At today's Round Table, Jade Lozada--a leader of the Youth Climate Strike in NYC--and Jade Tyra--a leader of the Youth Climate Strike in Oklahoma--discuss the climate crisis, debrief September's Strike and the activism leading up to and emanating out from it, and share inspiration and frustration about where we are and where we need to head to preserve our planet.

At today's Round Table, Olivia Becker and Riya Mehta interview Maodan Tohouri, the inspiring 16 year old founder of Depolarize about what it really takes to counter hyper-partisanship and why it matters.

At today's Round Table, Olivia Becker, Julianna Davis, and Riya Mehta explore a topic much in the news--impeachment--through some fresh angles, helping equip YOU with what you need to know to make sense of our current moment.  They are joined by guest Nicholas Stefanidis, a longtime social studies and civics teacher, to explore the history and mechanics of impeachment and their implications for today.  (Note: this episode was recorded on Oct 14, 2019--LOTS has happened since...--this conversation, however, is timeless :)

At today's Round Table, Civic Fellows Marc Spenser Bauzon, Clara Medina, and Frank Yang interview Brianna Cea, co-founder of Generation Vote and a Research and Program Associate in the Democracy program of the Brennan Center for Justice, following an exciting Civic Forum in which 75 high school students deliberated seven different voting reforms (things like lowering the voting age, automatic voter registration, open primaries) that could potentially improve youth voting, in New York and nationally.  Civic Fellows engaged in ranked choice voting for their top three reforms; you too can vote here.  Fellows top choices will be shared at a first-of-its kind Youth Voting Rights and Engagement Summit in Albany Nov 8-9, 2019. Why does this matter? In 2016, voting rates were the lowest in 20 years; only about 55% of voting age citizens casting ballots, and those who voted were disproportionately white and older (only 36% of 18 and 19 year olds voted, while over 70% of people over 70 voted.)  If “did not vote” had been a candidate in 2016, it would have handily beaten Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton and almost the two combined. Gen Z and millennials are a growing part of the electorate--with the potential to transform the political landscape--if they turn out to vote in numbers equal to seniors. Click here for more framing and background readings and resources on the Civic Forum. And remember to vote if you are 18 and to encourage/exhort all your friends and family over 18 to vote on Tues, Nov 5 (or through early voting if your state provides it!) 

At today's Round Table, Julianna, Olivia, Riya, and Sara discuss how polarization is playing out in their schools and in our country and why, who benefits and who suffers from polarization, things they learned from interviews with Maodan Tohouri of Depolarize and David Greene of Better Angels, why we now think about things like gender as being more on a spectrum than politics..., and strategies for how to counter the corrosiveness of polarization and foster more collaborative civil society (hint: ranked choice voting might really help.)

Promo for our four part Media Literacy series

At today's Round Table, Olivia Becker and Riya Mehta close out our four part media analysis series, synthesizing reflections from across our three prior episodes and sharing actionable recommendations for how to navigate today's media critically and constructively.   Stay tuned for upcoming episodes on the impeachment inquiry, youth climate action, and polarization and cross partisanship.

At today's Round Table, Riya Mehta, a high school senior from NJ, and Olivia Becker, a high school junior from NY, continue our exploration of the role of media in our lives and political landscape through a fascinating conversation with Peter Loge, Director of the Project on Ethics in Political Communication and Associate Professor in the School of Media and Public Affairs at The George Washington University.  Tune in to explore the role of media and government—and OUR roles as consumers and citizens, the limits of freedom of speech, how to get beyond echo chambers, the role of facts and fact checking, the power of exclusion, truth, and context, the level of humility democracy requires, the excessive presentation that politics and advocacy stir up, the role of parties, and opportunities (or lack thereof) for third party candidate. Extra credit for anyone who knows how many people are currently running for President... 

At today's Round Table, Jade Lozada, a senior at the High School for American Studies in NY; Jade Tyra, a HS senior from Norman, Oklahoma;  and Olivia Becker, a HS junior at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School, deepen our exploration of media literacy and media bias through an interview with Howard Schneider, Founding Dean of the School of Journalism at Stonybrook University and founder of the Center for News Literacy.  Check out All Sides' How to Spot 11 Types of Media Bias to continue learning beyond the table.

At today's Round Table, Olivia Becker, a junior at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School, and Jade Lozada, a senior at the High School for American Studies, discuss questions on their mind about media literacy, and lay out themes we’ll explore over the next four episodes together, things like how often is media bias intentional vs unintentional? With what lens or scale should we judge how impartial a source is? how can people encourage the spread of unbiased news and what platforms exist that already do that? How can we get people beyond their social media echo chambers, especially when it's so easy to simply unfollow news and people we don't like?  How can we counteract "Cancel culture"?  How can we make it easy and necessary for people to seek out multiple perspectives? How do we bring attention to stories that seem too big to ignore (like the burning of the Amazon) and yet ARE being ignored? And, importantly, how do we keep people from opting out bc media engagement seems overwhelming or depleting?