Democrats Abroad: The Blue Vote Café

Dr. Raquel Armstrong is running for statewide office in Arizona's Legislative District 13. "Leadership," she says, "is the thing you do even when you're afraid."

She talks about the importance of nonpartisan voter registration work, about issues specific to her district (including water, education, and addressing affordability holistically), and about the work she does to connect people in need with affordable, reliable transportation.

For more information https://rockee4az.com/

Listen to the full library of Blue Vote Café episodes at https://bluevotecafe.com.

Register and request your ballot every calendar year at https://www.votefromabroad.org/.

Gay Valimont, Democratic candidate running for the U.S. House in Florida's 1st Congressional District, discusses gun violence prevention, fixing healthcare, and three urgent priorities when Democrats take office: ending the war, addressing the affordability crisis, and rolling back tariffs.

She also shares how her moral compass guides her party affiliation, and the key message she wants to impart to younger generations.

Listen to the full library of Blue Vote Café episodes at https://bluevotecafe.com.

Register and request your ballot every calendar year at https://www.votefromabroad.org/.

Dr. Christopher Jones (rocket scientist, minister, and girl dad) visits the café to talk about his campaign to represent Arkansas in Congress and the Triple A theme of his platform: affordability and accountability for all.

Emphasizing the importance of human connection, he touches on how people are hurting, why this moment feels like 9/11, where progressives and MAGA voters find common ground, and how clearing away the rubble allows us to build something new.

He also offers his perspective as a nuclear engineer on regulatory frameworks to manage AI, discusses the galvanizing force in the White House, and takes a brief tangent into the facial expressions of dogs—with a shoutout to #JudgeJohnHodgman.

Find the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com.

Register and request your ballot every year at https://www.votefromabroad.org/.

Acclaimed children's author Bruce Coville joins us to discuss teaching history through ghost stories. He shares the 30-year journey behind a long-gestating manuscript, the local Syracuse, NY history uncovered along the way, and the parallels he sees between the McCarthy era and modern-day threats to civil liberties.

Plus, Bruce reflects on the formative influence of Mad magazine, landing as a New York Times crossword clue, sounding early alarms on AI scraping books, and paving the way for fart jokes in children's literature.

Links & Resources:

• Full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes: https://bluevotecafe.com

• Register and request your overseas ballot: https://www.votefromabroad.org/

• For more information, visit https://sdfcu.org/ or email [email protected].

Sam Salmon and Josh Barrett discuss the State Department Federal Credit Union (SDFCU) and its new partnership with Democrats Abroad, which allows DA members to join and bank with SDFCU.

The conversation explores critical financial issues facing Americans living overseas, including debanking, accessing Medallion signature guarantees and remote notarial services, and receiving payments or checks from the U.S. government. They also discuss working with DA Taxation Task Force Chair Rebecca Lammers to make this partnership happen—and how Democrats Abroad's free membership makes it the only overseas Americans organization through which you can qualify for SDFCU without paying annual membership fees.

• For more information, visit https://sdfcu.org/ or email [email protected].

• Find the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com.

• Register and request your ballot every year at https://www.votefromabroad.org/.

Laura Sirot is joined by Friend of the Pod Miguel Madrigal to talk about her run for State Senate in Ohio's District 31 under the banner of "finding common ground for the common good."

Laura talks about being a problem-solver and a decision-maker, about getting s**t done, and about her ability as a mother to detect problems combined with the know-how of a scientist to solve them.

She and Miguel share tales from the campaign about Trump fatigue, challenges for farmers, and the lack of public transit.

Laura talks about being denied entry into a Ramaswamy campaign event and the importance of building respect between opponents.

The questions of why Ohio did not establish a nonpartisan districting commission, whether Laura is too smart to be a politician, and where you can hear her talk about sex and reproduction (https://www.icameforscience.org/) are also explored.

To reach Laura or to get involved in her campaign: https://www.sirotforohio.org/.

Find the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com.

Register and request your ballot every year at https://www.votefromabroad.org/.

After a brief discussion of Ottawa's Canada Day fireworks—followed by the importance of Kool-Aid in Hastings, Nebraska—ASDC Chair and DNC Vice Chair Jane Kleeb tackles how to address anger directed at Democrats and the DNC. She explores what must change as we head into the midterms to hopefully regain the reins of government, and highlights a unique point of resistance that is uniting Americans: data centers.

She also discusses how the DNC is preparing for possible interference by creating election protection plans, explains how grassroots organizations like Indivisible, No Kings, the Black Power War Room, and Swing Left operate like "after-school care," and invites listeners to review their strategy.

• View the DNC Playbook: https://democrats.org/the-dnc-playbook/

• Listen to the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes: http://bluevotecafe.com

• Register and request your ballot every year: https://www.votefromabroad.org/

After World War II, American GI colleges sprang up across Europe to educate US soldiers who were still stationed abroad. What was their lasting impact on the local communities, and what did these historic campuses really look like?

In this episode of Blue Vote Café, we dive into a fascinating piece of post-war history. Glenn McRae, whose father attended one of these unique institutions, shares his extensive research into the American GI colleges founded in Europe. He is joined by Marc Artzrouni to recount their recent journey to Biarritz, France, where they retraced the footsteps of Glenn's father and visited the sites he would have known.

In This Episode:

• The Legacy of Biarritz American University: We explore how these institutions served as prime examples of American "soft power" at its best and discuss the lasting effects they had on local European communities.

• Iconic Faculty: Learn about the experts and famous figures affiliated with the university, including the legendary Marlene Dietrich.

• The Marlboro Connection: Listen for a special shout-out to Marlboro College in Vermont—founded by some of the same people to educate veterans back home on the GI Bill—which also happens to be Rachel's alma mater!

📸 Special Bonus: Be sure to stick around until the very end of the video for some photos and a reminder of the beautiful voice of Marlene Dietrich.

🎧 Explore More Episodes: Find the full audio library and stay up to date with the Blue Vote Café at: http://bluevotecafe.com.

🗳️ Make Your Voice Heard: Your vote matters, no matter where in the world you are. Register and request your absentee ballot every year at: https://www.votefromabroad.org/.

Political influencer Ariella Elm drops into the café to talk about why "voter apathy" is a myth, reminding us that Election Day is truly every Tuesday. She underlines the importance of knowing—and fighting for—what is politically possible, and shares insights on building active voter groups on Sway.co.

This conversation touches on:

• The concepts of Rallywe'en and Doomerella.

• Thoughts on Chuck Schumer and the reasons why people stop trusting Democrats.

• Overcoming the lie that we are doomed and staying persistently engaged.

Listen & Take Action:

• Follow Ariella Elm everywhere (and make sure to turn your notifications on!).

• Find the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com.

• Register and request your ballot every year at https://www.votefromabroad.org/.

Freya Proudman drops into the café to talk about building a youth caucus from the ground up. Rejecting the notion that youth engagement is just about free pizza, Freya underlines the importance of offering young people the opportunity to get involved and contribute in myriad ways to the effort of reclaiming the America we love.

This conversation touches on:

• The current dearth of DA leaders under the age of 30.

• Why young people are not just our future, but our active present.

• The zine and other grassroots organizing efforts undertaken by DA UK.

• The realities of aging out of—or into—different classifications and leadership opportunities.

Listen & Take Action:

• Find the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes at bluevotecafe.com.

• Register and request your ballot every year at VoteFromAbroad.org!