Best Jessica Leigh Levin Podcasts (2024)

1
The Court Makes a King: A Conversation with Supreme Court Expert Dahlia Lithwick 57:27

4d ago57:27

57:27

We just finished probably the most life altering Supreme Court’s session in the history of our country. The six conservative justices, and I use the term conservative loosely, because they’re actually right wing extremists, just took a sledge hammer to decades of legal precedent, human rights, civil rights and the constitution itself, but this idea…

1
Kingdom of Rage: A Conversation with Counter Terrorism Expert Elizabeth Neumann 1:00:05

11d ago1:00:05

1:00:05

America’s rising domestic terrorism movement is not getting better it’s getting worse. We have to look at ourselves, particularly if we’re in the American Christian community, and realize something must be done to start seeding the ground for a different way of thinking. Which is why we’re talking to former US security official and counterterrorism…

1
Compete in EVERY Race: Two Under-the-Radar WINNABLE Senate races Florida & North Dakota 52:48

18d ago52:48

52:48

To keep democracy’s head above water in 2024 the Democrats need what’s called a trifecta - meaning the Presidency, the House and the Senate - and keeping the senate is going to be a tough slog because Democrats have what’s called a “bad map”. So today, instead of talking about the must win swing races we hear about all the time, we’re going to disc…

1
Dictators Are Bad: A Conversation with Global Affairs Expert Andrea Chalupa 55:39

26d ago55:39

55:39

We just had the G7. There was just a Ukrainian Peace Conference in Switzerland. Here at home we have a wanna be dictator running against a President who fights dictators. Today we talk to international expert Andrea Chalupa about two broad stroke topics, what’s going on in Ukraine, because I think most of us have kind of checked out and don’t have …

1
Our Government Does What?? A Conversation with Four-Star Admiral Rachel Levine 52:05

1M ago52:05

52:05

Happy Pride!! It’s easy to criticize government, and candidly, there’s plenty that deserves criticism. But government is not something we can live without, so maybe if we spent less time complaining about it, and more time understanding it, we’d know how to use it properly and how to best fix it. So, today we’re joined by Four Star Admiral and one …

1
Christian Jesus v. Trump Jesus: A Conversation with the New Evangelicals’ Tim Whitaker 59:57

1M ago59:57

59:57

Christian Nationalism is a giant threat to our country. A danger to women, to minorities, to the marginalized and to democracy itself. While these white, Christian nationalists believe they’re saving the country from heathenism, what they’re really offering is a theocracy of top down control with themselves at the top. We must see this threat for w…

1
Build Your Own Army: A Conversation with the States Project’s Melissa Walker 39:32

2M ago39:32

39:32

Wanna win back democracy? Start with the states. The federal government is clearly essential, and to save our nation the Democrats must win the Presidency, House and Senate in ’24, but we can’t stop there. So many of the terrible laws we’re seeing around the country come directly from Republican state legislatures. People like to blame the presiden…

1
Women are Furious: A Conversation with the new President of Emily’s List Jessica Mackler 44:42

2M ago44:42

44:42

Fixing the crisis America is in is hard, but it’s also simple. We can’t stop talking about reproductive rights because it’s not just about stripping women of the right to manage their own lives and bodies, it’s about the slippery slope we find ourselves on if we accept that government can just take our essential human rights. At the end of the day,…

1
Get Your House in Order America: A Conversation with Democratic congresswoman and Minority Whip Katherine Clark 52:20

2M ago52:20

52:20

The Republicans are telling us their plans for America’s future and it is terrifying. The Democrats, in contrast, are vocally offering the opposite. Where the last Democratic House was the most effective in modern American history, passing more legislation passed than any Congress since FDR’s New Deal, the current Republican House has been the leas…

1
College Campus Crisis: A Conversation with David Rothkopf 58:28

2M ago58:28

58:28

I’ve been watching what’s been happening on college campuses with real uncertainty. I don’t believe we’re getting the full story from the media. Much like the horserace neck and neck BS they’re peddling for the election, I feel as if traditional media is pushing narratives with the protests that don’t tell the full picture and it leaves people feel…

