How To Not Lose Your Sh!t

Climate journalist Emily Atkin is a pessimist. Or maybe she's a realist. Or maybe she's actually hopeful? One thing's for certain: she's not going to stop calling out tech and oil company billionaires or the politicians who are in their pocket. This week, Katie and LaFonda had a fascinating conversation with Emily about the environment and whether you need to be an optimist to work for change. Emily started her Substack, Heated, back in 2019 -- almost the exact same time that Katie started Red Wine & Blue -- and while the climate is such an important issue on its own, it can also stand in for almost any issue we care about. There's no shortage of causes that feel hopeless right now, from preserving our democracy and fighting corruption to women's rights to racial equality. If we waited to know for certain that our efforts would pay off, no one would ever take any action at all. Not to mention, the people in power want us to feel hopeless. There's nothing they want more than for us to all throw up our hands and stay home instead of standing up for what we believe in. And that's exactly why we have to keep fighting. As Emily said, "the future is still being decided and I'm not gonna surrender my part in deciding it." We couldn't agree more. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

This week, Red Wine & Blue founder Katie Paris and our Director of Distributed Organizing Missy McGinnes joined Allison Gill on The Daily Beans to talk about the midterms, friend-to-friend organizing, and how you can join or start your own RWB Network group.It was such a great conversation that we wanted to share it here! You can expect more bonus episodes as we get closer to election day.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Romance novels are already political, but one that features two campaign staffers and ends with a call for its readers to run for office is *definitely* political. This week, we were joined by Kate Stayman-London, the author of a new book called See You Next Tuesday. She's worked for many campaigns herself, including as lead digital writer for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign, so she knows the ins and outs of the political world. She also knows about hope. After watching Clinton lose in 2016, and then Harris in 2024, it would be easy to become cynical and jaded. But in politics and in romance, hope is crucial. It keeps us open to new love (whether it's a date or a candidate!) and the possibility that things can get better for ourselves and our communities. Both women candidates and romance novels are too often dismissed by the establishment -- in no small part because they take women out of the passenger seat and into a position to lead the way. So let's keep putting women in the driver's seat! Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

On June 13th in Philadelphia, Red Wine & Blue founder Katie Paris did something she'd never done before: give a TED talk. Three months later, her speech on breaking the old D.C. rules about politics is finally available for everyone to watch! Today on the podcast, Katie was joined by her TED coach, Kelly Stoetzel, along with Stacy Kunkel, our Deputy Program Director in PA who was on the ground at TED Democracy. They chatted about imposter syndrome, what it was like being around so many people who are passionate about democracy, and how we can mentally prepare ourselves for the hard work of the midterms. You can watch Katie's TED talk here: https://www.ted.com/talks/katie_paris_campaigns_spend_millions_to_influence_voters_this_works_better Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Are you worried about voting rights going into this year's midterm elections? We are too. But just being worried doesn't fix the problem. In fact, if we let it make us lose our sh!t, that worry can keep us from taking real action to protect our rights. Luckily, Stacey Abrams is *the* expert on all things voting. She joined us a few weeks ago for a virtual event where she helped us understand how extremists are trying to take away our right to vote and what we can do to stop it. She shared that there are three important questions to ask: Can you register and stay on the rolls? Can you cast a ballot? And does that ballot get counted? Each of these three questions comes with its own challenges and solutions, but -- crucially -- they help us take action. As Stacey said, "we see villains coming together, and we think the villains have won. But we have power too. And when you believe that we have the ability to be the heroes in our own stories, to be the hero for someone else, then we are not as daunted by the villains." Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy