Depolarized

Episode 53: In the age of clickbait and biased news, we have lost faith in legacy institutions to provide us with the information we need. Arjun Moorthy is the CEO and co-founder of The Factual, a tech startup providing unbiased news on trending topics. The Factual’s wide array of products helps its users analyze how credible a story is based on a diversity of sources, factual tone of writing, author’s expertise and more.

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Episode 52: Thanasi Dilos is the 17-year-old co-founder of Civics Unplugged, a digital-first team and community of Gen Z leaders committed to building a brighter future for American democracy, and a National Geographic Young Explorer. Thanasi is a civics and social activist uplifting youth work by collaborating with fundraising platforms to drive resources toward youth led projects.

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Episode 50: Politics is inaccessible. Mitchell Rosenberg is on a mission to change that reality. 

Mitchell Rosenberg is the founder of Simplified, a media startup focused on creating new ways to engage with politics via short form explainers. He is also a legislative assistant for California Governor Gavin Newsom.

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Episode 49: Over the last two months, there has been increased attention on Black Lives Matter. Today, however, the news cycle is beginning to divert its attention from the movement. This week, we spoke with Black Lives Matter NY President Nupol Kiazolu to determine how Black Lives Matter will move forward now that it isn’t “trending.”

Nupol is a powerhouse in the field of activism, from being on the front lines of the Charlottesville protests to taping “Do I look suspicious?” behind her hoodie in the wake of Travyon Martin’s death. She has been a leading voice among Generation Z, focusing on civil rights, domestic and sexual violence, and homelessness.

Along with being BLM’s Greater NY President, Nupol is Miss Liberia USA, the founder/CEO of her national campaign Vote2000, and the first HBCU student to be a part of Teen Vogue’s 21 under 21 list.

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Episode 48: Addicted to social media? You don’t want to miss this week’s episode with Cal Newport!

Episode 47: The episode you have all been waiting for!

Gary Vaynerchuk (GaryVee) is the chairman of VaynerX, a modern-day media and communications holdings company, as well as the CEO of VaynerMedia, an advertising agency for Fortune 100 clients. Over the last decade, GaryVee has been integral in the social media space, both as a personality and as a working professional. Some fondly nicknamed him the “influencers influencer.”

It was truly an honor to chop it up with GaryVee on all things polarization for this week’s episode. Thanks again to Gary and team for making this possible!

If you enjoy this episode, make sure to subscribe for more conversations like these and give us a rating and review on Apple Podcast to help us grow and reach new influential guests like Gary!

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Episode 46: Travel might not seem polarizing at first, but when you take into account racial, economic, and cultural differences, things get more complex.

This week’s guests are Jules Hatfield and Christine Williams are the dynamic duo from Don’t Forget to Move, an award-winning travel blog that focuses on uncovering the coolest destinations around the world and sharing how readers can make a positive impact while traveling. Most recently, Jules and Christine have been exposing the stories behind when shit goes wrong on the road on their podcast Not So Bon Voyage!

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Episode 45: As difficult conversations about race, income inequality, and public health continue across the globe, we wanted to bring you an episode that highlights a unique aspect of this moment in time: digitalization. 

Social platforms have shown immense potential in raising donations and disseminating of crucial, often overlooked, information. However, when navigating online these days, a question still remains: how can we progress conversations about controversial topics instead of regressing to mere ad hominem?

Our guest this week is Aaron Golbin, a 16-year-old entrepreneur who has been featured in Forbes and Inc. He founded Debateisland.com, a leading online debate platform that leverages artificial intelligence to revolutionize the online debate experience. DebateIsland’s Debra AI can predict winners of debates, tells users what their political affiliation would be, provides in depth analytics of arguments, and weeds out “uncivil arguments” from posts.

If you enjoy this episode, make sure to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast! It really helps us grow ;)

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Episode 44: Max Reisinger is a 17-year-old content creator and entrepreneur. You may recognize him from his most popular videos where he has filmed a day in his life at public school in France and in America. His YouTube channel alone has over 10 million collective views and close to 200,000 subscribers upon releasing this episode! More recently, Max launched a clothing brand called Perspectopia that aims to share an optimistic mindset on our lives.

In this episode, we covered a wide range of topics including how to be balance social media use as an influencer, building online communities, productivity, and the appeal of travel.

Don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and review if you enjoyed the conversation!

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Episode 43: You don’t want to miss this masterclass in strategic communication!

