Actor Ingrid Garner stops off from touring one of the one-woman shows she has developed from her grandmother's memoir, Eleanor's Story: an American Girl in Hitler's Germany by Eleanor Ramrath Garner, to make a rare in-person visit to the cafe.

Having travelled to Ottawa to perform at the Ottawa Fringe Festival, Ingrid tells David and Rachel about what it was like to be away from her LA home during the No Kings/No Tryants rallies of June 14.

She also talks about her experiences as an Orange County pollworker, and of course, about her grandmother (now 95). https://www.eleanorsstory.com

Find the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com.

Register and request your ballot every year at votefromabroad.org.

Novelist, activist, and journalist Cory Doctorow joins Rachel and David in the cafe to talk about the enshittification of the internet and how we ended up in our current enshittogenic environment.

The conversation touches on digital locks, ink that's more expensive than a Kentucky Derby winner's semen, Robert Bork's taste in movies, "Fiddler on the Roof" the documentary, and moving fast and breaking kings.

Doctorow's most recent book is Picks & Shovels, and the next one to be released will be Enshittification.

For more information: https://craphound.com/, https://pluralistic.net/, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation: https://www.eff.org/ .

Find the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com.

Register and request your ballot every year at votefromabroad.org.

Troy Matthews, senior writer at Meidas Touch News, joins David and Rachel in the cafe.

After a brief foray into sports and wine, the discussion turns to grassroots progressive media in general, and Meidas Touch in particular, highlighting its success in pulling ahead of Joe Rogan on YouTube.

Troy talks about how podcasting these days resembles 1990s radio, and about his primary beats: abortion and economics.

Troy also talks about his own podcast, Just Buy Less Coffee, which he co-hosts with Cathy Cannon, and about helping spread the word that even those who decide to live outside the U.S. can still fight and vote from overseas.

What was it like to be elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court during a pandemic--and how did Justice Jill J. Karofsky launch her 10-year term with a run? What led her to public service, and why did she change her middle name? What measures can the courts take to help jurors?  What is the National Mustard Museum, and what does it have to do with Wisconsin's newest Supreme Court Justice? Rachel and David sit down to chat with Justice Karofsky about all of this and more.

For more info: democratsabroad.org . To get your ballot (do it NOW!!): votefromabroad.org .

For more info: democratsabroad.org . To get your ballot (do it NOW!!): votefromabroad.org .

The Heymans share stories about Joe Biden with David and Rachel, and talk about the campaign’s focus on getting out the American vote from around the world. They speak of Biden’s “secret sauce”—the leadership skills that make him particularly suited to this moment—and about how the deal he made with President Obama when accepting the vice presidency uniquely prepares him for the presidency. 

Learn about the importance of every vote, of hustling hard to preserve what we love, of what supporters of other candidates can look for from a Biden presidency, and of flipping Me to We. 

There is (as so often) a reference to pets—though not in their usual form. 

The episode ends with a heartfelt valentine to Canada.

Nse Ufot joined Rachel and David to talk about her work as Executive Director of The New Georgia Project (a non-partisan effort to register and civically engage Georgians), and how it had its roots in a conversation that began in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. We talk about voter suppression, Georgia's place in a rapidly transforming population, the critical importance of every vote in every election, the gospel choir theory of organizing, and Nse's time as a member of Democrats Abroad. With a side of ice cream and a lot of laughter.
For more info: democratsabroad.org . To get your ballot (do it NOW!!): votefromabroad.org .

Aaron Kruse, co-chair of the Platform Committee, joins Rachel and David from Beijing on the best day of his life to talk about the process of forging the Democrats Abroad 2020 Platform. We talk about health care, gun control, the environment, taxation, services for Americans abroad, and how everywhere you go, you will bump into someone from Iowa. We discuss the grueling process of reading 4800 submissions and steering 60 or 70 volunteers, and the multiple shirts needed to get through the final stages of approving a platform with an overwhelming majority. We touch on the question of whether progressives are readier to live overseas, or whether those who choose to live overseas adopt progressive outlooks, and we end the episode with a wedding proposal and pets.
For more info: democratsabroad.org . To get your ballot (do it NOW!!): votefromabroad.org .

