Keep it in Perspective

This episode, I'm joined by Katica Roy.As the daughter of an immigrant and refugee, Katica is driven by a passion to eradicate economic inequality and champion the rights of refugees, women, and children. CNN, MSNBC, CBS, Bloomberg, Cheddar, MarketWatch, Yahoo Finance, NBC and Newsy have sought Katica for her sharp and unconventional take on the day's headlines. She's interviewed President Biden, Vice President Harris, Senators Booker and Gillibrand, Secretary Pete, Canadian Pay Equity Commissioner Karen Jensen, Sophia Bush, Eve Rodsky, Gretchen Carlson, and Dr. Maya Rockeymoore Cummings. Her high-octane, visionary articles have been published by the World Economic Forum, Fast Company, Fortune, Forbes, Bloomberg, NBC, Entrepreneur, The Hill, The Advocate, Harvard Business Review, and Morning Consult. Her articles have garnered over 2.9 billion impressions. In 2017 Katica was named a Luminary by the Colorado Technology Association; in 2018 a Colorado Governors' Fellow; in 2019 a Top 25 Most Powerful Women in Business and awarded the Stevie Entrepreneur of the Year—Gold Award; in 2020 she was named the Colorado Entrepreneur of the Year; in 2022 a LinkedIn Top Influencer for gender equity. She is a member of Fast Company's Impact Council and Bloomberg's New Economy Forum. Katica is the CEO of Pipeline, an award-winning company that uses advanced technology to make intersectional gender parity a reality in our lifetime. In addition to its core platform, Pipeline launched the first gender equity app on Salesforce's AppExchange. Pipeline was also named as one of TIME Magazine's Best Inventions of 2019, Fast Company's 2020 World's Most Innovative Companies, Fast Company's 2021 Next Big Things in Tech, and Fast Company's 2022 World Changing Ideas.  Pipeline is backed by both Accenture and Workday. Before speaking with Katica, we cover the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the looming railroad strike, and the importance of curating quality news.

This week I'm joined by Barbara Ballard, Democratic state representative from the 44th legislative district in Kansas representing the communities of historic Lawrence. We talk about the Kansas GOP's failed attempt at a referendum to remove a woman's right to choose from the state constitution, what this desperate attempt means about the GOP's tactics and the party's view on democracy, and how this party of a shrinking minority of Americans will continue to find ways to impose its will on the majority. For Representative Ballard, one thing is clear: the people of Kansas didn't wait for a savior; they saved themselves. Whether at the state, local, or federal level, democracy is not a spectator sport.

To kick off the new season, we're back with friend and colleague Brittany McCants Garcia to talk January 6, Roe, Loving, Obergefell, the wild west of gun deregulation created by the Court and just where we're at in the state of our democracy. There's a few laughs, but if you're looking for a pep talk, this isn't it! Buckle up before you get this one started...

This week I'm joined by civil rights attorney, activist, and overall legend Khyla Craine to talk about the role of race in Democratic politics and the viability of Dems in general elections after the routing of Terry McAuliffe in Virginia as well as the racial and social issues around redistricting and gerrymandering across the country. Two things become clear from this conversation: racism is a tool to destroy democracy for all people, including white Americans, and fighting for democracy must include fighting against racism. 

This week I have the distinct pleasure of being joined by one of the leaders and activists behind the Equality Act, Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen, the newly minted Executive Director of the National Center for Transgender Equality. Rodrigo breaks down why the United States still needs federal legislation upholding the rights of LGBTQ people and banning discrimination against individuals based upon their sexual orientation, gender identity, or for simply being who they are. Before talking with Rodrigo, I get into why vaccines are just as important as ever to the fight against COVID and why we need to put shared responsibility - just every once in a while! - above our personal preferences. 

This week I have the distinct pleasure of being joined by Texas State Representative Donna Howard, Chair of the Texas Women's Health Caucus, nurse, and dedicated public servant serving the people of Austin in the Texas House of Representatives. We tackle the intricacies and ramifications of SB8, Texas' new, draconian anti-woman, anti-choice, anti-abortion law that was signed into law at the beginning of this month.Rep. Howard is the consummate public servant and subject matter expert, testifying just yesterday on Capitol Hill before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary to clarify just what SB8 is doing and will continue to do to harm the women of Texas. She made her community proud speaking on Capitol Hill yesterday and she did us all a great service by speaking with us this week on Keep it in Perspective. 

