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These final days before the election are tense times. Today’s toxic politics are hurtful and heart breaking for many of us.

Maybe we all need a hope vaccine. An injection of kindness, curiosity and understanding for those who see the world differently than we do. 

In our latest report on the work, ideas, and people of Braver Angels, the nationwide citizen-led campaign against political polarization, we learn more about its Election Day Initiative: A volunteer-led effort to push back against political climate change— the hurricane of hate resentment and disdain that many on the left and right feel for the other side.

Our guests in this episode are liberal Dorsey Cartwright and conservative Roger Haynes. They are two of many red/blue pairs of citizens who will sit and stand together outside polling places across America.

M. Dorsey Cartwright is a retired marriage and family therapist in Austin, Texas. She travelled internationally leading workshops for couples, individuals, adult children and parents, as well as for communities. Valuing the healing of relationships, Dorsey has turned her attention to America’s political environment. First as an active member of No Labels and its mission to depolarize the House and Senate, and then Braver Angels, with its mission to depolarize our citizenship. Her politics lean blue.

Red-leaning Roger Haynes is a retired Chief Master Sergeant with 23 years of active military service and he recently left a civil service appointment with the government.  He has served in his community in various roles including HOA, City Commission, and is also active helping local Friends of NRA committees raise grant funding in areas such as youth education, women-focused clinics, law enforcement training, hunter safety, range improvement, firearms and marksmanship training and safety. He’s passionate about the First and Second Amendments.

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Election officials have always played a critical role in ensuring that our votes are cast and counted fairly. But in recent years, the landscape of election work has dramatically changed. No longer seen as a quiet, behind-the-scenes service, election officials are now on the front lines of an increasingly toxic environment, facing harassment, threats, and a flood of misinformation.

In this episode of Democracy Fix, two seasoned election officials, Tonya Wichman, Director of Elections in Defiance County, Ohio, and Wesley Wilcox, Supervisor of Elections in Marion County, Florida join Dr. Carah Ong Whaley and Angelina Clapp to discuss the evolving role of election administration, and how they’re standing up against the tide of misinformation and political interference to ensure the integrity of our elections. Both Tonya and Wesley are featured in the powerful new documentary, The Officials, which shines a light on the pressures and challenges they and their colleagues across the country face as they prepare for the 2024 presidential election.

Links in this episode: 

The Officials film and companion toolkit

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What does it mean to be a conservative? (And no, Donald Trump is not a conservative.) Can the Republican Party be redeemed? What implications does any of this have on the 2024 election and beyond?

In this episode, we’re joined by Mona Charon, Policy Editor at The Bulwark and host of the podcasts Just Between Us and Beg to Differ. We explore the state of democracy, the role of media, and the evolving definitions of conservatism. Mona reflects on her experiences living in Israel, the challenges of peace negotiations, and her perspective on the Biden administration's policies. We discuss the extremism in both U.S. political parties, the impact of Trump's leadership, and the Republican Party's future post-Trump. Mona also details her work at The Bulwark and advocates for media integrity and accountability.

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As we barrel toward America’s 250th, one could argue that if we crack up before we get there (some bad days we’d take even odds), it’ll have something to do with the complexity of being in charge of executing one of the founders’ biggest ideas — that the church and the state were to be separate in this new nation of theirs. (It had been so much “easier” when the king told all us peasants what religion we were.)

Our framers, for the first time in history, asserted that a citizenry had “natural rights” as human beings, given to them only by God, to follow (and be responsible for) our individual consciences — including the right to not believe at all. These rights could then not be taken by the government. Those dudes in tights, both Christian and Deist, had birthed a country where all sorts of religious belief would thrive.

Turns out high principles about freedom for everyone all at the same time wouldn’t be a piece of cake and after 250-ish years of disagreement, we’re still haggling over those darn specifics — partly because we’re masters of not seeing the log in our own eyes. God Squad goes right to the real conversation on this age-old prickly topic.

Learn more about the program and meet the God Squad here.

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In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Lee and James explore America’s reliance on direct primaries in federal elections with Nick Troiano. Troiano is the Executive Director of Unite America and the author of The Primary Solution: Rescuing Our Democracy from the Fringes (Simon & Schuster, 2024).

What are direct primaries? Why do Americans rely on them? When did they first start using direct primaries in federal elections? And what are the consequences? These are some of the questions Nick, Lee, and James ask in this week’s episode.

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Chris Beem talks with political theorist Alexandre Lefebvre about why liberalism is more than just a political ideas and procedures, and how abiding by liberal principles can enhance your life far beyond politics. 

In his book Liberalism as a Way of Life, Lefebvre argues that liberalism isn’t just a set of neutral procedures; it’s a comprehensive way of life that shapes the way we live and think and work and love in innumerable ways. He also argues that it’s a way of life worth robustly defending, drawing on examples from pop culture and recent history.

Lefebeve is a professor of politics and philosophy at the University of Sydney. He teaches and researches  political theory, the history of political thought, modern and contemporary French philosophy, and human rights.

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Mike talks with Matt Grossmann, Director of the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research and Professor of Political Science at Michigan State University. Matt was on the show in 2019 when we talked about his book on public policy change, Artists of the Possible, and he’s back again for a discussion of his latest book, co-authored with David Hopkins, Polarized by Degrees: How the Diploma Divide and the Culture War Transformed American Politics.

Topics Mike & Matt Discuss Include:

- the educultural realignment in American Politics

- the degree divide as an international phenomenon

- if the progressive left has moved too fast

- the dangerous ramifications of destroying institutional trust

- the political right and ‘woke capitalism’

- why liberals dominate popular culture

- conservatives’ attempts to set up parallel institutions

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Voter registration is the number one obstacle to voting in the United States. It should be easy, accessible and secure, but too often, states are moving backwards; making voter registration more difficult and less equitable. Here, we introduce a new type of episode: an up-to-the-minute interview with an expert to help you better understand some of the most important issues affecting elections. Danielle Lang, a voting rights attorney at CLC, joins Simone to explain why major actions in Arizona and Texas involve what should be a straightforward component of elections: voter registration.

Danielle explains voter purges, mass challenges to voter registrations, and their effects on voters. And she lays out actions that states and individuals alike can take to ensure registering to vote is safe and secure ahead of Election Day.

Host and Guests:

Simone Leeper litigates a wide range of redistricting-related cases at CLC, challenging gerrymanders and advocating for election systems that guarantee all voters an equal opportunity to influence our democracy. Prior to arriving at CLC, Simone was a law clerk in the office of Senator Ed Markey and at the Library of Congress, Office of General Counsel. She received her J.D. cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in 2019 and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Columbia University in 2016.

Danielle Lang is Senior Director for Voting Rights at Campaign Legal Center. Danielle has worked as a civil rights litigator her entire career. At CLC, she has led litigation against Texas's racially discriminatory voter ID law, Florida's modern-day poll tax for rights restoration, Arizona's burdensome registration requirements, North Dakota's voter ID law targeting Native communities, and numerous successful challenges to signature match policies for absentee ballots. Previously, Danielle served as a Skadden Fellow in the Employment Rights Project of Bet Tzedek Legal Services in Los Angeles, where she represented low-wage immigrant workers in wage and hour, discrimination, and human trafficking matters. From 2012 to 2013, Danielle clerked for Judge Richard A. Paez on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. 

Links:

Frivolous Mass Challenges to Voter Eligibility Damaging to Democracy - Campaign Legal Center

Our Strict Laws Ensure Only U.S. Citizens Vote in Federal Elections - Campaign Legal Center

How To Prevent Unfair Voter Purges - Campaign Legal Center

Modernizing Voter Registration - Campaign Legal Center

What Does the U.S. Supreme Court’s Recent Arizona Decision Mean for Voters? - Campaign Legal Center

Texas Expands Push to Halt Democratic Voter Registration Efforts - Bloomberg Law

Tweet from Kyle Huddleston

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Bexar County Voter Registration Case - The New York Times

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We discuss the power and the promise of public schools, the universal rejection of book bans by parents across the country, and an inclusive vision for democracy.

Their civic action toolkit recommendations are: 

1. Have a conversation with people with whom you disagree
2. Remain open-minded.

Jennifer Berkshire and Jack Schneider are co-hosts of the education podcast Have You Heard. Their new book is The Education Wars: A Citizen’s Guide and Defense Manual. 

Follow Jennifer on X: 

https://x.com/BisforBerkshire

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https://x.com/edu_historian

Read The Education Wars: 

https://bookshop.org/shop/futurehindsight

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https://x.com/milaatmos

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https://www.instagram.com/futurehindsightpod/

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Progressive talk show host Thom Hartmann returns to The Great Battlefield podcast to talk about his latest book "The Hidden History of the American Dream: The Demise of the Middle Class―and How to Rescue Our Future".

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In this episode, hosts Carah Ong Whaley, Angelina Clapp, and Mia Minkin sit down with King County, WA Director of Elections Julie Wise for a deep dive into the county’s award-winning initiatives to ensure all voices are heard in elections. Known for her passionate advocacy for voter accessibility and election transparency, Wise discusses the critical role of trained, nonpartisan election administrators in preserving democracy.

She highlights the challenges faced by election officials across the country, including the need for consistent and reliable federal funding, the impact of the spread of false election information, and the rise in threats against election workers. Despite the challenges, Wisee’s dedication to increasing voter participation and improving election systems remains unwavering.

Whether you're a policy wonk or just curious about what goes on behind the scenes in our elections, this episode is packed with insights on how to build a more inclusive and transparent democratic process.

Tune in to hear about the inspiring work being done in King County, WA to strengthen the foundation of our democracy.

Episode links: 

• King County, WA Elections
• Voter Education Fund

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In this week's episode, producer Rachel Walsh joins co-hosts Ryan Coonery and Debbie Cox Bultan to recap the past few months of this exciting election cycle. They discuss last week's Democratic National Convention, highlighting key themes and standout moments from speakers, including many NewDEAL leaders and alumni. They also reflect on our Road to November 2024 Messaging series, which featured insights from political strategists, policy experts, and state and local elected officials. Ryan, Debbie, and Rachel analyze how to address voters' top concerns and strategies for a strong performance up and down the ballot, and they explore the growing momentum within the Democratic Party, outlining the crucial steps leaders must take to keep this energy through the fall. Tune in to hear their takeaways and better understand the road ahead.

IN THIS EPISODE:  

• [04:08] What it was like to be on the floor of the DNC this year.

• [09:13] Freedom as a central narrative of the Democratic campaign.

• [12:41] Congresswoman Annie Kuster on the framing of freedom by the Democratic Party.

• [13:39] Ilana Rubel’s insights on how attacks on reproductive rights impact broader freedoms.

• [17:52] Jesse Ferguson on campaigning on the subject of reproductive rights.

• [18:42] Passing the torch to a younger generation within the party; appealing to young voters.

• [20:58] Olivia Julianna’s insights on what young people are most concerned about.

• [23:47] Mike Madrid on reaching Latino voters and the importance of a pro-housing agenda.

• [27:06] Why it’s so important to build a broad coalition from the middle out.

• [29:28] Simon Rosenberg on patriotism as an antidote to MAGA’s nationalism.

• [32:19] Karen Finney’s thoughts on acknowledging the daily anxieties of Americans.

• [35:00] The role of An Honorable Profession and NewDEAL going forward.

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In the 20th Century, we had Cold War adversaries. In the early 2000s, George W. Bush talked about the Axis of Evil. But are those frameworks the most accurate way to understand the forces attempting to undermine not just democratic nations but democratic ideas? And to what degree have these antagonists - those that are fundamentally opposed to our core principles such as the freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly and basic human rights - pervaded U.S. politics?

In this episode we welcome Anne Applebaum, Pulitzer-prize winning historian, staff writer at The Atlantic and senior fellow at the Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University. After discussing her motivations, experiences, and insights into the autocratic regimes and their impacts on global democracy, we dive into Anne’s new book Autocracy, Inc.: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World. We explore how autocracies collaborate, ways the rest of the world is complicit in autocratic behaviors, and strategies to combat these influences. The conversation also touches on Anne's personal history and initial fascination with the history, literature, culture and politics of the “Borderlands,” a region that includes Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Russia and beyond.

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Jay, Justin, and Mike open the preview of this supporters’ midweek episode with a discussion of the recent economic speeches by Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. Jay is unhappy with what he’s hearing from both sides, and Mike makes the case that if you like Biden’s policies, you’ll like Harris’ even more. Justin points out that much of what we’re hearing from Trump isn’t new, but it’s the first major policy speech from Harris. As such, they spend some time debating her plans to combat ‘price gouging’, raise the child tax credit, increase the housing supply, and forgive student loan and medical debt. They all take issue with one policy proposal on which Harris and Trump seem to agree – eliminating taxation of tips.

They close with Mike introducing his presidential prediction model, which Jay rightly pokes fun at, and then consider the utility of these models more generally.

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Barbara McQuade is a legal analyst for NBC News and MSNBC, co-host of the podcast #SistersinLaw, and a professor at the University of Michigan Law School. Her first book is Attack From Within: How Disinformation is Sabotaging America. We discuss the dangers of disinformation and how we can defeat it.

Democracy depends on truth, and as Americans we should prize truth over tribe. A lot of disinformation is hiding behind the First Amendment – telling lies as a right to free speech. We are overrun with disinformation. One of the strategies is to exhaust us by constantly pumping false claims into the media ecosphere, so that we become cynical or disengage. That is fertile ground for would-be authoritarian regimes. For example, in response to the big lie that the 2020 election was stolen, a number of states have passed laws making it more difficult to vote. Defending truth is vitally important when it is under attack. 

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In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Lee discusses the history of primary elections and options for reform with Robert Boatright. Boatright is professor of political science at Clark University and the world’s leading expert on the American primary system. He is also the director of research for the National Institute of Civil Discourse at the University of Arizona. His most recent book is Reform and Retrenchment: A Century of Efforts to Fix Primary Elections (Oxford University Press, 2024).

Why did the United States become the only democracy in the world that gives its voters a decisive voice in candidate selection? When did Americans begin using primary elections to select a party’s candidates for office? What is the difference between open and closed primaries? How did primary elections change in the 1960s and 1970s? Did the Democratic and Republican parties sideline reformers and take over primary elections during that period? How do different factions within each party view primary reform? These are some of the questions Robert and Lee ask in this week’s episode.

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Toxic polarization is "the problem that eats all other problems... It's the sludge at the base of everything else," says our guest Mónica Guzmán. Think how much progress could be made on the great problems of today if politics were much more about discovering nuance than shouting slogans.

This show is our second episode on the work, people, and ideas of the volunteer-led cross-partisan campaign, Braver Angels. In the coming months, we'll report on their initiatives and projects. 

Americans who are pissed off with politics are sometimes called "the exhausted majority." Many are tuning out toxic, divisive rhetoric that aims to settle scores instead of solving what's broken. Our guest, Braver Angels senior fellow Mónica Guzmán, has suggestions about how to be truly curious and have better conversations with those who see things differently.

This loving liberal daughter of conservative immigrant parents who came to the US from Mexico, is a bridge builder, journalist and author. Her podcast is "A Braver Way". Modi’s recent book is “I Never Thought of It That Way." Our "How Do We Fix It?" interview was recorded a couple years ago. This show includes highlights and also an extract from Móni's podcast. 

"When you want to ask why people believe what they believe, instead ask how they came to believe what they believe," she tells us. When you ask how instead of why, you're asking for their story and then what people do is take you on a tour instead of being put on trial."

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In this week’s episode, host Ryan Coonerty sits down with Representative Arturo Alonso-Sandoval, the youngest member of the Oklahoma legislature. Instead of pursuing a high-paying job as a mechanical engineer, Alonso-Sandoval decided to run for office during his senior year of college to serve the community where he grew up. Rep. Alonso-Sandoval talks about his motivation for getting into politics, ideas for drawing more young people to elected office, his advocacy for underserved communities, his fight against draconian anti-immigrant laws, and his efforts in shaping AI policy. Tune in to learn why Representative Alonso-Sandoval believes effective policy making requires having diverse voices at the table.

IN THIS EPISODE:  

• [01:04] Introducing today’s guest, Oklahoma’s Representative, Arturo Alonso-Sandoval.

• [01:15] What listeners can expect to hear during today’s conversation.

• [02:00] He unpacks his decision and motivation to run for office in his senior year of college.

• [06:20] We discuss ideas on how to get more people, like Representative Alonso-Sandoval to run for office (at all levels).

• [10:00] Representative Alonso-Sandoval describes in detail his experience running for office.

• [12:48] He talks about his slogan “The Future is Ours” and the heart behind it.

• [13:50] What it’s like serving in office in Oklahoma.

• [15:15] His thoughts on creating sustainable systems using his engineering concepts.

• [17:55] How he advocates for his community and breaks down assumptions about himself.

• [21:54] We look at anti-immigration measures, mobilizing communities against them, and the prospects going forward.

• [28:36] He expounds on one of the projects he’s involved with: You Have a Voice.

• [29:16] He sheds light on his concerns with anti-immigration laws.

• [32:00] We discuss AI regulations and his work with AI in the legislature.

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What are some of the weakest arguments against Kamala Harris's candidacy for president? As our brilliant guest Jonathan Rauch put it, "There's some really stupid sh!t." At the same time, there are some more justified concerns. Let's talk about all of it! We also get into rank prognostication on who the Democratic VP pick will be, as well as how we think the 2024 presidential election will end up.

But before we get into all that, we dive into Jon's two most recent pieces in THE ATLANTIC: One from 7/1/24 titled "The World Is Realigning | An emerging Axis of Resistance confronts the Liberal Alliance;" and the other from the 7/23/24 edition titled "The Party Is Not Over | Nominations belong to parties, not to candidates."

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Mike, Ken, and Trey open with a discussion of President Biden’s decision to leave the race and the potential running mates and policies for presumptive nominee Kamala Harris. Ken argues that Biden would have done just fine against Trump and that Harris will also win in November, whereas Trey and Mike are far less bullish on her chances. They all agree that a potential Harris administration would be somewhat to the left of what we’ve seen from Joe Biden.

They close the episode by looking at the Secret Service failures and congressional testimony that led to the resignation of director Kimberly Cheatle. Mike and Trey think Cheatle should have resigned sooner, with Mike arguing that President Biden should have called for her resignation shortly after the magnitude of the failure became evident.

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A.J. Jacobs is a journalist and author. His most recent book is The Year of Living Constitutionally: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Constitution's Original Meaning. We discuss how the Founding Fathers prized humility, experimentation, and a willingness to change their own minds. 

The heart of our democracy is for the community to come together and cooperate. One example is to advocate for democratic reforms, which are nonpartisan. Being apathetic or cynical helps the slide into autocracy. Resisting the allure of quick, hot takes and practicing slower thinking are also crucial to democracy. The founding fathers were deeply invested in balance, especially when it comes to the power of a president being balanced by Congress. A.J. reminds us that everyday citizens can control whether the sun is rising or setting on democracy. 

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Jeremy Smith returns to The Great Battlefield podcast to talk about Civitech's new product, RunningMate, software for running a political campaign and what he thinks we need to do to fix the ongoing voter registration deficit.

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Content note: This episode discusses suicide and sexual violence.

After a years-long legal fight from the Department of Homeland Security, a court order finally gave Nick and other investigators access to 33 reports detailing conditions in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facilities. The documents showed a disturbing pattern of abuse that extended far beyond the gates of Adelanto Detention Center, spreading throughout ICE detention facilities across the United States. In this episode, Maren gets into the conditions in ICE detention and raises the question: What needs to change for this broken system to be fixed?

Maren breaks down the reports with POGO’s Senior Investigator Nick Schwellenbach and former Senior Researcher Freddy Martinez. She talks with activists Berto Hernandez and Arely Westley about their experiences of the conditions in ICE detention, and she visits a Louisiana airport with LA-AID volunteer Sarah Jones to meet people who were recently released from ICE facilities. Finally, to untangle just how immigration policy became entwined with counterterrorism — and how we can fix it — Maren talks with POGO’s Katherine Hawkins, the Brennan Center for Justice’s Spencer Reynolds, and The Ohio State University Professor César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández.

