ourVoices

This interview with Bhaskar Sunkara is the latest in our series exploring the policies and trends influencing the US election.

openDemocracy is a small non-profit journalism outfit, not funded by dark money or lucrative sponsorship, so we depend on regular donations from our listeners. If you enjoyed this podcast and would like to donate, click here: http://bit.ly/3bb06Os

Lauren Ashcraft is running for the US House to represent New York’s 12th congressional district. The district encompasses the wealthiest zip code in the United States – the Upper East Side – as well as parts of lower Manhattan and western Queens. She is primarying Rep. Carolyn Maloney, who is serving her 14th term in Congress and is the current chair of the House Oversight Committee.

A comedian and former project manager for JP Morgan Chase, Ashcraft identifies as a democratic socialist, advocating for a Green New Deal, Medicare-for-All, canceling student debt and universal child care.

She has been endorsed by Brand New Congress, former presidential candidate Marianne Williamson, and the New York chapter of US Youth Climate Strike.

We interviewed Lauren several months ago in Long Island City, Queens where we discussed the staggering levels of wealth inequality within the district and her top legislative priorities if she were to win her race. 

openDemocracy is a small non-profit journalism outfit, not funded by dark money or lucrative sponsorship, so we depend on regular donations from our listeners. If you enjoyed this podcast and would like to donate, click here: http://bit.ly/3bb06Os

Alex Morse is the current Mayor of Holyoke, Massachusetts, and a progressive candidate running to be the Democratic nominee in Massachusetts’ 1st congressional district.

At the age of 22, Alex Morse was elected the youngest mayor of Holyoke and is currently serving his fourth term as mayor.

Morse is seeking to oust long serving Democratic incumbent, Representative Richard Neal – the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, and one of the most powerful Democrats in DC. The primary election is set to take place on September 1st.

Endorsing a Green New Deal, Medicare-for-All, legalization of marijuana and decriminalizing sex work, Morse’s campaign has received backing from progressive organisations such as Justice Democrats and the Sunrise Movement.

What follows is an abridged version of an interview we conducted with Morse in his hometown of Holyoke back in February. The discussion centers around the challenges and imperatives of primarying entrenched incumbents to enact a substantive progressive policy agenda.

openDemocracy is a small non-profit journalism outfit, not funded by dark money or lucrative sponsorship, so we depend on regular donations from our listeners. If you enjoyed this podcast and would like to donate, click here: http://bit.ly/3bb06Os

Samelys López is running to represent New York’s 15th congressional district. Born in Puerto Rico and raised in the South Bronx, Lopez is looking to replace Congressman José Serrano who is retiring due to Parkinson's disease.

Endorsed by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democratic Socialists of America, the Working Families Party, Sunrise and other progressive organizations – López is consolidating coveted support in this packed primary set to take place on June 23rd.

We had the pleasure of sitting down with Samelys López a couple months ago, in a hispanic cafe in the South Bronx. From emphasizing how her lived experience of homelessness has informed her support for a national Homes Guarantee, to the inspiration that she has taken from the “squad” – Lopez discusses why political representation should center those who are most oppressed.

openDemocracy is a small non-profit journalism outfit, not funded by dark money or lucrative sponsorship, so we depend on regular donations from our listeners. If you enjoyed this podcast and would like to donate, click here: http://bit.ly/3bb06Os

Shahid Buttar is running to represent California's 12th congressional district. He is challenging House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has not faced a Democratic opponent in 30 years.

In March, Buttar came in second in California’s nonpartisan blanket primary, winning himself a place on the ballot in November.

A graduate of Stanford Law School, Buttar built a national progressive legal network at the American Constitution Society to help correct the conservative bias in federal courts. He also worked for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, advocating digital rights for policy issues such as mass surveillance and encryption.

Buttar endorses a Green New Deal, Medicare-for-All, guaranteeing housing to all Americans, and overhauling the military-industrial complex.

Last week, we interviewed Buttar to discuss how the pandemic has affected his insurgent campaign and why he believes a change of leadership is required to combat America’s socio-economic crises.

openDemocracy is a small non-profit journalism outfit, not funded by dark money or lucrative sponsorship, so we depend on regular donations from our listeners. If you enjoyed this podcast and would like to donate, click here: http://bit.ly/3bb06Os

In the second part of our series on the US election, we had the pleasure of speaking with Raj Patel: the award winning author, film-maker and academic, who is currently a research professor at the Lyndon B Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Austin, Texas.

Raj Patel has written several books including The Value of Nothing which was an international and New York Times bestseller, and most recently A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things, co-written with Jason W. Moore.

This extended conversation covers a range of topics, from the labor mobilizations crucial to implementing the original New Deal, to why reparations are central to an equitable climate agenda.

openDemocracy is a small non-profit journalism outfit, not funded by dark money or lucrative sponsorship, so we depend on regular donations from our listeners. If you enjoyed this podcast and would like to donate, click here: http://bit.ly/3bb06Os

The US economy is currently facing its greatest crisis in a generation. Due to the coronavirus, the Federal Reserve has warned that unemployment could reach 30% and the economy could experience a downturn on a scale which has not been seen since the Great Depression. In Washington, a program of large scale public investment is being considered on both sides of the aisle as a way to revive a floundering economy. Congress has already injected more than $2.3 trillion into the US economy, with billions being doled out to the highest carbon emitting industries, such as fracking and airline companies.

At this crucial moment, should we really be trying to restore business as usual? Or does the scale of the environmental crisis mean that we need to put our economy on a fundamentally new path?

In this second episode of ourVoices series on the US election, Aaron White and Freddie Stuart explore the extensive influence of fossil fuel companies in American politics, and examine the growing consensus that is finally emerging around a transformative Green New Deal agenda.

We are a small non-profit journalism outfit, not funded by dark money or lucrative sponsorship, so we depend on regular donations from our listeners. If you enjoyed this podcast and would like to donate, click here: http://bit.ly/3bb06Os

Aaron White and Freddie Stuart speak with Wilfred Chan, a writer and organizer living in New York. He previously worked as a journalist in Hong Kong. Chan has been featured in The Nation, Dissent Magazine, The Intercept and is a contributor at Lausan – a collective of writers, researchers, activists and artists sharing decolonial left perspectives on Hong Kong. 

Our discussion covers the US/China relationship, the recent wave of protests in Hong Kong and how they connect to the broader backlash against neoliberalism all around the world.

openDemocracy is a small non-profit journalism outfit, not funded by dark money or lucrative sponsorship, so we depend on regular donations from our listeners. If you enjoyed this podcast and would like to donate, click here: http://bit.ly/3bb06Os

The US government spends nearly $1 trillion on defense annually, more than the next eight countries combined. This spending fuels a military industrial complex with a network of nearly 800 bases around the globe, while employing millions of workers domestically. In this first episode of ourVoice’s special series on the US election, Aaron White and Freddie Stuart explore the influence of the military industrial complex on the US economy and foreign policy.

We are a small non-profit journalism outfit, not funded by dark money or lucrative sponsorship, so we depend on regular donations from our listeners. If you enjoyed this podcast and would like to donate, click here: http://bit.ly/3bb06Os