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 f

Empowering communities with Majora Carter

May 15th, 2020 30m 51s

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 a

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

May 7th, 2020 42m 41s

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.

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

May 2nd, 2020 42m 56s

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.or

The Future of NYC

Apr 30th, 2020 43m 17s

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 Co

The fight for Wisconsin is the fight for America

Apr 16th, 2020 28m 36s

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 w

The future of philanthropy with Anand Giridharadas and Michael Tubbs

Dec 3rd, 2018 28m 24s

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 Chang

Bringing filmmaking to politics with Sarah Ullman

Nov 29th, 2018 21m 56s

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 ha

Hope and justice with Amber Goodwin

Sep 12th, 2018 39m 3s

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

Meg Ansara on firefighting, political campaigns, and leadership

Aug 8th, 2018 37m 17s

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 tau

Why isn’t the NY State Senate blue?

Jul 30th, 2018 28m 43s

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 D

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

Jul 26th, 2018 39m 49s

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

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

Jul 25th, 2018 48m 45s

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

Empowering communities of color with Woke Vote and DeJuana Thompson

Jun 20th, 2018 49m 32s

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 h

From the Maine wilderness to Congress with Lucas St. Clair

Jun 8th, 2018 31m 11s

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 h

Protecting Arizonans with January Contreras

May 23rd, 2018 38m 26s

January Contreras is an Arena Fellow running for Attorney General in Arizona.As a Deputy County Attorney, Assistant Attorney General, founder of a non-profit, and mother to two children, January has always been driven to protect others.We t

How to make campaigning accessible to new parents

May 17th, 2018 21m 11s

Liuba Grechen Shirley is an Arena Fellow running for Congress in New York’s 2nd District. That district includes parts of Suffolk and Nassau counties on Long Island.While running for office, Liuba has also led the charge to change campaign fi

Music City Mayor to Governor? A conversation with Karl Dean

Apr 19th, 2018 23m 36s

Karl is running to be the next governor of Tennessee.Karl is the former two-term Mayor of Nashville, serving during the great recession and historic 2010 flood. Before that, he was elected and served as the city’s public defender for nearly a

Building a better Colorado with Mike Johnston

Apr 9th, 2018 22m 46s

Mike Johnston is running to be the next Governor of Colorado.Mike is a former educator. He taught in the Mississippi Delta, and went on to lead three different schools. He later moved home to Colorado and won a seat in the State Senate, where

How to run (successfully) with substance with Lauren Underwood

Apr 2nd, 2018 34m 22s

Two weeks ago, Lauren won the Democratic Primary for Congress in the Illinois 14th District.In an upset victory, Lauren beat six other candidates - all men - with 57% of the vote.We met Lauren at the first Arena Summit in December 2016. She

Can an Army Ranger flip a Trump +28 district?

Mar 25th, 2018 32m 14s

Jesse Colvin is running for Congress in Maryland’s 1st District.We spoke with Jesse right after Conor Lamb’s stunning victory. Jesse’s race is even tougher than the Lamb race - at least on paper.Jesse is a former US Army Intelligence Office

From Obama '08 to Cambridge Analytica with Michael Simon

Mar 22nd, 2018 50m 50s

Michael Simon is a pioneer in the field of data and analytics and Arena Co-Founder and Board Member.Michael Simon is a pioneer in the field of data and analytics and an Arena Co-Founder and Board Member.He traces the origins of data and ana

Let my people vote with Desmond Meade

Mar 15th, 2018 29m 16s

This is one of our favorite episodes.Desmond Meade is the Founder and President of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition.More importantly, he is somebody who has been directly impacted by voting rights restrictions. He spent years addict

Change is coming to Michigan with Rashida Tlaib and Ian Conyers

Mar 12th, 2018 47m 20s

Rashida Tlaib and Ian Conyers are both running for Congress in a special election for Michigan’s 13th District. Both are active members of The Arena community — having served as hosts for our Detroit Summit last June.They are running for a se

How to fight the Trump Tax Plan with Andrea Purse

Mar 6th, 2018 25m 7s

A few weeks ago, Dan Pfeiffer implored listeners of Pod Save America to do more to counter GOP messaging on the Trump tax bill. That call came as the New York Times and others reported on increased popularity for the legislation amidst a massiv