Skip to main content

Search Trends Ads Appearances Podcasts API

We value your privacy

We use cookies to understand how you use our platform and to improve your experience. Click “Accept All” to consent, or “Decline non-essential” to opt out of non-essential cookies. Read our Privacy Policy.

Vote Your Conscience with Kevin Stolla

Vote Your Conscience with Kevin Stolla

Can This New Political Party Break the Two-Party System? | Tom Joseph

Aug 23, 2026 · 39 min · 10 segments

Episode 40 marks a first for Vote Your Conscience: our first guest interview. Kevin sits down with entrepreneur and political reformer Tom Joseph, founder of Bookminders and founder and treasurer of…

Episode 40 marks a first for Vote Your Conscience: our first guest interview. Kevin sits down with entrepreneur and political reformer Tom Joseph, founder of Bookminders and founder and treasurer of America’s Main Street Party, to discuss his attempt to build a new way of choosing political candidates outside the traditional two-party nominating system. Tom explains how his experience building a business led him to approach politics like a systems problem. His proposal uses technology, local organizing committees, multiple rounds of voting, and a level playing field for candidates designed to reduce the influence of mo...

Episode 40 marks a first for Vote Your Conscience: our first guest interview. Kevin sits down with entrepreneur and political reformer Tom Joseph, founder of Bookminders and founder and treasurer of…

Spotify Amazon Music

Speakers: Tom JosephGuestKevin StollaHost

Top entities: Henry Ross Perot×8 United States Congress×14 United States×10 United States Senate×8 Two-party system

Show signals: SuitabilityLimitedBiasLeans right

From Bookminders to Political Reform0:53 – 3:26

K

Kevin StollaHost

0:53

How are you doing today, Tom? Kevin, I'm doing great.

Tom JosephGuest

0:56

I really appreciate you having me on your podcast and giving oxygen to this idea.

K

Kevin StollaHost

1:01

Yeah, great.

K

Kevin StollaHost

1:02

I'm very excited to have you.

K

Kevin StollaHost

1:04

So just to start out, if you want to tell us a little bit about how you got started, even with Bookminders and what you've been doing with that.

Tom JosephGuest

1:14

Yeah,

K

Kevin StollaHost

1:14

I mean,

Tom JosephGuest

1:14

there's parallels there.

Tom JosephGuest

1:16

Bookminders is an accident.

Tom JosephGuest

1:17

I'm not an accountant.

Tom JosephGuest

1:19

I'm a systems engineer.

Tom JosephGuest

1:20

I was working in factory automation, just trying to help my dad out with an accounting problem back in the mid 80s.

Tom JosephGuest

1:25

And my sister stepped in.

Tom JosephGuest

1:28

She had children and was willing to help, but really didn't want to help that much.

Tom JosephGuest

1:33

She didn't want to be on site.

Tom JosephGuest

1:35

And, you know, we worked out a process where she was able to work from home and provide the solution.

Tom JosephGuest

1:41

And it kind of dawned on me that somebody in this situation could probably support five or ten different businesses at one time working from home doing it.

Tom JosephGuest

1:49

And kind of a light bulb went off.

Tom JosephGuest

1:50

And that was 1984.

Tom JosephGuest

1:52

It was premature.

Tom JosephGuest

1:53

But in 1991, I lost my job and I started Bookminders.

Tom JosephGuest

1:57

And like I said, an unlikely accountant.

Tom JosephGuest

2:02

but it was something that faced a lot of challenges about data security.

Tom JosephGuest

2:06

And do you let people take data off site? And, you know, but as really coming with a new process, it really was employee considering the employees first.

Tom JosephGuest

2:18

And I have States.

Henry Ross PerotPersonAmerican businessman and politician
98%8 mentions
United States CongressCompanyGoverning body
94%14 mentions
United StatesCountryCountry in North America
90%10 mentions
United States SenateOrganizationGoverning body
87%8 mentions
Two-party systemEntityForm of government
83%1 mention
Republican PartyOrganizationPolitical party
79%5 mentions
Call to actionEntity
75%1 mention
Democratic PartyOrganizationPolitical party
71%5 mentions
PennsylvaniaAdministrative AreaUS state
67%3 mentions
Reform Party of the United States of AmericaOrganizationPolitical party
63%1 mention
Meg RyanPersonAmerican actress
60%2 mentions
American IdolTV SeriesAmerican television series
56%2 mentions
PhiladelphiaCityCity in Pennsylvania
52%2 mentions
Bucks CountyPlaceCounty in Pennsylvania
48%1 mention
Republican National ConventionEntityConvention
44%1 mention
Olympic GamesEntity
40%1 mention
Donald TrumpPerson45th and 47th U.S. President
37%1 mention
National Collegiate Athletic AssociationSports OrganizationNonprofit organization
33%1 mention
Mark CubanPersonAmerican businessman and entrepreneur
29%1 mention
United States ConstitutionEntityConstitution
25%1 mention
HPCompanyIT company
21%1 mention
FacebookSoftware ApplicationSocial networking service
13%1 mention
InstagramSoftware ApplicationSocial networking service
13%1 mention
XEntitySocial networking service
13%1 mention
IranCountryCountry in the Middle East
6%1 mention
South DakotaAdministrative AreaUS state
2%1 mention

