Town Hall Seattle Civics Series

The Civics series at Town Hall shines a light on the shifting issues, movements, and policies, that affect our world. These events pose questions and ideas, big and small, that have the power to inform and impact our lives. Whether it be constitutional research from a scholar, a new take on history, or the birth of a movement, it’s all about educating and empowering.

356. Dr. Rajiv Shah with Eric Liu: Charting a Course for Change 04/15/2024

355. Barbara McQuade with Jenny Durkan: In Search of Truth 04/08/2024

355. Barbara McQuade with Jenny Durkan: In Search of Truth The subject of disinformation is a well-known part of political rhetoric, but it has implications even outside of the sphere of democracy. From the electoral system to schools; from the workplace to hospitals, the consequences of it are far-reaching and dire. A legal analyst at MSNBC and former U.S. Attorney, Barbara McQuade’s decades of experience in law help inform her authorship of Attack From Within: How Disinformation is Sabotaging America. The book asserts that disinformation has been used deliberately and strategically to polarize, pushing voters to extremes, and disempowering legal structures while empowering a select few. Technological advancements, including rapid developments in artificial intelligence (AI) exacerbate the issue by amplifying false claims and manufacturing credibility. From historical examples of disinformation in dictators such as Mussolini and Hitler, to contemporary examples of the tactics alleged of former Presidents Trump and Bolsonaro, Attack From Within seeks to help readers – and voters – recognize disinformation, and offers suggestions on how to combat it. McQuade’s talk at Town Hall may interest those who have concerns about the reality and future of truth in a civil society. Barbara McQuade is a professor at the University of Michigan Law School, her alma mater, where she teaches courses in criminal law, criminal procedure, national security, and data privacy. She is also a legal analyst for NBC News and MSNBC, and a co-host of the podcast #SistersInLaw. From 2010 to 2017, McQuade served as U.S Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan. She was appointed by President Barack Obama, and was the first woman to serve in her position. Earlier in her career, she worked as a sports writer and copy editor, a judicial law clerk, an associate in private practice, and an assistant U.S. attorney. Jenny A. Durkan was the 56th Mayor of Seattle and previously served as US Attorney under President Obama. As mayor, she worked to make Seattle more equitable, by investing $2.5 billion in affordable housing, providing free transit for youth and two years free college for every Seattle’s high school graduate, and investing millions of new funding in communities of color. Durkan served in leadership positions for the US Conference of Mayors and the C40 Mayors, a global organization focused on fighting climate change. As US Attorney, Durkan increased enforcement of civil rights laws. She served as an advisor to former US Attorney General Eric Holder and chaired the US Department of Justice subcommittee on cybercrime and intellectual property enforcement. Durkan is a fellow in the American College of Trial lawyers and taught as an adjunct professor at the University of Washington School of Law. Buy the Companion Book Attack from Within: How Disinformation Is Sabotaging America /episode/index/show/civicsths/id/30738878

354. Michael J. Gerhardt: The Law of Presidential Impeachment 04/05/2024

354. Michael J. Gerhardt: The Law of Presidential Impeachment Have you ever wondered how impeachment really works? As a witness and consultant in the impeachment trials of Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, legal scholar Michael J. Gerhardt has collected a lifetime of scholarly research and firsthand experience. But despite his proximity to such high-profile cases, Gerhardt doesn’t advocate for or against the impeachment of specific presidents. Instead, he illuminates the legal and procedural aspects that govern the process, providing a comprehensive overview of impeachment from its origins to present-day practice. His new book, The Law Of Presidential Impeachment, is a nonpartisan exploration that aims to break down the process and offer readers a deeper understanding of how the Constitution holds presidents accountable. In The Law Of Presidential Impeachment, Gerhardt guides us through the historical roots of presidential impeachment, tracing it back to the nation’s founding when American colonists, still reflecting on past grievances with their former king, embedded the process in the Constitution. Impeachment recently returned to the forefront of American political discourse during Donald Trump’s presidency, but Gerhardt’s expertise goes beyond contemporary events to provide a timeless perspective on the constitutional mechanism. If you’ve ever wanted the chance to peek into the process of presidential impeachments, join us as Gerhardt helps to deepen understanding of our executive branch and the overarching governmental system that shapes our democracy. Michael J. Gerhardt is the Burton Craige Distinguished Professor of Jurisprudence at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Scholar in Residence at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, and the foremost scholar on impeachment in the United States. He is one of only two legal scholars to testify in three different presidential impeachment hearings and served as Special Counsel to the Presiding Officer in Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial. He is the only legal scholar to address the entire House of Representatives on the law of presidential impeachment was the Order of the Coif Distinguished Visitor in 2020-22 (an honor given only to one legal scholar each year in recognition of their scholarship) and received University of North Carolina’s highest award given to a faculty member in recognition of their public service in 2023. Buy the Companion Book The Law of Presidential Impeachment: A Guide for the Engaged Citizen /episode/index/show/civicsths/id/30701608

353. César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández: Redefining the Borders — How to Shape Inclusive and Just Immigration Practices 04/02/2024

353. César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández: Redefining the Borders — How to Shape Inclusive and Just Immigration Practices Is it possible to reshape immigration practices to align with the values of inclusivity, justice, and the historical promise of the United States as a welcoming haven for all? Law professor and immigration lawyer César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández presents a powerful case for divorcing immigration law from criminal law in his book, Welcome the Wretched. He challenges the status quo by advocating for the abolition of so-called immigration crimes, questioning the criminalization of border crossings, and proposing a shift towards allowing migrants, even those accused or convicted of crimes, to remain in the U.S. as residents or citizens. Delving into the historical context, García Hernández reveals that the perception of immigrants as criminals is a relatively recent development, pointing out that until the late 20th century, crossing the border into the United States did not make one a criminal. Drawing on his own family’s immigration stories, García Hernández explores how immigration law and criminal law became entwined and contends that immigration policies are shaped more by politics than a sense of morality. García Hernández sheds light on the personal stories of individuals whose lives changed due to a single decision and challenges the perception of “criminal aliens” as overblown, inaccurate, and rooted in racism and bias. Join us for an essential discussion as García Hernández advocates for a reevaluation of immigration policies, calling for a decoupling of immigration and criminal legal systems, and urging America to uphold its promise as a safe and welcoming haven for all. César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández is the Gregory H. Williams Chair in Civil Rights and Civil Liberties at the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law and an immigration lawyer. He has appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, NPR, The Guardian, and many other venues. The author of Crimmigration Law as well as Migrating to Prison (The New Press). You can read more at Buy the Companion Book Welcome the Wretched /episode/index/show/civicsths/id/30653308