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In this week’s episode, Ryan Coonerty sits down with Illinois State Representative Bob Morgan. They reflect on the horrific mass shooting in the representative's community of Highland Park during a 4th of July Parade in 2022 – a timely topic as he returns from a visit to the White House, as he co-chairs the Illinois House Firearm Safety Reform Working Group. Morgan shares his experience working on this crucial issue and the personal ties that ignited his passion for combating gun violence. In addition, Ryan and Representative Morgan delve into his highly debated efforts to eliminate junk fees in Illinois, his commitment to reducing healthcare costs, and his approach to building strong relationships within the legislature, as well as his experience as a Jewish leader during a surge of antisemitism across the country. Tune in to learn about his push to end daylight savings time and the obstacles to making this a reality.  

IN THIS EPISODE:  

• [01:04] Introducing Illinois State Representative Bob Morgan and his efforts to work on gun safety.

• [02:36] The stories of gun violence that ignited his passion for taking this issue seriously.

• [05:23] Prospects for reducing these kinds of incidents in US communities.

• [07:43] Representative Bob’s journey to public service.

• [13:17] Building and maintaining relationships with colleagues by building your understanding of them.

• [14:26] Issues he has worked on and why healthcare is a focus for him.

• [20:04] Why no changes have been made to daylight savings.

• [22:40] Facing the rise of antisemitism as a member of the Jewish caucus.

• [27:26] Predictions for the upcoming convention and the elections to follow.

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In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Jake Grumbach joins Lee and James to consider whether American democracy is in crisis. Grumbach is an associate professor at the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley. He studies the political economy of the United States, with interests in democratic institutions, labor, federalism, racial and economic inequality, and statistical methods. And he is the author of Laboratories Against Democracy: How National Parties Transformed State Politics (Princeton University Press, 2022).

What is the state of American democracy? Are concerns that it is failing overblown? Or are they justified? What is the best standard to evaluate the quality of representation in the United States? How does that standard change based on the different types of democracy? These are some of the questions Jake, Lee, and James ask in this week’s episode.

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Melanie D’Arrigo is the Executive Director of the Campaign for New York Health, which aims to win universal single-payer healthcare for all New Yorkers. We discuss the intersection of democracy and healthcare and what is necessary to create better health outcomes.

The New York Health Act is a current bill in the New York State Legislature that would implement a single payer healthcare system in New York, similar to Medicare for All. Instead of accessing health insurance, this bill would provide access to health care without the middleman, which is the insurance industry. The United States is the only industrialized country in the world that does not have universal health care. We spend the most amount of money with worse health outcomes. In addition, we allow millions of Americans to go into medical debt. More information on the Campaign for NY Health is here: https://www.nyhcampaign.org/

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At colleges across America this spring, thousands of students and many faculty called on their institutions to recognize Israel’s war in Palestine as a genocide, and to disclose their interests in arms, oil and violence. Administrators did not take kindly to the students’ demands or their tactics, and called in the police instead. Today on the show — our final episode for now — historian Lauren Lassabe Shepherd says these events fit a pattern of campus conflict going back decades to the Vietnam War.

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Mike and Jay open with a discussion of President Biden’s disastrous performance in the first presidential debate. Mike was actually hoping for a worse outcome that would all but force Biden from the race, which he doesn’t think will happen, despite multiple calls for Biden to step aside. Jay wonders how Biden’s closest confidants and top advisors allowed things to get to this point. Mike suggests that Biden may still be able to handle the non-public-facing parts of the job, which Jay doubts, particularly in the event of a national security emergency.

After that, they turn to the Supreme Court ending Chevron deference, in a ruling that will have major implications for government agencies, Congress, and the courts. Mike has long been a supporter of Chevron but thinks that the Court made the right call here, which both surprises and pleases Jay, who’s never been a fan of Chevron.

Following that they discuss two other major decisions of the Court – one that allows women in Idaho to obtain abortions to preserve their lives and health and another in which the Court decided that plaintiffs arguing the government censored their social media posts don’t have standing to sue.

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"Disinformation. Spam and Scams. Trolls." For those of us paying attention, one thing is clear: We got problems! Fortunately, Renée DiResta is helping with exactly that by studying online manipulation, and what we can do about it. And yeah, we get quite a primer on the concept of "bespoke realities."

Renée DiResta is the Technical Research Manager at Stanford Internet Observatory. In this conversation we delve into the challenges of misinformation, online manipulation, and the impact of algorithmic curation on public discourse. Renée discusses her career journey, her work on election integrity, and the concept of "bespoke realities." The episode explores how media ecosystems shape our perception and the importance of fostering meaningful dialogue across differing viewpoints.

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Established in the wake of September 11, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was entrusted with protecting the U.S. from national security threats. Since then, much of the agency’s focus has been on the southern border — with tens of thousands of people held in its detention centers on a daily basis. Host Maren Machles explores how this came to be and delves into what happens to people held in immigration detention centers with the presumption that they may be national security threats. And she asks the question: How does this relate to the way DHS addresses the most dangerous threat currently facing our nation — far-right violent extremism?

To find out, Maren talks with Daryl Johnson, who recounts his work as the former lead analyst for domestic terrorism at DHS. She also speaks with Alejandro Beutel, a criminologist who focuses on domestic terrorism, and Berto Hernandez, who shares their story of being brought into the U.S. as a child and held in detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement years later.

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Abortion is one of the most passionate, divisive, and emotional issues in the 2024 election campaign. The debate is often dominated by extremes on both sides.

But what if passionate pro-life and pro-choice movement leaders could get together in the same room and learn how to disagree better? That is exactly what happened in Massachusetts, beginning in the mid 1990's. Leaders on both sides held secret discussions over the course of several years . 

These wrenching conversations began in the mid 1990’s at a very difficult time— after two women were murdered by an anti-abortion extremist in Brookline, Massachusetts.

We hear from The Reverend Anne Fowler, an Episcopal Priest who served on the board of directors for the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, and lawyer Fran Hogan, who's been President of Women Affirming Life. They’re among the six women profiled in the 2023 documentary, "The Abortion Talks". 

This interview was first published last year.

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In this week’s episode, NewDEAL CEO Debbie Cox Bultan talks with Newport News, VA’s youngest elected mayor Philip Jones. They discuss his first State of the City Address, where he proclaimed 2024 as the Year of the Youth, thanks to his initiatives like Night Nets and the Summer Youth Employment Program, as well as investments in expanded childcare throughout his city. Debbie and Mayor Jones also talk about his journey to becoming an “Education Mayor,” his work on climate justice, and what has surprised him the most about the job of Mayor. Tune in to listen to Mayor Jones' tips on how to engage young people in government and his insights into what will motivate Virginia voters this November.

• [01:04] Welcome to Virginia Mayor Phillip Jones, the youngest person to be elected Mayor of his hometown.

• [02:36] His favorite thing about being Mayor so far and why his parents are his toughest constituents.

• [05:08] The two initiatives that funding allocated to the youth is going towards: Night Nets and Youth Career Program.

• [08:52] Why education is always top of mind for Mayor Phillip and the results he has seen.

• [11:55] His efforts to impact climate change.

• [13:06] What Mayor Phil loves most about his city.

• [15:05] How service became such a major theme in his life.

• [16:21] The journey to running for office.

• [20:29] How education became a priority prior to his appointment as mayor.

• [21:58] Which issues Mayor Phil hears about the most and how he is responding to them.

• [23:10] Advice for young people looking to get involved in politics.

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Michael Sifry returns to The Great Battlefield podcast to discuss an article he recently published called "Living with VANxiety: The Present and Future of Progressive Movement Tech".

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Madiba Dennie is Deputy Editor and Senior Contributor at the critical legal commentary outlet Balls and Strikes. Her debut book is The Originalism Trap: How Extremists Stole the Constitution and How We The People Can Take it Back. We discuss a fresh way to interpret the Constitution.

Inclusive Constitutionalism interprets the Constitution in a way that makes inclusive democracy real. By contrast, originalism interprets the meaning of the Constitution as fixed in time in the 1800s. However, the Reconstruction Amendments that were enacted in the wake of the Civil War tried to address the status of newly freed, formerly enslaved people. The Amendments were designed to foster a multiracial democracy for the first time. In addition, the public has a role in articulating what it believes the Constitution means.

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In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Congressman John Sarbanes, D-Md., joins Lee to talk about the health of American democracy. Sarbanes has represented Maryland’s third congressional district in the House of Representatives since 2007. He serves on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and is chair of the Democracy Reform Task Force. Sarbanes was born and raised in Baltimore and has experience working in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors.

What does it mean to live in a democracy? What is the state of American democracy? Is it a flawed democracy? If so, what can be done to fix it? These are some of the questions Rep. Sarbanes and Lee ask in this week’s episode.

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We've reached the end of another school year and another season of Democracy Works. Before we go on summer break, Michael Berkman, Chris Beem, and Candis Watts Smith reflect on recent events and what's to come this summer. We do this by taking a look back at some of our previous episodes:

The real free speech problem on campus: Penn State's Brad Vivian on the problems with "campus free speech" discourse and media coverage. We discuss how this narrative has been applied to protests about the war in Gaza that happened on some campuses near the end of the spring semester. Follow Brad's Substack for his more recent work on the Gaza protests and more.

A different kind of political divide - Yanna Krupnikov from the University of Michigan on the divide between people who follow politics closely and those who don't. We're seeing this divide play out in recent polling that shows support for Donald Trump is higher among people who say they are not politically engaged, while support for Biden is higher among those who follow news and politics more closely. 

Debating the future of debates: John Hudak from Brookings talks about the value of presidential debates to democracy. We recorded this episode in 2022 after the RNC announced it would not participate in events organized by the Commission for Presidential Debates. Now that two debates are scheduled for the next few months, we discuss whether they'll actually happen and how much they'll matter. 

This is our last new episode until early September. We'll use the next few months to plan for our fall season. Please send us an email if you have ideas for topics we should tackle or guests we should interview.  Have a great summer!

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Simone Leeper litigates a wide range of redistricting-related cases at Campaign Legal Center, challenging gerrymanders and advocating for election systems that guarantee all voters an equal opportunity to influence our democracy. She is the host of Democracy Decoded, a Campaign Legal Center podcast.

Liz Joyner is the executive director of the Village Square, a nonprofit dedicated to reviving civic connections across divisions inside American communities. She oversees the Village SquareCast, a Village Square podcast.

Corey Nathan started out as a stockbroker by day while studying at a theatre conservatory at night. Corey loves theology, politics and culture and enjoys invigorating conversations with renowned experts of these subjects on his podcast, Talkin’ Politics & Religion Without Killin’ Each Other.

Mila Atmos, a global citizen based in New York City, is the producer and series host of Future Hindsight, a weekly podcast that aims to spark civic engagement through in-depth conversations with citizen changemakers. 

Michael Baranowski is a political scientist with a Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky. His focus is American political institutions, public policy, and media. He spends most of his time indoctrinating students at Northern Kentucky University.

To learn more about each of the featured podcasts, visit the Shows page at democracygroup.org/shows.

To read the full Q&As with each of the featured podcasts, visit the Meet the Hosts section at democracygroup.org/blog.

This week we bring you a special episode from Maggie LeBeau, one of our 2024 Podcast Fellows.

Using a solutions-based approach, Uneven Grounds will discuss inequalities in geography and navigate geographic social issues in each episode. Host Maggie LeBeau wants to bring attention to the many problems people across America encounter daily because of where they live with a solution to each of the issues. The first episode explores election inequality and how they are related to geography, such as through gerrymandering. LeBeau recently graduated from Glenbard East High School in Lombard, Illinois, where she served as editor-in-chief of the school’s newspaper, the Echo. Outside of school, she is a part of the Media Wise Teen Fact-Checking Network and PBS Student Reporting Labs.

Know a student interested in democracy and podcasts? Send them over to our fellowship to apply: https://www.democracygroup.org/fellowship 

This week we bring you a special episode from Simran Gupta, one of our 2024 Podcast Fellows.

With Simran Gupta’s network of friends from all over the world, Laws Across Borders will explore educational topics like the school systems, technology or academic pressure and how they vary from country to country. The first episode will talk about school environments, touching on both the technological and academic sides.Gupta is a rising high school senior in Georgia She believes that life is all about learning new things, but interpreting information in a way that’s meaningful is difficult, especially in this day and age where news is readily available and shared whether it’s accurate or not.

Know a student interested in democracy and podcasts? Send them over to our fellowship to apply: https://www.democracygroup.org/fellowship 

This week we bring you a special episode from Kayla Anderson, one of our 2024 Podcast Fellows.

Make America Great For Everyone will take a deep dive into the American justice system through conversations with policemen, ex-prisoners and people who experienced the injustice firsthand. Host Kayla Anderson will talk about all of the different issues currently plaguing the American system that is supposed to be just, starting with a heartfelt conversation with her brother in the first episode. Anderson is a rising fourth-year political science major on the pre-law track at Ohio State. She currently serves as the vice president of the Undergraduate Black Law Student Association, treasurer of the Minority Collegiate Outreach and Support Team, and DEI committee co-chair for her Law and Society Scholars Program.

Know a student interested in democracy and podcasts? Send them over to our fellowship to apply: https://www.democracygroup.org/fellowship 

This week we bring you a special episode from Virginia Jones, one of our 2024 Podcast Fellows.

Virginia Jones is a student at the University of South Carolina majoring in Public Relations with a minor in Political Science. A few years ago, she discovered her interest in politics, particularly in political media, and decided to incorporate this passion into her education. When searching for a way to approach political issues, she found podcasts to be the best form because these dialogues helped her understand nuanced and complex political conversations better than any other method of consumption. She is excited about the potential of podcasting to facilitate meaningful discussions, bridge divides, and foster positive change in our democracy.

Know a student interested in democracy and podcasts? Send them over to our fellowship to apply: https://www.democracygroup.org/fellowship 

This week we bring you a special episode from Aprile Kim, one of our 2024 Podcast Fellows.

Drawing from host Aprile Kim’s experience of growing up and living in Guam, Democracy Beyond Borders seeks to explore the complexities of democracy in the modern world and examine the impact of American policies beyond the country's borders. The podcast will take listeners through America's current affairs and political ideas to examine democracy starting with episode 1 where we hear about the contradictory behaviors in American politics and the intricacies of American democracy. Kim is a rising fourth-year student at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor pursuing a double major in political science and philosophy and a double minor in Japanese and international studies, with a thematic focus on international security, norms, and cooperation.

Know a student interested in democracy and podcasts? Send them over to our fellowship to apply: https://www.democracygroup.org/fellowship 

Kelly has worked in nonprofits for many years. She has served in some capacity as a volunteer, board member, or development staff member for over twenty-eight years after teaching middle schoolers in Southern Appalachia. In addition to a BS in education from Appalachian State University, she holds a certificate in nonprofit management from Duke University. While new to election administration, she is not new to elections. Kelly served on several local and state election campaigns as a volunteer, including state senate campaigns in 2006, 2008, and 2010 where she served as the assistant campaign manager and public relations liaison. Kelly has spent the past three years learning about RCV reform and election administration. She oversees fundraising, development, and communications for RCVRC and co-produces the RCV Clips podcast with Chris Hughes & Melissa Hall. Kelly lives with her family on the coast of North Carolina. 

To learn more about ranked choice voting and the Ranked Choice Voting Resource Center, visit rcvresource.org. 

To read the full Q&A with Kelly Sechrist, visit https://www.democracygroup.org/blog/meet-kelly-sechrist-from-rcv-clips

Bill Weir is CNN’s Chief Climate Correspondent and the author of Life As We Know It (Can Be). We discuss Carbon Godzilla, decarbonization, and the many existing and accessible technologies to mitigate climate change.

Decarbonization must start with big industry, but there are many ways for individuals to make a difference, too. Clean energy can be had with tax incentives, reducing costs for consumers. Energy efficient homes – passive houses and innovations in heating and cooling – reduce or even eliminate monthly energy bills. At the same time, utility and power companies in the US function as legal monopolies whose primary incentive is to build more infrastructure and raise rates. Fossil fuel companies – despite being the most profitable companies in human history – are still getting billions in direct and indirect subsidies.

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Unlike the vast majority of journalists who cover American politics, Salena Zito lives far away from the centers of power and wealth. She writes about small-town America and the parts of the country that much of the media doesn’t cover. Zito's commitment to understanding the heartland of America is evident in her frequent trips along the nation’s back roads. She drives thousands of miles, avoiding interstates and major cities, to grasp the pulse of rural and small-town America
Her insights about American voters are especially valuable in this election year. In this podcast, we learn why so many people who live in rural and small-town America support Donald Trump and the populist coalition that reshaped the Republican Party. 
Salena Zito writes columns and reports on politics for the Washington Examiner, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, and the New York Post. She is coauthor of "The Great Revolt: Inside the Populist Coalition Reshaping American Politics.”

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Please join us in welcoming a special guest host for this episode! Cyanne Loyale is Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at Penn State and a Global Fellow at the Pease Research Institute Oslo. Her research focuses on transitional justice and democratic rebuilding after conflict, which makes her the perfect person to reflect on South Africa's democratic transition.

One additional programming note — Chris Beem lost power during this recording so the closing segment is Cyanne and Jenna reflecting on the interview.

At the end of April, South Africa marked the 30th anniversary of its first post-Apartheid election — the first in the country where everyone could vote. South African writer and scholar Antjie Krog join us for a look at the state of South African democracy today, the impact of the country's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and how South Africa has served as a model for other countries in democratic transition. 

Krog is a South African writer, scholar, and activist. She covered the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for the South African Broadcasting Corporation and wrote about the experience in the book Country of My Skull. She has published more than a dozen volumes of poetry and translated Nelson Mandela's biography into Afrikaans. She is currently a professor at the University of the Western Cape.

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We all have opinions. And there are more ways than ever to voice those opinions. But before expressing those opinions, have we really taken the time to understand the complexity of any given issue? More specifically, have we taken the time to speak with and consider the views of folks who are on the “other side” of that issue?

In this edition, we’ll be looking at the widespread phenomenon of campus protests across the country and the world. The initial plan was to compare campus protesters to January 6th insurrectionists; but instead, it was more valuable to explore the topic more thoughtfully, aiming to avoid fueling conflicts. So we examine diverse aspects of protests, including their objectives, the media's focus on sensational aspects (“nut picking”), and the potential ineffectiveness of disruptive tactics as well as the historical record that indicates how many such protests ultimately did more harm than good to their own cause. It was helpful to share the personal account from a friend who participated in peaceful demonstrations, offering insights into the protesters' perspectives and demands. We also review the importance of understanding and respecting the rights to free speech and assembly while considering reasonable restraints on those rights such as “time, place and manner” restrictions, as well as the impacts of protests on broader society. More broadly, it’s important to emphasize the need for balanced and informed conversations around contentious issues, advocating for empathy and open-mindedness in evaluating differing viewpoints.

01:31 A Deep Dive into Campus Protests; 

05:58 Exploring the Other Side: Conversations with a Protest Participant; 

07:43 Understanding the Demands and Goals of Campus Protests; 

11:04 Reflecting on Free Speech and Its Complexities; 

27:45 The Role of Universities in Nurturing Democracy; 

35:26 Concluding Thoughts and Encouragement for Dialogue

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Host Jenna Spinelle explores the intersection between business and democracy, highlighting the crucial role of business in supporting democracy through consumer trust and solving problems. It features insights from Patrick McGinnis, who advocates for businesses to stand up for the defense of democracy. The episode also delves into Patrick's efforts with organizations like Leadership Now and BridgeUSA to drive democracy reforms and fight political division. Patrick emphasizes the importance of disrupting entrenched systems and building sustainable solutions to combat forces seeking to destabilize democracy. Throughout the episode, there is a focus on the commitment to long-term, sustained work for the success of democracy. 

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As a cross-interview with Sustainable Planet, Kimberly Weir, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Northern Kentucky University and co-host of Sustainable Planet talks with Akshat Rathi, award-winning senior reporter for Bloomberg News and the host of Zero, a climate-solutions podcast for Bloomberg Green and author of Climate Capitalism: Winning the Race to Zero Emissions and Solving the Crisis of Our Age.

