Graham Platner’s Collapse, the Progressive Movement, and AI’s Accountability Gap

Beth is joined by guest host Alex McCoy, a progressive organizer focused on holding Big Tech accountable, for a conversation about what breaks trust and how to rebuild it. They start with what the collapse of the Graham Platner campaign reveals about the progressive movement's relationship with imperfect candidates, then turn to the accountability vacuum around AI — who's making decisions about our jobs, our data, and our lives, and why almost nobody is calling their member of Congress about it.

Topics discussed:

• Graham Platner's Senate campaign collapse and what it means for progressive candidate recruitment
• Trust, accountability, and the "the groups are the problem" debate in Democratic politics
• What voters actually want from elected officials
• AI's growing role in hiring, firing, workplace surveillance, and government decisions
• The AI industry's political spending and lobbying power
• How to actually get your member of Congress to pay attention to AI
• Alex McCoy's immersive medieval battle reenactment hobby

Beth talked with Alex about the kind of in-person community his medieval weekends create — that's exactly what's waiting in Minneapolis on August 29. Grab tickets here.

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