Pothole Problem Podcast: Recent Episodes
Dr. Jack Miller
Outrage, frustration, fear, and confusion are common feelings about politics in America today. It's no fun to feel this way. The Pothole Problem Podcast features interviews with activists, public servants, and political observers discussing how they work with and make use of their outrage. The intention is to examine different ways of looking at the world in order to cultivate a relationship to politics that is less frustrating and more satisfying.
This week's episode is a solo recording by Jack describing his experience with mediation and its relationship to his state of mind, his emotions, and his participation in the tumultuous world of politics. Recorded the night before he leaves for a five-day silent meditation retreat, Jack attempts to explain why and how his meditation practice has been important for sustaining his participation in and observation of the political system.
Jack interviews Oregon State Senator Kim Thatcher (R-District 13) about her nearly two decades of experience in the state legislature. They discuss the changes the senator has seen in state politics during this time and how social media and cultural differences between party members contribute to the widening political divide.
Portland City Commissioner Mingus Mapps describes the unsustainable nature of his job in city government and the structural reasons why the City of Portland faces extra challenges addressing the city’s problems and simply doing its job. He and Jack also discuss the need for reforming the city charter and the current effort to propose changes to that charter. You can find out more about the charter review process currently going on—and participate in it—by going here: https://www.portland.gov/omf/charter-review-commission
Jack talks to Jesse Cornett, a longtime political activist in Oregon and national politics and Bernie Sanders’ body man in the 2020 campaign, about his commitment to a life in politics and the motivations and practices it takes to sustain that commitment.
Jack answers a listener question about the current direction of the Supreme Court by asking us to cast our minds back half a century to try imagining what it felt like to conservatives as the Warren Court got going with its liberal revolution. He also examines the impact of anti-intellectualism on our current political discourse.
Zane and Jack discuss the STAR voting system, an Oregon-grown electoral reform that asks voters to rate candidates from 0 to 5 stars and awards victory to the winner of an automatic runoff between the two top-rated candidates.
You can find out more on the Internet at starvoting.us, and you can learn about the new feature of the Pothole Problem Podcast, a weekly Politics Q&A with Dr. Jack Miller, by going to the podcast website.
In this kickoff to Year 3, co-hosts Zane and Jack reboot the Pothole Problem Podcast after a pandemic hiatus by revisiting the meaning of the pothole problem after all that's gone down in the past two years.
Zane interviews Jack about democratic theory and some of the reasons why people so often feel like political outcomes aren't fair. This episode also features a rap battle between Pat and Kyle, recorded in the White Tiger Studio on February 16th, 2019.
This week’s guest is Sonia Montalbano, a lawyer and political activist running against several other candidates for Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge in the kind of judicial election that is rarely contested. Sonia discusses her lifelong political commitments and talks about the issues of judicial reform that have inspired her to enter electoral politics in this way. She also looks at the challenges that she and other judicial candidates face under normal circumstances, as well as in the unique coronovirus lockdown campaigning environment.
This episode features "Sister Run," an original song by Frankie Holiday (find her on Facebook and Instagram).
This week’s guest is Alison McCaffree, author of Politics of the Possible, a book about her grandmother, Mary Ellen McCaffree, a pioneering female legislator in Washington State. She is also the founder and executive director of Politics of the Possible in Action, a non-profit organization inspiring community engagement and enhancing civic education. Alison discusses the challenges of doing civic engagement work in today's world and explores the lessons she learned from her grandmother's stories about a life in elected office and her own work spreading the civic engagement message.
To support Alison's organization, click here. Learn more about the play Many Maps, One Voice: http://www.politicsofthepossible.com/many-maps/
Find out about the League of Women Voters of Washington's Redistricting work: https://lwvwa.org/redistricting
This week’s guest is Esperanza Tervalon-Garrett, campaign manager for We Count Oregon and the founder and CEO of Dancing Hearts Consulting, a progressive political consulting firm committed to challenging the status quo. Esperanza describes her earliest experiences as an organizer and activist, and she discusses some of the lessons she's learned along the way about establishing a sustainable life in movement work.
This episode also features a song recorded in 2010 by Man Band, with Chuck Masi singing an untitled composition of his own.
Zane interviews Jack about how COVID-19 is impacting perceptions of politics in the present and how it might change the future. Jack discusses how the pandemic response has the potential to push back against the standard negativity bias that underlies the pothole problem and bring greater balance to people's perceptions of politicians and the government, and he speculates about how broadly and permanently the pandemic will change Americans' views of politics, governance, and themselves.
