Reyna Lopez is the Executive director of PCUN, who’s mission is to empower farmworkers and working Latinx families in Oregon by building community, increasing Latinx representation in elections, and policy advocacy on both the national and state levels. On the show, we talk about the balance of power she’s seeing shift between farmworkers and their employers, then discuss a playlist of some of music that’s inspired her work.

This November, Oregon voters get to vote on the Right to Healthcare Amendment to the state constitution, which establishes a state obligation to ensure every Oregon resident has access to cost-effective, clinically appropriate, and affordable health care. Norman Sylvester is a long-time health care activist, a member of Health Care for All Oregon as well as a legendary boogie musician who was inducted into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame in 2011. On the show, we talk about the experiences as a musician trying to afford and access healthcare. Later in the show, Daniel Molkte and I talk about the measure’s specifics with State Representative Rob Nosse, who was a champion of the measure in the legislature, and is currently chairing the House Health Care Committee.

Two years ago, Oregon became the first state to decriminalize all drug possession with the passage of Measure 110. How is it going? On the show today we have Ron Williams with Health Justice Recovery, a statewide advocacy organization fully focused on implementing Measure 110. Ron is a community organizer who has resided in Portland, Oregon for nearly 40 years. On the show we get an update on Measure 110 and also hear about the role music played in Ron’s social justice work.

Andrew Yang is an entrepreneur, author, philanthropist, non-profit leader, and former 2020 presidential candidate. Yang’s New York Times bestselling book The War on Normal People helped introduce the idea of universal basic income into the political mainstream. He supports Oregon People’s Rebate, an initiative petition that would rebate about $750 to every Oregonian, every year and is paid for by raising taxes on corporations making over $25 million a year. On the show we talk about how Oregon People’s Rebate relates to universal basic income and discuss a playlist of Andrew’s favorite music, including Prince deep cuts.

On today's show, I share my own experience of some recent travels I had to South Africa and then playing a mix of South African house music, including some new records I picked up. The week I spent in South Africa exceeded my expectations in almost every respect. It’s more naturally beautiful than the photos make it out to be and I was moved by the history in ways I didn’t anticipate. However, what shocked me the most was “deep house” music being bigger in South Africa than I could have ever imagined.

In our third interview with candidates for Portland City Council Position #3, we chat with Vadim Mozyrsky about his vision for Portland. Vadim works as an Administrative Law Judge in the field of disability law and has spent his life advocating on behalf of underserved communities with a focus on immigrant and refugee populations and issues of disability rights. Mozyrsky, a Jewish refugee from Kiev, Ukraine, fled anti-Semitism arriving in the United States in 1979.

The Oregon People’s Rebate is an initiative petition qualifying for the November 2022 election that will rebate about $750 to every Oregonian, every year. This would mean putting about $3,000 in the pockets of a family of four and is projected to significantly address childhood poverty if it passes. The revenue to fund the rebate comes from increasing the minimum tax rate for big Wall Street corporations after $25 million of Oregon revenue to 3%. Currently, their minimum tax rate is less than 1%, which is among the lowest rates in the country. The effort is being led by my guest and fellow Rhythm Nation member, Antonio Gisbert.

Rene Gonzalez is a Portland based lawyer, small business owner, and youth soccer organizer who’s deep roots in Oregon have motivated him to stand up for change at this critical juncture. He’s running against our last guest, Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty, for her seat on the Portland City Council. Our hope with this interview is to better inform voters about their options for city governance and hear different perspectives on the most important issues facing our city

Portland, Oregon will never be the same after the events of the past two years. To City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty, that’s a good thing in some ways. In our wide-ranging conversation touched on music venues, police budgets and homelessness, Commissioner Hardesty outlined a vision for a more equitable Portland that she hopes will woo voters more than fear based messages when she runs for re-election in May of 2022. On the show, Commissioner Hardesty also told me the story of how music brought her and kept her in Portland and also how Marvin Gaye’s 40-year-old classic “What’s Going On” continues to inspire her to this day.

