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Battleground with Amanda Litman and Faiz Shakir — Government
Battleground with Amanda Litman and Faiz Shakir

Battleground brings you inside the fight for political power. Hosts Amanda Litman and Faiz Shakir aren’t your typical pundits – in fact, they’re not pundits at all. They’re doing the work day-in and day-out, and have the inside scoop on what’s really happening behind the tweets and headlines. Every week, Amanda and Faiz have a wide-ranging, unguarded, and occasionally profanity-laden conversation with reporters, activists, organizers, political scientists, campaign operatives – and even some conservatives – in order to shine a light on the problems we face and figure out how we can fix them. Both bring deep knowledge and experience building grassroots movements for change. Amanda is the co-founder and executive director Run for Something, which recruits and supports young progressives running for local state and local offices, and host of the Run for Something podcast on Dear Media. Faiz was the campaign manager for Bernie Sanders 2020 presidential campaign, and he’s the founder of the progressive media non-profit, More Perfect Union. Listen to new episodes each Thursday on your favorite podcast app.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Copyright: © The Recount

Latest Episodes:

‘You Can’t Out-Organize a Gerrymander’ with David Daley Aug 26, 2021

Show notes

In 2014, Republicans won around 4.3 million more votes in House contests than Democrats, which netted them 247 congressional seats. In 2020, Democrats got approximately 4.7 million more votes, but won only 222 seats. For that unfair advantage, you can thank REDMAP: a Republican project to take state legislatures and then gerrymander districts, in order to win and hold power – even when they get fewer votes.

David Daley is a senior fellow at FairVote, a nonpartisan organization focused on making elections better, the author of two books on gerrymandering and voting rights, and the former editor-in-chief of Salon.com. With the August release of the 2020 Census data, Daley joins Battleground to sound the alarm on what’s looking more and more like the end of majoritarian rule. He and Amanda discuss the Roberts Court’s decision to stay out of states’ partisan redistricting efforts; the Democrat’s prospects in 2022; and how the party has mostly watched from the sidelines as these anti-democratic efforts unfold.

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Why the Market Can’t Solve Our Care Crisis with Ai-jen Poo Aug 19, 2021

Show notes

It doesn’t matter to Ai-jen Poo whether you call it ‘care infrastructure,’ or something else, as long as it gets funded properly. With Baby Boomers aging and Millennials having kids, we’re heading towards a crisis, thanks in large part to how we’ve neglected the critical role caregivers play in our economy.

Ai-jen is the Co-founder and Executive Director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, a labor advocacy group that works to elevate the rights of domestic workers in the US. She’s been sounding the alarm and pushing for policies that will meet the impending care shortage. The goal is to give families the support they need, and to redefine the care work industry so that it provides quality jobs for an overwhelmingly female workforce that’s also majority women of color.

Amanda and Ai-jen discuss the historical devaluation of women’s labor, how technology has changed both the care industry and organizing, and the potentially transformative effects of Biden’s infrastructure plan. Plus, Ai-jen shares a downright inspiring vision of the future, which we could all use right now.

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Voting is Not a Constitutional Right with Jessica Huseman Aug 12, 2021

Show notes

If Americans voted the way the Founders intended, most of us wouldn’t get to vote. Amanda talks to Jessica Huseman, the editorial director of Votebeat, to learn about our country’s tortured, and unending, fight for voting rights. Jessica is a former high school history teacher who has spent the last five years reporting on voting administration – the ins and outs of what goes into putting on an election and counting the votes. Votebeat is a nonprofit newsroom that covers voting and also funds and trains journalists to report out that beat for local newsrooms. Jessica gives a crash course on the history of voting in America and then breaks down the battle over voting rights in her home state of Texas. It turns out that Texas’ voting laws are already so restrictive that the bill currently being pushed by Republicans is more likely to disenfranchise voters through incompetent bill writing than through actual design. Jessica also explains why a lot of Texas Democratic voters aren’t impressed by their legislators' decision to flee the state. Finally, Amanda and Jessica talk about local journalism and why it’s absolutely essential for democracy.