Topics Kimberly & Akshat discuss include:

How a misinformed campaign marketing slogan about ‘clean coal’ led Akshat into the year-long pursuit of uncovering the truth about climate technology

Why economists feel the way to address climate change is to put a price on carbon

How to achieve negative carbon emissions since zero emissions alone isn’t enough

Why, when it comes to electric cars, you’ve never heard of Wan Gang, though Elon Musk is a household name

Why the very industries that created lithium-ion batteries, solar cells, and carbon capture and storage are so resistant to employing that technology

How private capital from billionaires like Bill Gates and anyone with a 401K plan is a key part of pursuing climate technology

That climate justice is both ethically the right path but also reaps global economic benefits

The need to shift from ‘shareholder’ to ‘stakeholder’ if we’re going to meet the less-ambitious Paris Conference climate change goals 

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Listen to Part 2 of the interview on Sustainable Planet.

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In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Thomas Schaller and Paul Waldman join Lee and James to discuss the urban-rural divide in American politics. Schaller is a professor of political science at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Waldman is a journalist and author whose writing has appeared in numerous publications, including MSNBC. Their new book is White Rural Rage: The Threat to American Democracy (Random House, 2024).

Why is Mingo County, West Virginia important? How has the decline of political parties shaped America’s present rural-urban divide? What is rural America? Do rural white Americans all think the same thing? Are rural Americans unique in their frustration with the federal government? Or are people from all walks of life frustrated with their government? These are some of the questions Tom, Paul, Lee, and James ask – and argue about – in this week’s episode.

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CPF Co-Director Mike Murphy joins Albert Gore, Zero Emissions Transportation Association Executive Director, and David Schwietert, Alliance for Automotive Innovation Chief Policy Officer, for a conversation on the polarized politics of electric-powered vehicles and what polling around this big divide reveals about the future of transportation.   Featuring:

• Albert Gore: Executive Director, Zero Emissions Transportation Association
• David Schwietert: Chief Policy Officer, Alliance for Automotive Innovation
• Mike Murphy: Co-Director, Center for the Political Future; NBC Political Analyst

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We were honored to hang out with our intellectural hero, Dr. Jonathan Haidt, a few weeks before the release of his recent book The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness.

Unsurprisingly, since its release, it became an instant #1 New York Times bestseller. If you have kids, if you know kids — heck, if you've ever seen a kid — you're just going to have to read this book. It gives us no less than a chance to rescue the coming generations from the devastating effects of an accidental social experiment run amok.

Haidt argues we're overprotecting children in the real world — where they need to play, be exposed to challenge and freedom in order to learn to self-govern — and severely underprotect them in the digital world. He gives us concrete specific steps we can all take now to roll back the psychologically dangerous phone-based childhood.

Don't miss this chance to hear from one of the foremost thought leaders of our time — one who has generously given his counsel to The Village Square, and countless efforts like ours — on this existential challenge of our time.  

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Diversity equity and inclusion: Sounds like a good thing in an incredibly diverse country such as ours, especially when teaching young people at American colleges and universities.

But the DEI industry - or DEI Inc. — has arguably gone off the rails. There’s a big difference between the intentions behind a lot of diversity training and the results. We learn about the crucial difference between training and education, and hear the case against the Stop WOKE Act in Florida.

History professors Amna Khalid and Jeff Snyder share their deep concerns about a growing industry. There is no reliable evidence that diversity, equity and inclusion training sessions at colleges, non-profits, and large corporations actually work. In many places, DEI could be making things worse, imposing an ideological litmus test and encouraging cynicism and dishonesty at places of learning.

Amna specializes in modern South Asian history, the history of medicine and the global history of free expression. Growing up under a series of military dictatorships in Pakistan, she has a strong interest in issues relating to free speech.

Jeff is also a Professor at Carleton: A historian of education, who studies questions of race, national identity and the purpose of public education in a diverse, democratic society. He’s the author of Making Black History: The Color Line, Culture and Race in the Age of Jim Crow.  

Jeff and Amna released this YouTube video about DEI. They speak regularly together about academic freedom, free speech and campus politics at colleges and universities. They also write frequently on these issues for newspapers and magazines, including The Chronicle of Higher Education, The New Republic and TheWashington Post. Amna hosts a podcast and blog called “Banished,” which explores censorship controversies in the past and present. 

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Tom Lopach joins The Great Battlefield podcast to talk about his career in politics and his role as CEO at the Voter Participation Center, where they're dedicated to large scale voter registration work.

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Mike talks with historical anthropologist Nicholas Dirks, Chancellor of UC Berkeley from 2013-2017, about his book City of Intellect: The Uses and Abuses of the University.

Topics Include:

- the public’s decline of faith in higher education

- if higher ed is focused on the right kind of diversity

- free speech as privileging dominant views

- what elite institutions are doing with their massive endowments

- rising education costs and administrative bloat at universities

- if public universities should take positions on political issues

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Argentina’s new president is a libertarian populist and, by his own account, an anarcho-capitalist. To tackle his county’s deep economic troubles, Javier Milei wants to dismantle state institutions, implement severe austerity measures and strip protections for workers. He also wants to outlaw abortion. But in a country with a strong tradition of organized labor and women’s movements, so far he has sown mainly chaos. We speak with a journalist and a sociologist who say Milei’s methods are madness.

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Today we feature interviews with three religious organizations. These organizations share their current programs that promote civic duties and community engagement across the country.  

Harbonim Dror Camp Galil is a summer camp in Ottsville, Pennsylvania. Executive Director David Weiss joins us to discuss their daily programs for campers aged 7-17. These programs include staging protests and holding forums to discussing any topics of their choice, which can range from a later bedtime and more muffins to climate change and gender imbalance.

The Reform Congregation Oheb Sholom has been a part of Reading, Pennsylvania for nearly 160 years. Rabbi Brian Michelson talks about the decision to maintain a polling site on their campus throughout the Passover holiday in Jewish beliefs. He emphasizes the importance of religious observance but also celebrates the American right to express freedom through voting.

The Mormon Women for Ethical Government has a two-part mission, to advocate for ethical governance and empower women to be independent, ethical, and political actors. Co-Executive Director Jennifer Thomas touches on their faith-based values that have guided thousands of members in MWEG’s local chapters across 49 states to serve their local communities one way or another.

These organizations express a commitment to empowering voters, children, and women and encourage involvement in local communities through spiritual values.  

Timestamps:

0:00 Democracy's Good News

1:34 David Weiss, the executive director of Camp Galil

3:52 Rabbi Brian, Reform Congregation Oheb Sholom

7:08 Director Jennifer Thomas, Mormon Women for Ethical Government

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Braxton Brewington is the Press Secretary of the Debt Collective. We discuss the origins of the Debt Collective in the Rolling Jubilee and its history in canceling student debt. Their example is a powerful model for canceling student debt, which continues to be important for all Americans in this election cycle and beyond.

Education is a public good, yet the cost of college over the past couple of decades has risen eight times faster than the average wages. The average student debt is $30,000-$35,000. Two thirds of student debt is owed by women, and a large number of student loan borrowers don't have a college degree. This means that they are paying down student debt on non-college degree wages. The Debt Collective started out as the Rolling Jubilee, which canceled tens of millions of dollars of debt and gave instant relief to borrowers. Canceling student debt creates millions of jobs, boosts the economy, and advances racial and gender justice. Although the Biden administration has canceled billions in student debt, it is only making a small dent in over $1.7 trillion worth of student loans. 

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CPF Director Bob Shrum joins education experts, Pedro Noguera, Macke Raymond, and Dr. Darline Robles, for a conversation on education reform and policy. They discuss the politics of public education, the role of parental rights, why some public schools are failing, what makes some charter schools successful when others struggle, whether or not taxpayer funds should be used to provide vouchers to parents who send students to private schools or home school, and which educational reforms should be supported, studied, or rejected. In partnership with USC Rossier School of Education, USC Price Center for Inclusive Democracy, USC Political Union (a Bridge USA chapter), and USC Political Student Assembly.   Featuring: 

• Pedro Noguera: Dean, USC Rossier School of Education
• Margaret “Macke” Raymond: Director, Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) at Stanford University
• Dr. Darline P. Robles: Professor of Clinical Education, USC Rossier School of Education; USC Associate Dean for Equity and Community Engagement; Former Superintendent, Los Angeles County Office of Education
• Bob Shrum: Director, Center for the Political Future; Warschaw Chair in Practical Politics, USC Dornsife

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Trey talks with constitutional law professor Maxwell Stearns about his new book Parliamentary America which argues the U.S. needs to adapt the U.S. House to include proportional representation. 

Topics Trey and Max Cover Include

- how the median voter theory is inaccurate

- why American parties are tending in extreme directions

- proposals to double the size of the House of Representatives

- proposals to transform the selection of president and vice president

- proposals to change how to remove a president

- the historic necessity of convincing relevant actors to agree to these changes. 

Follow Max on X, and check out Parliamentary America

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This month, we're joined by Stephanie Gnoza, Boulder County's Elections Director, to discuss the first ever risk-limiting audit of a ranked choice voting election! Stephanie breaks down what a risk-limiting audit is, and the steps that Boulder took to pull off this landmark achievement in election security.

Resources mentioned in this episode:
- 2023 Election Results Page: https://bouldercounty.gov/elections/results/
- RCV RLA Tool Github Repository: https://github.com/BoulderCounty/rcv-rla/
- Post-Election Press Release: https://bouldercounty.gov/news/official-results-for-2023-coordinated-election-posted-following-successful-risk-limiting-audit/
- Canvass + RLA Report: https://assets.bouldercounty.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/2023C-Canvass-Documents.pdf
- Podcast listener survey: https://form-usa.keela.co/rcv-clips-podcast-listener-survey-2023

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How do we harness the power of communication in bridging societal divides? We spoke with Elliot Kirschner, an Emmy award-winning journalist and documentary filmmaker, to help us “Through the Fog…” 

Elliot shares his journey from CBS to his Substack “Through the Fog,” his dedication to science communication, and reflections on the role of journalism and science in democracy. We delve into his collaboration with Dan Rather, his academic pursuits in history and literature, and his current endeavors that strive to make science accessible to the public. Elliot also espouses the transformative potential of national service programs, science communication, and storytelling in healing our divisions, underlining the power of optimism and collaborative efforts in facilitating dialogue and understanding.

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Last year, there were 645 mass shootings in the United States, according to the Gun Violence Archive. In the latest major tragedy, at the Kansas City Super Bowl parade, one person was killed and 22 others — half of them children — suffered gunshot wounds. But here’s something you may not know: since then, there have been another 26 mass shootings. Historian Andrew McKevitt and sociologist Jennifer Carlson join Will for a conversation about the history, politics and economics of America’s deadly gun culture.

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Sasha Issenberg returns to The Great Battlefield podcast to talk about his new book "The Lie Detectives: In Search of a Playbook for Winning Elections in the Disinformation Age".

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News coverage of Super Tuesday and other party primaries focused mainly on base voters— Democrats and Republicans. But most Americans are actually on the political sidelines or somewhere in the middle. Many have a mix of conservative and liberal views.

This episode is about them. Our guest is Shannon Watson, the Founder and Executive Director of Majority in the Middle. Her Minnesota-based non-profit group works to give voters and elected officials a place to gather outside the extremes. "We try to elevate the people who are demonstrating the behavior we want to see", Shannon tells us. 

"When it's only the rabble-rousers who get the coverage then there is an incentive to be one of them." Majority in the Middle also promotes structural changes in governing that will remove barriers to cooperation across the political aisle. 

While the two parties have a stranglehold on many aspects of elections and governance, record numbers of Americans no longer register as Republican or Democrat. They prefer the label "independent". 

At the same time, the right and left have changed. Among pro-Trump conservatives, we see a decline in support for free trade and military spending to help traditional allies. The former president has also resisted calls to limit spending on Medicare and social security.

Younger Democrats are much less likely to support Israel. The rise of identity politics has also pushed the party to the left.

While we've always had partisan division the level of vitriol can obscure the fact that Americans are much more closely aligned on issues such as gun rights, abortion, and immigration than we are led to believe.

"Not all Democrats agree with all Democrats, and not all Republicans agree with all Republicans," says Shannon Watson.

Our podcast conversation mentions the Political Typology Quiz, conducted by Pew Research Center. Polling of more than 10,000 U.S. adults showed that while partisan polarization remains a dominant fact of political life, "the gulf that separates Republicans and Democrats sometimes obscures the divisions and diversity of views that exist within both partisan coalitions – and the fact that many Americans do not fit easily into either one."

You can take the Typology Quiz here and see your personal views fit in with nine broad categories of left and right. 

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Acclaimed musician and recording artist Daryl Davis has interviewed hundreds of KKK members and other White supremacists and influenced many of them to renounce their racist ideology.

We hear his brave and remarkable story. Daryl's personal quest began many years ago, after a concert when he was in a country music band. A card-carrying member of the Ku Klux Klan praised his piano playing. Daryl recognized that he had an opportunity to ask an important question about racism: “How can you hate me when you don’t even know me?” 

Daryl Davis is the author of "Klan-Destine Relationships"— the first book written about the Ku Klux Klan by a Black writer. His work in race relations has been highlighted in speaker series across the country. His documentary film, "Accidental Courtesy", features his process of conversation and understanding to bridge differences and promote racial reconciliation.

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What if, at a pinnacle of our civilization’s technological achievement, everything just broke — the institutions we’ve come to rely upon in navigating a modern complex world, the shared stories that hold a large and diverse democratic republic together, and even a common language through which to navigate the rising tide of crisis.  According to renowned social psychologist and author Jonathan Haidt, this describes our current reality, one that he calls “After Babel.” In this new normal, we are scattered by a digital environment into feuding tribes that are governed by mob dynamics and driven by a minority of ideological outliers, made stupid at warp speed by group think, and — thanks to social media — armed with billions of metaphorical “dart guns” with which to immediately wound “the enemy” in ways that are hardly only metaphorical. What could go wrong?

Our very special guest, Dr. Jonathan Haidt, will delve into the profound impact of social media on democratic societies, dissecting the intricate web of challenges it poses to civic trust and civil discourse. Don’t miss this chance to hear from one of the foremost thought leaders of our time — one who has generously given his counsel to The Village Square, and countless efforts like ours — on this existential challenge of our time. Read Why the Past Ten Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid  in The Atlantic and learn more about Dr. Haidt by clicking the MORE button, below.

The program includes a preview of Haidt’s highly anticipated upcoming book The Anxious Generation, available at the end of March. You’re not going to want to miss it.

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We've talked about social media a lot on this show over the years — usually focusing on algorithms, echo chambers, polarization, and the other ways it's damaging to democracy. This week, however, we hear a different take from V Spehar, who has more than 3 million followers on the TikTok account Under the Desk News. 

V built a reputation providing recaps of the daily news for an audience who might not consume news anywhere else. The Under the Desk News audience is politically diverse and V talks about some of the conversations that happen in the comments section. V's also seen how social media can bring people together in real life and encourage people to become civically informed and engaged.

Check out V’s new podcast, American Fever Dream. 

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In this week's episode of Politics In Question, Lee and James ask Representative Chip Roy, R-Texas, if the House of Representatives is broken. Roy is a devoted husband and father of two, serving his third term in Congress representing Texas's 21st Congressional District. He serves on the House Judiciary, Rules, and Budget Committees and is the House Freedom Caucus Policy Chair. Roy previously served as First Assistant Attorney General of Texas under Ken Paxton, Chief of Staff to Sen. Ted Cruz, senior advisor to Texas Governor Rick Perry, Senate Judiciary Committee staff director under Sen. John Cornyn, and as a federal prosecutor. Prior to the public sector, he worked for nearly three years as an investment banking analyst. He holds a B.S. and M.A from the University of Virginia and a J.D. from the University of Texas.

Is the House broken? What does a functioning House look like? What do lawmakers need to fix it? How does the House's institutional dynamic make it harder to form cross-party coalitions? Are cross-party coalitions the solution to what ails the institution? What is the "uni-party" and how is it preventing the House from addressing America's problems? These are some of the questions that Roy, Lee, and James ask in this week's episode.

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Host Jenna Spinelle highlights the positive efforts of individuals and organizations working to build a healthier democracy in our short series, Democracy's Good News.

Today we feature interviews with two civics teachers, Kimberly Huffman and Allison Sheridan, recipients of the 2023 American Civic Education Teacher Award. The teachers share their experiences and perspectives on teaching civics, civil discourse, and civic engagement.

Kimberly Huffman, teaching in Ohio, discusses her personal connection to government assistance, which influenced her decision to become a civics teacher. She emphasizes the importance of civil dialogue, understanding diverse opinions, and appreciating the freedom to disagree in shaping informed citizens.

Allison Sheridan, teaching in Florida, reveals her passion for teaching social studies to combat the lack of knowledge about government among Americans. She incorporates interactive activities and strives to equip students with skills to discuss politics civilly, especially in the age of new technology.

Both teachers express a commitment to empowering students and instilling a sense of political efficacy. The episode encourages listeners to learn more about the movement to strengthen civics education in the U.S. by visiting icivics.org and participating in Civic Learning Week events.

Ken Harbaugh is the host of the Burn the Boats podcast, a former United States Navy pilot, and executive producer of Against All Enemies, a documentary film that explores the critical role of military veterans in domestic violent extremist groups.

We discuss why veterans are equally sought out to work in Fortune 500 companies and to be in leadership positions of extremist groups. Most veterans make a successful transition to civilian life, but a small minority become radicalized. Anger and resentment is a common through line for them. Fueled by the big lie about the 2020 election, extremists continue to become more popular. In fact, the big lie has torn our country apart. Ken stresses that “fundamentally, our elections are secure and the will of the people will be honored in November of 2024, as it was in November of 2020.” 

Follow Ken on Twitter: 

https://twitter.com/Team_Harbaugh

Follow Mila on Twitter: 

https://twitter.com/milaatmos

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Before the Chinese Communist Party came to power in 1949, Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalists played a key role in fighting the Japanese during World War II. In the decades after, China’s role as an ally to the West was largely erased from its domestic politics — and all but forgotten everywhere else. Lately, Chinese leaders are revisiting “the Good War” and reframing that past to serve new interests. On this Season 8 debut, Harvard scholar Rana Mitter reminds us that history is always about the present.

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Cynthia Miller-Idriss, one of America's leading experts on the far right, joins us this week to discuss what draws people to political extremism online and offline — and what we can do to combat it. 

Miller-Idriss is the director of the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab (PERIL) at American University and author of the book Hate in the Homeland: The New Global Far Right. As you'll hear, PERIL takes a public health approach to preventing violent extremism and provides tools and resources to help communities create resilient democracies. 

In the interview, Miller-Idriss discusses how extremism and political violence are linked to our desire for community. This dynamic means that extremist ideas can pop up in seemingly innocuous places from martial arts groups to online wellness communities. She says understanding this dynamic is key to moving people away from extremist spaces and into constructive communities.

Miller-Idriss visited Penn State as part of the Mellon-funded Sawyer Seminar exploring the theme, "Birthing the Nation: Gender, Sex and Reproduction in Ethnonationalist Imaginaries."

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Hillary Lehr returns to the Great Battlefield podcast to talk about her time at Higher Ground Labs and then joining Quiller as CEO where they help Democratic campaigns produce fundraising emails and other content through the use of AI.

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In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Lee and James talk about Bonnie Tyler, Tina Turner, and Americans’ views of democracy. What is democracy? How do Americans view it? Do they think about democracy differently when it gets in their way? Does that make them “democracy hypocrites?” Why are Americans holding out for a hero in such moments? And does democratic self-government need another hero to make it work? These are some of the questions Lee and James ask in this week’s episode.

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Guest host Mara S. Campo, Anchor and Managing Editor at Revolt Black News, looks at the ongoing national mental health crisis and talks to people who are working outside the box to make a difference.

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What is the point of a good education? Do we need it to learn a narrow set of skills ro help us get ahead in the workplace, or should knowledge and learning to be used over a lifetime to acquire wisdom that enables us to think more deeply about our place in the world?

This question has profound resonance at a time of angry divides over American politics and moral confusion at elite American universities. The President of Harvard, Claudine Gay, resigned after months of campus unrest and controversy. In December, Gay and two other university presidents faced widespread criticism for their testimony at Congressional hearings about antisemitism on their campuses.

