Shows
The Round Table: A YVote PodcastSafety or Threat: Untangling Youth Perceptions of PoliceIn this episode, YVote youth unpack what safety really means in the presence of police and why Commissioner Jessica Tisch’s role in Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s incoming administration has become a point of controversy. Through personal reflections, data from the Innocence Project, and an honest conversation about policing, surveillance, and youth vulnerability, they explore how power shows up in our communities and what young people can do to take action.
2025-12-2232 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastNext Gen Telepathy: Understanding The Other Side of the RainbowAt 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 rat...
2024-01-021h 03The Round Table: A YVote PodcastCompromising On Issues, Not ValuesAt 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 book One 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...
2023-10-1937 min
The Round Table: A YVote PodcastGetting Beyond Being Seen as “Just a Kid”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; an...
2023-02-0921 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastAnything That’s Good For the People is Good for the SoulAt 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 at...
2022-09-0124 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastBeyond Nail ‘Em and Jail ‘EmAt 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 ta...
2021-08-1623 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastHard conversations are necessaryIsaiah 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 awarenes...
2021-02-2500 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastMaking Sense of the CensusAt 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 co...
2020-09-2425 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastI use social media but it is a very, very scary placePodcaster 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.
2020-09-2400 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastThe top media shared on Facebook tends to be conservativeOlivia 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.
2020-09-2400 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastAre you American enough?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.
2020-09-2400 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastFacebook has a tendency to create policies without thinking them throughRobyn 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...
2020-09-2400 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastThere’s a meaningful distinction between moderation and mediationRobyn 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
2020-09-2300 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastIt’s important to protect the right of people to criticize those in powerRobyn 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.
2020-09-2300 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastWhat constitutes hate speech depends on what country you’re living inRobyn 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.
2020-09-2200 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastMost platforms are concerned with building trust and improving their reputationsRobyn 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...
2020-09-2200 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastEvery part of your experience affects your workMedia analyst Robyn Caplan shared how fundamentally her psych degree informs how she makes sense of social media (as it should for all of us...)
2020-09-2100 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastI sort of fell into writing about mediaRobyn 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...
2020-09-2000 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastWill Facebook really do it?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!
2020-09-1735 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastDon’t let the structures silence youKarin 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.
2020-09-1700 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastThere’s actually time to do a lot of cool stuff in school if you get rid of the annoying stuffWhat 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...
2020-09-1700 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastOne of the things we learned is that zero structure doesn’t workNor 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.
2020-09-1700 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastYou can’t have 2600 answers to the question of what time does school startIt’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.
2020-09-1600 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastYou can’t punish your way into compliance at the level that is neededKarin 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...
2020-09-1500 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastIt’s important to teach people about the science if you want them to follow itKarin 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...
2020-09-1400 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastWe’ve had so many difficult conversations...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 artist...
2020-09-1200 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastTo Open or Not to Open? That’s the 130,930 QuestionAt 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...
2020-09-1023 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastMalcolm is our Imam and w/o him, Islam in the U.S. would be very differentCyrus 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
2020-09-1000 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastWe need a human rights framework focused on the dignity of all human beings.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 t...
2020-09-1000 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastI felt very limited by a civil rights frameworkCyrus 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 al...
2020-09-1000 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastI am very much a student of Malcolm XCyrus 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 ac...
2020-09-0800 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastWhat makes a successful campaign?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 focu...
2020-09-0600 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastFor years I lacked understanding of how politics and power worked in practiceCyrus 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...
2020-09-0400 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastMovement Building for Human RightsAt 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...
2020-09-0328 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastEven champions of women don’t hire women in the numbers we’d likeMark 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 di...
2020-09-0300 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastWhat it will take to have a truly representative governmentMark 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...
2020-09-0300 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastGovernment tends to be ageistMark 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...
2020-09-0200 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastToo often we focus on the individual instead of the team or movementMark 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 id...
2020-09-0200 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastWe’ve never had a female Vice President in U.S. History—and it’s time toGiven 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. The...
2020-08-3100 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastHow do you identify diverse candidates w/o being tokenistic?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...
2020-08-3000 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastOur demographic makeup shouldn’t dictate if people get to be an ambassadorMark 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...
2020-08-2900 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastWho is trying to make our government representative of the people?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 cabi...
2020-08-2800 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastHow inclusive IS America?At this week's Round Table, Inica Kotasthane, Madeline Mayes, and Olivia Becker spoke with Mark 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...
2020-08-2722 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastWe’re not the first population to deal with a pandemic or economic hardshipSarah 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.
2020-08-2700 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastIs a paper you labored over less authentic than something you dashed off?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.
2020-08-2700 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastAs a child, I thought Judaism was a man in the sky who punished people.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.
2020-08-2700 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastWhat’s important to understand about Trump is that he comes across as an authentic politicianSarah 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.
2020-08-2700 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastThere’ve been a lot of great lines written in history that you’ve never aboutSarah 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.
2020-08-2700 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastIf the moment’s not amazing, no one’s ever going to hear the soundbiteSpeechwriter Sarah Hurwitz unpacks when and why a line like “When they go low, we go high” (which Michelle Obama wrote herself) is so powerful.
