In this episode, Arena’s co-founder and Managing Partner, Ravi Gupta gives his thoughts on recent events from around the country. He then interviews Stacey Shells, a long-time Arena community member and educator. Stacey shares her experiences facing down discrimination and her thoughts on where this protest movement should go.

Arena Talks

Where do we go from here

Majora Carter is a visionary civic activist and entrepreneur from the South Bronx. She’s won recognition far and wide, including a MacArthur 'genius' Grant, a Peabody Award, and a Ted Talk with over 2.6 million views. In this episode, we talk about how to truly empower local communities to be self sufficient — and why the government and non-profits often get economic development wrong.

Empowering communities with Majora Carter

Yale Law School professor Daniel Markovits joins us to discuss The Meritocracy Trap, his book about an under-appreciated driver of inequality in this country -- and how the 1% includes more people than we commonly acknowledge.

Two self-loathing meritocrats discuss inequality, with Yale Law professor Daniel Markovits

In April, Arena hosted a conversation about how to campaign in the era of COVID-19. The conversation featured Hillary Clinton, Addisu Demissie (former campaign manager of Booker 2020 and Newsom for CA), and Swati Mylavarapu (Arena and Incite.org co-founder). We’ve shared the audio from this conversation.

COVID era campaigns with Hillary Clinton, Addisu Demissie, and Swati Mylavarapu

In this podcast, we hear from two political leaders at the center of the fight against COVID-19 and who are both widely acknowledged to be two of the most likely successors to Bill de Blasio as Mayor. First up is Scott Stringer, who is NYC’s Comptroller -- which is an office that serves both as the chief financial officer of the city and the city’s chief auditor. We then hear from Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, who gives us an on-the-ground account of how COVID-19 is impacting Brooklyn. Eric served for 22 years as a NYC Transit and NYPD officer, and offers his perspective on how we can best support first responders and other essential employees.

The Future of NYC

Ben Wikler, Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, is one of the leading progressive voices in the country today. Fresh off an historic electoral victory (historic for the obstacles candidates and voters faced), he joins us to talk about what Wisconsin's election can teach us about what’s to come in November.

The fight for Wisconsin is the fight for America

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.

The future of philanthropy with Anand Giridharadas and Michael Tubbs

Sarah Ullman is the co-founder of Vote Vote at a Time, a super PAC that created almost 200 videos about candidates for the 2018 midterm elections. Sarah and her team only work with progressive candidates who are strong on gun control. Sarah has done game-chasing work this election cycle, and was recently profiled in the New York Times. We had a great conversation with Sarah about what she learned during the latest election cycle, and her plans for the future.

Bringing filmmaking to politics with Sarah Ullman

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.

Hope and justice with Amber Goodwin

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.

Meg Ansara on firefighting, political campaigns, and leadership

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.

Why isn’t the NY State Senate blue?

Welcome to a special crossover edition of our pod with Nathan Rubin of Millennial Politics. We’re joined by Alessandra Biaggi, a candidate for New York State Senate and a longtime member of our community. Alessandra is challenging the leader of breakaway Democrats known as the IDC, who sold out their district for personal gain and ceded control to Republicans. Her incumbent opponent, State Senator Jeff Klein, is the leader of the Independent Democratic Conference (or IDC). He ran as a Democrat, was elected as a Democrat, and purports to govern as a Democrat, while caucusing with Republicans. As a result of the IDC and Republican control in the New York State Senate, progressive legislation passed by the New York State Assembly dies time and time again. Democrats have a Super-Majority in the Assembly, but year after year, legislation that should be a hallmark of a “progressive” state like New York never reached the Governor’s desk and never becomes law. Alessandra is running on a platform of Affordable Housing, expanding the electorate through small “d” democratic reforms, criminal justice reform, women’s reproductive rights, LGBTQ civil rights, and more.

From Arena Community Member to NY State Senate Candidate with Alessandra Biaggi

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.

Reflecting on a year of resistance with Kate Catherall and Nathaniel Pearlman

DeJuana Thompson is a Partner at Think Rubix and the creator of Woke Vote — a movement for equity and justice that is empowering communities of color to fight mass incarceration, voter suppression, and urban gun violence. DeJuana talks about how her community organizing experience shapes her work, her strategy for winning elections in 2018, and how to make movement building work more sustainable.

Empowering communities of color with Woke Vote and DeJuana Thompson

Lucas St. Clair is running for Congress in Maine’s 2nd District. Lucas is one of the most genuine, real candidates around. Watch this video to see what we mean. We talk about the twists and turns in his life that led him to this moment, why he’s running for Congress, and what bold leadership in today’s world means to him. Lucas’ primary election is this Tuesday June 12. Spread the word.

From the Maine wilderness to Congress with Lucas St. Clair

Arena Talks features conversations with activists, candidates, and political entrepreneurs from the Arena community.

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Arena Talks

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