Brazil’s Shock Election, and Preparing for Midterms (w/ Jen Psaki)
Assembly Required with Stacey AbramsShow Notes
This week, Stacey opens the show cautioning Americans to watch and learn from Brazil’s election results, where Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva surprised everyone with a victory, and his right wing opponent Flavio Bolsonaro called for the election to be annulled. As we brace for our own midterm elections in just one week, she gets into how the Justice Department is weaponizing power and practicing voter suppression against Americans from the bottom up, most recently attacking voters in California. So, what does free and fair voting require? Stacey talks to Jen Psaki, host of MSNOW’s The Briefing with Jen Psaki and former White House press secretary, about the larger motives behind what Republicans are chasing ahead of the midterms, how Democrats can remain hopeful but strategic in their messaging, and what to expect on and ahead of November 3rd. Learn & Do More:
BE CURIOUS: For more insightful analysis of the political moment we’re in, check out Jen Psaki’s show on MSNOW, The Briefing with Jen Psaki and her weekly Q&A on MS NOW Membership.
SOLVE PROBLEMS: We’re days away from the midterms, and every little thing you do can still help. Think about your legislative candidates, candidates for Senate, House or Governor, and donate or sign up to volunteer. Organizations like EMILY’s List at emilyslist.org, Run For Something at runforsomething.net, and the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee at dlcc.org are great places to look for ways to help. You can also look up who is running in your area to give directly and get involved.
DO GOOD: Defeating authoritarianism takes thousands of small actions, and a lot of them start in somebody’s living room. Autocrats rely on confusion, apathy and fear. We rely on each other. That starts with building trust with a few neighbors on your block. Download Plurality, a free app that helps you organize in your neighborhood and connect with people nearby. The 10 Steps Campaign has ready-to-use event blueprints on Plurality designed to make civic organizing as easy as hosting a dinner party. Pick one, post your event on Plurality and tag @10StepsCampaign on social media so your neighbors can find it.
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More from Assembly Required with Stacey Abrams
How are affordability and corruption connected? Professor and former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich joins Stacey to unpack rising gas prices and the cost of living, why he sees Trump’s White House as a symptom of a much deeper culture of government corruption, and what’s at stake in the upcoming midterm elections. Then, they discuss how 2026 is shaping up to resemble a new “Gilded Age,” marked by extreme wealth inequality and a government struggling to address the consequences. Stacey also sits down with Sheila Nix, CEO of the Mobile Voting Project, to discuss voter suppression, expanding access to the ballot, and how bringing mobile voting to all 50 states could help increase voter turnout. Learn & Do More:
Fascism has gotten a facelift, and we’ve got tech oligarchs, religious extremists, and ethnonationalists to thank. Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor, co-authors of End Times Fascism: And the Fight for the Living World, sit down with Stacey to unpack how certain groups of fascists believe the end times of our society are not only inevitable, but are invested in precipitating our collapse while ensuring they are the elite few destined to survive. They also discuss the “wealth-rapture,” how extreme economic inequality has created fertile ground for fascists to thrive, and how this new brand of fascism can be stopped if we fight for empathy, equality, and universal rights during this administration and beyond. Learn & Do More:
Can we make injustice unprofitable? Author and former president of Color Of Change Rashad Robinson joins Stacey to discuss how we can come together to confront authoritarianism, make it harder for bad actors to profit from harming individuals, and hold corporations accountable. They explore the connection between the fight for a stronger economy and a functioning democracy, why voters of color particularly in the South are not a monolith, and why bipartisanship is a legal ethos, not simply a political strategy. Robinson also discusses his new book, From Presence to Power: How to Take On the Fights That Matter—and Win, and why visibility, protests, hashtags, and media attention aren’t the same as building real power. Learn & Do More:
This week, Stacey opens the show with a warning about why Americans need to closely watch Brazil’s elections on October 4th and what it means as we fight back against authoritarianism here at home. Then she gets into AI: the daily headlines about how fast the technology is developing, a growing list of incidents where AI has gone outside of human control, and the snail's pace at which Washington is dealing with the problem…. are all painting a very grim picture. So can AI still be stopped? This week, Stacey is joined by Susan Rice, a former United Nations Ambassador, National Security Advisor to Barack Obama and Domestic Policy Advisor to Joe Biden. Ambassador Rice lays out the case for how we can still regulate AI, why the UN is stuck in gridlock on global issues of this magnitude, and why voters making their voices heard is so critical this November. Learn & Do More:
How could the Supreme Court’s decisions shape the 2026 midterms? What are the current threats posed by ICE? How can we build communities rooted in connection rather than fear? Lawyer and Democracy Forward President and CEO Skye Perryman joins Stacey to discuss the Supreme Court cases to watch ahead of opinion season, whether a ruling could come before the midterms in a case involving ICE and polling places, and her new book, Ordinary People, Extraordinary Times, a practical guide to reclaiming our power and taking action during extraordinary times. Stacey also discusses the freedom of the press or lack thereof, as the White House continues its efforts to reshape the media landscape and what that means for the administration’s broader agenda. Learn & Do More: