What happens if your mail ballot is picked up by USPS… but never actually delivered? In this episode of The Margin — a midterm election coverage collaboration between The Electorette and URL Media — Jen Taylor-Skinner speaks with ACLU attorney Theresa J. Lee about the Trump administration’s executive order targeting mail-in voting and the ACLU’s legal challenge against it. Lee explains how the executive order could direct federal agencies to create citizenship verification lists using flawed fed...
May 20, 2026•34 min
Nikki Fried on organizing, voter suppression, and rebuilding Democratic infrastructure. Florida has become shorthand for Republican dominance — but Nikki Fried says the national media narrative is missing what’s happening on the ground. In this episode, Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried joins Jen Taylor-Skinner to discuss Florida’s newly drawn congressional maps following the Supreme Court’s decision weakening Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act , the legal battle over partisan gerrymand...
May 15, 2026•37 min
Last week, the Supreme Court issued a decision in Louisiana v. Callais that could fundamentally alter the future of voting rights in the United States. In this episode of The Electorette , host Jen Taylor-Skinner speaks with Sophia Lin Lakin , Director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project , about what the Court’s ruling means in practice. At the center of the decision is Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act—the key provision used for decades to challenge maps that dilute the political power of Blac...
May 05, 2026•21 min
Across the world, women are leading—often outside traditional systems of power and often without recognition. At the same time, women’s rights are under pressure, making that leadership even more consequential. For nearly three decades, Vital Voices has identified and invested in women leaders tackling some of the world’s toughest challenges. In this episode of The Electorette , Alyse Nelson , President and CEO of Vital Voices , joins host Jen Taylor-Skinner to discuss what women bring to leader...
Apr 28, 2026•29 min
Amanda Litman on local power, political messaging, and rebuilding the Democratic bench At a moment when national politics feels stalled and increasingly disconnected from everyday life, something very different is happening at the local level. In this episode of The Electorette , Jen Taylor-Skinner speaks with Amanda Litman , cofounder of Run for Something , about why Democrats are seeing success in down-ballot races—even as dysfunction persists in Washington. Litman argues that local candidates...
Apr 21, 2026•29 min
Patricia Martin on identity, algorithms, and the quiet politics of the inner self In the digital age, life online increasingly involves shaping and presenting versions of the self—across platforms, in real time, and often multiple times a day. Over time, that performance begins to influence how identity is formed and understood. In this episode, Jen Taylor-Skinner speaks with Patricia Martin , author of Will the Future Like You? , about how the internet is reshaping the relationship between the ...
Apr 14, 2026•1 hr 18 min
Why women candidates are winning—and changing what “electable” means For years, politics has been shaped by assumptions about who is “electable”—assumptions that often sideline women candidates. But those assumptions are starting to fail. In this episode, Jen Taylor-Skinner speaks with Jessica Mackler , President of EMILYs List , about what that shift looks like in real time, starting with Illinois Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton’s recent primary win. Despite being outspent and underestim...
Apr 06, 2026•22 min
How flipped seats are shaping the response to federal immigration enforcement — A conversation with Sarah Curmi of States Win From lawsuits to new legislation, states are beginning to push back on federal immigration enforcement in ways that were once unthinkable. This shift isn’t happening in a vacuum. Since the last election, Democrats have flipped 30 state legislative seats—changing who holds power in key chambers across the country. In this episode, Sarah Curmi of States Win explains how...
Apr 02, 2026•21 min
ICE at airports, a weeks-long shutdown, and why the DHS Secretary may not be in charge The Department of Homeland Security has been partially shut down for weeks. At the same time, ICE agents are showing up in airports, and Markwayne Mullin has just been confirmed as DHS Secretary. So what’s actually going on—and who’s really in charge? In this conversation, I’m joined by Andrea Flores , former DHS and White House official, attorney, and immigration policy expert, to break down the reality behin...
Mar 26, 2026•32 min
Kelly Hall on how lawmakers are quietly dismantling ballot initiatives—and how voters are fighting back. Ballot measures have become one of the most powerful tools voters have to bypass politicians and pass policy directly—from raising the minimum wage to expanding Medicaid to protecting reproductive rights. But according to Kelly Hall of The Fairness Project , that power is under coordinated attack. In this episode, Jen Taylor-Skinner talks with Hall about the organization’s new report, Direct ...
