Inside Change

Sustaining progressive media outlets is famously difficult. It's hard to make or raise any money since philanthropic donors often steer away from media. However, progressive magazines and journals play a super important role in American politics and culture. They investigate stories about the abuse of power that nobody else pays attention to, and they help shift key debates in public life.

Few people know the world of progressive media better than Katrina vanden Heuvel, who was editor of The Nation magazine for nearly 25 years, starting in 1995. During that time, Katrina brought enormous new energy in legions of new subscribers to The Nation. She also emerged as one of the left's most visible commentators. Appearing regularly on ABC news and writing a column in the Washington post these days, host David Callahan spoke with Katrina on donors and changes in progressive politics.

Inside Change is produced by David Callahan and Kayan Tara.

Host David Callahan first met Heather McGee nearly 20 years ago when she was hired as a researcher at Demos, the think tank David co-founded in 1999. Even back then, in her early twenties, Heather was a superstar. Sure enough, she eventually became president of Demos in 2014. She held that position until 2018 when she left Demos to begin traveling through America to research and write her new book, "The Sum of Us: How Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together."

Heather’s book makes a powerful case about the costs of racism and racial division. What's so unusual about her argument is that she doesn't mainly focus on the cost inflicted on people of color. Instead, she zeroes in on how racism also hurts white people by undermining the government and the ability of Americans to come together to solve our biggest problems. David spoke to Heather not long after her book was published.

Inside Change is produced by David Callahan and Kayan Tara.

Not since the 1960s has there been so much grassroots activism on the left. One sign of that renaissance has been the emergence of the Working Families Party as an important national player in progressive politics. Going from a small regional third party, mostly focused on one state, today the Working Families Party is striving to build power in 11 States, with a mission focused on creating a strong, multiracial working-class movement. It's more prominent and better funded than ever before.

Maurice Mitchell became the National Director of the Working Families Party in 2018. Host David Callahan spoke with Maurice on the nature of grassroots organizing, and how a third party like Working Families can make an impact in our two-party electoral system.

Inside Change is produced by David Callahan and Kayan Tara.

One big takeaway of the 2020 election is that America’s electoral map is changing. Democrats are becoming more competitive in the South and Southwest even as they work harder to secure wins in the Midwest. The victories in those two states were no great surprise to Steve Phillips, a political donor, and author who has spent years talking about how to mobilize new voters of color and win more elections.

With his wife Susan Sandler, Phillips invests in grassroots work through the Susan Sandler Fund, a philanthropy the couple created last year. Phillips is the host of “Democracy in Color with Steve Phillips,” a color-conscious podcast on politics, and also the founder of Democracy in Color, a political media organization. His new book, How to “Win the Civil War,” will be published this fall. Host David Callahan spoke with Phillips on what the Democratic party and its donors need to do to build a new American majority.

Inside Change is produced by David Callahan and Kayan Tara.

It’s pretty much impossible to create and sustain a more compassionate, powerful government, one that’s up to the huge challenges of our time, without raising taxes. The public sector at every level—federal, state, and local—needs more revenue. It’s been baffling that tax policy doesn’t get more attention from those leaders and institutions working to create a fairer, more equitable America.

It’s only been in recent years that tax policy has generated real interest in progressive circles, thanks to bold proposals for a wealth tax. Now, with Biden in office and Democrats in control of Congress, we’re likely to be talking a lot more about this topic. Biden has pledged to raise taxes by more than $3 trillion. One organization that has been waiting for this moment is the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy, which is based in Washington, D.C. and led by Amy Hanauer. Host David Callahan spoke with Hanauer on the many facets of tax policy. 

Inside Change is produced by David Callahan and Kayan Tara.

Over the past quarter-century, Gara LaMarche has had a super interesting career in philanthropy and progressive politics. For nearly a decade, starting in the mid-1990s, he worked for George Soros helping Soros figure out how to give away hundreds of millions of dollars in the United States. During that time, the Open Society Foundations would emerge as a key early funder of causes like criminal justice reform and marriage equality. LaMarche then went to work for another top mega-donor, Chuck Feeney, and led Atlantic Philanthropies, where he was once again in charge of giving away huge piles of money.

After that, he became head of the Democracy Alliance, a network of wealthy donors that collectively moves tens of millions of dollars a year to progressive causes. Along the way, LaMarche has worked with just about every important organization and leader on the left. LaMarche has been a practitioner of big philanthropy, but also a thoughtful critic. Host David Callahan spoke with LaMarche not long before he announced that he would be stepping down as president of the Democracy Alliance.  

Inside Change is produced by David Callahan and Kayan Tara.

Never before has there been so much progressive energy, whether you're looking at the world of activism or think tanks or media. As for the Democratic Party, while it is far from dominant today and struggles to win elections in many places, one cannot recall a time when the party felt more like the vehicle of a true political movement. There's so much going on these days in the progressive world, that it can be hard to get your arms around it and see the big picture.

Journalist Robert Kuttner recently published a lengthy and insightful article on Democratic politics and the progressive movement in the American Prospect, the magazine which he is the co-founder. Kuttner has been a keen student of the Democratic party for a very long time, publishing 12 books on the subject. Host David Callahan spoke with Robert Kuttner on what he learned in his career and how progressive politics today fits into a bigger story he's been writing about for decades.

Inside Change is produced by David Callahan and Kayan Tara.

By the beginning of this century, inequality stood at record levels and free market ideology reigned supreme facing little pushback, including from the democratic party. But that's been changing over the past decade, since the financial crisis. In recent years, there's been a real Renaissance in progressive efforts to challenge inequality and re-imagine capitalism.

One key player in this work has been The Roosevelt Institute, a think tank based in New York city. Roosevelt is not one of the larger think tanks around, but it has been laser-focused on mounting a fierce challenge to neoliberalism and calling for a new set of rules to govern our economy. It has published a long line of reports and briefs making these arguments, and it's also played an important role behind the scenes trying to influence elected officials. Host David Callahan spoke with Felicia Wong, President and CEO of the Institute. 

Inside Change is produced by David Callahan and Kayan Tara.

Trying to change public policy can be a slow and grinding business. And if you're on the left, you often spend much of your time just playing defense. These tough realities make The Fairness Project, an organization focused exclusively on making changes at the state level where it works on passing ballot initiatives, a super interesting organization to take a look at.

This organization has quite a track record, and all the more so given the bleak political landscape of the past four years. So, the obvious question is, how has the Fairness Project been so successful? What's its secret sauce? Host David Callahan spoke with Jonathan Schleifer, executive director of The Fairness Project.

Inside Change is produced by David Callahan and Kayan Tara.

Black led organizations have long had a tough time raising money. They scrimped along with modest budgets and small staffs. Yet in recent years, this has finally begun to change, even before the protests in June 2020 over George Floyd's death. Black led organizations were benefiting from an uptick in financial support from foundations and major donors, that were bringing a stronger racial justice lens to their work. In the second half of 2020, that rising stream of funding turned into a torrent of new support for black led groups.

One black led organization that that has been around for a long time is the Joint Center For Economic and Political Studies, which has been the only think tank that exclusively focuses on issues of concern to black people since 1970. The Joint Center has gone through some tough times in the last decade, but lately it has been in a period of growth and renewal under the leadership of its president, Spencer Overton. Host David Callahan speaks with Spencer Overton this episode. 

Inside Change is produced by David Callahan and Kayan Tara.