Shifting Terrain

In Shifting Terrain, we explore race and class in politics, beyond the simplistic stereotypes in the news, and between election cycles. Voters, political strategists, organizers, and politicians will speak to the ways race and class are playing out in voting patterns, campaigns, the news, and election outcomes. And, ultimately, how we navigate America’s multiracial, cross-class democracy. We highlight voices across the country to interrupt misconceptions fueling political polarization in American politics.

Political strategists Jordan Berg Powers and Mike Lux discuss how major political campaigns have abandoned working class voters, the undeserved power of polls, and why you should never play Trump’s voice in a Democratic political ad.

Damaging stereotypes about rural and urban voters abound in politics. What’s really going on in the charged landscape known as the rural-urban divide? Are rural voters actually voting against their interests when they elect a Republican? And are urban voters so immersed in the culture war they’re out of touch with the everyday concerns of working people? Is there any commonality across this geographical chasm?In today’s episode, Sarah Jaynes of the Rural Democracy Initiative, and Bonnie Dobson from Down Home North Carolina, share insights and anecdotes from long-term organizing with working class voters. Despite how it might feel out here, there is a way to bridge the rural urban divide for a more unified working class electorate.Down Home North Carolina https://downhomenc.org/Rural Democracy Initiative https://ruraldemocracyinitiative.org/Executive Producers: Amanda Cowper and Rachel RybaczukAssociate Producer: Emilce QuirozProduction Consulting and Audio Mixing: Karen GivenMusic from Blue Dot Sessions

 If you had to guess how many politicians are working class, what would you say? Ten percent? Five?In this episode we talk to Eric Hansen, a researcher who ran the data to determine how many working class politicians represent the working class majority. Along with the on-the-ground experience of Angelina Cruz and William Walter, two working class candidates who ran for state assembly in Wisconsin - a swing state with a reputation for having some of the most gerrymandered voting maps in the country. We learn why working class candidates are more rare than you’d imagine and a singular thing that could profoundly change politics. Shifting Terrain Executive Producers: Amanda Cowper and Rachel Rybaczuk; Assistant Producer: Emilce Quiroz; Production Consulting and Audio Mixing: Karen Given; and Music from BlueDot Sessions

There’s a real reckoning going on in the Democratic Party. Their reputation for being the party of the working class had been waning for years. It took a crushing defeat - emotionally and electorally - for the party establishment to get on the page some people have been on for years: a majority of the electorate see the Democrats as the party of the elite. Congresswoman Delia Ramirez of Illinois, a proudly working class Latina, makes clear the obvious antidote: recruit, support, and elect more working class people to political office. Elected officials who are determined to deliver for working people. And Graciela Guzman, Senator Elect for IL District 20 underscores the power of authenticity in Ramirez’s path to victory.You’ll hear Ramirez speak candidly about the challenging path to political office for working class candidates, including a car catching on fire; being haunted by credit checks; intel on the identity crisis happening in the Democratic Party; and how if you want to win, you’ve got to bring the receipts. Shifting Terrain Executive Producers: Amanda Cowper and Rachel RybaczukProduction Consulting and Audio Mixing: Karen Given Music: BlueDot Sessions

Building power to win for the working class isn’t simply a theory. People have been doing it for years. JaNaé Bates, Co-Executive Director of ISAIAH and Faith In Minnesota, explains the strategy for improving the lives of working people that put Minnesota on the political map. We talk about the work behind a miracle; how risk and failure are necessary for success; flanking imperfect politicians with power not money; and how the Minnesota Miracle is available for working people everywhere. And ultimately, why organizing over the long haul, not simply mobilizing for urgent political moments, will lead to a more unified multi-racial, working class electorate.Please reach out to us for suggestions for Season Two, or ways that we can collaborate by sending a message to: shiftingterrainpodcast@gmail.com.To learn more about the organizations mentioned in the episode, check out: Faith in Minnesota and ISAIAH.Credits:Shifting Terrain Executive Producers: Amanda Cowper and Rachel RybaczukProduction Consulting and Audio Mixing: Karen GivenMusic from BlueDot Sessions