engagement. Too often, there’s not a connection btw classroom content and what students really want and use.
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Real Talk cofounders Divya and Eliza find that there are elements of debate that are really effective—and some that are less so. One really valuable aspect is the ability to take on perspectives that you don’t necessarily agree with and go through logical reasoning and learn to listen really well so you can point out logical fallacies. A lot of what they are trying to do through Real Talk is create opportunities to apply really core skills of debate, argumentation, listening, thinking critically about sources of evidence into conversations that are really productive and that have the purpose of understanding, not winning.
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Real Talk cofounders Divya and Eliza found that living in a liberal area, people were focusing on one side of the debate and were scared of bringing up other perspectives, even ones they didn’t believe in. Although the point of the discussion was to learn from multiple perspectives, that wasn’t what they were getting in the classroom. They recognized the need for additional instruction about how to facilitate and hold space for challenging conversations. They founded Real Talk to meet this need, working with fellow students and teachers to bring more instruction and structure to what NGP calls deliberation.
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Frances Lee noted that conflict leads, conflict is the story, conflict is exciting. so the issues that generate conflict get attention. When legislation gets worked out in a bipartisan way, it gets little attention. Do most Americans know much about the legislative response to the pandemic in the spring and the bipartisan agreement around it (as opposed to the conflict around current negotiations)? When bipartisanship happens, it often doesn’t connect w people so they don’t even know it occurred.
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Frances Lee of Princeton shared with us that in her class on Political Ambition, she teaches about how politics takes patience and perseverance and you have to be armed against the failure of your fondest hopes. So you push and push and yet you achieve less than you’d hope—that’s the norm in politics —BUT if you reflect on the course of U.S. history, you can see that a great deal of change has been made in many areas. As such, one can take some comfort from the successes achieved, while recognizing they were all hard fought for and difficult to achieve
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At this week’s Round Table, Julianna, Olivia, and Riya spoke with Divya Ganesan and Eliza Goler, co-founders of Real Talk. Divya and Eliza, now rising high school seniors, first began thinking about “Real Talk” as middle school debate partners because they recognized the value of the critical thinking skills and diverse perspectives represented in debate, but often absent from other settings (you know, like classrooms and our everyday lives.) They recognized the need for training and support in creating and holding space if this kind of “real talk” is going to thrive--so they created it. We discussed the difference between debate, discussion, and deliberation; the power of peer-to-peer models; the importance of resisting binaries and othering; and the value of cross partisanship and engagement across identities. We also share tips for civil dialogue and dig into some of the methodologies and tools they’ve created so that you too can engage in real talk. Thanks for joining us!
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Frances Lee underscored that even under circumstances where a party has its best opportunity to legislate a partisan agenda, it struggles and most of the time it’s not even possible. So despite polarization and the difficulties acquiring bipartisan support, our system requires it. And that’s just on the federal level! Given federalism, implementing national policy requires broad buy-in from states, which also includes a high level of bipartisanship. It’s a reality of our system and very frustrating for activists of all kinds.
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Frances Lee, Professor of Politics at Princeton U and a top scholar of partisanship, spike with us about how legislation gets enacted in American politics, which has not changed despite the rise in polarization. Bipartisanship is still necessary. Legislation that successfully navigates the legislative process IS bipartisan, as the reality of our government necessitates it.
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Blanca and Rachel is OneFiveTen share that they don’t think all millennials and GenZ all think the same way but they do think we tend to support specific policies and specific ideas about society and what kind of country we want to live in. That has tended to be Democrats but they would love to hear about Republican candidates who uphold these values. Values, along with getting young voices heard, is at the center of what they do.
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At this week's Round Table, Inica, Olivia, and Sara spoke with Frances Lee, Professor of Politics and Public Affairs at Princeton University and one of our country’s most instrumental scholars of partisan politics. Professor Lee has a new book coming out in the fall with co-author Jim Curry called The Limits of Party: Congress and Lawmaking in a Polarized Era, looking at how legislation does--and doesn’t--get enacted, the degree to which our system requires bipartisanship, and how federalism requires broad buy-in by states to enact anything. As she puts it, our political system is a set of handcuffs for those who envision broad change. As you can imagine, we dug in to discuss the implications for GenZers committed to achieving real social, political, and economic change. Thanks for joining us!