1
They Don’t Care if we Die: A Conversation with President of Reproductive Freedom for All Mini Timmaraju 48:40

3M ago48:40

48:40

Today we’re joined by Mini Timmaraju, President of Reproductive Freedom for All, to discuss how reproductive freedom isn’t just about access to the health care of abortion, but about how we think society should function. Do we believe our most fundamental and personal decisions belong to the government, or do we believe they belong to us? At the en…

1
The Goldilock’s Economy: A Conversation with economist Michael Mezzatesta 44:03

3M ago44:03

44:03

It’s not that everything that’s happened in capitalism is bad, but when it comes to economics, perhaps we should be asking what this endless growth means and for whom? Who is all this growth for, and what is it worth, if it really only benefits a tiny silver of our population. What if there was a Goldilocks version of the economy? Where it wasn’t c…

1
This is How Countries End: A Conversation about veterans taking up arms against America with Ken Harbaugh 46:31

3M ago46:31

46:31

Membership in violent extremist organizations is up, especially with our veterans. Today we talk to former mission commander and veteran’s advocate Ken Harbaugh about his incredible film Against All Enemies, and why a disproportionate amount of our military veterans would end up taking violent action against the very country they swore to protect, …

1
We’re Playing the Wrong Game: A Conversation with strategist David Pepper 50:15

3M ago50:15

50:15

How do you lock in a minority worldview in America? You control the states. As our guest, democracy activist, author and professor, David Pepper tells us, “You win them. You gerrymander them. You suppress as many votes as you can, and then ram through your extremist agenda, and nobody can stop you.” We see it happening all over the country. This is…

1
RNC? More like the TNC: A Conversation with former RNC Chair Michael Steele 56:31

3M ago56:31

56:31

Former RNC Chairman Michael Steele reaches out to his party to remind them to vote R for Rights not Republican. He tells us that Republican values are still here, they just can’t breathe under this current top down, one person centric, wanna-be dictator. We talk about how the once great party has been co-oped, so it’s not just ok to be a Republican…

1
This is How You Fix the Climate: A Conversation with Sage Lenier 49:38

4M ago49:38

49:38

At the end of the day, Sage Lenier, climate activist and one of Time Magazine’s 10 Next Generation Leaders, reminds us that we need to accept what we’re doing on this planet is unsustainable. That we will ultimately need to slow down the systems of production and consider a real economic transformation if we want to survive, but instead of waiting …

1
Trump’s America: AGENDA 47 A conversation with Ahmed Baba 1:00:41

4M ago1:00:41

1:00:41

There is a clear and planned takeover of the American government by people who no longer want to work under a functioning democracy but some form of authoritarian, kleptocratic, theocracy and the Republican Party are on board for all of it. If you don’t know about Project 2025 go back and listen to the top of the year show, but this episode is all …

1
It Doesn’t Have To Be Like This: A Conversation with Greg Jackson from the White House Office of Gun Prevention 44:14

4M ago44:14

44:14

Sometimes we need to take a break from all the criticism of government to acknowledge the importance of government, especially when they’re doing good things. One of those good things was the recent creation of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention because as we lose people to gun violence in our country every day, as America is put on …

1
Hit ‘Em Where it Hurts: A Conversation about Winning with Rachel Bitecofer 56:30

4M ago56:30

56:30

America is dealing with an existential threat in the 2024 election. It’s not Republican or Democrat, it’s democracy or autocracy, and we can’t screw it up. Which is why I’m pleased to be joined by political scientist and strategist Rachel Bitecofer to talk about her new book “Hit Em Where it hurts: How to Save Democracy by Beating Republicans at Th…

1
Police: Heroes or Villains? A Conversation with Michael Sierra-Arévalo 41:55

5M ago41:55

41:55

Author, professor and sociologist Michael Sierra-Arévalo talks to us about his detailed look into American policing with his new book The Danger Imperative: Violence, Death and the Soul of Policing. According to Arévalo, the story of policing isn’t the story of a few bad apples, but of an institutional structure and system that is essentially not w…

