At our latest Arena Summit in September, Anand Giridharadas and Michael Tubbs joined us for a conversation about the ethics of philanthropy.

Anand Giridharadas is a writer and author of a new book, “Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World.” In the book, Anand talks about some of the trappings of philanthropy, and how it might be a fig leaf that prevents us from solving deeper societal problems.

Michael Tubbs is the Mayor of Stockton, CA, and he shares what he learned leading the rollout of universal basic income for part of his community. To learn more about his story, check out our previous episode with Mayor Tubbs.

We talk about everything from forest fire prevention to reaching across the aisle to appeal to voters from different parties.

Jessica is part of our inaugural class of Arena Fellows. She’s someone we truly believe in, and think she represents the next generation of leaders in our country.

Michael Simon is a pioneer in the field of data and analytics and Arena Co-Founder and Board Member.

Michael Simon is a pioneer in the field of data and analytics and an Arena Co-Founder and Board Member.

He traces the origins of data and analytics in modern political campaigns to the present day controversy about Facebook and Cambridge Analytica.

Michael ran Data and Analytics for the Obama 2008 campaign. He then founded HaystaqDNA, a leader in the field of political data and analytics. He’s now the founder and CEO of Elucd, where he works with police departments around the country to understand the relationship between the police and their constituents.

At the end of the pod, Michael bestows some expert advice on travel and points.

Michael ran Data and Analytics for the Obama 2008 campaign. He then founded HaystaqDNA, a leader in the field of political data and analytics. He’s now the founder and CEO of Elucd, where he works with police departments around the country to understand the relationship between the police and their constituents.

At the end of the pod, Michael bestows some expert advice on travel and points.

Zellnor Myrie is running for New York State Senate in District 20.

If you caught our last pod with Alessandra Biaggi, you’re already familiar with New York’s strange State Senate.

For seven years, a group of turncoat politicians have run as Democrats, been elected as Democrats, and immediately caucused with Republicans in the New York State Senate. They formed a conference, called the Independent Democratic Conference (IDC) to vote as a bloc, ceding control of the chamber and preventing progressive policies from being sent to Governor Cuomo’s desk.

Everything from codifying Roe v. Wade at the state-level, to passing Universal Health Care, or the DREAM Act, and even to more local issues like Affordable Housing, Speed Cameras, and the funding of Public Schools, has been blocked as a result of the IDC.

Enter Zellnor Myrie. State Senator Jesse Hamilton, the incumbent in Zellnor Myrie’s district, is one of the IDC Members, and Zellnor has had enough. He thinks the time is now to knock him out.

With the typical machinery at-hand, politicians are turning on each other trying to either oust the incumbent, or keep him in power. Zellnor is finding himself right in the middle of it all, and he’s staying focused on the mission at hand and rolling with the punches.

On today’s pod with Nathan Rubin of Millennial Politics, we talk with Zellnor about his race for the State Senate against incumbent Jesse Hamilton and the IDC.

Meg Ansara has had an incredible career in politics and social justice. She’s also the CEO of 270 Strategies.

Most recently, she served as Hillary Clinton’s Battleground States Director.

Meg talks about how serving as a forest firefighter taught her lessons about teamwork, how Paul Wellstone deepened her commitment to grassroots organizing, and what we should take away from 2016 as we look ahead to the midterms. She also shares her helpful perspective on management and leadership.

Welcome to a special episode of The Arena Talks produced in collaboration with The Great Battlefield podcast.

You’ll hear from The Great Battlefield host Nathaniel Pearlman and The Arena Co-Founder Kate Catherall.

Nathaniel founded Resistance Dashboard after the 2016 Presidential election. Nathaniel has a long history of connecting progressive politics and technology. In 1997, he founded NGP Software (now known as NGP VAN), a leading technology provider to the Democratic Party. He served as CTO of the Hillary 2008 Presidential campaign. He also founded Graphicacy, a firm that helps organizations tell complex stories in visual form.

Kate is a Co-Founder and Partner at The Arena. She founded Chorus Agency in the wake of the 2016 election, which later merged with The Arena. Kate talks about her work supporting new civic leaders and candidates.

Two weeks ago, Lauren won the Democratic Primary for Congress in the Illinois 14th District.

In an upset victory, Lauren beat six other candidates - all men - with 57% of the vote.

We met Lauren at the first Arena Summit in December 2016. She walked through the doors and said she was thinking about running for office. And that’s where she met her eventual campaign manager.

Lauren later declared a run for Congress and joined our inaugural class of Fellows.

We’ve been privileged and honored to support Lauren during each step in her journey and can’t wait to see what she accomplishes in the years ahead.

Lauren is a first-time candidate, former Senior Advisor in President Obama’s Health & Human Services Department, and Registered Nurse.

Welcome to another special edition of The Arena Talks.

We recorded this episode on February 18th - two days after Special Counsel Robert Mueller filed conspiracy and fraud charges against 13 Russian nationals and three organizations.

We welcome back Anthony Vitarelli to help make sense of the charges. Anthony is a former Federal Prosecutor for the US Department of Justice and former Senior Advisor to the US Secretary of the Treasury. He began his legal career clerking for Supreme Court Justices David Souter and Stephen Breyer.

