Kim Moffat, executive director of We Are Voters and prolific podcaster (Here’s What’s Happening, Dawson’s Darlings, My America), joins Alek and Doug on Keep Your Voice Down this week to discuss all things voting. We Are Voters is a nonpartisan nonprofit that aims to reimagine civics education, reestablish a healthy dialogue concerning government and politics, and build stronger, more informed voters regardless of political affiliation.

In this week’s episode of The Unapologetics Podcast, Malachi “A+scribe” Carter asks, “So, how do we respond to arguments against Critical Race Theory and its potential compatibility with the Gospel? What should you say when presented with claims from a thought leader like Neil Shenvi? This installment of Theory and Theology with guest Rasool Berry, teaching pastor at The Bridge and author of Critical [G]race Theory: The Promise & Perils of CRT and UnCritical Race Theory, provides some insightful talking points to help us navigate the rhetoric while addressing the heart of the matter.”

With the recent passing of Dr. John K. Hartman, a professor who impacted Alek and Doug‘s lives and a great many others, the Keep Your Voice Down hosts decided to honor Hartman with a special episode. Fellow Central Michigan University alums Chad Livengood (Detroit News Politics Editor) and Steve Coon (CMU instructor, Grand Central Magazine advisor) join Alek and Doug to reflect on the life and impact of a truly great journalistic mind, and a loving friend, mentor, husband, and father.

Alek’s childhood friend and standup comedian Rio Riojas stops by Keep Your Voice Down to discuss his recent foray into the world of standup comedy and his upcoming show in Kalamazoo (Wednesday, March 22 at Final Gravity Brewing Company, 8 p.m.). The Bay City native and East Lansing resident tells Doug and Alek about how he got started, how his act has evolved over the last year, his comedic style, how becoming a father has influenced the way he performs onstage, and why you shouldn’t bring your kids to see his act.

Three Rivers Public Library Director Bobbi Schoon returns to Keep Your Voice Down to discuss the library’s involvement with the Smithsonian’s Spark! Places of Innovation program. Spark! explores the unique combination of places, people, and circumstances that sparks innovation and invention in rural communities. The Three Rivers Library will be hosting its very own exhibit alongside a traveling Smithsonian exhibit that will make its way to the library this summer.

Alek, Doug, and Bobbi also discuss Women’s History Month, National Reading Month, and the myriad of ways citizens of Three Rivers can engage with the library.

Alek and Doug welcome poet, community activist, voice actor, author, and Watershed Voice columnist and board member Aundrea Sayrie. The long awaited interview with one of Watershed’s founding members doesn’t disappoint as Aundrea talks the origin story of Three Rivers Open Mic, her Black History Month series on WSV and why she decided to change the format this year, her ongoing health concerns and how they have changed her outlook on life, and an upcoming book she’s written about professional voice acting.

This episode is the first of the mini-series, Theory in Theology. A+scribe chops it up with Joseph L. Tucker Edmonds, an Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Africana Studies at Indiana University’s School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI as well as the Associate Director of the Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture. Together, they explore the theological context through which we can begin answering the question: Is Critical Race Theory compatible with the Gospel?

Reading in Righteousness explores various books from a widespread of Black authors who focus on topics related to antiracism in the Black Christian context, or as it applies. In this first installment, Malachi A+scribe reads ‘Biblical & Social Justice: What Is It? An Everyday Person’s Guide to Understanding Justice And the Role of the Church in Our Society’ and is joined by author Bryan Hudson.