The Healthcare plank of the Democrats Abroad platform begins: "Understanding that healthcare is the highest concern for many Americans – including many of our families and friends living in the U.S. – Democrats Abroad advocates for high-quality, equitable, and freely available healthcare for all Americans – and for everyone living in the U.S. – which we regard as a fundamental human right." Rachel and David are joined by Kent Getsinger from Australia to explore the details of Democrats Abroad's vision for healthcare under a Democratic administration.
For more info: democratsabroad.org . To get your ballot (do it NOW!!): votefromabroad.org .

A conversation with Heather Stone in Israel and Asha Subas in London, England, who brought the Democracy and Elections plank across the finish line. (Democrats Abroad's 2020 platform was adopted on June 7.) We discuss the vulnerability of the postal service, and its importance for citizens voting from outside the country. We touch on money in politics, corruption, voter suppression, and the necessity to explicitly state our support for civil rights, freedom of speech, and freedom to peaceably assemble, as well as how to address disinformation and misinformation.
For more info: democratsabroad.org . To get your ballot (do it NOW!!): votefromabroad.org .

In this wide-ranging conversation about racism, its effects, and what we can do to address it. Angela (who live in Germany) shares with David and Rachel the story of her involvement with DA, how she founded the Black Caucus, and what its role is within DA--and we even get into the definition of a kakistocracy.

For more info: democratsabroad.org 

To get your ballot (do it NOW!!): votefromabroad.org

In May 2020, Miguel Madrigal (Costa Rica) was elected by the Americas Region of DA to be a member of the delegation Democrats Abroad is taking to the Democratic National Convention. The youngest member of the DA delegation at 24, Miguel, who is pledged to Joe Biden, beat 115 other candidates to win this coveted position. Rachel and David talk to him about what he did--and how it felt--to win the election. The conversation reveals one fact of potential embarrassment to David, and finishes with a bit of fun.

For more info: democratsabroad.org

To get your ballot (do it NOW!!): votefromabroad.org

"Climate change is the central challenge of our time." Thus begins the Environment and Energy plank of the Democrats Abroad platform. David and Rachel talk to Jim Christiansen (in Paris), who was involved in drafting this section of both the 2016 and the 2020 platform, about the current draft, feedback from members, challenges presented by the current administration, and what happens next.

For more info: democratsabroad.org (Or connect directly to the platform.)

To get your ballot (do it NOW!!): votefromabroad.org

The issue of taxation is a critical one for Americans living outside the country. David and Rachel sat down with Carmelan Polce (in Australia), who chairs DA's Taxation Task Force, to talk about why this topic forms a plank in our platform. What do legislators at home need to understand about the effects of taxation laws on income earned outside the U.S.? How can it be that American abroad have to pay taxes on such things as welfare payments from our countries of residence? What impact did 2017 tax reforms and the global intangible low-taxed income (known as the GILTI tax) have on Americans living abroad? And where can you turn with questions?

For more info: democratsabroad.org (Or connect directly to the platform.)

To get your ballot (do it NOW!!): votefromabroad.org

Dr. Lauren Tucker of Do What Matters talks about her work in helping to found Indivisible Chicago, and about giving people the tools to (as Michelle Obama says), "do something."

She offers the Reenergizing the American Dream (RAD) Act as a policy proposal to address the insecurity the average American feels due to income inequality.

The plan addresses five areas that make life unaffordable for the 99%: food, transportation, healthcare, housing, and energy.

And she advises us to focus and toughen up in order to claw back our taxes from the billionaires who are living off the people of the United States.

Find the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com.

Register and request your ballot every year at votefromabroad.org.

What goes into the creation of the Democrats Abroad Platform? How can you shape the 2020 draft before it is final? How does our platform affect the election for the entire United States? David and Rachel connect with Farid Ben Amor in Geneva and Salli Swartz in Paris, two of the four co-chairs (with Aaron Kruse and Wen-Wen Lindroth) who led a team of hundreds of DA members to produce the draft.
For more info: democratsabroad.org (Or connect directly to the platform.)
To get your ballot (do it NOW!!): votefromabroad.org

In the teeth of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. is providing money to its citizens. Do Americans living abroad qualify for this relief?

Still maintaining social distance, Rachel and David tackle your elgibility for money through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, and whether you need to do anything to receive it. (For more information, visit the FAQ compiled by DA's Taxation Task force, led by Carmelan Polce: https://www.democratsabroad.org/carmelan/coronavirus_aid_relief_economic_safety_cares_act_faqs. And please send your stories about the difficulty of complying with tax law as an American abroad to taxationtf@democratsabroad.org, subject headed "my tax story.")