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Rachel Kastner of OneFiveTen notes that the word “donor” feels scary to a millennial on a limited budget and juggling college loans. She noted that if someone like her who is politically aware and engaged isn’t giving, it’s hard to imagine how many millennials are. Yet If if want political change, we have to get our candidates into office and one of the ways to do so is to donate. You don’t have to be a high dollar donor to matter; a donation of one, five, or ten dollars CAN make a difference.
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Blanca Andrew and Rachel Kastner of OneFiveTen talk about the degree to which young people are left out of political power—despite comprising 138 million people. If we can each chip in small amounts, we can make the same impact as large donors. Further, when young people are invested, they’re gonna act, they’re gonna vote, and they’re gonna pay attention.
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Michael Thorning discusses how divided Congress has become. Fortunately, I a crisis, people are more likely to put aside political differences because they’re comparing the consequences of not acting with potential electoral consequences. We have to be honest that electeds are going to make decisions that benefit their constituency AND their future electability.
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At this week's Round Table, Riya and Sara spoke with Blanca Andrei and Rachel Kastner, co-founders of OneFiveTen. OneFiveTen is committed to making Millennials and Gen-Zers the political powerhouse they can be by empowering the generation with information on progressive campaigns, and encouraging and equipping activists to become donors. With Gen Z and Millennials comprising 37% of the electorate, OneFiveTen is committed to helping the nearly 100 million members of the generation create a tidal wave of campaign finance reform. You’ll learn how and be inspired by their vision in this episode. Thank you for joining us!
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Michael Thorning underscores that our elections are the foundation of how we decide who is going to represent us. Unfortunately the parties increasingly believe that the other side is stacking the deck and changing the rules to work against them. This country and every country with free or fair elections has a history of people doing things that are illegal or bending the rules to try to get ahead. AR BPC they trying to build strong institutions and better election systems that can be more representative, towards the ultimate goal that having more people who participate in democracy will have a modifying effect on these trends.
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Michael Thorning broke down the challenges of our time: People are more and more attracted to extreme views in politics—extreme views have become how people distinguish themselves from one another—AND we have been living through a period of extreme partisanship. These are two different things but play off of one another. Further, they build off really deep rooted trends that go back for many decades.
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Michael Thorning from the Bipartisan Policy Center shares some of the fascinating programs he works on like BPC’s American Congressional Exchange, a first of its kind program in which bipartisan pairs of congress members visit each other in their home districts for a few days to build authentic relationships, and the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress, which is poised to make once in a generation changes to how Congress works, from the tech and social media they use to how much staff get paid and whether members should live in Washington through a number of critical rules and procedures.
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At this week's Round Table, Inica, Olivia, and Riya spoke with Michael Thorning, Associate Director for Governance at the Bipartisan Policy Center which, as the name implies, actively fosters bipartisanship by combining the best ideas from both parties to promote health, security, and opportunity for all Americans. Michael spoke with us about BPC’s strategy of strengthening institutions and fostering broader participation in democracy in order to diminish the most extreme manifestations of partisanship and polarization. Michael helps us understand that bipartisanship is not an ideology unto itself but rather it’s a value, and a norm. If people want stability in our laws and government, you don’t want to be overthrown when your party is out of power. Government programs like social security endure because there were bipartisan compromises to start and sustain them, and the public has become dependent upon them. During these hyper-polarized times, speaking with Michael filled us with hope. Thanks for joining us!
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In response to a question from Inica about whether there is value in establishing facts and enabling people to figure out their own opinions, Julian Zelizer notes that this is a debate historians have been having for a loooong time. His shared his belief that we are ALWAYS interpreting, which entails brings values. As such, he endorses acknowledging that there is no pure objectivity while still striving to provide as balanced a view as possible, presenting evidence and different ways to think about the question so that students can ultimately decide for themselves.
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Professor Zelizer debunks the idea of college campuses being environments where professors are scared to speak and everything is fraught. He underscores that he’s found students engaged in the issues and wanting to debate them, and that he uses that energy to animate his classroom.
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Professor Julian Zelizer’s tells us about his newest book, which focuses on Newt Gingrich who helped bring down the Speaker of the House for the first time in history as he rose to power, introducing a new kind of partisanship called “smashmouth partisanship” where you can take down people and destroy institutions. The book also helps explain what came of the Republican Party and why we see the kind of politics that’s common today.
