Hello everyone! Welcome back to the #iNGREDiENTS podcast! In Episode 004, I had the privilege of speaking with my old classmate Andrew Gerard. We attended undergrad at Andrews University. While he was there, he worked on campus and in the surrounding community to help get out the vote for (then candidate Obama) in 2008. Andy is currently a PhD Candidate at Michigan State University focusing on Community Sustainability. Previously, he obtained a Masters Degree in Public Policy at Georgetown University. He has worked for non-profits both domestically and abroad. He is passionate about serving others and strives to do his part to make this world a more beautiful place. It truly was a pleasure having him on!
In this Episode, Andy talks about volunteering for the Obama campaign in Southwest Michigan in 2007-2008 (7:00); Berrien County, MI going for a Democrat in 2008 for the first time since FDR (10:00); his memories of Election Night 2008 (14:45); how & why we ended up with Trump eight years later (22:40); the Immigration effect (32:40); the White working class…(37:00); if the election of Trump equates to a rejection of President Obama (47:00).
Andy and I also talked about why e-mails ultimately outweighed soundbites (56:00); why we shouldn’t just “get over it and heal as a country” (58:30); and the Evangelical vote (1:04:00).
During the episode, there were a couple of different sources of information that we mentioned while rattling off facts. Here is the paragraph that will help prove that we were not lying to you all :):
- Autocracy: Rules for Survival: www.nybooks.com/daily/2016/11/10/…les-for-survival/
- Chicago Council Survey on Opinions (showed importance of Immigration to Trump supporters): www.thechicagocouncil.org/publication/…-uncertainty
- This American Life episode that referenced how Immigration hasn’t gone up: www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archiv…-party?act=1
- Berrien County went for President Obama in 2008: uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/statesu…0&off=0&elect=0
There is so much good content packed into this episode. It really was therapeutic given everything that has been going on since Election Day. At the end, I share my “main ingredient” as I did at the end of Episode 003. After you are done listening to the Episode, I would love to hear what your main ingredient was. Take a quick second and subscribe to #iNGREDiENTS on iTunes and then leave your main ingredient as a comment in the rate/review section. I’ll be reading some of the best ones on the air!
Thank you again for listening to the Episode. As I mention on air, I have some new software which will enable me to keep recording high-quality episodes at a more rapid pace. I promise that I will be releasing episodes more frequently then every few months. Be sure to hold me accountable on that.
Email me @ ingredientspodcast@gmail.com with any feedback or comments you may have! Talk to you all soon.
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@michaeltnixon 
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