352. Boldt at 50 03/29/2024

351. Ijeoma Oluo with Michele Storms: Be a Revolution 03/13/2024

351. Ijeoma Oluo with Michele Storms: Be a Revolution Ijeoma Oluo’s #1 New York Times bestseller So You Want To Talk About Race (), offered a vital guide for how to talk about important issues of race and racism in society. In Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America, she discussed how white male supremacy has had an impact on our systems, our culture, and our lives throughout American history. But now that we better understand these systems of oppression, the question is this: What can we do about them? In her new book, Be A Revolution: How Everyday People Are Fighting Oppression and Changing the World — and How You Can, Too, Ijeoma Oluo aims to show how people across America are working to create real positive change in our structures. Looking at many of our most powerful systems — like education, media, labor, health, housing, policing, and more — she highlights what people are doing to create change for intersectional racial equity. She also illustrates how readers can find their own entry points for change in these same areas or can bring some of this important work being done elsewhere to where they live. Oluo aims to not only educate but to inspire action and change. Join us at Town Hall for a discussion on how to take conversations on race and racism out of a place of pure pain and trauma, and into a place of loving action. Ijeoma Oluo is a writer, speaker, and internet yeller. She is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller So You Want to Talk About Race and, most recently, Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America. Her work has been featured in the Guardian, the New York Times, and the Washington Post, among many other publications. She was named to the 2021 Time 100 Next list and has twice been named to the Root 100. She received the 2018 Feminist Humanist Award and the 2020 Harvard Humanist of the Year Award from the American Humanist Association. She lives in Seattle, Washington. Michele E. Storms is the Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington (ACLU of Washington), former Deputy Director of the ACLU of Washington, and previous Assistant Dean for Public Service and executive director of the William H. Gates Public Service Law program at the University of Washington School of Law. Preceding those roles she served as a statewide advocacy coordinator first at Columbia Legal Services and later at the Northwest Justice Project where over a combined five-year period she coordinated civil legal aid advocacy in the areas of family law, youth and education, housing, elder law, Native American and right to counsel issues. She was also previously on faculty at the University of Washington School of Law where she founded what is now the Child and Youth Advocacy Clinic and taught several other courses. In addition to her service on numerous boards and guilds both locally and nationally, Michele served on the Washington State Access to Justice Board for six years and the board of One America. Michele is concerned with equity and justice for all and has dedicated her professional and personal attention to access to justice, preservation of freedom and democracy for all and ensuring that all humxns safely reside in the “circle of human concern.” /episode/index/show/civicsths/id/30361858

350. Tamara Payne with Glenn Hare: The Life and Legacy of Malcolm X 02/20/2024

349. Tim Schwab with Ashley Fent: The Problem with Philanthropy 02/17/2024

349. Tim Schwab with Ashley Fent: The Problem with Philanthropy Journalist Tim Schwab is no stranger to investigative journalism that scrutinizes power structures and questions how private interests intersect with public policy. With funding from a 2019 Alicia Patterson Fellowship, Schwab pursued an investigative series specific to Bill Gates and the Gates Foundation, and his work was published by in 2020 and 2021. Now Schwab expands on his reporting in a new book, The Bill Gates Problem. Schwab provides an in-depth analysis of Bill Gates’ philanthropic trajectory, tracing his evolution from a prominent figure in the tech industry to a globally admired individual. Drawing from years of investigation, Schwab highlights concerns related to undue influence on public policy, private markets, scientific research, and media narratives. Are such philanthropic endeavors truly democratic? Or even effective? By facilitating an open dialogue, Schwab seeks to empower participants to critically evaluate the role of philanthropy in society, encouraging constructive discussions about its impact and implications. Tim Schwab is an investigative journalist based in Washington, D.C. His groundbreaking reporting on the Gates Foundation for The Nation, Columbia Journalism Review, and The British Medical Journal has been honored with an Izzy Award and a Deadline Club Award. The Bill Gates Problem is his first book. Ashley Fent is a former research director of AGRA Watch, a campaign of Community Alliance for Global Justice. She co-founded CAGJ’s AGRA Watch campaign while still an undergraduate at University of Washington. She has ten plus years’ experience as a social-environmental researcher, writer, and multimedia content producer. She holds a Ph.D. in Geography from UCLA and a M.A. in Anthropology and African Studies from Columbia University. Daniel Maingi is a science and development practitioner in Kenya with a 15-year career helping to bring learning on appropriate and sustainable technologies to Civil Society Organizations in Eastern Africa. Daniel is a policy campaigner for CSOs at the Inter-Sectoral Forum on Agrobiodiversity and Agroecology. He is currently researching the digitalization of agriculture in Kenya as a Stanford University Fellow (2023-24) with the Digital Civil Society Lab & The Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society (PACS). Stephen Gloyd, MD, MPH, is a family practice physician who has been a University of Washington faculty member since 1986. Dr. Gloyd is Director of the Global Health MPH Program in the UW’s Department of Global Health where he directs efforts to expand curricular options to address global workforce needs. His work with Health Alliance International is designed to improve approaches to global health assistance and to strengthen primary health care with the Ministries of Health of Mozambique, Côte d’Ivoire, Sudan, and Timor-Leste. Jesse Hagopian has been an educator for over twenty years and taught for over a decade Seattle’s Garfield High School–the site of the historic boycott of the MAP test. Jesse is an editor for the social justice periodical Rethinking Schools, is the co-editor of the books, Black Lives Matter at School, Teaching for Black Lives, Teacher Unions and Social Justice, and is the editor of the book, More Than a Score. Presented by Town Hall Seattle and Community Alliance for Global Justice. The Elliott Bay Book Company /episode/index/show/civicsths/id/29998778