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At this week's Round Table, Inica Kotosthane and Riya Mehta interviewed Julian E. Zelizer, a professor at Princeton University and author of 19 books on American History and politics and over nine hundred op-eds, including a weekly column on CNN.Com. He's just published a book called “Burning Down the House: Newt Gingrich, The Fall of a Speaker, and the Rise of the New Republican Party, ” which builds upon his last book "Fault Lines: A History of the United States Since 1974," in helping us understand how the U.S. got to our current state of government. As you can imagine, Professor Zelizer had a lot to say about the state of polarization and divisiveness in our country, how things got this way, the role of the media, and what it will take to create change. Thank you for joining us!
Articles:
- When Politics Turned Toxic (New York Times Book Review of Burning Down the House, July 7, 2020)
- ‘Burning Down the House,’ by Julian E. Zelizer: An Excerpt (New York Times, July 7, 2020)
- How Newt Gingrich Laid the Groundwork for Trump's Republican Party (Time Magazine, July 7, 2020)
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Johanna Lacoe of the California Policy Lab shared how in studying important issues related to education, school discipline and school safety, housing and foreclosures, neighborhood crime and criminal justice, she became increasingly aware of how linked all of these policy issues are, as is particularly evident in what’s going on right now with COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matters movement. We have all these systems set up and none of them are working in the ways we want them to, and they’re all related. It’s most obvious in criminal justice but it’s really about failures in all of the other systems.
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Michael Jackson talks about the age-old tensions between uniformity at the top and local power. He underscores that a lot of the discourse around policing is because there is no uniform Use of Force law in America, there is no uniform training of cops in America. Criteria differ from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. In order to address this, we as Americans have to decide how much uniformity we think is advisable.
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At this week's Round Table,Julianna, Riya, and Sara spoke with Johanna Lacoe of theCalifornia Policy Lab. Dr Lacoe is a policy scholar with expertise in criminal and juvenile justice, education, employment, and housing. Her work includes evaluations of policies and programs aimed to prevent neighborhood violence, improve school safety and discipline, and prepare individuals reentering society after incarceration for employment. Dr. Lacoe has great analysis and reflection about this moment in criminal justice reform, the #DefundPolice movement, and the implications of inequality and injustice more broadly. Thanks for joining us!
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Michael Jackson talks about how policing has become so militaristic that it’s bled outside poor black urban communities and become ingrained in the culture of policing, affecting people it didn’t use to affect. Once a culture of authoritarianism and unaccountability becomes the culture of policing, it starts w poor and marginalized people and it keeps on going. The wider spread recognition of this is what brings us to a moment ripe for long overdue change and transformation.
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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.
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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
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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 protests around the world in response to them. As always, Michael helped put this moment into historical perspective and shared great wisdom and insight about the swirl of recent events and their implications. Thank you for joining us!
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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.
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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 countries in transition-- and we were honored to learn about her experiences and insights, and what it will take to ensure that all women can thrive. Thank you for joining us!
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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. He underscores that good journalists try to be loyal to what people share, and that we’re not going to get anywhere if we don’t hear and speak to one another as much as possible.
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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.
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At this week's Round Table, Inica, Olivia, and Riya spoke withMichael 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 politics today. He characterizes it as the most contentious environment he’s ever lived in, underscoring the importance of hearing and speaking with each other as well as watching and reading from as many sources as possible, and reminds us not to let preconceived notions impede our ability to engage across differences. Thank you for joining us!
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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.
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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
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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 corruption, terrorism, cybersecurity, and health care fraud. As part of President Trump's 2017 dismissal of U.S. attorneys. McQuade stepped down in March 2017. We had a wide-ranging conversation about what constitutes unlawful vs unreasonable, the danger of making facile comparisons that minimize historic suffering, how providing more information can be a strategic way to deal with disinformation, and best practices--and lack thereof--in political communication. Thanks for joining us!
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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.
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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
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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 rationale, leading to a rich discussion about where we are in relation to the pandemic and implications for the road ahead. Thanks for listening!
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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.
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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 sure enough people agree to implement those reforms.
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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 than presuming that ours is best.
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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
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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 with Lyric Bowditch, a rising senior at Barnard College who is a National Fellow at SSN. At Next Gen, we’re all about bridging divides and we enjoyed learning about SSN’s powerful approach to doing so. We think you will too.
