Responsible Statecraft: Stephen Wertheim
December 6, 2019
“We want peace to be the norm, and war the exception.”
Stephen Wertheim is the Deputy Director of Research and Policy at the Quincy Institute, an organization that promotes responsible statecraft. We discuss the history of our foreign policy, and why it is in the public interest of all Americans to move away from endless war and reinvigorate diplomacy for a peaceful world.
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Powering American Democracy: Seth Flaxman
November 22, 2019
“The real tradition in the U.S. is make voting convenient.”
Seth Flaxman is the co-founder of Democracy Works, a non-profit and non-partisan organization that aims to make voting simple and seamless. They provide tools for voters, such as TurboVote, as well as critical data infrastructure for elections. We talk about voting in the 21st century, creating partnerships for a stronger democracy, and increasing voter turnout.
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Protecting our Elections: Marcia Johnson-Blanco
November 15, 2019
“The right to vote is preservative of all other rights.”
Marcia Johnson-Blanco is the Co-Director of the Voting Rights Project, an initiative of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. The program works to ensure voters have an equal opportunity to vote, to have that vote count, and to keep elections free and fair. We talk about the challenges, threats, and solutions facing our democracy and elections.
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Podcasting for Democracy: Civics 101
November 8, 2019
“If you don't understand the system you're in, you can't change it.”
Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice host Civics 101, the podcast refresher course about the basics of how American democracy works. We discuss the importance of empowering citizens and understanding the rules of our complex system, as well as the enduring repercussions of slavery in the United States.
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Gender Parity: Melissa Mark-Viverito
July 26, 2019
“We have a responsibility to create more equity and justice in the world.”
Melissa Mark-Viverito is the former Speaker of the New York City Council and co-founder of the 21 in ’21 Initiative. She argues that electing women into government is critical for our society and democracy because their perspectives and experiences need to be represented in budgets, public policy, and legislation.
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Trailer: Probable Futures
July 19, 2019
“Though the future might be hard, humanity will persist.” In this upcoming season, we examine what our probable future is going to look like and interviewed guests with expertise in a variety of fields. We discuss the economics of healthcare, the probabilities of tolerable climate futures, the enormous collateral consequences of the current cash bail […]
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Democracy Works: David Frum
April 27, 2019
“We have to make democracy deliver better.”
This is a bonus episode from the Democracy Works podcast, which examines what it means to live in a democracy. Host Jenna Spinelle interviews David Frum, the author of Trumpocracy: The Corruption of the American Republic. He discusses how we can use the tools of civic engagement to build the democracy we want for ourselves and for future generations.
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Ted Dintersmith
November 16, 2018
“Education should prepare kids for life.”
Ted Dintersmith is an avid education advocate and the author of “What School Could Be: Insights and Inspiration from Teachers Across America”. We discuss why developing a child’s human potential as a fulfilled and self-supporting citizen should be the top priority, and how equitable access to high quality education is imperative to achieve this goal.
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Paul Lagunes
July 6, 2018
“Fighting corruption is not an end in and of itself, it's an effort toward improving society at large.”
Paul Lagunes is a Columbia University political scientist whose scholarship focuses on corruption in the Americas. His current book project is “Corruption and Oversight: Insights from Field Experiments”. We define corruption, discuss how it relates to democracy, and learn that voting is a tool to fight against it.
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