By Marcus Brotman (V)
The Politics Club is expanding! In the midst of the corona-quarantine, it is more important than ever that Pingry remains engaged both academically and politically. For this reason, I started the Pingry Politics Podcast (aptly named Pingry Politics). I want to make the often complex issues of modern politics more accessible to Pingry students. The podcast will host a variety of students and members of the Pingry community to share on the political topics they are passionate about.
It’s widely known that America’s political conversations often devolve into shouting. This is a result of the emotional charge which many divisive issues hold with Americans, ranging from gun control to taxes. I believe the reason many students find themselves discouraged from political discourse is a lack of political knowledge, combined with the current state of political debate at Pingry and in our country. Too often political beginners are treated harshly for their lack of knowledge. Instead of being encouraged to further their understanding, they are berated for having the “wrong” opinion. This mentality damages our political discourse because it provides large hurdles for the general population. Students who are politically interested may be dissuaded from adding to our discourse if they fear the abrasive nature of modern political debate. This is clearly a lose-lose situation, but that is where I hope the Pingry Politics Podcast can help.
Our Podcast will explore political topics of all kinds. In our first episode, to be hosted on Wednesday, April 1, we will delve into the political and economic state of Mexico with Pingry Alumnus, Ricardo Vollbrecthausen’12. Ricardo has a unique perspective on Mexico as he is a citizen of both the US and Mexico. Ricardo also started a publishing company in Mexico which publishes educational material in indigenous languages. He is able to speak from personal experience and his in-depth knowledge of the country as a whole. Our discussion will focus on the issues which Mexico faces: wide-spread corruption, brain-drain, slow economic growth, poor monetary policy, and more. We also analyze how Mexico will be affected by the new USMCA trade deal, and how president López Obrador (aka AMLO) has led the country.
If you are interested in our podcast, we are currently hosted by Soundcloud under the name Pingry Politics. In the future, we hope to expand to more popular platforms, such as Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
As the president of the Politics Club, I acknowledge political bias is unavoidable. Regardless, the Politics Club leaders and I will make all attempts to present objective facts to our audience and provide counterpoints to ensure that no views go unchallenged. To ensure a neutral perspective we have students of opposing political views researching for each episode. If you’d like to share your views on the podcast or suggest a topic for us to discuss, email me at mbrotman2021@pingry.org.
Update (4/6/20): It’s been approved! Check out our podcast here: https://soundcloud.com/pingrypolitics.