Republican Congressional aide Neil Volz was convicted for conspiring to bribe members of Congress. Desmond Meade was a Black military veteran who fell into addiction, homelessness and prison. As people with a felony record, they were both stripped of their vote in the state of Florida. A chance encounter led to Desmond recruiting Neil, a white conservative, to join his audacious campaign to overturn the Jim Crow era felony voting ban. Their shared belief in second chances formed the basis of an unlikely friendship--and that friendship was one of the secret weapons in a broad multiracial, cross-partisan coalition that unleashed one of largest expansions of voting rights in US history.

TRANSCRIPT: HERE

CREDITS:

Host and Creator: Heather McGhee

Original Music and Theme Song by: Thee Sacred Souls 

Producers: Cassim Shepard, Ryan Kailath, Emilce Quiroz, Joaquin Cotler and Juan Diego Ramirez, with help from Liliana Ruiz, Sophia Lo, Susanna Kemp and Alissa Vladimir

Senior Producers: Nicole Rothwell, Jeanne Montalvo, and Fernanda Echavarri

Editors: Sandy Rattley and Maria Garcia

Mix Engineers: Stephanie Lebow and Julia Caruso

Researchers: Lynn Kanter and Carolyn Lipka

Executive Producer for Futuro Studios: Marlon Bishop

Executive producers for Higher Ground: Mukta Mohan, Dan Fierman, Anna Holmes, and Janae Marable

Editorial assistant for Higher Ground: Jenna Levin

Executive producers for Spotify: Daniel Ek, Dawn Ostroff, Julie McNamara and Corinne Gilliard 

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