Episodes
Ending The Filibuster: Eli Zupnick
Eli Zupnick is the spokesperson for Fix Our Senate, a group dedicated to ending the Senate filibuster. We discuss how the filibuster rule actually works, why it’s deeply anti-democratic, and why the time has come to eliminate it.
Critical Race Theory: Mari Matsuda
Mari J. Matsuda is a lawyer, activist, law professor, and founding practicioner of Critical Race Theory. We discuss the various ways inequality threatens our freedom, the dangers of harmful speech, and the way racism is systemic to our institutions.
White Too Long: Robert P. Jones, Ph.D.
Robert P. Jones is the founder of the Public Religion Research Institute and author of White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity. We learn about the historical role of white churches in perpetuating white supremacy, stunting the morality of white Americans, and in working to achieve justice going forward.
Fixing High Schools: Ted Dintersmith
Ted Dintersmith is an education reform advocate and author of What School Could Be: Insights and Inspiration from Teachers Across America. We discuss how schools fail students and how we can create innovative, high-quality learning around the country.
Reimagining Higher Education: Leon Botstein
Leon Botstein is president of Bard College, chancellor of the Open Society University Network, and music director of the American Symphony Orchestra. We discuss the relationship between democracy and education, the bankruptcy of American education today, and the foundational pillars of high-quality education.
Ending the Counter-Revolution: Bernard Harcourt
Bernard Harcourt is a critical theorist, professor at Columbia University, and the author of The Counterrevolution: How Our Government Went to War Against Its Own Citizens. We discuss the American counterinsurgency governing paradigm, the fragility of our democracy, and bringing about an alternative, just government.
Reimagining Law Enforcement: Norm Stamper
Norm Stamper is a former Chief of Police of Seattle and author of Protect and Serve: How to Fix America’s Police. We discuss his 34-year experience as a police officer, the deeply institutionalized nature of cop culture, ending the war on drugs, and reimagining public safety through community policing.
The Precarity of Taxi Work: Veena Dubal
Veena Dubal is a law professor at UC Hastings whose research focuses on the intersection of law, technology, and precarious work. We discuss how taxi work became precarious work as a result of de-unionization, de-regulation, and concerted efforts by transportation network companies to exploit workers.
The Future of Antitrust: Zephyr Teachout
Zephyr Teachout is an activist, professor, and author of Break ‘Em Up: Recovering Our Freedom from Big Ag, Big Tech, and Big Money. We discuss how monopolies are deeply anti-democratic and how we can break them up by enforcing existing anti-trust laws, which protect our democracy.
A Keynesian Future: Zach Carter
Zach Carter is the author of The Price of Peace: Money, Democracy, and the Life of John Maynard Keynes, which was just selected as one of the Ten Best Books of the Year by Publishers Weekly. We learn about Keynes, his economic theories, and potential future applications of his principles in today's uncertain world.
Lasting Civic Engagement: Maria Yuan
Maria Yuan is the founder of IssueVoter, a non-partisan civic engagement platform whose mission is to give everyone a voice in our democracy. It helps voters track bills before Congress, sends their opinions to their representatives, and puts together a personalized scorecard on the representative’s voting record. We discuss how we can create a healthier democracy through technology and civic engagement.
October Surprise: Devlin Barrett
Devlin Barrett is a Washington Post reporter and author of October Surprise: How the FBI Tried to Save Itself and Crashed an Election. We discuss how the FBI’s work culture and its transformation to a national security agency led to a series of monumental misjudgments, and examine how a similar future fate can be averted.
Building Authoritarian Power: Nathan Stoltzfus
Nathan Stoltzfus is the Dorothy and Jonathan Rintels Professor of Holocaust Studies at Florida State University and author of Hitler's Compromises: Coercion and Consensus in Nazi Germany. We discuss how Hitler used popularity, legitimacy, and ideology to build power for himself and the Nazi Party.
Building Power Online: Alice Marwick
Alice Marwick is Associate Professor of Communication and a Principal Researcher at the Center for Information Technology and Public Life at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. We discuss whether social media can build and sustain political movements, help politicians win elections, and how it has changed the way we interact with politics.
Digital Labor Organizing: Jess Kutch
Jess Kutch is co-founder of Coworker.org, a platform that deploys digital tools, data, and strategies to help workers experiment with power-building and win meaningful change in the 21st century economy. We discuss the importance of worker voice, organizing in the digital age, and practicing democracy in the workplace.
Supreme Inequality: Adam Cohen
Adam Cohen, senior writer for Time magazine and prior member of The New York Times editorial board, is the author of Supreme Inequality: The Supreme Court's Fifty-Year Battle for a More Unjust America. We discuss the power of the Supreme Court, the far-reaching consequences of the court’s decisions, and the decades-long consistency of rulings against America’s poor.
Decolonizing America: Nick Tilsen
Nick Tilsen is the President and CEO of NDN Collective, an organization led by Indigenous People that builds Indigenous power and restores Indigenous self-determination. We discuss decolonization, revitalizing Indigenous cultures and languages, and creating sustainable solutions on Indigenous terms.
Building Civic Power: K. Sabeel Rahman
K. Sabeel Rahman is an Associate Professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School, and co-author of Civic Power: Rebuilding American Democracy in an Era of Crisis. We discuss the concept of civic power, putting policy-making decisions in the hands of affected communities, and building an equitable economy for all Americans.
State Capture: Alex Hertel-Fernandez
Alex Hertel-Fernandez is Associate Professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, and the author of State Capture: How Conservative Activists, Big Businesses, and Wealthy Donors Reshaped the American States – and the Nation. We discuss the efficacy of controlling state legislatures and implementing public policies to reshape the political terrain.
Organizing Power: Theda Skocpol and Caroline Tervo
Theda Skocpol is Professor of Government at Harvard University, where Caroline Tervo is a Research Editor. They edited Upending American Politics: Polarizing Parties, Ideological Elites, and Citizen Activists from the Tea Party to the Anti-Trump Resistance, which looks at organized collective action on the Left and Right and their impact on state, local, and national politics.