Tom Nichols on democracy's worst enemy
Over the past 30 years, citizens of democracies who claim to value freedom, tolerance, and the rule of law have increasingly embraced illiberal politicians and platforms on both the right and the left...
18 Okt 202144min
Independent commissions alone can't create fair maps
Gerrymandering is one of the topics we've discussed most on this show, with good reason. But those conversations mostly stopped at the solution of creating independent redistricting commissions to dra...
11 Okt 202144min
Voter suppression doesn't repeat, but it rhymes
Carol Anderson's book One Person, No Vote was written before COVID-19, but many of the patterns she discussed are more salient than ever as states enact new voting restrictions ahead of the 2022 midte...
4 Okt 202144min
A love letter to democratic institutions
The problems of disinformation, conspiracies, and cancel culture are probably familiar to many of our listeners. But they're usually talked about separately, including on this show. In his new book, T...
27 Sep 202142min
How Amazon is disrupting democracy
As we've said many times on this show, democracy is long and slow, which is the exact opposite of the ethos that Amazon has pushed into our culture through quick shipping, easily accessible entertainm...
20 Sep 202145min
Abortion is not always a clash of absolutes
Candis Watts Smith takes a turn in the interviewer's chair this week for a conversation about abortion and American democracy following the passage of SB8 in Texas and the Supreme Court's response to ...
13 Sep 202131min
Millennials' slow climb to political power
Generational divides in American politics are nothing new, but they seem particularly striking now as the oldest Millennials turn 40 this year. This generation has different lived experiences than its...
6 Sep 202141min
A summer of the individual vs. the common good
We're back after our summer break. Michael, Chris, Candis, and Jenna catch up on what happened over the summer, from COVID vaccine mandates to school board chaos to the refugee crisis in Afghanistan. ...
30 Aug 202130min
