Insider’s View Pt. 2: Interview with John Duncan, Legislative Assistant to California State Assemblymember José Luis Solache, Jr.

In her TED talk “The radical act of choosing common ground,” Dream.Org CEO Nisha Anand talks about criminal justice as an issue across party lines and about the necessity of choosing common ground. Her speech was powerful and hit on what I believe is the key to creating lasting change in criminal justice. But five years have passed since her talk, and a lot has changed. In a political climate that feels like it’s hurling faster and faster toward greater polarization, what does choosing common ground look like today?

In part three of the Insider’s View series, patient advocate-turned-legislative aide Brittney Desselle joins us to share her journey working in policy. Tune in to learn how she has grown and used her role to impact our communities.

In part two of the Insider’s View series, I am joined by our guest John Duncan, Legislative Assistant to California State  Assemblymember José Luis Solache, Jr., and my co-host for this series, Kira Armstrong. Today, we’ll explore what it’s like to be a legislative assistant and whether it could be the right fit for you.

In previous episodes, we have dived deep into the politics, but today, we will take you on an adventure behind the scenes: into the California Legislature. Joining me today are the co-host for this episode, Kira Armstrong, a high school junior at The Webb Schools, and our guest Carson Knight, Legislative Assistant to Assemblymember Rhodesia Ransom.

In a previous episode with California Democratic Party Delegate Ethan Reznik, we discussed the future of the national Democratic Party. Today, we will continue to explore this topic and talk about issues like the conservative shift among Asian American, Latino, and youth voters. Specifically, we will zoom in on the California Democratic Party and speak with its Organizing Director, Cassandra Chavez.California Democratic Party's volunteer link provided by Cassandra: cadem.org/volunteer.

“Transtemporality and the Technology of Indigenous Kinship: the Science of Remembering Ourselves” discusses how various Indigenous groups view time as nonlinear and kinship as extending to all life. Today, we’ll joined by the author, Violet Luxton, a Claremont Graduate University Cultural Studies PhD candidate and The Webb Schools’ Lab and Research Intern, to explore how these ideas can be applied to climate action, governance, the legal system, and youth political power.“Transtemporality and the Technology of Indigenous Kinship: the Science of Remembering Ourselves”: https://violetvision11.medium.com/transtemporality-and-the-technology-of-indigenous-kinship-the-science-of-remembering-ourselves-ea0d65573e23. Additional reading provided by Violet:“Anawakalmekak.” Accessed February 6, 2025.https://www.anawakalmekak.org/.Cajete, Gregory, and Leroy Little Bear.Native Science : Natural Laws of Interdependence. First edition. Santa Fe, New Mexico: Clear Light Publishers, 2000.“Educators Want Mesoamerican Math Tool Nepohualtzintzin In Arizona Classrooms : R/Mesoamerica.” Accessed January 17, 2025.https://www.reddit.com/r/mesoamerica/comments/ltu247/educators_want_mesoamerican_math_tool/.“Fire Kinship: Southern California Native Ecology and Art | Fowler Museum at UCLA.” Accessed February 3, 2025.https://fowler.ucla.edu/exhibitions/fire-kinship/.https://www.historians.org/. “Indigenous Art and History + Conversations with the Dead.” Accessed September 27, 2024.https://www.historians.org/podcast/indigenous-art-and-history-plus-conversations-with-the-dead/.“Indigenous Bookshelf (@indigenousbookshelf) • Instagram Photos and Videos.” Accessed February 6, 2025.https://www.instagram.com/indigenousbookshelf/.“Jobs - Job Details - Native American/American Indian and Indigenous Studies – Ethnic and Women’s Studies – Assistant Professor.” Accessed September 25, 2024.https://careers.cpp.edu/en-us/job/540126/native-americanamerican-indian-and-indigenous-studies-ethnic-and-womens-studies-assistant-professor?utm_source=Indeed&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=Indeed.King, Tiffany Lethabo, Jenell Navarro, and Andrea Smith, eds. 2020.Otherwise Worlds : Against Settler Colonialism and Anti-Blackness. Durham: Duke University Press.https://doi.org/10.1515/9781478012023.“Native Nations Law & Policy Center Supports American Indians | UCLA Law.” Accessed February 6, 2025.https://law.ucla.edu/academics/centers/native-nations-law-policy-center.“Pechanga Band of Indians - The Great Oak.” Accessed February 6, 2025.https://www.pechanga-nsn.gov/index.php/history/the-great-oak.Phillips, Rasheedah. 2025.Dismantling the Master’s Clock on Race, Space, and Time. La Vergne: AK Press.https://public.ebookcentral.proquest.com/choice/PublicFullRecord.aspx?p=31654638.Price, Basil Arnould. “Queer Indigenous Relationality inFinnboga Saga Ramma.”Speculum 99, no. 2 (April 1, 2024): 381–408.https://doi.org/10.1086/729093.“Question/Request Regarding Nahua Mathematics | H-Net.” Accessed January 17, 2025.https://networks.h-net.org/node/167994/discussions/3414329/questionrequest-regarding-nahua-mathematics.“Reclaiming El Camino: Native Resistance in the Missions and Beyond | Autry Museum of the American West.” Accessed February 3, 2025.https://theautry.org/exhibitions/reclaiming-el-camino-native-resistance-missions-and-beyond.Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples. “Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples.” Accessed February 6, 2025.https://www.sacredplacesinstitute.org.To Be Visible. “News.” Accessed February 6, 2025.https://www.tobevisible.org/.Williams, Edited by Gloria Snively and Wanosts’a7 Lorna. “Chapter 6 – Indigenous Science: Proven, Practical and Timeless,” December 15, 2016.https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/knowinghome/chapter/chapter-6/.“Wishtoyo Chumash Foundation.” Accessed February 6, 2025.https://www.wishtoyo.org/.

The Democratic Party is struggling. In the 2024 election, Democrats lost votes from the working class, youth, and various other minority groups, including Latino, Asian American, and Black voters. Joined by Ethan Reznik, a California Democratic Party Executive Board Member and delegate, we’ll discuss what the Democratic Party needs to do and more broadly, what this means for American politics.

The Annunciation House, a Catholic charity that aids and houses migrants, is facing arguments that it should be closed for violating state laws against running a stash house and human smuggling. Featuring Jenny Wang, a Stanford student and author of Universal Faith: Conversations with 15 Religious Leaders in Southern California, this episode will explore the role of religion in politics, including how youth's decreasing involvement in formal religious activities can affect the future.

Enough talking; it's time to take action!

Intergenerational justice, the concept that the past, present, and future generations have equal rights to live on a healthy planet and that everything that happens now will affect that right of the future generation (Strazzante), might just be condemned by the presentist democracy. Joined with Georgetown Government professor Richard Boyd, this episode will explore the fundamental issues of democracy for intergenerational thinking and how to best work around it, with an emphasis on the role of youth.