If you enjoyed learning about SSN's work, check out their fantastic weekly podcast No Jargon.
Thanks for joining us!
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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. We had a fascinating discussion about cross-partisanship--what gets in the way of it, what’s necessary to foster it, and what benefits it can yield. We hope you enjoy listening to the conversation as much as we enjoyed having it!
And hey, check out some of Professor Abrams' recent articles:
The youth earthquake is just beginning (CNN, May 13, 2020)
Can COVID-19 Help Us Overcome Our Polarization? (The Dispatch, Mar 16, 2020)
Gen Z is Up For Grabs (AEIdeas, Nov 15, 2019)
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Enjoy this one minute overview of what The Round Table is all about!
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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”
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Pranjal Jain, founder of Global Girlhood, discusses the organization’s goals to ensure every woman is portrayed in the most authentic ways possible and to encourage a new vision of what global citizenship is
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At this week's Round Table, Inica, Olivia, Riya, and Sara speak with Radhika Kalani and Pranjal Jain, Founders of Global Girlhood, a UN-affiliated organization that is revolutionizing the way women interact with each other across the globe. Too often, we tend to judge women’s empowerment based on our own cultural, social, and geographical biases, and too often, social media contributes to enforcing those biases through limited content. Global Girlhood aims to highlight a broader range of women and their incredible feats through storytelling, intercultural dialogue, and connections. Thank you for joining us!
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Mayor Spicer talks about the racism and sexism she experiences —and how she transcends it.
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Mayor Spicer discusses how her experiences have shaped her, the benefits of overcoming challenges, and the limitations of labels.
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Mayor Yvonne Spicer describes the problem solving approach she brings to civic issues as a result of her training as a scientist, and the ways she draws upon diversity and divergent thinking on her team to come up with the best solutions.
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At this week's Round Table, Inica Kotasthane, Jade Tyra, Julianna Davis, Olivia Becker, Riya Mehta, and Sara Chough speak with Mayor Yvonne Spicer, Mayor of Framingham, Massachusetts, AKA the People’s Mayor. This conversation happened in collaboration with Rep19, a community for elected women, candidates, public servants and activists who want to govern better. We loved learning about authentic leadership from Mayor Spicer and the gifts she brings to being a public servant as a result of her life experience as an African American woman, a scientist, and an educator. A serial trailblazer, she reminds us to “respect the science,” bringing an inclusive, data-driven, problem-solving mindset to decision-making. We hope you’ll enjoy getting to know Dr. Spicer as much as we did!
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Chrystina Russell of SNHU’s GEM talks about metrics and how she knows partner organizations are doing right by their learners”
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Christina Russell, Exec Director of the Global Education Movement, shares the context of refugee education and why providing a scalable high quality option is so important
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At this week's Round Table, Inica, Julianna, and Olivia discussglobal refugee education withChrystina Russell,Executive Director of the visionary Global Education Movement (GEM) at Southern New Hampshire University. Even BEFORE the COVID-19 pandemic, over 70 million people were displaced worldwide, with over 25 million people living as refugees. Currently, just 3% of refugees are in higher education compared to 34% of the non refugee population globally. GEM was created to bring university education and employment pathways to refugees and traditionally underserved learners through a blended learning model that is all the more relevant at this time when much of the world has been forced to do remote learning. We had a rich conversation about refugees, what works and what’s challenging about online learning, and what it will take to increase and improve learning opportunities for transient and vulnerable populations. Thanks for joining us and we hope you enjoy the podcast!
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Legislative director Elizabeth Adams talks about the vital importance of protecting and maximizing the vote in upcoming elections—safely and civically.
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Legislative director Elizabeth Adams talks about the creativity City Council needs to demonstrate in responding to this pandemic and how they are responding to housing challenges.
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At this week's Round Table, Inica Kotasthane, Julianna Davis, Olivia Becker, Riya Mehta, and Sara Chough converse with Elizabeth Adams, Legislative Director for City Council District 33 in Brooklyn. We had a wide-ranging, really interesting conversation about what led Adams into government service, what NYC's City Council actually does and how it allocates the city’s $93 BILLION budget (larger than the budget of any STATE save California...), how to address hyperlocal issues at city scale, and what gets in the way of more women being in City Council--only 12 of 51 members are female. Thank you for joining us!