1
Election 2024 Do More. Worry Less: A Conversation Simon Rosenberg 42:40

5M ago42:40

42:40

Something magical is happening. As MAGA doubles down on extremism and chaos, they appeal to fewer and fewer Americans. At this point all they have is their mad king, while Democrats, liberals and anyone who believes in the American experiment has the opportunity to really make America into the country we tell people we are. We have to plan to win, …

1
A New Way to Get the News: A Conversation Courier’s Tara McGowan 48:00

5M ago48:00

48:00

Clearly there’s a need for a new type of media, one that exists explicitly to give people facts, but also to protect and strengthen our democracy. Today we talk to the amazing Tara McGowan, founder and publisher of Courier, one of the fastest growing news networks in the country. Courier is a new take on an old format that honors local news with re…

1
It’s Not About Being Invited to the Cookout: A Conversation about Anti-Racist Work with Tony Nabors 1:09:17

5M ago1:09:17

1:09:17

“Anti-racist” isn’t an identity, it’s actions. It’s doing the work of deconstructing the systems of racism we were all raised in. Systems that harm us all. It’s not about being a “good person” or not being called “racist”, it’s about genuinely interacting with the world to make it better. And yeah, we’re going to make mistakes while we do it. We’re…

1
How to Win 2024! A Conversation with Swing Left’s Yasmin Radjy 58:43

6M ago58:43

58:43

Here we are at the top of 2024 with MAGA extremism on a rocket ship to the moon and the GOP hell-bent on stripping away as many of our fundamental rights & freedoms as possible. We don’t have a second or dollar to waste. We want to win 2024. We NEED to win 2024. But it doesn’t have to be endlessly miserable or expensive to do it. Which is why I wan…

1
The Supreme Court is Doing What?! A Conversation with Strict Scrutiny’s Melissa Murray and Kate Shaw 1:02:25

6M ago1:02:25

1:02:25

We can’t take our eyes off this court for a minute. Which is why I’m joined by Melissa Murray and Kate Shaw, two constitutional professors and hosts of Crooked Media’s legal podcast Strict Scrutiny, to go over the cases you really have to know. From Donald Trump’s Presidential immunity and ballot presence, to abortion drug access, to the attempt of…

1
This Will Help You Vote: A Conversation with Blue Voter Guide’s Wayne Liebman 39:14

6M ago39:14

39:14

If you look at statistics it was actually non-voters who won the last Presidential election. Too many people think their vote doesn’t count, or as our guest, Wayne Liebman says, they think their vote counts too much and are afraid to make a mistake. The Blue Voter Guide takes the burden out of voting. They do the research into the candidates, ballo…

1
Israel/Gaza: A Conversation with David Rothkopf 1:08:38

6M ago1:08:38

1:08:38

The crisis in the Middle East, like so many issues that truly matter, is complicated and nuanced and simply won’t fit on a bumper sticker. It’s essential that we look at the whole picture and move beyond who needs to be punished (and many do) to set a goal of creating a place of peace and stability. This is also not an isolated issue. Governments a…

1
Is This the End of America?: A Conversation with Journalist Ahmed Baba 53:05

7M ago53:05

53:05

Happy New Year! Welcome to 2024, the year we either destroy or save America. This is it. Make it or break it. To give us a sense of the stakes, I’m joined by journalist Ahmed Baba who recently did an amazing article for the Independent about the the “conservative promise” of Project 2025. Project 2025 is a roadmap to fundamentally reshape the feder…

1
Stop Agreeing to Disagree: A Conversation with Pastor John Pavlovitz 56:19

7M ago56:19

56:19

Join me and John Pavlovitz post-Christmas to talk about how America seems off track with the Christian faith. As John says, “It’s not politics or religion that divides us, it’s vision.” What we see as the future and purpose of our country and our collective faiths. We’re in a vision divide America, and we have to ask ourselves if it’s better to liv…

1
One Person Can Make a Difference: A Conversation with David Bender 1:01:21

7M ago1:01:21

1:01:21

We’re about to enter probably one of the toughest years in our country’s history. A year that could quite honestly end the American experiment. But America has been through crises before and people pulled us through. So the question is, what are YOU going to do to fight for what’s right in a time when so much is wrong? I’ve asked my friend, and lif…

