Mason Kalinsky is an organizer in Kentucky. He’s the director of Hood to the Holler, an organization founded by Charles Booker focused on leveraging momentum for positive change in Kentucky to build broad coalitions, breaking down barriers of r

Christian Nationalism, Violence, and the Right with Dr. Heidi Beirich, Co-Founder Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (E 59)

12 days ago 43m 31s

Stephanie chats with Dr. Heidi Beirich, the co-founder and chief strategy officer for Global Project Against Hate and Extremism. The authoritarian movements across the world share underlying discriminatory ideologies, and too often have been ex

Coping with Hope. 58 Abby Kisicki, Gun Violence Prevention Organizer

22 days ago 29m 4s

Abby Kisciki, a Gen Z alumna of Arena Academy (check out Ep. 47 Lauren Baer, Mg Dir), is an organizer for Newtown Action Alliance and gun violence prevention. We talk about coping with hope, and using hope responsibly, especially in gun violenc

Raising Arizona. And Michigan. And all 50 states. Charles Gaba, ACA Data Analyst and Democratic Activist

27 days ago 28m 10s

Stephanie talks to Charles Gaba, an ACA data analyst and activist who started raising money for Dem candidates online in 2018. He operates a simple website, blue24.org with links to slates of Democratic candidates on Act Blue that makes it easy

56. Mother’s Always Right. Nancy Thompson, Founder of Mothers Against Greg Abbott

May 29th, 2024 49m 19s

Stephanie chats with Nancy Thompson, founder and head of Mothers Against Greg Abbott about the fascism Texas is fighting right NOW, and how Nancy had enough, showed up with a sign to protest, and launched a movement that grows every time Greg A

55. Making Dems Competitive Everywhere: Madeline Eden, CTO Movement Labs and Contest Every Race

May 22nd, 2024 37m 50s

Stephanie talks with Madeline Eden, CTO of Movement Labs and Contest Every Race.We’re letting 100,000 Republican candidates win every year without a challenger. We all know that when we put up Democratic candidates in state and local races, eve

54. A Place to Call Home: Conversation with Shion Deysarkar, CEO of Unified social media community

May 15th, 2024 36m 17s

Stephanie chatted with Shion Desarkar about creating community among pro-democracy activists. Right now I know we’re on a billion social media platforms to try to reach people who will reach others in real life. The promise of Unified is that i

53. Paolo Cremidis, ED of Outrun Coalition on electing young and diverse candidates in rural areas to office.

May 8th, 2024 43m 13s

Stephanie talks to Paolo Cremidis about running candidates who are young and diverse in rural areas. Outrun coalition has gone from electing 6 candidates in upstate NY in 2020 to more than 470 across the country currently. They believe that any

52. Dmitri Melhorn, co-founder of Invest in US on saving democracy from a funder’s point of view.

May 1st, 2024 46m 32s

Stephanie talks with Dmitri Melhorn, cofounder of the Invest in US investment fund with Reid Hoffman. Stephanie and Dmitri discuss what investments Melhorn believes are the most effective for President Biden to win in November. The organization

51. Brianna Wu on Jew Hatred in the Progressive Movement since 10/7

Apr 24th, 2024 43m 21s

Stephanie speaks with Brianna Wu, a former congressional candidate in MA and present activist and fundraiser. They discuss running for office and post October 7 dynamics of the progressive movement, Jew-hatred, compassion, and inclusion. This w

50. Andra Watkins, NYT Bestselling Author, on Christo-Fascism and Project 2025

Apr 17th, 2024 41m 30s

Stephanie talks to NYT Bestselling Author Andra Watkins about Project 2025 and its Christo-Fascist core. Watkins is the author of the substack newsletter, “How Project 2025 will Ruin Your Life,” which decodes the Heritage Foundation authoritari

49. Brian Hansbury, Co-Founder of Media and Democracy Project on The Failing Legacy Media

Apr 10th, 2024 47m 47s

Stephanie talks to Brian Hansbury, one of the co-founders of Media and Democracy Project. They discuss what the corporate media is doing wrong, and how we can make a difference, participate in the Media and Democracy Project’s actions, and tell

48, Tara McGowan, CEO and Publisher of Courier Newsroom on the importance of values and fact based journalism

