In episode 142, we are joined by Sam Grube, who is running for the Ohio Statehouse in District 18. Sam Grube grew up in Shaker Heights and has deep roots in the neighborhoods that make up Ohio House District 18, from Cleveland Heights and Shaker Heights to East Cleveland, Orange and Warrensville Heights.

As a product of public schools and a lifelong Northeast Ohioan, Sam knows firsthand what our families, workers, and students face — because he’s lived it too. He cares deeply about affordable housing, and healthcare, and about making education better and more accessible.

Resources:

* Sam Grube for Ohio House District 18

* Instagram

* X/Twitter

* Facebook

Connect with USS:

* Substack

* Instagram

* TikTok

This episode was edited by Kevin Tanner. Learn more about him and his services here:

* Website

* Instagram

In episode 141, Caroline Stout shares her journey from growing up in a conservative household and working at Turning Point USA to breaking away from right-wing ideology. She opens up about the challenges of deconstructing her beliefs and embracing a progressive worldview.

Caroline is a lawyer, progressive political activist, and former conservative who has seen the inside of the movement and chosen a different path. She spent years in right-wing spaces before realizing how deeply misinformation, exclusion, and fear were shaping the narrative. Today, she uses her legal training and personal experience to unpack propaganda and help others navigate their own political shifts. Her mission is to ensure people feel informed, empowered, and unafraid to question what they’ve been told.

Connect with USS:

* Substack

* Instagram

* TikTok

This episode was edited by Kevin Tanner. Learn more about him and his services here:

* Website

* Instagram

In episode 140, Aliza Lifshitz, founder of the Youth Advisory Project, a nonpartisan initiative embedding youth voice into government institutions, joins us to talk about creating lasting pathways for young leaders in government.

Aliza is a national leader in youth civic engagement. With a background in public policy and youth organizing, she has led advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill, co-authored nationally published op-eds, and advised offices across the country on launching Youth Advisory Councils (YACs).

She previously served as a coalition builder and strategic advisor at Giffords, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, YouthinGov Coalition, Voters of Tomorrow and continues to advise campaigns, civic leaders, and institutions on generational equity in policymaking. She holds a BA in Women's and Gender studies from Barnard College and is currently pursuing a Master's in Public Policy at Georgetown University's McCourt School of Public Policy.

Resources:

* Youth Advisory Project

Connect with USS:

* Substack

* Instagram

* TikTok

This episode was edited by Kevin Tanner. Learn more about him and his services here:

* Website

* Instagram

In episode 139, we chat with Melanie Falls, a member of the National Board of Directors for the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), about the amazing work the organization has done and continues to do.

Melanie has been involved in advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community for over thirty-five years. She has worked on the lecture circuit throughout NE Ohio educating about the LGBTQ+ community. She has presented at NEOUCOM, University Hospital’s Medical School, Social Work and Counseling Conferences to name a few.

She is a founding member of Equality Ohio and served as Board Chair in 2007-2008. A general member of HRC for over ten years, she began active volunteering as a member of the Cleveland Gala Committee moving on to be the Gala Co-Chair for two years. As a member of the Cleveland Steering Committee, she held numerous positions including Steering Committee Co-Chair, Federal Club Tri-Chair and Diversity Equity and Inclusion liaison to the national office.

She has been an HRC Federal Club speaker for Cleveland, Columbus and St. Louis. Melanie served as an HRC Governor from 2015 to 2017 and has been on the National Board of Directors since 2017. As a National Director, she has co-chaired the National Public Policy Committee and served on the Board Diversity Committee and Board Development Committee. Melanie is a Licensed Independent Social Worker. She has worked extensively throughout Northeast Ohio in mental health counseling, foster care and adoption. Her expertise is in Trauma Treatment, Women’s Mental Health Issues, Marriage and Family therapy and LGBTQIA mental health and relationships concerns. Melanie retired in 2015 as the Executive Director of Applewood Centers, Inc. a child and family Mental health agency. Since retirement from Applewood Centers, Inc. she has been working as a private practitioner at Lifestance Health, a national mental health organization. She has been an adjunct professor and a program consultant at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University.

Melanie has been legally married to her wife Tina for twenty-one years. They’ve been together for thirty years. Together they have raised Melanie’s four biological children, two sons and two daughters and have eight grandchildren. Grandparenting is their favorite and cherished pastime. Don’t ask them about their grandchildren unless you have a few hours to spare. Their intimate Sunday dinners often number 18.

Resources:

* Human Rights Campaign: HRC Website

Connect with USS:

* Substack

* Instagram

* TikTok

This episode was edited by Kevin Tanner. Learn more about him and his services here:

* Website

* Instagram

Ashley had jury duty, and she’s taking you behind the scenes — from being summoned and selected to reaching a guilty verdict — she shares it all!

Previous USS episode we mentioned: From Summons to Verdict: The Jury Duty Experience

Connect with USS:

* Substack

* Instagram

* TikTok

This episode was edited by Kevin Tanner. Learn more about him and his services here:

* Website

* Instagram

In episode 137, we are joined by Bryan Hambley, who is running for Ohio Secretary of State. Tune in to learn more about him and what he would do if elected to help Ohio have free and fair elections!

