This week, the gang welcomes Sara Eskrich, Executive Director of Democracy Found, to the pod to talk about how growing up in a rich arts ecosystem informed her leadership, the modern story about civics, and her work driving common sense reforms to save our democracy.

On behalf of Christmas music, the public declares war on Mac (0:20); Imagine these Holidays: Holiday Artist Relief Fund, MKE CARES for Arts and Culture, Light the Hoan, and Annual Event (7:22); Sara Eskrich joins the pod (17:25); Sara's formative arts experiences (20:00); Going into the family business and the idealism necessary to make democracy work (26:57); Democracy Found (34:43); Interlude: Mac's cleaning service landing 747's (49:19); Helping to put "The Politics Industry" book together (50:15); How elected officials are taking to this package of political innovation (52:25); Arts and Culture Czar reign - apparently Madison has one (56:33); Plugs (1:00:43); Wrap up: making civics less lonely and more artful (1:02:55); Outro easter egg: Why is David fighting Jean-Claude Van Damme? (1:08:39)

Follow Sara Eskrich: @saraeskrich

Follow and support Democracy Found: https://democracyfound.org/ (Web)

https://gehlporter.com/ ("The Politics Industry: How Political Innovation can Break Partisan Gridlock and Save our Democracy" by Katherine Gehl and Michael Porter)

Audio Transitions: https://www.inthevuca.com/ ("Lovely Child" by The VUCA Collective) and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uM8WlvWMJQE ("Let Go," Lex Allen) (YouTube)

S2 E5 Ephemera

https://www.facebook.com/milwaukeedowntown/videos/377642913340840 (MKE Spirits Bright, featuring the Antigua Shahs (0:19)) (Facebook)

https://shermanjeff.medium.com/15-milwaukeeans-including-my-wonderful-family-depicted-in-new-downtown-window-displays-374da35734f7 (David in a downtown holiday storefront display) (Medium)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95-bc1DZovg ("Black Rain" Trailer) (YouTube)

https://www.imaginemke.org/covid-19-resources/mke-artist-relief-fund.php (Holiday Artist Relief Fund)

https://www.imaginemke.org/covid-19-resources/milwaukee-county-cares-act-relief-program.php (Milwaukee CARES for Arts and Culture)

https://www.lightthehoan.com/pages/shine-a-light (Light the Hoan's Shine a Light)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=men-vp5jvzI (School House Rock: I'm Only a Bill) (Youtube)

https://hbr.org/podcast/2020/06/applying-porters-five-forces-to-fix-u-s-politics (Harvard Business School Idea Cast: Applying Porter’s Five Forces to Fix U.S. Politics)

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