So far this election season has been pretty dramatic, with candidate switch-ups, surges in fundraising and volunteerism, and a growing list of criminal charges laid against one of the candidates for president. This week on Sea Change Radio, we speak to political analyst Jared Yates Sexton about the state of the hotly contested race for the White House. We get his takeaways from the recent Democratic National Convention, look at the turnout disparity between older adults and youth voters, and discuss how to get all voters in this country more engaged in down-ballot races.

Narrator| 00:02 - This is Sea Change Radio, covering the shift to sustainability. I'm Alex Wise.

Jared Yates Sexton (JYS) | 00:18 - The good news is that small d Democratic power, the actual struggle and organizing for this thing, it can change the world. You can have a better life. Your kids can have a better life. Your neighbors can have better lives. It can be so much better, and we can fight for it. And matter of fact, when we fight for it, we win. The bad news is this, we do have to get involved.

Narrator | 00:40 - So far this election season has been pretty dramatic, with candidate switch-ups, surges in fundraising and volunteerism, and a growing list of criminal charges laid against one of the candidates for president. This week on Sea Change Radio, we speak to political analyst Jared Yates Sexton about the state of the hotly contested race for the White House. We get his takeaways from the recent Democratic National Convention, look at the turnout disparity between older adults and youth voters, and discuss how to get all voters in this country more engaged in down-ballot races.

Alex Wise (AW) | 01:30 - I'm joined now on Sea Change Radio by Jared Yates Sexton. Jared is a political analyst and he is the host of the Muckrake podcast. His online writings can be read at dispatches from a collapsing state. Jared, welcome back to Sea Change Radio.

Jared Yates Sexton (JYS) | 01:46 - Hey, Alex, it's great to see you.

Alex Wise (AW) | 01:48 - So you just got back from covering the DNC, the Democratic National Convention, and I wanted to get your take on this, and I've, I've been eager to discuss politics with you for the year. This so much has gone on since we last spoke, but what stood out to you from going to Chicago recently? 

Jared Yates Sexton (JYS) | 02:09 - Well, so it was sort of a, a tale of two experiences. Alex, I, I've been observing politics, you know, I've been, I've been working in it now for the past eight years, but I've been observing it my entire life. It's really weird to see the Democratic party nailing their messaging. Like it's a really shocking thing because this is a party that shoots itself in the foot and then decides to go ahead and shoot the other foot. You know, you, you can set your watch by it. But this was a, a really well done spectacle. And, you know, some people get uncomfortable when I call it propaganda, but that's what conventions are. It's a matter of getting people excited and getting them rallied to go into the main, uh, election season, you know, running up to the actual election day. The Democrats have managed, I, I think both by strategic decisions, but also by pure happenstance and by sort of harnessing what's going on in, in our political climate and discourse. They have managed to gain enthusiasm and direction and momentum. But I also spent my time among the protests outside of the Democratic National Convention. I spent a lot of time with the, uh, the Gaza protesters, and I happened to see a lot of brutality and oppression that was, uh, wielded out by the Chicago pd. And one of the things that really struck me about kind of straddling those two worlds and watching at night at this very, very slick political presentation, there were problems, but we don't have to get into all of those and get into the particulars, but watching a slick presentation that basically is riding on the momentum of...