The Youth Vote: Recent Episodes
Lydia Calitri and Grace Newton
Welcome to Season 3! We're kicking things off by following up with Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL), who won his race for the House in November and became the first member of Gen Z in Congress. Grace and I sat down with him in his office on Capitol Hill to ask what it's been like adjusting to life as a Congressman, the issues he's pushing for legislation on, his outlook on 2024 and much more.
LINKS:
Check out our first conversation with Rep. Frost here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2rajlBg7D7xMJcM6toBWSZ?si=49aSi0aHQSiPXbTbL3bugQ
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- Lydia Calitri
- Grace Newton
Young voters proved once again to be a major force this year. Not only did they have the second highest turnout for a midterm in 30 years, but they also showed up to decide key races in competitive states like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia and more. To close out Season 2, Grace and I sat down with National Journal Hotline's Senate races correspondent Matt Holt to discuss this year's surprising wins, what motivated young people to turn out, and our speculations for the political landscape in 2024.
LINKS:
Follow Matt Holt on Twitter and check out his coverage for NJ Hotline: https://www.nationaljournal.com/staff#matt-holt
Georgia runoff voting resources: https://georgia.gov/election-2022
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- Lydia Calitri
- Grace Newton
In our last episode before Election Day, Grace and I spoke to individuals from four different organizations about the unique ways they've been reaching out to young voters ahead of the midterms, from creative political mail to online registration tools and more.
LINKS:
RUN AAPI Twitter: https://twitter.com/runaapi
Voter Formation Project: https://www.voterformationproject.org
Baltimore City Youth Voter Registration Committee: https://www.bcyvrc.org
My School Votes: https://whenweallvote.org/takeaction/schools/
Ballotpedia Sample Ballot: https://ballotpedia.org/Sample_Ballot_Lookup
Vote.org Early Voting Calendar: https://www.vote.org/early-voting-calendar/
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- Lydia Calitri
- Grace Newton
There's been a steady rise in the number of young people running for local, state and federal offices in the past few years, so Grace and I set out to answer two big questions: what's motivating these candidates to run? And more importantly, how are they getting young voters to turn out during this year's election? Two young candidates from California and Illinois share what's inspired them to run for offices in their hometowns, and one of the co-founders from Run for Something explains why he left political consulting to provide coaching and resources to a new generation of politicians.
LINKS:
Run for Something website: https://runforsomething.net
Cameron Sasai campaign website: https://sasai2022.com
Nabeela Syed campaign website: https://www.nabeelasyed.com
Run for Something Action Fund: https://wherecanirun.org
Happy Voter Registration Day! Check your status or register here: https://nationalvoterregistrationday.org
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- Lydia Calitri
- Grace Newton
High-profile mass shootings in Buffalo, Uvalde and Highland Park earlier this year have sparked new conversations about gun violence in the United States, and even prompted Congress to pass the first piece of gun safety legislation in nearly three decades. But is the Safer Communities Act enough to curb gun violence? And what does the younger generation, who have grown up witnessing much of this gun violence, want their government to do about it? Grace and I spoke with a young activist and a Congressional candidate about their personal experiences with gun violence and the ways they're taking action to end it.
LINKS:
Gun Sense Voter website: https://gunsensevoter.org
Newtown Action Alliance Foundation: https://www.newtownactionalliancefoundation.org
Everytown for Gun Safety: https://www.everytown.org
Maxwell Frost campaign website: https://www.frostforcongress.com
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- Lydia Calitri
- Grace Newton
When it was leaked that the Supreme Court might overturn Roe vs. Wade, Grace and I knew it was going to be a big issue for this year's midterms if the decision was finalized. We spoke to an abortion rights historian and two young activists for and against abortion in order to understand how we got to this historic moment, and more importantly, what young people on both sides of the argument are going to do about it.
LINKS:
New York Times Abortion Laws Map: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/us/abortion-laws-roe-v-wade.html
Center for Reproductive Rights "What if Roe Fell?" Map: https://reproductiverights.org/maps/what-if-roe-fell/
Standing with You Resources: https://www.standingwithyou.org/#
Women Have Options Ohio: https://www.womenhaveoptions.org
National Network of Abortion Funds: https://abortionfunds.org
Guttmacher Institute Legislation Tracker: https://www.guttmacher.org/state-policy
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- Lydia Calitri
- Grace Newton
Teens and young adults are anxious about the future of the planet-so what's being done to address their climate anxiety? Grace and I spoke to local and international climate activists to understand what their leaders are doing now to combat climate change and the work they're doing to get those leaders to listen.
LINKS:
Force of Nature: https://www.forceofnature.xyz
Fridays for Future DC: https://twitter.com/fridaysfuturedc
Sunrise DC: https://dc.sunrisemovement.org
League of Conservation Voters Scorecard: https://scorecard.lcv.org
Vote.org: https://www.vote.org
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- Lydia Calitri
- Grace Newton
The Youth Vote is back! This time, I'm joined by my new co-host, Grace Newton, as we talk to a political consultant and young organizers from four different states about the current political landscape and how they're getting young voters fired up for November's midterms.
