Vetted Conversations

*BONUS* EPISODE 20 | How Arizona and Nevada are preparing for 2024 elections With Election Day fast approaching, Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of the We the Veterans and Military Families & Military Families, Ben Keiser, speaks with Secretaries of State Adrian Fontes and Francisco V. Aguilar to discuss the systems and processes in place to ensure safe, accurate, and transparent elections in their states. PODCAST AVAILABLE ON Apple Podcast: https://tr.ee/PzKHXtQ166 Spotify: https://tr.ee/y0FY3shbGL YouTube: https://lnkd.in/gj6asd3P • • #VettedConversations #CivicEngagement

*BONUS* EPISODE 20 | How Arizona and Nevada are preparing for 2024 elections With Election Day fast approaching, Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of the We the Veterans and Military Families, Ben Keiser, speaks with Secretaries of State Adrian Fontes and Francisco V. Aguilar to discuss the systems and processes in place to ensure safe, accurate, and transparent elections in their states. PODCAST AVAILABLE ON Apple Podcast: https://tr.ee/PzKHXtQ166 Spotify: https://tr.ee/y0FY3shbGL YouTube: https://lnkd.in/gj6asd3P • • #VettedConversations #CivicEngagement

🎙️ Season 2 of the Vetted Conversations Podcast brought together a long list of remarkable guests to discuss veterans' roles in government, civic engagement, elections and national security. Tune in wherever you get your podcasts! A BIG THANK YOU to all of our guests this season: • Andrew Borene - Former USMC intelligence officer • Justin Brown - Founder of HillVets • Mary Beth Bruggeman, MPM - Executive director of The Mission Continues • Mike Cantwell - U.S. Navy veteran • Garrett Cathcart - U.S. Army veteran and executive director of More Perfect Union • Lindsay Church - U.S. Navy veteran and executive director of Minority Veterans of America • Al Eskalis - U.S. Marine Corps combat veteran and current Deputy Chief of Citizenship and Applicant Information Services at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services • Zachary Fryer-Biggs - Managing editor of Military.com • Adam Gamal - U.S. Army veteran and author • Shawn Healy, PhD - Senior Director, Policy and Advocacy at iCivics • Sasha Havlicek - CEO of ISD Global • Commissioner Ben Hovland - Chairman of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) • Mike Johnson - Author and Capitol Hill staffer • Kelly S. Kennedy - U.S. Army veteran and author • Lindsay Knight, PhD - Chief Impact Officer of Blue Star Families • Kelsey Lawrence - A citizen, patriot, mother and activist • Cole T. Lyle - Executive director of Mission Roll Call • Gregory Miller - COO and co-founder of the Open Source Election Technology Institute • Michael O'Hanlon of The Brookings Institution • Commissioner Donald Palmer - Vice Chair of the EAC and the Designated Federal Officer for the Local Leadership Council • Christopher Purdy - Vet the Vote coalition member and founder of The Chamberlain Network • Matt Reisinger - Director of Elections & General Registrar for Warren County Virginia • Kori Shacke - Senior Fellow and Director of Foreign and Defense Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute • Joel C. S. - Acting director of the Selective Service System • Kate van Dam - Co-founder of No Exceptions • Lisa R. Varga, MLS - Executive director of the Virginia Library Association • Loren Westerfield, MBA - Deputy Director of Vet the Vote • Phyllis Wilson, MPA, BSN, RN - President of WOMEN IN MILITARY SERVICE FOR AMERICA MEMORIAL FOUNDATION INC Vetted Conversations is a podcast to help Americans - especially the veteran community - better understand their rights and responsibilities as citizens and how they can get involved to reinforce our constitutional republic and representative democracy. We are focused on bringing Americans together to help create a more perfect union. AVAILABLE ON Apple Podcast: https://tr.ee/PzKHXtQ166 Spotify: https://tr.ee/y0FY3shbGL YouTube: https://lnkd.in/ebqRAm_u #VettedConversations #CivicEngagement #pollworkers #nationalsecurity #homelandsecurity #freepress