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Julianna and Riya reflect on the equality vs equity and how this is playing out in the pandemic, the valuable work being done by folks on the front lines, and the carelessness and exploitation by some big companies on the most vulnerable.
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At this week's Round Table, Inica Kotasthane, Julianna Davis, and Riya Mehta discuss—surprise!—COVID19. But it’s a more expansive conversation than many are, discussing the impact it’s having on young people and exploring the far-ranging civic implications of this pandemic. We'd love to hear how YOU are holding up and making sense of this moment and your thoughts about what lies ahead. Thank you for joining us!
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Janna Adelstein of the Brennan Center for Justice underscores how crucial the decisions made by courts are to every aspect of society and our lives, and notes that despite the attention given to the Supreme Court and federal courts, state courts make 95% of decisions in the U.S.
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At this week's Round Table, Sara Chough, Julianna Davis, Inica Kotasthane, and Riya Mehta speak with the Brennan Center for Justice’s Alicia Bannon, Managing Director for the Democracy Program and leader of the Fair Courts team, and Janna Adelstein, Research and Program Associate with the Fair Courts team, exploring what’smost important for young people to understand about the courts today. Judicial decisions influence so much in our society but the courts are often a black box to us--or should we say a white box--so we discuss issues of diversity, the consequences of not having a diverse judiciary, and what it would really take to create more diversity on a broad level. Thank you for joining us!
Background Resources:
- Where’s the Line When Criticizing Judges?
- State Supreme Court Diversity--Feb 2020 Update
- State Supreme Courts See Progress on Diversity but Still Fall Short
- Promoting Diversity Among Federal Bankruptcy Judges
- Why we Need a Code of Ethics for the Supreme Court
- The Nation’s Top State Courts Face a Crisis of Legitimacy
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Amrutha explains the vulnerabilities of the India health care system, which is far less robust than China’s, and how much trouble the country will be in if covid-19 spreads in India as it has elsewhere
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India journalist Amrutha Pagad provides context about how the pandemic is playing out in India
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At this week's Round Table, Inica Kotasthane, Riya Mehta, and Sara Chough spoke with Amrutha Pagad-- journalist, blogger, and podcaster from Bengaluru, India who hosts the podcast "India Off the Record: A Reporter’s Diary," covering REAL life in India. Amrutha gave us great perspective on how Covid-19 is playing out in India--a country with one of the lowest reported rates of the virus yet one of the highest populations in the world and that could be hugely imperiled should there be a major outbreak --as well as on youth engagement in India’s political and civic spheres. We think you’ll enjoy this in-depth glimpse into the world’s biggest democracy!
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Lisa Solomon discusses the importance of unpacking the job to be done in order for prospective voters to weigh things like personality vs policies, and the characteristics and experiences that matter most to us as individuals
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At this week's Round Table, Sara Chough, Inica Kotasthane, and Riya Mehta spoke with Lisa Kay Solomon-- educator, best-selling author, Designer in Residence at Stanford University’s Institute for Design, and creator of Vote by Design, an innovative curriculum and set of workshops to help teens reflect on the personal qualities and political values that are most important to US when it comes to electing leaders. We think you’ll be as fascinated and inspired by the approach as we are. Thank you for joining us!
Some additional resources from Lisa Solomon
Vote by Design Leadership Criteria and Debate Worksheet
Knowledge is Power: Rebooting Schoolhouse Rock to Fix our Civics Education
Super Tuesday: What does the future need from us?
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Inica shares concerns about how divided the party is—candidates AND voters—and the degree to which this evokes 2016, and shared concerns about the Bernie (or Biden) or Bust mindset
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Inica debunks the idea that voters vote based on ideology and references the dynamism of our times, compounded by social media, and how it makes it hard to know what’s true and what’s propaganda.
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At this week's Round Table, Inica Kotasthane, Sara Chough, and Jade Tyra discuss the aftermath of Super Tuesday and a week in which five presidential contenders dropped out, leaving two (white, male, over 75 year old) frontrunners on the ballot. We talk about why we think things played out as they did, our feelings about where things stand, implications for the youth vote (which was lower on Super Tuesday than many hoped), and what factors we’re taking into account as we think about who WE will vote for in our first presidential election. Thank you for joining us!