Manoj Mathew is a Portland-based electronic music promoter and DJ who has been throwing raves in Portland since 1991. Manoj and I have been in touch a lot lately as we’re planning a Rhythm Nation event together on November 20th at his venue Epicenter. As we’ve been talking through the event, it became clear that Manoj’s approach to putting on events is deeply personal to the point that it borders on spiritual, so I wanted to get the full story on his views on dance music communities as I think it relates so strongly to the community organizing we do at Rhythm Nation. It happens to include some great stories and tracks of early west coast raves that I think you’ll really enjoy.

Michelle DePass is the current chair of the Portland school board who is currently focusing on the unenviable task of re-opening public schools during the onset of the delta variant. It’s an incredibly tough job given that she has to weigh our constantly changing scientific understanding of delta against the varying opinions of thousands of concerned parents. In the episode, we talk through the thoughtful approach she and the board are taking to ensure our students and teachers are healthy. We also touch on lighter topics, such as the artistic path that led her to public office, the roller discos that are getting her through the pandemic, a playlist of her go-to jams and how we can get high school students dancing again.

Megan Andricos, also known as Sappho, is a queer event producer and musical artist based out of Portland, Oregon. She’s a founding member of Rhythm Nation and has been a huge inspiration for me. She’s inspired me musically through our studio collaborations and from her blowing my mind many times listening to her DJ. But deeper than that, Megan has shown me through leading by example how to throw inclusive and welcoming events and how to do community engagement through music. We discussed this leading by example theme during this member spotlight episode of Rhythm Nation. We also discussed representation in electronic music, Megan’s journey growing up as a queer woman in South Texas, her new record label Koritsi Komma Records and how our own missteps in the past inspire us to give back to the community.

Deena Barnwell is a DJ and stalwart purveyor of great music in the ever-changing Portland music scene. She worked at local community radio station KBOO 90.7 as the station’s Urban Music Director from 1998-2018. On the show, we talk about what brought her to hip hop, what's she's learned as a woman working in the music industry and the collective moments through music that have the power to transform. At the end of the show, we go through a playlist of top-shelf hip hop jams that inspired her.

Eric Ward is the Executive Director of the Western States Center, a social change organization that works to strengthen inclusive democracy. He’s also a former member of the band Sublime and has firsthand experience with racism and violence in the 1980’s LA punk scene. On the show, we talk about how songwriting is a form of “courageous conversation”, which Eric firmly believes we need to be having more of in order to move forward as a society. We end by going through a playlist of Eric’s favorite “courageous conversation” songs that got him through the pandemic.

Sara Kenigsberg was the supervising producer on both the Biden-Harris campaign and the Bernie Sanders campaign for president. Before that she helped start up a video team at MoveOn in June 2016 and was an early producer at both NowThis and HuffPost. She continues to work as a producer and digital strategist for a number of media and advocacy groups. On the show, we talk about the craft of political storytelling and the healing power of stories and self-care.

On Earth Day 2021, Rhythm Nation held a Green New Deal Party with a panel of climate experts and musical performances from Maarquii, Cay Horiuchi and Cee White livestreamed from Holocene. In this moment, there’s an appetite for bold change on climate justice and racial justice unlike anything we’ve seen in our lifetimes. You can be a part of that change.

Eli Goldstein is one half of the DJ and production duo Soul Clap, which has built an international reputation for their dance music over the past 20 years. Throughout his music career, Eli has played key roles on music activism projects, including DJs For Climate Action and more recently Rave the Vote. On the show, Eli and I talk about how his experience as a DJ, producer and record label owner brought him to activism.

This 60 minute party mix weaves together the best jams selected by my podcast guests so far along with jams that have been getting me through these strange last 12 months. Rhythm Nation has been a really gratifying project for me during these strange last six months. I’m so thankful for all the guests and other folks who have taken time to be involved in it. To the next 20 episodes!