Democrats Abroad: The Blue Vote Café

Laura Sirot is joined by Friend of the Pod Miguel Madrigal to talk about her run for State Senate in Ohio's District 31 under the banner of "finding common ground for the common good."

Laura talks about being a problem-solver and a decision-maker, about getting s**t done, and about her ability as a mother to detect problems combined with the know-how of a scientist to solve them.

She and Miguel share tales from the campaign about Trump fatigue, challenges for farmers, and the lack of public transit.

Laura talks about being denied entry into a Ramaswamy campaign event and the importance of building respect between opponents.

The questions of why Ohio did not establish a nonpartisan districting commission, whether Laura is too smart to be a politician, and where you can hear her talk about sex and reproduction (https://www.icameforscience.org/) are also explored.

To reach Laura or to get involved in her campaign: https://www.sirotforohio.org/.

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

Register and request your ballot every year at https://www.votefromabroad.org/.

Adam Gurri, editor in chief of Liberal Currents https://www.liberalcurrents.com/ talks about this new media company's broad span of investigation, from the foundational work of defining liberalism and the reasons for defending it, to itemizing existing institutional levers that can help resist authoritarianism.

Would Trump have been impeached in 2021 if the Senate rules had specified a vote by secret ballot?

What if state bar associations deemed any law firm that caved in to the administration's demands to be violating their oaths?

Adam outlines an upcoming project of gathering experts to explore how to build back to something better than what existed before, and talks about the GoFundMe that will allow Liberal Currents to hire staff: https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-liberal-currents-startup-fund

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

Register and request your ballot every year at https://www.votefromabroad.org/.

Stuck in Vermont during the pandemic with his partner stranded across the border in Quebec, playwright Terry Allison was inspired to write about the repercussions at the family and small-town level of separation enforced by an invisible line.

Terry talks about language as a fundamental part of our history, about the challenges of writing comedically for a different culture, and about borders as places where people can come together and collaborate to solve problems.

Terry also addresses love as a theme of the play, the role of art in politics, and Kristi Noem's dramatic gesture at the Haskell Free Library and Opera House.

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

Register and request your ballot every year at https://www.votefromabroad.org/.

Democrats Abroad member Bob Vallier explains what a party platform is, what it does, how it's made, and Democrats Abroad's new efforts to ensure proper platform planning.

He discusses how preparing a party's platform can stimulate the grassroots at the local level, leading to member engagement and volunteer recruitment.

DA members should watch for opportunities to participate and engage others in this process.

Bob also shares tales of doing stand-up in the Netherlands and France, and of the philosophy podcast he co-hosts, Hotel Bar Sessions.

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

Register and request your ballot every year at https://www.votefromabroad.org/.

Rachel made a new friend at the inaugural Crooken Con. Christian Ortega dives into what it was like to attend.

The conversation ranges from Obama's surprise appearance and feeling startstruck by the speakers and panelists; to billionaires; AI; corporate overlords; notable points made by conference speakers such as Simone Snaders Townsend, Hasan Piker, and Lina Khan; and what it's like to feel seen.

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

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

Andrea Miller and Judith Bolker from the Center for Common Ground give an on-the-ground picture of working to educate and empower voters of color in voter suprpession states.

Based in Virginia, Andrea talks ensuring that t information reaches people whose circumstances don't give them access, and that people understand why voting makes a difference.

Based in the U.K,, Judith talks about Andrea's inspirational leadership, and shares some concrete examples. Andrea offers a poignant reason for why it doesn't matter where in the world your phonebanking call comes from.

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

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

Photographer and videographer Liana Miuccio (https://www.lianamiuccio.com/) talks about practicing art as activism, and describes some of her projects focusing on migration, identity, and memory.

She speaks about her family's history in Rome, Sicily, and New York, and her distress at shifts in immigration policies.

The conversation touches on the photographs everyone has on their phones standing in as video diaries, and how the phone camera is an important tool for activism.

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

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

Erica Gibson and David Morse, chair and vice chair of Democrats Abroad Norway talk about their new radio show, U.S. Politics in Plain English.

https://www.drammenunlimitedradio.com/

They share tales about the world's shittiest secretary, Mary Lou Retton's father-in-law, the contrast between Lincoln's oratory and Trump's, how David Morse contributed to Biden's decision not to run for a second term (https://www.nydailynews.com/2024/07/14/an-arrogant-old-man-wont-stop-joe-biden-must-learn-jack-javits-lesson-and-step-away/), and their "Do Something" campaign.

Tips for dealing with fruit flies, and a selection of songs to pair with talking about American politics.

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

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

When Stewart Johnson staged a one-man No Kings Day protest in front of the U.S. Embassy in Estonia, his image went viral.

Stewart tells the story, and paints a picture of the country he's fallen in love with.

He also discusses government by oligarchs, the Singing Revolution, humor as an educational tool, and spins tales of being the first person to ever do stand-up comedy in a country.

The creator of Estonia's first cancer comedy and first movie in English ("The Chuck Band Show"), Stewart is also the author of the book Tales from Estonia.

