Claim OwnershipBeing American with Deval Patrick
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© 2023 Being American with Deval Patrick
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In 2020, former Governor of Massachusetts Deval Patrick launched a new podcast series on what it means to be American in 2020 and beyond. Governor Patrick said, “'Being American’ is a series of conversations with people of uncommon wisdom, some you already know and some you don’t know yet, about what it means or ought to mean today to be American. People are dealing with serious challenges that need specific solutions, but I also sense we need a clearer understanding of who we are, a shared set of values and objectives, if we want those solutions to last. In many ways, I have been on this journey for years and I am discovering others are as well.” Season 2 of the podcast will feature interviews with political figures, elected officials, and on-the-ground grassroots organizations in several states that are organizing voters, not just in the days before each election, but 365 days a year. For more information on Governor Patrick and the Being American Podcast, visit www.BridgeTogether.org.
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In this episode of the Being American Podcast, Gov. Patrick talks with ACLU of Mississippi Policy Counsel Vara Lyons about Justice Samuel Alito's leaked decision in the Dobbs case challenging Mississippi's 15-week abortion ban, the Supreme Court of the United States' potential overruling of Roe v. Wade, and the implications of rolling back nearly 50 years of legal precedent that protects women's reproductive rights.
In this episode of the Being American Podcast, Gov. Patrick talks with VoteRiders CEO and Executive Director Laura Kunis about how state voter ID laws are impacting voters' ability to vote and how the organization is working to help ensure every vote counts. Gov. Patrick also weighs in on the historic confirmation of Judge Kentanji Brown Jackson as the first Black woman on the U.S. Supreme Court.
In this episode of the Being American Podcast, Gov. Patrick talks with John Della Volpe, the director of polling at the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics about his new book, Fight: How Gen Z is Channeling Their Fear and Passion to Save America and how younger voters are more engaged and passionate on issues that matter to them than most people give them credit. Gov. Patrick also takes a look at grassroots efforts to engage voters in Philadelphia with BridgeTogether grantee Unity in the Community founder Anton Moore.
In this episode of the Being American Podcast, Gov. Patrick takes a closer look at grassroots efforts in Georgia to address economic insecurity and year-round voter engagement and registration. He sits down with Hope Wollensack, Executive Director of the Georgia Resilience and Opportunity Fund (GRO Fund), and Fair Count Executive Director Rebecca DeHart. The GRO Fund recently launched In Her Hands, a guaranteed income initiative focused on Black women across the state of Georgia, and Fair Count, founded by Stacey Abrams to build long-term power in communities that have been historically undercounted and underrepresented, recently createdVOTE-365 to educate voters, ensure everyone can vote in 2022 and that their vote is counted.
In this episode of the Being American Podcast, Gov. Patrick sits down with author David Pepper, whose new book, Laboratories of Autocracy: A Wake up call from Behind the Lines, lays out a robust pro-democracy agenda outlining how everyone from elected officials to business leaders to everyday citizens can fight to preserve American democracy. Pepper is a lawyer, writer, political activist, former elected official, and adjunct professor, and served as the Chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party between 2015 and 2021. He has written four novels that bridge real-world politics and fiction—including his forthcoming A Simple Choice and his first novel, The People’s House, which earned praise for having “predicted the Russia scandal.” The Wall Street Journal named Pepper "one of the best political-thriller writers on the scene.”
In this episode of the Being American Podcast, Gov. Patrick sits down with Aaron Marquez, an Army veteran and co-founder of VetsForward.us, a group of progressive military veterans in Arizona working to defend democratic values at home by winning the hearts and minds of American voters. VetsForward is partnering with Bridge Together, led by Gov. Patrick, to engage voters ahead of the 2022 midterms and beyond. Gov. Patrick also addresses the Senate's failure to pass federal voting rights legislation and the threat of state voter suppression laws on our democracy.
In this episode of the Being American Podcast, Gov. Patrick sits down with Shakya Cherry-Donaldson, the executive director of 1000 Women Strong, a group that provides resources, recruits, trains, mobilizes, and organizes around issues that impact Black Women and their extended communities. 1000 Women Strong is partnering with Bridge Together, led by Gov. Patrick, to engage voters ahead of the 2022 midterms and beyond. Gov. Patrick also addresses ongoing efforts in Congress to protect voting rights in response to state voter suppression laws disproportionately impacting communities of color.
In this special episode of the Being American Podcast, Gov. Patrick sits down with renowned political analyst and election handicapper, Dave Wasserman. Wasserman is the Senior Editor for the U.S. House of Representatives at the Cook Political Report w/ Amy Walter. They discussed the outcome of the 2021 elections in Virginia and New Jersey, where the polls got it right and wrong, and the outlook for the 2022 midterms. Tune in for your election recap and analysis!