In this episode, we hear from an university educator who makes the case for liberal education that gives students the tools needed to have a deeper sense of purpose. Roosevelt Montás is the author of "Rescuing Socrates: How The Great Books Changed My Life And Why They Matter For a New Generation".

He believes that the ideas and writings of Plato, Socrates, Shakespeare, Ghandi and many others aren't just for a few privileged students. They're for everybody, and that encountering these thinkers as a poor immigrant teenager changed his life.

Montás is senior lecturer in American Studies and English at Columbia University, and director of the Center for American Studies Freedom and Citizenship Program, which introduces low-income high school students to primary texts in moral and political thought, as well as seminars in American Studies including “Freedom and Citizenship in the United States.” From 2008 to 2018, he was director of Columbia’s Center for the Core Curriculum.

"There is a prevailing cultural attitude that liberal education— the study of literature and philosophy — is appropriate only to the elite," Roosevelt tells us. "That is a really pernicious idea." He argues that the students who benefit the most from the foundational wisdom in the "great books" come from poor and marginalized backgrounds.

Recommendation: Richard watched and greatly enjoyed the Anglo-Japanese Netflix TV series, "Giri / Haji", — duty/shame in Japanese— a thriller about a Tokyo detective scouring the London underworld to find his allegedly deceased brother. The series was filmed in Tokyo and London. 

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In this episode of SquareCast we're joined by the extraordinary Rachel Brown, the Founder of Over Zero—named in reference to the “zero sum game” that exists in sporting events, but becomes dangerous when it overtakes a society, as it has ours. Over Zero was founded to prevent identity-based violence and other forms of group-targeted harm around the world—and here at home. Rachel is one of the wisest, steadiest voices of our time in guiding us away from dangerous (but human) reactions, and toward calmer times.

The program is facilitated by Dr. Theodore R. Johnson, previous UNUM guest and author of the book “When The Stars Begin to Fall.”  Find the program online at The Village Square here.

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American politics are often dominated by the loudest voices on the left and right. In this episode, we learn the crucial difference between what Americans get from their elected representatives and what they really want to hear.

Professor Sean Westwood of Dartmouth College is our guest. As Director of The Polarization Research Lab, he studies American political behavior and public opinion, examining how partisanship and information from political elites affect the behavior of citizens. 

 "There is an absolute need for common ground," Sean Westwood tells us. The research shows that most Democrats and Republicans "know very little about the other side and have significant misperceptions."

 We learn why elites, including political leaders and celebrities, have a powerful impact on public behavior. "When we humanize the opposition and bring politicians together and demonstrate how they can have civil disagreement, you set norms that the public will follow," he says. 

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CPF Co-Directors Bob Shrum and Mike Murphy join Spring 2024 CPF Fellows, Douglas Brinkley, Jane Coaston, Ron Galperin, and Tim Miller for a lively discussion on the 2024 primary elections, presidential race, and campaigns.

Featuring: 

• Douglas Brinkley: Katherine Tsanoff Brown Chair in Humanities & Professor of History, Rice University; Spring 2024 Fellow, USC Center for the Political Future
• Jane Coaston: “The Argument” Podcast Host, The New York Times; Spring 2024 Fellow, USC Center for the Political Future
• Ron Galperin: Former Controller and CFO, City of Los Angeles; Spring 2024 Fellow, USC Center for the Political Future
• Tim Miller: Political Consultant; Jeb Bush 2016 Campaign Director; Spring 2024 Fellow, USC Center for the Political Future
• Bob Shrum: Director, Center for the Political Future; Warschaw Chair in Practical Politics, USC Dornsife
• Mike Murphy: Co-Director, Center for the Political Future; NBC Political Analyst

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In this conversation, we're joined by Greg Lukianoff, the President of FIRE, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. As illiberal tendencies are on the rise among extreme factions of our democracy, it was refreshing to speak with Greg whose organization is on the front lines of protecting the basic freedoms outlined in the First Amendment. We discussed:

• Greg's own background and how he came to form his views on free speech;
• a benchmark Supreme Court case from the late 70s when the ACLU defended Nazi's right to march in Skokie, IL;
• the "bedrock principle" as well as the limitations of free speech;
• contemporary issues such as whether Donald Trump was within his rights on January 6th as well as whether protesters on college campuses shouting "from the river to the sea" at Jewish students are protected under the freedom of speech;
• and advice for leaders of organizations who are the targets of cancel culture mobs.

Greg Lukianoff is President and CEO of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, aka FIRE, and one of the country’s most passionate defenders of free expression. He is an accomplished author of several books including Unlearning Liberty: Campus Censorship and the End of American Debate, The Coddling of the American Mind with Jonathan Haidt and his most recent book The Canceling of the American Mind with Rikki Schlott. He has also written on free speech issues on his Substack and for such outlets as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post, and was executive producer of the documentaries Can We Take a Joke? and Mighty Ira. Greg earned his undergraduate degree from American University and his law degree from Stanford.

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The past few years haven't been easy for election officials and their teams. They had to pivot during the pandemic and face ongoing threats that have resulted in unprecedented staff turnover. This turmoil brings more scrutiny of errors that occur when people make honest mistakes. 

Despite these challenges, Tammy Patrick, CEO for programs at the National Association of Election Officials, is confident that the tens of thousands of people charged with election administrators across the country this year will deliver free, fair, and secure  elections. She's also optimistic about their ability to rise above threats and uphold their commitment to democracy.

Patrick has been working in the election administration space since 2003, most recently as the Senior Advisor to the Elections Program at Democracy Fund. Focusing on modern elections, she works to foster a voter-centric elections system and support election officials across the country.

In this conversation, we dive deeper into what's in store for election workers this year and how Patrick and her team are helping them prepare to stand up against everything from misinformation campaigns to threats of physical violence.

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Lala Wu is the co-founder and executive director of Sister District, an organization that works to build enduring progressive power in state legislatures. We discuss how state races will continue to be important during the presidential election cycle and why the battle for redistricting will be center stage.

State legislatures are where a lot of impactful policy made, such as abortion laws. They’re also critical because in most states, state legislatures control redistricting. Building progressive power is about winning elections, passing legislation, and then telling the story about legislative successes so that voters want to keep you in power and continue the work. 

Lala Wu on Twitter: 

https://twitter.com/_lala_wu_

Follow Mila on Twitter: 

https://twitter.com/milaatmos

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As we commemorate the third anniversary of the attacks on the U.S. Capitol, we talk with DC Metropolitan Police Officer Daniel Hodges. On January 6, 2021, Ofc. Hodges responded with Civil Defense Unit 42 to the attacks on the U.S. Capitol as Capitol Police units were overrun. Ofc. Hodges fought those who assaulted the Capitol on the west lawn, the west terrace, and in the tunnel leading out to the inaugural platform, sustaining many injuries in the process. While fighting in the tunnel he was crushed by rioters in the west terrace doors of the Capitol and beaten. He returned to full duty within a month and continues to serve as an officer. Not only does he continue to serve, he also has testified in court cases about January 6 and in a case in the Colorado Supreme Court, which recently ruled  that Donald Trump is disqualified from the state's 2024 ballot under the Constitution's “insurrectionist ban.” Former President Donald Trump formally asked the US Supreme Court to reverse that decision on January 3.

Along with others who defended democracy on January 6, 2021, Officer Hodges received a Congressional medal, the Presidential Citizens Medal and the Center for Politics’ 2023 Defenders of Democracy award.

Hodges joined the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department in 2014.  Hodges has also received multiple awards for his services with MPD, including a Commendation medal for responding to a man brandishing a gun and threatening MPD Officers and talking him into disarming and surrendering.  Civil Disturbance Unit 42 is a "rapid response" platoon that is equipped with non-standard defensive gear and is activated for policing a variety of First Amendment assemblies, protests, and riots.

Links in this episode:

Officer Daniel Hodges testifies to Congress about the January 6, 2021 attacks on the U.S. Capitol.

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This week we bring you a special episode from Sean Schrader, one of our 2023 Podcast Fellows.

Sean Schrader is currently a final-year MBA candidate at the University of South Florida, and has been fortunate to work on social impact projects focused on tackling our most significant challenges at the local, state, and national levels. Sean is passionate about civility, and is excited to strengthen his podcasting skills in hopes to bolster civic engagement more broadly.

Know a student interested in democracy and podcasts? Send them over to our fellowship to apply: https://www.democracygroup.org/fellowship 

This week we bring you a special episode from Kabod Mauwong, one of our 2023 Podcast Fellows.

KJ Mauwong is a political science major at Swarthmore College, and he studys political theory, comparative politics, and American foreign policy. He loves talking with people and engaging in conversation. Discussion is what drives democracy, and in this day and age, it's good to be able to do so civilly and productively. He wants to create an environment of growth and learning so that everyone listening in can walk away with something to think about or maybe even joke about. In my spare time, I like to play guitar, powerlifting, legos, and badminton. 

Know a student interested in democracy and podcasts? Send them over to our fellowship to apply: https://www.democracygroup.org/fellowship 

We continue our Best of 2023 episodes with an  episode from Politics is Everything, hosted by Carah Ong Whaley & Kyle Kondik.

Center for Politics Professor of Practice Liz Cheney sat down with Center for Politics Director Larry J. Sabato and other members of our team this week for a discussion about the challenges facing American politics and democracy. She speaks out for the first time about the new Speaker of House Mike Johnson (R-LA-4) and why he is dangerous. Cheney’s forthcoming book, Oath and Honor: A Memoir and a Warning, is now available for pre-order and will be released on December 5, 2023. Cheney, former chair of the House Republican Conference, joined the Center for Politics as Professor of Practice in March.

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Across the country, voters are organizing to protect their right to elect candidates of their choice. In the final episode of Season 3 of Democracy Decoded, host Simone Leeper explores the changing landscape of state and local elections, and some of the initiatives that can help ensure voters can choose candidates who truly represent their interests. This forward-looking episode offers a glimpse into innovative reforms that hold the promise of strengthening democracy.

Simone speaks with Susan Soto Palmer, a community advocate and plaintiff that Campaign Legal Center represented in a landmark discrimination case in Yakima County, Washington. Mark Gaber, Senior Director for Redistricting at CLC delves into the problems with at-large districts and how they dilute the voting power of communities of color. Then, the Executive Director of Alaskans for Better Elections, Juli Lucky, explains to Simone how Alaska has enacted ranked choice voting and why states around the country are using this tool to improve democratic elections. Alexandra Copper, Legal Counsel for Litigation at CLC, breaks down how ranked choice voting can ensure that voters' voices are being heard. 

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We continue our Best of 2023 episodes with an  episode from The Great Battlefield podcast, with hosts Nathaniel Pearlman.

Jahnavi Rao joins The Great Battlefield podcast to talk about her start in political activism, founding New Voters, which registers high school students to vote and now running New Voters Research Network where they use behavioral science tools to solve challenging problems.

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We continue our Best of 2023 episodes with an  episode from Talkin‘ Politics & Religion Without Killin‘ Each Other, hosted by Corey Nathan.

You might recognize David Brooks from his columns in The New York Times or his essays in The Atlantic. Perhaps you’ve seen him on PBS NewsHour or Meet the Press. He’s also a prolific author. In fact, his 2019 book The Second Mountain was a major inspiration for this program. We discuss that as well as David’s new book, How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen (Penguin Random House).

Our conversation with "Brooksie" went in a number of surprising directions:

• Sociological observations (and confessions) of New York Mets fans;
• The way lifelong friends enrich our lives;
• Depression - fair warning that this section gets pretty gritty and candid;
• How, as observant Jews, we both discovered Christianity later in life;
• As Jews who are Christian, whether we have any ambivalence;
• American Evangelicalism - talk about ambivalence!
• David's writing process and the motivation of deadlines;
• and much, much more!

Talkin' Politics & Religion Without Killin' Each Other is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.

Please support our wonderful sponsor Meza Wealth Management: www.mezawealth.com

And you can find Corey on all the socials @coreysnathan such as www.threads.net/@coreysnathan.

David's new book HOW TO KNOW A PERSON: www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/652822/how-to-know-a-person-by-david-brooks

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We continue our Best of 2023 episodes with an  episode from the How Do We Fix It? podcast, hosted by Richard Davies and Jim Meigs. 

Toxic polarization is "the problem that eats all other problems... It's the sludge at the base of everything else," our guest Mónica Guzmán tells us. In this really useful repeat episode from 2022, we learn how to fight back against the confusion and heartbreak of living with rigid divides.

This show is a curtain raiser for a series we are doing this fall with funding from Solutions Journalism Network. We will be examining threats to our society from polarization and recent efforts to build a national movement to bridge divides.

Monica is a bridge builder and author of the highly-praised book "I Never Thought Of It That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times". She serves as a Senior Fellow for Public Practice at the national depolarization organization, Braver Angels.

This interview contains surprises. One of them, says Monica, is that "the anger and the rage that we see out there that defines our division doesn't actually exist that much on the one-to-one level,"

She argues that the best tool we can use to have successful conversations with those we disagree with is our own curiosity. We also learn about Monica's personal story as the loving liberal daughter of Mexican immigrants who strongly supported Donald Trump. We hear how Mónica discovered ways to overcome divisions that hurt our relationships and society.

In this episode, Monica discusses how we can put our natural sense of wonder to work, finding the answers needed to work with people,

rather than score points against them. Bridging the gap involves asking questions that help you get across the difficult divides that are causing so much pain in our families and communities.

We also learn about the work and practice of Braver Angels and its current campaign, "Rise For America."

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We continue our Best of 2023 episodes with an  episode from the When the People Decide podcast, hosted by Jenna Spinelle.

Librarians have spoken for years about “library faith,” the belief that public libraries are central to democracy because they contribute to an informed citizenry. Today, the idea is gaining even more traction, and even conservative crackdowns on what’s permitted in libraries reinforce the idea that they’re more than just “book warehouses” but centers for community engagement and representativeness. 

This week, hear from two librarians working to enhance the role libraries of libraries democracy and civic engagement. Shamichael Hallman explains how he brought his experience in tech and faith leadership to bear when he ran a branch of the Memphis Public Libraries, including bringing Civic Saturdays to his community, a program of Citizen University. And public policy advocate Nancy Kranich of Rutgers University shares the high hopes she has that libraries remain crucial institutions that allow us to engage with our government–and each other.

Learn more about the podcast at thepeopledecide.show and follow us on Twitter @PeopleDecidePod.

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We continue our Best of 2023 episodes with an  episode from the Democracy Matters podcast.

In this episode, we talk with Dr. Anthony Fauci about the tensions between expertise and democratic decision-making during the pandemic, and his advice for navigating apathy and misinformation during the next major public health crisis.

See the show notes with links mentioned in this episode at

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We continue our Best of 2022 episodes with an  episode from the Democracy Works podcast, hosted by Jenna Spinelle, Christopher Beem, Michael Berkman. 

Chris Beem talks with former Republican political operative Tim Miller about the party's loyalty to Donald Trump and where it might go in 2024 and beyond. Miller is a writer-at-large for The Bulwark and the author of the best-selling book Why We Did It: A Travelogue from the Republican Road to Hell. He was previously political director for Republican Voters Against Trump and communications director for Jeb Bush 2016. He also appears on MSNBC and The Circus on Showtime.

Miller's book is a reflection on both his own past work for the Republican Party and the contortions of his former peers in the GOP establishment. He draws a straight line between the actions of the 2000s GOP to the Republican political class's Trumpian takeover, including the horrors of January 6th. 

In this conversation, Miller and Beem also discuss alarming trends among young conservatives and how they may continue, or even exacerbate, some of what Miller observed after the 2016 election.

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We continue our Best of 2023 episodes with an  episode from the Future Hindsight podcast, hosted by Mila Atmos.

Jocelyn Simonson is Professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School, a former public defender, and the author of Radical Acts of Justice: How Ordinary People Are Dismantling Mass Incarceration. We discuss how certain radical acts of justice challenge the legitimacy of the criminal system and form the underpinning of a new collective legal thought.

The four pillars of this work comprise of court watching, community bail funds, participatory defense, and people’s budgets. Bail funds are pulling the rug out from the system's justification for what it's doing. Defunding the system in this way shows that the combination of carceral and economic forces that we currently use to “do justice” is not inevitable. A big part of the power of these acts of justice is that they’re done collectively. Abolition has two sides: breaking down and building up. Jocelyn shared that “we need to simultaneously decarcerate, stop spending our resources, and start building it out.”

Follow Jocelyn on Twitter: 

https://twitter.com/j_simonson

Follow Mila on Twitter: 

https://twitter.com/milaatmos

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We continue our Best of 2023 episodes with an  episode from the Village SquareCast podcast, hosted by the Village Square.

This is when you meet a living legend and get the benefit of his thinking on the topic he’s been brilliantly, prophetically right about for more than three decades: the deterioration of our connectedness with each other across almost every demographic and every aspect of our lives—our loss of social capital.  And yet here we are, painfully and tragically paying the price for our failure to put our shoulders to this wheel when it was (almost eerily) knowable when Dr. Robert Putnam first articulated the societal trend in his iconic book “Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of America Community” (we’ve just re-read it, and we’re still not sure he’s not secretly a time-traveler).  Joined by Shaylyn Romney Garrett, his co-author on “The Upswing: How America Came Together A Century Ago and How We Can Do It Again,” they’re beseeching us to do it now (and we’re doing just that, until the end of 2024). Bonus: they’re showing us that what we need to do is actually fun, fills our souls—and might just save our country.

Learn more about Dr. Putnam and Shaylyn Romney Garrett in the full program description online here. Pick up a copy of The Upswing and Bowling Alone (you'll thank us) at our partner bookseller Midtown (wherever you live).

Please also take a moment to watch the trailer of "Join or Die: A film about why you should join a club - and why the fate of America depends on it," produced and directed by Rebecca Davis and Pete Davis. 

Note that in the discussion Dr. Putnam references a chart in the discussion - you can find the two-slide chart here (the first is the imaginary picture we have in our minds about how race in America changed and is not correct; the second is correct).

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We continue our Best of 2023 episodes with an  episode from the Let's Find Common Ground podcast, hosted by Richard Davies & Ashley Milne-Tyte.

We speak with two women from opposing sides of the bitter and often toxic debate over abortion. Frances Hogan and The Rev. Anne Fowler were involved in a series of years-long intensive, secret talks. Their candid conversations began after a gunman opened fire at two Massachusetts abortion clinics nearly thirty years ago. The attack left two women dead and five people injured.  

In this episode, we learn the extraordinary story of how Anne and Frances gained a much deeper understanding and respect for one another. They didn’t change their views about the abortion issue, but they did become friends. 

We share moments of compassion, kindness, and humor.

Both Frances and Anne were among those profiled in the new documentary, "Abortion Talks", about what happened after the deadly attacks. On "Let's Find Common Ground", both of them explain how incredibly difficult it was to be part of many hours of exhausting conversations. We hear how they learned to overcome fear, stereotyping, misunderstandings, and anger. 

Please tell us what you think! Share your feedback in this short survey. For every survey completed, we’ll plant 5 trees.

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We continue our Best of 2023 episodes with an  episode from the The Bully Pulpit podcast, hosted by Bob Shrum and Mike Murphy

CPF Director Bob Shrum joins former U.S. Representatives Val Demings and Adam Kinzinger for a conversation on the politics of climate with the goal of finding common ground. They discuss political barriers to enacting climate action, climate legislation passed by Congress, and how environmental legislation can help achieve climate justice.   Featuring:

• Val Demings: Former U.S. Representative (D-FL)
• Adam Kinzinger: Former U.S. Representative (R-IL)
• Bob Shrum: Director, Center for the Political Future; Warschaw Chair in Practical Politics, USC Dornsife
• Bruce Bond: Co-Founder, CEO, & Board Chair of Common Ground Committee

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We continue our Best of 2023 episodes with an  episode from the Democracy in Danger podcast, hosted by Will Hitchcock & Siva Vaidhyanathan.

Law enforcement is among the most undemocratic institutions in America, says New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie. And the effect this has on communities of color is especially stark. Bouie visits Will and Siva’s class for another live recording with their students, to discuss police brutality, the country’s culture of violence, and the shifting ground of racial oppression in U.S. history. How citizens experience government, he says, depends a lot on what they look like and what levers of power they hold.