LINKS:
PA Youth Vote: https://www.payouthvote.org
PA Youth Voices Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/4sRGVJdQxwtgXWYhMGV89D
Kids Voting Ohio: https://www.kidsvotingohio.org
New Hampshire Youth Movement: https://www.nhyouthmovement.org
Jolt Action: https://jolttx.org
Young Invincibles Texas: https://younginvincibles.org/location/texas/
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER:
- Lydia Calitri
- Grace Newton
The 2020 election saw a new record for youth turnout in a presidential election, but will this kind of turnout continue in the near future? I talked to five voters between the ages of 19 and 29, getting their thoughts on the election results, the country's political divide, and the future of young voters. LINKS: CIRCLE at Tufts University: https://circle.tufts.edu/latest-research/election-week-2020#youth-voter-turnout-increased-in-2020 TIME Magazine: 'We’ve Seen a Youthquake': https://time.com/5910291/weve-seen-a-youthquake-how-youth-of-color-backed-joe-biden-in-battleground-states/ Moderatley Outraged: https://www.facebook.com/moderatelyoutraged Impactual: https://impactual.com New Voters: https://www.new-voters.org
This episode takes a step back from the presidential election to spotlight races at the state and local level. I spoke to leaders of young Democrat and Republican organizations from four different states about how they've teamed up with local campaigns and the ways they're getting other young people to vote. Ballotpedia Sample Ballot Tool: https://ballotpedia.org/Sample_Ballot_Lookup UK College Democrats: https://www.facebook.com/UKCollegeDems/ Atlanta Young Republicans: https://www.atlantayoungrepublicans.com Young Democrats of South Carolina: https://www.youngdemssc.org Tampa Bay Young Republicans: http://tbyr.com Hoffman's podcast, "Moderately Outraged": https://www.facebook.com/moderatelyoutraged/
In the wake of the California wildfires, I had a conversation with Sunrise organizer Mariela Gandara from their hub in the San Fransisco Bay Area. We talked about the devastation she witnessed, what the Green New Deal could potentially do for Americans and the role young people can play in the fight against climate change. CLIMATE CHANGE ORGANIZATIONS: Sunrise Sunrise's page on the Green New Deal Alliance for Climate Education Fridays for Future VOTING CLIMATE RESOURCE: https://climatemuseum.org/blog/2020/8/31/voting-climate-resources-2020
Social media can be a great tool for young people to share political news, but what can they do to make sure they're getting facts instead of fiction? For this episode, I talked to The Busy Voter and MediaWise about the ways they've been teaching young people about news literacy during the election. THE BUSY VOTER: Instagram MEDIAWISE: Twitter Instagram MediaWise Voter Project #MVP Voter Guide Video Series Prep for the Polls
In this back-to-school episode, I talked to student journalists from Boston University, Middlebury College and the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill about how they've been covering their schools' reopenings. I also spoke to Wisconsin state director of the Campus Election Engagement Project about ways college students can find voting resources whether they're online or on campus. SCHOOL PAPERS: UNC Chapel Hill: The Daily Tar Heel Middlebury College: The Middlebury Campus Boston University: The Daily Free Press Inside Higher Ed college reversal tracker CAMPUS ELECTION ENGAGEMENT PROJECT: Website Mail-in voting resource Presidential candidate guide in English and Spanish
When I interviewed young potential voters on the ground back in February, they told me that healthcare was one of the most important issues on their minds during the election. In order to break down some of the biggest issues within America's healthcare system ahead of the election, I spoke to Karen Pollitz from the Kaiser Family Foundation and editor-in-chief of Health Affairs Alan Weil. VOTE BY MAIL RESOURCES: Reuters Explainer: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-vote-by-mail-explainer/explainer-fraud-is-rare-in-us-mail-in-voting-here-are-the-methods-that-prevent-it-idUSKBN2482SA USA.gov: https://www.usa.gov/election-office Vote Save America: https://votesaveamerica.com Vote.org: https://www.vote.org KAISER FAMILY FOUNDATION: Lost coverage video: https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/video/options-if-lost-job-based-health-insurance/ Marketplace FAQs: https://www.kff.org/faqs/faqs-health-insurance-marketplace-and-the-aca/ HEALTH AFFAIRS: ACA blog: https://www.healthaffairs.org/topic/bms010 Health Equity journal: https://www.healthaffairs.org/topic/1244
For this episode, I got to talk to organizers from from HeadCount, NextGen America and Camels Vote to find out how they've been informing and providing resources to potential young voters during the coronavirus pandemic. HeadCount: https://www.headcount.org NextGen America: https://nextgenamerica.org Camels Vote: https://www.camelsvote.org When We All Vote: https://www.whenweallvote.org Black Youth Vote!: https://www.ncbcp.org/programs/byv/ Black Voters Matter: https://blackvotersmatterfund.org/the-project Movement Voter Project: https://movement.vote/about/
People between the ages of 18 and 29 don't turn out to vote as much as other age demographics, and with the 2020 election months away, I set out to find out why. While I was on the ground covering the South Carolina primary, I got to speak to about a dozen 18-29 year olds to find out more about the policy issues they care about and why they believe people their age aren't voting as much as older people. This episode also features interviews with Evette Alexander from the Knight Foundation, who studied young non-voter behavior for the 100 Million Project, as well as former South Carolina Governor Jim Hodges.