With shout-outs to Suzy Q doughnuts and Rachel's accountant in Ottawa.

Americans around the world chose to cast their primary vote with Democrats Abroad. While maintaining social distance, Rachel and David take a look at the numbers: Who won our delegates? How was turnout? What are our voters' ages? How did Canada's share of the votes stack up?
For more info: democratsabroad.org
To get your ballot (do it NOW!!): votefromabroad.org

Also on Super Tuesday, we sat down in the tavern with Samuel Baltz, an American-Canadian and a PhD candidate in political science and computer science at the University of Michigan. In a 20-minute crash course on the science of comparing elections, we touched on voting in the U.S. and Canada, the influence of money, voter suppression, the 8- to 10-year swing toward change, what voters seek in a leader, who picks our candidates, what people in the U.S. can do to get people living outside the country to vote, and whether it matters what words you use when you phone someone to ask them to vote. And . . . we wind up at the end with a surprise reveal.

Recorded on March 3, 2020 (Super Tuesday).

For more info:  democratsabroad.org

Visit us on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/DemsAbroad/,

Follow on Twitter: @DemsAbroad

Check it out on Instagram: demsabroad

Anyone can be a roving reporter! On Super Tuesday, we phoned Brian Hassett from the tavern (https://www.thesenate.ca/) where we were running our Voting Centre. Brian is a DA member based in Toronto (and a Dead Head), who travelled to New Hampshire to experience the primaries in person, despite having decided to vote later on, in Democrats Abroad’s own Global Presidential Primary. But did it help him make up his mind? And which candidate offered the best post-voting spread?

Watch for Brian's book, Blissfully Ravaged in Democracy, which he will be publishing soon.

Recorded on March 3, 2020 (Super Tuesday).

For more info:  democratsabroad.org

Visit us on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/DemsAbroad/,

Follow on Twitter: @DemsAbroad

Check it out on Instagram: demsabroad

Have you found your place within Democrats Abroad?  David and Rachel explore some of the volunteer roles, from small things like postcards and phone calls to . . . well, no, you can't take over the podcast. Includes a fleeting cat reference.

Recorded Feb. 9, 2020.

For more info:  democratsabroad.org

Visit us on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/DemsAbroad/,

Follow on Twitter: @DemsAbroad

Check it out on Instagram: demsabroad

Lance Lehman is US citizen but he has lived in Canada almost his entire life. Recently he travelled to Iowa with his brother to find out what the experience is like. Listen for what happens when John Kerry notices your Christmas sweater.

Recorded Feb. 9, 2020.

For more info:  democratsabroad.org

Visit us on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/DemsAbroad/,

Follow on Twitter: @DemsAbroad

Check it out on Instagram: demsabroad

Why do it now? Why do it every year? Why use votefromabroad.org instead of going directly to your voting state?

Rachel and David try to thread their way through the quirks and cautions of voting by absentee ballot so that you don’t have to! For more information: votefromabroad.org

(Recorded on January 19, 2020.)

For more info:  democratsabroad.org

Visit us on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/DemsAbroad/, 

Follow on Twitter: @DemsAbroad

Check it out on Instagram: demsabroad

Episode One. What is Democrats Abroad, and how do presidential candidates qualify for its Presidential Primary ballot? What is Democrats Abroad doing running a primary in the first place?  Who gets to vote in it, and how can you do so? Why would you want to vote for your favored candidate through Democrats Abroad instead of through the state where you vote?
Rachel and David supply the answers as they kick off the podcast with a burst of laughter.

(Recorded on December 8, 2019. Check for updates as the Democratic candidates qualify for the DA ballot.)

Inge Kjemtrup and Julia Bryan join David and Rachel to talk about the work they're doing to offer Democrats Abroad members way to resist.

Even small actions add up when DA members around the world team up to take them.

By simply making phone calls, reaching out to friends, holding resistance roundtables, posting short videos telling personal stories, following the progress of legislation, making resistance playlists (watch for David's!), Inge and Julia believe we can all have an impact, and that this work is already seeing results.

A growing menu of ideas and options is posted at https://www.democratsabroad.org/take_action, and people are encouraged to reach out with new ideas via resistance@democratsabroad.org.

And above all, stay positive!

You're an influencer, and as a DA member probably more informed than you think.

Find the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com. Register and request your ballot every year at votefromabroad.org.

