On Part 1 of our conversation with Chuck Rocha and Mike Madrid, we get right into it. First with Chuck, who's best known for running Bernie Sanders 2020 campaign and then getting out the vote in the critical state of Nevada in the general election for Biden. We look behind the curtain at what national parties are getting wrong when it comes to reaching and engaging the Latino vote. We also talk about what's even more important than particular Democratic or Republican issues that he and Mike Madrid, often his adversary on campaigns, would come together to collaborate on their excellent new podcast THE LATINO VOTE.

Chuck Rocha became National Political Director of the United Steel Workers of America at 29 and was also the first person of color hired to that position. In 2010, Chuck founded Solidarity Strategies, a nonprofit and political consulting firm built on diversity, inclusion and mentorship opportunities for the next generation of minority professionals. He went on to advise on both Bernie Sanders campaigns and is the first Latino to run a presidential campaign. 

Mike Madrid is a national political strategist, an expert in demographics and Latino politics. Mike’s academic work on Latino politics became the foundation for groundbreaking communications and outreach strategies in California, Texas, Florida and nationwide. Later, Mike was a co-founder of the Lincoln Project which played a significant part in defeating Donald Trump. Mike also lectures on race, class and partisanship at USC. 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-latino-vote/id1613279254

https://twitter.com/madrid_mike

https://twitter.com/ChuckRocha

https://www.solidaritystrategies.com/

TIO BERNIE: THE INSIDE STORY OF HOW BERNIE SANDERS BROUGHT LATINOS INTO THE POLITICAL REVOLUTION - https://www.amazon.com/T%C3%ADo-Bernie-Sanders-Political-Revolution/dp/1947492527

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Michael David Cobb Bowen is co-founder and co-editor of Free Black Thought - a group of scholars, technologists, parents, and citizens determined to amplify vital black voices that are rarely heard on mainstream platforms. Michael is a Business Intelligence professional and Data Engineer, he is a past contributor to NPR, Young Republicans and TV One, and is an essayist at Stoic Observations. Michael might describe himself as an entrepreneur, foodie, anti-fragile, true neutral, audiophile, gearhead, hacker, shooter and ooda buddha. We discuss all that and even talk a little jazz!

https://www.freeblackthought.com/

https://mdcbowen.substack.com/

http://www.mdcbowen.info/

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John Popper is a singer, songwriter and one of the world's greatest harmonica players. He's the longtime frontman of Blues Traveler (which happens to be one of, if not my favorite band ever!) and has jammed with any number of virtuosos across multiple genres of music. Of course, we talk about the music, his influences and inspirations, but we also get into plenty of politics and religion!

As our special co-host we were joined by Matt Lewis of THE DAILY BEAST. This interview can also be heard on Matt's awesome podcast MATT LEWIS AND THE NEWS. 

https://twitter.com/blues_traveler

https://twitter.com/mattklewis

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In this conversation with Melanie Ross of Yale Divinity School, we explore the music in American Evangelical churches; what the worship music says about the people of particular churches; how politics, and specifically Trump, was discussed during services and other church gatherings; and how to make space to have healthier dialogue and to listen to each other well. Melanie also shares about her cancer diagnosis in 2014, her 2 year recovery process and how different the political landscape was when she returned to her research for this project in 2016.

Dr. Melanie Ross is Associate Professor of liturgical studies at the Yale Divinity School.  She studies North American contemporary evangelical worship, and argues that the common ground shared by evangelical and liturgical churches is much more important than the differences that divide them. She most recently authored the book, EVANGELICAL WORSHIP: AN AMERICAN MOSAIC. Plus, she and co-host Jessica Stone went to high school together! So we get to hear some tidbits about what Jess was like as a teenager.

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Dr. Napp Nazworth joined us to discuss how one of the country's leading Christian online media outlets transformed over the last 5-6 years into one that is explicitly on team Trump, eschewing much of its founding journalistic and theological principles. We also delve into other topics such as how the oft-quoted 81% support for Trump among Evangelicals is a myth. Among other issues we explored, Napp shared a thought-provoking assessment of how Trump/Trumpism has actually inflicted long term damage to the pro-life movement.

