Advertise on podcast: Digital Politics with Karen Jagoda

Ellen Gavin, activist and filmmaker, joins Deepak Puri, CEO of The Democracy Labs, to discuss her latest short film, Blood Money, the 6th in a series about immigration enforcement and resistance.  The film focuses on the private prison industry's profit motive behind ICE detention and the companies that have received billions of dollars in government contracts. The title of the film derives from the activist chant "ICE dollars are dipped in blood." Deepak and Ellen talk about: Who is becoming an ICE agent Which companies are profiting from ICE detention and how they are maximizing profits How community activists are organizing to resist ICE activities New income streams such as drones for expanding the opportunities to generate revenue from immigration enforcement #TheDemLabs #EllenGavin #StateLineVideo #GavinCreative #BloodMoney #StopICEraids #CourtObservers #PrivatePrison #PrisonProfits #Democracy #CivicEngagement    EllenGavin.com TheDemLabs.org

Michele Hornish, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Every State Blue, joins Deepak Puri, CEO of The Democracy Labs, to discuss how financial resources translate into campaign capability. Every State Blue addresses the gap left when Democratic donors concentrate resources in competitive races while ignoring red districts. By forcing Republicans to defend everywhere, Democrats draw funds away from other races while building a long-term power base, training candidates, and conditioning voters to expect Democratic presence. Deepak and Michele talk about: Crowdfunding from small donors to expand financial support for down-ballot races Focusing on parity, not just competitiveness Why start with campaigns that have the least to create a credible campaign Multiplier effect of local campaigns on turnout for national races #TheDemLabs #EveryStateBlue #Democracy #CivicEngagement #CampaignFinance #SmallDollarDonors #RuralOrganizingn #StateLegislature #VoterTurnout #LocalOrganizers #GrassrootsOrganizing #ParityFunding EveryStateBlue.org TheDemLabs.org

Maju Varghese, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Democracy Security Project, joins Deepak Puri, Founder of The Democracy Labs, to discuss the need for security for candidates, elected officials, campaign volunteers, organizers, advocacy groups, authors, and artists.  The Democracy Security Project is addressing threats, harassment, violence, and cyber threats by offering virtual and in-person training on physical security, event safety, data protection, and policy development. Deepak and Maju talk about Importance of making concrete plans to combat security challenges Practicing violence de-escalation and the need to stay calm Reporting intimidation and threats that trigger an appropriate response New tactics of bad actors that require revised security training #TheDemLabs #DemocracySecurityProject #ElectionSecurity #CyberSecurity #ThreatAwareness #VoterSafety #Democracy #DemocracyResilience    DemocracySecurityProject.org TheDemocracyLabs.org

Emma Tupper, CEO of Moxie Media emphasizes that direct mail remains a critical component of a political campaign media strategy, serving a unique purpose in this age of digital and tv/video ads.  While mail can not match the emotional impact of a fast-paced video ad, it excels at personalized targeting and delivering relevant, detailed information. Contrary to conventional assumptions, mail is showing strength in reaching younger voters who receive less physical mail and are being turned off by AI-generated web political slop. We talk about: Creative innovations that help campaign mail break through the clutter in a mailbox Coordination of direct mail with other campaign outreach tactics Cost advantage of direct mail for down-ballot races and hard to reach media markets Using direct mail with QR codes as an entry point for awareness and to bridge the physical and digital divide #MoxieMedia #DirectMail #PoliticalAdvertising #GOTV #GetOuttheVote #PoliticalMail #VoterPersuasion #YoungVoters #VoterEngagement #PoliticalMessaging #MailMarketing #TargetedAdvertising MoxieMedia.biz

Paul Loeb activist and author of The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Book on Political Hope, joins Deepak Puri, Founder of The Democracy Labs, to discuss how to maintain and develop hope and resistance in dark political times. Paul has assembled an anthology of stories demonstrating how ordinary people have resisted oppression in seemingly hopeless circumstances.  The book is both historical documentation and practical inspiration for activists. Deepak and Paul talk about Why hope must be actively grown through stories and action Symbolic and passive resistance Intergenerational transmission of courage Effective activism and measurable impacts  #TheDemLabs #TheImpossible #PaulLoebBooks #PoliticalActivism #PoliticalResistance #Democracy #Hope #Accountability #CampaignStrategy #PoliticalOrganizing #GrassrootsMovement  #VoterMobilization #GetOutTheVote #GOTV TheImpossible.org TheDemocracyLabs.org

