Trey Kay Published

Us & Them Encore: The Fight For The Youth Vote

A black background with a photo of the late Charlie Kirk off to one side. The photo of him appears to be while he was giving a speech. He wears a blue suit and red tie. The words, "The Fight for the Youth Vote" is seen along with the WVPB and Us & Them logos.

This episode first aired in 2023, focusing on the strategies to motivate young voters, and we’re sharing it again in the wake of the Sept. 10, 2025, assassination of Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA. Kirk, a renowned conservative youth organizer, was shot and killed during a campus event at Utah Valley University.

Nothing divides Americans like politics — but young voters continue to matter. Us & Them host Trey Kay talks with journalist Kyle Spencer, whose book Raising Them Right traces how conservative organizers spent years building a youth movement on campuses. Spencer says the growth was strategic and well funded. Money can organize power, she notes, though it doesn’t force a single, uniform ideology on young people.

Kay also talks with Abby Kiesa of Tufts University’s Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), who explains how youth participation has shifted in the Trump era and why a deeper problem persists: the political system still struggles to turn young people’s political interest into sustained turnout. 

Revisiting this Us & Them episode in the wake of Kirk’s death offers context for how campus-based organizing — and reactions to it — have shaped youth politics today.

This episode of Us & Them is presented with support from the CRC Foundation.

Subscribe to Us & Them on Apple Podcasts, NPR One, RadioPublic, Spotify, Stitcher and beyond.

A professional photograph of a woman wearing glasses and leaning forward on her hand.
Kyle Spencer is an award-winning journalist and frequent New York Times contributor. She has written about Christian rockers, Philadelphia murderers, Harlem parents in the age of school reform, million dollar PTA’s, marijuana etiquette and gay culture among young American Catholics. In recent years, she has focused much of her attention on the ways in which race, class, and culture are impacting life inside American classrooms.

Courtesy Photo

Learn more about Kyle Spencer’s book Raising Them Right: The Untold Story of America’s Ultraconservative Youth Movement and Its Plot for Power.

Man in a blue jacket stands on stage talking to an audience.
As the founder and president of Turning Point USA, the late Charlie Kirk is credited by President Donald Trump with motivating young conservatives to vote in the 2024 election.

Photo Credit: Jackson Forderer/AP Photos

Learn more about Turning Point USA.

Candace Owens has emerged as a notable conservative pundit. Owens served as communications director for Turning Point USA, but since then has become an influential commentator and entrepreneur.

Photo Credit: Gage Skidnore

Visit Candace Owens website.

“Mom and Dad… I’m a Conservative” is a self produced humor video by Candace Owens.
Candace Owens responds to Congressman Ted Lieu playing a recording of her making a statement about Adolf Hitler.
A professional headshot of a woman with dark hair wearing a dark green shirt.
Abby Kiesa runs the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University. She has worked on several major research projects and evaluations while at CIRCLE, as well as on several partnerships to support growing voters for a more equitable electorate. Kiesa is well-versed in the wide range of youth civic and political engagement efforts and practice, and brings a broad view of the institutions and interventions that can make up ecosystems for civic development among all youth.

Courtesy Photo

For more information about CIRCLE.

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