Napp Nazworth has a PhD in Political Science with the focus of his dissertation on the Christian Right. After working for a number of years in academia, Napp went on to be the Politics Editor and Political Analyst for the Christian Post for 8 ½ years before he had to part ways with the organization after they “sold their soul to Trump” as Napp described it. Dr. Nazworth is now the Executive Director of the American Values Coalition which is “a growing community of Americans empowered to lead with truth, reject extremism and misinformation, and defend democracy.”

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Josh Lewis is concerned about the problems of "...the loneliness epidemic and loss of genuine community, a rapidly changing job market that threatens our ability to earn a living, nearly insurmountable debt, and growing polarization," among others. Josh also believes conservatism provides a cogent framework to address these issues effectively. Unfortunately, the word conservative has been co-opted by many who are not conservative at all including the alt-right, Christian nationalists and "a cult of personality that surrounds Donald Trump."

That's why Josh started the Saving Elephants Blog and the Saving Elephants Podcast several years ago. The podcast and blog serve as a platform devoted to saving the Republican party as it faces the twin threats of demagoguery from within and looming extinction at the hands of demographic trends from without. The mission is to ensure true conservatism not only survives but thrives in the 21st century. But first, it has to be reclaimed from those who've hijacked the label.

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Josh Good is the Director of Faith Angle Forum, a program of the Ethics and Public Policy Center which aims to strengthen reporting and commentary on how religious believers, religious convictions, and religiously grounded moral arguments affect American politics and public life.

We discuss the concept of covenantal pluralism; how locked in our feedback bubbles we are; some of the obstacles to the business of journalism; how local journalism has dried up and how that's affected our communities.

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Candice Marie Benbow is a multi-genre theologian who was named by Sojourners as one of “10 Christian Women Shaping the Church in 2020”, Candice has written for various outlets including The Grio, ESSENCE Magazine, Glamour Magazine, The Root, VICE, Shondaland, MadameNoire and the Me Too Movement. Convergent Books has just published her first book, Red Lip Theology: For Church Girls Who’ve Considered Tithing to the Beauty Supply Store When Sunday Morning Isn’t Enough. Candice is also involved in numerous charitable organizations including one she founded in her mother’s memory, The LouiseMarie Foundation which supports HBCU nursing students.

We discuss what it means to be a multi-genre theologian; how the death of Whitney Houston influenced the questions she grappled with at Duke Divinity School; how we as a culture are doing in terms of mental health; living with grief; her book RED LIP THEOLOGY and what that is; assigning gender to God; giving each other grace; and so much more.

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Andrew Regalado is Legislative Assistant in the office of U.S. Congressman Adam Kinzinger of Illinois. Andrew is also the Grassroots Director of Country First, a Political Action Committee that is a home for reasonable people of goodwill, seeking common ground to make our country better for future generations. 

We discuss how Andrew began to develop his political views, how he charted the first chapters of his career and why he gravitated to a leader like Rep. Kinzinger. We also discuss Country 1st and how the organization is addressing the priorities of “Opportunity for All, Climate and Conservation, Mental Health and a Culture of Service.”

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Matt Lewis is a senior columnist for The Daily Beast. His work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, GQ, The Washington Post and he's a regular contributor on MSNBC, CNN, PBS NewsHour, HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher,” and CBS News’ “Face The Nation.” He also dissects the day’s issues in conversations with other thinkers, authors, and newsmakers on his podcast Matt Lewis and the News.

In this conversation, we cover a lot of ground. We discuss Matt’s book Too Dumb to Fail: How the GOP Went from the Party of Reagan to the Party of Trump; what it was like to work for Tucker Carlson; how his views of Sarah Palin have evolved; whether we can find our way out of this cold civil war; plus we go pretty deep into method acting and hair care!

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