This article was originally published by Richmond Times-Dispatch

By Audrey Pachuta

It all started with a typo. 

After telling League of Women Voters of Virginia President Joan Porte they wanted to revamp the organization’s defunct podcast, 17-year-old Charvi Deorah and 18-year-old Emma Lindsey brainstormed a name for the show over text last year. 

“Maybe something with democracy?” Lindsey said she meant to type to Deorah. 

Only, she didn’t type “democracy,” accidentally replacing the word’s second “c” with a “z” to spell “democrazy” instead

With that, a brand was born. 

The two teenagers, along with other members of the League of Women Voters’ youth council, have spent the last 10 months planning and recording podcasts to help educate their peers on the government and why their vote matters. 

As for the show’s name, they opted to embrace Lindsey’s texting faux pas, but capitalize the “Z” as a reference to the generation they hoped would tune in to listen: DemocraZy. 

“I think that people aren’t necessarily motivated to vote for voting’s sake,” Lindsey said. “They’re motivated to vote when they hear about an issue and are told that they can remedy or alter it through voting.” 

Through their first six episodes, the teens have discussed topics ranging from the Electoral College to abortion access, often finding ways to connect what they view as important lessons to whatever is trending in pop culture.

Recently, they said, this has meant discussing digital privacy as it pertains to the hit reality show “Love Island,” and Olivia Rodrigo’s advocacy network called “fund 4 good” before she released her newest album. 

“We’re just normal teenagers who can scroll through TikTok for 10 hours a day, but who can also talk about things like reproductive freedom or how the Fourth Amendment is being reshaped by the digital age,” Deorah said.

Lindsey recently graduated from Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School, where Deorah still attends. Behind the scenes, they are assisted by 18-year-old Nikki Rajan, who graduated from Douglas S. Freeman High School this spring.

Porte, the League of Women Voters’ state president, called all three teens “absolutely terrific people,” adding that they are always willing to raise their hand for any responsibility they could possibly take on. 

In addition to the podcast, the group of about 20 young women and girls working for the league’s youth council assists with a variety of tasks ranging from collecting goods for those in need to advocating for legislation.

Porte believes work done by teens like Lindsey, Deorah and Rajan — particularly their willingness to discuss important issues in a public forum — could be integral to improving turnout among young voters, who are often less represented at the polls.

“They’re not going to listen to somebody who’s my age,” she said. “A peer saying ‘Get your butt to the polls because this is what we’re voting on’ is going to have a much bigger impact.” 

All three teens said their most important duty when it comes to the podcast is ensuring they are staying informed on the news, while also reading books that help them expand their worldview. 

Recently, Lindsey said she was reading a book written by the director of The National Constitution Center, while Deorah hoped to learn more about the perspective of a sexual assault survivor in a memoir titled “Know My Name.” 

The pair said their unique tastes complement each other well for podcast research, as Lindsey is often well-versed in statutes and case law, while Deorah focuses on finding individual narratives to discuss. 

“When you read a lot, you become a more interesting person,” Lindsey said. “I think that's something we have going for us, is that we’re all very engaged and we all love to learn.” 

This November, Lindsey will attend Bryn Mawr College, and Rajan will go to Harvard University, but both said they plan to continue their involvement with the podcast as they prepare for the next chapter of their lives. 

Having turned 18 this past year, the pair is preparing to vote in their first midterm elections this fall, while Deorah, who is still 17, will have to wait another cycle. 

Recognizing that, like Deorah, some of their peers aren’t quite old enough to vote, they said their biggest hope for the podcast is that audience members will start engaging in conversations about key issues, while staying curious about what those around them think.

“If they’re just the person who is reading the news and listening to the podcast and reading the books and knows what they’re talking about, they can really make a difference in the lives and opinions of other people,” Lindsey said.

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