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Professor Fritz Umbach discusses the differences between racism and racial disparities
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At this week's Round Table, Inica Kotasthane and Riya Mehta speak with Fritz Umbach, Associate Professor of History at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Fritz studies the history of crime and policing and consults for a number of city agencies and served as an expert witness in a number of Stop, Question, and Frisk--or SQF-- cases. We discuss what SQR is, its history in New York City, whether or not it’s “racist,” the relationship between policing and communities of color, and why all of this matters. Thank you for joining us!
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Riya Mehta laments the current debate struck the, which lends itself to sound bite culture over substance. While there’s not a perfect way to do it, she notes that 1:1 debates would certainly help...
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Inica underscores that when it comes to public speaking, being eloquent is an advantage Stuttering leads to losing interest and trust. At root, the debate is show business...
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Inica Kotasthane shares her concerns as a high school debater about attacks on candidates’ character—while also recognizing that the election is about more than just policy issues—it IS about the character of the person we’ll be electing
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At this week's Round Table, Inica Kotasthane and Riya Mehta--ace high school debaters-- discuss their views on the debates to date, the strengths and limitations of the form, and ideas for how the process could be improved to really illustrate what candidates know and where they stand. Here’s hoping to see some of these reflected in 2024… Thanks for joining us!
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Riya Mehta describes Portugal’s response to drugs—and the impact their policies have had
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Nicholas Stefanidis talks about public health options that have been tried and what gets in the way of them being funded and sustained
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Guest Nicholas Stefanidis explains HOW the crisis started—and how the political process (and lobbyists...) have gotten in the way of solving it
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At this week's Round Table, Julianna, Riya, and Sara chat with friend of the pod Nicholas Stefanidis about drugs. Yes, drugs--pot legalization, opioid addiction, the real deal with vaping. We examine various dimensions--historic, physiological, economic, and legal/political-- exploring their impact today and implications for the future. Thank you for joining us!
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Tujiza talks about the politics of refugees and the need for governments to look at refugees through the perspective of displacement and the need for homes
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Tujiza Uwituze discusses the lack of support for displaced populations
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At this week's Round Table, Sara Chough, Julianna Davis, and Riya Mehta speak with Tujiza Uwituze, East Africa Representative for the Global Education Movement (GEM) at Southern New Hampshire University, focusing on one of the foremost human rights--education--as it plays out in Rwanda, as part of our ongoing series on human rights around the world. Thanks for listening!
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Michael Jackson underscores the importance of understanding structure and history—and race— while not feeling overwhelmed and disempowered.
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Michael Jackson of the Center for Community Change grounds the BLM movement in history and societal forces
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At this week's Round Table, Riya Mehta speaks with Michael Jackson, political analyst and researcher with the Center for Community Change, about the Black Lives Matter movement-- and other social movements like #MeToo-- and their strengths and limitations in bringing about change while also reflecting on our organizational goals of civic discourse and trying to work across differences and divides. We so enjoyed Michael's wisdom and reflections and hope you will too. Thanks for joining us!
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Meirav Solomon talks about the challenges of building bridges through dialogue in the context of trauma, and the power of bonding with people with very different lived experience-- through stories and developing a deep state of empathy--and exploring one's own identity by living through the conflicts of others.
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At this week's Round Table, Olivia Becker, Leyla Jacoby, and Meirav Solomon talk about their experiences at Seeds of Peace, an international leadership development program that inspires and cultivates new generations of global leaders in communities divided by conflict by equipping exceptional youth and educators with the skills and relationships they need to accelerate social, economic, and political changes essential for peace. Thanks for listening!
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Declan talks about how people engage with views radically different than their own at SEGL
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Declan Rexer shares an overview of what makes SEGL SEGL
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At today's Round Table, Julianna, Maggie, and Riya speak with Declan Rexer and Harjap Singh, recent alumni of the School for Ethics and Global Leadership, a semester program to provide intellectually motivated high school juniors who represent the diversity of the United States with the best possible opportunity to shape themselves into ethical leaders who create positive change in our world. Goodness knows we need this! Follow Declan's ongoing work at Teen Policy Magazine. Thanks for listening!