This episode also features, "Stickin' It To the Man," written and performed by Greg Weinger and originally aired with Episode 1 of this podcast.
This week’s guest is Peter Toll, campaign coordinator for the Clackamas County Democratic Party and a long-time political organizer and party activist. Peter discusses what it takes to energize people in local- and state-level politics and the new and old barriers to success in Democratic politics. Peter also recently “appeared” (via phone interview) as a guest-lecturer for my PSU course in campaign politics. He further discusses his work as a grassroots organizer and local party campaign coordinator, with particular emphasis on the challenges people like him are facing because of the COVID-19 pandemic. You can listen to that interview, recorded on April 8th, 2020, at youcandowhatyouthink.com/ps310/guest-lecture5.
As promised, here are a few links to help get you connected with county parties and elected officials. You can find your Oregon state legislators and member of Congress here: oregonlegislature.gov/findyourlegislator/leg-districts.html. Web pages for the Democratic Party of Oregon’s county-level parties are listed here: dpo.org/counties. And here is a contact list for the county-level parties in the Republican Party of Oregon: oregon.gop/getinvolved.
This episode features "Nice ‘Stache," an original song by Patrick Rademacher performed live via Instagram on Friday, April 3rd, 2020.
This week’s guest is Liz Darby, a former government researcher, policymaker, and lobbyist working in the field of healthcare. Liz discusses how her own view of politics changed from her conservative upbringing to her embrace of liberalism in the 1970s, what her professional life was like, and the ways national politics seemed to change during her time in Washington, DC, from the late-1970s to the early-21st century.
This episode also features "Cold Black Line," an original song by Ashleigh Flynn & the Riveters.
This week’s guest is Amy Rathfelder, policy advisor to Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and campaign manager for his 2020 re-election campaign. Amy examines her youthful outrage at the idea of compromising on her principles and shares what she’s learned about compromise from working in politics for nearly a decade. She discusses the importance of listening to people you disagree with, the difficulties of finding common ground, and the important differences between local, state, and national representatives and their staff in terms of how they connect with the communities they represent and how they relate to power and influence.
This episode features “Jesus Gonna Be Here Soon,” performed live in the White Tiger Studio on June 7th, 2019 by Chuck Masi and Dan Blaker.
Length: 34:27
This week’s episode features a talk that Jack gave at the Lake Oswego Public Library as part of the Lake Oswego Reads program, an annual month-long event with speakers discussing the issues connected to a single piece of writing. This year’s book was Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore by Elizabeth Rush, a work about the impact of climate change on coastal communities and habitats. Jack’s talk was "The Politics of Climate Change." He first discusses the human condition and examines the deep-seated reasons why climate change poses a uniquely difficult problem for human beings, then he looks specifically at the American political system to analyze why it’s been so difficult for the United States to adopt a proactive climate change agenda.
This episode also features the "The Good Bidding of Aquaman," an original song by Guitarzan that also has a cartoon video on YouTube.
This week’s guest is John Horvich, a pollster at DHM Research and a former president of the City Club of Portland. After discussing his own journey through political outrage, John takes us behind the scenes to provide an insider’s perspective on polling – how the data he gathers is used, why it’s gathered in the first place, and why the public doesn’t usually see what the public opinion research industry is really doing.
This episode features excerpts from “Moon Boots,” an original song by Everyday Junior. You can listen to full tracks from this band on their YouTube page.
This week’s guest is Candalynn Johnson, Campaign Coordinator for the League of Women Voters of Oregon and Deputy Campaign Manager for People Not Politicians, a campaign to bring an independent redistricting commission to Oregon. Candalynn discusses how her outrage over identity politics led her to confront her biases and engage in a process of deepening self-awareness. She confronts the issue of burnout and cynicism and explains why self-awareness and self-care are so important for a sustained commitment to politics.
This episode features a live unnamed recording from the White Tiger Lounge.
To commemorate President’s Day, this week’s guest is Tom Hughes, former President of the Metro Council (2011-2019). Tom discusses his forty-plus years of experience in public office, from the virtually powerless but high-visibility position of Mayor of Hillsboro, Oregon (2001-2009) to the almost-unknown MORE…
In this episode, Zane interviews Jack about the reasons why so many people don't vote, what that means for our democratic system, and how we ought to view the people who don’t vote.
