Why politics makes us depressed — and what we can do about it
Many of us can conjure moments when politics made us feel sad. But how often do those feelings translate into more serious forms of depression or other mental health issues? And if politics does make ...
20 Feb 202343min
What will it take to make democracy more representative?
Why has the underrepresentation of women and racial minorities in elected office proved so persistent? Some experts suggest that women lack sufficient ambition to run for office relative to men, while...
6 Feb 202346min
Separating news from noise
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 yo...
23 Jan 202346min
What we learned from our guests in 2022
We've had some incredible guests on the show in 2022. For our final episode of the year, we're taking a look back at what we've learned from them. Michael Berkman, Chris Beem, Candis Watts Smith, and...
19 Des 202246min
Where do the parties go from here?
A few days after the midterms, a Substack post from Dave Karpf caught our eye. In it, he takes up the question of how the Republican and Democratic parties should move forward after the election. This...
12 Des 202245min
The real free speech problem on campus
Across op-ed pages and Substack newsletters, college campuses have become fiercely ideological spaces where students unthinkingly endorse a liberal orthodoxy and forcibly silence anyone who dares to ...
5 Des 202246min
Jamelle Bouie makes the case for majoritarianism
Jamelle Bouie's writing spans everything from 19th century American history to 1990s movies, but he's spent a lot of time recently thinking about America's founders, the Constitution, and the still-un...
21 Nov 202244min
Our conversation with Josh Shapiro [rebroadcast]
We talked with Pennsylvania Attorney General (and now Governor-elect) Josh Shapiro back in 2018, at the height of efforts by state attorneys general to block actions from the Trump administration on i...
14 Nov 202231min