Anna Chu, Executive Director at We The Action, describes the organization's mission to connect volunteer lawyers with nonprofits to protect democracy.  The newly launched Democracy Legal Defense Network recruits and trains lawyers for election protection efforts and accommodates lawyers of all specialties for in-person local work, travel opportunities, and remote participation.  The initiative partners with nonprofit organizations to support voter registration and GOTV efforts and provides management tools to help grassroots organizations build a sustainable network. We talk about: The variety of opportunities for any lawyers to participate in this effort Which nonprofits need the most help Why some lawyers are eager to participate and some are more cautious Building and maintaining a resilient democracy #WetheAction #ElectionProtection #DemocracyLegalDefenseNetwork #Election2026 #2026Midterm #Lawyers WeTheAction.org

Marty Santalucia, CEO of MFStrategies, highlights how conversational intelligence and AI are transforming how political campaigns communicate with voters. Traditional campaign tools such as polling and focus groups are being supplemented or replaced by AI-driven, two-way communication through text messaging to reach voters at scale. This additional source of voter engagement lets campaigns engage large numbers of people in real time and collect unstructured conversational data that reveals what matters to voters in their own words.  We talk about: Why two-way communication is foundational to representative democracy and not merely a tactical tool  The untapped value of unstructured conversational data from voter engagement Finding the most meaningful words to shape campaign messages and fundraising appeals The critical role of human judgment in guiding AI models within the political environment #MFStrategies #CampaignStrategy #PoliticalCampaigns #DigitalPolitics #VoterEngagement #Fundraising #ConversationalAI #CampaignIntelligence #DownBallot #PoliticalTech #AIForGood MFStrategies.com

Scott Goodstein, Founder and CEO of Catalyst Campaigns, highlights how quickly misinformation spreads and how reaching even a small audience can shape broader public opinion. While always a part of the political campaign landscape, AI is being used to create social media missiles that can be highly targeted with misinformation and disinformation to reach undecided voters. With traditional fact-checking organizations in decline, campaigns must build proactive rapid-response strategies and educate voters about deepfakes. We talk about: How AI and easier access to voter files enable targeted delivery of sophisticated misleading videos  The real threat has moved underground to harder-to-detect, low-visibility channels  How the Russians are creating and distributing AI-generated videos using the voices and likenesses of celebrities to create confusion Developing a fire-drill mentality and monitoring local news and diverse social platforms to be prepared for a rapid response #CatalystCampaigns #PoliticalCampaigns #CampaignStrategy #AIDisinformation #PoliticalConsultants  #GetOutTheVote #GOTV #RapidResponse #ElectionSecurity #Misinformation  #CampaignComms #ForeignInterference Russian Disinformation Machine is Gearing Up for the Midterms Scott's Warning in USA Today CatalystCampaigns.com

Sarah Fuller, Sr. Director, Government and Advocacy, Comcast Advertising, highlights the major shift from traditional broadcast and radio to CTV and streaming, while emphasizing the growing importance of measuring effectiveness across all media. While more data does not guarantee success, data analytics and AI are enabling more sophisticated audience segmentation beyond standard demographic groups, including preferred screen and platform. Sarah emphasizes the constraints on ad inventory and the challenges of rapid response in tight markets. We talk about How multi-device consumption patterns are changing day-part buying assumptions Purple state dynamics where partisan lines are less predictable than in previous cycles Voter response to AI-produced political ads Current focus on combined reach and frequency across platforms rather than siloed buying Privacy compliance and quality of data #ComcastAdvertising #PoliticalAdvertising #CampaignStrategy #CTV #StreamingAds #DigitalPolitics #VoterTargeting #Midterms2026 #MediaBuying #PoliticalMedia #AdTech ComcastAdvertising.com

Evan Meyer, civic leader and Founder of MyGovTools, BeautifyEarth, and RideAmigos, emphasizes the need for meaningful change in the political environment to encourage more community-focused political action and less opposition-driven engagement. The place to start is at the local level, where citizens can see tangible results.  Evan decided to use web scraping, AI, and human curation to connect fragmented data and overcome inadequate communication channels by creating MyGovTools and a weekly newsletter that aggregates local government activity. We talk about: Need to create a politically neutral and constituent-serving platform that provides impartial information, not a propaganda machine Addressing the lack of trust in government officials Role of AI in decoding complex legislative language Tension between donor interests and constituent needs Using community mural projects to encourage nonpartisan cross-generational civic activity #MyGovTools #CivicTech #PoliticalCampaigns #DigitalPolitics #CampaignStrategy #VoterEngagement #GovTech #LocalPolitics #ElectedLeaders #CommunityBuilding #AIinPolitics EvanMeyer.io