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Olivia discusses the importance of historical context and cultural context in digesting news and the world around us, and Joel talks about how SHEG is equipping students for these challenges and opportunities
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At this week's Round Table, Olivia, Sara, and Jade speak with Joel Breakstone, Director of the Stanford History Education Group (SHEG) about how to educate young people--and all people--to be critically literate, savvy consumers and media in order to be informed, engaged citizen contributors to our communities. Non-Spoiler Alert: we all need to read like fact checkers now...
Check out SHEG's (free!) Reading Like a Historian and Civic Online Reasoning collections. The COR curriculum provides resources to evaluate online information--it's not enough to just be smart! Thank you for joining us.
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Alexandra Madaras shares concerns about how young people are and aren’t being involved in local political parties
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High school senior Alexandra Madaras talks about her experiences as a young person working in politics in Ohio.
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At today's Round Table, Olivia Becker, Julianna Davis, Riya Mehta, and Maggie Yu speak with Alexandra Madaras, editor in chief of the Next Generation Politics blog, about her recent article Not Voting is Not Caring and Other Lies We Tell Ourselves and engage in deep conversation about youth political participation, social media, civic education, and lots, lots more. Thank you for joining us!
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Jarrell Daniels, from Columbia University's Center for Justice, responds to this question posed by podcaster Sara Chough as part of our Putting More Justice in Criminal Justice episode.
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At this week's Round Table, Ryan Arranz, Olivia Becker, Maggie Yu, and Jade Tyra interview three of the co-founders of the Purple Project for Democracy--Rebecca Winthrop, Roberto Orci, and Sterling Speirn-- as part of our ongoing series on cross-partisanship. Thank you for joining us!
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At this week's roundtable, Julianna, Olivia, Riya, and Sara launch a series exploring International Human Rights--what are they, why do they matter, and how are they playing out in the U.S. and around the world today. Today, they're joined by Sam Moyn, Professor of History at Yale University and Henry R. Luce Professor of Jurisprudence at Yale Law School, and renowned expert on international law and human rights. Thanks for joining us!
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At today's Round Table, Sara Chough and Maggie Yu Interview Jarrell Daniels, Program Manager of the Justice Ambassadors Youth Council at the Center For Justice at Columbia University, building off of our recent Civic Forum on Criminal Justice in NYC . They explore fundamental questions about what is justice, what are the purpose and end goals of imprisonment are, whether these goals are being accomplished and if not, what other options we have,learning about the ecological model of human development in the process. For more background, check out https://tinyurl.com/NGPCriminalJustice
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At this week's Round Table, Maggie Yu and Sara Chough chat with longtime educator Nicholas Stefanidis about the protests that have been going on since June in Hong Kong (six months now!), the role young people have been playing on the frontlines, the power of civility in engendering global support, and the value of creating "good trouble."
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At this week's Round Table, Julianna, Maggie, Olivia, and Riya speak with Casey Moore and Marley Duchovnay of Project Divided, a start-up, multimedia initiative working to bridge the divide between Americans of different political views. Casey and Marley share the back story of why and how Project Divided came to be--and came to be based in Bastrop County, Texas; how specifically they're working to combat divisiveness in our country; how their views have (and haven't) evolved through this work; and why it's important to push yourself beyond your comfort zone (and why words really matter!)
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At today's Round Table, Jade, Julianna, Maggie, and Olivia speak with Will Creeley, Senior Vice President of Legal and Public Advocacy for the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), exploring the parameters of free speech in our world today, what's at stake in restricting speech and why it matters, and the value of free speech in the classroom--including perspectives that might be uncomfortable.
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At today's Round Table, Olivia and Riya speak with David Greene of Better Angels and explore connections and differences between Better Angels and Next Gen Politics' approach to working across political differences and divides.
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At today's Round Table, Jade Lozada--a leader of the Youth Climate Strike in NYC--and Jade Tyra--a leader of the Youth Climate Strike in Oklahoma--discuss the climate emergency, debrief September's Strike and the activism leading up to and emanating out from it, contemplate connections and differences from prior activist movements and historical periods, and share inspiration and frustration about where we are and where we need to head to preserve our planet.
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At today's Round Table, Olivia Becker and Riya Mehta interview Maodan Tohouri, the inspiring 16 year old founder of Depolarize about what it really takes to counter hyper-partisanship and why it matters.
