The act of protest is a vital, visible, and essential tool in resisting the fall of democracy, and it takes commitment,  disruption, and denial – three  of the ten steps to freedom and power. While protest gives us a platform to voice our grievances, foster solidarity, and demand change, it is not the only tool we have in our toolbox. When combined with other forms of direct nonviolent action — such as strikes, economic boycott, documenting abuses of power, and providing mutual aid like meals , and more — the impact multiplies. And one of the leading scholars of resistance has a theory: if just 3.5% of a nation’s population engages in sustained nonviolent civil resistance, they will succeed. This week on Assembly Required, Stacey Abrams is joined by Erica Chenoweth, the professor and political scientist behind the 3.5% theory, who talks about how making a difference is more within reach than we imagine. 

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email [email protected] and include the name of the podcast.

Learn & Do More:

• Be Curious:If you enjoyed my conversation with Erica about the power of peaceful protest, check out their book Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict.
• Solve Problems: As we discussed in this episode, physical protest is just one tactic in the broader act of nonviolent civil resistance. As we lay out in the 10 Steps campaign, on the road to freedom and power, we don’t all need to do the same thing, but we can all do something. Donate to causes you care about, participate in economic boycotts, vote in local elections, or contact your elected officials. And if you do decide to physically protest, remember to know your rights and stay safe. Visit the American Civil Liberties Union for a guide to knowing your rights as a protester, and check out Wired’s article on how to protest safely.
• Do Good: The Trump administration and Republicans are refusing to tap into a $6 billion contingency fund to cover SNAP benefits if the shutdown continues into next month. That means in November, 42 million Americans will not receive food assistance. This unprecedented cruelty demands action. Please consider making donations to your local food bank or volunteering. Organizations like Feeding America can help you find places to volunteer near you. And get your kids involved. Feeding America has an age appropriate guide for ways families can help together, like hosting a food drive. Finally, call your governor and ask them to urge the secretary of agriculture to reverse this devastating decision.

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National Guardsmen are being deployed into Democratic-led cities under the guise of fighting crime. ICE, using military-style tactics, are racially profiling and terrorizing communities and brutalizing citizens and undocumented immigrants alike. Trump and the Republicans cynically describe millions of peaceful protestors raising their voices against authoritarianism as a violent threat. Taken separately, each of these events is disturbing. Together, they paint a stark and terrifying portrait of America in 2025. The Trump/Republican regime’s campaign against so-called “enemies within” has unleashed a wave of violence across the country. Step Nine of the Ten Steps to Autocracy  is militarizing law enforcement and fomenting state-sanctioned or private violence to silence dissent. That’s why this week on Assembly Required, Stacey talks to two experts on recognizing, responding to, and rebuilding after state violence: Lindsay Toczylowski, Co-Founder and President/CEO of the Immigrant Defenders Law Center, and Insha Rahman, Vice President of Advocacy and Partnerships at the Vera Institute of Justice and Director of Vera Action. 

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email [email protected] and include the name of the podcast.

Learn & Do More:

• Be Curious: To better understand our immigration system and how it impacts undocumented immigrants, asylum seekers, and refugees, visit organizations like Refugees International and the American Immigration Council . Explore Lindsay Toczylowski’s  organization, the Immigrant Defenders Law Center, for resources that can help you or your loved ones understand your rights. Insha Rahman’s organization, the Vera Institute of Justice, works to end mass incarceration and advance immigrant rights. Their series, Justice in the Age of Trump, offers insights and tools to help you make sense of the current moment.
• Solve Problems: This episode was recorded before the No Kings protests that swept across the United States. Whether you marched or watched from home, it’s crucial to keep showing up, speaking out, and taking action. Peaceful protest and civic engagement remain among the strongest tools we have to hold this administration accountable and push back against totalitarian policies. Don’t underestimate the power of consistent, collective action—every voice, every step, every sign makes a difference.
• Do Good: Donate to organizations like ImmDef and explore their volunteer opportunities to support immigrant communities struggling to access basic resources. We also have the right to document abuses carried out by ICE. Get involved with rapid response networks in your community to gather and share footage—especially at local courthouses—to shine a light on what’s happening and ensure accountability.

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Fashion isn’t just functional — it’s transformative. It can be a form of political speech, like when Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez made headlines in a white gown emblazoned with “Tax the Rich.” It can also be a statement of resistance, as when the Black Panthers adopted black berets, a uniform that came to symbolize unity and power. Understanding the language of fashion is key to understanding the times we live in. It’s a translator for anyone trying to navigate this moment and one of the ten steps to reclaiming freedom and power as we challenge norms and assert our identity. Those of us who are pro-democracy may one day need to show who we are just as clearly. What we wear might matter more than we think. This week on Assembly Required, Stacey is joined by fashion editor and Pulitzer Prize–winning writer Robin Givhan. She breaks down how fashion reflects our culture back to us and what that reflection reveals about the political moment we’re in.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email [email protected] and include the name of the podcast.

