The series is called "Five Questions" (to keep it short and simple). I asked the same four questions of each respondent, and tailored a fifth question to the person I was speaking with.
Except for my own performance (I was occasionally froggy) I like the way this turned out. I certainly like the intelligence and diversity of responses, and very much appreciate the time and care each person took to answer.
The five questions, stated most simply, are:
- Are we still in a time of pendulum swings in American history, or are we approaching a period in which things could change permanently?
- How should progressives think of Democrats — as "we" or "they"?
- What should progressive office-holders do differently to get a different, more progressive outcome (i.e., more progressive laws and policies)?
- What American future do you see as most likely, even if the likelihood is only marginally more likely than others?
- A question tailored to the interviewee.
Former Congressman Alan Grayson is our first interview (though this was not the first I recorded). I found him sitting in a corner in the exhibition hall, talking head-to-head with another conference-goer, looking for all the world like another civilian, another attendee. (That's the shirt reference; a nice shirt, interesting checked pattern, but very un-Congress-like.)
This was quite a fortunate find for me. Mr. Grayson was relaxed, personable and easy to talk with — a real pleasure. I hope you agree as you listen.
(Note: We had to change locations midway through — turns out that table was reserved and only temporarily empty. You'll hear a difference in audio for the later part of the interview. Again, forgive my occasional frogginess.)
The good people at Virtually Speaking have kindly agreed to host this audio while we sort through our other embed options for the rest of the interviews. [Embed moved to archive.org. Thanks to VS for the loan of their bandwidth!]
Five Questions: Alan Grayson with Gaius Publius, recorded at Netroots Nation 2012. Enjoy:
The full list of "Five Questions" interviews appears below. Links on names indicates that the interview has already been posted:
- Alan Grayson, former (and perhaps future) U.S. Congressman
- Marcy Wheeler, of emptywheel.net
- Cliff Schecter, who comments regularly with Sam Seder at Majority.fm among many other places
- Tom Tomorrow, cartoonist with DailyKos and This Modern World
- Alex Lawson of StrengthenSocialSecurity.org
- Josh Orton, with Russ Feingold's Progressives United
- Frances Causey, producer–director of Heist, the documentary
- Chris Pearson, a Progressive Party Vermont state legislator
- Susan Smith, Progressive Caucus chair of the Florida Democratic Party
- Sarah Burris, labor activist and progressive youth organizer
(If you have trouble with the embedded audio, check to see if you have Quicktime installed on your system, or whatever your browser uses to interpret MP3 files. If you have any other trouble with this audio, please let me know in the comments and I'll address it as quickly as I can. Thanks.)
GP
To follow or send links: @Gaius_Publius
