Veterans on a mission

On a crisp fall day in 2014, U.S. Army veteran Andrew Peppler, ’19, went canvassing in Seattle’s Beacon Hill neighborhood. Seeing Peppler approach one house, a neighbor yelled from behind his fence, “You’d better not be out here for a Democrat!”

Peppler smiled and said that yes, he was canvassing for a Democrat.

“All those Obamanoids in Seattle,” said the man. “Are you one of them?”

“Well,” said Peppler, “I wouldn’t call myself an Obamanoid. I just got back from Afghanistan.”

The neighbor’s demeanor changed. He unlocked his gate, came out to shake Peppler’s hand and thanked him for his service. Then a surprising thing happened: The two men had a respectful conversation about politics.

Expanding the conversation

Peppler and fellow Army veteran Joy Turner, ’18, who met as graduate students at the UW’s Evans School of Public Policy & Governance, are no strangers to political discourse. During their time in the service, they got used to having blunt and sometimes heated discussions with fellow soldiers. But they also got used to setting all that aside for a shared mission and sense of duty.

“Those who serve have signed on the dotted line,” says Peppler. “We’ve all said, ‘I will sacrifice my health and my life for this concept of America.’”

Now the duo is inspiring others to engage in civil political discourse through their veteran-focused podcast, Speak Freely.

Turner and Peppler first crossed paths at the UW in October 2016, and they soon bonded over their shared veteran status. It was the home stretch to the presidential election, and both of them were upset by how polarized the country seemed to be growing.

“Joy and I have a lot of friends from across the political spectrum,” says Peppler. “So we asked ourselves, ‘What is our place in this conversation, and what can we do?’”

They knew that, even as the public’s trust in many American institutions has wavered, military veterans and their viewpoints are still held in high regard. At the same time, says Peppler, “You rarely get to hear our range of opinions.”

“We really wanted to bring all discussions to the table, to help the general public understand the full spectrum of veterans,” says Turner.

Speaking freely

With that goal in mind, Turner and Peppler hatched the idea for a podcast that would attempt to bridge the divide by featuring veterans with diverse political views.

With the help of a grant from the Husky Seed Fund and discretionary funding from the Evans School, they purchased recording equipment and set aside funds for marketing and operational costs — and Speak Freely was born.

Now in its second season, the podcast has covered a range of pressing topics with a variety of guests. Turner and Peppler have talked civic engagement with a former fellow at the Charles Koch Foundation, analyzed this year’s State of the Union address with a Democratic political candidate, and explored national security with an FBI retiree. Even when they disagree with each other, the podcast’s guests all care deeply about their country — and they’re all veterans.

For the two hosts, coupling their Evans School education with their work on Speak Freely has marked a transition in their personal and professional growth. “This was our chance to move toward the actual making of policy, as opposed to just implementing it through our military service,” says Turner.

Both she and Peppler view policymaking as a democratic act that benefits from healthy, genuine debate — not from getting trapped in an ideological bubble and ignoring other perspectives.

“We wanted to help show that just because you don’t agree with something, it’s not ‘fake news,’” says Turner. “We view Speak Freely as an anti-Twitter.”

Forward momentum

Since she and Peppler launched the podcast, Turner has graduated with her master’s in public administration and now works as a business analyst for college and career readiness at the Seattle Public Schools. Peppler will graduate this June with the same degree, plus an MBA from the Foster School of Business, and hopes to help bring ethically developed products to market.

Speak Freely’s future is uncertain, but both Turner and Peppler hope to continue leveraging the connections they’ve made through the podcast. They may hand over the reins to other UW students, or they may form their own media nonprofit to keep the conversation going.

But above all, says Turner, “We want to be part of the movement to engage young folks to be active in their communities, politics and the policymaking process. The change we talk about is dependent on young people being involved.”

Start listening

Get to know Speak Freely by starting with a few standout episodes. Then visit the show’s archive for more — and stay tuned for the final episode of season two in May.