Mar 10, 2026•44 min
In this episode of The Electorette , Jen Taylor-Skinner speaks with Rebekah Caruthers , President and CEO of the Fair Elections Center , about growing concerns around voter intimidation and the potential role of federal agencies like ICE at or near polling places. They discuss how proposed laws like the SAVE Act could change voter registration requirements, the broader strategy behind voter suppression efforts, and why some Americans are increasingly anxious about voting. Caruthers also puts thi...
Mar 09, 2026•32 min
Democracy Is Not Passive: Chris Melody Fields Figueredo on Ballot Power in 2026 When we think about elections, we think about candidates. But some of the most consequential fights in 2026 won’t be about who’s on the ballot — they’ll be about what’s on it. Chris Melody Fields Figueredo , Executive Director of the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center , joins me to break down the 24 democracy-related ballot measures already approved for November — and the wave of defensive measures, voter suppression ...
Feb 19, 2026•39 min
The Librarians: Censorship Comes for Democracy Inside the fight over books, schools, and power: A conversation with Kim Snyder , director of The Librarians Award-winning filmmaker Kim Snyder joins The Electorette to discuss her latest documentary , The Librarians , which examines the nationwide rise in book bans and the political targeting of librarians. The film follows librarians across the country as they navigate harassment, threats, and mounting political pressure—all while defending access...
Feb 09, 2026•31 min
In this episode of The Electorette , host Jen Taylor-Skinner speaks with Suzanne Jimenez , Chief of Staff at SEIU-UHW , about the looming healthcare crisis facing California — and the ballot measure designed to stop it. Their conversation begins with the fallout from the federal budget reconciliation bill (HR 1), which delivered historic tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans while triggering over $100 billion in healthcare cuts to California over the next several years. Jimenez explains how those...
Feb 03, 2026•19 min
The American middle class didn’t disappear by accident—it was dismantled by design. In this episode of The Electorette , host Jen Taylor-Skinner is joined by Professor A. Mechele Dickerson , author of Middle-Class New Deal: Restoring Upward Mobility and the American Dream , for a clear-eyed conversation about how deliberate public policy once built a strong middle class—and how decades of political neglect slowly unraveled it. Dickerson explains why the middle class exists at all, how housing po...
Jan 30, 2026•45 min
After users discovered they could use Grok , the AI tool embedded in X, to generate nonconsensual nude images of women and girls, the backlash was swift. And the story raised a deeper question: are these harms a failure of artificial intelligence itself, or a reflection of the people, power structures, and incentives behind it? In this episode, Jen Taylor-Skinner is joined by Tazin Khan , CEO of Cyber Collective , for an important conversation about feminist AI, technology-facilitated gender-bas...
Jan 21, 2026•45 min
As The Electorette returns with a new season, there was only one place to start: the front lines of civil liberties. In this episode, Jen Taylor-Skinner is joined by Deirdre Schifeling , Chief Political & Advocacy Officer at the American Civil Liberties Union , for a wide-ranging and urgent conversation about what Trump’s second term really represents—not chaos, but a calculated “shock and awe” strategy designed to overwhelm the law, the courts, and the public. They discuss the ACLU’s unprec...
Jan 13, 2026•28 min
While Washington stalls, governors are governing. How Democratic governors became the nation’s problem-solvers—and why this year’s races could redefine Democratic momentum heading into 2026. In this episode, Ofirah Yheskel of the Democratic Governors Association joins Jen Taylor-Skinner to break down the critical gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey —where Democratic women candidates could flip key seats and make history. They discuss why governors have become the front line in protect...
Oct 30, 2025•14 min
The 2026 Test Run: Inside the state races that will signal where power—and reproductive rights—are headed next. The next election cycle is not business as usual. With reproductive rights hanging in the balance and pro-choice women candidates facing historic headwinds, the stakes couldn’t be higher. In this episode, Jen Taylor-Skinner speaks with Jessica Mackler , president of EMILYs List , about the crucial upcoming contests—from deeply vulnerable states in the South to a pivotal race in New Jer...
Oct 29, 2025•28 min
Women have been shaping American politics since its beginning — organizing movements, expanding rights, and redefining leadership at every turn. But over the past decade, that long struggle has collided with a new wave of visibility and backlash. Emerge is now recruiting the class of 2026 From the raw sexism of 2016, to the record-breaking “pink wave” of 2018, to the post-2024 debate over whether women are even electable , the story of women in politics reveals how deeply gender still define...
