In our new series, we're reporting on the work and actions of Braver Angels— the nation's largest cross-partisan volunteer-led movement to bridge the partisan divide.
We continue to ask questions about constructive, practical how to make the world a better place. Host and producer Richard Davies, sound designer Miranda Shafer and former co-host Jim Meigs have made more than 400 episodes. We feature smart, fun, spontaneous interviews with a remarkable range of guests. We welcome playful, constructive and unusual opinions.
Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn, YouTube and all major podcast apps.
Elections are vital to all democracies: The authority of the government comes solely from the consent of the governed. But millions of Americans don’t trust the electoral process and have highly negative views of politics.. Many have little or no confidence that all votes will be fairly and accurately counted.
What should be done to improve our elections? We discuss reforms that both conservative reds and liberals blues can endorse. Some may surprise you, including ending gerrymandering and the unanimous recommendation on requiring ID to vote.
The Braver Angels Trustworthy Elections Initiative held 26 workshops with nearly 200 evenly-balanced Red and Blue participants. Together, they found 727 unanimous points of agreement.
Our guests are Larry Mayes and Walt McKee— the Blue and Red Co-Chairs of the Trustworthy Elections Leadership Team. They discuss their recommendations and what they learned together during the past four years.
Braver Angels is addressing a huge threat that could disrupt the future of our democratic republic: The rigid, often bitter, divisions between reds and blues. While nearly four in ten voters identify as "independent", more than nine in ten Americans fall into one of two broad categories. They identify as either conservative or liberal leaning and tend to vote for either Republicans or Democrats.
"If this country breaks apart, if violence increases to the point where we are killing each other, it will be because of those two groups and the extreme leaders of those two groups," says Braver Angels co-founder and President David Blankenhorn. "That's the division we are looking at. That's the bridge we want to build. That's what's threatening the country."
This episode is part two of our "How Do We Fix It?" podcast interview with David. We discuss Braver Angels bridge building by young people. Our conversation also explores America's political divisions and the Braver Angels approach to reforming and rebuilding American political discourse one conversation, one debate, one workshop at a time. In part one— our previous episode— we began by discussing the movement's origin story.
“I don’t do this work in optimism. I do it in hope”, Braver Angels President David Blankenhorn tells us. “If we’re going to have any chance to fix this and save our country, this is what needs to be done.”
Soon after the tumultuous 2016 election Braver Angels sprung to life— co-founded by David, Bill Doherty and David Lapp. Two years after its founding this nationwide volunteer-led citizen movement had its first convention attended by 72 conservative and 72 liberal delegates. This year, more than 750 reds and blues were at the Braver Angels national convention in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
In the past few years Braver Angels workshops, debates, and other events have been held in all 50 states.
In this episode, we hear from David about the Braver Angels origin story and much more. We also feature a brief update from Jessie Mannisto, Braver Angels Director of Debates, about her experience as a Braver Angels volunteer outside the DNC Convention in Chicago.
When renowned physician-scientist Francis Collins was about to have his first conversation with Christian conservative Wilk Wilkinson in early 2022, he admits that he had concerns. "I thought oh boy, this is going to be a tough one".
Dr. Collins had recently stepped down as Director of NIH— The National Institutes of Health.
He served under Presidents Obama, Trump, and Biden, and played a leading role in the federal response to the COVID pandemic. Podcaster
Wilk Wilkinson, who lives in rural Minnesota, was intensely critical of how the government handled COVID.
Today both Francis and Wilk are friends. They lead the Braver Angels' Truth and Trust Project. The goal is to build trust between ordinary Americans and the public health community in the wake of the pandemic. In each Truth and Trust gathering equal numbers of people from each side of the debate about what happened with public health listen carefully and express their views.
Toxic polarization is "the problem that eats all other problems... It's the sludge at the base of everything else," says our guest Mónica Guzmán. Think how much progress could be made on the great problems of today if politics were much more about discovering nuance than shouting slogans.