Welcome to Season 2 of Being American! Today's conversation features candid interviews with our host, Governor Deval Patrick, and his two guests. The first, Cecile Richards, former President of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and a co-chair of American Bridge 21st Century. They discuss the Texas abortion law, SB8, and the impact that law is having across America.The second is Chrystian Woods, the new Executive Director of BridgeTogether -- a new 501(c)3 initiative launched by American Bridge and chaired by Gov. Patrick.For more information go to BridgeTogether.org.
In the final installment of Being American’s first season, Deval talks with Lee Pelton — educator, advocate and civic leader — about the importance of making the invisible visible. Whether in the fight for social justice, the dismantling of racism or the need to further democratize education, how do we properly lift all American experiences out of the darkness?Deval also shares some poignant listener-submitted stories that tackle his ever-present question: What does being American mean to you?
Mehrsa Baradaran is a law professor specializing in banking law at the University of California, Irvine, and her conversation with Deval focuses on the American dream. Our scrappy country was organized against old powers of aristocracy on behalf of the common people, but now counts itself as a world power. How do we move forward with that dichotomy? How do we ensure a communal — and not a selfish — kind of freedom? How do we rebuild ladders of success, no matter the zip code?
In the wake of insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, Deval shares his conversations with Meb Keflezighi, the Eritrean-born American long distance runner who won the 2014 Boston Marathon, and the legendary singer-songwriter James Taylor. The talks range from their individual upbringings with personal struggles and successes, to finding hope in difficult times — whether it’s a bombing at the finish line, lynchings on our streets or extremist violence in Washington D.C. How do we find light in the darkness? How do we tell America’s stories accurately, with all of its blemishes, and how do we live up to our ideals?
Deval talks with W. Mondale Robinson, founder of the Black Male Voter Project, about his mission to enfranchise Black men. How do we reverse their erosion of trust with electoral politics? They delve into Mondale’s upbringing in North Carolina, his journey to activism, and how we can — and must — build lasting grassroots strength in our communities.
Deval Patrick talks with LaTosha Brown, founder of Black Voters Matter. They talk about why the path to a progressive agenda begins in the South; how she found her way to civil rights leadership; and why she is hopeful about what it means to be American.
Deval sat down with Misty Copeland, the first Black woman principal dancer at American Ballet Theatre, to talk about her journey, her art, and her perspective on being American as we head into 2021. One of the most accomplished artists of her generation, she shares her perspectives on community, representation, and strength in an honest, open conversation with Deval Patrick.
Deval sits down with author, activist, and television host Padma Lakshmi to talk about her immigrant journey, how food brings us together, and what it means to find reconciliation and unity in America after a Trump presidency.
A conversation with jazz legend Herbie Hancock on Being American with Deval Patrick. Deval and Herbie talk about their shared Chicago roots; when Herbie crossed paths with Deval’s jazz musician father; and what makes the Grammy- and Oscar-winning-musician hopeful about America’s future. The conversation touches on music, business, and politics as Deval asks Herbie Hancock how he thinks about being American.
In 2018, Deidre DeJear became the first African American to be nominated for statewide office in Iowa. A first-time candidate, she won an upset victory in the Democratic primary on her way to making history in the general election. The 34-year-old small business owner went on to serve as the statewide chair for Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign in Iowa and is a rising star in Democratic politics. In her conversation with Deval, she explains how she made her way to Iowa, why she stayed, and what lessons she learned running in a rural state that voted for President Trump, and what she thinks about when she thinks about being American.
Deval sat down with Louisville native Charles Booker, current State Representative and former candidate for Senate, to talk about what it means to be American. They talk about Charles’s journey to the Kentucky State House, and how a job that took him to Appalachia showed him how much he had in common with people there (25:30) and how he learned to talk about the Green New Deal in coal country (32:00). Then, they talk about the murder of Breonna Taylor (38:30) and how it impacted Charles and his community, including getting tear gassed while accompanying a group of high school students (50:00). Finally, they talk about the race to unseat Mitch McConnell (1:02:45) and why Charles remains hopeful about the future in Kentucky and beyond.
Deval Patrick reacts to an eventful weekend in politics, including the foiled plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, the confirmation hearings of SCOTUS nominee Amy Coney Barrett and the failure to pass an economic relief package. Then at 8:40, he interviews Adair Ford Boroughs, a South Carolina native running to unseat Republican Joe “You Lie!” Wilson in Congress, about her perspective on what it means to be American. Adair was raised in a double-wide trailer in a rural town, went on to graduate from Stanford Law and serve in both the Bush and Obama Administrations as a DOJ lawyer. Her experience has given her an unusual perspective on the American Dream, and how best to extend it to communities that don’t usually vote for Democrats.
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