Podcasts

Thunderdome Podcasts

Listen to the Thunderdome Podcasts from the 2018 Women’s Summit.

EPISODE 24 – MARILYN KARP WOMEN’S SUMMIT 2018

David Pratt, Indivisible Winchester, and Marilyn Karp, Indivisible Nova West, discuss the People’s Caravan to Farmville and on to Brownsville. Live at the Women’s Summit 2018. Recorded Saturday June 23, 2018.

EPISODE 25 – LEE CARTER AT THE WOMEN’S SUMMIT 2018

David Pratt interviewed Lee Carter, Virginia Delegate for Virginia’s 50th House District. They discussed what it’s like to be a freshman delegate, the continued partisanship of the House, healthcare for all Virginians, the pipelines fight (the Governor could stop the pipelines!), and how migrant children separated from their parents are being detained in Virginia and Maryland.

EPISODE 26 – ERA IN VA CONVERSATION AT THE WOMEN’S SUMMIT

Interview with Virginia House District 51 Delegate Hala Ayala; Andrea Miller, Executive Director of the advocacy group People Demanding Action,; and Eileen Davis, co-founder of Women Matter (https://www.women-matter.org/). Hala, Andrea and Eileen discussed the history of the ERA and how Virginia is the final state needed to ratify.

EPISODE 27 – NATALIE PIEN OF 350 LOUDOUN

Natalie Pien, of the environmental group 350 Loudoun, sat down at the 2018 Women’s Summit to discuss the pipelines fight and the need for greater environmental awareness among our activists.

EPISODE 28 – FREEDA CATHCART OF INDIVISIBLE VIRGINIA

Freeda Cathcart and David Pratt spoke near the end of the 2018 Woman’s Summit about how Indivisible Virginia acts as a resource and connector for grassroots activists in Virginia. Freeda discussed training opportunities coming up, the power of personal stories in advocacy and political activism, how we should “tend to our fire” in terms of the issues we are most passionate about, and the importance of self-care to avoid burnout.

EPISODE 29 -AMY MCPIKE OF MOM’S DEMAND ACTION

David Pratt, of Indivisible Winchester, and Kacey Young, of Together We Will Loudoun, sat down with Amy McPike from Mom’s Demand Action to talk about how Mom’s Demand Action is changing the debate about gun violence and gun safety in America. This interview was recorded at the 2018 Women’s Summit.

EPISODE 30 – EMILY SATTERWHITE OF APPALACHIANS AGAINST THE PIPELINES

When I sat down with Emily Satterwhite at the Women’s Summit, I had no idea that in just a few days she would demonstrate her absolute fierce determination to stop the Mountain Valley Pipeline by chaining herself to one of the construction backhoes ripping through Virginia’s mountains. She stopped construction for 14 hours, and today DEQ stopped the MVP construction temporarily due to mudslides and other massive construction failures.

Emily and the pipeline warriors are such an inspiration! I am delighted to be able to share this podcast so you can hear how knowledgeable and committed Emily is to protecting our land, our water, our rights for future generations.

EPISODE 31 – VANGIE WILLIAMS RUNNING FOR CONGRESS D1

Vangie Williams discussed her campaign for Virginia’s First Congressional District shortly after standing with Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax at the 2018 Women’s Summit. Vangie talked about her deep roots in the district, being a mother of six girls, and the strengths women have as natural planners and leaders. It was a pleasure meeting her and to see first hand how down to earth she is and passionate about issues of healthcare, transportation, income inequality, and education. Rob Whitman, watch out!

EPISODE 32 – WENDY GOODITIS AT THE 2018 WOMEN’S SUMMIT

At the 2018 Women’s Sumit, David Pratt took the opportunity to interview Wendy Gooditis for the second time. For her first Thunderdome podcast, she was running for Virginia’s 10th House district, which runs from Leesburg to Stephens City. And now she is a freshman delegate. They talked about what it’s like to be in the Virginia General Assembly, the fight to end gerrymandering in the state, the anti-pipeline movement, and more. (In the photo: legislative aide Truman Braslaw and Wendy Gooditis.

EPISODE 33 – ZACK PRUCKOWSI DEBRIEF ON VA DISTRICT 10 PRIMARY

Zachary Pruckowski, Chair of the D10 committee, sat down with David Pratt at the 2018 Women’s summit to talk about the role of the D10 committee and offer his perspective on the recent D10 primary including turn out and the high caliber of the candidates.

EPISODE 34 – AINSLEY RUCKER OF THE WINCHESTER YOUNG DEMOCRATS

Ainsley Rucker participated on a panel discussion at the 2018 Women’s Summit on youth involvement in politics. Ainsley helps lead a coalition of young Democrats in Winchester, VA, Clarke and Frederick counties called the Winchester Young Democrats. Students from five high schools meet regularly to learn more about our political process, issues they care about such as gun violence, women’s rights, LBGTQ rights, immigration reform, and the environment. Ainsley discussed how she became politically active and what it’s like to work on as an intern on a campaign.

EPISODE 35 – ROSANNA TAVAREZ

David Pratt interviewed Rosanna Tavarez, of Rise Stronger, RISE District, and the GCC Grassroots Coordinating Committee). She discussed how Rise Stronger & Rise District, and the GCC are working on a calendar of upcoming events across many issue groups and activist groups. With so much going on supporting candidates running for office and countering the agenda of the Trump administration, coordination, resource development and knowledge sharing are vital.