Sarah Towle, international educator and author of Crossing the Line: Finding America in the Borderlands, joins Deepak Puri, Founder of The Democracy Labs, to discuss her on-the-ground investigation of immigration detention and deportation practices at the US-Mexico border. She traces the historical roots of the current immigration policies and how detention centers operate as for-profit enterprises. Her book chronicles the Trump administration's detention center policies and calls for grassroots resistance. Deepak and Sarah talk about The bipartisan origins of the current detention center system How the Trump administration has institutionalized cruelty   The sanctuary movement and current resistance efforts Coalition building to drive corporate accountability and divestment from companies in the business of detention #TheDemLabs #PoliticalActivism #Democracy #Accountability #ImmigrationReform #CampaignStrategy #PoliticalOrganizing #GrassrootsMovement #HumanRights #VoterMobilization #SanctuaryCities #PrivatePrisonDivestment #ProgressivePolitics #GetOutTheVote SarahTowle.com TheDemocracyLabs.org

Jon Seaton, founding Partner at Echo Canyon Consulting, has developed a platform to reshape how data and AI can improve the ground game of field canvassing. Field data, often manually audited and slowly made available, is a key source of information for campaigns, and intentional inaccuracies or accidental errors can quickly contaminate datasets downstream.  While many AI solutions focus on generating content, this solution focuses on verifying that a human has actually conducted the work. We talk about: Previous struggles with data reliability from field canvassers leading to poor strategic campaign decisions Fraud detection and what canvassers think they can get away with How near real-time reporting allows for corrective actions and feedback to canvassers Why door-to-door canvassing remains the most effective campaign tool #EchoCanyonConsulting #Astralis #PoliticalCampaigns #FieldOperations #CampaignTech #GroundGame #AIinPolitics #DataIntegrity #GetOutTheVote #CampaignStrategy EchoCanyonConsulting.com

Susan Greenhalgh, Senior Advisor on Election Security for Free Speech for People, joins Deepak Puri, Founder of The Democracy Labs, to pull back the curtain on the security of voting machines and how election results can be manipulated. Having paper ballots provides physical verification of votes and enables post-election audits and recounts when necessary. Still, a broader focus is needed to ensure all votes are counted and reported accurately, with proper protective measures in place. Deepak and Susan talk about Critical vulnerabilities in the US voting system Post-election audits and validation of election results Federal interference threats to mail-in voting and voter eligibility Maintaining confidence in the election system #TheDemLabs #FreeSpeechforPeople #ElectionSecurity #CampaignStrategy #PaperBallots #ElectionProtection #VoterIntimidation #PoliticalCampaigns #PostElectionAudits #GOTV FreeSpeechforPeople.org TheDemocracyLabs.org

Gary Lucks is an environmental attorney, activist, and author of We Are the Power: To Win the Future, a book designed to mobilize citizens across all districts for the 2026 midterm election. Drawing on extensive campaign experience, Gary presents practical strategies, tools, and tactics for grassroots activism, including community outreach at farmers' markets and transit stops, as well as virtual fundraising events. Emphasizing that everyday people possess untapped potential to defend democracy, the book encourages readers to get involved and includes a list of activist organizations and groups that support local activism. We talk about: Viewing civic participation as a fundamental duty Providing a toolkit for individual activists Pacing activism efforts across two-year election cycles How campaigns can step up their volunteer recruitment and mobilization  #GaryLucks #GrassrootsPower #2026Elections #VolunteerMobilization #DigitalPolitics #CampaignStrategy #ProDemocracy #Indivisible #PartiesForDemocracy We Are The Power GaryLucks.com

Ramon Perez, Executive Director of the Digital Democracy Project, describes the use of a secure mobile voting app that enables verified voters to provide real-time feedback to legislators, showing constituent preferences on bills. This platform leverages AI to summarize complex legislation into accessible language and provides updates on voting records, creating accountability and transparency. This mobile voting technology was originally designed for military use and has been adapted for digital civic engagement. We talk about Value of providing citizens continuous opportunities to influence government policy decisions Harvesting real-time polling data from verified constituents about pending legislation How technology is bridging the gap between constituents and elected officials Need to identify voter preferences that transcend two-party divisions #DigitalDemocracyProject #CampaignTech #MobileVoting #CivicEngagment DigitalDemocracyProject.org