Anthony walks us through the charges and explains what they could mean for the future.

Jesse Colvin is running for Congress in Maryland’s 1st District.

We spoke with Jesse right after Conor Lamb’s stunning victory. Jesse’s race is even tougher than the Lamb race - at least on paper.

Jesse is a former US Army Intelligence Officer. He completed four combat deployments in Afghanistan, as well as a year in the South Korea DMZ.

He’s also a product of a bipartisan marriage. His wife is a former police officer and former aide to Congressional Republicans.

Jesse is running an incredible race in Maryland. He shares some of his experiences from the trail, and draws some conclusions from the Lamb race that can help us think through which races to bet on and prioritize in 2018.

Karl is running to be the next governor of Tennessee.

Karl is the former two-term Mayor of Nashville, serving during the great recession and historic 2010 flood. Before that, he was elected and served as the city’s public defender for nearly a decade.

We talk about how both crises shaped his pragmatic leadership and vision for Tennessee’s future. We also discuss running as a Democrat in a state where they haven’t performed well in a long time.

We welcome a special guest, Anthony Vitarelli, to talk about those charges. He’s a former attorney for the US Department of Justice and former Senior Advisor to the US Secretary of the Treasury. He began his legal career clerking for Supreme Court Justices David Souter and Stephen Breyer.

Stacey has an amazing story. She was President of her class at Spelman and graduated from Yale Law School as a Truman Scholar. She’s also the daughter of two ministers.

We talk about a wide range of topics - including growing up in the South, getting involved in politics, and overcoming obstacles along the way.

Unfortunately, the audio in this episode isn’t great, but the content of our conversation is. We recommend you stick it out!

Our conversation starts with the upcoming election in Alabama, where John lives and is helping support Doug Jones. We go all the way back to Joe Biden’s race in 1987. And we talk about what it will take for Democrats to win back the South.

Rashida Tlaib and Ian Conyers are both running for Congress in a special election for Michigan’s 13th District. Both are active members of The Arena community — having served as hosts for our Detroit Summit last June.

They are running for a seat that was previously held by John Conyers, who recently announced that he will step down.

We will first hear from Rashida. She was a two-term member of the Michigan House of Representatives. She’s a force of nature and well known community organizer.

Then we hear from Ian. He is one of the youngest ever elected members of the Michigan State Senate. He has been an energetic voice for change in Detroit.

Michigan’s 13th Congressional District includes Detroit and surrounding areas within Wayne County. We discuss some local issues, as well as why we need new representation in Washington.

Brian talks about his decision to run for office when he was only 25 years old, how his father called attention to the notorious and racist Tuskegee syphilis experiments, his new bill to allow consumers to choose to buy-in to Medicaid, and the latest Republican effort to repeal Obamacare.

Amber is the Founding Director of the Community Justice Reform Coalition, aka CJRC. She has spent the last 17 years working in progressive, grassroots advocacy and electoral campaigns.

We talk about the state of gun violence in America, how we can address the problem holistically, and the structural barriers our society faces as a result of deep-seated white supremacy and toxic masculinity.

We also talk about hope, and the inspiring work CJRC is doing to prevent gun violence and uplift criminal justice reform in communities of color.

This is one of our favorite episodes.

Desmond Meade is the Founder and President of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition.

More importantly, he is somebody who has been directly impacted by voting rights restrictions. He spent years addicted to drugs and served time in prison. As a result, he is one of the million plus US citizens living in Florida who has had their voting rights stripped away.

We talk with Desmond about why he turned his life around, why he decided to stay in Florida and fight for the rights of others, and some incredibly promising developments in his fight to restore voting rights.

Why are Republicans in charge of the State Senate in New York — one of the bluest states in the country? Why are New York’s voting law so antiquated? Why is progressive legislation often dead on arrival in Albany?

The answers to these questions lead back to a small group of Democrats in the New York State Senate that call themselves the Independent Democratic Caucus (I.D.C.). In exchange for perks like better office space and committee assignments, they empower the Republican majority leadership, ensuring that progressive legislation doesn’t get passed.

This is akin to Democrats getting elected Congress, then turning around and voting for Paul Ryan as Speaker of the House.

That’s what happens in New York.

But there’s a group of new leaders running to take back the State Senate. Jessica Ramos is one of them.

Jessica is running against Jose Peralta in the 13th District, who is a member of the I.D.C. Jessica tells her story and explains why the I.D.C. is a major threat to working families and vulnerable populations throughout New York.

A few weeks ago, Dan Pfeiffer implored listeners of Pod Save America to do more to counter GOP messaging on the Trump tax bill. That call came as the New York Times and others reported on increased popularity for the legislation amidst a massive Koch-funded effort.

In response to these trends, we’ve been in search of members of our community working to communicate with voters about what’s really in the bill. That led us to Andrea Purse, who is an advisor to the Not One Penny Campaign and former White House communications official. In this interview, Andrea discusses recent research on changing public perceptions on the bill and she gives some advice for campaigns, operatives, and funders opposed to the legislation.