Assembly Required with Stacey Abrams

Stacey sits down with award-winning actor, producer and activist Bryan Cranston to talk about how the entertainment industry is evolving one year on since the writers’ and actors’ strikes, how Hollywood can sustain our thirst for content, as well as the livelihoods of the artists who make it.For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.We want to hear your questions. Send us an email at assemblyrequired@crooked.com or leave us a voicemail at 213-293-9509. You and your question might be featured on the show.Learn More: Pencils Down! The 100 Days of The Writers Guild StrikeEntertainment Community Fund

Stacey is joined by Mother Jones’ national voting rights correspondent and author, Ari Berman, to untangle threats to voting rights ahead of November’s election, what’s changed since the last presidential election, and how to push back to protect access this year and beyond. For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast. We want to hear your questions. Send us an email at assemblyrequired@crooked.com or leave us a voicemail at 213-293-9509. You and your question might be featured on the show.Learn More:Links to Ari Berman's books:Minority Rule: The Right-Wing Attack on the Will of the PeopleGive us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in AmericaMarc Elias’ Democracy DocketTo register to vote or update your registration: vote.govTo find volunteer opportunities and get involved in protecting the right to vote: fairfight.com/lfgvStacey's new children's book: Stacey Speaks Up

In honor of Banned Books Week, Stacey is joined by two guests: Her mom and former librarian, Reverend Carolyn Abrams, and actor, director, and literacy advocate, LeVar Burton. The trio discuss the transformative power of story and strategies to combat book banning.For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast. Learn More: Banned Books Week: https://bannedbooksweek.org/events/https://twitter.com/BannedBooksWeekhttps://www.instagram.com/banned_books_week/https://www.facebook.com/bannedbooksweek/American Library Association’s Office of Intellectual Freedom Banned Books Report: https://www.ala.org/tools/challengesupport/reportAmerican Library Association Dear Banned Author Campaign:https://www.ala.org/bbooks/dear-banned-authorStacey Speaks Up: https://bookshop.org/p/books/stacey-speaks-up-stacey-abrams/21172602LeVar Burton Reads: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/levar-burton-reads/id1244649384

If there’s power in numbers, then there are arguably few groups as powerful American tenants. Stacey is joined by founding director of the KC Tenants Union, Tara Raghuveer, to highlight the vast political potential they’re building through their organization in Kansas City and beyond.For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.We want to hear your questions. Send us an email at assemblyrequired@crooked.com or leave us a voicemail at 213-293-9509. You and your question might be featured on the show.Learn More: Read Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew DesmondVisit the KC Tenants website for a link to donate, an organizing toolkit, and resources on how to organize a campaign, write letters, and more.Look up your local mutual aid groups for fund drives, food banks, and other ways to volunteer.

Stacey is joined by journalist and author, Paola Ramos, and Washington Post TikTok host and producer, Joseph Ferguson, to explore how journalists and news organizations are meeting a dramatically altered landscape and the best way to navigate new media and the information maelstrom.  We want to hear your questions. Send us an email at assemblyrequired@crooked.com or leave us a voicemail at 213-293-9509. You and your question might be featured on the show.Learn More:PBS News Hour “MisInformation Overload: Teens Reveal Perceptions and Impact of Misinformation” https://srlmisinformationoverload.tumblr.com/ For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast. 

College sports is a huge business. How can we make it more fair for the athletes themselves? Stacey is joined by WNBA forward Brianna Turner and former NFL defensive back Domonique Foxworth to talk about student athlete compensation, unionizing college teams, and the future of the NCAA.We want to hear your questions. Send us an email at assemblyrequired@crooked.com or leave us a voicemail at 213-293-9509. You and your question might be featured on the show. For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

Disinformation touches all of us, and more often than we think. Stacey is joined by Esosa Osa, founder of Onyx Impact, to talk about how acute the issue is and how to stop bad information from spreading—online and even in your family’s group chat.We want to hear your questions. Send us an email at assemblyrequired@crooked.com or leave us a voicemail at 213-293-9509. You and your question might be featured on the show.For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

This election is in the hands of Gen Z, a cohort of young Americans that’s diverse, creative, and—often—skeptical. At the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Stacey is joined by Rep. Maxwell Frost, the first member of Gen Z to be elected to Congress, and influencer Haley Lickstein, a leading voice on civic engagement among young people, to talk about how they’re working to get their peers involved.We want to hear your questions. Send us an email at assemblyrequired@crooked.com or leave us a voicemail at 213-293-9509. You and your question might be featured on the show.For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

In the debut episode of Assembly Required, Stacey takes on one of the most intractable problems in American politics: the unequal distribution of power created by the Electoral College. Could ranked choice voting help give all Americans a more meaningful vote? Cynthia Richie Terrell, Executive Director of RepresentWomen and co-founder of FairVote, joins Stacey to make the case.We want to hear your questions. Send us an email at assemblyrequired@crooked.com or leave us a voicemail at 213-293-9509. You and your question might be featured on the show.For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.

Let's face it, sometimes the world feels broken. We can see what needs fixing, yet more and more, it feels like the problems are too big and the bad guys are winning. But the truth is, they’re not. They’re just hoping we stop fighting. Welcome to Assembly Required with Stacey Abrams, a new podcast from Crooked Media and Democratic changemaker Stacey Abrams. Stacey knows better than anyone that societal shifts happen when a group of ordinary people decide that a problem is solvable, and are willing to pitch in and work towards the solution.Each week, Stacey will break down the biggest issues we face into digestible, actionable items, introduce us to the warriors for good already working towards solutions, strategize, and share tangible ways to get involved. Because we can't fix everything, everywhere, all at once; but we can each do something, somewhere, soon.