"We hold these truths to be self-evident..."

246 years since those words were first written in the Declaration of Independence, what truths do we all still hold to be self-evident? In just a few weeks many of us will go to the polls for the 2022 midterm elections. 

In the midterm elections of 2014, just 15 percent of people aged 18-29 in Connecticut turned out to cast a vote. Four years later, in 2018, that number had doubled to 30 percent. In fact it was a year that broke records for youth turnout across the nation. Will young people surpass that mark again this year?

Throughout this season we’ll be looking at the issues that are driving young people’s engagement with politics – the climate crisis, reproductive rights, gun violence, gay and trans rights, and access to the ballot box. What about those issues is self-evident? Where do we have common ground as a nation and across generations, and where do we differ? All of the people we’ll invite into the studio to speak with us this season are in their 20s or even younger.

To set the scene we’re assembling a panel of young people to explore why we’ve seen this resurgence of interest in politics.

Guests this episode:

Nanee Sajeev, a member of the CT Mirror’s Community Editorial Board, who does community work in the field of sexual and domestic violence.

Ed Ford, who was first elected to office as a Republican at the age of 20. He served on the Middletown Board of Education and then the Common Council.

Valli Pendyala, the vice-chair of Future Leaders in Politics.