1
Trump in Court: End of Year Wrap Up with Teri Kanefield 49:54

7M ago49:54

49:54

The Republican party has made it very clear they’re ready to abandon democracy and the rule of law. So, no matter how hungry we are for justice, we can’t help them by abandoning the rule of law ourselves. No matter how irritating it feels to watch justice move slowly, sticking with the strictest rules is the only way if we want to keep living in a …

1
Rigged: A Conversation with Robert Reich 57:37

7M ago57:37

57:37

As Supreme Court Justice, Louis Brandeis said, “America has a choice. We can either have great wealth in the hands of a few, or we can have democracy, but we can’t have both.” There’s a shift happening in the American consciousness right now. Where the idea we all bought into, that idea that if we just work hard enough we’ll make it, is starting to…

1
Never Give AI the Nuclear Codes: A Conversation with Ross Andersen 44:56

8M ago44:56

44:56

As computers get smarter, who do we want regulating them? Who do we want programming them and, ultimately, who do we want leading our country and military response when AI is in the mix? If we get this wrong, how we feel about things like taxes, religion and racism will be the least of our problems. To have this essential conversation, I’m joined t…

1
From Homeless to Mayor: A Conversation with Konstantine Anthony 53:32

8M ago53:32

53:32

As we come up on Thanksgiving and the holiday season, I started to think of all the things in my life I was thankful for and I kept returning to having a roof over my head. America’s homelessness crisis has become extraordinary and housing has becomes out of reach for so many Americans. Not just in the big cities, but all over the country. Yes, it’…

1
Broken Men Break Things: A Conversation with Mark Greene 1:09:55

8M ago1:09:55

1:09:55

Our culture is literally littered with the fallout of unhappy men looking to assert their dominance. From the tantrums of our last president, to our daily mass shootings, to the broad resurgence of patriarchal male dominance, men are not doing ok and they’re making it everyone else’s problem. Join me and the founder of ReMaking Manhood Mark Greene …

1
Protect our Votes: A Conversation with Nevada Secretary of State, Cisco Aguilar 38:56

8M ago38:56

38:56

It’s election day in America and all over the country people are choosing the direction they want their country to go. While citizens exercise their right to vote, we know there are people actively looking to undermine and disrupt the process to their own ends. Which is why we can no longer afford to be reactive about our democracy. We must be stra…

1
America’s Disinformation War: A Conversation with Lee McIntyre 56:56

9M ago56:56

56:56

"Welcome to the world of reality denial, where truth is subordinate to ideology, feelings have more weight than evidence, and democracy hangs in the balance”. We are in a disinformation war in America where the goal of those creating the lies is not just to get us to question some particular fact - vaccines don’t work, covid isn’t real, the electio…

1
Working Class Solidarity: A Conversation with John Russell 51:50

9M ago51:50

51:50

If you have to work for a living, then you’re working class, and the sooner we realize most of us are in the same boat, the sooner we can ban together and ask for what we need. John Russell and I talk about how we have more to gain from solidarity than division, and as John says, “It comes down to power. If we want to find common ground, and close …

1
Using the Law to Protect the Law: A Conversation with Democratic Super Lawyer Marc Elias 53:03

9M ago53:03

53:03

Democracy’s white knight Marc Elias joins us to explain that we aren’t just fighting election suppression & subversion, we’re now fighting election vigilanteism and the new Republican strategy of standing in defiance of the law itself. The GOP seems to have decided it’s simply good politics to say you’re fighting a corrupt system when you, yourself…

1
The Battle for the Senate: A Conversation with Michigan Candidate & Current Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin 43:58

9M ago43:58

43:58

The 2024 senate map is rough. The Republicans only need to win 2 seats to change the balance of power and the Democrats have 8 that are considered vulnerable. It’s not only essential we win every seat we already have, but we have to buckle down and defend the ones we can’t lose. With that in mind, today’s guest is Michigan Congresswoman Elissa Slot…