Oct 24, 2025•42 min
What’s really keeping Americans from the ballot box? In this urgent conversation, Rebekah Caruthers , President and CEO of the Fair Elections Center , breaks down the invisible “friction” that pushes voters out of the process—confusing and state-by-state registration rules, ID and signature hurdles (especially for Gen Z without DMV records), voter roll purges, and a rising climate of fear fed by mis- and disinformation. We go inside states like Georgia, Florida, Wisconsin, Mississippi, and Tenne...
Oct 21, 2025•45 min•Season 9Ep. 300
Sophia Lin Lakin on How the Supreme Court Could Dismantle the Law Protecting Voters The U.S. Supreme Court is once again preparing to rule on a case that could further dismantle the Voting Rights Act — Callais v. Landry. At the center of this case is Section 2 , one of the last remaining protections against racial discrimination in voting. After Louisiana courts ruled that the state’s congressional map illegally diluted Black voting power, a new map was drawn to include a second majority-Black d...
Oct 07, 2025•36 min
Ballot measures have given voters the power to pass life-changing policies that lawmakers often won’t — from raising the minimum wage and expanding healthcare access, to protecting reproductive rights and curbing predatory payday lending. But now, the process itself is under threat. New Report: ATTACKS ON DIRECT DEMOCRACY DOUBLED IN 2025 Ballot Measure Rescue Campaign In this episode, I speak with Kelly Hall, Executive Director of The Fairness Project , about a new report showing how conservativ...
Sep 24, 2025•43 min
Historian and scholar, Dr. Keisha Blain joins The Electorette to discuss her groundbreaking new book, Without Fear: Black Women and the Making of Human Rights . This vital chronicle reframes the history of Black women’s activism—not only as a fight for civil rights in the U.S., but as a global human rights struggle that continues to shape our world today. From Ida B. Wells’s anti-lynching crusade that called out America on the world stage, to Madam C.J. Walker’s international diplomacy , to Blac...
Sep 16, 2025•47 min
In the past three months, more than 300,000 Black women have left the labor force. Economist and author Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman calls this the double tax —the compounded burden of being both a woman and a person of color in an economy designed to take more and give less. From higher prices for haircare and beauty products, to childcare that consumes a larger share of income, to systemic barriers in jobs, salaries, housing, and wealth—these hidden costs fall on women of color across the board. B...
Sep 15, 2025•1 hr 4 min
In a time when U.S. politics feels gridlocked and bleak, ballot initiatives are offering a surprising source of hope. In some of the reddest states—places that handed Trump overwhelming victories—voters are quietly embracing progressive policies like paid sick leave, higher minimum wages, and Medicaid expansion. In this episode, Jen Taylor-Skinner speaks with Chris Melody Fields Figueredo , Executive Director of the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center , about why ballot measures succeed where cand...
Sep 03, 2025•29 min
Decades of failed immigration reform and political half-measures have left millions of immigrants in the U.S. without a path to legal status. Instead, families are being torn apart by harsh deportation policies, asylum seekers are forced into the shadows, and U.S. citizen children live in daily fear of losing their parents. In this episode, I speak with Jessica Orozco Guttlein , Senior Vice President for Policy and Communications at the Hispanic Federation , about how we got here—and what it wil...
Aug 20, 2025•38 min
Author and scholar Anna Malaika Tubbs joins The Electorette to discuss her powerful new book, Erased: What American Patriarchy Has Hidden from Us —a sweeping, incisive examination of how American patriarchy was built to exclude, erase, and control. In this conversation, Anna unpacks the nation’s gendered social order, from its origins in the Constitution to its modern-day consequences in law, politics, motherhood, and racial injustice. Drawing on personal experience, global perspective, and deep...
Aug 06, 2025•47 min
In this episode of The Electorette , I’m joined by Ofirah Yheskel , Director of External Affairs for the Democratic Governors Association , to unpack the growing national influence of Democratic governors—especially in the face of Republican extremism and Trump-aligned policymaking. We discuss two high-stakes gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey , where Democratic candidates Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill are stepping up to defend reproductive rights, protect access to healthcar...
Jul 31, 2025•20 min
What does a truly progressive foreign policy look like—and what happens when we abandon it? Foreign policy often feels like a conversation for elites. But in this episode, Sara Haghdoosti , Executive Director of Win Without War , argues otherwise. She joins Jen Taylor-Skinner to unpack how the collapse of diplomacy between the U.S. and Iran—and Israel’s recent strikes—have pushed the world dangerously close to a wider war. Together, they explore the long-term consequences of abandoning the Iran ...
Jul 29, 2025•35 min
