Who gets to decide where power begins and ends?

We’re sharing two new episodes of the Draw the Line podcast, and this time we’re taking you behind the scenes as voters and lawmakers clashed over voting rights this past spring.

In the days after the Callais ruling, Louisiana’s legislature rushed to redraw its congressional map, putting the state’s second majority-Black district at risk. But the palpable fear in hearing rooms and hallway chatter was that they could lose both. Armed with talking points, signs, and iron wills, hundreds of Louisianians packed the Capitol for hearings — one of which started late and ran until dawn.

The sentiment was overwhelming and I heard no one testify in favor of erasing the second Black district.

These episodes were recorded at a special session held at Essence Fest this year — the annual convening by and for Black women. And, as is typical for many Black women, democracy was on the agenda.

The theme of the day was “Spilling the Tea,” and spill it they did.

You’ll hear from Power Coalition CEO Ashley Shelton, LDF President Janai Nelson, LDF Policy Director Demetria McCain, and Louisiana State Sen. Royce Duplessis.

“We get up every day and fight for it. But we’ve never seen it. We’ve never seen it,” said Ashley Shelton, CEO of the Power Coalition, on the quest for a true multi-racial democracy.

The subjects pulled back the curtain on the behind-the-scenes machinations.

“And that’s when I knew that the orders were gonna come from the White House to whether you had two districts like Louisiana or whether you had one like Mississippi or one like Tennessee, they were coming for them and they were coming for them now,” said Sen. Royce Duplessis.

Part of what we’re headed toward in this series is learning more about how coalitions succeed. Because it’s difficult work.

These episodes offer some important clues.

All the best parts of a movement gathering were present — good food, good music, fun swag, and every age welcome — grandmothers, grandbabies, and everyone in between. A family reunion on a mission.

But there was something else there too — an understanding that this is legacy work, and a future part of the historical record.

Janai Nelson, who argued the Callais case, shared “how painful that is to know that you might leave this earth in a state that you found it in and not so much an improved one.”

As we enter the fraught season ahead of the midterms, remember that some version of the drama in Louisiana is likely playing out in districts near you.

The volume of election-related news has been dizzying of late, but keep this on your radar: a federal appeals court in September recently blocked the Trump administration’s expanded SAVE citizenship database, which voting-rights advocates warn could be used to purge voter rolls before the midterms. It’s held so far, but there’s no guarantee. It’s one of many tactics we’re documenting in the podcast.

Please listen, share, and keep talking amongst yourselves. You can listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.

And, if you have any questions or problems with voting, you have friends you may not know about.

The National Election Protection Coalition is a nonpartisan coalition that came about after the 2000 presidential election, and runs an election protection hotline, staffed by lawyers and experts in a dozen languages. The number is 866-OUR-VOTE.

“There’s really no excuse for people who have questions, concerns about the time, place, manner of voting, about the rules for mail-in ballots, about reporting voter intimidation or disinformation,” says Damon Hewitt, the CEO of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights. “This hotline is here to help… Your vote is still your superpower so long as you have it and so long as you use it. So let’s do it.”

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This edition of  The Observatory was edited by Rachel Paese.

This is the web version of The Observatory, our weekly dispatch from the editors and contributors at Design Observer. Want it in your inbox? Sign up here. While you’re at it, come say hi on YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, or TikTok — and don’t miss the latest gigs on our Job Board.

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Join us for:

• Live, informal conversations with DO editors and the designers we’re talking to
  • A live discussion about design and democracy with the team being our audio documentary, Draw the Line around the midterms.
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Podcasts

Design of Business | Business of Design

DB|BD is back!

This season we are thinking about radical collaboration. For the second year in a row, Design Observer is publishing some exclusive conversations from the Aspen Institute’s Business and Society Summit.

In July, DBBD host Ellen McGirt interviewed eight thoughtful, important, and provocative leaders who are thinking deeply about AI, sustainability, and the role of business in a chaotic world.

Two new episodes are out: Proactivity is the Key to Survival With Edelman’s Dave Fleet and Eric Ries Would Like to Apologize.

Happenings

Pan Afrikan Design Week 2026 (October 21–24, 2026 | Cape Town, South Africa): How do we design to thrive? Held at the V&A Waterfront, this hybrid conference focuses on systemic changes, storytelling, and building sustainable solutions for African businesses and “purpose-driven people.”

Dutch Design Week (October 17–25, 2026 | Eindhoven, Netherlands): The design world convenes in affordable Eindhoven—a smaller industrial and tech-heavy market—to explore future-focused, multi-disciplinary design and business innovations with a big footprint.

Service Design Global Conference 2026 (October 28–29, 2026 | Frankfurt, Germany & Online): Beyond Boundaries: Enabling Solutions that Shape Tomorrow is focused om the operational business value of human-centered systems, corporate transformation, and service design.

Cairo Design Week (November 2026 | Cairo, Egypt): Spotlighting regional design, architecture, and the business framework supporting the North African creative economy.

Design-Build Conference & Expo (November 4–6, 2026 | Cleveland, OH): AI and the future of work take center stage at this year’s event for design and building professionals. Collaboration is also a track this year, along with cross-industry architectural workflows, commercial strategy, and leadership.

Adobe MAX 2026 (November 10–12, 2026 | Miami Beach, FL & Online): The powerhouse creative technology event tracking the newest digital workflows, design tools, and business applications.

Leading Design London (November 11–12, 2026 | London, UK): An executive-level masterclass-style conference built explicitly for design directors, leaders, and team managers.

BODW (November 18, 2026 |Hong Kong) Asia’s premier annual event on design, innovation, and brand strategies featuring global creative leaders. This year, DesignInspire offers an international exhibition about creativity organized by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC).

Design Miami (December 1–6, 2026 | Miami, FL): The intersection of high-end design collectibles, investment, global cultural identity, and commerce.

Job board

Hiring a designer?Post your role on the Design Observer Job Board to reach a highly engaged audience of designers, creative leaders, and studios across the Design Employment Network.

Industrial Designerat Emerson Tool Company, St. Louis, MO.

Engineering Program Manager at Craighill, Brooklyn, NY.

Product Designer, Stationery and Retail Products at Cre8Direct, Irving, TX.

End marks

Eager to explore more about the interesection of design and democracy? Check out Jessie McGuire’s essay, “America 250: design’s role in shaping national identity.”

“The fact is, national identity has always been a design problem. It lives not only in ideals and slogans, but everything from borders, to passports, monuments and patriotic rituals like the Pledge of Allegiance.

Citizenship is itself a designed experience. It is visualized in documents, reinforced by media, and performed through systems of belonging. In America, design has long helped define the national ‘we’ — and who stands outside it.”

This is the web version of The Observatory, our weekly dispatch from the editors and contributors at Design Observer. Want it in your inbox? Sign up here. While you’re at it, come say hi on YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, or TikTok — and don’t miss the latest gigs on our Job Board.