Videos

Gerrymandering: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. The usually boring, opaque mechanics of gerrymandering are explained in an informative and entertaining way in this brief video. Don’t be fooled by the humor: Gerrymandering is a real, often illegal, problem where lawmakers reshape voting districts to shift the balance of political power.

For an in-depth look at Why States Matter, view and share these videos from Resistance School, made with Sister District Project.

Why Facts Don’t Convince People (and what you can do about it). This 3-minute video from Social Good Now provides a valuable perspective on why people disagree on facts and offers us something to think about when talking to others about ideas.

Factcheck.org released How to Spot Fake News shortly after the 2016 election and provides continuous updates about trending misinformation hitting Facebook on their website Debunking False Stories.

Films

Suppressed 2020: The Fight to Vote A powerful documentary, told through deeply personal accounts from voters of color across the state of Georgia, revealing deliberate, widespread voter suppression in the 2018 midterm election where Stacey Abrams fought to become the first Black female governor in the U.S.

Slay the Dragon: End Gerrymandering or Democracy Dies follows everyday people fighting to make their votes matter. Watch a trailer here; you can purchase the CD or watch it online through various venues.

Podcasts

Defending Democracy is a weekly podcast hosted by Democracy Docket’s Marc Elias and Paige Moskowitz that discusses top voting rights, elections, and democracy news.

A recent episode focuses on the latest right-wing legal theory that individuals and groups cannot bring voting rights lawsuits — only the U.S. Department of Justice can — proposing that there is no private right of action in crucial federal voting laws. Where did this surge of private right of action lawsuits come from? What are the current cases pushing this theory, and what could potentially happen?

Future Hindsight podcast features the author of State Capture: How Conservative Activists, Big Business, and Wealthy Donors Reshaped the American States--and the Nation by Alexander Hertel-Fernandez. Hertel-Fernandez provides the first in-depth and accessible history of the rise of cross-state conservative lobbying groups.

David McRaney interviews Anand Giridharadas about his belief that Americans must change their minds about their ability to change other Americans’ minds on this You Are Not So Smart podcast.

Books

The Persuaders: At the Front Lines of the Fight for Hearts, Minds, and Democracy by Anand Giridharadas is a stunning insider account of activists, politicians, educators, and everyday citizens who are on the ground working to change minds, bridge divisions, and fight for democracy.

The Lightmaker’s Manifesto: How to work for Change Without Losing Your Joy by Karen Walrond. Brene Brown says of The Lightmaker’s Manifesto, “Activism is such a big and often intimidating concept, and Karen breaks it down into small, intentional, and integrated acts that create a joyful life.”

One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression Is Destroying Our Democracy by Carol Anderson details how voter suppression works, from photo ID requirements to gerrymandering to poll closures. And with vivid characters, the book explores the resistance: the organizing, activism, and court battles to restore the basic right to vote to all Americans.

How Democracies Die (in PDF format) by Daniel Ziblatt and Steven Levitsky describes how elected leaders can gradually subvert the democratic process to increase their power. In 2021, The Economist described the book as the "most important book of the Trump era.”

The Upswing: How America Came Together a Century Ago and How We Can Do It Again by Robert Putnam examines economic, political, societal, and cultural trends that result in a focus on the “I” rather than on the “we” and provides a historical perspective that confirms we’ve seen bad times before. “[I]f we have righted our American ship before, we can right it again.”

Dirt Road Revival: How to Rebuild Rural Politics and Why Our Future Depends On It ,by Canyon Woodward and Chloe Maxmin, details how Democrats have left rural America behind and tell the story of how Maxmin became the only Democrat to ever win Maine House District 88 and then unseat the highest-ranking Republican in Maine to become the youngest woman senator in Maine’s history. They then present the reader with concrete lessons for building power in rural districts, from the state and local levels on up. 

Online Resources

Democrats Chase Shiny Objects with Ezra Klein of the NY Times (podcast/article).

The Lesson from the Wisconsin Midterm Elections: Face to Face Makes a Difference by Robert Kraig

Heather Cox Richardson, a professor of American History, writes a column on Substack called “Letters from American,” that offers both insights and history as they relate to current events. Updated daily. Read and sign up for her Letters here.

The Brennan Center for Justice is a nonpartisan law and policy institute focusing on equal justice and the rule of law. Their website has a wealth of information on voting issues.

Democracy Docket advocates for voting rights, elections, redistricting and democracy in the courts. 

Why States Matter primer from Sister District Project. Although written after the 2016 election, the points made are still relevant: state laws have a huge impact on daily life, state legislatures often control districting, state laws often spread to other states and then become national laws, state leaders become national leaders. 

The 2040 Project: Democrats, Democracy, and Power Over the Next 20 Years is a comprehensive discussion about what needs to happen in the next 20 years in order to solidify Dem power.

The Verge takes us on a deep dive into how to use social media to identify and respond to misinformation online: How to Fight Lies, Tricks, and Chaos Online.