Episodes

On today's episode, we continue our discussion of the Supreme Court case about presidential electors. Larry Lessig discusses the 2016 presidential election with presidential electors from Washington State. The Supreme Court is set to hear their case on May 13. Please consider supporting this podcast on Patreon. https://www.patreon.com/EqualCitizens Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On this episode, Adam Eichen speaks with Stephen Wolf, staff writer for Daily Kos Elections. The two discuss the recent Congressional stimulus package and what it means for our democracy, which states are adapting their elections to COVID-19, and how our unrepresentative electoral system skews politicians' response to the crisis. Note: As election laws are changing rapidly, much has changed since this podcast was recorded. Link to the Voting Rights Roundup mentioned in the episode: https://ww...

On this week's episode, we bring you a recording of a live conversation between Equal Citizens' Jason Harrow and Jesse Wegman, a member of the New York Times editorial board. Jesse's new book is called Let The People Pick The President, and Jason and Jesse discussed the history of efforts to change to a popular vote for President, as well as the current push through the National Popular Vote Compact. Thanks to the Leadership Now Project for hosting this wonderful virtual discussion. You can lear...

In this special episode, Equal Citizens founder Larry Lessig talks with U.S. Senator Ron Wyden [D-Or.] about how to protect our elections in this time of crisis. Wyden was the first Senator elected entirely in a mail-in election, and he has emerged as a champion of mail-in voting as the way to ensure we can all vote safely in elections for the remainder of this year. They discuss Wyden's bill as well as what happened in Wisconsin's recent primary that makes vivid the need for immediate reform. ...

In today's episode, Equal Citizens founder Larry Lessig and chief counsel Jason Harrow dive deeply in their case about presidential electors, which is headed to the U.S. Supreme Court. In the episode—the first in a multi-part series—they describe how the text, history, and structure of the Constitution require that presidential electors be free to vote for whatever candidate they wish. Please consider supporting this podcast on Patreon. https://www.patreon.com/EqualCitizens Hosted by Simpleca...

On this week's episode, Jason Harrow and Adam Eichen of Equal Citizens talk with election law expert Rick Hasen about the impact of COVID-19 on our democracy. Rick is a professor at UC Irvine and the author of the Election Law Blog and the new and eerily-prescient book Election Meltdown. Rick discusses the importance of expanding voting from home and absentee balloting, whether elections can be "cancelled," and other impacts the coronavirus will have on our elections. Please consider supporting...

In today's episode, Jason Harrow talks with Kathleen Unger, the founder of VoteRiders, about voter ID laws and how her organization is helping more than 1 million people get identification so that they can vote. They discuss the prevalence of voter ID laws, how difficult and expensive it often is to get id, and how the coronavirus crisis is making things even worse. Please consider supporting this podcast on Patreon. https://www.patreon.com/EqualCitizens Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz compa...

On this episode, Adam Eichen is joined by Phil Keisling, Chair of the National Vote at Home Institute (www.voteathome.org). The two discuss the spread of Vote at Home—a reform that requires states to mail every voter their ballot before the election—and why this may well be the next frontier of voting reform. Please consider supporting this podcast on Patreon. https://www.patreon.com/EqualCitizens Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collecti...

With Super Tuesday only days away, we bring you an encore of our conversation about the state of our democracy with Bernie Sanders, the current polling leader for the Democratic nomination. The conversation took place in December in New Hampshire with hosts Larry Lessig and Zephyr Teachout. In it, Bernie promised to make democracy reform a number one priority. Note: this podcast does not constitute an endorsement of Senator Sanders, or any candidate. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.c...

This week, Jason Harrow and Adam Eichen of Equal Citizens recap the Democratic presidential primary. How important has democracy reform for voters? For the media? Adam then tells stories from the ground in New Hampshire. They conclude by discussing ideas to make the 2024 primaries more small-d democratic. Feedback welcome to info@equalcitizens.us. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/EqualCitizens Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our...

Adam Eichen is joined by Andrew Perez, a writer and researcher who spent five years as a money-in-politics investigative reporter. Andrew reveals how he uncovered his biggest stories, why money can be so hard to track, and why we need more journalists—now more than ever. Please note: This episode was recorded prior to the Iowa caucuses and does not include information from the most recent FEC filing. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/EqualCitizens Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz...

