Why Are You Still A Democrat? Maud Maron Isn't Leaving The Party—Yet

The Unspeakeasy With Meghan Daum

Meghan Daum

Society & Culture

4.7 • 855 Ratings

🗓️ 14 November 2022

⏱️ 74 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Maud Maron had a long career as a public defender and is now a schools advocate in New York City, where she was board president of Manhattan's largest school district. This year, she competed in the Democratic primary among a large field of candidates gunning for a rare open seat in New York's 10th district. She didn't win, but she remains a prominent voice among liberals seeking to elevate moderate Democratic positions. In this conversation, recorded shortly after the evening of the midterm elections, Maud talks about her political journey from a typical New York progressive to someone whose centrist views are often deemed transgressive by her liberal neighbors. She recounts how she was fired from the Legal Aid Society for pointing out what she saw as the inherent racism of DEI trainings in the workplace and explains why she won't shut up about gender politics, regardless of how impolitic that is. Most of all, she responds to the results of the midterms and talks about what she foresees for the Democratic Party. Will she stay or will she go independent? And how much difference does it make anyway?

Guest Bio:

Maud Maron is a New York City based attorney and parents' rights activist. Maud began her career as a criminal defense attorney at the Legal Aid Society where she worked as a staff attorney in Manhattan and the Bronx. She is the co-founder of PLACE NYC, a parent-lead, pro-merit organization dedicated to improving NYC's public schools. She is a founding member of the Board of Advisors of FAIR and a frequent contributor to many national periodicals including Newsweek, NYPost, NYDaily News and Common Sense.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Unspeakable Podcast. I'm your host, Megan Down. My guest is Maude Marin. She is a lawyer,
0:10.7	specifically a longtime public defender and a school's advocate in New York City, where she was
0:15.7	board president of Manhattan's largest school district. Mod ran for Congress earlier this year in New York's 10th
0:22.1	district as a centrist Democrat. She was part of a large field of candidates in the primary
0:27.8	competing for a rare open seat, and she did not win, but she remains a prominent voice seeking
0:33.7	to elevate liberals with more moderate positions. Maud has an interesting backstory
0:38.8	involving being fired by her former employer, the Legal Aid Society, for speaking publicly about
0:44.7	what she saw as the inherent racism of DEI trainings in the workplace. We cover some of that,
0:51.0	as well as discuss her views on some of the hotter culture war topics of the moment.
0:56.4	And frankly, I could have had her as a guest at any given point over the last few years of doing this podcast.
1:02.4	But the midterms seemed like a great occasion.
1:05.9	And this conversation was recorded on the morning of Thursday, November 10th, about 36 hours since the results of Tuesday's elections began coming in.
1:16.4	Even though things look good for the Democrats overall and moderates on both sides seem to be doing well,
1:23.9	Maude remains frustrated with the direction of her party, and I wanted to talk with her about where she thinks things are headed.
1:30.8	So here's our conversation.
1:34.9	Maude Marin, welcome to the unspeakable.
1:38.1	Megan, thanks for having me.
1:39.8	You are a lifelong Democrat.
1:42.6	You have a history of progressive activism. You ran for Congress
1:46.9	earlier this year in the 10th district in New York as a centrist Democrat. You've been very vocal
1:52.8	about your feelings about the state of the Democratic Party. Yes. You vocally supported the
1:59.4	Republican candidate for New York governor. So we're recording this
	...

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