348. Ganesh Sitaraman with Paul Constant: Why is Flying so Miserable? 02/03/2024

348. Ganesh Sitaraman with Paul Constant: Why is Flying so Miserable? It is among the most classically joked about modern grievances, air travel. Between flight cancellations, delays, lost baggage, increased prices, crammed planes, and the general downtrodden gloom that accompanies flying, there is plenty left to be desired when it comes to the quality of airline service. The truth is that bankruptcies and mergers have meant that competition has come to a critical ebb. In his new book, Why Flying is Miserable, policy entrepreneur and law professor, Ganesh Sitaraman, identifies the core issues in aviation as he sees them. He points out that the lone four, too-big-to-fail airlines, still are failing to offer reliable services even after receiving billions of dollars in taxpayer bailouts during the pandemic. Sitaraman explains how the 1978 experiment in deregulating airlines ultimately turned out to be the cause of our current discontent. What resulted from deregulation was consolidation, higher prices, loss of service to smaller communities, fewer direct flights, and a more miserable experience overall. But perhaps it’s not all cloudy skies ahead. Sitaraman expresses hope in abandoning the old systems of regulation, instead choosing to learn from the American tradition of regulated capitalism. The entrepreneur champions new solutions with the aim of increasing the reliability and resiliency of commercial air travel. Come to Town Hall where we can all complain about air travel together! But stick around for expert Ganesh Sitaraman to offer some words of consolation, and deliver actionable plans to better the experience of air travel in the future. Ganesh Sitaraman is a law professor at Vanderbilt Law School and the director of the Vanderbilt Institute for Political Economy and Regulation. He is the author of several books, including The Crisis of the Middle-Class Constitution and The Great Democracy. Sitaraman serves on the board of The American Prospect, and is a member of the FAA’s Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee. He was previously a senior advisor to Senator Elizabeth Warren on her presidential campaign. He lives in Nashville. Paul Constant has written about books, economics, and politics for The Seattle Times, Business Insider, the New York Observer, the LA Times, and many other publications. He is a fellow at Civic Ventures, a public policy incubator in Seattle, and contributes to the Pitchfork Economics podcast. Phinney Books /episode/index/show/civicsths/id/29778848

347. Betty Houchin Winfield: Pioneering Women in Academia 02/02/2024

347. Betty Houchin Winfield: Pioneering Women in Academia Starting in 1967, when fewer than 1% of women completed any education beyond four years of college, the Washington State University (WSU) Sociology Department dared to hire three female faculty members who became lifelong friends. Lois B. DeFleur, Sandra Ball-Rokeach, and Marilyn Ihinger-Tallman were role models for many women and paved the way for those who followed. Four decades later, volume editor Betty Houchin Winfield, who in 1979 was a new assistant professor in communications at WSU, prompted her former mentors to tell their stories, she had benefited immensely from their support and encouragement. In Winfield’s book, We Few, We Academic Sisters: How We Persevered and Excelled in Higher Education, the three women discuss their childhoods, educational and research efforts, personal lives, and career advancements. Though all married professors, they fought to be known as individual scholars, overcoming sexual discrimination and harassment as well as intense societal pressure to follow traditional female roles. Their impressive careers parallel larger national events and the onset of increasing opportunities for women. Initially, associate or assistant professors, all three became full professors when it was exceedingly rare. Dr. DeFleur later held positions as dean, provost, and university president. Dr. Ball-Rokeach gained international status as a major media sociologist, and Dr. Ihinger-Tallman became WSU’s first female Chair of the Sociology Department. Don’t miss this opportunity to celebrate their inspiring narratives that highlight the importance of community and offer invaluable guidance to the current generation of academics. Betty Houchin Winfield has deep ties to Seattle, where she raised her children and completed her Ph.D. at the University of Washington. While teaching at various universities, including those in Missouri, North Carolina, and Poland, she maintained her Eastlake condo for summer and holiday stays. Throughout her academic career, Winfield achieved remarkable milestones, such as post-doctoral work at Columbia and Harvard, along with receiving prestigious teaching and research awards. She shares similarities with the subjects of We Few, We Academic Sisters by breaking gender barriers, becoming only the second woman to receive the University of Missouri system’s Thomas Jefferson Award and the first to hold the Curators’ Research Professorship in the University of Missouri School of Journalism. Following her retirement in 2012, she has made Seattle her permanent residence and remains actively engaged in civic projects, including leading the pre-COVID luminaire art project on the Pier 86 Grain Terminal waterfront. The Elliott Bay Book Company /episode/index/show/civicsths/id/29776643

