Washington Indivisible Podcast

Thursday is January 6th, which will mark the one-year anniversary of the attack on our nation’s capitol. To mark this occasion, Fix Democracy First, along with League of Women Voters of Washington, and Seattle Supports Democracy, are hosting a virtual vigil at 6 PM Pacific.

We're joined by Fix Democracy First executive director, Cindy Black, for more information about the event. She also shares her thoughts on the 1/6 Commission, and also about how to prevent future violence, how we should message about the existential threat Republicans pose to our democracy, and more.

Register for the virtual vigil at: https://www.mobilize.us/democracyvigils/event/433376/

More information at: https://jan6unityday.org/

We have seen public attitudes shift in the year following the George Floyd protests, and a lot of false narratives around crime and police reform have taken hold. Our guest hosts have a ton of information that will set the record straight.

Riall Johnson is a political consultant with Prism Washington, and he’s joined by Sade Smith, a former public defender, currently in private practice in King County.

This is a vital conversation, specifically geared toward those of us in Indivisible.

Guest host Shasti Conrad (Chair of the King County Democrats) joins us for a discussion on the year that was--the good, the bad, and the really bad--with media consultant Will Casey, and Chair of the King County Young Democrats, Yuan Tao.

As we know, the 2022 midterms are just around the corner, and because we know how high the stakes are, people are already looking for ways to get involved. This podcast has up with Indivisible Vashon and its leader Kevin Jones for an ongoing series that will lay out a comprehensive plan of attack for Washington Indivisibles to have an impact on next year’s election.

This week, we discuss how the most recent developments--the 2021 elections in Virginia and New Jersey, along with continued Republican gerrymandering--will impact the work we do here in Washington to help the Democrats hang on to the majority in the House and Senate.

This week, Summer Stinson sits in to host an expert panel all about redistricting. The bipartisan commission that was supposed to redraw our maps based on the census we have every ten years failed to meet its deadline, and the maps will now be drawn by the state supreme court. There are tons of questions, and, as the he Executive Director of the Economic Opportunity Institute, Summer is the perfect person to take them on.

She's joined by panelists:

- Margot Spindola, Partnerships Coordinator with Latino Community Fund

- Kamau Chege, Director of the Washington Community Alliance

Our monthly news quiz, Sound Off! Washington, with this month's panelists:

Rep. Drew Hansen represents the 23rd district, which includes northern Kitsap County and Bainbridge Island. He chairs the Civil Rights & Judiciary Committee in the Washington State House of Representatives.

State Treasurer Mike Pellicciotti was elected in 2020 and is the state’s 24th state treasurer.

And Hillary Franz is a conservation attorney from Washington state who serves as the State Commissioner of Public Lands, a position she was elected to in 2016.

This week, our town hall with 9th district Congressman Adam Smith. He has been in the thick of negotiations with both the recent passage of the bipartisan infrastructure bill as well as the fight to pass the $1.75 trillion Build Back Better Act, which would work in conjunction with the recently passed bipartisan infrastructure package, to address things like childcare, the climate crisis, healthcare, and so much more.

Congressman Smith is the chair of the House Armed Services Committee. He’s also a member of the New Democrat Coalition, the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and the Medicare for All Caucus, so he’s uniquely situated to answer all manner of questions about the bill.

While Stephan is on hiatus through the end of the year, a series of guest hosts will be filling in, starting with Chair of the King County Democrats, Shasti Conrad. She speaks first with political communications consultant Will Casey about their impressions of the various races in Seattle.

Then, Shasti talks with both Toshiko Hasegawa and Hamdi Mohammed, both of whom look certain to be elected to the Seattle Port Commission.

Finally, a discussion with Burien City Council Candidate Hugo Garcia and Renton City Council Candidate Carmen Rivera, both of whom also look certain to be elected.

Rena Priest is Washington State’s Poet Laureate. She is an enrolled member of the Lummi Nation, and is the first indigenous person to be appointed state poet laureate. She is a Vadon Foundation Fellow, recipient of an Allied Arts Foundation Professional Poets Award, and she was selected by former laureate Kathleen Flenniken to be part of the 2019 cohort of Jack Straw Writers in Seattle. Her debut collection, Patriarchy Blues, received an American Book Award, and she holds an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College.

Playing this month with:

- Rich Smith, writer for The Stranger

- Rhiannon Probert-Baker, Indivisible Eastside

- Elizabeth Pew, candidate for Tacoma Port Commissioner