For our final episode of the year, Manuel Pastor, University of Southern California professor of sociology and American studies and ethnicity, joins Steve and Sharline to discuss lessons learned from this year’s presidential election including how to understand Latino political identity and the role of narrative and messaging in building broad coalitions. 

Manuel touches on the dangerous rise of technoauthoritarianism and shares his framework for how progressives can and should be thinking about geography and political strategy. 

Manuel Pastor - X: @Prof_MPastor & Bluesky: @profmpastor.bsky.social

Let’s pause for a moment and remember that we need to take care of ourselves. 

Leadership coach, transformative justice practitioner, and somatics coach Viveka Chen (she/they) discusses the intersection of personal healing and collective liberation. Viveka shares insights from their work helping activists, organizers, and community leaders build resilience and foster connection in the face of systemic injustice.

Viveka discusses healthy ways to deepen our capacity for change, how to transform burnout into sustainable action, and she shares grounding practices for getting through the holiday season and beyond.

Viveka, Steve, and Sharline also share how they’re each finding gratitude in this moment and take a moment to breathe deeply and reflect.

Viveka Chen - Strozzi Institute

co-LAB Collective's Radical Sabbatical

co-LAB Collective's Helpful Frameworks for Hard Times

When No Thing Works: A Zen and Indigenous Perspective on Resilience, Shared Purpose, and Leadership in the Timeplace of Collapse // Norma Wong

Steve and Sharline reflect on the results of the 2024 election and where we go from here as a nation. They share how they’re processing their feelings and discuss top takeaways of this election cycle including the impact of sexism, how to understand the exit polls, and changing voter dynamics across the country. 

They also lift up lessons learned and future strategies centered around state and local elections, as well as key leaders, groups, and organizations that will be central to the fight for a multiracial democracy in the coming months and years.

Steve's Recs for what to do and who to support:

• Subscribe to: Stacey Abrams' Assembly Required podcast
• Get involved with: Working Families Party
• Learn about: Michael Tubbs
• Support: LUCHA
• Follow: Congressman Greg Casar

Philadelphia-based journalist Ernest Owens joins Steve and Sharline to share how things are shaping up in one of Democrats’ most critical states leading up to Election Day. Ernest describes the current energy in the state and the nuanced levels of engagement he’s witnessing compared to previous elections. He shares what’s top of mind for Black voters in Philly including his take on the media’s hand-wringing about Black male voters. 

Ernest Owens - ernestowens.com @mrernestowens

The media can’t seem to stop talking about Black men. So, we decided to do something radical: let two Black men discuss Black men. Washington Post opinion columnist Perry Bacon Jr. returns to the show to share his thoughts on where VP Harris’ race stands, how he’s thinking about Black voters, and the evolving media landscape in this election.

REFERENCES: 

Perry Bacon Jr - Washington Post, @PerryBaconJr & @perrybaconjr.bsky.social

Credits:

Created, directed and written by Fola Onifade
Produced and edited by Olivia Parker
Special thanks to Sharline Chiang and the Democracy in Color Team

Steve and Sharline share one…or maybe more than one thing they’re hopeful for, worried about, and watching for in the tea leaves as Election Day draws closer. 

In the second half of the show, Steve’s niece and her friend Julia join him on “Exit Polls” to share their thoughts on Kamala Harris’ candidacy and offer some insight into how Gen Z’ers are processing this election cycle.

The summer of 2024 will no doubt go down in history as one of the most tumultuous, transformative, and monumental summers before an election. Following Biden’s historic decision to step down from the race, Vice President Kamala Harris’ rise to the top of the Democratic ticket shifted the national sentiment into high gear and generated Obama-level excitement among constituents.

In Part 2 of The Path Forward, we hear from four women voters across the country about how they’re processing this year’s election, the issues at the top of their mind, and what their vision for a country that works for everyone could look like.  

Credits:

Created, directed and written by Fola Onifade
Produced and edited by Olivia Parker
Special thanks to Sharline Chiang and the Democracy in Color Team

Between Kamala Harris’ sharp debate performance and the increased hateful rhetoric from the right, Democrats are poised to win in states Obama captured.

Steve and Sharline discuss the latest reported assassination attempt against Trump and the broader issue of increased political violence and gun violence in the U.S. from school shootings to death threats against election workers in Georgia. 

They also share their thoughts on the debate between Harris and Trump, including Trump’s dangerous lies about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio. Sharline shares an important connection to her own childhood experiences with anti-Asian and anti-immigrant hate.

The two also look at a “six-pack” of other critical races that will be key to Democrats’ victory this fall, including states that Obama won, such as North Carolina and Florida, as well as major swing states like Arizona and Pennsylvania.

On November 5, millions of voters will make their way to the polling booths to answer some of the most pivotal questions defining American politics today: What kind of country do we want to be? And do we want to move our country forward towards progress or backward towards harm and repression?

In Part 1 of The Path Forward, we explore the key components of the modern-day “Confederate Battle Plan” (coined by Steve Phillips, author of How We Win the Civil War) to make America white again. We place Trump and the Republican political strategy of hatred and bigotry in historical context to answer the question of what Kamala Harris means when she says “We’re not going back.”

Credits:

Created, directed and written by Fola Onifade
Produced and edited by Olivia Parker
Special thanks to Sharline Chiang and the Democracy in Color Team

Steve and Sharline recap VP Harris and Coach Walz’s first sit-down media interview, held last week with CNN, as well as the DNC which took place earlier in August. They discuss the upcoming presidential debate on September 10 and what Kamala Harris needs to do to win. They also briefly touch on how Democrats can gain a government trifecta in 2025.