In this special episode, Larry Lessig speaks with Ezra Klein, the Vox media founder and host of the Ezra Klein Show, at a live event in Boston. They discuss Ezra's new book "Why We're Polarized" and discuss why it's really the system and the parties—and not the particular policy disagreements between politicians or the public—that have made our democracy so dysfunctional. The event was held in Back Bay in Boston and hosted by the Harvard bookstore. The audio is courtesy of the wonderful folks a...

In this episode, Adam Eichen is joined by Beth Huang, executive director of Massachusetts Voter Table. The two discuss how the decennial census works, why it is so important, the difficulties involved in enumeration, and what groups are doing to ensure an accurate count. Ultimately, they argue, the census is about power and which voices are heard in our democracy. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/EqualCitizens. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for info...

Equal Citizens founder Larry Lessig speaks with Tiffany Muller, the founder of End Citizens United. The unfortunate occasion is the tenth anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United. Tiffany explains not only the problems that big money has caused but also how we need a comprehensive solution that does more than just overturn Citizens United. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for adverti...

Larry Lessig speaks with Issue One's Nick Penniman about why Nick left journalism to begin tackling the problem of fixing our democracy. Nick then discusses the difference between putting policies on websites and having politicians prioritize real reform that would de-rig the system and enable real change to happen. And they discuss how to build a coalition across the left, right, and center to at last get the change that 80-90% of the public wants to see happen. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWiz...

As a bonus episode, we bring your our recent conversation with Senator Bernie Sanders on all things democracy reform. Bernie sat down with Equal Citizens' Larry Lessig and reform advocate Zephyr Teachout to discuss gerrymandering, how to fix our broken campaign finance system, how to end corruption, and much more. Note that this episode was released early to Patreon subscribers. To subscribe, check out Patreon.com/EqualCitizens. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for ...

On this episode of the podcast, Adam Eichen is joined by Nick Nyhart, a longtime advocate for public financing of elections. Nick recounts the largely forgotten period of time (1996-2005) when a handful of states adopted public financing measures and the possibilities for reform seemed truly auspicious. The two then deconstruct where things went wrong and why, despite the setbacks, there is reason to be hopeful. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about...

In our last episode of 2019, Jason and Adam hold their "equality of citizenship" awards show to recap the good and bad of democracy reform in 2019. Who or what made things more equal this year? What made it less equal? What are we watching for in 2020? You'll have to listen to find out!

On the first part of a two-part year-end extravaganza, Jason and Adam discuss democracy-related results from the November elections, Equal Citizens' participation in the MOFA awards, and they give a little bit of credit—just a little bit—to the debate moderators from November's debate. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Comedian Paul Rodriguez and politician Rocky Chavez join Equal Citizens' Jason Harrow for a discussion about why they support a popular vote for President as California Republicans—and why they joined Equal Citizens' lawsuit trying to abolish winner-take-all for just that reason. They also discuss why they are in the minority as Latino Republicans, how the need to raise money makes it hard for politicians to respond to constituents' needs, and more. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See...

This week, Diet for a Small Planet author Frances Moore Lappé joins Adam Eichen to discuss her reasons for joining the democracy reform movement, her theories on democracy, and why she feels hopeful in the current political moment. Lappé is the author or co-author of 19 books about world hunger, democracy, and the environment, and she is the principal of the Small Planet Institute. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of pers...

This week, Adam Eichen talks with political strategist Kyle Bailey about the incredible fight to bring ranked-choice voting (RCV) to Maine. They discuss how to get voters to respond to the bipartisan message that we must improve our democracy, and how to win a fight that incumbent politicians of both parties are resistant to. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Larry Lessig speaks to John Pudner of Take Back Our Republic about the bipartisan need for democracy reform. Pudner is a Republican political strategist who talks about how democracy reform is consistent with conservative principles, the need to reduce politicians' reliance on lobbyists, the rise of "SCAMPacs," and more. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Larry Lessig talks with Democratic presidential candidate John Delaney about his nuanced view of why Congress is so broken and so badly polarized. They talk about money in politics, campaign finance reform, the need of Congresspeople to constantly be raising money, the impact of gerrymandering, and other innovative ideas to improve our democracy. They also discuss the issue of whether—and why—it's important to make fixing our democracy a high priority. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. ...