This show is our second episode on the work, people, and ideas of the volunteer-led cross-partisan campaign, Braver Angels. In the coming months, we'll report on their initiatives and projects.
Americans who are pissed off with politics are sometimes called "the exhausted majority." Many are tuning out toxic, divisive rhetoric that aims to settle scores instead of solving what's broken. Our guest, Braver Angels senior fellow Mónica Guzmán, has suggestions about how to be truly curious and have better conversations with those who see things differently.
This is our first in a series of new reports on the work, people and projects of Braver Angels— the largest volunteer-led group in the bridging community. The show was recorded a few days after the assassination attempt against Donald Trump. Our guests are Jessie Mannisto and Luke Nathan Phillips, who spent this week in Milwaukee, right outside the Fiserv Forum Arena, site of the Republican National Convention.
Since its founding after the 2016 election, Braver Angels has brought together many hundreds of Republicans, Democrats, and Independents to debate, discuss, and work together to bridge partisan divides. Jessie is Director of Debates at Braver Angels, and Luke is the Publius Fellow For Public Discourse.
In this episode we hear about the Braver Angels petition calling on party leaders to detoxify our politics, the mood of Republican delegates and protesters on the streets outside, the differences between media coverage of the event and what its like to be there, as well as responses to Braver Angels and its push back against polarization.
When we first started our podcast in the spring of 2015, Jim and Richard came from different political tribes. They still do. But during more than 400 shows they've deepened their friendship and learned a tremendous amount from each other, and our remarkable guests.
While "How Do We Fix It?" podcast will continue its journey, Jim and Richard's nine years as co-hosts ends with this show. We discuss why the partnership is ending (spoiler alert: it's amicable!) and what they discovered about podcasting, politics, and how to navigate divisions at a time of rigid, painful divides.
"I feel like when we started, we were a couple of voices in the wilderness, searching for more open-minded conversations, looking for people willing to grapple with facts and ideas that don't fit their comfortable world views," says Jim.
Supporters of Ranked Choice Voting argue that we need to a big change how we vote. Our “choose-one” elections, they say, deprive voters of meaningful choices, create increasingly toxic campaign cycles, advance candidates who lack broad support and leave voters feeling like our voices are not heard.
We examine the case for this form of proportional representation. Ranked Choice Voting could boost electoral turnout, reduce polarization, and cut the public cost of running elections. This relatively new reform is now being used in dozens of states, cities and counties. In 2022, Alaska implemented ranked-choice voting for the first time after a referendum revamped its elections.
Our guest, Rob Richie is cofounder and senior analyst at FairVote, makes the case for how it works and why RCV is a viable way to improve electoral politics. Right now, he says, we are in this "incredibly intense winner-take-all environment" in most states. Ranked-choice voting could change the equation.
Liberalism is out of fashion. You might say that it's under siege. From the populist right to the progressive left, liberal touchtones of limited government, personal freedom, the rule of law, and a mixed economy have come in for harsh criticism.
Liberalism is assailed by many critics, but it has not failed, argues Yale Political Science Professor Bryan Garsten. "A liberal society is unique in that it offers refuge from the very people it empowers" through "institutions and different political parties. This allows the rest of us to live undisturbed," he says. Supporters argue that this form of liberty most clearly elevates the liberal project.
In addition to his research and teaching, Garsten has written recent op-eds for The New York Times. His books include “Saving Persuasion: A Defense of Rhetoric and Judgement” and a collection of essays he edited about Rousseau and the Age of Enlightenment.
In much of the country local news has collapsed, threatening civic pride and a sense of community for countless towns and cities. This dramatic change has also deepened America's divides.
As our guest, journalist and public policy researcher Anna Brugmann explains in this episode, "the internet disrupted the local journalism model". Newspaper advertising revenue fell 80% since 2000. Thousands of local and regional publications closed. Most surviving newsrooms faced drastic cutbacks. Coverage of all kinds of local events— from city hall, school board meetings and football games to local businesses and zoning decisions — disappeared.
