We discuss why it's important not just to vote, but be an informed and confident voter. We also talk about what this podcast is and is not, and what each episode will cover.

In this first official episode, Eli and Sonia take you through the basic structure of the federal government. We describe each of the three branches and how they interact, as well as who belongs in each branch. We also talk about what each branch controls, who you vote for and who is appointed, and how subsections of the three main branches work.

In this episode Eli and Sonia provide you with an overview of state governments. We couldn’t do every single state individually, but we give a broad sketch of what most state governments look like. We also describe federalism and how it works, with a couple of examples to provide some clarity.

In this episode Sonia and Eli talk about the importance of local governments. We’ll discuss various local systems, and some of the positions in government that you should know about when going to vote. We’ll also give you some examples to highlight how your everyday life is affected by the things your local government controls.

In this episode Eli and Sonia will give you a brief history of voting in the United States. The history of voting is long and fraught with struggle. We won’t go in depth into any specific piece of history, but we’ll give you an idea of the timeline that has resulted in your right to vote. We’ll take you from the Revolutionary Era through the Civil War and Reconstruction, and on to the Women’s Suffrage and Civil Rights movements.

In this episode Sonia and Eli describe various methods of intentional voter suppression. While some of these methods, like racist Jim Crow laws, have been weakened with time, others are alive and well today. With this episode we hope to make you alert to the danger posed by voter suppression. We also want to demonstrate how much voter suppression happens now. We’ll go through a list of common suppression techniques, and focus on one specific case to give you an idea of the true scope of the problem.

In this episode, Sonia and Eli explain how other countries structure their governments and elect their representatives. We'll talk about different ways to ensure that the population is represented, and how those systems compare to the United States. We will also cover Ranked Choice Voting, which is an alternative way to run elections that tries to ensure that the person who wins is the one that most number of people are happiest with.

In this episode, Sonia and Eli review every kind of election that could show up on your ballot this Election Day, from the federal to the local level. We introduce the primary and caucus systems, and explain the Electoral College and the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. We also explore ballot initiatives (a.k.a. referenda or propositions) and how they come to be on the ballot.

In this episode, perhaps the most important one of the series, Sonia and Eli discuss how to pick which candidates you’ll vote for. We start by talking about preparation, and why it’s important to go into the voting booth with a plan to vote in every race. We cover how to pick a candidate when you don’t agree fully with any of the choices, and how to square the desire to vote for a third-party candidate with our two-party reality. We also discuss strategies for voting for judges and ballot initiatives.

In this episode, Sonia and Eli talk about the different ways you can vote and how ballots get counted. First, we talk about getting registered to vote, and how easy it is to do so. We cover the pros and cons of voting in person, voting early, and voting by mail, and why all three methods are important. (And we list several ways you cannot vote.) Finally, we detail how the vote is counted, audited, and certified, and how news outlets are able to call elections on Election Day even before that count finishes.