This week we have the great pleasure of being joined by Matthieu Mabin, Washington Correspondent for France24, former officer in the French Army and veteran of the war in Afghanistan. With his first-hand knowledge of training Afghan soldiers and his unique insights as a foreign correspondent, Matthieu shares his critiques of the war, the withdrawal, and the future for US and Western intervention around the world.This episode of #KIIP is geopolitical, so sit back and enjoy a long listen. 

This week I have the pleasure of being joined by Anson Asaka of the NAACP to talk about the ongoing fight for voting rights after the Supreme Court's gutting of the Voting Rights Act and the mass panic caused by Trump's election lies.We cover the shameless new laws passed in Southern (and some other) states to keep working people, Black and brown people, the young and the elderly from voting. We also get into the lawsuits Anson and his team are working on to protect all  of us and our most sacred right in our democracy.Anson isn't just an expert; he's an expert practitioner with first hand knowledge from the front lines of the fight for voting right whose insights are sure to give us all some much needed perspective. 

This week I'm joined by redistricting expert and National Redistricting Manager at Common Cause Dan Vincuña to talk, well, redistricting! We cover the latest developments in the fight for fair representation as well as the  multi-front war being waged on fair representation in American democracy, in particular the often more quiet front where Americans' voices are so often diluted and undermined: in their district maps. From school districts to US congressional districts, it's all on the table - or map! Get ready to geek out on one of our wonkiest episodes yet.

On this episode I'm joined by friend and colleague Elienne Anoriscat, a practicing attorney and scholar of biblical theology. We get into her personal journey through the law and her faith and break down the tangled relationship between Evangelical Christians and an increasingly far-right party that stands for everything that Jesus would not. We also discuss ways to communicate with Americans who can't seem to disentangle their religious and partisan identities from one another and the difficult interpersonal work that will need to be done to help many voters in this country open their minds and see how their faith has been used as a tool to manipulate and deceive them. So, you know, easy stuff!This conversation is far outside of my comfort zone so I'd love to hear your thoughts on how you think it went!

Friend, colleague, and returning champion Brittany McCants Garcia joins us to talk about Biden's inauguration, Amanda Gorman stealing the show, what the next four years hold, and what will happen with the millions of Trump devotees now that their dear leader is out of office. Take a listen!

In the first new episode of 2021 I'm joined by Larry Williams Jr., founder of UnionBase.org, the first secure social networking and education platform for unions and union workers, which has been featured in Forbes, Fast Company and numerous other publications. UnionBase is regarded as the leading platform for a new generation of union workers. Larry is also former President of Progressive Workers Union (PWU), a powerful Washington, D.C. union for non-profit employees that recently signed a transformative landmark five year contract with the Sierra Club, America's largest environmental organization. Key to today's discussion, Larry is also a veteran of the Hill and is no stranger to the citadel of our democracy, which was defiled by Trump's armed mob in a failed insurrection last week.We talk about the day's breaking news that Donald Trump has become the first president to be impeached twice. We also cover the events of last week and the seditious actions of Trump and his most fervent supporters, as well as the long term implications for our democracy of having such a large portion of our population buying into the myth and cult of Trump. This past week has been quite a year!

Military veteran and former 13-year-old highway patrolman (you need to hear this one) Rich Evans joins Keep it in Perspective for a wide ranging conversation. We discuss his early days making traffic stops as a middle schooler, going legit as a member of the armed forces, and the dangerous militarization of American police in the age of Black Lives Matter. We also discuss ways to end the violent excesses of the police and pragmatic paths toward a more just future. Believe it or not, you won't hear a more laugh-filled or intelligent discussion of the present state of affairs in our country, guaranteed - not really, but this is easily one of our best episodes and worth a listen.

Returning champion Brittany McCants Garcia leads the discussion on race in policing and American life in the wake of the horrific killing of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor by police in Minneapolis and Louisville, KY, respectively. We talk policing culture, use of force, reform, and more. It's a serious conversation but one we cannot - and should not - avoid.

