Shawn Griffiths
Photo Credit: David Lee / Flickr
Former presidential candidate and co-founder of the Forward Party Andrew Yang sat down with Nirvana co-founder Krist Novoselic, who went from changing the status quo in music to bringing that independent spirit to the political arena and the fight for better elections.
Novoselic is a well-known figure. Along with being the co-founder of an industry changing and genre re-defining rock band, he transitioned from the music scene to local politics in Seattle and became an advocate for nonpartisan election reforms like ranked choice voting and proportional representation.
In many respects, Novoselic was ahead of the curve on reforming the way the US elects public officials. He even served as chair of the nonpartisan better elections group, FairVote.
Yang and Novoselic discuss Nirvana, the transition from the independent music scene to independent politics, how elections today fail to inspire and incentivize participation because they are all but pre-determined, and how fair and simple the solution to this is.
"When you talk to people about it, you can get that 1000-yard stare. It's really deep policy," Novoselic said. "There is something about having a message that people can respond to."
Watch the full conversation between Yang and Novoselic above.