Oh this one caught my attention immediately.  I relate to this on so many levels.  Dialogue with people is so important to me.  One thing people don’t know about me when they first meet me is this: I talk a lot, but I don’t come across that way because I’m usually afraid to share my opinions on things.  There are issues in today’s world that I’ve thought about for a while and I feel like I can have an educated discussion with someone. However, I’m much better at dialogue with people in environment that is not facilitated.  I don’t feel comfortable sharing my thoughts in formal discussions, but it interesting to see how facilitators play a key role in discussions.  Laurie Mulvey is an executive director of World in Conversation, and she explains how people often find it difficult to engage in a good dialogue specifically because we need facilitators.

We also need to have honesty and openness when it comes to having a discussion.  This is what I have the most trouble with.  I’m very open to hearing whatever someone has to say even if I don’t agree with them, but more often than not that same courtesy is usually not extended to me.  It’s gotten better as I’ve gotten older, but more outspoken people sometimes make me feel like my opinion is invalid even though I know it’s not.  In general, social media has allowed people to engage in conversation with people all over the world and it gives people a place to express themselves.  Some people even feel more comfortable expressing their opinions on social media. This is not the case for me, but I still see social media as a valuable tool for conversation when used properly.

Mulvey also discusses the importance of having a “listening mindset” and I totally agree with her.  I often feel when we have facilitated conversations people are so focused on what they want to say that they forget they are supposed to be listening to other people as well.  Half the reason I talk so much is because I go off what someone else has said and I add my own feelings on the topic.  When the other person is listening, this makes for a more dynamic and educational dialogue.  Arguing both sides is also a good thing to be able to do as a facilitator. I do this all the time because part of making a good argument is to be able to see the another side of an issue, and then being able to refute someone else’s argument (not that this would be what a facilitator is necessarily doing, but it’s still a good skill to have). This makes your claim stronger and gets the other side to think, and vice versa.  I totally agree that it’s also good to know when to stop a conversation, but hopefully this happens naturally. I’ve never been in a discussion where that hasn’t happened.

I think this podcast was my favorite out of all of them.  I think it’s crucial that we as a society are able to have good facilitated discussions, but it also important we talk about how we should have these types of dialogue.

This podcast was one of the more unique ones I have come across on this website.  I have read a lot of articles about increasing women’s roles in politics, but this podcast mostly talks about how democracy would change if more women were in office and the difficulties women face a harder time campaigning.  Rebecca Kreitzer is an assistant professor of public policy, and she talks about diversity in the government and talks specifically about how this year has been a historical political gain for women.

Obviously it is very important for diversity in legislature, especially in our democracy here in the United States.  Our country is chock full of so many different types of people from all different walks of life that we need represented to reflect the nation as a whole, and yet we see such a lack of diversity in terms of elected officials.

If we’re talking about women in office, the general statistics show women aren’t as politically inclined as men, but the few who do run for office are rarely elected.  This is nothing new, but this year there was a record amount of women running for various types of office.  I didn’t realize how many organizations were in existence to help empower women to run for leadership positions, but some organizations compete a lot with each other (for money and for members), which can compromise their effectiveness.  These groups are also looking for women they think have a chance of winning an election (the default being mostly middle-aged, educated white women).  It’s interesting to see how there’s still a lack of diversity in women political candidates as well as men.

The government also has no tangible plans for how they will diversify the legislature.  This does not surprise me at all.  I do not really know how you can put a plan in place for that. It really comes down to how the public will react to different types of political candidates.  For example, in New York there was an upset in the congressional election when Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez won the Democratic primary. She is young, she is a woman, and she is a person of color.  She is unlike any representative New York’s 14^thCongressional District has ever had, but her win came as a shock.  I feel her win really shows how times are changing.  No one thought she would do it, but the public spoke and she is what they wanted.  Her win is inspiring, and I think it will be the first in a series of historical elections in the years to come.  A movement only has to start with one step, and I think Ocasio-Cortez will have an important impact.  Her win also shows that every vote matters.

Obviously there need to be more groups beyond women represented in government.  However, this probably won’t happen in large numbers anytime soon. It’s been almost 300 years since we’ve had the office of president and we still haven’t had a woman elected to that office.  It’s going to take a while, but times are changing and I’m confident we will see improvement in the future.