This week I'm joined again by Democratic strategist, messaging expert extraordinaire and my friend, Josh Nanberg. We talk about the Biden campaign's soft response to Donald Trump's attacks on his family, messaging strategy during the impeachment inquiry, and the state of this still-too-crowded Democratic field. When will the field narrow down so we can finally get down to business? We tackle that too.

Trump's impeachment is nigh. The mad king is bursting at the seams, lashing out at the press, wielding wild accusations, and attacking the surviving son of former VP Joe Biden and President Obama's former Veep himself, despite his name having long since been cleared. At the same time, Democrats have to grapple with the harsh reality that to pass any agenda, they need to not only expel the syphilis ridden, Cheeto dusted scrotum from office, but also reclaim the Senate and hold the House. The 2020 Census is coming up too, meaning state legislatures and committees will need to reevaluate their states' representation in Congress and redraw their maps.Enter the activists. Susan Landis and so many other Democratic activists are hard at work organizing their communities, turning out voters, and making their legislatures blue so that our Congress represents us, The People.Listen to my interview with Susan and hear how Dems are out there on the front lines making sure that our state and federal governments reflect our diversity and our ideals.

You already know what's up.The Donald has finally been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Nancy Pelosi, who has been against impeachment from the get go,has now greenlit an impeachment inquiry. But what does that mean? Where are we headed from here? Listen and learn my friends..

Returning Champ Brittany McCants Garcia joins Keep it in Perspective to talk about the complicated relationship between Black voters, especially Southern, older Black voters and "uncle" Joe Biden, as well as the hardships Trump's trade war has inflicted upon her beloved dog. You don't want to miss that tangent.

I'm joined by Christopher Ervin, criminal justice advocate and candidate for Baltimore City Council. We discuss his experience on the Mexico border, the quest for criminal justice reform, and the intersection of criminal justice and immigration reform.

What does it mean to be a Democrat in 2019? What does it take to run for office these days? How can a progressive relate to their purple voting and red voting neighbors?It's all about messaging: relating your platform and your positions on the issues to the pains and concerns of your voters. No matter your priorities, it's always about tying your solutions into the challenges your voters face.In this episode, former progressive Democratic candidate for the Maryland House of Delegates Jason Fowler breaks it all down in this ode to our party and his beloved home district, a unique place that is closer to our nation's capitol than almost all others, but just as outside the beltway as anywhere in America...

This week I'm joined by veteran Republican strategist and Washington Times columnist Matt Mackowiak to discuss the state of the Democratic field, analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the front runners, and size up just how these candidates could take on Trump as the eventual Democratic nominee. We get down in the weeds and chart the different paths Trump could still take to 270.Before that in my monologue, I take on the controversy of the Netanyahu government denying entry to two duly elected members of the United States Congress and what our reactions to this moment say about our polarized and hyperpartisan politics, what it means for our ability to digest information and evaluate for ourselves, and what the Netanyahu government's alignment with the Trump administration and congressional Republicans before that could mean for the future of Israel-US relations.

This week, we discuss the horrible domestic terror attacks in Dayton, Ohio and El Paso, Texas, as well as the inhumane raids by ICE of a community of undocumented workers at a processing plant in Mississippi. There is no doubt that a culture of violence, of White Supremacy, combined with excessively easy access to guns and the availability of weapons of war, all contributed to these atrocities. GOP excuses don't measure up to the data.I'm also joined by Lila Zucker, who worked on the Georgia Democratic Party's coordinated campaign in Georgia during Stacey Abrams' run for governor. We talk about the voter suppression tactics, the ethical challenges, and the attempts to discourage Americans from exercising their right to vote. We also address the need for people to stay vigilant and get involved and offer ways for regular people to step up and help out now.The fact is, if we have a truly participatory democracy in which people are engaged and feel heard, there's no way a craven minority of legislators can keep hold of power and push an agenda that favors White Supremacists and puts guns above human lives. Let's Keep it in Perspective!

Let's break down these last two debates. CNN, Jake Tapper, Dana Bash, and Don Lemon threw journalistic integrity to the wind and went right in for reality TV show optics. Interruptions and staged fights beat our thoughtful questions and meaningful exchanges. Meanwhile, about 18 different unqualified, unknown, or unsuited candidates sucked air out of the room, harming the chances of the eventual Democratic nominee.So is this crowded field good for Democrats and our democracy, or is it time to thin the herd? Let's dig a little deeper and keep it in perspective.