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On this episode of Our Body Politic, guest host Karen Grigsby Bates talks with Virginia Kase Solomón, CEO of the League of Women Voters, about the threats and issues poll workers face protecting democracy. Karen then speaks with Melissa Murray, NYU law professor and host of the podcast Strict Scrutiny about some of the cases SCOTUS will hear this term. We round out the show with Karen discussing how to navigate medical bias with artist, author and doctor, Shirlene Obuobi.

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Coming at you live from Light House Studio’s Vinegar Hill Theatre in Charlottesville, our fair city: Emily and Siva welcome Jennifer Weiss-Wolf and Samhita Sunya to the stage, as part of the Karsh Institute’s Democracy360 forum. Sunya, a cinema expert, and Weiss-Wolf, a pioneering advocate for women’s rights, discuss the power of film and print media to shape global feminism. From Bollywood to Ms. magazine, we look at why the women’s movement and its representation matter for the health of a society.

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The Democracy Group's Jessie Nguyen interviews Jahnavi Rao & Nivea Krishnan about New Voters, an organization that is helping the next generation of our country have their voice heard and a seat at the decision table. 

Jahnavi Rao is President & Founder of New Voters,  Government at Harvard University, Formerly White House, DNC, Harvard Kennedy, and UPenn. 

Nivea Krishnan is Executive Director of New Voters, Public Policy and Econ at USC, Student Government VP, Formerly State of Hawaii and Crooked Media.

Find this interview and more in our bi-weekly newsletter, a collection of the hottest podcast episodes from the network, upcoming special events, expert features, and news from you favorite shows.

Jahnavi Rao joins The Great Battlefield podcast to talk about her start in political activism, founding New Voters, which registers high school students to vote and now running New Voters Research Network where they use behavioral science tools to solve challenging problems.

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At the core of the deep societal divisions we navigate every day is an assumption that we share little with “those people” with whom we share a country—a belief that leaves us on dangerous ground as a nation. But author and entrepreneur Dr. Todd Rose says we’ve got that all wrong. According to Dr. Rose, not only do we agree more often than we think but we’re making terrible assumptions about what the people on our own side of the aisle think—then acting on those incorrect assumptions in a way that accelerates the divisions. Born of our highly social nature and hardwiring in our DNA, we so desperately want to protect our status and reputation inside our groups so we conform with what we think our group thinks—finding ourselves inside a “collective illusion” that is not only destabilizing society, it’s making us personally miserable.

Dr. Rose offers his compelling and revelatory insights about human forces that are far too easily ignored in his most recent book: “Collective Illusions: Conformity, Complicity and the Science of Why We Make Bad Decisions.” We think his work is just so important that we’re delighted to bring him to Tallahassee to meet you (and we’ll be hosting book clubs to dive into “Collective Illusions” through the year). We don’t think you’ll ever see the world quite the same way again (trust us, that’ll be a good thing). 

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Rory Stewart walked across Afghanistan, was an elected politician, served as a senior British government minister, and was a visiting fellow at Yale University. Today he is the host of a highly successful podcast— "The Rest Is Politics"— and outgoing president and advisor of the global anti-poverty charity, GiveDirectly. By any measure, he is a man of many parts.

 In our podcast, Stewart raises the alarm about threats to democracy in Europe and the U.S., explains his detailed understanding of common ground, and discusses the stark difference between skills needed to win political office and what's needed to govern well.

 We ask him about the parallels between U.S. and U.K. politics, the threats to democracy from populism, and how other elected politicians overseas view America's current political division and dysfunction. "The U.S. public square really looks incredibly divided," Rory Stewart tells us. 

We also discuss his outspoken new memoir about his years in the U.K. Parliament and government, "How Not To Be a Politician."

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CPF's inaugural discussion of our Combating Antisemitism and Hatred Series features CPF Director Bob Shrum, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Bret Stephens, and former Los Angeles elected official Zev Yaroslavksy. The series explores the struggle against antisemitism in the context of countering hate, reducing violence, promoting empathy, and nurturing civil dialogue.   Featuring: 

• William Deverell: Divisional Dean for the Social Sciences, USC Dornsife
• Bret Stephens: Opinion Columnist for The New York Times; Editor-in-Chief of Sapir
• Zev Yaroslavsky: Former Los Angeles County Supervisor, District 3
• Bob Shrum: Director, Center for the Political Future; Warschaw Chair in Practical Politics, USC Dornsife

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Tareq Alani and Aaron Myran join The Great Battlefield podcast to talk about their careers in politics and founding Chorus AI, where they're applying artificial intelligence and news analysis to political communications and organizing.

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When we elect representatives, we expect them to be held accountable to the people they represent and the laws they are subject to. But how can voters be sure that elected officials are acting with their best interests in mind? In this enlightening episode of Democracy Decoded, host Simone Leeper explores the pivotal role that state and local ethics commissions play in safeguarding the integrity of the democratic process and dives into some of the scandals that have brought about their creation. This episode underscores how independent oversight is crucial in preventing corruption. 

Simone begins by talking to Jeremy Farris who shares his first hand experiences with the creation of an ethics commission in New Mexico. Kedric Payne, the Vice President, General Counsel and Senior Director of Ethics at Campaign Legal Center, explains how commissions fight corruption and offers insights on how they can be implemented across the country. Senior Legal Counsel for Ethics at CLC, Delaney Marsco, describes the mechanisms that allow ethics commissions to hold government officials accountable. Simone then speaks with LeeAnn Pelham, a longtime democracy advocate who directed ethics commissions in California, who tells the story of the scandal that sparked the creation of the ethics commission in Los Angeles. 

Host and Guests:

Simone Leeper litigates a wide range of redistricting-related cases at CLC, challenging gerrymanders and advocating for election systems that guarantee all voters an equal opportunity to influence our democracy. Prior to arriving at CLC, Simone was a law clerk in the office of Senator Ed Markey and at the Library of Congress, Office of General Counsel. She received her J.D. cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in 2019 and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Columbia University in 2016.

Jeremy Farris is the Executive Director of the New Mexico State Ethics Commission. He previously served as General Counsel to New Mexico’s Department of Finance and Administration and practiced law at litigation firms both in Atlanta, Georgia and Albuquerque, New Mexico. Jeremy clerked for the Honorable Julia S. Gibbons on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit; the Honorable Judith K. Nakamura on the New Mexico Supreme Court; and the Honorable James O. Browning on the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico. He holds a law degree from Harvard Law School, a doctorate and masters degree from the University of Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar, and a Bachelors of Science from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Kedric Payne is Vice President, General Counsel and Senior Director of Ethics at Campaign Legal Center. He specializes in government ethics, lobbying law and election law. He began his career in private practice and has since served in the three branches of federal government. Prior to joining CLC, he advised on executive branch ethics laws as a deputy general counsel at the U.S. Department of Energy.  He also enforced legislative branch ethics laws and standards of conduct as deputy chief counsel of the Office of Congressional Ethics, where he was one of the office’s first investigators. Prior to OCE, Kedric practiced political law at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, and advised lobbyists and government contractors on compliance with federal, state and local laws governing campaign finance, lobbying and ethics. Kedric began his career as a litigator at Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York.

Delaney Marsco is Senior Legal Counsel, Ethics at Campaign Legal Center. She works on CLC’s ethics watchdog and policy reform efforts at all levels of government. Delaney’s work encompasses a wide range of ethics issues, including congressional stock trading reform and conflicts of interest in the federal executive branch. Her watchdog work has led to numerous investigations into ethics violations by members of Congress and senior executive branch appointees, and her expertise is regularly relied on for ethics reform legislation. Delaney’s expert analysis has been featured in national print news publications, including The Washington Post, The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, and she has appeared on television and radio programs on CNBC, C-SPAN and NPR. Prior to joining CLC, Delaney was an associate in Goldman Sachs’s financial crime compliance division, where she created, tested and administered firm-wide electronic surveillances.

LeeAnn Pelham has worked to advance accountability and public trust in local government for over 30 years. As Executive Director of voter-created ethics commissions in both San Francisco and in Los Angeles, LeeAnn initiated and led political reform programs to strengthen the effectiveness of government and promote its responsiveness to the public. At both agencies, she was responsible for the development, implementation and enforcement of local ethics, lobbying, and campaign finance laws, including broad public disclosure programs, compliance guidance, and public campaign financing systems that provide matching funds for eligible city candidates. She has also provided executive direction and guidance to support ethics and organizational performance in public service in leadership roles with the Council on Governmental Ethics Laws (COGEL) and while serving as Director of Ethics and Corporate Governance for the Santa Clara Valley Water District. Prior to working in local government, LeeAnn conducted performance audits for the California Auditor General’s Office and was a Senior Political Organizer for Common Cause in Washington, D.C.

Links:
Ethics Commissions Across the Country are Using Innovation to Fight Corruption

Top Ten Enforcement Upgrades for Ethics Commissions

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We're sharing a special interview of The Democracy Group founder, Jenna Spinelle, & network manager, Brandon Stover from the Continuing Studies podcast.

Discover the power of a podcast network; the tremendous value that it brings to it’s member shows, and how it’s fostering democracy and civil discourse from all sides of the political landscape.  Join hosts Neil McPhedran and Jennifer Lee Gunson in conversation with Jenna Spinelle and Brandon Stover, the driving forces behind The Democracy Group, as they share the intricacies of their pioneering podcast network. From exploring the website's role as a central hub for diverse voices and initiatives, to dissecting the innovative use of thematic shows and curated playlists, we uncover the transformative impact of podcasts on civic education and political discourse. The episode provides a behind-the-scenes look at their fellowship program, highlighting their dedication to nurturing the next generation of leaders and fostering inclusive dialogue. Join us as we navigate the nuances of political conversations, the challenges of bridging divides, and the inspiring potential of podcast networks in pushing forward a common goal and educating the general public.

Jocelyn Simonson is Professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School, a former public defender, and the author of Radical Acts of Justice: How Ordinary People Are Dismantling Mass Incarceration. We discuss how certain radical acts of justice challenge the legitimacy of the criminal system and form the underpinning of a new collective legal thought.

The four pillars of this work comprise of court watching, community bail funds, participatory defense, and people’s budgets. Bail funds are pulling the rug out from the system's justification for what it's doing. Defunding the system in this way shows that the combination of carceral and economic forces that we currently use to “do justice” is not inevitable. A big part of the power of these acts of justice is that they’re done collectively. Abolition has two sides: breaking down and building up. Jocelyn shared that “we need to simultaneously decarcerate, stop spending our resources, and start building it out.”

Follow Jocelyn on Twitter: 

https://twitter.com/j_simonson

Follow Mila on Twitter: 

https://twitter.com/milaatmos

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Almost everyone has an opinion about the impact of social media on political polarization. Most of us believe that Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, YouTube and other sites have made our civic life more angry and divided. But how much of this is true? Are consumers as much to blame as the platforms themselves?

15 years ago, in the very early days of social media, many Americans had a much more positive view of this new technology. It was bringing friends and families together, opening up new sources of information, and that was viewed as a good thing.

We discuss the surprising findings of research into social media and polarization with Professor Chris Bail, founder of the Polarization Lab at Duke University. He’s the author of the 2021 book, “Breaking The Social Media Prism.” Bail studies political tribalism, extremism, and social psychology using data from social media and research from computational social science.

This show was recorded during a week of chaos on Capitol Hill, right after the historic ouster of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz who led the push to remove McCarthy, is one of a new generation of performative politicians, known more for their huge social media followings than their ability to get things done.

Both Democrat and Republican hardliners are among those who have used Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook to push politics to the extremes. Compromise is considered a dirty word by these politicians. Working out the complex, time-consuming details of legislation is hardly the stuff of clicks or headlines.

In this episode we complicate the current social media narrative, learning more about algorithms, and user responses to them. This show is part of our podcast series on polarization, funded in part with a generous grant from Solutions Journalism Network. This non-profit group is about to celebrate its 10-year-anniversary.

Recommendation: Richard enjoyed going to the movies recently and seeing "Past Lives", the latest film by Korean-Canadian- American playwright, Celine Song. Richard also gives a thumbs up to "The Morning Show" on Apple TV. Both feature the work of actress Greta Lee.

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CPF Co-Directors Bob Shrum and Mike Murphy join Fall 2023 CPF Fellows Arnon Mishkin and Reince Priebus for a conversation on polling and its ability or inability to predict voting outcomes as the 2024 presidential race approaches.

Featuring:

• Arnon Mishkin: Political Analyst and Director of the Fox News Election Decision Team; Fall 2023 Fellow, USC Center for the Political Future
• Reince Priebus: Former White House Chief of Staff and Chairman of the Republican National Committee; Fall 2023 Fellow, USC Center for the Political Future
• Bob Shrum: Director, Center for the Political Future; Warschaw Chair in Practical Politics, USC Dornsife
• Mike Murphy: Co-Director, Center for the Political Future; NBC Political Analyst

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“A remarkable combination of scientific insight, practical guidance, and grounded hope.” —Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author of THINK AGAIN

Toxic polarization and conflict is exhausting. Whether it’s in your family, at work or in our perpetually acrimonious civic life, it’s like a suitcase full of big ole rocks we lug around while we try to get the usual tasks of life-y-ness done.  Our UNUM journey has brought us thinkers and leaders from sea to shining sea, but now we’re turning intentionally to see THE WAY OUT — and it turns out that really being able to see it is a key first step in being able to do it.

Columbia University’s Peter T. Coleman brings us deep wisdom informed by a life in scholarship that leaves us more hopeful than the usual fare. Know that when we listen to Peter, we do cartwheels of joy — and who doesn’t need joy right about now? Facilitated by BridgeUSA's Manu Meel, this is a must-listen if you're looking for The Way Out.

Learn more about Dr. Coleman and read a full program description online here. Pick up a copy of The Way Out (you'll thank us) at our partner bookseller Midtown Reader (wherever you live).

Peter T. Coleman is Professor of Psychology and Education at Columbia University where he holds a joint-appointment at Teachers College and The Earth Institute. Dr. Coleman directs the Morton Deutsch International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution.

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In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Steven Rogers joins Julia and Lee to discuss state legislatures. Rogers is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science at Saint Louis University, where he teaches and conducts research on elections, state legislatures, and public opinion.

How many people can name their state representative? Does it matter if they have no idea who represents them in the state capital? What are the implications of low electoral accountability in state legislative elections? Would more competition make state legislators more accountable to their constituents? These are some of the questions Steve, Julia, and Lee discuss in this week’s episode.

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Poets, painters, novelists, musicians — it turns out they are as crucial to sustaining self-government as politicians and pundits. In a wide-ranging conversation, our hosts speak with English professor Steve Parks about the likes of Walt Whitman, Woody Guthrie, Sinéad O’Connor and the Malian singer Fatoumata Kouyaté. What does their art have in common? Spoiler: an affective sense of democracy. Plus, Parks shares our plans for a new segment on international activists. We’re calling it “The Power of Many.”

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Yascha Mounk of Johns Hopkins University joined us for this conversation to discuss his latest book THE IDENTITY TRAP: A STORY OF IDEAS AND POWER IN OUR TIME. What is meant by the term “identity synthesis?” In recent years, terms like “identity politics,” “cancel culture” and being “woke” have been used to refer to the topics that are dealt with in the book. So with the urgency of fighting the dangers of right-wing authoritarianism, why address the identity trap? What advice is there for arguing and organizing against the identity trap? And is there reason to be optimistic?

YASCHA MOUNK is Associate Professor of the Practice of International Affairs at Johns Hopkins University, Founder of Persuasion, an online magazine devoted to defending the values of free societies; he’s a Contributing Editor at The Atlantic, a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, he is the host of the Good Fight podcast, and the author, most recently, of The Identity Trap: A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time.

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Victor Cha is a professor of government at Georgetown University and holds the Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. He is a former director for Asian Affairs at the White House National Security Council. Ramon Pacheco Pardo is a professor of international relations at King’s College London and the KF-VUB Korea Chair at Free University of Brussels. They are the authors of Korea: A New History of South and North.

Key Highlights

• Introduction - 0:45
• Korea as a People and a Place - 2:25
• Korean War and its Aftermath - 11:44
• Democracy - 23:23
• Is Reconciliation Possible? - 40:55

Key Links

Korea: A New History of South and North by Victor Cha and Ramon Pacheco Pardo

Victor Cha at the Center for Strategic & International Studies

Ramon Pacheco Pardo at King's College London

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Why do local and state elections matter, and how can voters be sure that their voices are being represented in the lawmaking process? We open the third season of Democracy Decoded with an overview of democracy at the state and local level, and how we can ensure that all citizens can have their voices heard.

In this episode Simone talks with Jawharrah Bahar about her experience losing and then regaining her freedom  to vote, and how that inspired her work with the advocacy group Free Hearts. CLC’s senior vice president Paul Smith explains how and why state and local governments are stepping in directly to protect the right to cast a ballot. Simone also speaks with the Arizona State Director for the organization All Voting is Local, Alex Gulotta. Alex talks about the fight for state and local voting policies that protect the freedom to vote of Black, brown, Native American, and other historically disenfranchised communities.

Host and Guests:

Simone Leeper litigates a wide range of redistricting-related cases at CLC, challenging gerrymanders and advocating for election systems that guarantee all voters an equal opportunity to influence our democracy. Prior to arriving at CLC, Simone was a law clerk in the office of Senator Ed Markey and at the Library of Congress, Office of General Counsel. She received her J.D. cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in 2019 and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Columbia University in 2016.

Jawharrah Bahar is Director of Outreach at Free Hearts, an organization led by formerly incarcerated women that provides support, education, and advocacy in organizing families impacted by incarceration. In her role she has contributed to legislation, spoken at community events, participated in local advocacy campaigns, and raised community awareness through social media videos. Jawharrah is also a licensed esthetician and owner of Lashing Artistry.

Paul Smith is Senior Vice President at Campaign Legal Center. He has four decades of experience litigating a wide range of cases. He has argued before the U.S. Supreme Court 21 times and secured numerous victories, including Lawrence v. Texas, the landmark gay rights case. In addition, Paul has argued several voting rights cases at the Supreme Court, including Vieth v. Jubelirer and Gill v. Whitford, involving partisan gerrymandering, LULAC v. Perry, involving the legality of Texas’s mid-decade redrawing of congressional districts and Crawford v. Marion County Election Board, involving the constitutionality of a voter identification law. Paul previously served as a partner in the law firm of Jenner & Block, where he was chair of the firm's Appellate and Supreme Court Practice and co-chair of the firm's Election Law and Redistricting Practice. 

Alex Gulotta is All Voting is Local’s Arizona State Director. He brings more than 30 years of experience as a poverty law advocate and more than 20 years as a nonprofit executive director. Alex practiced as a legal aid lawyer before becoming the executive director of the Legal Aid Justice Center (LAJC). After that, he joined Bay Area Legal Aid (BayLegal) as executive director. Under his tenure, BayLegal significantly increased its impact litigation and policy advocacy through the implementation of an impact support structure designed to enable every advocate in the program to participate in high-end impact advocacy.

Links:

Voting Must Be Accessible

Why the U.S. Needs Equitable Access to In-Person Voting

I’m Unable to Vote Because I Have a Record, But I’m Not Going to Allow My Past to Be Held Against Me

Midterm Ballot Initiatives Strengthening the Freedom to Vote Win Big

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In this episode, Grace Panetta, a political reporter at The 19th, joins Kyle Kondik, Carah Ong Whaley and Kylie Holzman to discuss several key issues for the 2024 election, including media coverage of women candidates, voter turnout, dramatic shifts in election law landscape, and ongoing threats to democracy posed by election denialism. 

Also, in this episode, Kyle discusses his new analysis on Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball about how the most populous counties versus the least populous counties have voted in presidential elections from 1996-2020. In 1996, Bill Clinton won both the most (by 15.7 percentage points) and least populous counties (1.8 point margin). That means the difference between the two was 13.9 points. By 2020, the gap between the most vs. least populous counties was 39.2 points. 

Links in this episode

• How the Other Half Votes: The United States, Part Two by Kyle Kondik
• The 19th articles by Grace Panetta
• Nikki Haley’s Time for Choosing by Tim Alberta
• The Red Ripple: The 2022 Midterm Elections and What They Mean for 2024

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Until recently most of us outside of state government didn’t know much about the role of Secretary of State, the state’s top election official. We simply didn’t think about it. But since 2020, election laws and procedures have been in the spotlight – and election officials have come under attack. 

