Arena Talks

Stacey has an amazing story. She was President of her class at Spelman and graduated from Yale Law School as a Truman Scholar. She’s also the daughter of two ministers.

We talk about a wide range of topics - including growing up in the South, getting involved in politics, and overcoming obstacles along the way.

Unfortunately, the audio in this episode isn’t great, but the content of our conversation is. We recommend you stick it out!

We welcome a special guest, Anthony Vitarelli, to talk about those charges. He’s a former attorney for the US Department of Justice and former Senior Advisor to the US Secretary of the Treasury. He began his legal career clerking for Supreme Court Justices David Souter and Stephen Breyer.

Our conversation starts with the upcoming election in Alabama, where John lives and is helping support Doug Jones. We go all the way back to Joe Biden’s race in 1987. And we talk about what it will take for Democrats to win back the South.

We talk about everything from forest fire prevention to reaching across the aisle to appeal to voters from different parties.

Jessica is part of our inaugural class of Arena Fellows. She’s someone we truly believe in, and think she represents the next generation of leaders in our country.

Michael talks about his rise through adversity in Stockton, his first campaign to unseat an incumbent City Council Member, and then his next campaign to unseat another incumbent to become one of the youngest Mayors in America.

Brian talks about his decision to run for office when he was only 25 years old, how his father called attention to the notorious and racist Tuskegee syphilis experiments, his new bill to allow consumers to choose to buy-in to Medicaid, and the latest Republican effort to repeal Obamacare.

We first met Kevin at the Arena Summit in Nashville in December 2016, a few weeks after the Presidential election. Kevin was one of the first people there to raise his hand to commit to enter the arena and run for office.

And now it’s real. Kevin’s election is only a few weeks away on November 7th. Kevin is running to fight back against the opaque political and patronage machine that has dominated his community for the last 140 years.

Jeremy has a fascinating story. He grew up in small town Missouri in a trailer park. He talks about his journey from that trailer park to some of the most influential rooms in politics.

Debbie and Will came to The Arena Summit in Detroit in June. They were connected through friends in The Arena Community, and as a result, decided to merge their organizations and amplify their impact.

Their organizations — Herd on the Hill and Stamps Licked — match you with people who live in Washington, DC who can make personal, face-to-face contact with your elected officials on your behalf.

Addisu is an old friend. When I was just started in politics, he taught me to:

1. Clear your desk by the end of the day.

2. Make sure everything you need in the morning is prepared the night before.

3. Show up one hour earlier than you think you need to.

We talk about this advice, his experiences, the 2020 field, and much more.