This week’s episode is sure to help you in both your personal and professional life. Keisha also drops some gems on how activists can effectively communicate their message to actualize change in light of the recent attention to #BlackLivesMatter. So, make sure to tune in till the end to get the full scoop.

Keisha Brewer is a strategic communications expert and the CEO & co-founder of The PR Alliance LLC, an entertainment and lifestyle public relations agency. Awarded as one of DC’s most influential entrepreneurs, Keisha has a passion for helping her clientele reach their goals by communicating their value through compelling brand stories.

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Episode 42: Justine Humenansky is a managing partner at Dorm Room Fund, a venture capital firm designed to help student founders go from the earliest stage to the seed stage and beyond.

Dorm Room Fund provides founders with a strong network of investors, world-class mentors, and a $20,000 check. They have invested in 200 startups who’ve raised $400 million dollars so far. If you think you have the next big idea, applications are live on their website now!

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Episode 41: Jonathan Metzl has spent his career researching some of the most polarizing topics in America including race, gun policy, mental health, and healthcare policy.

He is the Frederick B. Rentschler II Professor of Sociology and Psychiatry, and the Director of the Center for Medicine, Health, and Society, at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. A 2008 Guggenheim fellow, Professor Metzl has written extensively for medical, psychiatric, and popular publications.

Episode 40: What do meditation, solitude, and grit have in common?

Benny Brisk, 18, employs all these unconventional strategies to improve his music production game.

Check out Benny’s music:

Episode 39: We’ll see you when we see you.

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Episode 38: He went to Harvard. He worked for Morgan Stanley. And then, everything changed.

Join us as we talk to Gly Gabriel about his journey to becoming a vision execution coach and keeping happiness as your North Star.

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Episode 37: Want to learn how Joey got so fit without any equipment? Tune into today’s episode for a breakdown of the workouts he is implementing!

Episodes coming daily.

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Episode 36: Democrats and Republicans are unifying to address this crisis but division still prevails. Plus, Joey and Asher give their hot takes on how coronavirus policies will impact America and affect voting!

Episodes coming daily! 

Want us to address a specific topic? Message us!

Episode 34: We know that these times are bringing a lot of changes. One of those changes: tons of free time. Joey and Asher discuss some solutions to alleviate your boredom during the coronavirus outbreak and update you on how they are doing.

Episodes coming daily! Want to address a specific topic? Message us!

Episode 33: Hey! We talked with Zoe Seliktar about some amazing stuff this week. Hope you enjoy!

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Episode 32: Everett and Asher talk about SeeChange, a platform that rewards you for doing good! Listen closely for this DWD exclusive uncovering the whole process.

Have a differing opinion? Drop us a message on our socials:

Episode 31: Hey! We talked with Justin Lafazan about some amazing stuff this week. Hope you enjoy!

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Episode 30: Welcome back to the DWD podcast and to a continuing segment on the podcast called the Roundtable: a series where we invite multiple guests on the pod to have a discussion about a particular topic.

This week’s topic: what is it like to grow up liberal in the South?

Our two guests, Asher Desai and Bradley Fugetta, discuss their experience in Alabama and Louisiana, respectively, and how they approached conversations with people from across the aisle.

Have a differing opinion? Drop us a message on our socials:

Episode 29: What is it like organizing a campaign? Is capitalism the best economic system? Should the USA retreat from being the leader of the Global World Order?

This week, Asher had the pleasure of sitting down with Sam Kehoe. Sam is fresh off of organizing a campaign for Seattle City Council as campaign manager for Gene Burrus. He has a ton of unique and interesting insight into local politics. We covered a wide variety of topics, so we highly recommend listening all the way through the episode if you want the full scoop.

Have a differing opinion? Drop us a message on our socials:

Episode 28: Hey! Hope you enjoy our episode with Anna Grace Hottinger from Fridays For Future!

Nitty-gritty stuff:

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Episode 27: Thank you for tuning in to this week’s episode! This week, Asher talked with Charles Andre Jolly, co-founder of Sky Water Financial, a financial services startup that focuses on helping mom and pop shops. If you enjoy this episode, let us know by rating and commenting on Apple Podcast. It really helps us grow the project and shows us that you are enjoying what we are doing.

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Episode 26: Hey! Hope you enjoy our episode with Shreya from Nourish America!

