Episodes

Saving Democracy: The Way Forward

This time: a live recording of a terrific panel discussion featuring very smart people from across the ideological spectrum who have national experience in politics and media.

Amanda Renteria, Mike Madrid, Debbie Mesloh, Dan Schnur, Kristin Olsen, and Zach Friend joined host Spencer Critchley at Cabrillo College in Aptos, California on March 21, 2019 to go way beyond the usual talking points and offer deep insights into where we are — and how we go forward.

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Bud Colligan: Social Enterpreneur

Business drives our economy — but our guest this episode thinks it can also make society better. Bud Colligan has been part of some of the most successful businesses of our time, including Apple.

He’s also a social entrepreneur: he invests in ventures that promise to achieve social good, such as through education, or environmental protection, or inclusive economic development.

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Be Right or Do Right? Zach Friend & Paul Shone on the New Congress

Can we look at the top priorities for the new Congress without talking about likability, who curses more, or a dancing video?

Yes we can. On Dastardly Cleverness: Politics Edition it’s not about the horse race, or the latest outrage, but how to make politics do what it’s supposed to do: make our lives better, not just more entertaining — or depressing.

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Lenny Mendonca: Progressive Federalism May Be the Answer to America’s Problems

Lenny Mendonca is the co-founder of New America, a “think and action tank.” He believes that what America is going through now is similar to the Gilded Age: technology is enabling a few people to get very rich while the lives of millions of others are disrupted.

And he thinks the solution to many of our problems is also rooted in the past: progressive federalism, a pragmatic and yet hopeful approach that he believes can win support from the left and the right. He says it’s the answer to making progress towards the values most Americans hold dear.

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Beyond the Horse Race: What the Election Can Teach Us About Making Change

It was called the most important election of our lifetimes, but so much of the coverage has been the same old horse race stuff.

Not on Dastardly Cleverness, though: in this episode we dig deep with experts who have worked with Barack Obama, John McCain and the Democratic National Committee, among others:

Kevin Lewis, Dan Schnur, and Enrique Gutierrez.

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Highlights From Our First Year

We’re celebrating our first season with highlights from the past year!

It’s an episode full of gifts of insight from leading social innovators, on the future of work, universal basic income, reforming the way we bank and invest, why we vote the way we do, saving the oceans, saving democracy, and much more.

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Amanda Renteria: How to Create Impact in the Public & Private Sectors

Raised in a farmworking family, Amanda Renteria has worked for Goldman Sachs, the City of San Jose, and two senators; has been a teacher and coach at her old high school; has run for Congress; held a top position in Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign; directed operations for the California Department of Justice and this year, ran for Governor of California.

She has the insights to show — many of them arising from her own life story — as you’ll hear in this interview with Dastardly Cleverness host Spencer Critchley.

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Saving Democracy: Bipartisan Views from Presidential Campaigns, Congress, National Media & More

LIVE episode: “Saving Democracy,” featuring former Congressman Sam Farr, former Barack Obama and Kamala Harris adviser Debbie Mesloh, USC and UC Berkeley Professor and former top Republican consultant Dan Schnur (now a No Party Preference voter), former California Assembly Republican Leader Kristin Olsen, local elected official and presidential campaign veteran Zach Friend, and host Spencer Critchley. It was an in-depth and enlightening conversation, about topics that ranged from the frightening to the inspiring.

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Joe Sanberg: We Can — And Must — End Poverty in 30 Years

Joe Sanberg co-founded Aspiration, a socially responsible, online bank and investment firm. Aspiration invites customers to pay whatever they think its services are worth — even if that’s nothing.

He’s a prime mover behind the California Earned Income Tax Credit, which has helped 800,000 low-income California families in its first two years of existence.

He established the Working Hero political action committee. Working Hero supports candidates who are committed to ending poverty.

And he believes we can end poverty in 30 years, and must, if democracy is to survive.

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Find a Purpose or Face the Pitchforks: This Ad Agency Bets on Doing What’s Right

Drew Train was a rising star on Madison Avenue, working at the legendary J Walter Thompson agency for clients like HSBC, one of the biggest banks in the world.

But at night, he was going to Occupy Wall Street rallies.

That’s because he thought something had gone very wrong with business: it was extracting more from the world than it was putting back, and benefiting the rich over everyone else.

Eventually, he couldn’t stand the tension between his day job and his values, and he ended up leaving JWT to co-found, with Bill Oberlander, a new agency dedicated to purpose-driven marketing: Oberland.

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