346. Shaun Scott with Jesse Hagopian: A Look at Urban History through Seattle Sports 01/15/2024

345. Schuyler Bailar: He/She/They: How We Talk About Gender and Why It Matters 01/12/2024

344. Fei-Fei Li with Todd Bishop: Using AI to Empower Humans 12/21/2023

344. Fei-Fei Li with Todd Bishop: Using AI to Empower Humans Depending on who you overhear, conversations surrounding the controversial AI Chat Bot, Chat GPT, may be punctuated with terms like, “groundbreaking!” “paradigm-shifting!” “innovative!” or conversely might be filled with calls of “terrifying!” “mistake!” or “too far!” But peering through either lens, it is hard not to imagine that AI will diminish the necessity for human involvement, human experiences, or human ideas in some sense. Dr. Fei-Fei Li is a computer science professor at Stanford University and founding director of the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI. If “Human-Centered AI” sounds like an oxymoron to you, you probably maintain a strong conceptual divide between what is considered “human” and what is “machine.” Yet Li is of a group of scientists who envision a future where AI is designed with the intent to enhance the abilities of and empower real human beings. Li’s own story is one of struggle, passion, and resilience. Immigrating from China, her family faced the difficult transition from their home country’s middle class, into American poverty. Despite struggling to care for her ailing mother, who worked tirelessly to establish a foothold in their new land, Li maintained a passion and natural aptitude for physics. Now Li is releasing her new book entitled, The Worlds I See. In this reflection on life and AI, the Stanford professor presents a clear explanation of the term artificial intelligence, as well as a personal saga that demonstrates the ardor and creativity involved in producing even the most technical scholarship. Join Dr. Li at Town Hall Seattle, where the AI expert will make a case for human-centric approaches in developing this new technology. Fei-Fei Li is a computer science professor at Stanford University and founding director of the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI as well as a founder and chairperson of the board of the nonprofit AI4ALL. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Medicine, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Todd Bishop is GeekWire’s co-founder, a longtime business and technology journalist who reports on subjects including AI, the cloud, startups, and health technology, plus Amazon and Microsoft, in addition to hosting GeekWire’s weekly podcast. A native of Orland, Calif., he has worked as a reporter for publications including The Philadelphia Inquirer, Puget Sound Business Journal, and the Seattle P-I. The Elliott Bay Book Company /episode/index/show/civicsths/id/29193903

343. Paola Cecchi-Dimeglio with Oriona Spaulding: Investing in Inclusion 12/20/2023

343. Paola Cecchi-Dimeglio with Oriona Spaulding: Investing in Inclusion Can leaders strive for more inclusivity in the workplace and improve outcomes in the process? Employers invest in and manage their key asset — talent — to be as high-performing as possible. Like a winning stock, it can be argued that successful diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) actions likewise pay back over time: that dividend is paid to the company through higher performance, talent acquisition, training, and other savings — as well as to society in general. How can leaders make informed choices at the right moments to create lasting change? In Diversity Dividend, scientist, attorney, and Harvard Professor Paola Cecchi-Dimeglio uses a combination of data and real-world application to create a new view of gender and racial equity in the workplace. Aiming to be both empowering and comprehensive, Diversity Dividend seeks to remove the guesswork that naturally arises when some methods work and others fail, thereby giving leaders the tools they need to make more impactful choices. Joined in conversation by Oriona Spaulding, Chief Operating Officer of Microsoft’s Venture Fund, M12, the two leaders discuss ways to remove the systemic barriers that prevent women and underrepresented groups from advancing in their organizations. Dr. Paola Cecchi-Dimeglio is a behavioral and data scientist (Big Data and AI), as well as a lawyer. As a decision science, organizational behavior, and gender specialist, she is advising some of the largest for-profit and non-profit organizations in the world by enabling organizations to tap into insights from behavioral science and related fields, allowing senior leadership to make better and more inclusive decisions for themselves and their companies. She works with executives from Fortune 500 firms, governments, and top professional service firms, including Magic Circle law firms and AmLaw 100. She has developed several software and SAAS tools and owns several patents. As Chief Operating Officer of Microsoft’s Venture Fund, M12, Oriona Spaulding leads the fund’s operating team, including portfolio development, marketing and communications, strategy, and fund operations including finance. Prior to joining M12, Oriona spent 14 years in various capacities within Microsoft after joining as an antitrust attorney. Most recently, she served as Chief of Staff for the EVP of Business Development, Strategy, and Ventures overseeing organizational strategy, operations, and communications and helping manage several international partnerships and market expansions. Her roles have allowed Oriona to spend a great deal of time working closely with Microsoft’s field teams around the world and some of Microsoft’s largest and smallest customers. Presented by Town Hall Seattle and Seattle Arts & Culture for Anti-Racism (SACA). Third Place Books /episode/index/show/civicsths/id/29176108

342. Washington’s Leadership in the Global Climate Movement: Setting Examples for Progressive Climate Policies 12/06/2023

342. Washington’s Leadership in the Global Climate Movement: Setting Examples for Progressive Climate Policies Washington is leading the nation as a model for the transition to a climate-safe future. People, movements, and politicians across the state have been able to pass landmark policies that benefit local communities, as well as inspire other regions to follow suit. From Seattle’s commercial energy codes, to Whatcom County’s first-ever ban on new fossil fuel infrastructure, to the statewide Climate Commitment Act, Washington continues to set examples for how progressive climate policies can support a thriving region. As we build on nationwide momentum to reduce carbon emissions, protect our environment, and build community resilience, let’s take stock of our successes and determine the most impactful and equitable pathways forward: Who is leading real climate progress in Washington, and how can we support them in climate action that leaves no one in our state behind? State Representative Alex Ramel will moderate a panel of activists and experts who are supporting Washington’s diverse communities to build a shared, climate-safe future. Panelists: Todd Paglia, Executive Director, Stand.earth Todd Paglia began his career as an attorney for Ralph Nader, focusing on the environment, consumer protection issues, and holding corporations accountable. As Executive Director of Stand.earth since 1999, his commitment to conservation led a winning campaign to drive Fortune 500 companies including Staples, Williams-Sonoma, 3M, and more to purchase and use recycled paper, and immediately preserve millions more old growth and endangered forests. An avid fisher and skier, Todd’s love for the planet drew him to Washington State. He has called Bellingham home for 16 years. Nicole Grant, Director of Government Affairs for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 46 in Seattle Nicole joined 350 Seattle in November 2021 after gaining tremendous strategic grounding and practical knowledge in her 20 years in the labor movement. In her time as Executive Secretary at the Martin Luther King County Labor Council, she led a transition that helped to make the organization more focused on racial, gender, and climate justice — while also invigorating its commitments to the need for working people to have a “great life in greater Seattle.” Nicole is a journeyman electrician with IBEW 46, where she also served as the Executive Director of the Certified Electrical Workers of Washington. Jay Julius, President and Founder, Se’Si’Le Jay is the former Chairman of the Lummi Nation, a full-time fisherman, and a father. Jay was a leader in the fight to protect Xwe’chi’eXen (Cherry Point) and has organized and executed Tribal, local, regional, and national campaigns. A bridge-builder, he uses empathy and storytelling to bring people together. Principal at Julius Consulting LLC, he is also the Founder and President of the organization Se’Si’Le, which offers strategies for integrating ancestral knowledge into policies, projects, and partnerships with the will of right and respectful relations. Moderator: Alex Ramel, Washington State Representative for the 40th District Rep. Alex Ramel joined the Washington legislature in January of 2020. Last year he was elected by his colleagues to the leadership role of Majority Whip. A single parent, he was called to public service to help address the climate and housing crises facing current and future generations. He has served as President of the Kulshan Community Land Trust which helps build and preserve affordable housing. He also led the development of the Community Energy Challenge which brings businesses, utilities, non-profits, and government together to help conserve energy, reduce costs, and create good paying jobs. Rep. Ramel has called Bellingham home for over 20 years. Presented by Town Hall Seattle and Stand.earth. /episode/index/show/civicsths/id/28964973