Nitty-gritty stuff:

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Episode 25: This week, Asher moved into college. As a result of his orientation, he barely had time to watch the news or keep informed. Check out this episode of The Debate Without Debate Podcast in collaboration with Young Democracy to hear what happens when politically conscious young adults take a break from an ever consuming 24/7 politics-news system.'

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Episode 24: Connect with The Debate Without Debate Podcast:

Episode 23: Two weeks ago, twenty Democrat hopefuls went on stage in Detroit, Michigan to make their pitch for President of the United States. The debates featured many passionate attempts to capture the American electorate’s support. However, as we watched these debates, we couldn’t help but think that there was a massive misstep in the debates: the candidates were talking past each other, not with each other. 

This week on the pod, we talked about sound bite politics, how we got here and what we can do to solve it. We aren't experts in this field, but we hope you enjoy this genuine conversation between two GenZers about the state of our media-politics romance. 

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Episode 22: How do we end global poverty? 

This week, Jackson Labell-Nevard and Alexa Shamie of The Transition Project hopped on a call to help us answer this pressing question. 

The Transition Project is a nonprofit organization that aims to find employment for financially disadvantaged individuals while ensuring that they smoothly transition into the workforce. They offer a program called the fly-by program which helps the individuals make the transition and hopes it will improve the long term standards of living for the people who are currently struggling through unemployment and poverty. This project was founded by Jackson Labell-Nevard during the summer of 2018 when he gathered a group of high schoolers. Over the course of a year, the team worked tirelessly to find 99 people jobs and ever since then, the project has only been growing.

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Episode 21: He dropped 70 POUNDS in one summer. Many of his own friends couldn’t even recognize him after the transformation!

Aaron Souferi came on the pod this week to discuss his transformation, bullying, and how he keeps the weight off. 

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Episode 20: “One in four women struggled to afford period products in the last year because of a lack of income. The first city wide study that was done about period poverty in St. Louis found that 46% of low-income women had to choose between a meal and period products every month. Periods are the number one reason why women miss school in developing countries, the leading cause for absenteeism for girls here in the US from period related pain.”

Episode 19: Ever wanted to start a media company? Ever wonder how news media can transform to become more fact-based and less partisan? Well, we got you covered on this week’s episode!

Mark Hughes and Shlok Sharma of The New Voice Media Group hopped on the pod to discuss their startup story and how they are learning to empower Generation Z through fresh avenues in media. Keep an eye out for these guys! Huge things are in the works for their projects. 

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Episode 18: A Hindu, a Christian, and two Jews walk into a bar…

This week’s episode is a continuation of our Roundtable series. The Roundtable is a series where we bring two of our friends on the podcast to discuss a specific topic. This week’s topic: what happens to us after we die? 

Fan favorite Aman Jaisinghani and Ryan Kim popped by the studio to help us dive deep into the afterlife. Let us know what you think of this conversation!

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Episode 16: Our parents were right.... But what were they right about? 

Tune in this week to find out!

The Pod Doc is a series where we will feature some shorter content in an audio documentary format.

Check out our Goodreads account for our book recommendations!

Episode 15: Asher just finished up his last classes in high school. He’s been thinking a lot about his senior year in high school and decided that, this week on the podcast, he would talk about what he has learned. Along with his thoughts, his peers from across the WORLD sent in their own lessons. Thank you to everyone who submitted!

The Pod Doc is a series where we will feature some shorter content in an audio documentary format.

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Episode 14: Welcome to the 1st Roundtable!

The Roundtable is a series where we bring two of their friends on the podcast to discuss a specific topic. Prior to the conversation, our guests research that particular topic in order to have a research-based conversation about our opinions.

This week, Josh Samuel (aka JSB) and Kidest Wolde (aka KHW) came onto the podcast to discuss school drug policy. We talked the history of drug policies in the United States, the changing epidemic of underaged drug use, and what the most effective policies are to resolve these issues.

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Episode 13: “It’s a way of expressing myself. No one has the same style. I started out with streetwear, the whole Supreme stuff back in 4th/5th grade. And then you evolve. You find yourself through fashion… What you wear is who you are.” – Shane Elias 

Shane Elias is the definition of “big different.” He follows his own path, ignoring his criticism in the process. On this week’s episode of The Debate Without Debate Podcast, we sat down for a conversation with Shane about his interests, mainly his music taste, fashion, and romantic coming of age novels. There was a ton of wisdom in this conversation, rivaling our first episode for the most philosophical. 

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