S23 E1: The Democracy Trap (Ben Ansell)

S23 E1: The Democracy Trap (Ben Ansell)

As you may have noticed, modern democracies aren’t doing so hot. In country after country, income inequality soars while solidarity plummets. Resentment simmers while national unity cools. In places like the US and the UK, beacons of liberal democracy, words like “autocracy” and “anarchy” are thrown around with alarming regularity. Meanwhile, our ability to take action on existential threats like AI and climate change is stymied by sniping politicians who are obsessed with point-scoring and eerily disinclined to agree on a shared set of facts. Given all this, it’s not unreasonable to wonder: Are we doomed? This week, on the 247th anniversary of America’s birthday — and the dawn of the modern democratic experiment — we’ll get to the bottom of that unsettling question with Ben Ansell, professor of comparative democratic institutions at Oxford and author of “Why Politics Fail.”

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We’re Teaching American History All Wrong

James Traub is a journalist and educator who spent a year visiting public schools across the country to understand what’s going wrong and what’s going right. His new book is The Cradle of Citizenship:...

22 Jan 29min

How Not to Die (According to an ER Doctor)

How Not to Die (According to an ER Doctor)

Ashely Alker MD is an emergency medicine doctor and medical consultant who has seen it all — from freak accidents to horror-movie-worthy diseases. Her new book is 99 Ways to Die: And How to Avoid Them...

21 Jan 19min

Life Changes You. The Question Is How.

Life Changes You. The Question Is How.

First up, Maya Shankar (The Other Side of Change) on uncertainty, resilience, and becoming someone new on the other side of disruption. Then John Kaag shares five key insights from Robert Richardson's...

20 Jan 28min

Why the Five-Day Workweek No Longer Makes Sense

Why the Five-Day Workweek No Longer Makes Sense

Chances are, you work five days a week. Monday through Friday. And you probably don’t think much about it, because that’s just how work works, right? But who decided that five days was the right numbe...

19 Jan 32min

How to Solve Problems Before They Happen

How to Solve Problems Before They Happen

First, Dan Heath reveals how the most effective leaders don't just solve problems — they prevent them from happening in the first place. Then Thomas Wedell-Wedellsborg shares research that shows refra...

16 Jan 34min

Your Self-Discipline Isn’t the Problem

Your Self-Discipline Isn’t the Problem

Productivity expert Chris Bailey explains why follow-through fails — and how aligning your values, intentions, and friction levels makes action feel natural. And later in the show, we hear from Becky ...

15 Jan 34min

What If Laughing More Made You Better at Everything?

What If Laughing More Made You Better at Everything?

Most of us think of humor as something that happens at comedy clubs or in group texts with friends. But what if laughter could actually make you better at your job, more creative, and more connected t...

14 Jan 27min

The One Human Need That Explains (Almost) Everything

The One Human Need That Explains (Almost) Everything

First up, Philosopher and novelist Rebecca Newberger Goldstein argues that the mattering instinct is the hidden engine behind nearly everything we do. Then we hear from rabbi Sharon Brous, author of ...

13 Jan 35min

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