In this episode of Let’s Find Common Ground, we meet Democrat Steve Hobbs, Secretary of State for Washington, and Republican Michael Adams, Secretary of State for Kentucky. 

Kentucky is a vote-in-person state, while Washington has voting by mail and at the dropbox. But no matter how people vote, suspicion of the entire process is rife. In recent years both men have encountered election deniers and faced threats to themselves and their staff.

“These abuses, even if they’re not full-fledged threats of violence - it adds up,” says Michael Adams, “and it begins to really lay some strain on our election process.

Hear what each of our guests is doing to protect democracy in his state, why being part of the Electronic Registration Information System (ERIC) is important to them, and how volunteers play a vital role in free and fair elections. 

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We're back from summer break and diving into the 2024 election season, Donald Trump's indictments, the spread of election deniers, and more. We also welcome Michael Berkman back from sabbatical and discuss the significance of "Democracy 2024" as the backdrop for the first Republican presidential debate on August 23.

For our listeners who teach American politics, we've put together a list of episodes designed to be a companion to your courses. Check it out at democracyworkspodcast.com/syllabus.

Referenced in this episode: Votebeat piece by Jessica Huseman on Trump indictments

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Evan McMullin joins The Great Battlefield podcast to share his experience as a CIA Officer, running against Trump as an Independent in the 2016 election and how Stand Up Republic is fighting to defend the ideals that our country was founded on.

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Fall is on the way, and school is back in session. And THIS year, the summer heat and student loans are making big headlines. On this episode of Our Body Politic, host and creator Farai Chideya speaks with Neel Dhanesha from Heatmap who discusses the underestimated yet deadliest weather crisis - HEAT. We’re also joined by climate activist Dany Sigwalt on how to build a climate movement that includes BIPOC voices. Then co-host Karen Grigsby Bates, who is a founding member of NPR’s Code Switch team speaks with Persis Yu, the deputy executive director and managing counsel at the Student Borrower Protection Center, about how the most vulnerable borrowers still recovering from the effects of a pandemic will be able to meet the demands of loan repayments.

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In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Miles Taylor joins Julia and Lee to talk about the resistance to Donald Trump when he was president. Taylor is the author of Blowback: A Warning to Save Democracy from the Next Trump. He served in the Trump administration as the Chief of Staff to the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. Before that, Taylor worked in Congress and served in the George W. Bush administration.

How did administration officials counter the threat to American self-government that they believed Donald Trump posed when he was president? Why did some Republicans resist the president while others supported him? What will happen if Trump - or Trumpism - wins the presidency in 2024? Can a great civic awakening prevent that scenario from happening? And what is the “axis of adults?” These are some of the questions Miles, Julia, and Lee ask in this week’s episode.

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The United States has one of the highest news avoidance rates in the world. Tens of millions of Americans don’t read, watch or listen to the news each day. The media is generally held in low regard. So, is there a better way to report and analyze current events that will satisfy readers’ interests?

In this repeat episode, we hear from Mark Sappenfield, Editor of The Christian Science Monitor, and Story Hinckley, the paper's National Political Correspondent. We’re re-releasing this podcast as the 2024 campaign begins to gather pace — a time when many news outlets have amped up their coverage speculated about winners and losers, and put additional emphasis on the nation’s deep partisan divides.

We discuss evolving news values with the Monitor and how reporters and editors are striving to highlight constructive solutions that unite rather than divide. We also hear about election coverage and why the media need to challenge readers, build trust, and report the news truthfully.

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In this FREE training you'll learn: 

• How to find shows with your target audience using secret podcast industry techniques. 
• How to prepare for an interview and have the best possible answer for any question. 
• Common conversational challenges every guest makes and how to overcome them. 
• A powerful storytelling technique to spice up any interview and get listeners engaged. 
• How to pitch a book, cause, or idea, without sounding salesy.  

 Our podcast media training helps democracy experts to sharpen their media skills so they can share their key ideas and stories in podcast interviews. Want to take our training? Visit: https://www.democracygroup.org/podcast-media-training

Marc Plattner is the founding coeditor of the Journal of Democracy and the founding codirector of the National Endowment for Democracy’s International Forum for Democratic Studies. Until 2016, he also served as NED’s vice president for research and studies, and from 1984 to 1989 he was NED’s director of program.  He is the author of Democracy Without Borders? Global Challenges to Liberal Democracy (2008) and of Rousseau’s State of Nature(1979). His essays and reviews on a wide range of international and public policy issues have appeared in numerous books and journals, and he has coedited with Larry Diamond more than two dozen books on contemporary issues relating to democracy in the Journal of Democracy book series.

Key Highlights

• Introduction - 0:48
• Democratic Consensus - 2:32
• Liberalism and Democracy - 10:26
• Democratic Threats - 20:58
• Governance - 28:51

Key Links

"Why Ukraine Is Critical to Rebuilding Our Democratic Consensus" in the Journal of Democracy by Marc Plattner

"Democracy Embattled" in the Journal of Democracy by Marc Plattner

"Liberalism and Democracy: Can’t Have One Without the Other" in Foreign Affairs by Marc Plattner

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Anat Shenker-Osorio, Founder and Principal at ASO Communications, joins The Great Battlefield to discuss how her background in linguistics informs her work as a political messaging consultant. She shares what her research and campaign experience has taught her about how to re-frame the debate to give progressives the advantage.

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When public officials embark on efforts to incorporate more civic input in city decisions, they are often hamstrung by inefficient means that favor the loudest voices in a room. But more people want a say in their local government; they just need the right opportunity. 

For Petaluma, California, it was something called the "democracy lottery." In this episode, we explore what that is and the power that comes from letting the community deliberate in a public way. Hear from Petaluma's city manager and one of the residents who was part of the fairgrounds panel.

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Will Saletan returns to discuss his book, The Corruption of Lindsey Graham: A Case Study in the Rise of Authoritarianism. It's a fascinating, well-sourced study on the public record of Lindsey Graham since 2015 that helps us better understand what's happened to the Republican Party since the rise of Trump. When and why did many Republicans start capitulating to Donald Trump? We discussed how it's not just the rhetoric that changes; but the people themselves that change. As Will profoundly points out, "The more evil you are convinced the other party is, the more evil you will support on the theory that your guy is less evil than theirs." We also covered how Will does "after-action reports" as a journalist to see what he got wrong in his earlier writing in order to calibrate his current work; making better arguments overall, i.e. "What we're not gonna do is punch the referees;" and we went head first into political prognostications about 2024. 

Will Saletan wrote for Slate for 25 years, having written over 2700 pieces for the daily online magazine. He’s also the author of Bearing Right: How Conservatives Won the Abortion War. Will joined The Bulwark in early 2022. The Bulwark is an important media outlet which provides political analysis and reporting free from the constraints of partisan loyalties or tribal prejudices. And Will Saletan is now the author of the aforementioned The Corruption of Lindsey Graham: A Case Study in the Rise of Authoritarianism.

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Globalization, technology, devastating impacts from the foreclosure crisis and the opioid addiction have wreaked havoc on communities left behind by the modern economy. Some of these discarded places are rural. Others are cities or suburbs. Some vote blue, others red. Some are the most diverse communities in America, while others are nearly all white, all Latino, or all Black. 

In this episode we visit four cities and towns with deep poverty and gutted public services— where entire communities are struggling to hold on.

Our guest is Michelle Wilde Anderson, a professor of property, local government and environmental justice at Stanford Law School. Her recent book is "The Fight to Save the Town: Reimagining Discarded America".

"We have given up on many of these places", Michelle tells us. She describes discarded America as "giant parts of many states that have not found their foothold in the 21st century economy." Discarded America is "a term that describes active decision making."

Her book describes the fallout from decades of cuts to local government amidst rising segregation by income and race. She reports on efforts to revive four communities— Stockton California, Lawrence Massachusetts, Josephine County Oregon, and Detroit.

The focus is on local activists, community leaders, elected officials and others who have poured their heart and soul into fighting for the places where they live. In these places and others some of the most basic aspects of local government services have been dismantled.

This podcast was first published last year and is a companion piece to "How Do We Fix It?" episode #390— "For the Love of Cities" with Peter Kageyama.

In this episode we learn about brave and innovative efforts to cope with years of falling tax receipts in many communities that were hit hard by the foreclosure crisis, and decades of economic decline as jobs and entire industries moved offshore or to other parts of the country.

As always with our podcast, there is also a focus on solutions, as we discuss examples of civic pride and rebuilding.

Michelle Wilde Anderson book Review: "Building Back Better— One Community at a Time (New York Times).

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Landon Mascareñaz and Doannie Tran are co-authors of The Open System: Redesigning Education and Reigniting Democracy. Education is our greatest democracy-building endeavor. We discuss rebuilding trust in public education and marshaling the public will to do something great together.

The democratic act is in the spark of everyday interactions with our community, such as in schools. Families and communities should be an integral part of the way that schools function. We need to practice new ways of making decisions together as a society, and education is a fertile place for this practice. Doannie reminds us that “If people can change, institutions can change, because they're nothing more than the people within them.”

Follow Landon on Twitter: 

https://twitter.com/lmascarenaz

Follow Doannie on Twitter: 

https://twitter.com/doannietran

Follow Mila on Twitter: 

https://twitter.com/milaatmos

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In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Kevin Elliott joins Lee and James to talk about how busy people can make democracy work for them. Elliott is a political scientist and Lecturer in Ethics, Politics, and Economics (EP&E) at Yale University. His main research interests are in political theory, particularly democratic theory, and focus on the ethics of democratic citizenship, political epistemology, and the normative justification and design of political institutions. He is the author of Democracy for Busy People (University of Chicago Press, 2023).

Does democratic self-government demand too much of Americans? Can democracy work for people focused on meeting the everyday demands of life? Or do Americans need to rethink some of the ways in which they do democratic self-government? And what is “stand-by citizenship?” These are some of the questions that Kevin, Lee, and James ask in this week’s episode.

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Americans want electoral reforms so that they can have more choice in elections. Recent surveys show that 20 to 50 percent of Americans are open to a new electoral system, while demand for a third party has crept upward since Gallup began asking in 2003. More Americans now call themselves "independent" than identify with either of the major parties, but what happens when Americans try to reform their way out of a two-party system?

 In More Parties or No Parties, Jack Santucci traces the origins and performance of proportional representation in U.S. cities, the reasons for repeal in all but one case, and discusses the implications of this history for current reform movements at the state and national level. In a two-party system, reform requires appealing to the group that wants to "get the parties out of politics" (or, in modern terms, to "reduce polarization"). This leads to ostensibly nonpartisan reform packages, yet party-like formations emerge anyway, as voters and governments need to be organized. However, such reform is not stable and has tended to make voting difficult for everyday people.

This conversation, originally recorded in August 2022,  looks back at the history of political reform and current movements like the Forward Party and the adoption of ranked-choice voting in Nevada and other states. As you'll hear, reform is easy to put into a slogan, but much harder to implement in practice. 

More Parties or No Parties

Jack Santucci's website

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Democracy Works Podcast

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When Linda Harris began working at city hall in her hometown of Decatur, Georgia, she noticed that the relationship between local government leaders and their constituents was often tense, or nonexistent. City workers were used to residents interacting with them when they had a complaint, for example. She came up with an idea: a straightforward class open to anyone in Decatur to learn about how their city government worked. 

Thus began Decatur 101, now a long-standing institution that even the mayor participated in. In this episode, we talk with Linda and Decatur 101 participants about why understanding how your government works, empowers you to begin advocating for changes you want to see in your community.

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Why do we connect emotionally with some places and not others? Why does that matter? What does loving the place you live in have to do with healing the partisan divide? We explore these questions and hear about solutions from author, researcher and speaker Peter Kageyama.

This shared episode is an edited version of a podcast released earlier this year by "Village Squarecast". Our show includes extracts from a speech delivered at a special meeting of The Village Square in Tallahassee, Florida.

Peter Kageyama is the author of For the Love of Cities: The Love Affair Between People and Their Places, the follow up, Love Where You Live: Creating Emotionally Engaging Places and his latest, The Emotional Infrastructure of Places. He loves cities and is the former President of Creative Tampa Bay, a grassroots community change organization and the co-founder of the Creative Cities Summit, an interdisciplinary conference that brings citizens and practitioners together around the big idea of ‘the city.’

"The mutual love affair between people and their place is one of the most powerful influences in our lives, yet rarely thought of in terms of a relationship," says Peter. "As cities begin thinking of themselves as engaged in a relationship with their citizens, and citizens begin to consider their emotional connections with their places, we open up new possibilities in community, social and economic development by including the most powerful of motivators—the human heart—in our toolkit of city-making." 

In this episode we learn about the importance of "high touch" local entrepreneurs and local innovators who send "love notes" to the places where they live.

Peter shares creative initiatives and speaks of the work of local innovators and public artists. Examples mentioned here include the transformation of Times Square's public space in New York City, The Bean (Cloud Gate) in Chicago, and the Grand Rapids Lip Dub.

A warm thankyou to Liz Joyner, President and CEO of The Village Square for giving us permission to share this episode. Village Square is a non-profit organization based in Tallahassee, Florida. It "builds community in our hometown across the ideological, racial, ethnic and religious divisions that have deepened so dramatically in our nation and that have prevented us from addressing the challenges we face together. Hometowns with strong and deep relationships are communities that thrive." Learn more here. 

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First, can we talk about polling? Todd Rose can! Todd and his team at Populace are figuring out how to do better surveys to get more accurate information. No, really. It’s all about methodology. And wow, do they have some surprising and encouraging takeaways! In particular, WE’RE NOT REALLY AS DIVIDED SO MUCH AS WE THINK WE’RE DIVIDED. So how much are the loudest, most extreme voices driving the conversation in public spaces? And how many of the rest of us are self-silencing? What about COLLECTIVE ILLUSIONS? What’s the definition of collective illusions? And what are some of the most prevalent ones?

Todd Rose is the co-founder and president of Populace, a think tank committed to ensuring that all people have the opportunity to pursue fulfilling lives in a thriving society. Prior to Populace, he was a faculty member at Harvard University where he founded the Laboratory for the Science of Individuality and directed the Mind, Brain, and Education program. Todd is the best selling author of Collective Illusions, Dark Horse, and The End of Average.

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Hal Brands is the Henry A. Kissinger Distinguished Professor of Global Affairs at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He is the coauthor (with Michael Beckley) of Danger Zone: The Coming Conflict with China and the author of The Twilight Struggle: What the Cold War Teaches Us About Great-Power Rivalry Today.

Key Highlights

• Introduction - 0:43
• Peaking Power Theory - 3:12
• The Original Cold War - 22:28
• China as a Peaking Power - 31:14
• American Policy Toward China - 41:56

Key Links

Danger Zone: The Coming Conflict with China by Hal Brands and Michael Beckley

The Twilight Struggle: What the Cold War Teaches Us about Great-Power Rivalry Today by Hal Brands

"China’s Threat to Global Democracy" in Journal of Democracy by Hal Brands and Michael Beckley

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Dr. Richard Haass is the President of the Council on Foreign Relations and the author of The Bill of Obligations: Ten Habits of Good Citizens. We discuss how we, as citizens, can fulfill our role in the social contract.

The United States is a country founded on an idea about equality, about opportunity, and about freedom. Rights alone will not guarantee the smooth functioning of a society, but must be coupled with obligations. These include being informed, getting involved, civic education, and rejecting violence. If 1 or 2% more Americans were to get informed and involved in American politics, we could have very different outcomes.

Follow Dr. Haass on Twitter: 

https://twitter.com/RichardHaass

Follow Mila on Twitter: 

https://twitter.com/milaatmos

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Future Hindsight Podcast

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Working across party divides is the best way to bring people together and make progress, says our guest, Tulsa Mayor, G.T. Bynum. But he also points out that common ground is “the least valued political real estate in America today”.

Overwhelmingly reelected to office as a nonpartisan in a deep-red state, Mayor Bynum calls himself a moderate and tells us that his administration is a test case for “the belief that people of diverse beliefs can still work together to solve great challenges.”

Two years ago, Mayor Bynum issued a statement apologizing on behalf of the city for the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, exactly 100 years after the racist attack. We discuss his support for long-delayed excavations of victims, and Tulsa's need for diversity, and how new immigrants add to prosperity and community building.  

Mayor Bynum acknowledges that in our divided times “the easy sugar high for candidates and elected officials is to hate ‘them’ and get one of the extremes on your side.” Our discussion looks at the need for common ground politics and respect for different communities.

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Transgender rights are increasingly under attack in the United States, despite studies showing that the majority of Americans don’t want laws limiting transgender rights. But politicians on the right, who have long used gender and family issues to appeal to conservative voters, are now trying to reach broader audiences with anti-trans rhetoric. In this episode of “Our Body Politic,” guest host Imara Jones, founder and CEO of TransLash Media and host of the investigative series podcast, the Anti-Trans Hate Machine, gives listeners a thoughtful overview of what’s going on right now in the world of transpolitics – the politics impacting trans people and our communities. She also speaks with the trailblazing non-binary politician Mauree Turner about anti-trans issues and policies. And on our weekly roundtable, “Sippin’ The Political Tea,” Imara and journalists Orion Rummler and Samantha Reidel dig into how the media talks about trans people and legislation, and how two pivotal works have guided the cultural and political conversation.

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Jonathan Rauch and Pete Wehner both return to the TP&R pod. Only this time we get them together! For a little background, Jon and Pete have a number of fundamental differences (eg. Jon is an atheist and Pete is a devout Christian); yet, they also happen to be good friends. So the conversation was flowing before we even hit record. We were discussing Pete's recent essay in THE ATLANTIC "Morality Is for Trump What Colors Are to the Color-Blind." We discussed pervasive cognitive dissonance, specifically on the part of people of faith and their continued embrace of Donald Trump. We also talked about our own need to have epistemological humility. Then we explored a construct that Jon is fleshing out for an upcoming book. That is, the 4 existential questions of 1) Morality, 2) Mortality, 3) Malevolence, and 4) Miracles. 

Pete Wehner is a contributing writer at The Atlantic and a senior fellow at the Trinity Forum. His books include The Death of Politics: How to Heal Our Frayed Republic After Trump, City of Man: Religion and Politics in a New Era, which he co-wrote with Michael Gerson, and Wealth and Justice: The Morality of Democratic Capitalism. He was formerly a speechwriter for George W. Bush and a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. Peter is a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times, and his work also appears in publications including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and National Affairs.

JONATHAN RAUCH, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, is the author of eight books and many articles on public policy, culture, and government. He is a contributing writer for The Atlantic and many other publications including The New Republic, The Economist, Time, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, and interestingly Religion News Service among many others. His latest book is The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth, which we discussed last time Jon joined us on TP&R. One of his earlier works, Kindly Inquisitors: The New Attacks on Free Thought (published originally in 1993 and then expanded in 2013) defends free speech and robust criticism and remains a highly influential work. And of course, it must be mentioned that Jon is arguably most famous for not liking shrimp!

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In response to a false narrative perpetuated by mainstream media suggesting that Congress has yet to propose legislation “to protect individuals or thwart the development of A.I.’s potentially dangerous aspects,” Anna Lenhart shows in a new report that Congress is working to address the harms of Artificial Intelligence. She joins us to discuss A.I., data, privacy, transparency and accountability, and the many legislative proposals Congress has introduced to address harmful content. 

Anna Lenhart is a Policy Fellow, Institute for Data, Democracy & Politics (IDDP) at George Washington University.She most recently served in the House of Representatives as the Senior Technology Legislative Aide to Rep Lori Trahan (117th Congress) and as a Congressional Innovation Fellow for the House Judiciary Digital Markets Investigation (116th Congress). 

Prior to working for Congress, Anna was a Senior Consultant and the AI Ethics Initiative Lead for IBM’s Federal Government Consulting Division, training data scientists and operationalizing principles of transparency, algorithm bias and privacy rights in AI and Machine Learning systems. 

