We the Voters captures how people
live, work, and dream in the USA.
We the Voters is a multimedia interview project across small towns and large cities in all 50 states. While on the road, I conduct interviews to better understand the everyday dreams and concerns of people I meet along the way.
I take everything I learn through these experiences and share it back with you at home. Think of it this way: We the Voters is Humans of New York meets Blue Highways meets Eat Pray Love, except you get to follow along in real-time.
The Many Pieces of We the Voters
Blog
Reflections, insights, and analyses from conversations I’ve had during my travels
Newsletter
Behind-the-scenes stories and insights I don’t share anywhere else, straight to your inbox
Social Media
Photo galleries and real-time updates from my travels and interview process
Video Series
Travel vlogs and behind-the-scenes updates from the road. Documentary short series launching in 2021
Podcast
12 episode seasons that examine different facets of life in the United States. Launching Fall 2020
Book
A full-length ethnography that recaps my experience traveling and conducting interviews. Launch Date TBA
The way I see it, most people are good.
It’s easy to get caught up in labels and sides — but when you stop and truly listen, it’s not as easy to paint with broad strokes. My goal is that We the Voters challenges you to consider people in the United States with the same empathy you reserve for family and friends.
I truly believe that we are more alike than we are different and that everyone has a story worth telling. In more than a year on the road, I have found time and time again that there’s more to people than what meets the eye. If you are here with an open mind and heart, you may come to find that too.
When we forget the labels and the sides, we can remember what we really are — people. Americans. All of us.
Hi! I’m Emily Cate Topczewski, a journalist from Brookfield, Wisconsin.
I grew up in a close-knit family, always telling stories and dreaming up my next big scheme. Before I was ten, I was publishing newspapers via Microsoft Publisher and was the founder of The Helpers Club, a babysitting-party planning enterprise.
In a letter to Santa one Christmas, I declared my wishlist: personalized advent calendar ornaments, a felt scarf, an electronic keyboard, and see the USA – map. If I only knew then how that dream would grow.
After graduating with a journalism degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, I worked in broadcasting, politics, and public relations before launching We the Voters in July 2019.
And my personally? My background is just as varied. I always say I come from a little bit of a lot of worlds. I worked for a conservative talk show host but also interned for a democrat in Congress. I grew up in a Catholic family, but later worked for an LGBT center when I was at university.
This juxtaposition cultivated the empathy and curiosity necessary to listen to both sides of the aisle and people from all walks of life. I cannot promise where the road will lead or the stories I will find — but I can promise you this: I will continue to listen with an open heart and share the stories I’m trusted with as fully and fairly as I can.
Want to support We the Voters as I share stories and analyses from around the United States?
We the Voters is not funded by any organization or political party. Instead, I stay on the road by a combination of my own savings and generous donations from individuals who believe in my mission. This project, simply, wouldn’t be possible without people like you.