S4E8 - A Table Talk on Democracy with Historian Joel Kauffman

What is the state of our democracy in the U.S. today? What does it mean to be a democracy? Lamar and Tom check in with historian Joel Kauffman on these and other questions.

Joel Kauffman is a professor, coach, reader, and world citizen. His interest in the world in which we live has led him to learn more about it through the study of history and in conversations with people from all walks of life. Joel taught courses at Hesston College, including a couple with Lamar, engaged students and pushed them to think more carefully and critically about the world they were inheriting from their elders. In this Table Talk, Joel similarly pushes Lamar and Tom to thoughtfully consider the state of American democracy and what it will take to preserve it.

Learn More

Walden by Henry David Thoreau - https://www.gutenberg.org/files/205/205-h/205-h.htm

The Constitution of the United States of America - from the Bill of Rights Institute https://bri-wp-images.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/The-Constitution.pdf also from the National Constitution Center https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution

What is a Democracy? Department of Government, Georgetown University - https://government.georgetown.edu/news/democracy-governance/what-is-democracy/

A 3rd Space Survey: Acts of Kindness

Do you have an act of kindness that you’d be willing to share? You can participate through a Google Forms Survey at this link: https://forms.gle/5NQakn6bgeXpm2us5

There you will find two kindness questions we’d like you to consider and then respond to:

• What is an act of kindness you’ve received that made a difference to you?

• What is an act of kindness you have done which you hope changed another person’s life?

What do we do with the acts we learn about in this survey? We save them and feature them in our Thanksgiving show each year…anonymously unless you prefer we use your name.

Finally, please share this survey because an act of kindness shared begets others.

How We Check Ourselves

Fact Checking: Because there are a lot of things happening…some true, some false, some unbelievable…we use the following fact checking sites. Take a look for yourself:

• Snopes - https://www.snopes.com/

• FactCheck.org - https://www.factcheck.org/

• Politifact - https://www.politifact.com/

• RealClearPolitics - https://www.realclearpolitics.com/

• Reuters FactCheck - https://www.reuters.com/fact-check/

Because media can have its own biases, we also rely upon these sites to help us get balanced coverage:

• Media Bias/Fact Check - https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/

• All Sides - https://www.allsides.com/unbiased-balanced-news

• Ad Fontes Media Bias Chart - https://app.adfontesmedia.com/chart/interactive

Want to watch us do the podcast? Visit the Klaus Haus Productions YouTube Channel at https://www.youtube.com/@KlausHausProductions.

Comments? Suggestions? Ideas for guests or topics?

Send us a voice message on Spotify or email us at lamar3rdSpace@gmail.com and tom3rdSpace@gmail.com.

Credits:

Wild Opinions and Nonsensical Musings by Lamar Roth & Tom Klaus

Images by Getty Images, Pexels, Pixabay, Roth Images, and Cyberlink AI

Final review and approval by Jake and Ebie Dawgs Inc.

Photos by Lamar Roth are copyrighted by Roth Images, All Rights Reserved. For permissions or additional information: lamar3rdSpace@gmail.com and https://www.rothimages.com/

Getting to 3rd Space with Lamar and Tom is produced and sponsored by Klaus Haus Productions LLC and Acorn Consulting, LLC. © 2026. All Rights Reserved. Permissions: hello@klaushausllc.com.

No living creature was harmed in the production of this film but a lot of Colombian coffee was consumed.

Recorded using Riverside.fm - http://riverside.fm/ - from “home studio” locations in Maryland and Kansas, USA; Original Publishing Date, April 14, 2026