Today, former Special Counsel Robert Mueller testified for his 90th time before the House of Representatives. Though his testimony was complete and truthful, there of course were some - ehem - conclusions lacking.More striking still was that GOP Congressmembers were willing to forgo any inquiry into the facts and instead followed Sean Hannity, Alex Jones, and AM talk radio hosts down the conspiratorial rabbit hole to attack an American hero rather than to seek out the facts. The display was disgraceful.So let's forget the political points scoring for a moment. How did we get here? What are our adversaries after? And how do we move forward? We cover all this and more in this week's special episode.

Last week's news was dominated by the two debates. While they were important to narrow down the choices for Democratic primary voters, they weren't the biggest news of the week - or even the month. In the same week, the Supreme Court handed down critical decisions on gerrymandering and on the Trump administration's plan to add a discriminatory citizenship question to the US Census. The big picture and the ugly truth is that all of this is part of the GOP's plan to install and insulate all-White minority rule. They already have the mechanisms in place in the allocation of Senate seats and votes in the Electoral College; now they're trying to disenfranchise people of color in the House of Representatives to gain a permanent (or at least decades-long) hold on power in all three branches of the federal government.Despite this grim backdrop, Democrats are still somehow debating whether the Donald should be allowed his illegitimate presidency into yet another year. The radical right never misses an opportunity to seize power, yet we're willing to wait for the next election? That can't be right...

This week I speak with Dr. Richard Bruno. You may know him as the doctor in the long, white coat from those Bernie Sanders videos on Facebook where the US Senator from Vermont takes Americans over the border to Canada to check out the healthcare system there. To me though, Richard is a friend and a former client whose campaign for State Delegate (representative) in Maryland I managed in 2018.Dr. Bruno and I cover a range of topics under the general umbrella of American healthcare, from costs to ethics and efficiency, What's clear from our conversation however is that while there are so many arguments in favor of a universal system of healthcare coverage, there are ever fewer that support our current system - or lack thereof. No matter how you look at the issue, healthcare works better when everyone is covered and profit is subtracted from the equation,

This week I'm joined by Brittany (McCants) Garcia, a Washington, D.C. based attorney who has worked on Democratic and non-profit campaigns in the South and has spent years studying political theory, political philosophy, leadership and policy. During her studies at Howard University School of Law, she focused on civil rights, constitutional law and advocacy. We discuss the eerie parallels between early 20th century Europe and the US in the era of Trump, prospects for the Democrats in the 2020 election, and just whether or not Americans have a chance for a course correction before the parallels to an even more monstrous and inhumane time become just to close to ignore.

This week I'm joined by Diane May, Communications Director at Our Revolution, the organization that came out of Senator Bernie Sanders' 2016 campaign. We discuss what this new organization is doing for the upcoming primaries, what its members will do during the general election if their first choice, Bernie Sanders, does not secure the nomination, how Democrats should be approaching swing voters in the Midwest, and whether the party should play the long game and work to make voters out of non-voters, or try to persuade Trump's least enthusiastic 2016 voters to pull the lever for a Democrat in 2020.

This week, I'm joined by my friend and fellow Democratic strategist Josh Nanberg of Ampersand Strategies to talk about the state of the 2020 Democratic field and the art of messaging in presidential politics. We take a look at how the candidates are using - or not using - effective messaging to distinguish themselves in a crowded field and at the excessive emphasis on personality over policy. We also get into the thorny but undeniable issue of sexism in politics - an issue commonly called a "women's issue" but one that, let's be honest, is caused by the guys in the room.

Back after a break and some serious rebranding, we're here with the first new episode of Keep it In Perspective, the podcast that takes the crazy of the day and puts it in perspective.This week, we're talking the Mueller report and Attorney General Bill Barr's shameless lying to the American people and their Senators before the Judiciary Committee. Of course, Trump's newest defense attorney, who also holds the title of Attorney General, is now about to be in contempt of Congress for refusing to testify before the House. And just think, the week isn't even over!