They could end up being in the hands of the Democrats, which once again, then real change, real, real change can start happening.

Absolutely.

I mean, a trifecta is kind of the ultimate way to start improving lives.

We've seen it in 2022 when Michigan and Minnesota both became trifectas and were able to pass.

I think the press called it the Minnesota miracle with all of the things that went through.

And certainly those two states are in play this year, as well as Arizona and Pennsylvania.

And I think that People really think that Washington, D.C. is where the important decisions get made.

I mean, raising money to basically take these states back is such an important key part of it.

Pennsylvania, I think, is pretty close, too, that they could end up being in the hands of the Democrats, which, once again, then real change, real, real change can start happening.

Absolutely.

I mean, a trifecta is kind of the ultimate way to start improving lives.

We've seen it in 2022 when Michigan and Minnesota both became trifectas and were able to pass.

I think the press called it the Minnesota miracle with all of the things that went through.

And certainly those two states are in play this year, as well as Arizona and Pennsylvania.

And I think that People really think that Washington, D.C. is where the important decisions get made.

I mean, raising money to basically take these states back is such an important key part of it.

What will they do? How do they do it?

Yeah, so we have a whole team that supports people who want to start giving circles and going to statesproject.org and clicking on take action and start a giving circle is the way to get started.

Our team gives people their own web page and then a bunch of tools.

podcasts, video recordings, sample language to reach out to people to talk about the importance of state legislatures and to start building a group that's focused on them.

And you're absolutely right, Joan, to name that people who have a group are the perfect giving circle leaders, book clubs, people who host dinner parties, you know, people who play mahjong together.

There's Any way that you gather, there is a giving circle there.

And I think it is so true.

How activists are these giving circles usually?

go.

Yeah.

I mean, the thing is that, yes, there are a lot of states that are in play.

We are in I believe 13 target states where we see a possibility to shifting the balance of power.

Our goal is to elect majorities that are going to improve people's lives.

We also do things like working to break right wing super majorities and gain governing power for people who are going to improve lives.

I think the most important thing for people to think about is that, you know, when you're looking at the federal level, which everyone's always looking at because that is what is in the spotlight, you are looking at a place where it is really hard for individuals to have an impact.

races that you think people should look at in terms of gauging whether the effectiveness of this anti-Trump turnout at the midterms?

That's, you know, they can do that kind of thing.

The thing about people coming together is that there's an incredibly magical math problem when 10 people get together in the living room for pizza and beer or 12 people gather for like sushi and wine.

I mean, it really is about people coming together to pool resources.

I did it with a bunch of children's book authors and we became a giving circle working with the States Project, which is an organization that focuses on state legislatures.

When we invested that first year in 2017 in Virginia, we filled the final campaign gaps for nine state legislative candidates.

And they all won their seats.

And the balance of power got so close to flipping in Richmond, just one seat away, that the next year Virginia expanded Medicaid and 400,000 people got health care who hadn't had it before.

Talk to us a little bit about that.

So tell us about Give- The Giving Circle and how is it different from people just donating to a campaign?

campaign?Yeah, so giving circles are people coming together to pool resources, and it started because I didn't know what to do about politics when I felt like things were getting so divided and exhausting, and I wanted to do something that would have the biggest impact possible.

But I didn't feel like I was someone who could host, like, a US senator or a US house member in my living room in Brooklyn.

I did feel like I was someone who could gather a bunch of my friends together and pool our resources and potentially shift power in a state capital, and I started to learn about state capitals after hearing Daniel Squadron, a New York state senator at the time, speak at a holiday party.

And after I heard him speak, I realized that all the things that I really cared about, education funding, environmental policy, healthcare, civil rights, uh, voting rights, gerrymandering, that all those things were actually happening in state capitals and not in Washington, DC.

So I saw those places as huge centers of power, and I wanted more people to focus there with me.

And so a giving circle was the way.

What? Okay.

Melissa, what is Bokashi and why should farmers be using it?

So Bokashi is a Japanese word and essentially what it is, is a fermentation process.

So how it works is you apply effective microorganisms.

So we have a product, Actiferm, which has been the effective microorganisms have been activated with molasses, so they're ready to use.

You apply it to farmyard manure in the cattle sheds before bedding down.

And then when you muck out, you take out all the muck, you ensile it, cover it with a plastic sheet, wait eight weeks, and it's ready to use.

And so during that eight-week period, the effective microbes, which is a population of different bacteria, organisms, yeasts, they ferment the mug.

So you've done this yourself on farm, you've advised clients, so you're pretty well experienced and everybody says it's worth it.

If it wasn't quite so extreme in culture and what's happening in politics, one outcome of all that craziness is the fact that it's probably a good thing for people to get involved and more, you know, more in the know when it comes to what's happening locally and politically um do you find that the the main driver is like oh my god what just a feeling of powerlessness or how do you find people and and what is the kind of main hook that you think kind of draws people in So I do

think that people, everyone is looking for a way to get involved and have an impact right now.

I think there's a lot of existential dread and fear and worry about what's happening in the country.

And people are looking for a way in.

politics can feel like a black hole.

It can feel like everything's happening in a dark room and you can't really see the furniture, but it is a place where you can have an impact.

And I think our program tries to shine a light on that, not just because the dollars are so much lower, but also because part of our work is to help people develop a political fluency, to start to understand how power really works.

The worst thing for me is when I'm at a family event and I get asked a question about some national headline that has nothing to do with the actual mechanics of how people are making decisions and what's going to impact our lives.

Woo.

That's absolutely true.

Cool.

Everyone focuses on the federal government, is where the spotlight lives, but we work where the power is, not-

Mm-hmm.

...

but I wasn't someone who could host a senator in my living room, you know.

But I was someone who could gather 10 friends over for pizza and wine and everyone pool some dollars and actually change what's happening in a state legislature, who's in the majority.

And that first year, we raised around $100,000 for Virginia and they have odd year elections.

We were trying to flip 10 seats that year to change the balance of power in the House of Delegates.

We funded the final campaign gaps for 10 of the, 10 candidates.

Nationwide?