Stateside with Kai and Carter: Stacey Abrams on why gutting of the US Voting Rights Act is ‘evil’

Science Weekly

The Guardian

Science

4.2 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 16 May 2026

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The US supreme court dealt a devastating blow to the 1965 Voting Rights Act when it ruled in Louisiana v Callais in April that states cannot consider race in redistricting. Southern states from Tennessee to Alabama have rushed to erase majority-Black districts, sparking chaos for the midterm elections. Kai Wright talks to Stacey Abrams, a voting rights activist and former Georgia house minority leader, about the fallout from the decision, and why, despite it all, she still believes the way forward lies in engaging more voters to participate in democracy. ‘They have fractured communities and said we’re going to scatter these seeds. Our job is to grow,’ she says. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is The Guardian.
0:09.0	Hi, it's Madeline here.
0:11.1	Today we're bringing you something different.
0:13.6	The first episode of a brand new show from the Guardian's New York office called Stateside with Kai and Carter.
0:20.6	They'll be releasing episodes on their feed every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
0:25.2	So search for Stateside with Kai and Carter wherever you're listening to this podcast
0:29.1	or watch on YouTube and Apple Podcasts.
0:32.9	My nieces and nephews, they are the first generation to lose civil rights since reconstruction.
0:40.0	This is evil, but it's also so pedestrian.
0:46.2	They can't win on their ideas, and so their solution is to silence the other side.
0:52.7	But this time, what they have done is misread the moment.
0:57.3	And that's the part that gives me, not optimism, but determination.
1:01.1	Optimism says, I'm sure we'll win.
1:02.8	Determination says, I'm going to win.
1:12.6	I'm Kai Wright. I'm Carter Sherman.
1:13.8	And from The Guardian, this is Stateside.
1:17.4	Carter, here we are.
1:18.6	It is the first episode of Stateside.
1:21.4	I know.
1:21.9	I'm so excited.
1:23.3	I feel like over the last few years, I have just felt so overwhelmed by the news.
1:29.0	Something happens and I have all these questions. Why is this happening? Who's responsible for it?
	...

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