341. Amanda Montei and Kristi Coulter with Gemma Hartley: Ambition, Women, and Work 11/22/2023

341. Amanda Montei and Kristi Coulter with Gemma Hartley: Ambition, Women, and Work Many parents struggle with the physicality of caring for children, but even more with the growing lack of autonomy new moms may feel in their personal and professional lives. Join us for an evening with Amanda Montei, author of Touched Out: Motherhood, Misogyny, Consent, and Control, and Kristi Coulter, author of Exit Interview: The Life and Death of My Ambitious Career. Moderated by Gemma Hartley, author of Fed Up: Emotional Labor, Women, and the Way Forward, Montei and Coulter will discuss the state of ambition for women, the often hidden labors of both parenthood and gender, emotional labor in the workplace and mental loads at home, and much more. Amanda Montei is the author of Touched Out: Motherhood, Misogyny, Consent, and Control, out now from Beacon Press, as well as the memoir Two Memoirs, and a collection of prose, The Failure Age. She has an MFA in Writing from California Institute of the Arts and a PhD from the Poetics Program at SUNY Buffalo. Amanda’s work has been featured at New York Times, Elle, The Guardian, The Cut, Slate, Vox, HuffPost, Rumpus, The Believer, Ms. Magazine, and many others. She lives in California. Kristi Coulter is the author of and Nothing Good Can Come From This, a Washington State Book Award finalist. Her work has also appeared in The Paris Review, New York Magazine, Elle, Glamour, The Believer, and many other publications. She teaches writing at Hugo House and lives in Seattle and Los Angeles. Gemma Hartley is a freelance journalist, speaker, and author of She has spoken on the topic of invisible labor around the world, from corporate conferences to festivals at the Sydney Opera House. Her writing has been featured in outlets including Harper’s Bazaar, Women’s Health, Glamour, The Washington Post, CNBC, Redbook, Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping, Teen Vogue, and The Huffington Post. She is passionate about creating a more equitable world in which invisible labor is valued and supported by both personal partners and public policy alike. Third Place Books /episode/index/show/civicsths/id/28765298

340. Heather Cox Richardson with Marcus Harrison Green: Notes on the State of America 11/20/2023

340. Heather Cox Richardson with Marcus Harrison Green: Notes on the State of America Although social media may not be a typical source of enlightenment, historian Heather Cox Richardson decided to become an exception to the rule. It all started during the 2019 impeachment when Richardson launched a daily Facebook essay providing historical background for the daily torrent of news. It soon morphed into a popular Substack newsletter, Letters From an American, and a readership that swelled to more than two million readers dedicated to her take on both past and present. In Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America, Richardson’s narrative explains how over time a small group of wealthy people have, in her view, made war on American ideals and created a disaffected population. She argues that taking our country back starts by remembering the elements of the nation’s true history and principles that marginalized Americans have always upheld. Richardson condenses the content of news feeds into coherent stories. She aims to pinpoint what we should pay attention to, what the precedents are, and what possible paths lie ahead. Through her rich historical knowledge, Richardson can pivot from the Founders to the abolitionists, from the New Deal to Mitch McConnell, and anywhere in between. Some topics reverberate throughout history, like the lingering fears of socialism, the death of the liberal consensus, and movement conservatism. Democracy Awakening offers an explanation for how we arrived at this point, what our history really tells us about ourselves, and how this history serves as a roadmap for the nation’s future and shows us what democracy can be. Heather Cox Richardson is a professor of history at Boston College and an expert on American political and economic history. She is the author of seven books, including the award-winning How the South Won the Civil War. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, The New York Times, and The Guardian, among other outlets. Her widely read newsletter, Letters from an American, synthesizes history and modern political issues. Marcus Harrison Green is a columnist for The Seattle Times. A long-time Seattle native, he is the founder of the South Seattle Emerald, which focuses on telling the stories of South Seattle and its residents. The Elliott Bay Book Company /episode/index/show/civicsths/id/28729983

339. Michael Harriot with Marcus Harrison Green: America Unredacted 11/16/2023

339. Michael Harriot with Marcus Harrison Green: America Unredacted Have you ever wondered if there was another version of this country besides the one that was taught in schools? For many Americans, especially Black Americans, the answer is yes. The backstory that most of us were taught has been whitewashed and sugarcoated, its truths buried and untold, with many delivered halfway — if at all. Reality rewritten. In his new book, Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America, columnist and political commentator Michael Harriot presents a retelling of our nation’s history that promises to set the record straight and showcase the perspectives and experiences of Black Americans. The prevailing narratives of history are rife with errors and oversights — after all, history books were written by those in power and from their perspective. In a society that so often devalues and erases the Black experience, Harriot’s book challenges the dominant paradigm, with each page a choice to subvert it. In Black AF History, Michael Harriot presents a more complete version of American history. It centers Black Americans, combining provocative, witty storytelling with research based on both primary sources and the work of pioneering Black historians, scholars, and journalists. Harriot also enlightens readers with little-known stories: From the African-Americans who arrived before the Mayflower to the unenslavable bandit who inspired America’s first police force. Harriot asserts that American history has been synonymous with white history. But in his book, history is Black AF. is a journalist, author and cultural critic. His award-winning journalism has appeared in the , , your , and his mother’s refrigerator. He earned the National Association of Black Journalists Awards for digital commentary, television news writing and magazine writing. He is the author of the book Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America and currently serves as a columnist for The Guardian and , where he covers the intersection of race, politics, and media … and . is the publisher of the South Seattle Emerald and a columnist with the Seattle Times. Growing up in South Seattle, he experienced first-hand the impact of one-dimensional stories on marginalized communities, which taught him the value of authentic narratives. An award-winning storyteller, he was awarded the Seattle Human Rights Commissions’ Individual Human Rights Leader Award for 2020, and named the inaugural James Baldwin Fellow by the Northwest African American Museum in 2022. Third Place Books /episode/index/show/civicsths/id/28663928