Learn & Do More:

• Be Curious: If you enjoyed my conversation with Robin, pick up her latest book, Make It Ours: Crashing the Gates of Culture with Virgil Abloh.
• Solve Problems: Of the 100 billion garments produced each year, 92 million tonnes end up in landfills — the equivalent of one garbage truck full of clothes every single second. To help reduce waste, be mindful of your clothing consumption and shopping habits. Before clicking “buy” on that fast fashion site for the latest trend at the cheapest price, ask yourself: Do I really need this? Can I buy it from a sustainable source? Can I thrift something similar instead?
• Do Good:If you have old clothes or have been meaning to clean out your closet, don’t throw them away. Instead, consider donating them to those in need. Goodwill, your place of worship, or local homeless shelters are great places to start.

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Knowledge is power — a familiar cliché, but one that’s never felt more urgent. Trump and his Republican lackeys have launched alarming efforts to distort facts, manipulate evidence, and dilute the truth in order to disempower us. Very little has been left untouched, and the harm to scientific inquiry, the study of history, and institutions that preserve historical memory will be hard to reverse. Understanding our history is how we know that despite the dark chapters, this country is resilient. Knowledge is the key to being able to take action to shape our futures. This systematic campaign to upend reality is straight out of an autocrat’s playbook. This week on Assembly Required, Stacey is joined by Adam Serwer, senior writer at The Atlantic and author of The Cruelty Is the Point, to unpack the Republican attack on knowledge, its real world impact, and explore what we can do to resist their attempts to replace truth with ideology.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email [email protected] and include the name of the podcast.

Learn & Do More:

• Be Curious: Pick up a copy of Adam’s book, The Cruelty Is the Point, and explore his powerful writing for The Atlantic for sharp, insightful commentary on how to make sense of our current reality.
• Solve Problems: If your local school district is taking steps to undermine education or restrict knowledge, speak up. Attend school board meetings whether or not you have kids in the system. Follow the example of parents in Florida who’ve organized supplemental Black history lessons at local cultural centers. Educators and creators are also using TikTok to share important history lessons, a reminder that learning can thrive anywhere.
• Do Good: ProPublica reported that the Trump administration destroyed 94 million pounds of food rather than allowing it to be delivered to food banks across the country. As the economy weakens and furloughed federal employees face financial strain, consider supporting your local food bank. Visit FeedingAmerica.org to find one near you and learn how you can help.

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One of authoritarianism’s core tactics is claiming the system is broken beyond repair and only one man can fix it. Enter Donald Trump. He’s reshaped the Republican Party around his insidious MAGA ideology, casting Democrats as enemies bent on destroying the country. For centuries, America’s two-party system has kept Republicans and Democrats locked in battle, with third parties rarely breaking through. But today, to defeat autocracy and its effects, something beyond the binary is required. This week, Stacey is joined by Jane Coaston, host of What a Day at Crooked Media and a former card-carrying libertarian, along with Maurice Mitchell, National Director of the Working Families Party. Together, they unpack the importance  of third parties and explore how collective power might be the key to defeating Trump and the Republicans. 

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email [email protected] and include the name of the podcast.

Learn & Do More:

• Be Curious: For a sharp primer on how America’s unique approach to partisanship has imperiled our democracy, check out Tyranny of the Minority by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt.
• Solve Problems: Third-party ballot access is ultimately about giving voters more diverse political choices. Ranked choice voting helps elevate voices that reflect the complexity of our communities. Learn more at FairVote.org, and listen to our first episode of Assembly Required where we explored how RCV expands representation.
• Do Good: After our taping, the U.S. government may shut down. Millions of Americans—including thousands of federal workers—could be furloughed or lose access to essential services. Instead of calling your representatives, check in on neighbors who may be affected. In times like these, caring for one another is the best way to resist a government that fails to care for its people.

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Propaganda is a powerful tool for an autocrat. It’s crucial to step six of the Ten Steps to Autocracy: weaken the truth and fill the void with propaganda and lies. And since RFK Jr. allied with Trump and the Republicans before the 2024 election, the Make America Healthy Again movement has grown into a juggernaut of misinformation. You’ve seen it on your feeds - one minute you’re watching a recipe video or checking out someone’s post about a new workout, and then suddenly you’re listening to a young woman talk about how birth control is impure or how vaccines are dangerous. To understand this phenomenon, its unique impact on women, and why it is so insidious, we’re talking to New York Times reporter Emma Goldberg and wellness content creator and podcast host Kate Glavan about the wellness to right-wing radicalization pipeline

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email [email protected] and include the name of the podcast.

Learn & Do More:

• BE CURIOUS: Learning more about the history of women’s rights can help us combat efforts to erode our freedom. Backlash by Susan Faludi is a useful primer on the forces opposing women’s independence. The work of feminist scholar Andrew Dworkin can also provide useful context on the current moment.
• SOLVE PROBLEMS: Support accountability journalism that spotlights the truth about the MAHA movement and the ways that it is impacting our public health. Outlets like the New York Times, STAT News, KFF Health News, and Propublica are doing important work to expose right wing disinformation and replace it with the truth.
• DO GOOD: Support organizations like Reproductive Freedom for All and immunize.org that fight to promote accurate healthcare information and increase access.

