ArcanaImperii

Dion Irish, Boston Election Commisioner on election security

Gabrielle and Arianna speak with Dion Irish, Commisioner of Boston Elections on election security, cyber hacking, voter participation, and fair elections. They discuss how the public can have confidence in the Massachusetts elections and what steps are being done to insure free and fair elections. Dion Irish talks about what election scenarios keep him up at night and the 2018 Midterm elections in November.

Enigma, Alan Turing, and Bletchley Park

Gabrielle and Arianna examine the anniversery of the cracking of the Enigma cypher by cryptologists at Bletchley Park UK. This episode features an interview with Thomas Briggs, head of learning at Bletchley Park UK. We talk about the Enigma machine, Alan Turing, the role of women at Bletchley, and the future of cryptography. We then travel to The International Museum of WWII in Natick, MA to see and operate six Enigma machines there. We speak with Head of Learning and historian Susan Wilkins at the museum and tour the impressive WWII collection.

Interview with congressional candidate Barbara L'Italien

Arianna and Gabrielle speak with Barbara L'Italien, currently State Senator from the 2nd Essex and Middlesex District. She was previously the director of government affairs for the Treasurer and Receiver-General of Massachusetts, Steve Grossman. From 2003 to January 2011 she was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives representing the 18th Essex District. She is running to replace Niki Tsongas for the 3rd congressional district, who is retiring this year. 

The conversation covers Barbara's long history in politics, her views on helping the middle class, on vaccines, healthcare, on housing, and other topics. 

Interview with Congressional Candidate Alexandra Chandler

In this episode, Arianna and Gabrielle interview 3rd district congressional candidate Alexandra Chandler. Over her career, she's worked to keep the country safe, working in naval intelligence, including protecting the USA from weapons of mass destruction. Alexandra is the first transgender woman running for the 3rd district. A little over a decade ago, while working in military intelligence, she made the decision to live openly as a woman. 

While in law school, Alexandra and her wife Catherine lived in New York City. During the 9/11 attacks Catherine was on a subway train under lower Manhattan when the towers fell. Alexandra spent hours not knowing if she survived.

That day, Alexandra made the decision to join the intelligence community, where she served for 12 years in Naval Intelligence preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction from countries like North Korea and Iran and targeting arms smuggling to war zones and terrorist groups. 

She is now running against a field of over 10 competitors to fill Niki Tsongas' congressional seat, who is retiring. The discussion covers topics such as renewable energy, college affordability, money in politics, cyber security, the midterm elections, and even Lord of the Rings and Shakespeare. 

Interview with Dan Koh, candidate for 3rd district MA

Gabrielle and Arianna continue to examine candidates for the local 3rd district congressional race in Massachusetts. Today they speak with Dan Koh. Dan served as the Chief of Staff to the Mayor of Boston from 2014 to 2017, and was General Manager of HuffPost Live and the Chief of Staff to Arianna Huffington of the Huffington Post. There is a record number of candidates running for the 3rd district to replace retiring Congression representative Niki Tsongas. Gabrielle and Arianna ask Dan about his stand on the issues and his goals in running. 

 

Interview with Rufus Gifford, 3rd district MA congressional candidate

Gabrielle and Arianna examine the upcoming local race for the MA 3rd district. There are currently 13 Democrats and 2 Republicans in primaries to replace retiring congressional representative Niki Tsongas. Gabrielle and Arianna will attempt to interview several of the top candidates over the next few episodes of Arcana Imperii, to let local voters know more about the issues, priorities, and capabilities of each candidate. 

Rufus Gifford is a former U.S. Ambassador and a candidate for U.S. Congress in Massachusetts's 3rd congressional district. He served as the United States Ambassador to Denmark from 2013 to 2017,and was the Finance Director for Barack Obama's presidential re-election campaign in 2012

 

Episode 3: Astrophysics with Dr.Katie Mack

Gabrielle is off this week, fencing Epee at the USA Junior Olympics in Memphis! Arianna talks with Dr.Katie Mack (@AstroKatie) a famous astrophysics professor. Our conversation covers the nature of dark matter, a trip into a super massive black hole, time travel, a day in the life of an astrophysicist, careers in STEM, and other topics! 

Arcana Imperii Episode 2: Gerrymandering

In this episode of Arcana, Gabrielle and Arianna examine Gerrymandering. What is Gerrymandering? How do we measure it and determine if it is a problem? This episode will examine the politics of gerrymandering with a discussion with Massachusetts Senator Jamie Eldridge, who is driving a bill in MA to create independent districting commissions. Then we will examine the science of gerrymandering by talking with Tufts University mathematics professor Moon Duchin. Prof. Duchin is leading efforts to examine the quantification of gerrymandering and to teach mathematicians and scientists to be expert witnesses and district map makers. 

 

Debut episode of Arcana Imperii

Welcome to Arcana Imperii, a new podcast by Arianna and Gabrielle Roberts! This podcast will examine mysteries and hidden knowledge behind news, new technology, literature and cultural trends. 

Our first podcast will focus on Justice, looking at examples such as Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird, who seeks justic within the law, and comic book superheroes, who act as vigilanties and seek justice outside the law. Our guest for this podcast is Mark Zaid, owner of the comic book store Esquire Comics and also a top national security lawyer in Washington DC and professor at Johns Hopkins University.