Reminder - ‘Speakeasy’ with David Pepper
Bette’s ‘Speakeasy’ zoom with author David Pepper is on Sunday, April 9, 4 pm PT
Just a reminder that this Sunday - when everyone has had their fill of Peeps - the Bette Dangerous community is hosting a ‘Speakeasy’ pep rally Zoom with author David Pepper, who is going to offer guidance on how we can pitch in and save some peeps. If you are not yet a paid member, please join here at a 20% discount off the annual rate to receive the registration link. I will be sending out invites to paid members over the weekend.
Pepper’s alarming white board today, which illustrated how black voters and young voters are being systematically disenfranchised from voting in Ohio due to new ID laws, is one example of why we need to start playing offense in our statehouses.
Fresh on the Wisconsin win and fresh on today’s Kansas loss, we will have an amazing hour with one of my biggest democratic heroes.
Pepper - who wrote Laboratories of Autocracy - A Wake Up Call from Behind the Lines - has been a guest on RadPod multiple times, and I have learned so much from him on how history is repeating and democracy is never assured.
Anyone who would like to read my interview with him about The Return of Jim Crow, please message me, and I will be sure to send you the full version. Those of you who subscribe to Byline Supplement have access to it already:
We are blessed to have such an incredible community - our ‘Speakeasy’ zooms have included such Bette members as Craig Unger, Martin Sheil, Jen Senko, Wes Clark Jr., and Jason Van Tatenhove. That we get to mine the knowledge of David Pepper is a personal honor.
See you on the holy day, and bring a Number 2 pencil. You’ll need it.
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Bette Dangerous is a reader-funded magazine. Thank you to all monthly, annual, and founding members. Thank you as well to all those who support my work with your generous coffee tips and who buy my ebooks. A private link to group activist discounts available upon request.
More info about Bette Dangerous - This magazine is written by Heidi Siegmund Cuda, an Emmy-award winning investigative reporter, author, and veteran music and nightlife columnist. She is the cohost of RADICALIZED Truth Survives, an investigative show about disinformation and is part of the Byline Media team. Thank you for your support of independent investigative journalism.
Save the date! The next Bette Dangerous ‘Speakeasy’ Zoom for paid members is Sunday, April 9, 4 pm PT, featuring ‘Laboratories of Autocracy - A Wake Up Call from Behind the Lines’ author David Pepper.
Here is more about David Pepper:
David Pepper is a lawyer, writer, political activist, former elected official, and adjunct professor, and served as the Chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party between 2015 and 2021.
In that role, he was engaged in numerous fights and extensive litigation over voter suppression and election laws in the Buckeye State. Stemming from that work, David appeared in “All In”—the documentary highlighting Stacey Abrams’ nation-wide fight for voting rights.
Pepper has written four novels that bridge real-world politics and fiction—including A Simple Choice (released in August 2022)). His first novel, The People’s House, earned praise for having “predicted the Russia scandal.” The Wall Street Journal named Pepper "one of the best political-thriller writers on the scene.”
Born and raised in Cincinnati, David is a fifth-generation Cincinnatian. David earned his B.A. magna cum laude from Yale University, where he was Phi Beta Kappa, and later earned his J.D. from Yale Law School.
David finished first out of 26 candidates in his first run for political office, and served on Cincinnati City Council from 2001-2005. In 2006, he flipped Hamilton County blue for the first time in 40 years when he ousted the incumbent commissioner; he then served on the Commission from 2007-2010, including as its president in 2009-2010. David was the Democratic candidate for Ohio Auditor in 2010 and Ohio Attorney General in 2014. He was elected chair of the Ohio Democratic Party in December 2014.
In 1999, David clerked for the Honorable Nathaniel Jones of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. After 2000, David also worked in the Cincinnati offices of major law firms Squire Sanders and Blank Rome, focusing his practice on commercial and business litigation, and appellate litigation. David also teaches election and voting rights law as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Cincinnati College of Law.
Between his undergraduate and law school years, David spent three years doing international work in St. Petersburg, Russia. Based out of the Center for Strategic and International Studies—a Washington D.C. think tank—he served as a research intern for Zbigniew Brzezinski for part of 1993, followed by several years as the assistant director of a project providing technical assistance to the City of St. Petersburg as it underwent economic reform. In that role, David interacted with international figures such as Henry Kissinger, Paul Bremer, ambassadors, members of Congress, business leaders, and Vladimir Putin, who was then Vice Mayor of St. Petersburg.
Pepper is a brilliant democracy coach, and no one will get you more excited about how you can pitch in to save ours. Please consider subscribing to join the community. Looking forward to meeting new members and seeing Bette’s core group. 🤍