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On this week’s episode of Assembly Required, Stacey Abrams breaks down the “Ten Steps to Autocracy,” a framework inspired by Princeton Professor Kim Scheppele that outlines the warning signs of a country sliding toward authoritarian rule. We’re watching Trump and the Republicans check off those steps in plain sight: expand and consolidate executive power, break down government institutions, sow distrust in the media, scapegoate vulnerable communities, incentivize violence, and their final goal: undermine free and fair elections in order to cement authoritarian rule. Today, Stacey is joined by Ari Berman, national voting rights correspondent at Mother Jones and author of Project 2026: Trump’s Plan to Rig the Next Election, to examine how Trump is poised to use this authoritarian playbook to undermine the 2026 midterms.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email [email protected] and include the name of the podcast.

Learn & Do More:

• BE CURIOUS: Visit 10StepsCampaign.org to learn more about the Ten Steps Campaign and how you can help your friends, family, and community recognize the signs, activate, and build power together.
• SOLVE PROBLEMS: Pick one of the Ten Steps to Freedom and Power and make it your personal mission this week.
• DO GOOD: Reach out to someone who may be feeling lost, and share what you’ve learned. We grow our confidence by growing our numbers.

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As back-to-school season kicks off, the Trump Administration has gutted the Department of Education, and his Republican allies in Congress have followed suit by slashing funds for our public schools. Locally, GOP governors and state legislators are jamming through private school voucher bills paid for with public dollars. That means rollbacks to special education services, massive cuts to Title I grants that support low-income students, and reduced civil rights enforcement in public schools. And that’s not all – the Republican budget bill slashes funding for free meals for students while ICE is showing up on playgrounds and at school drop-offs. Public education has long been an ideological battleground for many on the right, but now in Trump 2.0, we risk having authoritarians teach a version of America where most of our children will be footnotes. This is straight out of the authoritarian playbook - Step 4. When public education fails, people start to believe nothing works, and they start to forget what a functioning democracy is supposed to do: deliver for the people.That’s why this week on Assembly Required, Stacey Abrams brings in the experts to break down Trump’s slash-and-burn agenda and what it means for the people who feel it most: schoolchildren. First, she talks with Christina Rojas, a veteran public school speech-language pathologist, about what’s really happening on the ground. Then, she’s joined by Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association, and Sheria Smith, President of AFGE 252 & attorney for the Office of Civil Rights, for a panel discussion.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email [email protected] and include the name of the podcast.

Learn & Do More:

• BE CURIOUS: To learn how the right wing’s attacks on public education have misled policymakers and parents, read Death and the Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education by Diane Ravitch.
• SOLVE PROBLEMS: Protecting education is a job for all of us. Attend a school board meeting where you live before December to learn about what’s happening in your community’s schools. Don’t assume everyone knows what’s going on - talk to your neighbors about the issues you care about most. And empower your older children to join you in these efforts.
• DO GOOD: With cuts to SNAP, many children will not have access to regular meals. Consider joining up with neighbors to put together weekend food backpacks for kids. Visit www.feedingamerica.org and search “backpack program” for more information.

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The Assembly Required team is taking a break this week but we’re excited to bring you an episode of Happier with Gretchen Rubin featuring our very own Stacey Abrams.

In this Roundtable discussion, we explore the role of romance in fiction and real life. Author and political leader Stacey Abrams explains how she weaves it into her suspense novels by focusing on authentic human connection, while therapist Lori Gottlieb brings her perspective on love off the page. Together, we look at how romance is imagined, experienced, and sustained today.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email [email protected] and include the name of the podcast.

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Authoritarianism takes many forms - including stripping women of their rights. This summer marked three years since Roe v. Wade was overturned, eradicating the federal constitutional right to abortion and handing states the power to impose extreme restrictions or outright bans. The fallout has been devastating. Women have been hospitalized, dragged into court, and some have died as a direct result of Roe’s reversal. On this week’s Assembly Required, Stacey Abrams is joined by New York Times  best-selling author Jessica Valenti to break down the current state of the fight for abortion access, and by Monica Simpson—executive director of the pioneering women of color reproductive justice collective SisterSong—to dig into what’s happening on the frontlines in the South and how reproductive rights are the cornerstone of all other rights. 

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email [email protected] and include the name of the podcast.

Learn & Do More:

1. BE CURIOUS: Want to dig deeper into the state of abortion access and funding after the fall of Roe v. Wade? Check out Jessica Valenti’s daily Substack, Abortion, Every Day. And mark your calendars for September 30th, when Rebecca Kelliher’s new book Just Pills: The Extraordinary Story of a Revolution in Abortion Care hits shelves. It explores the history of abortion pills and what it can teach us about navigating this moment.
2. SOLVE PROBLEMS: Too often we organize only in reaction to attacks—but we’re creative enough to decide what we want to go after next. This week, I want you to imagine what good policy actually looks like. Not just what might pass, or how to fix what’s broken, but what we truly want and deserve. Drop your ideas in the comments or email me. We have to start building better ideas today.
3. DO GOOD:  Support SisterSong at sistersong.net , and look for local organizations fighting for abortion access and reproductive justice in your own community. Donate to abortion funds if you can or reach out and ask if they need volunteers.

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