338. Rebecca Clarren with Rena Priest: The Cost of Free Land 11/07/2023

338. Rebecca Clarren with Rena Priest: The Cost of Free Land Growing up, Rebecca Clarren only knew the major plot points of her tenacious immigrant family’s origins. Her great-great-grandparents, the Sinykins, and their six children fled antisemitism in Russia and arrived in the United States at the turn of the 20th century, ultimately settling on a 160-acre homestead in South Dakota. Over the next few decades, despite tough years on a merciless prairie and multiple setbacks, the Sinykins became an American immigrant success story. What none of Clarren’s ancestors ever mentioned was that their land, the foundation for much of their wealth, had been cruelly taken from the Lakota by the United States government. By the time the Sinykins moved to South Dakota, America had broken hundreds of treaties with hundreds of Indigenous nations across the continent, and the land that had once been reserved for the seven bands of the Lakota had been diminished, splintered, and handed for free, or practically free, to white settlers. In The Cost of Free Land, Clarren melds investigative reporting with personal family history to reveal the intertwined stories of her family and the Lakota, and the devastating cycle of loss of Indigenous land, culture, and resources that continues today. Clarren grapples with the personal and national consequences of this legacy of violence and dispossession. What does it mean to survive oppression only to perpetuate and benefit from the oppression of others? By shining a light on the people and families tangled up in this country’s difficult history, The Cost of Free Land invites readers to consider their own culpability and what, now, can be done. Rebecca Clarren has been writing about the rural West for more than twenty years. Her journalism, for which she has won the Hillman Prize, an Alicia Patterson Foundation Fellowship, and 10 grants from the Fund for Investigative Journalism, has appeared in such publications as MotherJones, High Country News, The Nation, and . Her debut novel, (Sky Horse Press, 2018), was shortlisted for the PEN/Bellwether Prize. Rena Priest is an enrolled member of the Lhaq’temish (Lummi) Nation. She served as the 6th Washington State Poet Laureate (2021-2023) and was named the 2022 Maxine Cushing Gray Distinguished Writing Fellow. Priest is also the recipient of an American Book Award, an Allied Arts Foundation Professional Poets Award, and fellowships from the Academy of American Poets and Indigenous Nations Poets. She is the author of three books and editor of two anthologies. Her work appears in print and online at Poetry Magazine, Poets.org, Yellow Medicine Review, High Country News, and elsewhere. She holds an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College. Third Place Books /episode/index/show/civicsths/id/28549676

337. Martin Baron with Frank Blethen A Marriage of Press and Politics 10/31/2023

337. Martin Baron with Frank Blethen A Marriage of Press and Politics If you’ve felt like the news cycle has been out of control in the past few years, imagine being the editor of one of the most prominent papers in the US. Martin Baron had over a decade of newsroom experience before he took charge of The Washington Post in 2013. But just seven months into his new job, Baron received unexpected news: Amazon founder Jeff Bezos would buy (and own) the Post, marking a sudden end of control by the esteemed family that had presided over the paper for 80 years. Two years after that jarring shift, Donald Trump won the presidency. Baron found himself working for the capital’s newspaper owned by one of the world’s richest men while reporting on a president with an anti-press platform who once referred to them as the “lowest form of humanity.” In his debut release Collision of Power: Trump, Bezos, and The Washington Post, Baron provides readers with a personal account of the immense pressure faced by both him and his colleagues. Despite unprecedented circumstances, Baron led the Post‘s staff to award-winning coverage: stories about Trump’s purported charitable giving, misconduct by the Secret Service, and former chief justice Roy Moore’s troubling history. In addition to external challenges, Baron faced internal battles as well, such as changing societal dynamics around gender and race. Part memoir, part investigation, Collision of Power details the feat of managing the Post’s newsroom while meeting a new owner’s demands, all while simultaneously contending with a president who waged war against the media. The text examines the very nature of power in 21st-century America and how key players like media, money, technology, and politics interact and intersect. Martin Baron is a longtime journalist and newspaper editor. He ran the newsrooms of The Miami Herald and The Boston Globe before being named executive editor of The Washington Post in 2013. His role in launching an investigation of the Catholic Church’s cover-up of sexual abuse by clergy was portrayed in the Academy Award-winning movie “Spotlight.” Baron retired from daily journalism in early 2021 and now splits his time between Western Massachusetts and New York City. Collision of Power is his first book. Frank Blethen is the publisher of The Seattle Times and the great-grandson of the 126-year-old company’s founder. The Elliott Bay Book Company /episode/index/show/civicsths/id/28469972

