Over 130 million Americans didn’t vote last presidential cycle—that’s 40% of eligible voters ghosting democracy. Jerremy Alexander Newsome and Dave Conley go hard on the real barriers: gerrymandering rigging districts, voter ID laws blocking people without the “right” paperwork, felons permanently silenced, and an Electoral College that ignores the popular vote, and sketchy e-voting tech nobody trusts. If you’re pissed that your vote feels pointless, this episode explains exactly why—and why it doesn’t have to stay that way.
Timestamps:
- (00:00) Voting Kickoff – Barriers to Ballots: Rethinking Who Votes in America
- (00:47) Intro to Voting Issues – Setting the stage
- (02:34) Exploring Voting Challenges – The big picture
- (04:22) Gerrymandering Explained – How districts get rigged
- (12:01) Debating Voter ID Requirements – Suppression or security?
- (20:23) Modernizing Voting Methods – What actually works
- (30:59) Cybersecurity Concerns in E-Voting – Hackable democracy
- (34:51) Government + Tech Giants – Cozy or creepy?
- (35:35) Trust in Tech for Security – Spoiler: there isn’t much
- (36:05) Risks & Penalties in Digital Voting – What could go wrong
- (36:54) CEO Accountability – Who pays when it breaks?
- (38:05) Identity Theft Nightmare – Real-world fallout
- (39:20) Right to Vote in the Constitution – It’s thinner than you think
- (40:41) Electoral College Breakdown – Why your vote can be worthless
- (51:14) Felons and Voting Rights – Permanent punishment?
- (57:48) Ranked Choice Voting – A better way?
- (01:03:15) Fixing America’s Voting Mess – What’s actually broken
- (01:09:32) Conclusion & Call to Action – Don’t just complain, do this
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.