Pennsylvania Kitchen Table Politics

On episode three, Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Jonathan Tamari sheds light on the 2020 election and where he thinks the Commonwealth is headed in 2022. Tamari interviewed over 100 different Pennsylvanians across diverse counties for his piece fittingly titled “The Divided States of Pennsylvania.” In today’s episode, he shares what made this the most intense year of his career and how the growing ideological tension across the Commonwealth contributes to Pennsylvania’s notoriously purple ele...

On episode two, Pulitzer Prize winning author and New Yorker contributing writer Eliza Griswold discusses her unique trajectory as a journalist from war zones to Washington County, PA. An expert on reporting from rural America and the development of the Marcellus Shale, Griswold breaks down the role the debate over fracking and PA’s growing rural-urban divide.

On episode four, we're chatting with Katie Gladstone, the campaign manager for Congresswoman Susan Wild's successful 2020 campaign. She'll break down the political divides of the Lehigh Valley and explain what it was like to recruit, train and manage a team during the pandemic in a D+1 district.

On episode five, we’re joined by Paul Anthony, the business manager and financial secretary of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union 375. IBEW was the first labor union to endorse President Joe Biden during his run for the US Senate in 1972, and has consistently supported him throughout the entirety of his political career. In this episode, Ari and Paul discuss union membership in 2020 and how this has changed over the years as well as the role Paul and his brothers ...

On our last Lehigh Valley episode, we're chatting with the Northampton County Executive. We discuss the political landscape of the county and do a geographic and demographic deep dive into this perpetually purple region as we try to figure out why it flipped from Obama to Trump to Biden--and what lies in store for this crucial county.

Colleen Guiney and Dan Muroff, the Chair and Vice Chair of the Delaware County Democratic Committee, join us. In this episode, they discuss how they rebuilt the county party aiming to win races up and down the ballot rivaling the organized GOP machine. We explore the diversity of the county, the process of unifying after the Presidential primary and how the county ultimately had nearly 80% turnout. We’re incredibly excited to welcome Colleen and Dan to our kitchen table.

In this special edition episode, we are taking a break from electoral politics and talking to Stephanie Zarecky from the South Hills of Pittsburgh. She set up Senator Bob Casey's press shop in his first term and is now a mom, an advocate, and an avid listener of the podcast. Recently, she got to know Senator Casey and her former colleagues in a very different context. Learn more about Stephanie's courage by visiting SUDC.org.

Today, we're sitting down with two all star activists. First, we welcome Jack DiPrimio, a senior at Upper Darby High School who served as a team leader and top phone banker for the Biden campaign. We then sit down with Jamie Perrapato, the Executive Director of Turn PA Blue which has knocked on 200,000 doors, written a million postcards, made 4 million phone calls and raised $1.5M. Everyday activists like these two are a large part of why PA flipped back to Dems in 2020 and we know you will e...

In 2018, Katie Muth made history as one of the youngest women ever to be elected to the Pennsylvania State Senate. In her first foray into electoral politics, she beat an incumbent first elected in 2003. She shares with us what motivated her to run in 2017, how she built a grassroots army that knocked on over 100,000 doors in 2018 and what it will take to keep the momentum going in 2022.

First elected to the State House in 2018, Jennifer O'Mara made history not only as the first Democrat to represent her district, but also the youngest Democratic woman in Harrisburg. She provides unique insight on how she flipped the seat and then held onto it 2020.

As a retired Army Lt. Colonel, Lutheran Pastor and candidate for Congress and State Senate, George Scott has some stories to tell. In this episode, he'll reflect on a life of service and give us an in-depth look at the shifting demographics and political winds in Dauphin and Cumberland counties. Sharing lessons learned from the last four years, he previews plans for the year ahead and efforts to turn this region permanently blue.

Pennsylvania is home to over 1M Latinos. In cities like Lancaster, they make up 40% of the population. Councilwoman Janet Diaz is a history making trailblazer. She shares why she first ran for office, provides an overview of the broader landscape of the Puerto Rican community in Pennsylvania and gives helpful advice to candidates hoping to most effectively engage the community.

David Thornburgh provides us a non-partisan lens of what's at stake in the Pennsylvania primary on Tuesday, May 18th. David is the son of the late Governor Dick Thornburgh. He hails from Western PA, knows Harrisburg intimately well and has lived in Philadelphia for the last 25 years. He runs the Committee of Seventy, a non-profit focused on civic leadership. Their work advances representative, ethical and effective government in Philadelphia and across Pennsylvania through citizen engag...

The first guest of our series on the Steel City is Julian Routh. He covers local, state and federal politics for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. He provides us with both broad and laser-focused views on the Biden campaign's success in the region, emerging progressive movements and the increasingly heated Mayoral primary.

We sit down with State Rep. Ed Gainey's campaign manager, Moses Nelson. He shares his journey from New Haven, CT to Pittsburgh, building a finance plan $100 at a time, what neighborhoods the campaign is particularly targeting and much more.