WBOI Politics Podcast

We conclude the first season of the WBOI Politics Podcast with analysis from Andy Downs. He spoke with WBOI News Director Rebecca Green via Zoom. Subscribe to the show and other WBOI content wherever you get your podcasts, and if you like what you hear, leave a review. And if you have an idea for a future episode topic for the podcast, you can email us at news@nipr.fm.

The day before Election Day, we are listening to several conversations about voting rights. Purdue University Fort Wayne Associate Professor of History David Schuster speaks about our country's history of voter suppression of black Americans. Indiana Public Broadcasting's Brandon Smith tells us how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted voting rights in Indiana. In a crossover with the WBOI Artcentric podcast, Julia Meek also speaks with two local social justice advocates about why this election stands out and how the civil rights movement inspired them. Additional content from WBOI's Julia Meek and her guests Dee McKinley and Reverend Angelo Mante can be found at wboi.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Presidential campaigns have changed a lot since the election of 1800, but going back a couple centuries, we can still find moments that remind us of what we have seen in the modern era. The first modern presidential campaign was also much earlier than you might expect. Join WBOI's Ben Clemmer and WBOI Intern Zach Seitz to hear about train tickets, broadcast innovations, conspiracy theories, and the October surprise, all parts of the fifth episode of the WBOI Politics Podcast: Campaigning Then & Now.

WBOI's Zach Bernard takes on youth voting in this week's edition of the Politics Podcast. On this episode, we'll dive into a program at New Tech Academy's "Rock The Vote" program, which aims to make young people more engaged and motivated to go to the polls. We meet several students to discuss the issues important to them, and talk with instructor Bob Haddad about the "Rock The Vote" program itself.

WBOI news director Rebecca Green gives us an explainer of poll workers and poll watchers.

In our second episode, WBOI’s Ella Abbott and Ben Clemmer explore The Politics of Education. We’ll hear from Indiana’s last elected Superintendent of Public Instruction Jennifer McCormick, Indiana Public Broadcasting Education Reporter Jeanie Lindsay, and two teachers who have run for elected office.

WBOI's Katy Anderson talks with two people who work tirelessly to educate Hoosiers about how our government works, or is not working. They talk about what's at stake this election, and why the COVID-19 pandemic makes this election season so different.