Bryan grew up on a small family farm in a tight-knit community where he saw the impact of people coming together. When he was a child, the state tried to shut down his town’s small public school. The town of 800 people got into their trucks, drove to the state capitol, and made their voices heard to save the school, the heart of their community. His parents taught him this was democracy at its best: a community rallying to do together what no one could do alone.

Ever since, Bryan has committed his life to fighting for what’s right. He has organized communities around key issues:

* Fighting against pharmaceutical companies using their money to buy influence in hospitals.

* Bringing critical health care to underserved communities.

* Standing up for the right to vote and be heard.

As a cancer doctor who cares for leukemia patients, Bryan has helped hundreds of patients and families as part of a team of dedicated nurses, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, and physicians. In that time, he’s seen how outrageous healthcare costs are bankrupting families, health insurance denials are delaying urgent chemotherapy, and rural hospitals and nursing homes are closing and leaving communities without quality care. And yet, Ohio’s government has been silent on these and other vital issues. A rigged and unresponsive legislature prioritizes politicians over citizens. Bryan is running because caring for his patients and his community cannot end at the hospital door.

The people of Ohio deserve better. When Ohio’s Secretary of State used misleading ballot language in 2024 to confuse voters and maintain unfair districts, Bryan organized medical professionals across the state to fight back. He took his two young children door to door to talk with neighbors about how gerrymandering leads to an unresponsive and ineffective government. These conversations confirmed that Ohioans all want the same thing: a state government that works for the people.

His wife, best friend, and partner, Jana, is a trauma surgeon, and together they have two wonderful children– ages 5 and 7. They are teaching their children the same commitment to democracy and to fighting for what is right that Bryan learned from his parents.

Bryan is running for Secretary of State because he has seen how his patients and our communities suffer from a broken and gerrymandered democracy. He is passionate about making our democracy work. But, he cannot do this without you; Ohio needs a community of people working together to care for Ohio, and strengthen our state.

Resources:

* Hambley for Ohio Website

* Facebook

* Instagram

* TikTok

* X/Twitter

Connect with USS:

* Substack

* Instagram

* TikTok

This episode was edited by Kevin Tanner. Learn more about him and his services here:

* Website

* Instagram

In episode 136, we chat with Sophie Christianson, an undergraduate student at the University of Richmond where she is the President of College Democrats. We talk about how democrats can win back Gen Z and how we lost them in the first place.

Sophie is majoring in Business with a strong interest in public policy. She has experience working on political campaigns and in nonprofit spaces, where she has contributed to voter outreach, community organizing, and policy research.

Most recently, Sophie just finished working as the finance intern for Lisa Vedernikova Khanna, a candidate running to flip a red seat in the first Congressional District of Virginia. She currently works as the creative director and campaign marketer for Jonas Eppert's house of delegates campaign. She is part of UpNext and is one of their Podcasts hosts. She is passionate about making government more accessible and responsive to young people and underserved communities.

On campus, she is the President of College Democrats as well as Women in Business and is on the Hillel Student Counsel. She is involved in student leadership and academic initiatives that promote dialogue across political differences. After graduation, she hopes to pursue a career in political consulting or in political media.

Resources:

* Sophie’s LinkedIn

* Sophie’s Instagram

* Articles featuring Sophie:

* College Democrats host UR’s first Democrat gala

* Afraid, uncertain and fired up: How UR students are feeling at the start of the Trump presidency

* DPVA Chair, House and Senate Democrats, and Local High Schooler Held Press Call on Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears Speaking at NRA Event after Mass Shootings

Connect with USS:

* Substack

* Instagram

* TikTok

This episode was edited by Kevin Tanner. Learn more about him and his services here:

* Website

* Instagram

In episode 135, we are joined by the face behind our favorite daily newsletter - David DeWitt! We start everyday by reading his newsletter, The Eye-Opener from Ohio Capital Journal, and we are thrilled he took some time to talk to us about the importance of state and local news.

David is the Ohio Capital Journal Editor-in-Chief and a Opinion Columnist. He has been covering government, politics, and policy in Ohio since 2007, including education, health care, crime and the courts, poverty, state and local government, business, labor, energy, the environment, and social issues. He has worked for the National Journal, The New York Observer, and The Athens NEWS. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Ohio University’s E.W. Scripps School of Journalism and is a board member of the E.W. Scripps Society of Alumni and Friends.

Resources:

* Sign up for The Eye-Opener Newsletter

* Ohio Gerrymandering: A brief and Awful History of the Very Recent Past by David DeWitt

* Find a Nonprofit Newsroom (Powered by Institute for Nonprofit News)

* Social Media Accounts:

* Ohio Capital Journal on Bluesky

* Ohio Capital Journal on Facebook

* David DeWitt on X/Twitter

* David DeWitt on Bluesky

Connect with USS:

* Substack

* Instagram

* TikTok

This episode was edited by Kevin Tanner. Learn more about him and his services here:

* Website

* Instagram