See turnout rates from 1789 through 2018: http://www.electproject.org/national-1789-present.
This episode features, The Patio,” an original song by Ruby Calling.
To mark the beginning of the 2020 Democratic nominating contest, Jack explains how a caucus works and examines the ways it's both very democratic and very undemocratic at the same time.
Watch a short video of Jack explaining the caucus with chalkboard drawings (1m34s).
Subscribe to this Instagram feed and/or this YouTube channel to follow "The Voting Minute," a series of short videos about elections that Jack will be releasing throughout the year.
You can see the full schedule of 2020 nominating contests here: http://frontloading.blogspot.com/p/2020-presidential-primary-calendar.html
This episode features "Goin' Down to Man Band," recorded live in the White Tiger Studio, December 13th, 2019, by Eric, Dan, Chuck, Steve, Brandon, Johnny, Pat, and Jack.
This week's guest is Jack Hoffman, former mayor of Lake Oswego, OR (2009-2013). Jack discusses his tumultuous experience working in local government, and with the perspective afforded by years of reflection and hindsight, he examines the sources of conflict and the reasons for the rising levels of animosity among the citizens and elected officials of Lake Oswego that pervaded his time in office. He also examines what he believes is necessary for these powerful feelings to be reduced and for local elected officials to establish trust and connection with the people they represent.
This episode features "Cocaine Blues," an early-20th century song of uncertain origin, recorded by Craig Bradford.
This week's guest is Multnomah County Commissioner Jessica Vega Pederson (D-District 3). She discusses the concerns that got her to enter politics in the first place and the ones that continue to keep her energized, how she's learned to deal with the frustrations of the political process, and how she manages to achieve a life-work balance that's key to sustaining a career in public life.
This episode features "Come to Your Rescue," an original song by Steve Greenwood.
This week's guest is Oregon State Representative Shelly Boshart Davis (R-District 15), a freshman member of the Oregon House of Representatives serving in her first elected position. Rep. Boshart Davis discusses how she manages her expectations and seeks to have an impact beyond her single vote on bills in the legislature. She also examines what it's like to be a woman in the still male-dominated world of politics and explains how she balances toughness with openness to be an effective politician, lawmaker, and person.
This episode features "I Heart Cthulhu," an original song by the Taurus Pedals (tauruspedals.bandcamp.com)
This week's guest is Oregon State Senator Lew Frederick (D-District 22). The senator discusses how he's come to terms with the frustratingly slow pace of change, the changes in America he's seen and is yet to see, and why he remains cautiously optimistic about future progress. He also discusses the obstacles presented by an adversarial media and the possibilities for moving beyond that style of political coverage to something that might contribute to a healthier politics in the future.
This episode features "Up to You," an original song by Eric Todd Smith (soundcloud.com/erictoddsmithtunes).
In this wrap-up to the Fall season, Zane interviews Jack and asks him to recount his favorite guests and most memorable moments and ideas. Jack has a chance to reflect on the first season of the podcast and discuss the ways it impacted his own thinking about outrage. Zane also asked him to talk about his hopes and plans for the future of the show.
Anyone who wants to help Zane realize his wish for a future "listener emails" episode can send email to jack.miller@pdx.edu, commenting on something they like or don't like about the show or discussing their own outrages and how they relate to them.
This episode features "The Trouble Song," an original song by The Born Losers.
Our guest for this episode is Pat McCormick, co-founder, along with his daughter Allison, of AM:PM PR (ampmpr.com), a Portland public affairs and strategic communications firm. Pat has over 40 years of experience in Oregon politics and public affairs, working for an Oregon legislator and 18-year member of Congress from Oregon Les AuCoin, working as chief of staff to Oregon House Speaker Hardy Myers, and cofounding three firms. In 1999, he was honored by the Portland Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America with its William Marsh Award, recognizing a career of achievement in public relations.
This episode features "Hammer," an original song by Hook & Anchor (soundcloud.com/hookandanchor).
Our guest for this episode is Mischa Webley, Communications Manager for the Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods (necoalition.org). Mischa talks about some relatively unknown things that are going on in what we might consider "hyper-local" government, discusses how he views the big things that once outraged him about the world, and makes a case for the benefits and impact of engagement at the local level.
This episode features "Los Revueltos," an original song by MangoSon.