Apr 3rd, 2024 46m 23s

Stephanie talks to Tara McGowan, founder and publisher of Courier Newsroom and CEO of Good Information Inc., a civic incubator that invests in solutions to counter disinformation online. We talked about the need for values-based, pro-democracy

47. Lauren Baer, Managing Director of Arena on Training Campaign Staff and Organizers to Win

Mar 27th, 2024 25m 39s

Stephanie talks to Lauren Baer, the Managing Director of Arena Inc about recruiting and training campaign staff, deploy them to game-changing campaigns, and support both staff and candidates on the path to victory.They also train organizers at

46 Dr. Matthew Taylor, Senior Scholar ICJS on wacky but powerful extreme Christian Nationalists

Mar 20th, 2024 1h 2m

This week Stephanie talks to Dr. Matthew Taylor, who studies the extreme, violent, prophesy-spouting Christian Nationalists who are way too close to Donald Trump and Mike Johnson.He is the creator of the acclaimed audio-documentary series “Cha

45. Jeremy Smith, Co-founder and CEO of Civitech on useful data, registering voters, and organizing tools

Mar 13th, 2024 47m 59s

Stephanie talks to Jeremy Smith, CEO of Civitech on better tools and data for activists and candidates to use to register and reach voters. We discussed the importance of contesting every state and local race, what it takes to find the unregist

44. Erin Reed, Independent Journalist, Trans Activist, Author of Erin in the Morning

Feb 28th, 2024 36m 10s

Stephanie talks to Erin Reed, trans activist, independent journalist and writer of Erin in the Morning, which reports on the anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ+ bills and laws around the country, including the 400+ that have been filed in 2024 alone. We

43. Julie Fernatt and Llama Habern, Co-founders Rural Organizing Initiative in Arizona

Feb 21st, 2024 36m 34s

Stephanie talks to Julie Fernatt and Llama Habern of Rural Organizing Initiative in Arizona. They've done great work organizing young people, candidates for local and state offices, and helping people come together without preconditions.www.roi

42. JoAnn Loulan, Co-founder of Democratic Messaging Project on getting the message out, especially to Gen Z

Feb 14th, 2024 34m 31s

Stephanie talks to JoAnn Loulan of Democratic Messaging project about messaging in battleground states. This was before last week's multiple fiascos, so remember to talk about the distinction: do you want a wise man who will maintain freedom an

41. Amanda Litman, Co-founder Run for Something, on recruiting and training the next generation of state and local Dem candidates

Feb 7th, 2024 37m 5s

Stephanie talks with Amanda LItman, co-founder of Run for Something, about the support Run for Something provides to people who want to run for office for the first time. Since the founding on Jan 20, 2017, more than 150,000 people have raised

40. Stephanie Schriock, Fmr Director Emily's List on the importance of progressive media

Jan 31st, 2024 48m 30s

Stephanie talks with Stephanie Schriock, the former executive director of Emily's List about the importance of owning the means of information distribution. In other words, wealthy progressives need to buy local and national media outlets. And

39. Zooey Zephyr, First Trans Legislator in Montana Statehouse, on why MAGA won't succeed in erasing trans people

Jan 24th, 2024 34m 21s

Stephanie talks with Zooey Zephyr, First Trans Legislator in Montana, about how MAGA is trying to fracture the American population to gain power, and how their anti-trans legislation is deeply unpopular and will ultimately fail. https://www.zoo

38. Ron Fein, Legal Director of Free Speech for People on Trump's disqualification from the presidency by the 14th Amendment

Jan 17th, 2024 32m 37s

Ron Fein, legal director of Free Speech for People (freespeechforpeople.org) talks about the constitutional case for Trump’s ineligibility for office. His clear and concise explanation of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment is must-listen if you wa

37. Mark Riddle, President of Future Majority on Freedom, Discipline, and Making the Voter the Hero

Jan 10th, 2024 38m 17s

Mark Riddle is President of Future Majority, founded in 2017 to fill the critical need for an outside, non-biased, data-driven strategy center focused on brand, storytelling, and policy to advise leaders as they think about issues and governing

36. Fentrice Driskell, Florida House Minority Leader, on the Freedom to Be Healthy, Prosperous, and Safe

Jan 3rd, 2024 39m 26s

Stephanie talks with Fentrice Driskell, Florida House Minority Leader, about how we all can be superheroes without capes, the Florida freedom agenda, the special election on January 16, 2024, and how we can help Florida residents regain their f