This podcast caught my attention for two reasons.  First of all, it is an interesting question and it is something I have thought about before. Secondly, I’m not really sure how much this question relates to me.  I was born in 1999, so depending on who you ask, I am either a part of Generation X or I’m considered a Millennial.  The cut-off is really weird.  Some timelines have the cut-off for Gen X at 1996 (for example, this podcast defines the cut-off year at 1996), while other timelines say the cut-off is the early 2000s. Personally, I don’t consider myself a Millennial.  I never thought of myself that way.  This is mostly because of how I was raised and when I was born.  Those few months before the year 2000 have more of an effect on childhood than most people realize (I don’t remember them obviously, but I noticed parenting differences between parents whose child was born in 1999 vs. 2000, which I think has something to do with it).

Reflecting on whether or not I am a Millennial greatly affected how I began to look at this question. The podcast begins with author Stella Rouse discussing the defining characteristics of millennials.  They are the first generation to grow up with internet, which effects how the interact with politics and the news.

In general, I have noticed young people and people my age becoming more and more politically active. It is kind of hard not to notice. Rouse asserts millennials are obsessed with identifying themselves politically and are more likely to take a stand against things they deem unfair.  I agree with her statement, but to be honest, I feel like this is more of a recent development.  The turning point for me was around the 2016 election.  This is when me and most of my peers began to start paying more attention to politics are forming their own political opinions.  This is obviously because the younger generations aren’t happy with the current political climate.  I also think it’s interesting that Rouse points out a lot of millennials are identifying as independents because they aren’t happy with either party. I have to say I have never noticed this before.  Most people I know who are registered to vote have registered as either Republican or Democrat, but now that I think about it I realize they don’t necessarily vote for the party they registered for.

Rouse also explains the older generations don’t really interact too much with millennials because they don’t think they will sway electoral votes.  I think this is a crucial mistake on the older generation’s part. Sure millennials are young, but they won’t be young forever and their opinion matters.  I think the fact that millennials feel like they’re being ignored by the older generations is even more incentive for them to become more politically active.  All in all, I feel like this upward trend in millennial’s activity in politics will continue to grow, and they should definitely make a difference in the 2020 presidential election.

This podcast immediately caught my attention just from the title.  Admittedly, I rarely ever listen to podcasts, but I decided to give this one a try.  The podcast discussed the changes in military service and the importance of all citizens being involved in the protection of our nation in some sort of way.  He also stresses how we as a nation should do more for our country than just service in the military.

He goes on to describe the exact ways our military service has changed.  He specifically talks about how there was a turning point at the end of the draft.  He brings up a really interesting point about how people do not truly understand what they are doing when they thank a service member.  He argues service members don’t serve just to get appreciation and how everyone should be in it together.  I never thought about military service in this way.  This statement actually reminded me of something that happened to me recently.  One of the girls who lives on my floor asked me if I wanted to write a Christmas card for an active service member.  I had to decline because I was on my way to a study group for one of my finals, but I felt guilty about it later.  How long would it have really taken me?  I couldn’t spare five minutes?

Then I thought about it some more.  These service members deserved more than a card written in two minutes that probably sounded exactly like the other ones they have gotten.  I know the ones I’ve written in the past have said something along the lines of, “Merry Christmas!  I hope you have a joyous holiday season, and thank you for your service.”  Did it really mean anything to them?  I really hope it did, but I can’t get it out of my head how we as a whole nation should be serving.

Then I thought, why don’t we as a whole nation try and serve to begin with?  I thought about this question for a while, and I think I have a possible answer (it’s a very simple one): a lack of patriotism and unity as a country. Personally, I’m not horribly patriotic, and it’s not because I don’t love the United States.  I can’t put my finger on why exactly, but I think lack of unity among citizens of our country definitely has something to with it.  It’s not just me either; I’ve noticed a lot of people my age feel similarly.  We’re all aware of our problems as a country, but a lot of us don’t really do anything about it.  A lot of people my age also see the military as just a way to pay for college, which also contributes to the overall problem.  I myself don’t know any active service members save for my old AP US History teacher, and I didn’t realize how many service members actually go on multiple tours or serve in a political office when they’re done.

General Clark goes on to explain how he’s starting a new organization called “Renew America” in order to help engage youth in politics and encourage them to “renew” the nation. I think that’s definitely a good way to start solving part of the problem.

This podcast really made me think, and I’m glad I got to listen to it.