Our Democracy in Crisis - State and Local Power (with David Pepper and Lina Hidalgo)
You and Me Both with Hillary ClintonShow Notes
Over the past years we’ve lived through some alarming assaults on our democracy at every level, from local school boards to the highest court in the land. Over the course of this season of You and Me Both, Hillary’s taking a hard look at the state of our democracy from several vantage points, with the help of experts and leaders doing incredible work on the ground.
Today, we start our series with an examination of our democracy at the state and local level. First, Hillary speaks with Ohio-based political strategist David Pepper, author of Laboratories of Autocracy: A Wake-Up Call from Behind the Lines, about how our democracy loses when we don’t participate locally and play a “long game.” Then she speaks to Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, based in Houston, Texas, who is making positive change for all the people in her county.
Bios: David Pepper began his career working in Russia in the early 1990s, helping to fortify economic reforms during that country’s fledgling attempt at democracy. Back in the United States, he’s served on the Cincinnati City Council and as Chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party.
In 2017, at age 27, Colombia-born Texas-raised Lina Hidalgo was elected Harris County Judge, beating a three-time incumbent and becoming the first woman, and first Latina, to hold that office. Harris County, which includes Houston, is the third largest county in the nation. Together with four County Commissioners, Judge Hidalgo oversees a $4.3 billion budget that helps fund key county services and institutions.
You can read a full transcript HERE.
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More from You and Me Both with Hillary Clinton
For her season finale, Hillary sits down with her husband, the 42nd president of the United States, to continue a wide-ranging conversation they’ve been having together for over 50 years. From their home in Chappaqua, New York, amid the current war in the Middle East, they recall the eight years of work Bill did during his presidency to find a road to peace for the Israeli and Palestinian people. They tackle other pressing subjects like immigration, climate change, and the urgent need for funding the war in Ukraine. And they also look for hope wherever they can find it—including Northern Ireland and Albania, and, closer to home, through celebrating the holiday season and reflecting on the bond they continue to share with one another after all their years together.
Hillary is traveling, and will be back next week with a new episode. In the meantime, we’re bringing back one of her favorites..
The overturning of Roe v. Wade in June of 2022 dealt a severe blow to women’s health care in the United States. Today, nearly half of states in the country ban or severely restrict abortion care. The ripple effects reach far wider: hospitals are shutting maternity wards, and OB-GYNs are leaving states that don’t allow them to provide essential care to their patients.
This week, we bring you the first ever live recording of You and Me Both before a sold-out audience at Symphony Space in New York City. Hillary was joined by singer, actor, and three time Tony Award winner Patti LuPone, while writer and comedian Amber Ruffin served as MC.
A few months ago, Hillary wrote a piece for The Atlantic on what she called “the weaponization of loneliness.” It was inspired, in part, by an important and alarming advisory issued by the Office of the Surgeon General on an underreported crisis in the United States: an epidemic of loneliness that has contributed to increased rates of opioid and alcohol addiction, domestic abuse, suicide, gun violence, as well as diabetes, heart disease, and more. To that list, Hillary added the rise in divisive, even toxic and dangerous, political engagement.