Getting to the Root of and Fixing Low Voter Turnout — Sharlett Mena and Darryl Crews, Voter TurnUP — #137

Last week Pierce County held its August primary. Turnout was weak and progressive candidates struggled locally and across the state. This is a familiar pattern in odd-year elections in Washington: turnout is low, but the olds vote in droves, and we all collectively lament our options in the November general election. This week we brought on two guests who are fighting to change this dynamic in the community.

Sharlett Mena is a recent (and hopefully future Democratic) candidate in the 29th legislative district. Darryl Crews is up to his neck in the local music scene and is the curator of “the New Pacific Northwest” playlist on Apple Music.

They’re the organizers behind Voter Turn-UP, an upcoming event and ongoing campaign around voter engagement in the South Sound. We brought them on to debrief the primary and discuss their upcoming kick-off event on August 28.

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Getting to Know Modern Monetary Theory (MMT): Nerd Farmer Academy — Dr. Fadhel Kaboub, Denison University — #136

In my Government & Politics classes, I have taught students about debt and deficits in a doctrinal way for nearly a decade. But recently I have started to question what I (and likely you) learned from the zeitgeist, media, college, and US politics about debts and deficits.

Today’s #NerdFarmerAcademy episode is a conversation with economist Dr. Fadhel Kaboub, Associate Professor of economics at Denison University and President of the Global Institute for Sustainable Prosperity. He is a noted expert in Modern Monetary Theory, heretofore MMT. MMT is an economic theory that posits our approach to debts and deficits is just wrong. MMT economists believe that the concerns frequently expressed about the US debt are basically economic concern-trolling. They note that because the US government, unlike you and I, is a currency issuer, rather than a currency user, the limits on government debt are much higher than most of us have been led to believe. They call on the government to use debt to do great things. MMT-ers believe we can afford a much more generous government that can make a meaningful difference in the lives of working people.

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Understanding Inflation and Lessons from the 70s Oil Shocks — Bill Dickens, BJNJ — #135

Everywhere you look, there is an endless parade of stories warning us about the dangers of inflation. This is a familiar song, for most of my adult life, in particular online, inflation hawks have been sounding the alarm. The latest round of worry (panic) has been in response to the rounds of stimulus caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. So we invited an economist to help us understand inflation, what causes it, how we measure it, and why both wealthy and not so wealthy people worry about it.

Bill Dickens is a utilities economist and chief economist and president of BJNJ. His work typically focuses on hydro, natural gas, and smart grid technologies. But this week he joined us for a conversation about macroeconomics and inflation. Thanks to Rep. Strickland for recommending Bill to us.

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On the Critical Race Theory Moral Panic — Andrew Ujifusa, Ed Week — #134 

Andrew Ujifusa is an assistant editor at Ed Week. He recently reported on the Critical Race Theory (CRT) moral panic sweeping much of the country and the teacher censorship bills that are being proposed in response. In particular, in a recent piece he compared the CRT controversy to the conservative backlash over the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) last decade, which was similarly fueled by online and cable news disinformation and misinformation.

He came on the show to do a “notebook dump” about what he has learned from reporting on CRT and to help us unpack the freakout that is currently happening.

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Understanding Conservative Rhetoric: Nerd Farmer Academy — Amy Young, Pacific Lutheran University — #133

Dr. Amy Young is a professor of media studies at Pacific Lutheran University. She specializes in rhetoric and is working on a forthcoming book examining the evolution of conservative rhetoric. Her manuscript takes us back to the birth of the modern conservative movement with Barry Goldwater, through the rise of AM talk radio and Rush Limbaugh, to the modern (in particular online) right. This is Amy’s third appearance on the show, making her the newest member of the Smoking Jacket Society.

This is a part of our #NerdFarmerAcademy Series. These episodes are made in part with teachers in mind. This particular conversation is designed for people teaching about rhetoric, argumentation, or ideology and media within a US Government course.

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On the Power and Potential of Blockchain — Reggie Middleton, Founder Veritaseum — #132

Reggie Middleton is an investor and expert in the fields of DeFi (decentralized finance) and cryptocurrency. He made his name by investing in the real estate market in the early 2000s and then shorting much of Wall Street prior to the 2008 crash. In early 2013, he filed several patents for the technology and infrastructure of what has become known as decentralized finance.

We invited Reggie on the show to talk about blockchain, cryptocurrency, smart contracts, and the future of decentralized finance. He laid out a worldview and use case for blockchain technology far more ambitious than anything we expected going into the interview.

We originally planned to release this later this month, but it’s too good to hold onto.

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On the Charging Documents in the Murder of Manuel Ellis, Kari Plog — KNKX 88.5 FM — #131

On the evening of March 3, 2020, Manuel Ellis, a thirty three year-old Black man, was murdered by police in South Tacoma. For the last year, local police via the media and official statements have downplayed the amount and types of force used by officers on the scene.

For over a year, activists, led by Ellis’ relatives and the Tacoma Action Collective, have sought a thorough investigation and charges for the police involved in the killing. On May 27, Washington State AG Bob Ferguson charged three officers involved in the killing with a combination of second degree murder and manslaughter charges.

Kari Plog from KNKX, has been covering this story for over a year. We invited her on to talk through the probable cause statement issued by the State AG and where the case stands today.

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On Black American Teachers Plying their Trade Overseas, Dr. Tiffany Lachelle Smith, University of Minnesota – #130

Dr. Tiffany Smith is a former K-12 educator, podcaster, and story collector. While working overseas she taught in Morocco and Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates. Her graduate dissertation is about the push and pull factors motivating Black K-12 teachers to leave the US and teach overseas, in particular in UAE. This is how she and I crossed paths.

Tiffany is also the host of a podcast called (A)Broad in Education where she interviews what she calls Black edpats, teachers who have left the US and are working in international schools. We talked about her story as a teacher, her research as an academic, and what she has learned on her podcast from interviewing dozens of Black educators.

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Justice for Manuel Ellis and Accountability for Police, Jamika Scott – #129

On April 23, 2021, Derek Chauvin, the police officer that murdered George Floyd, was convicted in a Minnesota court. Two months prior to Floyd’s killing, in March of 2020, another Black man named Manuel Ellis was killed by officers in Tacoma, Washington.

Ellis’ killing was ruled a homicide by the medical examiner, but the investigation into his death has been plagued by issues. As of recording, an announcement of a prosecuting decision is allegedly imminent and the officers that killed Eliis remain on taxpayer funded paid leave.

One of the major reasons we know about any of this is because of the activism of the Tacoma Action Collective and one of its members in particular, activist and filmmaker Jamika Scott. Jamika joined us to talk about the investigation, policing in the region, and how she as an activist has been targeted by law enforcement.

In the second segment, we talked about Jamika’s film project, Matriarch, a web series about the role of women as leaders in groups and families.

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Sponsored episode: Revisioning Higher Ed in a Post-Pandemic World – Allan Belton, PLU and Ivan Harrell, Tacoma Community College – #128

Covid has disrupted every aspect of our society, but its impact on education may be its most long lasting. Pierce County is blessed with a wealth of higher ed institutions: UWT, Evergreen Tacoma, University of Puget Sound, Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma Community College, Pierce College, and Bates & Clover Park Technical Colleges are all of such quality that we take them for granted.

As we emerge from the pandemic, school leaders across the world are re-imagining the work at their institutions. At the same time on the student end, after rejecting online instruction at full tuition rates, many 2020 high school grads took a gap year. They will hopefully be returning to campuses later this year. It is going to be a very interesting fall.

We invited two college presidents, Allan Belton from PLU and Ivan Harell from Tacoma Community College, onto the show to talk about all these issues and others facing their schools, faculty, and students.

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This episode was sponsored by Pacific Lutheran University

The Nerd Farmer Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts and is brought to you by Libro FM 

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