The Great Battlefield

John Sellers joins The Great Battlefield to discuss engaging in non-violent direct action during his time with Greenpeace and as President of The Ruckus Society. He tells us how these experiences influence his current approach to online activism as the co-founder and Executive Director of The Other 98%. | Episode 124

Cornell Belcher, the political pollster and president of brilliant corners Research and Strategies, joins The Great Battlefield to discuss his experiences working for the DNC under chairman Howard Dean, as well as both of Obama's presidential campaigns. He also touches upon the state of race relations in the United States, and why sincerity is a crucial character trait for a candidate to possess. | Episode 123

Shekar Narasimhan joins The Great Battlefield to discuss his work as founder and chairman of the AAPI Victory Fund - an organization focused on encouraging eligible Asian American and Pacific Islander voters to exercise their political strength, as their community is numerous enough to be the difference-maker in many elections. | Episode 122

Ilyse Hogue, the President of NARAL Pro-Choice America, joins The Great Battlefield for a discussion on the politics of reproductive freedom. She tells us how NARAL is fighting against an opposition which seeks to restrict abortion access and a woman's right to choose. | Episode 121

Andrew Bleeker joins The Great Battlefield to discuss the role he played in the evolution of online political advertising - including his work as the lead digital marketing strategist on both of President Obama's campaigns. He then tells us about founding Bully Pulpit Interactive - a digital marketing agency serving clients in both the private and public sectors. | Episode 120

Nathaniel Stinnett, the founder and Executive Director of the Environmental Voter Project, joins us to discuss how he and his team are using data analytics and behavioral science to increase the disproportionately low voter turnout of environmentalists. | Episode 119

Michael Brune, Executive Director of the Sierra Club, joins The Great Battlefield to discuss how they are responding to the Trump administration's dismantling of environmental protections, and what can be done to accelerate the country toward a clean energy economy. | Episode 118

In this episode of The Great Battlefield, Nathaniel speaks with local leaders of the powerhouse grassroots movement, Indivisible. They discuss how their communities are strategizing in opposition to Trump and the Republicans who support his agenda. Guests include: Steve Kranz, Indivisible Minnesota Local; Lisa Goodgame, Indivisible Austin; Aram Fischer, Indivisible San Francisco; Shannon Simons, Ozark Indivisible; Ethan Goodman, Indivisible Cleveland; Liz Shaw, Indivisible Appalachian Ohio. | Episode 117

In this episode of The Great Battlefield, we're joined by Kate Gould - the Legislative Director for Middle East Policy with the Friends Committee on National Legislation, and Andrew Albertson - the Executive Director of Foreign Policy for America. They discuss international relations in the age of Trump and America's current military involvement in the Yemeni Civil War. | Episode 116

Charles Chamberlain, Executive Director of Democracy for America, joins The Great Battlefield to discuss DFA's member-driven approach to political activism and how the organization has evolved since it was founded in 2004 by former presidential candidate and DNC chair Howard Dean. | Episode 115

Justice Democrats' Executive Director, Saikat Chakrabarti, joins The Great Battlefield to discuss Justice Dems' model of changing the Democratic party from the inside out by recruiting unapologetically progressive US House candidates who have pledged to refuse donations from corporate PACs and corporate lobbyists. | Episode 114

Laura Packard joins The Great Battlefield to discuss how her career in political technology was interrupted by a battle with cancer, and how this motivated her to become a co-chair of Health Care Voter - a coalition of organizations holding lawmakers accountable for their votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act. | Episode 113

Faiz Shakir, national political director of the American Civil Liberties Union, joins The Great Battlefield to discuss how the ACLU is responding to the Trump administration's infringements upon the Constitution and individual freedoms. | Episode 112

Christian Picciolini is a reformed racist and far-right extremist. He joins The Great Battlefield to tell us how he came to renounce his violent past and co-found Life After Hate & ExitUSA, and how he sees Donald Trump. He also discusses his new book, White American Youth. | Episode 111

Marc Elias, chairman of the political law group at Perkins Coie, joins us to discuss his 25 year career as the Democratic Party's lawyer, serving as general counsel to the presidential campaigns of Kerry, Obama & Hillary Clinton, and talks legal issues like voting rights and redistricting, election recounts and Russia’s meddling in our elections. | Episode 110