David and Rachel talk to "MJ," a trans woman, about why she began to feel so unsafe in the U.S. that she has exercised her right as a dual citizen to return to Canada.

The conversation starts light, with Canadian cocktails and the need for everyone to have an "Emergency David."

But MJ does not hold back from sharing personal details about her journey as a trans woman, some of the ways in which it is dangerous to be transgender in the U.S. under the second Trump administration, and how important it is in understanding people who are different from you to just listen, and ask questions.

Find the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com. Register and request your ballot every year at votefromabroad.org.

Dr. Arlie Russell Hochschild, sociologist, author, and proferssor emerita at Berkeley, joined David and Rachel to talk about the four moments of the anti-shame ritual, what she learned in talking to people in Louisiana and Kentucky suffering a downward slide of loss and about Democrats Abroad members as bi-cultural ambassadors.

She also talks about her books Strangers in their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right and Stolen Pride: Loss, Shame, and the Rise of the Right (chosen by Barack Obama as one of his 10 favorite books of 2024).

Find the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com.

Register and request your ballot every year at votefromabroad.org.

One week after Donald Trump's second Inaugration, Jodi Szarko and Linda Weide joined David and Rachel talk about the book club they founded for Democrats Abroad in the lead-up to the 2025 election to study Project 2025.

They share some of their discoveries, their reactions to some of the content, the contradictions they found within the document.

The book club has morphed focus to become generally more anti-authoritarian, studying such things as the Executive Orders coming out of the White House.

Those interested in participating in the reading group, visit https://www.democratsabroad.org/de_events

In the waning days of the 118th Congress, a bill was introduced that could relieve many citizens living around the world of the headaches associated with filing U.S. taxes every year.

Rebecca Lammers, the chair of Democrats Abroad's Taxation Task Force joins David and Rachel in the cafe to talk about it. She explains why introducing this bill days before it would inevitably die was advantageous.

And she talks about how people shouldn't have to choose between their citizenship and being able to maintain a normal financial life; about the tax webinars she's introduced to help educate people about their choices; and about how filing taxes and exercising your right to vote are not connected.

To read more about the bill, and to offer your feedback, visit https://www.democratsabroad.org/new_residency_based_tax_bill_introduced https://www.democratsabroad.org/elective_rbt_explainer https://www.democratsabroad.org/rbt_bill_faq https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfsyXA-KVQbMWs42DSsMGvSKGo8M2spLRJrsGSx7nUvjhsQAg/viewform

Register and request your ballot every year at votefromabroad.org.

Find the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com.

Jason Sattler (LOLGOP on social media platforms) talks about the phishing attack that is being perptrated on America, about progressivism as the mainstream culture, and about the need to start thinking about and buildng progressive everything.

Jason strongly recommends the two podcasts he's producing: Marcy Wheeler's Ball of Thread and Andrea Pitzer's Next Comes What.

The conversation touches on Franca Rame as the kind of folk hero we should be valorizing, the role of humor as anesthetic or weapon, whether there should be billionaires, and whether he should start a new podcast with David called There's Too Many Podcasts.

Vivan Norris, a documentary filmmaker, joins David and Rachel in the cafe to talk about her experience as a single mom living outside the U.S. , and that drew her to the story of Obama's mother.

The film Obama Mama about the life of Ann Dunham and her work with microcredit was the result. (Vivan can arrange for free screenings of the film for DA chapters and country committees.)

Vivan has begun thinking about a project centred on Americans who are considering leaving the U.S., or who have already done so, and has begun collecting their stories. (If you have specific concerns and a story to share, you can email her at vnorris@tulane.edu).

Vivian has also recently returned to an earlier project about Muhammad Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank and a microcredit pioneer.

Robert Gerrard, aka Bobby from the Bronx, joins David and Rachel to talk about the recent election, his journey from Republican to Democrat, and his intention to be the "Joe Rogan of the Left."

Rob will be launching a podcast by Inauguration Day 2024, and hopes others on the left will help combat misinformation and disinformation with similar initiatives to present facts in a people-powered independent space.

And it is agreed that The Big Tent vs. The Cult would be a great album title.

Steward Reynolds (aka Brittlestar) joins Rachel and David again to talk about his blazingly handsome looks, the importance of sweet, glorious, naps, and his new book, Lessons from Cats for Surviving Fascism (Hachette; illustrated by Pablo Amargo)

https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/stewart-reynolds/lessons-from-cats-for-surviving-fascism/9781538778005/

Stewart defends the choice of cats to model a resistance to fascism, Rachel works in a Dr. Ruth reference and a shout-out to the cats of DA Canada, and David is said to be wearing an Eartha Kitt-style cat suit.

