Washington Indivisible Podcast

As I say in my intro, I'm sure you're familiar now with the attacks on our public schools and school boards. They have been under siege by those whose messaging and tactics are being driven by GOP politicians and the Christian right, agitating around things like mask mandates and any and all forms of education teaching equity in our schools.

On Tuesday, March 8th, we hosted a 90-minute town hall featuring activists, community members, and teachers from across the state talking about their experiences with these attacks. For this broadcast, we bring you my discussion with Tinselyn Simms, which kicked off the town hall. Tinselyn is one of the foremost messaging experts on the subject, and she is co-director of We Make the Future Action.

We Make the Future's guide book and digital toolkit: https://www.wemakethefuture.us/resources-docs/freedom-to-learn-messaging-guide

Our full town hall: https://www.facebook.com/WashIndivisible/videos/904357830260754

A quick word on Ukraine and the fight for global democracy, followed by a replay of one of our most popular recent episodes, an uplifting talk with Chair of the Washington State Democrats, Tina Podlowdowski.

Show Notes:

- Ukrainian March and Rally In Seattle Against Russian War

https://www.facebook.com/events/634003787685843?acontext=%7B%22event_action_history%22%3A[%7B%22surface%22%3A%22page%22%7D]%7D

How you can help Ukraine:

https://linktr.ee/help_ukraine_global?utm_source=linktree_profile_share

A number of important Democratic-sponsored bills in this year's legislative have been taken down by Democratic moderates and leadership, including legislation on odd-year elections and the right to unionize for legislative staff.

Another Democratic-sponsored bill would roll back important advances on curbing police violence. Our expert panel discusses what's happening with these bills, and how you can push back.

- Rich Smith, The Stranger

- Shasti Conrad, Chair of the King County Democratic Party

- Kat Pipkin, steering committee, Washington Indivisible Network

The latest on the 2022 election, with ways to get involved, featuring Indivisible Vashon's Kevin Jones!

Show Notes:

Phone bank for 8th CD Congresswoman Dr. Kim Schrier: https://www.takeaction.network/xactions/17917?ref=342

More election details here: https://indivisiblevashon.org/

Get in touch with Kevin: [email protected]

Burned out? New to activism, or know someone who is? My guests this week (Michael Ansara and Gari Palmer) of Together We Elect are offering free coaching sessions designed to get you off the sidelines and back into the game, no matter what your experience level.

They also have a remarkable customizable calendar and a unique approach to matching activists with opportunities, all of which is sharable with your group.

Don't miss this episode.

SHOW NOTES:

To sign up for a session: https://togetherweelect.org/action-coach-sign-up/

To learn more about adopting their model and/or cloning their site and calendar, get in touch here: [email protected]

Volunteer opportunities here in WA: http://www.indivisiblevashon.org/gotv/

We're very excited to bring you this wide-ranging discussion with Congressman Adam Smith (WA-O9), Chair of the Armed Services Committee. We discuss:

- How Democrats can be working and messaging to WIN in 2022

- This year's defense budget advances on climate, REI, and preventing sexual assault in the military

- The situation in Ukraine

And so much more!

We're joined by Northwest Progressive Institute founder Andrew Villeneuve for an in-depth discussion about how you can help pass these two pro-democracy pieces of legislation in this year's short 60-day session.

Show notes:

Take action to get rid of Tim Eyman's awful advisory votes on our ballots (SB 5182): https://www.takeaction.network/xactions/17520?ref=51

See this great post for more details on HB 1727: https://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2021/11/washingtons-2021-general-election-certified-turnout-is-the-third-worst-in-state-history.html

Andrew's blog post: https://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2022/01/why-the-2022-midterms-in-washington-state-could-look-more-like-2018-than-2010-or-2014.html

Postcards to Swing States founder Reid McCollum joins us to preview this Thursday's event with messaging guru, Anat Schenker Osario.

He also lays out how to keep motivated--and motivate others!--in this crucial election cycle.

Show notes:

Sign up for this week's event, "How We'll Rally Democrats to Vote in 2022," Thursday, January 27th, at 5 PM PT

https://www.mobilize.us/ptp/event/433038/

Sign up to write postcards:

https://www.turnoutpac.org/postcards/

Postcards as a Gateway to Activism: https://turnoutpac.medium.com/a-gateway-to-activism-postcards-win-close-elections-5bf7f45da15a

Looking to find out the latest on how you can start working on this year's midterm? Indivisible Vashon's Kevin Jones joins us to discuss the latest developments in both state and national races, and to offer a number of ways you can start working to keep Democratic majorities in the House and Senate (and to keep and elect Democrats at the state level). Join us!

Head here for all volunteer opportunities:

Indivisiblevashon.org/GOTV/

If you're feeling dispirited or demoralized right now, we have a podcast just for you.

Tina Podlodowski is the Chair of the Washington State Democrats, and she joins us this week to for an inspirational talk, all about how to shift our thinking and get ready to do the work in 2022, both here in Washington and at the federal level.

No one gives better motivational talks than Tina does. Don't miss this one.