Red, White, & True

Religion and abortion will be forever entangled in the impending era of post-Roe v. Wade. It’s impossible to mention the pro-life movement without acknowledging the “American” Christian values that it claims to represent.

But what about everyone else? Those in favor of restricting abortion are quick to erase religious ideologies that support a woman’s right to choose - religions like Reform Judaism - and the religious leaders that ensure that their places of worship are a safe space for uterus owners.

Rabbi Lisa Kingston (Peninsula Temple Beth El) is one such leader. In this episode, she shares her experiences terminating two wanted pregnancies for medical reasons. Join Rabbi Kingston and Chesney as they discuss the importance of abortion access and the nuanced reality of reproductive rights.

Welcome back to the sixth episode of Red, White, & True, a podcast that aims to navigate the world of polarized, partisan politics. Join host Chesney Evert and Edith Salvatore, president of the Sequoia District Teachers Association, as they discuss the economic and social importance of labor unions in our communities.

Labor unions utilize strategies like collective bargaining to ensure the rights of employees, mainly blue-collar workers, are protected. It’s democracy in the workplace; laborers come together to enforce a balance of power.

People outside the educational sphere blamed teachers and school administrators for the economic recession in 2021 when school closures due to COVID-19 meant parents had to improvise childcare. Salvatore speaks to managing these attitudes and their impacts from inside a teachers union, advocating for teachers in the Sequoia Union High School District.

Welcome back to Red, White, & True, a podcast that aims to navigate America's polarized, partisan politics. In the second episode of a series on liberalism and conservatism in the United States, host Chesney Evert and guest Matt Grocott discuss the impact of Republican politics today.

In the Bay Area specifically, "conservative" has become a bad word. It's associated with ignorance and apathy despite its legitimate political basis in "laissez-faire" economic policy and American interests.

Do politics determine what kind of person you are? Should they play a role in our relationships? I invite you to question the prejudices we have against people of a different political affiliation.

Welcome back to Red, White, & True, a podcast that aims to navigate the world of polarized, partisan politics. In the first portion of a two-part series critiquing the major parties in American politics, host Chesney Evert and guest Luiza Nunes analyze liberalism, its complex origins, and current affiliations with fads like “cancel culture” and preformative activism.

A 2017 study from the Public Policy institute of California found that 46.5% of registered voters in California are Democrats, while 24.1% are Republicans. While this evident disparity impacts California’s elections and policies, it also contributes to communities’ close-minded approach to alternative political perspectives.

From feminism to Tik Tok to the Met Gala, modern liberalism and the need to be “woke” are changing the ways we interact with the media and the people around us.

Mentions:

Luiza Nunes: @_lulupad

Welcome back to Red, White, & True, a podcast that aims to navigate the world of polarized, partisan politics. Join host Chesney Evert and guest Darrell Kolstov to discuss the moral implications of capital punishment and its pointed emergence around spooky season.

“Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” are three rights granted to all people born in the United States, the first of which can be stripped away from convicts on death row. Proponents of the death penalty argue that it creates peace for those affected by violent crimes, while opposers characterize it as barbaric and inhumane.

Despite the death penalty’s modifications throughout history, has it stood the test of time in our criminal justice system?

Welcome back to "Red, White, & True," a podcast that aims to navigate America's polarized, partisan politics. Join host Chesney Evert and guest Avantika Swaminathan as they discuss religion and its fundamental impacts on politics and social justice.

While America frequently references its separation of church and state, recent debates about reproductive rights highlight religiously motivated legislature. Politicians on both sides of the aisle are fighting to defend a specific ideology despite the varied beliefs of their constituents.

In a country built to house religious asylum seekers, how has the legacy of Christianity impacted American politics, and how can we enforce a landscape of tolerance?

Welcome to the first episode of “Red, White, & True,” a politics podcast connecting passionate teenagers to a politically active online community. For the next 15 minutes, we will be discussing communism’s trials and tribulations with a focus on what hard work means in modern society.

Wealth distribution is a point of significant controversy. Does sharing resources negate a natural human ambition? Or, have we been taught to glorify economic hierarchies to preserve capitalism?

Guests Areg Horoupian and Brian Yan share their ideas and experiences cultivated from life in the Bay Area, a capitalist hub that has birthed countless tech companies and houses their founders and employees.