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

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

Robin Roberts (https://www.yourtherapistabroad.com/) shares insights from her ten years of practice as an American therapist living abroad.

Noting an increase in anxiety and depression among her clients, she discusses how to deal with the consequences of living in these challenging times, how to draw boundaries, and deal with family you don't agree with--or family you do agree with but who live far away.

With a little discussion of Canadian Thanksgiving, typical Amsterdam fare, and Dutch culture.

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

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What do you need to know when you cross the border into the U.S.?

Attorney Natasha Esponda answers many of the questions that are on the minds of Americans living outside the country--about where searches and seizures can take place, when warrants are required, where your phone can and cannot be searched, and the rights of non-citizen family members.

With nods to a favorite criminal procedures professor and the ACLU, and to joy as an act of resistance.

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

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Pulitzer prize--winning biographer and historian T.J. Stiles offers his view of where we are now, as he speaks about the dismantling of institutions, what a post-Trump world might look like, the daunting fiscal challenges ahead, the factors that lead to violence, and on what might happen rather than Civil War.

Plus a brief rant against the fool who stepped on the butterfly and sent us into this timeline.

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

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

The guest in the Café is Benjamin Gorman, publisher at Not a Pipe Publishing, and author of Dear America, a Break-up Letter.

Benjamin relates the dramatic story of his family's flight from the U.S. in the wake of Donald Trump's 2024 electoral victory, describes the craziness of some of the hatred directed at him and Not a Pipe, discusses the messaging received by young cis white men, and outlines how fascists exploit anger within the electorate, and why they never make people's lives better.

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

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

Keith Brannum and Hope Mandel visit the cafe to talk about Democrats Abroad's newest country committee: DA Turkiye, which they lead as chair and vice chair.

The two talk about the steps involved in bringing the committee to viability, from the earliest phone calls to existing members, to recognition at Democrats Abroad's most recent annual meeting.

They share impressions of Istanbul, their ongoing conversation about contacting existing members vs finding new ones, and how they'll go about getting out the vote among Americans living in Turkiye.

The conversation also touches on Turkish pastries, the need for a podcast on Turkish men, and a vision of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney dancing to the Pogues at a summer music festival.

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 are joined by Robert E. Friedman, founder of the international development nonprofit Prosperity Now, who visited three ICE detention centers in Louisiana in August 2025.

Bob speaks of the numbers of people in detention, the conditions and deprivations, the absence of due process, and of individuals he was able to speak to.

He notes that while videos of arrests are widely available, no one sees what happens after that to the people who are detained.

He speaks of a metastasizing system of concentration camps that are operating in our name, and reminds us to review the language of the Fourteenth Amendment, which guarantees that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.

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

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

Libby Jamison of Military Families for Ethical Leadership joins Rachel and David to talk about the challenges our service members and their families face as they are posted across the U.S. and beyond, and the new isues that have arisen with the current administration.

The conversation starts with Manitoba bird life, and ends with a ride on Air Force One, touching along the way on what it means to have a military presence on our streets, on the historic traditions of the East Wing, and on Libby's career of advocating for veterans and military familes and the work she is doing as a member of DA Morocco.

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

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

Paula Lucas joins David and Rachel to talk about Pathways to Safety International, which she founded to assist U.S. citizens living or travelling abroad who experience domestic violence or sexual assault.

Paula tells her own story of fleeing an abusive marriage and discovering to her surprise that she couldn't just go to the Embassy and ask for help.

From the experience of extricating herself and her children and reestablishing them safely in the U.S. came her determination to help other people experiencing similar challenges.

Paula talks about the thousands of pepole the organization has helped, the difficulty of sustaining the organization without sufficient funding, and the ups and downs of this kind of work.

In 2013, she documented her story in the book Harvesting Stones: And American woman's international journey of survival: http://harvestingstonesbook.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.

RoteRote, aka Hunter C.G., gives a crash course on Louisiana politics, along with a taste of what it's like to be a social media personality covering the far right.

He shares his thoughts on why so many disparate rightwing groups are able to work together while the equally broad assembly of leftwing groups is struggling to coordinate, the right's media advantage, how little time we have to address it, and his 50502000 plan that would start doing so. Find his links at https://linktr.ee/roterotemedia .

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

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Indivisible Abroad leaders Alyssa Elliott and Louise Parker join David and Rachel to talk about the sudden international emergence of the movement started by Ezra Levin and Leah Greenberg.

The four explore how this came about, what Americans living abroad can contribute to a movement back home, and the relationships between Indivisible Abroad with the original US-based Indivisible in the States, as well as with Democrats Abroad.

To get involved, contact Indivisible Abroad at indivisibleabroad@protonmail.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.

The two young leaders from Young Democrats of America vying to be elected president, Fatima Heyward and Kati Durkin, fill David and Rachel in on YDA and their priorities for the organization.

The conversation touches on labour, reproducitve justice, TikTok, and how to get young people out to vote.

For more information about YDA and Durkin and Heyward's candidacies, visit:

yda.org

ydaevolve.com

fatimaforyda.com

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.

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.

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.