A reformed political operative himself, John Pudner founded Take Back Our Republic to work on reforming American democracy so that politicians are incentivized by good governance rather than foreign money and by fair representation rather than special interests. We visit with John about his roots as a paperboy in a diverse Richmond neighborhood to an education in journalism and a career in politics, including how he stopped helping candidates win and started creating a system worth winning.

Special guests technology gurus Sara Gifford and Victor Allis tell us about their app, ActiVote, which helps people increase their civic engagement by completing meaningful, daily actions. 

From his run for class president in 3rd grade to forming a 3rd-party political party in New York state, John Opdycke is no stranger to disrupting the political system. In this episode we hear from John about the value of independent voters and how open primaries—in its many forms—can be a catalyst for improving not just our politics, but our government as a whole.

Bio: 

John Opdycke is the President of Open Primaries and is one of the country’s most visible and vocal advocates for primary reform. John grew up outside Chicago in Evanston, Illinois and later attended the University of Michigan. He began his career as a fundraiser and researcher for the Rainbow Lobby, which advocated for ballot access and debate reform in the United States and supported the pro-democracy movement in the Congo (Zaire).

In 1992, John joined Dr. Lenora Fulani's independent campaign for president as a regional fundraising director, and in 1994 he also assisted Dr. Fulani in her campaign against Mario Cuomo in the New York Democratic Party gubernatorial primary. That same year, John participated in the founding of the New York State Independence Party, a state affiliate of the National Reform Party. A few years later John became the director of development of Independentvoting.org, where he was incredibly successful.

John has appeared on Fox News, MSNBC, Al Jazeera, Cheddar TV, PBS, and NBC and his written commentary on the subject of independent politics and electoral reform has appeared in USA Today, Newsweek, The Hill, The Fulcrum and dozens of local publications.

Amber McReynolds is an elections expert, author, leader, and mother. She is currently the CEO of the National Vote at Home Institute and was recently appointed to US Postal Service Board of Governors, where is the the only female member and the first person with voting and elections expertise to serve on the body. We visited about her experience reforming Denver's election system, the importance of having an equitable and accessible electoral system, and the role women can (and should) play in reforming our democracy. 

Who exactly do politicians work for, anyway? To answer that, we're joined by Josh Silver, co-founder and executive director of RepresentUs, and organization that brings together conservatives, progressives, and everyone in between to pass powerful state and local laws that fix our broken elections and stop political bribery. RepUs seeks to dismantle the root causes of inequities in our democracy and end political corruption, extremism and gridlock.

Chad Peace is a nationally recognized leader in election law, voter rights, and a legal strategist for the Independent Voter Project. We discuss his background, the rise of independent voters, and how that is affecting the landscape of the democracy reform movement across the country.

We're joined by Rob Richie, CEO of FairVote, to discuss his organization, where he finds his passion for democracy reform, and how RCV faired in the Democratic primary for the New York City mayor's race.

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On this episode of UnRig It, the official podcast of the National Association of Nonpartisan Reformers, host Shawn Griffiths talks with the Association's new executive director, Andy Moore. Shawn and Andy discuss his background in the reform space, what motivated him to get involved in the Association, and the next steps he would like to see the Association and the pro-voter movement take as we move into the future. Andy explains how this is a moment of self-reflection as reformers assess the challenges that still lie in front of them while also building tremendous support among voters who are tired of the political status quo in the US.

And, not only is Andy the new executive director of NANR, but he will soon be the new host of UnRig It. Check out the podcast to learn more about him and where we, as a movement, go from here. Thanks for listening!

On this episode of UnRig It, IVN Network editor Shawn Griffiths is joined by filmmakers Hemal Trivedi and Jonah Markowitz to discuss their new documentary film Battleground. As described in the official synopsis, "Battleground is an intimate look at our current political divide, as seen through the eyes of two grassroots activists in the pivot counties of the Lehigh Valley, PA." The subjects of the documentary are Tom Carroll, a Trump delegate and Tea Party chairman, and Greg Edwards, a black pastor and a progressive leader endorsed by Bernie Sanders.

These two men come from polar opposite sides of the political spectrum but the directors observed that over the course of the three years they took to make the documentary, Carroll and Edwards had more in common than one might realize. Their primary struggle, they note, is not against each other, but against the political machines that control their parties. The synopsis further states that Battleground "is an antidote to the media echo chamber effect, which is marked by passion, but often devoid of understanding." 

Public screenings of Battleground can now be booked along with a Q&A with the directors. See the documentary's website for more information. Also, if you like the podcast or find it informative, be sure to follow or subscribe wherever you listen to podcast and leave a review where you can. Thanks for listening!