The Gravel Institute ( ) is a

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left-wing

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that aims to counteract American conservative think tanks in general, particularly PragerU. The Gravel Institute is named for its founder Mike Gravel, a former United States senator from Alaska and two-time U.S. presidential candidate. The Gravel Institute promotes left-wing views, including wealth redistribution, critique of United States foreign policy, and supporting

direct democracy Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the Election#Electorate, electorate decides on policy initiatives without legislator, elected representatives as proxies. This differs from the majority of currently establishe ...

Mission

The Gravel Institute was created with the explicit goal of countering PragerU, with Henry Williams stating "the issues that we've so far focused on were, on the one hand, drawn from looking at PragerU topics and countering them" in an interview with ''

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''. The Gravel Institute has collaborated with a number of organizations, including the

People's Policy Project People's Policy Project (abbreviated 3P) is an American think tank focused on social, economic, and political equity issues. It has been described as "left-leaning", "left-wing", "democratic socialist-leaning", and "socialist". The organization h ...

(3P) and the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). According to the official website, the Institute's mission is to "build the institutions the left needs to win". According to

David Oks David E. Oks () is an American writer and political activist, best known for organizing and managing the Mike Gravel 2020 presidential campaign as a high school senior. In 2020, Oks helped found The Gravel Institute, a progressive political adv ...

, the Institute's "main target audience is people who are in the center, but don't have particularly well-thought-out political beliefs", adding: "I don't really think we're going to be converting people who consume PragerU."

History

After Mike Gravel's 2020 presidential campaign ended in 2019, leadership from the campaign launched The Gravel Institute in 2019 using a $25,000 donation by Tumblr founder David Karp. The Gravel Institute is mainly run by Williams, Oks, and Henry Magowan, who ran Gravel's 2020 presidential campaign when they were teenagers. Video production and direction is headed by New York filmmaker Tymon Brown. Mike Gravel himself, who was 90 years old when the institute launched, was not involved in day-to-day operations but served as a consultant and provided advice. On September 28, 2020, The Gravel Institute uploaded their first video, formally introducing the project, narrated by

H. Jon Benjamin Harry Jon Benjamin (born May 23, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer and musician. Benjamin is primarily known for his voice roles in adult animated series, such as Sterling Archer in ''Archer'', Bob Belcher in ''Bob's Burgers ...

. Also on September 28, The Gravel Institute uploaded their first video focused on a specific subject. In February 2022, The Gravel Institute announced a new board of directors, including former Ohio State Senator Nina Turner and

Bhaskar Sunkara Bhaskar Sunkara (born June 1989) is an American political writer. He is the founding editor of '' Jacobin,'' the president of ''The Nation,'' and publisher of ''Catalyst: A Journal of Theory and Strategy'' and London's ''Tribune''. He is a former ...

, the founder of

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magazine ''Jacobin''. In February 2022, '' The Daily Beast'' alleged that a video released by The Gravel Institute in mid-February on the Azov Battalion, titled "How America Funded Ukraine’s Neo-Nazis" and later renamed "America, Russia, and Ukraine’s Far-Right Problem", containing controversial talking points about the influence of

neo-Nazism Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...

in the Ukrainian government. The Gravel Institute said the video was accurate and was reviewed by experts prior to publication, but the video was ultimately pulled from public view.

Presenters and contributors

Presenters and contributors to Gravel Institute videos have included Zephyr Teachout,

David Cross David Cross (born April 4, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, director, and writer known for his stand-up performances, the HBO sketch comedy series ''Mr. Show'' (1995–1998), and his role as Tobias Fünke in the Fox/Netflix sitcom ...

, Richard Wolff, and

Board of directors

As of 2022, the group's board of directors are Jabari Brisport, Enigma founder Hicham Oudghiri,

Veena Dubal Veena B. Dubal is a Professor of Law at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. Her research focuses on the intersection of law, technology, and precarious work. Professor Dubal is widely cited for her scholarship on gig work ...

, and Nina Turner. ''Jacobin'' founder Bhaskar Sunkara was initially listed on the board as well.

References

Primary sources

In the text these references are preceded by a double dagger (‡): {{DEFAULTSORT:Gravel Institute, The Mike Gravel Progressive organizations in the United States