Become A Gerrymandering Expert Just By Listening [PODCASTS]

Here’s your ultimate gerrymandering podcast playlist.

On a hot summer day, there are few things cooler than learning about gerrymandering.

Don’t know what we’re talking about? Click play on any of these podcasts:

Grammar Girl

Origin of ‘Gerrymandering’ – Grammar Girl

Ever wonder where the heck the word “gerrymandering” comes from? This January 2018 episode of the “Grammar Girl” podcast explains the how the term came to be. Listen here.

Gerrymandering – Civics 101

This 2017 episode of the New Hampshire Public Broadcasting podcast “Civics 101” looks into the complicated history of gerrymandering, asking questions like “When did it become the norm?” and “Is there any way to stop it from happening?” Listen here.

A Gerrymander Edition – Truth, Politics & Power

Host Neal Conan asks why Republicans seem to be better than Democrats at drawing district lines to benefit their party. Oakland County Clerk Lisa Brown is one of the members featured on a panel to try and answer this question in this June 2017 episode. Listen here.

The New York Times

The Daily

This October 2017 episode of “The Daily,” the New York Times podcast that is now broadcast on WDET weekdays at 6 p.m., looks at the question “Does drawing the perfect election district violate the Constitution?” Listen here.

Gerrymandering – 99% Invisible

The popular design podcast “99% Invisible” in March looked at excerpts from a six-part audio documentary series put out by FiveThirtyEight that examines efforts to address the issue in Wisconsin, North Carolina, Arizona and California. Listen here.

Redistricting: Mapping a Fairer Future for Illinois – Ready Set Gov

This April 2018 special episode of “Ready Set Gov” looks at an opportunity for people from Illinois to speak out against gerrymandering. Listen here.

Ungerrymandering Florida – planet money 

According to the planet money team in this June 2018 episode, Florida should be a swing state, but for the past 25 years most of its representatives have been Republicans. In 2010, citizens passed a ballot initiative that tried to address this. But what they had not anticipated was that politicians would try to find a way to sneakily get around the gerrymandering “fix.” Listen here.


Here’s other WDET work on the gerrymandering issue:

Policy Meets the People: Introducing the Issue of Gerrymandering

Talk Show Programming

WATCH HERE: A live one-hour show with an in-studio audience and guests at 8 p.m., Tuesday, June 26. Tune in at 101.9 FM or online at WDET.org. Or join on WDET’s Facebook page where we’ll live stream the show. The show rebroadcasts at 2 p.m. Tuesday, July 3. Listen HERE for WDET 101.9 FM live online.

On DETROIT TODAY: Was Racism Involved in the Drawing of Michigan’s Congressional Districts?

Digital Specials

A Podcast Playlist – Become a Gerrymandering Expert Just By Listening

NPR’s Hidden Brain: Gerrymandering and You

News Coverage

MichMash: Here’s How You Can Influence The Drawing of District Lines in Michigan

Gerrymandering: Why It’s a Technology Issue [TRANSCRIPT]

Redistricting 101: Your District, Your Politicians, But Does Your Vote Matter?

Ohio Offers Its Own Solution to Gerrymandering [MAPS + GRAPHS]

Who Should Draw Michigan’s Political Maps? Voters May Decide [PHOTOS + MAP]

Voters Not Politicians: The Pros [TRANSCRIPT]

Voters Not Politicians: The Cons [TRANSCRIPT]

It’s a Ship….No, it’s a House…Wait, it’s a Congressional District?

Does Michigan Have a District that Looks Like Homer Simpson? You Be the Judge.

Facebook Fun

Redistricting Rorschach Test

Author

  • Laura Herberg
    Laura Herberg is a Reporter for 101.9 WDET, telling the stories about people inhabiting the Detroit region and the issues that affect us here.