From unexpected election results to the biggest demonstration in U.S. history, 2017 has been quite a year. Progressives have seen significant losses—but also some major wins.
In the December 21 episode of “The Progressive Happy Hour,” hosts Christin “Cici” Battle and Drew Courtney sit down with Ben Wikler, the Washington director of Move On, to look back at 2017 and some of the lessons progressives have learned along the way. Ben, Cici, and Drew walk through some of the big victories of 2017, like the defeat of the Affordable Care Act repeal, as well as some of the losses, like the confirmation of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court and the country’s withdrawal from important environmental protection agreements.
“It is worth paying attention to the news and sorting between stuff that’s just bad and stuff that you can do something about,” Ben said, urging activists to make sure they are subscribed to the email lists of progressive organizations that can help make those distinctions. “What organizations do is look for things where people can make a difference. It’s not just breaking news alerts about bad things happening in the world—it’s ‘here’s an alert about something you can affect.’ And that really does matter.”
Also in this episode, we learn about Drew’s secret plan to open a movie theater that only shows movies he likes.
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