How We Vote (Throwback)

By Ramtin Arablouei,

Rund Abdelfatah, Laine Kaplan-Levenson, Julie Caine, Lawrence Wu, Parth Shah, Jamison York, Victoria Whitley-Berry, Tamar Charney

Published October 17, 2024 at 9:15 AM EDT

Drunken brawls, coercion, and lace curtains: believe it or not, how regular people vote was not something the Founding Fathers thought much about. Americans went from casting votes at wild parties in the town square to doing so in private booths, behind a drawn curtain. In this episode, the process of voting: how it was designed, who it was meant for, and the moments when we reimagined it altogether.

GUESTS:

Carol Anderson, professor at Emory University and author of One Person No Vote: How Voter Suppression Is Destroying Our Democracy

Jill Lepore, professor at Harvard, staff writer for The New Yorker, and host of The Last Archive podcast

Richard J. Carwardine, Rhodes professor emeritus of American history and author of Lincoln: A Life of Purpose and Power

Andrew W. Robertson, professor at the Graduate Center at City University of New York, and author of The Language of Democracy: Political Rhetoric in the United States and Britain, 1790–1900

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Ramtin Arablouei

Ramtin Arablouei is co-host and co-producer of NPR's podcast Throughline, a show that explores history through creative, immersive storytelling designed to reintroduce history to new audiences.

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Rund Abdelfatah

Rund Abdelfatah is the co-host and producer of Throughline, a podcast that explores the history of current events. In that role, she's responsible for all aspects of the podcast's production, including development of episode concepts, interviewing guests, and sound design.

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Laine Kaplan-Levenson

Laine Kaplan-Levenson is a producer and reporter for NPR's Throughline podcast. Before joining the Throughline team, they were the host and producer of WWNO's award-winning history podcast TriPod: New Orleans at 300, as well as WWNO/WRKF's award-winning political podcast Sticky Wicket. Before podcasting, they were a founding reporter for WWNO's Coastal Desk, and covered land loss, fisheries, water management, and all things Louisiana coast. Kaplan-Levenson has contributed to NPR, This American Life, Marketplace, Latino USA, Oxford American (print), Here and Now, The World, 70 Million, and Nancy, among other national outlets. They served as a host and producer of Last Call, a multiracial collective of queer artists and archivists, and freelanced as a storytelling and podcast consultant, workshop instructor, and facilitator of student-produced audio projects. Kaplan-Levenson is also the founder and host of the live storytelling series, Bring Your Own. They like to play music and occasionally DJ under the moniker DJ Swimteam.

Julie Caine

Julie Caine is senior editor for NPR's Throughline. An award-winning editor, reporter and audio producer, Caine's heart is in her ears. She led podcasting and on-demand audio at KQED in San Francisco, overseeing strategy, new show development and a vibrant podcast portfolio, including The Bay, Truth Be Told and Rightnowish. She helped found Jetty Studios, an international podcast unit for the Al Jazeera Media Network, where she launched Closer Than They Appear and Game of Our Lives, and developed The Take. She's a founding producer and editor on The Stoop and The Specialist podcasts, and was managing producer for Crosscurrents at KALW Public Radio, a springboard for shows like 99% Invisible, Snap Judgment, The Intersection, and Kamau Right Now. She believes deeply in Grace Paley's maxim that you must be a story listener to be a storyteller.

Lawrence Wu

Parth Shah

Parth Shah is a producer and reporter in the Programming department at NPR. He came to NPR in 2016 as a Kroc Fellow.

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Jamison York

Victoria Whitley-Berry

Victoria Whitley-Berry is a director and producer for Morning Edition. They also briefly helped to produce NPR's history podcast Throughline. They joined NPR in 2016 as an intern for All Things Considered on the weekend. Born and raised in Tallahassee, Fla., Whitley-Berry has a bachelor of arts degree in journalism from Texas Christian University.

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Tamar Charney

Tamar Charney is Acting Senior Director, Collaborative Journalism for NPR News. She has a key role in supporting the editorial collaborations between and among NPR and its Member stations, which support public radio's unparalleled local, regional, and national reporting.

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