Reference is also made to Canada Day in Trafalgar Square, and Stewart's podcast, Podcast is Broken, with Lisa B and Steve Boots."

Find the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com.

Register and request your ballot every year at votefromabroad.org.

This week's guest in the cafe is Charles Belk, active citizen, entrepreneur, and a newly drafted DA spokesperson living in South Africa.

Charles tells David and Rachel how his goal to visit 100 countries came about, and about his four for four for four scheme to engage voters, and about his past efforts to bring about criminal justice reform, focused specifically on Justified Auto-Erasure legislation.

The conversation also touches on both older and younger Black men as voters, and how things are looking in his own voting state of North Carolina one week before the presidential election.

Charles mentions his op-ed piece, which you can read at https://www.news24.com/news24/opinions/columnists/guestcolumn/opinion-if-biden-can-step-aside-then-americans-abroad-can-certainly-step-up-20241022

Scott Dworkin of the Democratic Coalition and DworkinSubstack.com drops into the cafe to talk about where we are, two weeks before the 2024 election.

The conversation touches on the contrast between the two campaigns and candidates, on trying to find arguments that persuade Republican voters, and on what's at stake in this election vs what is possible.

Register and request your ballot every year at votefromabroad.org.

Find the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com.

Tomika Vukovic and Bryan Sanders from Wisconsin Voices explain how they use their three pillars to reach out to the BIPOC community--protecting democracy, teaching advocacy, and building community.

We explore the endless conversation on why race and gender matters in an election, and what it takes to ignite the spark that inspires a young person to register to vote. Tomika turns the tables on Rachel and David and asks how the U.S. is viewed from abroad.

Learn more about Wisconsin Voices and donate at https://www.wisconsinvoices.org/.

Register and request your ballot every year at votefromabroad.org.

Find the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com.

Elizabeth Cronise McLaughlin joins Rachel and David, to talk #ResistanceLive, the work she's done advising women to run for office, and her time as a Democrat abroad in France.

Elizabeth also addresses all the things a Harris/Walz victory would make possible: codifying reproductive freedom,, effective climate change legislaion, reasonable gun control, and the closing of inexplicable loopholes (how is it that a convicted felon can run for the presidency?)

She reminds us all to keep working to win the election, quoting the phrase she uses on her own podcast, "all gas, no brakes."

You can see the appearance she made in the Americans Abroad for Harris/Walz at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cgIbShsWak

Register and request your ballot every year at votefromabroad.org.

Find the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com.

Former Anchor/Correspondent at ABC News and former Co-Host and News Anchor at "Good Morning America" Kevin Newman joins David and Rachel to reflect on the 2024 presidential campaign, the changing media landscape, and the challenge of reaching independent voters.

He talks about living and working in the U.S. as a Canadian journalist, and how complex the U.S. electoral system is compared to Canada's.

The conversation also gets into how to vote one's home country from abroad, and about how important it is that we all exercise that right.

Register and request your ballot every year at votefromabroad.org.

Find the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com.

Yvette Lewis, former chair of the Maryland State Party and Chair Emerita of Voter Engagement and Education for the Association of State Democratic Chairs, was the keynote speaker for the Democrats Abroad annual global meeting in Costa Rica.

After the meeting, Rachel sat down with her to talk about what drew her into her work, an expansive view of voter protection, Angela Alsobrooks's victory as the Democratic nominee to represent Maryland in the Senate.

Chair Lewis shares a few personal reflections on Presidents Obama and Biden and Vice President Harris, and strongly urges listeners to PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE POLLS.

Watch Chair Lewis talking about Rapid Response in 2009: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQt8dm5PNMs

Register and request your ballot every year at votefromabroad.org .

Find the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com.

Founded on July 23 with a goal of raising $1000, #MastodonforHarris blew past a quarter of a million dollars within two days. Its founder--legal scholar, philosopher, and grassroots acitivist Heidi Li Feldman--shares her reasons for starting the campaign with Rachel and David.

She talks about the small-d democratic nature of Mastodon, and makes an inside joke for Minnesotans. Heidi also discusses the importance of local politics, common attributes of lawyers and law students, and Leaders from Law, which she founded to empower progressive lawyers and law students interested in poltical careers.