EPISODE 19 | Who are the People Running American Elections? With the 2024 elections fast approaching, we're focusing this episode on the people who are working hard to make sure America continues to have the safest, most secure, and most accurate elections on the planet. GUESTS -Matt Reisinger - Director of Elections & General Registrar for Warren County Virginia -Commissioner Ben Hovland - Chairman of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) -Commissioner Donald Palmer - Vice Chair of the EAC and the Designated Federal Officer (DFO) for the Local Leadership Council (LLC) -Loren Westerfield, MBA - Deputy Director of Vet the Vote PODCAST AVAILABLE ON Apple Podcast: https://tr.ee/PzKHXtQ166 Spotify: https://tr.ee/y0FY3shbGL • • #VettedConversations #CivicEngagement

EPISODE 19 | Who are the People Running American Elections? With the 2024 elections fast approaching, we're focusing this episode on the people who are working hard to make sure America continues to have the safest, most secure, and most accurate elections on the planet. GUESTS -Matthew Reisinger - Director of Elections & General Registrar for Warren County Virginia -Commissioner Benjamin Hovland - Chairman of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) -Commissioner Donald Palmer - Vice Chair of the EAC and the Designated Federal Officer (DFO) for the Local Leadership Council (LLC) -Loren Westerfield, MBA - Deputy Director of Vet the Vote PODCAST AVAILABLE ON Apple Podcast: https://tr.ee/PzKHXtQ166 Spotify: https://tr.ee/y0FY3shbGL • • #VettedConversations #CivicEngagement

EPISODE 18 | Who is Trying to Interfere With Our Elections and How You Can Stop Them This episode is all about how humans construct our realities with our five senses and the information we gather beyond our senses. And this is a garbage-in garbage-out process - when we consume bogus information, we tend to make decisions that aren't aligned with the interests of ourselves, our families, and our nation. GUESTS Zachary Fryer-Biggs - Managing editor of Military.com Sasha Havlicek - CEO of ISD (Institute for Strategic Dialogue) Global Andrew Borene - Former USMC intelligence officer PODCAST AVAILABLE ON Apple Podcast: https://tr.ee/PzKHXtQ166 Spotify: https://tr.ee/y0FY3shbGL • • • #VettedConversations #CivicEngagement

EPISODE 18 | Who is Trying to Interfere With Our Elections and How You Can Stop Them This episode is all about how humans construct our realities with our five senses and the information we gather beyond our senses. And this is a garbage-in garbage-out process - when we consume bogus information, we tend to make decisions that aren't aligned with the interests of ourselves, our families, and our nation. GUESTS Zachary Fryer-Biggs - Managing editor of Military.com Sasha Havlicek - CEO of ISD (Institute for Strategic Dialogue) Global Andrew Borene - Former USMC intelligence officer PODCAST AVAILABLE ON Apple Podcast: https://tr.ee/PzKHXtQ166 Spotify: https://tr.ee/y0FY3shbGL • • • #VettedConversations #CivicEngagement

EPISODE 17 | Women's Contributions To Our National Defense This episode is all about the many contributions women have made to our national defense and how the military services are changing to better leverage the full talents of the American people. Leading off, Joe speaks with U.S. Marine Corps attack helicopter pilot and combat veteran, Katey van Dam (1:33). Katey deployed in support of combat operations in Afghanistan and counter-piracy operations in the Horn of Africa/Gulf of Aden. She also co-founded No Exceptions, an initiative that led the effort to get the Department of Defense to allow women to compete for jobs in the infantry, artillery, tanks, combat engineers and other previously closed military occupational specialties (MOSs). Next, Ellen chats with Army veteran Phyllis Wilson (14:05) who served 37 years in the Army as a Military Intelligence Voice Intercept Operator. Phyllis has served around the globe and has deployed to Iraq several times as an Intelligence Analyst with Special Ops. She now leads the efforts of the Military Women's Memorial in Arlington National Cemetery - whose mission is to capture and tell the stories of the many women who have defended our country. Lastly, Lindsay Knight (43:15) of Blue Star Families joins us for a discussion on what her organization is doing to strengthen the military community. GUESTS Kate van Dam - Co-founder of No Exceptions Phyllis Wilson, MPA, BSN, RN - President of the Women in Military Service for America Memorial Foundation Lindsay Knight, PhD - Chief Impact Officer of Blue Star Families ABOUT VETTED CONVERSATIONS Vetted Conversations is a podcast to help Americans - especially the veteran community - better understand their rights and responsibilities as citizens and how they can get involved to reinforce our constitutional republic and representative democracy. We are focused on bringing Americans together to help create a more perfect union. This podcast was formerly titled Vet our Democracy and was rebranded with the launch of Season 2 to reflect our expanded goals. PODCAST AVAILABLE ON Apple Podcast: https://tr.ee/PzKHXtQ166 Spotify: https://tr.ee/y0FY3shbGL • • • #VettedConversations #CivicEngagement