336. Franklin Foer with Katy Sewall: Reflecting on the First Two Years of the Biden Presidency 10/20/2023

335. Ken Grossinger with Dr. Carmen Rojas: Beyond Aesthetic: Art as a Catalyst for Change 10/17/2023

335. Ken Grossinger with Dr. Carmen Rojas: Beyond Aesthetic: Art as a Catalyst for Change Throughout history, art has been a vehicle for social change. Consider the artist’s mural of George Floyd that become an emblem for the fight towards racial equality. The documentary film that helped oust a Central American dictator. The echo of freedom songs that rang throughout the Civil Rights Movement. When artists and organizers join together, new forms of political mobilization are sure to follow. Despite these and many more examples throughout history, many people are unaware of how much deliberate strategy is involved in propelling this vital work toward a more just society. Behind the scenes, artists, organizers, political activists, and philanthropists have worked together to hone powerful tactics for achieving a more just society for all. In Art Works: How Organizers and Artists Are Creating a Better World Together, movement leader Ken Grossinger chronicles these efforts for the first time, distilling lessons and insights from grassroots leaders and luminaries such as Ai Weiwei, Courtland Cox, Jackson Browne, Shepard Fairey, Jane Fonda, Jose Antonio Vargas, and many more. Drawing from both historical and contemporary examples — including Black Lives Matter, Standing Rock, the Hip Hop Caucus, and the Art for Justice Fund — Grossinger speaks directly to the challenges, needs, and successes of today’s activists across the artistic and political landscapes. Ken Grossinger has been a leading strategist in movements for social and economic justice for thirty-five years, in unions and community organizations, and as director of Impact Philanthropy in Democracy Partners. Among other cultural projects, he co-executive produced the award-winning Netflix documentaries The Social Dilemma and The Bleeding Edge. He lives in Washington, D.C. Dr. Carmen Rojas is the president & CEO of Marguerite Casey Foundation. Under her leadership, the foundation launched the prestigious Freedom Scholar Award. Prior to MCF, Dr. Rojas was the co-founder and CEO of The Workers Lab, an innovation lab that partners with workers to develop new ideas that help them succeed and flourish. For more than 20 years, she has worked with foundations, financial institutions, and nonprofits to improve the lives of working people across the country. Third Place Books /episode/index/show/civicsths/id/28347626

334. Michael Waldman with Prof. Liz Porter: Courting Controversy 10/13/2023

334. Michael Waldman with Prof. Liz Porter: Courting Controversy What do we do when the Supreme Court challenges the entire nation? The 2021-2022 term of the Supreme Court was arguably one of the most tumultuous in U.S. history. Over three days in June of 2022, the conservative supermajority overturned the constitutional right to abortion, possibly opening the door to reconsidering other major privacy rights. The Court also limited the authority of the EPA, loosened restrictions on guns, and embraced originalism, a legal theory asserting that the constitution should be interpreted by its original intent instead of in the context of current times. In The Supermajority: How the Supreme Court Divided America, attorney and former White House speechwriter Michael Waldman explores what the term means for thousands of cases — and millions of Americans. He examines past, present, and future, drawing deeply on history to examine other times when the Court controversially veered from the will of the majority, inciting anger and backlash among the people. Waldman also analyzes important new rulings and their implications for the law and American society, and argues that these major decisions — and the next wave to come — will have enormous ramifications for everyone in this country. With the leaked Roe v. Wade opinion, the first Black woman justice sworn in, and the public infighting between justices front and center in our view, Waldman previews the 2022–2023 term and how the Supreme Court is only beginning to reshape politics. Michael Waldman is president and CEO of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, a nonpartisan law and policy institute that works to revitalize the nation’s systems of democracy and justice. He was director of speechwriting for President Bill Clinton from 1995 to 1999 and is the author of The Second Amendment: A Biography and The Fight to Vote. Waldman was a member of the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court. A graduate of Columbia College and NYU School of Law, he comments widely in the media on law and policy. Prof. Porter (or Liz Porter) received her J.D. from Columbia Law School. In 2002-2003, she served as a law clerk for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the Supreme Court. Now serving as the James W. Mifflin Professor of Law at the University of Washington School of Law, Prof. Porter teaches and writes about civil litigation and the Supreme Court. She also co-directs UW’s Ninth Circuit Pro Bono Appellate Advocacy Clinic. Third Place Books /episode/index/show/civicsths/id/28311512

333. Sonali Kolhatkar with Sunnivie Brydum: Media in Color 10/11/2023

333. Sonali Kolhatkar with Sunnivie Brydum: Media in Color While people of color have been more widely represented in media in recent years, most of that media is neither created nor consumed by them — white Americans still comprise the majority of content creators and storytellers. But media makers of color are working to amplify long-silenced voices in order to advance a set of different narratives, offering stories and perspectives to counter the racism and disinformation that have dominated America’s political and cultural landscape. In Rising Up: The Power of Narrative in Pursuing Racial Justice, award-winning journalist Sonali Kolhatkar focuses on shifting perspectives in news media, entertainment, and individual discourse. Kolhatkar highlights the writers, creators, educators, and influencers who are successfully building a culture of affirmation and inclusion. Rising Up is Kolhatkar’s guide to narrative-setting through the lens of advancing racial justice, advocating for a reallocation of power in the media and entertainment industries to more people of color as well as a shift in public consciousness. Through this text, Kolhatkar offers a timely exploration of how truthful narratives by and about people of color can be used to advance social justice in the United States. Kolhatkar joins us at Town Hall to discuss her book with Sunnivie Brydum, Editorial Director at YES! Media. Sonali Kolhatkar is the host and producer of Rising Up with Sonali, a weekly television and radio program that airs on Free Speech TV and on Pacifica Radio station affiliates around the United States. Winner of numerous awards, including Best TV Anchor and Best National Political Commentary from the LA Press Club, she is currently the Racial Justice editor at Yes! Magazine and a Writing Fellow with the Independent Media Institute. Co-author of Bleeding Afghanistan: Washington, Warlords, and the Propaganda of Silence with Jim Ingalls, Kolhatkar is Co-Director of the Afghan Women’s Mission. She resides with her husband and two sons in Pasadena, California. Sunnivie Brydum is the Editorial Director at YES! Media, where she co-leads the editorial team along with Executive Editor Evette Dionne. Prior to joining YES! in 2019, Sunnivie spent most of her career in queer media, including as managing editor of The Advocate, where she led coverage of the nationwide embrace of marriage equality and was one of the few out journalists on the ground covering the Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando. She is an award-winning investigative journalist whose work has appeared in outlets ranging from Vox and Bustle to Religion Dispatches, among others. As a former U.S. State Department Professional Fellow with the International Center for Journalists, she co-founded Historias No Contadas, an annual symposium in Medellín, Colombia, which elevates the voices of LGBTQ people in Latin America. Presented by Town Hall Seattle and YES! Media. The Elliott Bay Book Company /episode/index/show/civicsths/id/28293968