The conversation also turns to supreme court justices who substitute politics for legal reasoning, and an article she and Dahlia Lithwick wrote for Slate entitled "Let’s Stop Pretending Clarence Thomas Can Read the Framers’ Minds."

Register and request your ballot every year at votefromabroad.org.

Find the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com.

Leaving David behind in Ottawa, Rachel travelled to Costa Rica for DA's annual global meeting.

When Day Two wrapped early, she caught the voices of 10 different DA leaders enjoying themselves in and around the pool--with an audiobomb from Friend of the Pod Miguel Madrigal.

Register and request your ballot every year at votefromabroad.org.

Find the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com.

Angela Fobbs and Adrianne George, the co-hosts of Power to the People (the Democrats Abroad Global Black Caucus podcast) join Rachel and David in the cafe.

In this "podcast potluck," a special crossover episode, the four co-hosts each bring a question for everyone to answer.

The conversation ventures into new and fascinating territory, as each participant brings reflection and personal history to their responses.

Register and request your ballot every year at votefromabroad.org.

Find the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com.

In one of our most wonk-ish episodes ever (complete with a cat!), mathematician Max Dunitz of DA France explains an intriguing situation that arose for the four or five states that used ranked choice voting in their 2020 presidential primaries.

Because the Democratic National Committee restricts the awarding of delegates to candidates that garner 15% of the votes, a hybrid version of ranked choice had to be devised, creating an interesting (and difficult) mathematical problem.

You can hear Max explaining it to Rachel and David, and you can read his paper on the subject on the SSRN (Social Science Research Network): https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4839562

Register and request your ballot every year at votefromabroad.org

Find the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com

Ezra Levin, co-executive director and co-founder of Indivisible and Debbie Weiss, Indivisible's first-ever moderator, join David and Rachel to talk about building the coaltion to say no, and to reassert democratic control of the country.

Ezra talks about how Indivisible launched from a Google doc that he and Leah Greenberg co-wrote, and the transformative potential of a nonviolent movement of local communities protesting peacefully and boisterously and demonstrating to each other that we are not alone in fighting authoritarianism.

Debbie talks about the Mod Squad, coins the term "weathervaning," and offers practical tips for how everyone and anyone can contribute, and both underline the message that only the people can save democracy.

Ezra also reminds us all that gathering in your community to protect each other is the most human thing you can do.

Find the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com.

Register and request your ballot every year at votefromabroad.org.

David and Rachel sit down with DA's International Chair and Vice Chair to talk about their first year on the job.

Martha McDevitt-Pugh and Steve Nardi share some of the triumphs from the year, touch upon some of the challenges, and outline the work ahead of us in 2024.

Register and request your ballot every year at votefromabroad.org

Find the full audio library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com

Amanda Klekowski von Koppenfels joins David and Rachel to talk about her research into what motivates American citizens living outside the country to become politically engaged.

As the title of her most recent academic paper puts if, "Democrats abroad: What motivates core activists to engage in political transnationalism?"

Amanda confirms some of the speculation that has been bruited about the cafe since its founding, including the primary reason people move to a different country.

But you'll have to listen to learn what that is.

Register and request your ballot every year at votefromabroad.org.

Find the full library of Blue Vote Café episodes at http://bluevotecafe.com.

David and Rachel are joined by leaders from Democrats Abroad's newest country committee, DA Kenya. Robyn T. Emerson (Chair) and Mohamed Ahmed (Treasurer) share the stories of how each connected with DA, and the founding of DA Kenya.

The discussion turns to a population unique to the "A" of DA's Europe-Middle East-Africa region: Americans of African descent; and touches on Mohamed's first votes as a person who has not yet turned 20; the importance of youth activism, particularly in addressing gun violence; and what it feels like to volunteer to help hold up the Democratic tent.

Mentioned in the episode: the Gun Violence Prevention Action Team Lauch with Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost.

Ken Martin, Chairman of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Pary, President of the Association of State Democratic Committees, and a Vice Chair of the Demcratic National Committee, joins David and Rachel in the café, substantiating his claim that he will accept any invitation to talk where there are at least two Democrats.

Quoting LBJ, Ann Richards, Margaret Mead, Ayanna Pressley, and Confucius, Ken discusses the importance of the vote from abroad, and its majority Democratic comosition.

Outlining the incredible story we have to tell about Biden and Harris's achievements to date, he urges Democrats to stop agonizing and start evangelizing.