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Why You Shouldn’t Run Elections on Windows 7 with Tiana Epps-Johnson Aug 05, 2021

Show notes

Last year, roughly 8000 election departments across the country pulled off the near-impossible task of holding safe and secure elections in the middle of a global pandemic. They did it despite gross underfunding from Congress, crumbling infrastructure, and threats of violence. In a wealthy democracy like the United States, local election administrators shouldn’t have to rely on private grant money to cover the cost of things like pens or postage for mail-in ballots, but that’s exactly what happened last year. In order to find out why America's election infrastructure is so neglected, and what needs to be done to fix it, Amanda talks to Tiana Epps-Johnson, the founder and executive director of the Center for Tech and Civic Life, a national, nonpartisan org that helps local election administrators across the country modernize their processes and cover the budget gaps left by inadequate funding.

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How to Undo GOP Control of the Courts with Brian Fallon Jul 29, 2021

Show notes

It’s no surprise that the Supreme Court has a 6-3 conservative majority: progressive legal elites have been telling Democrats for decades that the judicial branch must remain apolitical, while for decades, Republicans have been successfully reshaping the courts. Brian Fallon, the co-founder and executive director of Demand Justice (and a recovering establishment Democrat), explains the history behind the Republicans’ decades-long judicial strategy and how Democrats can counter it. He and Amanda also discuss Stephen Breyer’s decision to remain on the court; what Democrats should do about the FBI’s bungled investigation into Brett Kavanaugh; and term limits for Supreme Court justices. (Amanda flies solo this week as Faiz continues to hang with his very cute new baby.)

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Why ‘No Climate, No Deal’ Makes Sense with Jamal Raad Jul 22, 2021

Show notes

ExxonMobil, and other major polluters like it, would love for you to feel like your personal choices are what will make or break this climate crisis, but the truth is, global warming can only be slowed through massive, systemic changes to the energy, transportation, and building sectors. Legislators must pass new laws curbing emissions, and the reconciliation bill winding its way through Congress is the best, and possibly last, chance to get this right. Amanda and Faiz talk to Jamal Raad, the co-founder and executive director of Evergreen Action,a climate advocacy group fighting to ensure that real action on climate change doesn’t get derailed by politicians bought by the oil and gas industry. The trio discusses why clean energy standards need to be in the reconciliation bill; how Republicans aren’t interested in good faith negotiations; and whether climate advocacy groups should continue to focus their energy and ire at Biden and theDemocrats, or pivot towards Republicans.

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How to Spend Ad $$ with Danielle Butterfield of Priorities USA Jul 15, 2021

Show notes

Campaigns spent $8.5 BILLION on political advertising in the 2020 election cycle. That may seem astonishing, excessive, or even absurd, but if you want to know how campaigns win (and lose), you need to understand ad dollars. Danielle Butterfield is the executive director of Priorities USA – the largest Democratic super PAC. Before Priorities she ran digital advertising campaigns for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in 2016 and 2012.

Amanda and Faiz talk with Danielle about the challenge of convincing Democrats to fully fund digital advertising campaigns (as opposed to TV); why Donald Trump does so well online; and why new privacy changes will make it difficult to target voters.

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Anti-CRT is the New Tea Party with Tyler Kingkade Jul 08, 2021

Show notes

Americans are being treated to a new and improved version of last decade’s infamous Tea Party movement. It’s another astroturfed moral panic, sponsored by conservative think tanks, brought to you by Fox News, and designed to win votes for Republicans: the war on “critical race theory.” Faiz and Amanda talk to Tyler Kingkade, a national reporter for NBC News who has written extensively on the subject, about how a term from the world of legal scholarship is on the tip of everyone’s tongues – and what progressives should do about it.

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Introducing: The Recount Daily Pod Jul 06, 2021

Show notes

Every morning on The Recount Daily Pod, host journalist Reena Ninan will break down the most important news of the day, both domestically and abroad. In 5 minutes or less, you’ll walk away feeling smarter and more in sync with the world. Then, tune in for an interview with journalists who are on the forefront of the stories that affect us all.

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

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'Should the Dems Pick a Fight?' with Michelle Goldberg Jul 01, 2021

Show notes

Amanda and Faiz are joined by Michelle Goldberg, a Pulitzer Prize-winning Op-Ed columnist for The New York Times. The three of them rate the Biden administration's performance, discuss the Democrat's branding problem, and get into a debate over how Biden should deal with Senators Manchin and Sinema's intransigence on filibuster reform. They also consider whether the Democrats should strategically pick a fight in order to motivate their base and how the party can recruit more candidates from working class backgrounds – like India Walton, its recently elected mayoral nominee in Buffalo. They end the episode on an optimistic note, as Goldberg explains what it's like to see New York City begin to emerge from the pandemic.

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