2020-08-2700 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastThe final great truth of effective speechwriting is show don’t tellSarah 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.
2020-08-2500 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastBarack Obama shared who he was and people were electrified by itSarah 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 consu...
2020-08-2500 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastThere are a few keys to really good speechwritingSarah 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.
2020-08-2500 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastI always wanted wanted her voice in my headSarah 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
2020-08-2500 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastMichelle’s stories, ideas, and language were always the beating heart of any speechSo 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.
2020-08-2200 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastMichelle constantly asks what is the deepest, most important truth I can tell right nowSarah 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.
2020-08-2100 minThe Round Table: A YVote Podcast2 failed jobs, 3 losing campaigns—and then I was hired by the Obama CampaignSarah 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
2020-08-2100 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastThe Making of a Great Speech—and a Great SpeechwriterAt 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...
2020-08-2035 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastNothing is wrong with “anyone but Trump” as a unifying callRiya 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 fut...
2020-08-2000 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastWith moderate solutions, it feels like two steps back, one step forwardInica 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.
2020-08-1900 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastDemocratic nominees are going to be attacked as radical leftists whatever their politics areOne 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.
2020-08-1500 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastI think the election is going to be a whole lot closer than people thinkCalvin 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.
2020-08-1300 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastSounds Like Comma-laAt 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 bot...
2020-08-1325 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastWe have expertise in knowing your students and that’s the most valuable thingDivya 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...
2020-08-1300 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastREAL TALK is an acronym for our core principlesDivya 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.
2020-08-1200 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastIn a debate there’s usually two sides, but life can rarely be reduced to two perspectivesReal 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 u...
2020-08-1000 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastThe culture of conversation in classrooms isn’t as productive as it could beReal 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 deli...
2020-08-0800 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastWhen bipartisanship happens, it often doesn’t connect with peooleFrances 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.
2020-08-0700 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastYou’ve got to be ready for disappointment as an activist in US politicsFrances 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...
2020-08-0700 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastReal Talk--with the cofounders of itAt 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...
2020-08-0625 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastGovernment is a set of handcuffs for those who desire bold change w/o broad supportFrances 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.
2020-08-0100 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastWe look at how legislation gets enacted in American politicsFrances 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.
2020-07-3100 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastWe don’t think Millennials all think the same way but we do think we have shared valuesBlanca 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.
2020-07-3100 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastLimitless Parties: Lawmaking in a Polarized EraAt 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 hand...
2020-07-3018 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastThe word “donor” feels scary to a millennialRachel 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.
2020-07-2700 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastThe basis of OneFiveTen is generational collective actionBlanca 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.
2020-07-2400 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastThat compromise around coronavirus is the exception not the rule tells us a lot about politics todayMichael 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.
2020-07-2300 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastFollow the Money: Creating Generational WealthAt 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!
2020-07-2327 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastIn Congress, we’re supposed to have debate & people are supposed to negotiateMichael 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...
2020-07-2200 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastNo doubt we are going against the grain of where the country is moving right nowMichael 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.
2020-07-2000 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastMy work focuses on how to make Congress more responsive and more representativeMichael 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 an...
2020-07-1800 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastLooking at the nuts and bolts of our democracyAt 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...
2020-07-1622 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastWhether objectivity exists is a debate historians have been having for a long timeIn 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.
2020-07-1500 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastI use students’ energy to animate the classroomProfessor 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.
2020-07-0900 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastThe creation of “smashmouth partisanship”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.
2020-07-0900 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastWhy Is the House Burning?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, Profess...
2020-07-0928 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastI wanted to be able to guide the research questions I answeredJohanna 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 t...
2020-07-0300 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastThere is an age old American conflict btw federalism and anti-federalismMichael 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.
2020-07-0200 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastWhat’s Criminal About the Criminal Justice SystemAt this week's Round Table, Julianna, Riya, and Sara spoke with Johanna Lacoe of the California 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!
2020-07-0224 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastThere’s been a huge improvement in discourse around police brutalityMichael 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.
2020-06-2800 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastThere’s a huge difference btw the moment we’re in now and the moment we’ve been in beforeWhile 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.
2020-06-2600 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastWhat we have to understand is how we got hereMichael 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
2020-06-2500 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastThis Moment--and What We Can Learn from MovementsAt 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 f...
2020-06-2537 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastThe 2 things that help women make change are education and the ability to make a livelihoodKaren 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.
2020-06-1900 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastBuilding Hope, Brick by BrickAt 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!
2020-06-1819 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastDon’t let preconceived ideas about journalists prevent you from contributing.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 pos
2020-06-1200 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastI am fortunate to stand on the shoulders of women who fought battles for usBarbara 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.
2020-06-1100 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastWhat do Donald Trump, Mike Pence & Barack Obama have in common?At this week's Round Table, Inica, Olivia, and Riya spoke with Michael 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 sourc...
2020-06-1119 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastWhere do you draw the line btw political strategizing & deliberate misinformation?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.
2020-06-0800 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastSince we’d been appointed by President Obama, he wanted to get us out of the way as soon as possibleBarbara 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
2020-06-0500 minThe Round Table: A YVote PodcastA Woman of ConvictionAt 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 o...
2020-06-0424 min