EPISODE 36 – KATHY SHUPE AND KEISY CHAVEZ

Kathy Stewart Shupe (Loudoun County Democratic Committee) and Keisy Chavez of NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia visited with David Pratt in the Thunderdome Podcast interview room at the 2018 Women’s Summit. They talked about the importance of coming together after a primary and volunteering to help the primary winner get elected. They are encouraged to see unity in the 10th congressional district for Jennifer Wexton and a willingness of the grassroots to flip Virginia blue.

EPISODE 37 – KYLE GREEN

Kyle Green is running for Virginia’s 13th Senate District, currently held by Dick Black. The state senate election will be held in November 2019. This flippable district  encompasses parts of Loudoun and Prince William counties.

Kyle sat down with David Pratt in the Thunderdome Podcast room at the 2018 Women’s Summit. He discussed his grandmother’s influence on his life, his wife’s strengths, his experience as a marine nation building in Afghanistan, and his career as a business developer for an IT company. Kyle highlighted two important issues for his district: transportation and education. He talked about the need to improve education opportunities to lead to good jobs, not just by making community college more affordable but also by thinking holistically about work force training for well-paying jobs such as being an electrician.

At the 2018 Women’s Summit David Pratt and Kacey Young of TWW Loudoun sat down to interview Amhad Shawwal, a field organizer for the coordinated campaign of  U.S. Senator Tim Kaine and Jennifer Wexton (10th Congressional District), and regional field director Tonya James.

Ahmad, who was born in Pakistan, talked about his father’s immigration path to the United States, and how being an immigrant and son of an immigrant has given him a deep appreciation for the United States. A student at the University of Virginia, Ahmad got active in politics during the Hillary Clinton campaign. He talked about the importance of organizing for Democratic campaigns, and how to get more people to volunteer their time through time-tested activities such as canvassing and phone banking. David and Kacey also made the point that it’s important to ease new volunteers into canvassing and ensure that they have a positive experience, including encouraging them to go out in pairs, especially in rural areas. Ahmad and Tonya agreed with this, and said they value the personal relationships that form around political activism and the connections between people in local communities and political organizers such as themselves.

EPISODE 40 – AUSTIN NAUGHTON

David Pratt interviewed Auston Naughton of DC Turn It Blue and the Grass Roots Coordinating Committee to explore how various grass roots political groups have worked together to power the Blue Wave. Austin is a great networker, and has put together a fairly comprehensive contact list of people and groups in DC, Northern Virginia and Maryland. Austin helps connect people to opportunities to get active.

EPISODE 41 – ALI SYMONS

Ali Symons is an amazing woman from Falls Church who I have gotten to know through her activism on the pipelines fight. She and I spoke at the Women’s Summit about her commitment to environmental action, and why she decided to start making videos of events she attends. I hope this podcast will inspire people to follow her lead and attend more events, read up on the issues that you care about, and format what you learn into shareable formats: flyers, audio, video, memes, images, blog posts, Facebook posts.

EPISODE 42 – PIPELINES PANEL DISCUSSION

This is audio is of brief panel discussion held on Saturday June 23rd during the 2018 Women’s Summit. Speakers included tree sitters extraordinaire Minor Terry and Red Terry, congressional candidates Jennifer Lewis (6th District) and Anthony Flaccavento (9th District), and Freeda Cathcart of Indivisible Virginia.

EPISOSE 43 – TIM CYWINSKI OF VIRGINIA 21

At the 2018 Women’s Summit, David Pratt spoke with Tim Cywinski, Director of Civic Engagement at Virginia21. Virginia21 is a nonprofit that engages young people in the political process in Virginia by providing information, directing advocacy and coordinating political action on a non-partisan platform that includes higher education, student health and safety, and economic development. Tim is responsible for coordinating action among all Virginia21 leaders, managing the organization’s program, and building relationships with other like-minded organizations and the press. He travels around the state speaking to Millennials and others about the political process and their role in it.

Tim participated in the February 10th Virginians for Electoral Justice roundtable discussion, which you can read about here.  Tim discussed the need to ensure that young people have a voice at the table where decisions are being made. Grassroots lobbying can influence legislators, Tim knows, pointing to Medicaid expansion. One of the key issues for young people is the exploding costs of higher education.

EPISODE 46: KATE AND AMY FROM ROWAN TREE IN RESTON, VA

This is the final interview from the 2018 Women’s Summit. See you next year!

I talked to the founders of Rowan Tree, Amy Dagliano and Kate Viggiano Janich. Rowan Tree, in Reston, is a coworking style space where busy women can meet and work in environment that promotes wellness and creativity. Some folks might be familiar with start-up incubators where entrepreneurs can find a place to work and collaborate with like-minded people. Rowan Tree could be an ideal place for activists with big plans who need a work space. There is also an online community begin built where Rowan Tree members can share design templates, how-to’s and other resources.

http://workrowan.com 

https://www.facebook.com/workrowan/ 

From the Website description: Imagine working in a warm and inviting space full of color and natural light. Where you can work in an open space and share ideas, or work quietly and take a private phone call. Where you can take a break to do some yoga on-site, or borrow some paint and create something (paint by number totally counts!). Where you can sit on some comfy couches with your coffee and brainstorm, or use a team room for a group effort, or concentrate in our quiet “focus zone” when you really need to get ‘er done.

A “coffee shop coworking” style, our space is built for busy women who want their work experience to be wrapped in wellness and creativity. We know convenience plays a large part of keeping balance.