The PoliticsGirl Podcast

The PoliticsGirl Podcast

American Democracy is not promised to us and, with all the forces working against it, saving it will take a level of work most people aren’t ready for. The Politics Girl Podcast is here to give people a reason to care and a reason to fight. Our goal is to inspire. To instill in people a true understanding of what this country COULD be, if the right people were fighting for it, and what it WILL be if they don’t. It’s a political podcast yes, but more than that, it’s a podcast about America’s potential, where one passionate, and slightly mouthy, immigrant attempts to motivate the country to become what it promised to be but, so far, has yet to become. You’ll leave more knowledgeable, more engaged, and more sure that you, personally, can make a difference to the future of American democracy. Everyone’s got a little time for that right? Subscribe for new episodes every Tuesday. We’re in a fight for our country. We sure as hell better know what we’re fighting for. xo

Episodes

May 14, 2024 52 mins
The Republicans are telling us their plans for America’s future and it is terrifying. The Democrats, in contrast, are vocally offering the opposite. Where the last Democratic House was the most effective in modern American history, passing more legislation passed than any Congress since FDR’s New Deal, the current Republican House has been the least effective, least cohesive since the Civil War. The American people deserve better t...
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I’ve been watching what’s been happening on college campuses with real uncertainty. I don’t believe we’re getting the full story from the media. Much like the horserace neck and neck BS they’re peddling for the election, I feel as if traditional media is pushing narratives with the protests that don’t tell the full picture and it leaves people feeling outraged or confused. As today’s guest David Rothkopf says, “If you want this cri...
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Today we’re joined by Mini Timmaraju, President of Reproductive Freedom for All, to discuss how reproductive freedom isn’t just about access to the health care of abortion, but about how we think society should function. Do we believe our most fundamental and personal decisions belong to the government, or do we believe they belong to us? At the end of the day, it all comes back to democracy, and if our voices are heard and respect...
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It’s not that everything that’s happened in capitalism is bad, but when it comes to economics, perhaps we should be asking what this endless growth means and for whom? Who is all this growth for, and what is it worth, if it really only benefits a tiny silver of our population. What if there was a Goldilocks version of the economy? Where it wasn’t communism, and it wasn’t winner take all capitalism, but something in between that ben...
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Membership in violent extremist organizations is up, especially with our veterans. Today we talk to former mission commander and veteran’s advocate Ken Harbaugh about his incredible film Against All Enemies, and why a disproportionate amount of our military veterans would end up taking violent action against the very country they swore to protect, and why they would think they were patriots for doing it. We talk about this spectacu...
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How do you lock in a minority worldview in America? You control the states. As our guest, democracy activist, author and professor, David Pepper tells us, “You win them. You gerrymander them. You suppress as many votes as you can, and then ram through your extremist agenda, and nobody can stop you.” We see it happening all over the country. This is how Republicans with unpopular opinions, who don’t speak for the majority of the peo...
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Former RNC Chairman Michael Steele reaches out to his party to remind them to vote R for Rights not Republican. He tells us that Republican values are still here, they just can’t breathe under this current top down, one person centric, wanna-be dictator. We talk about how the once great party has been co-oped, so it’s not just ok to be a Republican who votes for a Democrat this cycle, if you truly believe in the values of freedom, ...
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At the end of the day, Sage Lenier, climate activist and one of Time Magazine’s 10 Next Generation Leaders, reminds us that we need to accept what we’re doing on this planet is unsustainable. That we will ultimately need to slow down the systems of production and consider a real economic transformation if we want to survive, but instead of waiting for the federal government to make the change, we can start it ourselves. Our future ...
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There is a clear and planned takeover of the American government by people who no longer want to work under a functioning democracy but some form of authoritarian, kleptocratic, theocracy and the Republican Party are on board for all of it. If you don’t know about Project 2025 go back and listen to the top of the year show, but this episode is all about the other half of the plan - something called Agenda 47, which is really Donald...