Legislative GovernmentGovernment
United States CongressGovernment > Legislative Government
Congressional AccountabilityGovernment > Legislative Government > United States Congress
Political PartiesPolitics
Election Reform OrganizationsPolitics > Political Parties > Third Parties
America's Main Street PartyPolitics > Political Parties > Third Parties > Election Reform Organizations
U.S. House GerrymanderingPolitics > Elections > Congressional Elections
Reducing Partisan Polarization in the HouseGovernment > Legislative Government > United States Congress > Congressional Accountability
Digital Voting SystemsTechnology > Civic Technology
Secure Mobile VotingTechnology > Civic Technology > Digital Voting Systems
Blockchain-Based Online Nomination VotingTechnology > Civic Technology > Digital Voting Systems > Secure Mobile Voting
Political Reform VenturesBusiness > Entrepreneurship > Social Entrepreneurship
Technology-Enabled Candidate Selection PlatformBusiness > Entrepreneurship > Social Entrepreneurship > Political Reform Ventures
Third PartiesPolitics > Political Parties
Congressional ElectionsPolitics > Elections
Civic TechnologyTechnology
Politics
Technology
ElectionsPolitics
Government
Business
Social EntrepreneurshipBusiness > Entrepreneurship
EntrepreneurshipBusiness

From Bookminders to Political Reform0:53 – 3:26

K

Kevin StollaHost

0:53

How are you doing today, Tom? Kevin, I'm doing great.

Tom JosephGuest

0:56

I really appreciate you having me on your podcast and giving oxygen to this idea.

K

Kevin StollaHost

1:01

Yeah, great.

K

Kevin StollaHost

1:02

I'm very excited to have you.

K

Kevin StollaHost

1:04

So just to start out, if you want to tell us a little bit about how you got started, even with Bookminders and what you've been doing with that.

Tom JosephGuest

1:14

Yeah,

K

Kevin StollaHost

1:14

I mean,

Tom JosephGuest

1:14

there's parallels there.

Tom JosephGuest

1:16

Bookminders is an accident.

Tom JosephGuest

1:17

I'm not an accountant.

Tom JosephGuest

1:19

I'm a systems engineer.

Tom JosephGuest

1:20

I was working in factory automation, just trying to help my dad out with an accounting problem back in the mid 80s.

Tom JosephGuest

1:25

And my sister stepped in.

Tom JosephGuest

1:28

She had children and was willing to help, but really didn't want to help that much.

Tom JosephGuest

1:33

She didn't want to be on site.

Tom JosephGuest

1:35

And, you know, we worked out a process where she was able to work from home and provide the solution.

Tom JosephGuest

1:41

And it kind of dawned on me that somebody in this situation could probably support five or ten different businesses at one time working from home doing it.

Tom JosephGuest

1:49

And kind of a light bulb went off.

Tom JosephGuest

1:50

And that was 1984.

Tom JosephGuest

1:52

It was premature.

Tom JosephGuest

1:53

But in 1991, I lost my job and I started Bookminders.

Tom JosephGuest

1:57

And like I said, an unlikely accountant.

Tom JosephGuest

2:02

but it was something that faced a lot of challenges about data security.

Tom JosephGuest

2:06

And do you let people take data off site? And, you know, but as really coming with a new process, it really was employee considering the employees first.

Tom JosephGuest

2:18

And I have States.

Sign up to see more

The rest of this transcript — segmented and speaker-labeled, so you land on the exact moment something was said
Search every transcript — by keyword, by phrase, or by meaning, across every show Radar indexes
Trends — what is surging across podcasts, measured against its own baseline
Alerts — when a name you follow appears in a newly indexed episode

Create an account Already have an account? Log in

No account is needed to search Radar.