Links in this episode: 

• Federal AI Legislation: An Analysis of Proposals from the 117th Congress Relevant to Generative AI tools
• “As A.I. Booms, Lawmakers Struggle to Understand the Technology,” New York Times

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Crystal Patterson joins The Great Battlefield podcast to talk about her career in politics, working at Facebook's political arm, working on the internet presence of Ted Kennedy and Hillary Clinton, and her current role at FSB Public Affairs.

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In this week’s episode, Mila Atmos joins Julia and James to discuss how podcasts can save American politics. Atmos is the producer and host of Future Hindsight, a weekly podcast that aims to spark civic engagement through in-depth conversations with citizen change-makers. She combines life experiences from living in multiple cultures ranging from Indonesia to Germany to the rural U.S., with her knowledge base in history, economics, and international affairs (B.A. & M.I.A. Columbia University) in creating Future Hindsight.

What is the central threat presently facing American self-government? How can the podcast medium help Americans better understand that threat? Can it personalize political debates by hosting intimate conversations on controversial issues? And how do podcasts presently reinforce America’s political dysfunction? These are some of the questions that Mila, Julia, and James ask in this week’s episode.

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Isabel Kershner is a reporter at The New York Times and the author of a new book called The Land of Hope and Fear: Israel's Battle for Its Inner Soul.

Key Highlights

• Introduction - 0:37
• Mizrahi and Askenazi - 5:31
• Immigration - 18:08
• Ultra-Orthodox - 28:12
• Netanyahu's Judiciary Proposal - 39:27

Key Links

The Land of Hope and Fear: Israel's Battle for Its Inner Soul by Isabel Kershner

Read more from Isabel Kershner at The New York Times

Follow Isabel Kershner on Twitter @IKershner
 

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Between layoffs, show cancellations, downsizing and network shut-downs, some are calling the recent news about the news an all out “media massacre.” Will this disintegration of outlets cause increased polarization? The people who get the platform to tell the news – and how they tell it – will matter more than ever before.

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Journalistic integrity. How can individual reporters and news outlets uphold their professional ethics? Is it possible in today's environment? How can a journalist get a coveted interview, yet be fair without it becoming a hit job or a puff piece? Is it any different now than 5 or 10 or 25+ years ago, when our guest Bob Cusack of THE HILL first entered the business? What is it like interviewing Donald Trump (which Bob has done 4 times)? How can reporters be equipped to deal with attacks from a subject like Trump who repeatedly refers to the press as "the enemy of the people"? What about situations when correspondents are in harm's way due to such attacks? What lessons can be learned from the demise of companies such as BuzzFeed and Vice Media? Oh, and of course we do a little political prognostication!

Bob Cusack serves as Editor-in-Chief of The Hill, a media platform that provides nonpartisan reporting on the inner workings of Government and the nexus of politics and business. Bob has been reporting on policy and politics in Washington, D.C. since 1995 and has interviewed top newsmakers such as former President Trump, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. He regularly appears on news networks as a non-partisan political analyst and has won six awards from the National Press Club and the Society of Professional Journalists. Bob is also an accomplished tennis player and has appeared in numerous movies and tv shows such as WONDER WOMAN and VEEP.

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The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. —Abraham Lincoln.

This episodes tells the story of one group of people who have risen.

Built by patriotic volunteers, Braver Angels is a national movement to bridge the partisan divide, equally balanced between conservatives and progressives at every level of leadership. They work in communities, on college campuses, in the media, and in the halls of political power. We’ll offer up a behind the scenes view of this extraordinary group of Americans—how they formed, what they’ve learned and what’s next.

Find bios for our participants and a full program description online here.

We hope you’ll join us as we explore what happens when people of goodwill who might not agree cross each others’ thresholds and break a little bread together. Whoever you are, whatever your beliefs, bring an open mind, an open heart (and an empty stomach) for a continuing conversation on the two topics your mother taught you to never broach in polite company: politics and religion. We can’t wait.

Funding for this program was provided through a grant from Florida Humanities with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

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Generative Artificial Intelligence has the power to transform lives and change our jobs. In this episode, we discuss the potential for good and bad from large, creative AI models such as ChatGPT.

Our guest is Nathanael Fast, who serves as Director of the Neely Center for Ethical Leadership and Decision Making and Co-Director of the Psychology of Technology Institute. Professor Fast teaches in the MBA, Ph.D., and Executive Education programs at USC Marshall in Los Angeles.

ChatGPT reached over 100 million active users within two months of its release. Consumers have used it to write essays, take tests, crack jokes and write poetry in response to questions or prompts. We raise the questions we need to ask about rapidly changing forms of artificial intelligence. Should we be scared or excited… or both?

With calls for new regulation, even from the industry itself, policy makers and the public need to gain a fuller understanding of the AI revolution. This episode introduces listeners to the meaning of large language models and generative AI.

Nate Fast argues that if we want to understand and improve the future, we’ll need to focus on the adoption of technology and how AI, social media and other platforms shape human psychology. 

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In this episode, Nathan Sanders joins us to discuss how Artificial Intelligence technologies are impacting political processes in complex ways, including increasing disruptive risks to legislative processes but also providing enforcement mechanisms. Sanders also addresses what regulatory frameworks and Codes of Ethics should include. 

Nathan Sanders is a data scientist and an Affiliate at the Berkman Klein Center at Harvard University where he is focused on creating open technology to help vulnerable communities and all stakeholders participate in the analysis and development of public policy.

Links in this episode: 

• How ChatGPT Hijacks Democracy (NYT)
• We Don’t Need to Reinvent our Democracy to Save it from AI
• Large Language Models as Lobbyists
• How AI could write our laws
• Massachusetts Platform for Legislative Engagement
• White House AI Bill of Rights
• Share GPT

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Politics is Everything Podcast

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Chris Wiggins and Matthew L. Jones are co-authors of How Data Happened: A History from the Age of Reason to the Age of Algorithms. Chris is an associate professor of applied mathematics at Columbia University and the New York Times’s chief data scientist and Matt is a professor of history at Columbia. Together, they taught a course called “Data: Past, Present, and Future," and their book is an extension thereof. We discuss the history of how data is made; the relationship between data and truth; and the unstable three-player game between corporate, state, and people power. 

We are currently in an unstable and unpredictable three-player game between state power, corporate power, and people power. In fact, we have a lot of collective influence via the way we construct norms. Our constant human activity is the grist of the mill for machine learning. Corporations do not have all the power. Still, the mix between advertising and data has created a lot of the most pressing concerns in the world’s algorithmically mediated reality.

Follow Chris on Twitter: 

https://twitter.com/chrishwiggins

Follow Matt on Twitter: 

https://twitter.com/nescioquid

Follow Mila on Twitter: 

https://twitter.com/milaatmos

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Future Hindsight Podcast

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We've talked about generational politics on the show before with episodes on Millennials and Baby Boomers. This week, we turn our focus to Gen Z, those born from the late 1990s to early 2000s. This generation's formative experiences include school shootings, a global pandemic, and reckonings with racial and economic inequality. 

In his book Fight: How Gen Z is Channeling Their Fear and Passion to Save America, John Della Volpe argues that Gen Z has not buckled under the weight of the events that shaped them. Rather,  they have organized around the issues America has left unsolved, from gun control to racial and environmental justice to economic inequality, becoming more politically engaged than their elders were at their age and showing a unique willingness to disrupt the status quo.

Della Volpe joins us this week to unpack what he's learned from thousands of conversations with members of Gen Z and what this generation's growing power means for the 2024 election and beyond. Della Volpe is the director of polling at the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics, where he has led the institute’s polling initiatives on understanding American youth since 2000.

Fight: How Gen Z is Channeling Their Fear and Passion to Save America

John Della Volpe on Substack

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We speak with two women from opposing sides of the bitter and often toxic debate over abortion. Frances Hogan and The Rev. Anne Fowler were involved in a series of years-long intensive, secret talks. Their candid conversations began after a gunman opened fire at two Massachusetts abortion clinics nearly thirty years ago. The attack left two women dead and five people injured.  

In this episode, we learn the extraordinary story of how Anne and Francis gained a much deeper understanding and respect for one another. They didn’t change their views about the abortion issue, but they did become friends. 

We share moments of compassion, kindness, and humor.

Both Frances and Anne were among those profiled in the new documentary, "Abortion Talks", about what happened after the deadly attacks. On "Let's Find Common Ground", both of them explain how incredibly difficult it was to be part of many hours of exhausting conversations. We hear how they learned to overcome fear, stereotyping, misunderstandings, and anger. 

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CPF Director Bob Shrum joins Gordon Brown, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, for a discussion on the politics of globalization. They discuss the war in Ukraine, challenges from China, the 2008 global financial crisis, and America’s role in globalization. 

Featuring: 

• Gordon Brown: Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education; World Health Organization (WHO) Ambassador for Global Health Financing
• Bob Shrum: Director, Center for the Political Future; Warschaw Chair in Practical Politics, USC Dornsife

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The Bully Pulpit Podcast

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After Elon Musk bought Twitter and fired most of its staff, the platform seems to be floundering, if not imploding. Traffic is flagging, major news outlets have abandoned their handles, hate speech is on the rise. And yet, Twitter remains one of the easiest ways to speak out in public. Media scholar Meredith Clark doesn’t know if Twitter will survive, but she does know it’s a repository for a remarkable history of antiracist activism. Hear how she is working to preserve that archive, and why.

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Democracy in Danger Podcast

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Across more than 230 years of American history, 26 presidents have run for re-election after a full term and only 10 have lost. A mere four have lost in the past century - Herbert Hoover in 1932, Jimmy Carter in 1980, George Bush in 1992 and Donald J. Trump in 2020. Based on recent history, a key question for Biden is whether a president can win reelection with an approval rating in the low-to-mid 40s. 

Links in this episode: 

• Is Biden’s Approval Rating Too Weak for Him to Win?

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Politics is Everything Podcast

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Jeff Sharlet is a journalist, best-selling author, and longtime observer and investigator of the Christian right. His latest book is The Undertow: Scenes from a Slow Civil War. We discuss America's democratic bankruptcy, the martyrdom of Ashli Babbit, and the rightward shift of the mainstream. 

The notion of civil war was a fringe idea, but in recent years it has become mainstream.  It was just a question of time and for some, it was already happening. Fascism does not respond to logic but relies heavily on myths. Fascist movements need martyrs like Ashli Babbitt. Along those lines, the MAGA movement can be understood as an innocence cult, wishing for a return to a time that never was. 

Follow Jeff on Twitter: 

https://twitter.com/JeffSharlet

Follow Mila on Twitter: 

https://twitter.com/milaatmos

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Future Hindsight Podcast

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Between democracy and autocracy is an anocracy, defined by political scientists as a country that has elements of both forms of government — usually one that's on the way up to becoming a full democracy or on the way down to full autocracy. This messy middle is the state when civil wars are most likely to start and the one that requires the most diligence from that country's citizens to prevent a civil war from breaking out.

Barbara F. Walter, author of How Civil Wars Start: And How to Stop Them has spent decades studying civil wars around the world and working with other political scientists to quantify how strong democracy is in a given country. She joins us this week to discuss those findings, how the democratic health of the United States has shifted over the past decade, and more.

Walter is the Rohr Professor of International Affairs at the School of Global Policy & Strategy at the University of California, San Diego. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago and completed post docs at the Olin Institute for Strategic Studies at Harvard University and the War and Peace Institute at Columbia University. 

How Civil Wars Start: And How to Stop Them

Barbara F. Walter on Twitter

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Democracy Works Podcast

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It feels like free speech has become the number one issue confronting higher education today. Campuses are now hotbeds of discontent. Students are sitting in, protesting questionable speakers on campus. State elected officials are dismantling diversity, equity and inclusion programming. So what is being done to address the campus free speech woes? Stephanie King, senior director of strategic initiatives for the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, and Dannise Brown and Adonis Ortiz, members of the Madison Debate Society at James Madison University provide us with some answers to campus free speech issues.

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Democracy Matters Podcast

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Don’t miss this warm, funny professional’s guided tour of an industry that is failing us—the "Broken News." You'll laugh, you'll cry. You'll know a thing or two to do to fix it.

Our very special guest, Chris Stirewalt—a former Fox News political editor— gives us an inside view of the rage-driven political environment we’ve found ourselves plunged into: “Rage revenue-addicted news companies are plagued by shoddy reporting, sensationalism, groupthink, and brain-dead partisan tribalism. Newsrooms rely on emotion-driven blabber to entrance conflict-addled super users.” We think that just about nails it. 

Chris Stirewalt is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he focuses on American politics, voting trends, public opinion, and the media. He is concurrently a contributing editor and weekly columnist for The Dispatch. Before joining AEI, he was political editor of Fox News Channel, where he helped coordinate political coverage across the network and specialized in on-air analysis of polls and voting trends.

Funding for this program was provided through a grant from Florida Humanities with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

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The Village SquareCast Podcast

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Every day we are bombarded with negative news and polarizing opinions from politicians, pundits, and others who seek attention, power, and money by escalating division. Our guest, Amanda Ripley, calls them "conflict entrepreneurs."

In this podcast, Amanda explains why she believes the problem we face in America isn't too much conflict. Instead, it’s the type of disagreement we are having. We hear about the crucial differences between constructive conflict, where different sides seek to find common ground, and destructive conflict where discord distills into a good-versus-evil kind of feud, with an "us" and a "them".

Amanda Ripley is a journalist and columnist for The Washington Post. Her recent book is "High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped and How We Get Out."

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The civil rights movement was a huge leap forward for voting rights, yet one group of the electorate remains largely on the sidelines: the poor. Legal scholar Bertrall Ross calls low turnout among the bottom 20 percent of American earners an insidious form of voter suppression, all but guaranteeing their interests won’t be served. And he offers some ideas on how to get political campaigns to court new voters. We also speak to Nevada’s new secretary of state, who defeated an election denier.

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In much of the country local news has collapsed, threatening civic pride and a sense of community for countless towns and cities. This dramatic change has also deepened America's divides.

As our guest, journalist and public policy researcher Anna Brugmann explains in this episode, "the internet disrupted the local journalism model". Newspaper advertising revenue fell 80% since 2000. Thousands of local and regional publications closed. Most surviving newsrooms faced drastic cutbacks. Coverage of all kinds of local events— from city hall, school board meetings and football games to local businesses and zoning decisions — disappeared.

First, Craigslist displaced print-based classified ads. Then Google, Facebook and other online firms became the main source of consumer advertising. We discuss the impact on local journalism. In recent decades, the news we read and listen to has largely shifted from local reporting to often highly polarizing national opinion journalism.

In the first of two episodes on the changing face of the news media, we look at the retreat of local journalism and discuss solutions. These include non-profit media and changes in for-profit business models. Today, many newspapers get more revenue from subscriptions and fundraising drives than from advertising. We ask: how sustainable are these initiatives?

Anna Brugmann is policy director for the advocacy organization, Rebuild Local News. According to her group, since 2004, as the U.S. population has grown, the number of newsroom employees has dropped by 57%.

"By almost every metric by which you measure a healthy community and a healthy democracy, the trends are in the wrong direction when local news leaves," says Anna. "In the past twenty years more than two thousands newspapers have closed in The United States."

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CPF Executive Director Kamy Akhavan joins Stavros Lambrinidis, European Union Ambassador to the U.S., for a conversation on the history and current status of the European Union and United States relationship. They discuss EU support for Ukraine, the latest on the post-Brexit Windsor Framework, important human rights issues, and advice for young people who want to get involved in public service.

Featuring:

• Stavros Lambrinidis: European Union Ambassador to the United States
• Kamy Akhavan: Executive Director, Center for the Political Future
• Alison Dundes Renteln: USC Professor of Political Science, Anthropology, Public Policy and Law

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In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Rick Pildes joins Lee and James to consider two different explanations for America’s present political dysfunction. Pildes is the Sudler Family Professor of Constitutional Law at the New York University School of Law. His work explores legal and policy issues concerning the structure of democratic elections and institutions, such as the role of money in politics, the design of election districts, the regulation of political parties, the structure of voting systems, the representation of minority interests in democratic institutions, and similar issues. Earlier in his career, Pildes clerked for Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Law Institute. Most recently, President Biden appointed Pildes to the President’s Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States.

Why is American politics presently dysfunctional? Is it because Americans are too polarized? Or is it because they are too fragmented? How has political fragmentation affected politics in the past? What challenges does it pose for effective governance? What is an effective government? And how many political parties do Americans really need? These are some of the questions that Rick, Lee, and James ask in this week’s episode.

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Josh Chin is the Deputy Bureau Chief for China at the Wall Street Journal and the coauthor with Liza Lin of the book Surveillance State: Inside China's Quest to Launch a New Era of Social Control.

Key Highlights

• Introduction - 0:38
• Describing Xinjiang - 2:38
• Social Engineering - 11:21
• Privacy in China - 19:08
• AI in China - 28:23

Key Links

Surveillance State: Inside China's Quest to Launch a New Era of Social Control by Josh Chin and Liza Lin

Read more from Josh Chin in the Wall Street Journal

"The Mandarin in the Machine" A review of Surveillance State in Journal of Democracy by Will Dobson

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This week, we share a panel from the 92nd Street Y’s State of America Summit. Host Farai Chideya asks: who defines America’s Values? We discuss the power of storytelling and civil society with Bird Runningwater, CEO of Cloud Women Media, award-winning author and Harvard Professor Suketu Mehta, author Anna Malaika Tubbs, and Washington Post Contributing Columnist Danielle Allen.

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The end of federal protection for abortion rights has led to a patchwork of state and local laws banning and even criminalizing healthcare choices that women continue to make every day. Amy Hagstrom Miller, founder and CEO of Whole Woman’s Health, visits Will and Siva’s class to discuss the implications of these developments for her work, as she combats a culture of shame and stigma around abortion. She says it’s time to look for change beyond the judiciary — and to get men caring about reproductive justice.

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Andy Stern joins The Great Battlefield podcast to talk about his career, being the President of the SEIU, fighting for workers rights and now a fellow at the Economic Security Project where they're advocating for a universal basic income.

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The Great Battlefield Podcast

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Srdja Popovic is the co-founder of CANVAS, and was a founding member of the Otpor! (“Resistance!”) a movement that had a crucial part in bringing down the Milosevic regime in Serbia. He recently coauthored an article in the Journal of Democracy with Sophia McClennen and Joe Wright called, “How to Sharpen a Nonviolent Movement.”

Key Highlights

• Introduction - 0:27
• What are Dilemma Actions? 2:24
• Different Types of Dilemma Actions - 18:53
• Effectiveness - 33:01
• Strategies and Tactics - 38:37

Key Links

"How to Sharpen a Nonviolent Movement" in the Journal of Democracy by Sophia McClennen, Srdja Popovic, and Joseph Wright

Blueprint for Revolution: How to Use Rice Pudding, Lego Men, and Other Nonviolent Techniques to Galvanize Communities, Overthrow Dictators, or Simply Change the World  by Srdja Popovic with Matthew Miller

Learn more about CANVAS

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What are the most pressing concerns about the future of the American experiment and Democracy around the world? How can one person impact the many complex systems going on in the world? How can we better understand what's broken in our democracy? How can we work together to fix it? In what ways can we use the emerging medium of podcasting to explore these questions and help come up with solutions? The Democracy Group is a network of podcasts that is united around the goal of answering these questions. 

We're joined this week by Jenna Spinelle and Brandon Stover. Jenna is the Communications Specialist for the McCourtney Institute for Democracy at Penn State University and the Founder of the Democracy Group Podcast Network. Jenna also teaches journalism in the College of Communications at Penn State. Brandon Stover is the Network Manager of the Democracy Group, he is the host of the podcast Brandon Stover on Life, and he’s the Founder of Plato University where the mission is to help people find purpose and learn skills for social impact careers.

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March 6-10th is National Civics Education Week and on this episode of Democracy Matters, we're exploring youth civic education. We talk with Dr. Stacie Molnar-Main, research associate in civic education and deliberative pedagogy with the Kettering Foundation, and a school climate consultant for the Pennsylvania Department of Education about her research into elementary school's integrating deliberative democracy into the classrooms.

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More than ever, civic learning is needed to ensure each and every person across this country has the necessary tools to engage as members of our self-governing society. However, schools are also a growing part of the culture wars. According to a 2022 National Education Association Survey, nearly half of schools reported challenges teaching about race and racism and practices related to LGBTQ students in the classroom. As we've discussed before on the show, book bans, funding cuts, and teacher shortages are also making teaching anything — let alone civics — more difficult.