1
The 2nd Amendment “Solution” : A Conversation with the Fred Guttenberg 51:00

10M ago51:00

51:00

We are seeing increasing calls for violence around the country, an incitement to violence by Trump and his compatriots, and an overall threat to our democracy and our public safety with the stockpiling of weapons and ammunition to use against a government, or fellow citizens, with whom people disagree. Join me, and well known public safety advocate…

1
3rd Party = TRUMP: A Conversation with the Lincoln Project’s Rick Wilson 58:52

10M ago58:52

58:52

Presidential third parties are deceiving the public. They claim to offer a choice, but what they’re offering is an illusion. A dream that somehow their candidate could defy history and do something no 3rd party candidate has been able to do, and win the presidency. There is no grey area here. If you buy what they’re selling and give them your vote,…

1
Register Democrats, Save the World: a conversation with Jason Berlin from FieldTeam6 40:52

10M ago40:52

40:52

You want to make a difference to our democracy? Get more people registered to vote. Today we talk to Jason Berlin, the Executive Director of Field Team 6, which since its founding in 2019 has helped register almost 2.9 million Democratic voters, the vast majority in swing states. Jason and his team are a proudly “partisan voter registration” group …

1
The Ageless Agenda: A Conversation with Congressman Maxwell Frost 47:27

10M ago47:27

47:27

The majority of youth in America are not on board for the new extremist Republican agenda. They believe in reproductive rights, and that the climate is in crisis. They’re against book banning and propaganda education. They’re majority pro-LGBTQ, pro-union, pro-health care, pro-living wage and pro-common sense gun legislation, and the Republican par…

1
Unions: Giving Workers a Voice 45:56

10M ago45:56

45:56

In honor of Labor Day we’re going to talk about the importance of the American worker, but more specifically about the importance of union work. American workers have clearly had enough. The majority of us know we can’t carry on like this. That the wealth inequality and the growing chasm between workers and owners is leading this country down a dar…

1
The Next BIG Election: A Conversation about Virginia with Danica Roem & Jessica Anderson 1:09:35

11M ago1:09:35

1:09:35

If you care about democracy in America, then you care about the upcoming election in Virginia this November. And before you think yeah, I don’t live in Virginia, I’ll think I’ll skip it, I want you to think about the Wisconsin Supreme Court race in April, or the Ohio special election this August. Most of us don’t live in those states, but our atten…

1
UnJust Justice: A Conversation about SCOTUS with Dahlia Lithwick 56:26

11M ago56:26

56:26

Despite how frustrated we might be with the ethics, decisions, and arrogance of this far right activist court, guest Dahlia Lithwick believes we’re actually at an amazing moment in American history where we have the opportunity to really address the court with our politics. If we’re not happy, then we insist on change. Supreme Court justices are no…

1
Conspiracy to Defraud the United States. A Conversation with Dr. Allison Gill 54:51

11M ago54:51

54:51

Dr. Allison Gill, the founder of MSW Media, host of the Daily Beans and the Jack Podcast, is here to talk the ins & outs of the most recent, and most serious, Trump indictments - namely the one’s related to January 6th and Conspiracy to Defraud the United States. Trump has been indicted for fraud against the government, the plot to disrupt the peac…

1
Hollywood Fights for the Humans. A PG:CC with Billy Ray 51:50

11M ago51:50

51:50

It’s easy to demonize Hollywood, to think the people who work in entertainment don’t have the same problems as you or I, but when you take away the glitz & glamour, entertainment is just another industry filled with regular people doing regular work. The vast majority who work in Hollywood are not superstars. This strike is primarily working people…

1
What’s that you say, the Economy is Doing Well? A PG:CC with White House Communications Director Ben LaBolt 51:33

12M ago51:33

51:33

Republicans spin a good yarn, but data doesn’t lie, and since globalization began the contrast between Republican and Democratic performance on the economy has been incredibly stark. Look no further than Bidenomics vs. Reaganomics. While the Democrats continue to evolve to attempt to create an economy that works for all of us, Republicans keep doub…

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Jessica Leigh Levin Podcasts

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