• Pop & Politics talks about the results the morning after

    On Wednesday November 3rd, the Pop & Politics live event at WNYC’s Greene Space brought together panelists, audiences and web viewers for a fascinating discussion about how race, anger and the economy affected the outcome of the November 2010 midterm elections. Guests included actress Rosie Perez (visit her arts organization here ), blogger Reihan Salam with The National Review, Princeton professor Melissa Harris-Perry, youth activist Erica Williams, and WNYC’s The Takeaway reporter Todd Zwillich.

    You can watch video of the entire show below. Or click on the audio player below to stream the show now.

    Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

    You can also subscribe to our podcast to download an MP3 of the show: rss feed or . We also had a lively on-line conversation; click on the Cover It Live player below to scroll through a recap of the show highlights and viewer comments. And finally, listeners from the audience and the web prepared questions for Farai and the panelists, but there wasn’t time to get to them all. The questions are after the jump, take a look and join the discussion.

    <a href=”http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=0d49f0185e” mce_href=”http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=0d49f0185e” >Pop and Politics with Farai Chideya</a>
    Continue Reading…

  • Videos

    Posted on November 4th, 2010

    Stories From the Road: Voting For Pedro

    • Stories From the Road: Voting For Pedro .
      Voting for Pedro

    18-year old Pedro Lopez left his girlfriend and a comfortable existence in Phoenix to register voters in Yuma, one of Arizona’s most conservative towns. Spurred by passage of Arizona’s anti-immigration law SB-1070, he was also motivated by what he saw as apathy on the part of non-registered Hispanics. Pop and Politics went door-to-door with Pedro to see if he was having any success. Pedro’s plea to register resonated particularly powerfully for one young potential voter he met.

  • Blog Entry

    Posted on November 3rd, 2010

    Voting The Bums Out, Again and Again

    What happens when you vote? You get a certain amount of say over who takes office. But what happens once they take office? How do you stay in touch with the person you elected and hold them accountable?

    Well, that’s where the wheels fall off the wagon… Most people do not have consistent access to their political representatives. You can send an email or a letter, or try to set up an appointment, or go to a rally. But our mechanisms of delivering detailed critiques or instructions on policy are usually limited either by access to the lawmakers or information about what’s actually happening on Capitol Hill or your State House. Continue Reading…

  • Blog Entry

    Posted on November 1st, 2010

    Who Exactly is the Tea Party?

    Pundits, politicians and the press continue to speculate about the effects the Tea Party will have on tomorrow’s midterm elections. But who exactly is the Tea Party anyway?  To provide some background, we’ve pulled together links describing the Tea Party and its mission and core values.

    Read a short history of the Tea Party and its major founding figures, courtesy of Slate. Check out The New York Times’ map of the Congressional and Senate Tea Party races across the country along with the latest polling. Take a look at the Washington Posts’ slideshow of must-watch Tea Party candidates, Politico’s choices of Tea Party candidates to watch, and ABC’s list of Tea Party-backed candidates. Newsweek has a photo gallery of the leading Tea Party backed candidates.

    The Washington Post reports on the organization and disparate nature of Tea Parties across the nation, and the New York Times shows some of the loose factions within the movement. The Atlantic makes some predictions about how prominent Tea Party candidates will fare in this election. The 2010 election isn’t even over, and already the Tea Party is affecting the 2012 race.  NPR reports on the post-election future of The Tea Party.

    And don’t forget our video interview with Allen West, Tea Party favorite in Florida’s 22nd Congressional District.