332. Naomi Klein with Mike Davis: A Trip into the Mirror World 09/27/2023

332. Naomi Klein with Mike Davis: A Trip into the Mirror World What if you woke up one morning and found you’d acquired another self—a double who was almost you and yet not you at all? Not long ago, activist and public intellectual Naomi Klein had an unsettling experience—she was confronted with an online doppelganger whose views she found abhorrent but whose name and public persona were sufficiently similar to her own that many people got confused about who was who. Destabilized, she lost her bearings, until she began to understand the experience as one manifestation of a strangeness many of us have come to know but struggle to define. As lifestyles of internet celebrities have caused reality itself to become unmoored, Klein asks, “Is there a cure for our moment of collective vertigo?” Join us at Town Hall for a trip into what Klein calls the “Mirror World,” a series of reflections on the distorted edges that exist at the borders of our daily lives that we try to unscramble. This deep dive uses a combination of studied critique and reportage along with more personal perspectives to tap into the issues of politics, socio-economics, social media, and identity. Through the endless waves of contradictory claims and AI-generated content that we have access to, Klein aims to reconnect with sturdier foundations of what we believe and how we fight for what matters to us in the sea of environmental and electronic uncertainty. Naomi Klein is an award-winning journalist, New York Times bestselling author, and regular contributing columnist for The Guardian. Her published works include No Logo, The Shock Doctrine, This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate, and more. She is appointed by the University of British Columbia as UBC Professor of Climate Justice (tenured) and is a founding co-director of the UBC Centre for Climate Justice. Mike Davis is the arts and culture reporter at KUOW, Seattle’s NPR member station. He’s a freelance editor at the Seattle Emerald, where he formally covered arts, culture, and politics. Mike is a Seattle native, a creative storyteller, and a proud member of the Seattle Association of Black Journalists. Third Place Books /episode/index/show/civicsths/id/28162736

331. Jocelyn Simonson with Emily Thuma: The Power of the People 09/26/2023

331. Jocelyn Simonson with Emily Thuma: The Power of the People How can we fix the problems in our criminal justice system? In a feat that can seem insurmountable, a common approach is to leave the solution to experts and technocrats. But what if, instead of deferring solely to their knowledge, some of this much-needed change was carried out by the people? In her new book Radical Acts of Justice: How Ordinary People Are Dismantling Mass Incarceration, former attorney and law professor Jocelyn Simonson tells the stories of ordinary people joining together in collective acts of resistance: paying bail for a stranger, using social media to inform the public about courtroom proceedings, making a video about someone’s life for a criminal court judge, and other acts. When people join together to contest what we have been taught about justice and safety, they challenge the ideas that prosecutions and prisons make us safer. Through collective action, these groups seek to create change from within, reframing ideas of what justice can look like and showing the vital role that grassroots efforts and participatory democracy can play in not only balancing power, but in addressing the moral shortcomings of our modern carceral state and transforming the current systems of policing, criminal law, and prisons. Jocelyn Simonson is a former public defender, professor of law at Brooklyn Law School, and the leading national authority on community bail funds. Her work has been cited by the Supreme Court and discussed in The Atlantic, the New Yorker, and the Associated Press, and she has written for the New York Times, The Nation, n+1, the Washington Post, and others. Radical Acts of Justice (The New Press) is her first book. She lives in New York City. Emily Thuma is an associate professor of politics and law in the School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at the University of Washington Tacoma. She is the author of the award-winning book All Our Trials: Prisons, Policing, and the Feminist Fight to End Violence. Third Place Books /episode/index/show/civicsths/id/28149254

330. James Brosnahan: A Lawyer’s Career Through Groundbreaking Cases 09/22/2023

329. Jennifer Pahlka with Tarah Wheeler: Outdated Policymaking in the Digital Age 09/18/2023

329. Jennifer Pahlka with Tarah Wheeler: Outdated Policymaking in the Digital Age These days, it feels like customer service has been nearly all digitized. While confusion over ticket orders and lost packages can be frustrating, one space where it feels necessary for technology to hit the mark is health and wellness care. While online services and rapidly evolving technology should be making this process more fluid, moments like the crash of in 2013, as well as the shaky and muddled attempt for online services to provide benefits during COVID, call the effectiveness of this technology into question. But what is the reason for such outdated and inefficient systems when it comes to providing vital aid for people? Former deputy chief technology officer, Jennifer Pahlka, responds to this query in her new book Re-coding America: Why Government Is Failing in the Digital Age and How We Can Do Better. Pahlka argues that the government is stuck in an industrial-era culture, in which lofty goals set by the elite will often take years to be fully set in place. As time passes, the technology that these policies plan to implement is shockingly out of date. Pahlka makes the case that we must stop trying to move government onto new technology, but instead offer alternative methods to relying on outdated infrastructures. Join Jennifer Pahlka at Town Hall as she considers what it would mean to truly “recode” American government. Jennifer Pahlka is the former deputy chief technology officer of the United States and the founder of Code for America, a nonprofit that believes government can work for people in the digital age. Pahlka is the winner of a Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship, among others, and has been selected by Wired magazine as one of the people who have most shaped technology and society in the past twenty-five years. Tarah Wheeler is senior fellow for global cyber policy at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). She is also an information security executive, social scientist in the area of international conflict, and author of the best-selling book Women In Tech: Take Your Career to The Next Level With Practical Advice And Inspiring Stories. Third Place Books /episode/index/show/civicsths/id/28070001

328. Chris Guillebeau: Finding New Pathways to Prosperity 09/07/2023

327. Barry Long and David Tatro with Rebecca Crichton: Disability and Aging: New Perspectives 07/06/2023

Town Hall Seattle Civics Series

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