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At today's Round Table, Olivia Becker, Julianna Davis, and Riya Mehta explore a topic much in the news--impeachment--through some fresh angles, helping equip YOU with what you need to know to make sense of our current moment. They are joined by guest Nicholas Stefanidis, a longtime social studies and civics teacher, to explore the history and mechanics of impeachment and their implications for today. (Note: this episode was recorded on Oct 14, 2019--LOTS has happened since...--this conversation, however, is timeless :)
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At today's Round Table, Civic Fellows Marc Spenser Bauzon, Clara Medina, and Frank Yang interview Brianna Cea, co-founder of Generation Vote and a Research and Program Associate in the Democracy program of the Brennan Center for Justice, following an exciting Civic Forum in which 75 high school students deliberated seven different voting reforms (things like lowering the voting age, automatic voter registration, open primaries) that could potentially improve youth voting, in New York and nationally. Civic Fellows engaged in ranked choice voting for their top three reforms; you too can vote here. Fellows top choices will be shared at a first-of-its kind Youth Voting Rights and Engagement Summit in Albany Nov 8-9, 2019.
Why does this matter? In 2016, voting rates were the lowest in 20 years; only about 55% of voting age citizens casting ballots, and those who voted were disproportionately white and older (only 36% of 18 and 19 year olds voted, while over 70% of people over 70 voted.) If “did not vote” had been a candidate in 2016, it would have handily beaten Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton and almost the two combined. Gen Z and millennials are a growing part of the electorate--with the potential to transform the political landscape--if they turn out to vote in numbers equal to seniors.
Click here for more framing and background readings and resources on the Civic Forum. And remember to vote if you are 18 and to encourage/exhort all your friends and family over 18 to vote on Tues, Nov 5 (or through early voting if your state provides it!)
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At today's Round Table, Julianna, Olivia, Riya, and Sara discuss how polarization is playing out in their schools and in our country and why, who benefits and who suffers from polarization, things they learned from interviews with Maodan Tohouri of Depolarize and David Greene of Better Angels, why we now think about things like gender as being more on a spectrum than politics..., and strategies for how to counter the corrosiveness of polarization and foster more collaborative civil society (hint: ranked choice voting might really help.)
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Promo for our four part Media Literacy series
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At today's Round Table, Olivia Becker and Riya Mehta close out our four part media analysis series, synthesizing reflections from across our three prior episodes and sharing actionable recommendations for how to navigate today's media critically and constructively.
Stay tuned for upcoming episodes on the impeachment inquiry, youth climate action, and polarization and cross partisanship.
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At today's Round Table, Riya Mehta, a high school senior from NJ, and Olivia Becker, a high school junior from NY, continue our exploration of the role of media in our lives and political landscape through a fascinating conversation with Peter Loge, Director of the Project on Ethics in Political Communication and Associate Professor in the School of Media and Public Affairs at The George Washington University. Tune in to explore the role of media and government—and OUR roles as consumers and citizens, the limits of freedom of speech, how to get beyond echo chambers, the role of facts and fact checking, the power of exclusion, truth, and context, the level of humility democracy requires, the excessive presentation that politics and advocacy stir up, the role of parties, and opportunities (or lack thereof) for third party candidate. Extra credit for anyone who knows how many people are currently running for President...
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At today's Round Table, Jade Lozada, a senior at the High School for American Studies in NY; Jade Tyra, a HS senior from Norman, Oklahoma; and Olivia Becker, a HS junior at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School, deepen our exploration of media literacy and media bias through an interview with Howard Schneider, Founding Dean of the School of Journalism at Stonybrook University and founder of the Center for News Literacy.
Check out All Sides' How to Spot 11 Types of Media Bias to continue learning beyond the table.
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At today's Round Table, Olivia Becker, a junior at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School, and Jade Lozada, a senior at the High School for American Studies, discuss questions on their mind about media literacy, and lay out themes we’ll explore over the next four episodes together, things like how often is media bias intentional vs unintentional? With what lens or scale should we judge how impartial a source is? how can people encourage the spread of unbiased news and what platforms exist that already do that? How can we get people beyond their social media echo chambers, especially when it's so easy to simply unfollow news and people we don't like? How can we counteract "Cancel culture"? How can we make it easy and necessary for people to seek out multiple perspectives? How do we bring attention to stories that seem too big to ignore (like the burning of the Amazon) and yet ARE being ignored? And, importantly, how do we keep people from opting out bc media engagement seems overwhelming or depleting?
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