At this critical juncture, Civic Learning Week unites students, educators, policymakers, and private sector leaders to energize the movement for civic education across the nation. This week's episode includes two experts who talk about the theory and practice of strengthening civics education in these polarizing times.

Emma Humphries is Chief Education Officer and Deputy Director of Field Building for iCivics, the non-profit founded by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor to reinvigorate civics through free, interactive learning resources. Emma serves as iCivics’ pedagogical expert, ensures its resources evolve to a place of greater equity and deeper learning for all students, and advocates for more and better civic education across the country.

Ashley Berner is Director of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy and Associate Professor of Education. She served previously as the Deputy Director of the CUNY Institute for Education Policy and as an administrator at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia. Her most recent book is Pluralism and American Public Education: No One Way to School.

Civic Learning Week

iCivics poling on bipartisan support for civic education

Diffusing the History Wars: Finding Common Ground in Teaching America's National Story

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Democracy Works Podcast

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CPF Director Bob Shrum joins Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, for a discussion on how the United Kingdom Parliament operates and the special relationship between the United States and the UK. They discuss the powers of the Speaker of the House of Commons, how elections and political parties work in the UK, and advice to students who want to get involved in politics.   

Featuring:

• Rt Hon Sir Lindsay Hoyle MP: Speaker of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom
• Bob Shrum: Director, Center for the Political Future; Warschaw Chair in Practical Politics, USC Dornsife

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By any measure this has been a momentous week for global politics. President Biden’s surprise trip to Kyiv, his “freedom” speech in Warsaw, the visit of China’s top diplomat to Moscow, and Vladimir Putin’s decision to suspend Russian participation in the last remaining nuclear arms treaty with the U.S. are all signs of deepening big-power tensions. 

This coincides with the first anniversary of the bloodiest conflict in Europe since World War Two. In the early hours of February 24 last year Putin’s tanks rolled across Ukraine’s borders.

Our podcast guest is well-known human rights advocate, Jacob Mchangama, CEO of the Danish think tank Justitia, and author of the recent book, “Free Speech: A History From Socrates to Social Media”. We discuss the Ukraine war's broader implications for fundamental values that are a vital part of the growing struggle between the West autocratic powers.

One of the biggest surprises of the past year has been the strength of European and American support for President Zelenskyy and Ukraine.

“I’m very heartened by it,” says Mchangama. “It’s a good antidote to a decay of the West and complacency of democracies narrative that has been driving some of the authoritarian backlash.”

“Even a year in, there still seems to be solid support in many countries for the Ukrainian cause and for continuing to supply them with the means to defend themselves and hopefully decisively turn the tide.”

Today, it could well be argued that Joe Biden is the first cold war President since Ronald Reagan. In this episode, we learn why free speech is so vital to oppressed groups and racial minorities. We examine the recent "free speech recession", and how to ensure that young people are better equipped to deal with misinformation on social media and the internet.

Recommendation: Richard has recently watched and enjoyed three movies on the big screen in theaters. They are: "Everything Everywhere All at Once", the British film "Living" and the Irish movie "The Banshees of Inisherin".

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"WHEN TWO ENEMIES ARE TALKING, THEY'RE NOT FIGHTING."

When Daryl Davis was ten, he didn’t understand hate yet. But then he was the only black scout in a parade to honor Paul Revere’s ride to Concord, when he began getting hit by bottles. It was then that he formed a question in his mind that he’s spent much of a lifetime answering: “How can you hate me when you don’t even know me?” Failing to find his answer in books and history, as an adult and an accomplished musician, he realized who better to ask than a member of an organization formed around the premise—the KKK. So began our guest’s extraordinary story, in which a black man befriended over 200 KKK members, starting with a grand wizard. We’ll learn how his improbable, impossible, openhearted journey can light our way.

Musician and Race Reconciliator Daryl Davis, has single-handedly been the impetus for over two hundred White supremacists to renounce their ideology and turn their lives around. As a Black man, Daryl has attended more Ku Klux Klan rallies than most White people and certainly most Blacks — short of being on the wrong end of a rope. His true-life encounters with Grand Dragons, Imperial Wizards, neo-Nazi Commanders are detailed in his documentary Accidental Courtesy, and his riveting first book Klan-Destine Relationships. Daryl tours around the country and around the world performing musical concerts and giving lectures on race reconciliation, inspiring both racists and non-racists to redirect their positions toward working together to truly make America the greatest country it can be.

Funding for this program was provided through a grant from Florida Humanities with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

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The Village SquareCast Podcast

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Why has it been over a decade since an incumbent senator was successfully primaried in a regularly-scheduled election? Which Senators might be vulnerable to a primary challenge in 2024? What are the primaries that merit watching? How will changes in the Democratic presidential primary schedule play out? How should the Republican Party consider changes it might make to the way it nominates presidential candidates? Kyle Kondik, Managing Editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball addresses these questions and more in this episode with Carah Ong Whaley.

Links in this episode: 

• The Senate Primaries to Watch So Far
• Both White and Nonwhite Democrats are Moving Left

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Politics is Everything Podcast

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Octavia Abell is the co-founder and CEO of Govern For America, which describes its mission as bridging the gap between governments and emerging leaders to build a pipeline of diverse and dynamic public sector talent. We discuss the power of public sector workers to be agents of change, whether that's public policy on climate or streamlining the process of getting a birth certificate.

Government can deliver public policy that improves our daily lives. For example, civil servants are hard at work right now in deploying the broadband and infrastructure funds from the infrastructure bill in 2021. There are many policy areas that young people are really fired up about, like climate. With 40% of the public sector workers nearing retirement, now is an opportunity for young graduates to work in government.

Follow Octavia on Twitter: 

https://twitter.com/octavia_abell

Follow Mila on Twitter: 

https://twitter.com/milaatmos

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Future Hindsight Podcast

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America’s Constitution was meant to unify the new nation and help avert a civil war over the thorniest of divisions: slavery. Oops! In retrospect, that charter proved much too ambiguous, lending itself to both proslavery and abolitionist causes. In this season’s premiere, historian Liz Varon discusses the deep roots of polarization in the United States — with Will, Siva and an auditorium full of their students. The Union may have survived, Varon tells us, but its bloodiest war still echoes.

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In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Rachel Lears joins Julia and James to discuss how filmmaking can help us understand how people make political change happen. Lears is an award-winning documentary director, producer, and cinematographer. Her film Knock Down the House (Netflix) won the U.S. Documentary Audience award and the Festival Favorite award at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. Knock Down the House was shortlisted for an Oscar and nominated for an Emmy in 2020. Lears’ latest film, To the End, captures the emergence of a new generation of leaders in the movement to combat the climate crisis.

How do people make the politically impossible possible? Why does telling their story visually give us a different perspective on politics than we would get from reading about them in the New York Times or the Washington Post? What explains the progressive movement’s recent resurgence? And what skills do people need to change the political status quo? These are some of the questions Rachel, Julia, and James ask in this week’s episode.

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Farai interviews senior news writer and founding staffer at The Trace, Jennifer Mascia on the recent shootings in California, and what's going wrong with gun regulations in the US. Then, she speaks with the President of the American Psychological Association, Dr. Thema Bryant on how to identify individuals who are prone to committing acts of domestic terrorism, as well as how affected communities can heal from gun violence.

Content Advisory: Mentions of various types of gun violence and suicide.

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Independent voters make up more than 40 percent of the voting public. But you wouldn’t know that from media coverage, which focuses almost exclusively on red versus blue. Independents are often overlooked or seen as wishy-washy. Our guests on this episode say that’s a big misconception. 

In this show we look at a group of voters, including many young people, that is making up a growing slice of the US population. 

 Our guests are Jackie Salit and John Opdycke. Jackie is the author of Independents Rising and president of Independent Voting, an organization dedicated to bringing respect, recognition and reform to independent voters. John Opdycke is president of Open Primaries, which campaigns for primary elections in which every American can vote, not just Republicans or Democrats. 

 John and Jackie say that independents are not moderates: They envision a much less divisive political system than the current one, and they want to play a bigger role in American democracy. 

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Currently, over 7 million people are under some form of carceral supervision in the United States–from custody to bail to probation. For our final episode, 70 Million reporter Mark Betancourt moderates a conversation about the role we, the public, play in creating and sustaining the matrix of incarceration as it exists today. He’s joined by Cornell professor Peter K. Enns, author of the book Incarceration Nation: How the United States Became the Most Punitive Democracy in the World, and Insha Rahman, Vice President of advocacy and partnerships at the Vera Institute.

Find a resource guide and annotated transcript at our website here.

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70 Million Podcast

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How much news is too much? Or not enough? News Over Noise, the new podcast from Penn State's News Literacy Initiative explores that question and offers guidance on how to consume news that enhances your participation in our democracy without becoming overwhelmed by all the noise on social media and the 24/7 news cycle. 

News Over Noise co-hosts Matt Jordan and Leah Dajches join us this week to discuss how the news impacts our mental health, the future of media literacy education, and more. Jordan is a professor of media studies Dajches is a post-doctoral researcher, both in the Bellisario College of Communications at Penn State. 

Listen to News Over Noise

News Literacy Week- January 23-27, 2023

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Democracy Works Podcast

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Michael Walzer is an emeritus professor at the Institute for Advanced Study. He was also a longtime editor of Dissent. He is the author of many books including the classic of political philosophy Spheres of Justice. His most recent book is called The Struggle for a Decent Politics: On “Liberal” as an Adjective.

Key Highlights

• Introduction - 0:45
• What is Liberalism? 3:53
• Liberal Democracy - 11:47
• Liberal Nationalism - 17:35
• How Does Liberalism Change? 22:14

Key Links

The Struggle for a Decent Politics: On "Liberal" as an Adjective by Michael Walzer

Spheres Of Justice: A Defense Of Pluralism And Equality by Michael Walzer

Institute for Advanced Study

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In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Julia and Lee kick off a new year by considering what the House Speaker election says about the Republican Party. What is going on with the GOP? Is the Speaker's race an example of healthy factional fighting? Or is it a sign of Republican disarray? How does the Republican infighting differ from recent debates within the Democratic Party? And what is Lee’s terrible pun? These are some of the questions Julia and Lee ask in this week’s episode.

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Want to know one of the most exciting and innovative ways to find common ground? Get people out of their political bunkers and move them beyond rigid polarization in our divided nation. Consider local grassroots efforts, such as the one we profile in this podcast episode.

Journalist Simon Montlake of The Christian Science Monitor tells us about his reporting on a lively grassroots effort in northeast Ohio to help people of all political stripes disagree constructively. Participants meet first over dinner at a community center and then debate a hot topic. The audience is invited to discuss a controversial proposition, listening to different points of view. It’s called Dinner and a Fight with the word "fight" crossed out and replaced by "dialog". 

Event organizers Ted Wetzel and Tom Hach explain how the evenings work and why they can be part of a broader effort to rebuild civic bonds. Ted is the founder and executive director of Fighting-To-Understand, a nonprofit group that encourages people to be more skilled at healthy disagreement. Former IT program manager and retired Navy Reservist Tom Hach is the Director of Ohio Freedom Action Network (OhioFAN).

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Two years after the attack on the U.S. Capitol, Farai interviews Dr. Barbara F. Walter, Rohr Professor of Pacific International Relations at the University of California, San Diego, and author of the New York Times bestseller, How Civil Wars Start, on the serious threat factionalism poses to American democracy. Then, Farai talks to former FBI agent, counterterrorism expert, and Associate Senior Vice President of Homeland Security, Dr. Erroll G. Southers, who details how and why homegrown violent extremism is widening the distance between Americans and a solid democratic process, and what is being done to stop it.

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For the second anniversary of the violent attacks on the U.S. Capitol, we spoke with Sandra Garza, a clinical social worker, veteran, and partner of Private First Class Brian Sicknick, a U.S. Capitol Police officer who died of injuries sustained during the insurrection on January 6th, 2021. 

Ms. Garza shares her experiences attending the House Select Committee hearings and what more needs to be done to achieve justice and accountability. She says everybody has a responsibility to ensure this never happens again. Ms. Garza is the plaintiff on a lawsuit filed on January 5, 2023 in the United States District Court in the District of Columbia against Donald J. Trump, Julian Khater and George Tanios for the wrongful death of Pfc Brian Sicknick. The lawsuit includes claims for relief for 1) wrongful death; 2) conspiracy to violate civil rights; 3) common law assault against Khater and Tanios, 4) Negligence Per Se against all defendants; 5) Aiding and Abetting Common-Law Assault (against Trump).

On January 6, 2023, PFC Sicknick was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal for having made “exemplary contributions to our democracy” and shown “courage and selflessness” around the events of January 6, 2021. The medal is one of the country’s highest civilian honors, given to American citizens deemed to have “performed exemplary deeds of service for their country or their fellow citizens.” 

PFC Brian D. Sicknick served with the United States Capitol Police from July 2008 until his passing in the line of duty on January 7, 2021 due to injuries sustained during the attack on the United States Capitol. PFC Sicknick spent the majority of his career with the department’s First Responder Unit, where he served as a mountain bike officer as well as a member of the Civil Disturbance Unit.

Links in this Episode:

• Trump Is Sued in Death of Capitol Police Officer After Jan. 6
• 06/09/2022 Select Committee Hearing
• H.R.6943 - Public Safety Officer Support Act of 2022
• I can’t forgive the people who won’t admit my partner, Brian Sicknick, was a hero
• The adverse childhood experiences questionnaire: Two decades of research on childhood trauma as a primary cause of adult mental illness, addiction, and medical diseases
• Cult membership: What factors contribute to joining or leaving?
• President Biden Marks January 6 Anniversary

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Steve Phillips is the host of the Democracy in Color podcast and the author of How We Win the Civil War: Securing a Multiracial Democracy and Ending White Supremacy for Good. We start off a new year of civic engagement and fighting for democracy with a conversation about his political leadership, thought leadership, and coalition building.

The Confederate Battle plan of never giving an inch, ruthlessly rewriting the rules, distorting public opinion, silently sanctioning terrorism, and playing the long game has been present in every period of US history. Through organizing and civic participation, in the places that held people in slavery, the country is being transformed. The new American majority and the majority of eligible voters are people of color and progressive whites. We have the potential power to redraw the social contract.

Follow Steve on Twitter: 

https://twitter.com/StevePtweets

Follow Mila on Twitter: 

https://twitter.com/milaatmos

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Hedrick Smith, Pulitzer Prize-winning former New York Times reporter and editor and Emmy award-winning producer/correspondent, has established himself over the past 50 years as one of America’s premier journalists. His best-seller, “Who Stole the American Dream” is a startling and revealing portrait of the past 30 years of U.S. political and economic history, hailed both for its compelling stories and ”brilliant analysis.”

In 26 years with The New York Times, Smith served in Saigon, Cairo, Paris, the American South and as bureau chief in Moscow and Washington. In 1971, he was a member of the Pulitzer Prize-winning team for the Pentagon Papers series and in 1974, he won the Pulitzer Prize for international reporting from Russia and Eastern Europe.

His subsequent book The Russians was a No.1 American best-seller translated into 16 languages. Smith’s next book, The Power Game: How Washington Works, was bedside reading for President Clinton. Many members of Congress used it as a political bible. He has written three other best-sellers.

For PBS, Hedrick Smith has created 26 prime-time specials and mini-series since 1989 on such varied topics as “Inside the Terror Network,” “Is Wal-Mart Good for America?” “The Wall Street Fix,” “Inside Gorbachev’s USSR,” “Can You Afford to Retire?” and “Rediscovering Dave Brubeck.” He has won most of television’s top awards including two Emmys, two national public service awards, and two Dupont-Columbia Gold batons for the best public affairs programs on U.S. television in 1991 and in 2002.

Join us for this conversation with Hedrick Smith, facilitated by Mary Ellen Klas, Capitol bureau chief for the Miami Herald.

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Ana Sofia Palaez joins The Great Battlefield podcast to talk about her career as a food and culture writer and co-founding the Miami Freedom Project where they are working to organize the Cuban community in Miami.

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2022 was another year of COVID-induced anxiety with widespread worries about democracy, polarization, climate change and threats to democracy. But in this new year special Richard and Jim say we have reached peak fear. America may well be calming down and headed towards a new sense of normal. Our co-hosts throw caution to the wind with a series of fresh outside-the-box forecasts for the twelve months to come.

We make predictions about the retreat of COVID, the outlook for inflation, and the migration crisis on the southern border that threatens havoc for the Administration. Hear what could happen next in Ukraine's war against Russian aggression. We also look closely at China's new struggles with COVID, street protests, and slowing growth.

In a special section on technology and science, we focus on stunning advances in cancer and Alzheimer treatments plus new innovations in AI and the likely impact of ChatGTP, the app that's just been released to the public and is already raising ethical issues for schools, universities, and employers.

We promise to release a scorecard of how we did at the end of the year. Is Jim right when he says there is a real likelihood of a new energy crisis in 2023?

Is Richard's forecast about the 2024 Presidential race on target?

Jim and Richard also share their year-end hopes for the new year and recommendations.

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We continue our Best of 2022 episodes with an  episode from the When the People Decide podcast, hosted by Jenna Spinelle.

Learn about the basics of the ballot initiative, the history of how it caught on in the United States, and the pros and cons that she will explore throughout the series.

A campaign in Michigan to end partisan gerrymandering in 2018 is part of a legacy of ballot initiatives dating back to the 1800s. After becoming disillusioned with the results of the 2016 election, Katie Fahey took to Facebook to gauge the interest of grassroots mobilization amongst her colleagues, friends and family. 

Now the executive director of a nonpartisan voter reform organization, Fahey shares how the ballot initiative excited everyday people about becoming active in politics, including its 10,000 volunteers, and how they were inspired to make political changes in their communities. 

In this episode, host Jenna Spinelle explores the basics of the ballot initiative, the history of how it caught on in the United States, and the pros and cons that she will explore throughout the series.

Learn more about the podcast at thepeopledecide.show and follow us on Twitter @PeopleDecidePod.

Resources

Giving Voters a Voice: The Origins of the Initiative and Referendum in America  by Steven Piott.

Katie Fahey's organization, The People

Katie Fahey on Twitter

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We continue our Best of 2022 episodes with an  episode from the Village SquareCast podcast, hosted by the Village Square.

How do societies respond to great demographic change? This question lingers over the contemporary politics of the United States and other countries where persistent immigration has altered populations and may soon produce a majority minority milestone. Or where the original ethnic or religious majority loses its numerical advantage to one or more foreign-origin minority groups. Until now, most of our knowledge about large-scale responses to demographic change has been based on studies of individual people’s reactions, which tend to be instinctively defensive and intolerant. We know little about why and how these habits are sometimes tempered to promote more successful coexistence.

Dr. Justin Gest is an Associate Professor of Policy and Government at George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government. He is the author of six books, primarily on the politics of immigration and demographic change—all from Oxford University Press or Cambridge University Press.

Dr. Gest's research has been published in journals including the British Journal of Politics and International Relations, Comparative Political Studies, Ethnic and Racial Studies, Global Governance, Global Policy, International Migration Review, Migration Studies, Polity, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. He is the editor of Silent Citizenship: The Politics of Marginality in Unequal Democracies (Routledge, 2016), special issues of Citizenship Studies, and the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies.

He has also provided commentary, analysis, or reporting to a number of broadcast networks, including ABC, BBC, CBC, CNN, and NPR, and news publications including The Atlantic, The Boston Globe, The Guardian, Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, POLITICO, Reuters, The Times, Vox, and The Washington Post.

Find this program online at The Village Square.

This podcast series is presented in partnership with Florida Humanities.

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We continue our Best of 2021 episodes with an  episode from the The Bully Pulpit podcast, hosted by Bob Shrum and Mike Murphy

For the 2022 Trojan Family Weekend, CPF Co-Directors and veteran political strategists Bob Shrum and Mike Murphy have a balanced and witty conversation about the latest political headlines. They discuss Joe Biden's administration, the state of the Democratic and Republican parties, and the midterm election and what it means for the 2024 general election.

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