Arena Talks

You've probably heard that the DNC and John Podesta got their email accounts hacked during the 2016 election. And we can probably agree that securing accounts like our email is important. The problem is that too many people agree its important, but don't do anything about it.

We share stories from the early days of the first Obama presidential campaign, Obama’s progression as a candidate during the ‘08 primary, Shomik’s job running “call time” with Obama, and the journey that has brought us to this new political time.

Rita entered the political arena after the November election. She watched $20m get spent on a California race with two progressive democrats running against each other. She was inspired to launch sister district to match resources with races where they'll have a greater impact.

We talk about how Sister District works, why it's focused on state races, and how you can get involved.

Ross is a Principal at Smoot Tewes Group. He was previously a management consultant at Deloitte’s innovation center, where he worked with the White House to develop policy solutions to support the growth of social enterprise and impact investing.

Ross got his political start working with Julian Castro in 2005 and Bill Richardson in 2007.

His new organization, Run for Something, is working to build a bench of young, progressive, political leaders.

In this episode, Adbul and I discuss the parallels between science and politics (6:14); how he found himself running the health department of the city of Detroit (14:21); the balance of privilege and work ethic that he sees through the lens of being the child of an immigrant (18:13); the call to responsibility for American millennials that has grown since the election (31:18); and the broader economic implications that have driven some of Michigan’s infrastructural failures (36:42).

Haley talks about growing up in Michigan and her journey from Michigan to the Obama Administration, where she served as Chief of Staff to the Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry. Then, she talks about her decision to jump in the Arena as a candidate for office.

In this episode, we’ll hear from Jimmy about how he got started as an activist, how the Town Hall Project crashed Google Docs, and how you can get involved — even if you’re a first-timer.

As the founder of Let America Vote, Jason is fighting for voting rights across the country. He was previously the Missouri Secretary of State and a candidate for the US Senate. He is joined by Jocelyn Benson, who was a previously a candidate for Michigan Secretary of State and is currently the CEO of the Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality.

Brittany discusses the privilege of the activist, that those who are most in need of support are burdened by the necessity of working to put food on the table or cannot voice their truth for fear of political or religious persecution (“privilege is not hyperbole; it is a reality”) (2:03); her upbringing in an activist household where “justice was the family business” (3:28); how marginalized groups like African Americans, immigrants, people with disabilities, and the LGBTQ community are in “the arena,” whether they like it or not (“even if we aren’t interested in racism, racism is interested in us” h/t Ta-Nehisi Coates) (3:51); how it doesn’t matter if this is your first taste of activism or if you are a veteran, we need to push forward together (“I don’t care how you got woke, I just care that you stay woke”) (6:03); and how we must stay fierce in our fight against oppressive forces (“aim to become an enemy of injustice so powerful that the orange man in the White House will tweet about you”) (7:31).

While Brian acknowledges the clear and present threats posed by both immediate shifts in the climate and the naivety of the denial of the current administration (3:03), he poses three core reasons for optimism: “the economics are on our side” – the economy has seen sustained growth while carbon emissions have seen a sustained decline, and alternative energy resources continue to become cheaper and more employable alternatives to more dirty energy sources (3:52); “the political conversation that is happening about climate change in the United States is not happening anywhere else in this planet” – despite the frustrations we see in our lack of action in the United States, the rest of the world acknowledges the reality of science and climate change (7:32); and that “Donald Trump has made climate change an issue of action for states and cities in this country” – organically, a group calling itself “We’re Still In” including more than a dozen states, hundreds of cities, and thousands of companies, has agreed to maintain the standards set by the Paris Accords agreement (9:18). The states acting as part of this group represent more than half of all emissions in the United States, meaning that their actions are not only politically significant, but are also functionally key to continued carbon reduction and safety.