Best of the Left Podcast

Fri, 26 July 2019

#1292 A Republic, If We Can Keep It (Unrigging Gerrymandering)

Air Date: 7/26/2019

Today we take a look at the fight for free and fair elections in which voters choose their representatives rather than the politicians getting to select their voters to keep themselves in power indefinitely regardless of the will of the people.

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SHOW NOTES

Ch. 0: Thoughts to take with you on how to find your place in progressive activism and stop feeling overwhelmed

Ch. 1: Ready, set, gerrymander - Amicus - Air Date 6-28-19

A round table round-up of the 2018 Supreme Court term with Dahlia Lithwick, Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern, Professor Pam Karlan of Stanford and Professor Leah Litman of the University of Michigan Law School. Analysis of the gerrymandering cases

Ch. 2: Ari Berman GOP Docs Prove Census Citizenship Question Is About Preserving White Political Power - Democracy Now - Air Date 6-3-19

We get an update from Ari Berman, senior writer at Mother Jones, whose new piece is “Architect of GOP Gerrymandering Was Behind Trump’s Census Citizenship Question.”

Ch. 3: Dave Daley on Gerrymandering - Another Way, by Lawrence Lessig - Air Date 7-3-19

Dave Daley, author of Ratf**ked: Why Your Vote Doesn’t Count, joins Larry Lessig this week to talk about the past, present, and future of gerrymandering. They discuss the nefarious mechanisms and effects of drawing district lines for maximal partisan advantage

Ch. 4: Those Who Draw the Lines…Have the Power - The Takeaway - Air Date 4-4-19

“Slay the Dragon,” chronicles the challenges to congressional maps in several states that have been accused of partisan gerrymandering. In Michigan, voters approved a ballot measure in 2018 to take map-drawing power out of the hands of the legislature

Ch. 5: Mark Joseph Stern on the nonsense of the SCOTUS gerrymandering ruling - The BradCast w Brad Friedman - Air Date 6-30-19

Mark Joseph Stern explains the Court’s 5 -4 partisan split ruling allowing extreme partisan gerrymandering of legislative districts to continue, which he calls a "crushing defeat for voting rights" and a "fiasco for democracy."

Ch. 6: Fight Gerrymandering on the State Level via @CommonCause @IndivisibleTeam @BrennanCenter - Best of the Left Activism

Take action! Click the title and/or scroll down for quick links and resources from this segment.

Ch. 7: Ari Berman on The Contentious Right To Vote - Another Way, by Lawrence Lessig - Air Date 7-17-19

Voting rights have always been contentious in America, and our era is no different. Larry Lessig digs deeply into the past and present of voting in America with Ari Berman, author of Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America.

VOICEMAILS

Ch. 8: Forcing the Northern narrative onto the back foot - Will from New Jersey

Ch. 9: Our economic message is stronger when it is inclusive - James from Sacramento, CA

FINAL COMMENTS

Ch. 10: Final comments on putting racists on the back foot

TAKE ACTION!

Join a Common Cause state-level campaign

See how your state does redistricting with Brennan Center's "50 State Guide to Redistricting"

Start your own local campaign with Common Cause's "Redistricting Activist Handbook"

Learn more with Indivisible's Gerrymandering Resource

EDUCATE YOURSELF & SHARE

How Did Citizen-Led Redistricting Initiatives Fare in the Mid-terms?(Pacific Standard Magazine)