DIY Democracy
A podcast to highlight civic engagement and to learn to be effective citizens.
Episodes
In advance of an upcoming interview about democracy with Osita Nwanevu, I revisited a 2020 interview with Lawrence Lessig about what the rule of law is, in order to be a better defender of and advocate for it.
It's aged perfectly well for the general ideas. Some statements aged, not exactly poorly, but not well. I'd say they were maybe better described as "prophetic" in discussing the path not taken.
Music by Evan Schaeffer
I spoke with Nicole Williams, a Philadelphia activist and organizer with Mt. Airy Community Fridge & Pantry about the work that the community fridge does as mutual aid and about mutual aid more broadly.
Music is by Evan Schaeffer.
I spoke with Dr. Jess Calarco about her recent book, Holding It Together: How Women Became America's Safety Net.
In the first half, which posted in the previous episode, Dr. Calarco shared how there are many labor-intensive tasks that are required for society to run in its current form and structure. But rather than ensure that those necessary tasks are done and paid for by the society that demands them, we dump them onto women, in...
I spoke with Dr. Jess Calarco about her recent book, Holding It Together: How Women Became America's Safety Net. Dr. Calarco shared how there are many labor-intensive tasks that are required for society to run in its current form and structure. But rather than ensure that those necessary tasks are done and paid for by the society that demands them, we dump them onto women, in the process limiting their ability to fully participate ...
I spoke to Josh Shepperd about his book, Shadow of the New Deal. In his book, Shepperd analyzed the history of how public media developed in the United States.
You can find his book at bookshop here: https://bookshop.org/p/books/shadow-of-the-new-deal-the-victory-of-public-broadcasting-josh-shepperd/18826284?ean=9780252087257&next=t
I spoke with Professor Ciara Torres-Spelliscy about her book, Corporatocracy, and about how money influences politics and what we can do about it.
You can buy her book at Bookshop (Corporatocracy: How to Protect Democracy from Dark Money and Corrupt Politicians).
Also, check out her podcast, Democracy and Destiny .
Music by Evan Schaeffer
I revisit an interview with Annette Gordon-Reed (@agordonreed) on her book, On Juneteenth and consider how best to celebrate the history of the holiday and build on and defend its legacy.
For more Juneteenth resources, see Penn Law's resources on Juneteenth.
Music by Evan Schaeffer
I revisited an interview with Eitan Hersh on his book Politics is for Power: How to Move Beyond Political Hobbyism, Take Action, and Make Real Change.
Music by Evan Schaeffer
In light of recent national news involving young citizens being sent out of the country, I revisited an interview from 2021 about historical efforts to strip citizenship rights, including the right to remain, from Americans. In the inverview, I spoke with Amanda Frost about her book on the topic.
You can find her book here: You Are Not American: Citizen Stripping from Dred Scott to the Dreamers by Amanda Frost
I interviewed Will Bunch of the Philadelphia Inquirer, to discuss his recent column about the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia and the importance of that case to everyone in the United States.
Why Kilmar Abrego Garcia is the Jenga piece that could topple the American Experiment
An interview with Rebecca DeWolf (@outofthetowerh), author of Gendered Citizenship: The Original Conflict Over the Equal Rights Amendment, 1920-1963
An interview with Tom Moore of the Federal Election Commission about some creative solutions to reduce the influence of big money in politics.
An interview with Eitan Hersh on his book Politics is for Power: How to Move Beyond Political Hobbyism, Take Action, and Make Real Change.
Music by Evan Schaeffer
An interview with Professor Amanda Frost (@amanda_frost1 on Twitter) on her new book, You Are Not American: Citizenship Stripping from Dred Scott to the Dreamers.
Music by Evan Schaeffer.
An interview with Annette Gordon-Reed (@agordonreed) on her new book, On Juneteenth.
She will speak at a Detroit Public Library virtual event on Juneteenth (Sat., 6/19, @ 1 pm EDT)
For more Juneteenth resources, see Penn Law's resources on Juneteenth.
Music by Evan Schaeffer
An interview with Professors Suzanne Mettler (@SuzanneMettler1) and Rob Lieberman (@r_lieberman) on their book, Four Threats: The Recurring Crises of American Democracy.
Another podcast that I listened to as I was preparing to post this was Bill Moyers's interview of Heather Cox Richardson the day after the coup attempt. I highly recommend listening to it.
Music by Evan Schaeffer.
An interview with Byron Stokes (@byst on Twitter), trying to figure out how best to support election efforts in the Georgia Senate election run-off.
Some organizations Byron highlighted:
Music by Evan Schaeffer.
The final episode in a series on electing, or in this case choosing, prosecutors - an interview with Maybell Romero, on rural prosecutors.
For more, see her bio: https://www.niu.edu/law/about/directory/romero.shtml and follow her on Twitter: @MaybellRomero
For The Appeal's work on prosecutors: https://theappeal.org/topics/prosecutors/
Music by Evan Schaeffer.
An interview with Eli Savit, candidate for Washtenaw County (MI) prosecuting attorney.
For more on the candidate, find his website here:
https://eli2020.com
Music is by Evan Schaeffer
An interview with Arianne Slay, candidate for Washtenaw County (MI) prosecuting attorney.
For more on the candidate, find her website here:
Music is by Evan Schaeffer
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