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Sometimes we need to take a break from all the criticism of government to acknowledge the importance of government, especially when they’re doing good things. One of those good things was the recent creation of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention because as we lose people to gun violence in our country every day, as America is put on “no travel” lists because of our gun epidemic, as we witness our suicide rates and ac...
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America is dealing with an existential threat in the 2024 election. It’s not Republican or Democrat, it’s democracy or autocracy, and we can’t screw it up. Which is why I’m pleased to be joined by political scientist and strategist Rachel Bitecofer to talk about her new book “Hit Em Where it hurts: How to Save Democracy by Beating Republicans at Their Own Game”. This is a powerful conversation about winning when we don’t have the l...
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Author, professor and sociologist Michael Sierra-Arévalo talks to us about his detailed look into American policing with his new book The Danger Imperative: Violence, Death and the Soul of Policing. According to Arévalo, the story of policing isn’t the story of a few bad apples, but of an institutional structure and system that is essentially not working. The violence we see from our officers is the logical consequence of an instit...
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Something magical is happening. As MAGA doubles down on extremism and chaos, they appeal to fewer and fewer Americans. At this point all they have is their mad king, while Democrats, liberals and anyone who believes in the American experiment has the opportunity to really make America into the country we tell people we are. We have to plan to win, organize to fight, and aim, not just for success, but for growth and expansion. We ca...
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Clearly there’s a need for a new type of media, one that exists explicitly to give people facts, but also to protect and strengthen our democracy. Today we talk to the amazing Tara McGowan, founder and publisher of Courier, one of the fastest growing news networks in the country. Courier is a new take on an old format that honors local news with real reporters on the ground, state news where these big federal decisions are playing ...
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“Anti-racist” isn’t an identity, it’s actions. It’s doing the work of deconstructing the systems of racism we were all raised in. Systems that harm us all. It’s not about being a “good person” or not being called “racist”, it’s about genuinely interacting with the world to make it better. And yeah, we’re going to make mistakes while we do it. We’re going to blow it and get embarrassed, but that doesn’t mean we should stop trying. U...
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Here we are at the top of 2024 with MAGA extremism on a rocket ship to the moon and the GOP hell-bent on stripping away as many of our fundamental rights & freedoms as possible. We don’t have a second or dollar to waste. We want to win 2024. We NEED to win 2024. But it doesn’t have to be endlessly miserable or expensive to do it. Which is why I want you to hear from the Executive Director of Swing Left, Yasmin Radjy. Swing Left is ...
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We can’t take our eyes off this court for a minute. Which is why I’m joined by Melissa Murray and Kate Shaw, two constitutional professors and hosts of Crooked Media’s legal podcast Strict Scrutiny, to go over the cases you really have to know. From Donald Trump’s Presidential immunity and ballot presence, to abortion drug access, to the attempt of big money to gut our federal agencies’ ability to regulate, these are things you nee...
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If you look at statistics it was actually non-voters who won the last Presidential election. Too many people think their vote doesn’t count, or as our guest, Wayne Liebman says, they think their vote counts too much and are afraid to make a mistake. The Blue Voter Guide takes the burden out of voting. They do the research into the candidates, ballot initiatives, and endorsements so you can see who shares your values and build a bal...
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The crisis in the Middle East, like so many issues that truly matter, is complicated and nuanced and simply won’t fit on a bumper sticker. It’s essential that we look at the whole picture and move beyond who needs to be punished (and many do) to set a goal of creating a place of peace and stability. This is also not an isolated issue. Governments around the world are shifting to the far right and supporting each other as they do it...
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Happy New Year! Welcome to 2024, the year we either destroy or save America. This is it. Make it or break it. To give us a sense of the stakes, I’m joined by journalist Ahmed Baba who recently did an amazing article for the Independent about the the “conservative promise” of Project 2025. Project 2025 is a roadmap to fundamentally reshape the federal government into the image of the far right once a Republican president takes offic...
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