While acknowledging that you don't have to love someone to vote for them, Ken shares compelling personal reflections on both Biden and Harris, as well as on his home state of Minnesota.

Rachel and David's guest in the café is longtime Democratic strategist Simon Rosenberg, who gained notoriety in 2022 for calling the election right when everyone else had it wrong.

Simon talks about the weakness of the GOP's position, with a candidate diminished in multiple ways and a crazy, ideologically unhinged politic, the 6 factors that will impede Trump in 2024, and about the Hopium Chronicles community that he founded with the watch words, "Do more, worry less."

With a reference to diapers and pictures you might not want to look up, and a resounding endorsement of FDR's four freedoms.

For more information, visit https://www.hopiumchronicles.com/.

Register and request your ballot every year at votefromabroad.org.

Find the full library of Blue Vote Café episodes as bluevotecafe.com.

The Reverend Harcourt ("Harky") Klinefelter joins Rachel and David to share memories from the time he spent working with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Harky, a DA member, talks about serving as Dr. King's press officer, and the Selma and Montgomery marches. He brings the voices of long-ago freedom fighters to life, and about working on Dr. King's funeral.

Clips that are mentioned in the interview and a transcription:

The part of the speech that appeared during Dr. King’s funeral was from “The Drum Major Instinct” King concluded the sermon by imagining his own funeral. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mefbog-b4-4 The three hour documentary that only aired once is “King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis”. The documentary was recently restored and can once again be seen in its original form. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065944/

The first part of the interview with the 10 year old Selma marcher is a bit hard to hear because of the quality of the recording. Here is a transcription of the first half:

`I didn't go prepared to march. I had planned to go all the way  but I wasn't sure they were going to be able to take me because they taken all the names and I didn't take anything but my coat. So I had to sleep (in the) cold, and the heaters (in the tent) went out and the wind and everything was real terrible, and so I stayed woke (awake) that night by the little gas burner they had outside. The next day-- the next day we marched and marched and it rained, and that's the day we really had to walk hard  all that rain. 

I didn't get a cold, the next day it rained which was Tuesday, that was through Lownes country, Yeah, that's the day you had to `pick them up and put them (your feet) down'. Blisters and everything, oh boy I'm telling you, I said  I know they (the racists) they're going to try something even if they have to wait until we come back. I said `Lord,I say, I know these people, in Lownes country. All I want you to do is take care of me and give me the strength to walk faster through this stretch. I mean, I prayed that prayer all the way through there.

I didn't have any water all day  because if we stopped we had to run to catch up, you know, and I wanted to be credited for walking all the way  So I just did without water, and my tongue was swole (swelled) up. The next day, ah, the nurses out there they waited on me and she came and she say (said) `Little girl are you going to march today?' I say (said) `Sure I am.? All those blisters?' I say (said) `There not hurting, only when I stop'. And you stayed out all the time?  `All the time, every camp we stayed in. I slept in it.'

How did you feel when you marched up the street to the Capital?

`My feet were so bad! and when I had the flag carrying, one of the biggest ones out there, I felt so happy, I didn't knew what to do  Dr King, I think he's the greatest that's happened. Really,  it's just like heaven. And I'll go anywhere he tells me to go, really, with blisters, sores, sore head, anything. 

You know, I couldn't hardly breathe when I was out there, I fainted, I passed out, and everything, but I ended up going on ahead. What do you feel the march was accomplished? `We're 50 years ahead from where we started when this voter registration started. Really in Selma, 50 years, because people can walk around and not be afraid. If someone get killed that doesn't stop them, I didn't walk 50 miles in vain.' 

You feel that people will be afraid to register vote?

`Well, I don't think they should be afraid because after all they have been killing Negroes all the time and noting has be done about it. They do find out who killed'em (them) now.

This has been a big improvement?

`If you will excuse me for the slang, "It's just a nigger dead."'

Carl Weinschenk joins David and Rachel to talk about his blogging and video efforts to communicate President Biden's substantial accomplishments to undecided voters in the swing states. With some discussion of the race to fill George Santos's vacant seat, a long-ago glimpse of the young Donald Trump in Jamaica Estates NY, a little of Carl's family history, and the Cafe's first mention of "double-haters."

Also a shout-out to @DanPfeiffer and @PodSaveAmerica.

Carl's site: https://bidenandtheswingstates.com/ and

Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@bidenandtheswingstates