Our guest for this episode is Anita Ramachandran, Executive Director of MicroMentor at Mercy Corps. Anita discusses her on-going journey away from what she describes as self-righteous disdain.
Books mentioned by Anita: Reboot by Jerry Colonna, When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chondron, Grit by Angela Duckworth, Becoming by Michelle Obama, and Born a Crime by Trevor Noah.
This episode features "Tiny Hands," an original song by The Breds.
Our guest for this episode is Amanda Manjarrez, Director of Advocacy for the Latino Network and Vice Chair of the City Club of Portland committee tasked with rethinking the city's commission system (learn about the committee here and read its report here). Amanda discusses the evolution of her view on the policymaking process (aka "the sausage factory"), the shortcomings she still finds in the process used today in the Oregon legislature, and how ordinary people can insert their experiences and ideas into the minds and decisions of policymakers.
This episode features "Let's Start a Hive," an original song by The Lover Bees.
Jack examines outrage over the length of the presidential campaign and provides a perspective on why a lengthy presidential campaign might be considered a good thing despite the fatigue and annoyance it often produces in the American public.
This episode features music by the Madison HS marching band, the organ player at the Oaks Park roller rink, and an original song by The Stolen Sweets, "The Sentimental Gentleman From Georgia.”
Our guest for this episode is Darren Golden, (find him on Instagram and Twitter), a 26 year-old with political ambitions and a concrete plan for his future. He examines his experiences as a young black man that have galvanized his political commitment and helped him channel his outrage rather than let it control him. He also discusses how he thinks people can utilize their outrage more effectively and the kind of shift in mindset that our society needs to move our political discourse in a healthier direction.
This episode features "Take Me Back to That Dream," an original song by Chuck Masi.
Darren urges you to donate to this group: youthprogress.org
Join the Pothole Problem Podcast community by going to https://www.potholeproblempodcast.com/join. That's where you can sign up for our email list, make an on-going or one-time donation, or discuss becoming a sponsor of the show.
Our guest for this episode, Rebecca Tweed, is the President of Tweed Strategies, Executive Director of Grow Oregon, and serves on the City Club of Portland Board of Governors. Rebecca gives her perspective on politics from fourteen years inside political campaigns all over the state. She examines the development of politics during her time at the table and discusses ways that people can find common ground before confronting their differences.
This episode features "Wide Open," an original song by Cocks in the Henhouse, a local bluegrass group featuring Jenelle Isaacson on vocals.
Our guest for this episode is Tyler Wilkins, co-founder and co-director of Participatory Budgeting Oregon (pboregon.org), an organization promoting the adoption of participatory budgeting in Portland and throughout Oregon. Tyler explains what participatory budgeting is and how it can promote civic engagement more broadly. He examines the evolution of his own political perspective and explains how he got from a youthful outrage over taxation to the leadership of an organization that now supports an upcoming tax levy.
This episode features "Home Free," an original song by Frankie Holiday (find her on Facebook and Instagram).
"Pedagogy of the Oppressed" by Paulo Freire is available as a free PDF download through the McGraw Common: https://commons.princeton.edu/inclusivepedagogy/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2016/07/freire_pedagogy_of_the_oppresed_ch2-3.pdf
To submit a brief recording with your thoughts and feelings about the length of the presidential campaign, email jack.miller@pdx.edu.
This podcast is a creation of White Tiger Productions (youcandowhatyouthink.com). If you have an idea for a podcast, a workshop, or a show of any kind, they can help you go from concept to execution. Contact them to let them know what you're thinking.
Our guest for this episode is Jillian Schoene, Executive Director of Emerge Oregon (emergeor.org), an organization that recruits, trains, and supports female Democrats seeking elected office at all levels. Jillian discusses her relationship to political outrage and the obstacles in the way of achieving greater diversity among political candidates and elected officials.
This episode features "The Enchantress of Numbers," an original song by Portland band, Ruby Calling (rubycalling.com). The song is about Ada Lovelace, the daughter of Lord Byron, who is credited with writing the world’s first computer program in 1843. According to the songwriter, "her mom thought Lord Byron was too flighty, so she got Ada all sorts of tutors in mathematics and science."
Jack's novel, "1994, a novel of politics," is available on Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/dp/1073741834).
In the pilot episode, the host explains the concept of the pothole problem and the intention of the podcast, and his teenage son interviews him about the evolution of his own political outrage.
This episode features "Stickin' It to the Man,” an original song by Greg Weinger.