EPISODE 17 | Women's Contributions To Our National Defense This episode is all about the many contributions women have made to our national defense and how the military services are changing to better leverage the full talents of the American people. Leading off, Joe speaks with U.S. Marine Corps attack helicopter pilot and combat veteran, Katey van Dam (1:33). Katey deployed in support of combat operations in Afghanistan and counter-piracy operations in the Horn of Africa/Gulf of Aden. She also co-founded No Exceptions, an initiative that led the effort to get the Department of Defense to allow women to compete for jobs in the infantry, artillery, tanks, combat engineers and other previously closed military occupational specialties (MOSs). Next, Ellen chats with Army veteran Phyllis Wilson (14:05) who served 37 years in the Army as a Military Intelligence Voice Intercept Operator. Phyllis has served around the globe and has deployed to Iraq several times as an Intelligence Analyst with Special Ops. She now leads the efforts of the Military Women's Memorial in Arlington National Cemetery - whose mission is to capture and tell the stories of the many women who have defended our country. Lastly, Lindsay Knight (43:15) of Blue Star Families joins us for a discussion on what her organization is doing to strengthen the military community. GUESTS Kate van Dam - Co-founder of No Exceptions Phyllis Wilson, MPA, BSN, RN - President of the Women in Military Service for America Memorial Foundation Lindsay Knight, PhD - Chief Impact Officer of Blue Star Families ABOUT VETTED CONVERSATIONS Vetted Conversations is a podcast to help Americans - especially the veteran community - better understand their rights and responsibilities as citizens and how they can get involved to reinforce our constitutional republic and representative democracy. We are focused on bringing Americans together to help create a more perfect union. This podcast was formerly titled Vet our Democracy and was rebranded with the launch of Season 2 to reflect our expanded goals. PODCAST AVAILABLE ON Apple Podcast: https://tr.ee/PzKHXtQ166 Spotify: https://tr.ee/y0FY3shbGL • • • #VettedConversations #CivicEngagement

EPISODE 16 | Our American Libraries and How They Support our System of Self Governance America's founders knew that if our experiment in democracy was to survive, and people were to effectively govern themselves, the citizenry needed access to good information. While freedom of the press was enshrined in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, public libraries were equally important to the likes of Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison. In this episode, Ellen and Joe speak with Dr. Shawn Healy (01:07) of iCivics on the rule of law and why it is important. Next up is Lisa Varga (06:00), the executive director of the Virginia Library Association and spouse of a Navy veteran to discuss how libraries serve our communities far beyond the collecting and issuing of books. And lastly, we speak with Kelsey Lawrence (50:30), a citizen, patriot, and mom living in rural Virginia who led an effort to fight off attempts to censor what library patrons could read. As our second President, John Adams said, "Let us tenderly and kindly cherish, therefore, the means of knowledge. Let us dare to read, think, speak and write!" Onward! GUESTS Shawn Healy, PhD - Senior Director of Policy and Advocacy at iCivics Lisa R. Varga, MLS - executive director of the Virginia Library Association Kelsey Lawrence - a citizen, patriot, and mom living in rural Virginia who led an effort to fight off attempts to censor what library patrons could read. ABOUT VETTED CONVERSATIONS Vetted Conversations is a podcast to help Americans - especially the veteran community - better understand their rights and responsibilities as citizens and how they can get involved to reinforce our constitutional republic and representative democracy. We are focused on bringing Americans together to help create a more perfect union. This podcast was formerly titled Vet our Democracy and was rebranded with the launch of Season 2 to reflect our expanded goals. PODCAST AVAILABLE ON Apple Podcast: https://tr.ee/PzKHXtQ166 Spotify: https://tr.ee/y0FY3shbGL • • #VettedConversations #CivicEngagement