Diversity equity and inclusion: Sounds like a good thing in an incredibly diverse country such as ours, especially when teaching young people at American colleges and universities.
But the DEI industry - or DEI Inc. — has arguably gone off the rails. There’s a big difference between the intentions behind a lot of diversity training and the results. We learn about the crucial difference between training and education, and hear the case against the Stop WOKE Act in Florida.
History professors Amna Khalid and Jeff Snyder share their deep concerns about a growing industry. There is no reliable evidence that diversity, equity and inclusion training sessions at colleges, non-profits, and large corporations actually work. In many places, DEI could be making things worse, imposing an ideological litmus test and encouraging cynicism and dishonesty at places of learning.
News coverage of Super Tuesday and other party primaries focused mainly on base voters— Democrats and Republicans. But most Americans are actually on the political sidelines or somewhere in the middle. Many have a mix of conservative and liberal views.
This episode is about them. Our guest is Shannon Watson, the Founder and Executive Director of Majority in the Middle. Her Minnesota-based non-profit group works to give voters and elected officials a place to gather outside the extremes. "We try to elevate the people who are demonstrating the behavior we want to see", Shannon tells us.
"When it's only the rabble rousers who get the coverage then there is an incentive to be one of them." Majority in the Middle also promotes structural changes in governing that will remove barriers to cooperation across the political aisle.
Only four-in-ten Americans say they have a lot of trust in the news media. That's a big problem for our democracy, especially in this volatile presidential election year. While journalists are supposed to tell the truth and get the story right, just 35% of right-of-center voters have some trust in what they see on the news.
Democrats and independents are much more likely to trust journalists, but Americans of almost all shades of opinion are skeptical of the journalists, not only questioning the quality of their work but the intentions behind it.
Our guest is Joy Mayer, Director of the non-profit group, Trusting News, which has partnered with many local newsrooms around the country to help journalists earn consumers' trust.
While many reporters, writers and editors are reluctant to discuss their politics, most journalists have liberal or progressive views. "I think it's something we need to talk about more openly," Joy tells us.
What is the point of a good education? Do we need it to learn a narrow set of skills ro help us get ahead in the workplace, or should knowledge and learning to be used over a lifetime to acquire wisdom that enables us to think more deeply about our place in the world?
This question has profound resonance at a time of angry divides over American politics and moral confusion at elite American universities. The President of Harvard, Claudine Gay, resigned after months of campus unrest and controversy. In December, Gay and two other university presidents faced widespread criticism for their testimony at Congressional hearings about antisemitism on their campuses.
In this episode, we hear from a university educator who makes the case for liberal education that gives students the tools needed to have a deeper sense of purpose. Roosevelt Montás is the author of "Rescuing Socrates: How The Great Books Changed My Life And Why They Matter For a New Generation".
He believes that the ideas and writings of Plato, Socrates, Shakespeare, Ghandi and many others aren't just for a few privileged students. They're for everybody, and that encountering these thinkers as a poor immigrant teenager changed his life.
From the economy and prospects for a Biden vs Trump rematch to the future for global energy and artificial intelligence, Richard and Jim make their forecasts for 2024.
And we re-visit our predictions from exactly a year ago and report on precisely how we did. "It's sort of like weather forecasters and opinion pollsters going back and owning up to their mistakes," says Richard. "I mean, who often do we see that!"
Once again, Meigs and Davies make their best guesses about what's to come this year. Will Donald Trump maintain his slim lead in the polls over President Biden? Is there a much higher risk than most experts expect for energy supplies during the winter months? How big are the chances for a wider war in the Middle East?
We continue our discussion with Yascha Mounk, one of the leading public intellectuals of our time. The subject is a hugely influential ideology that attempts to put racial, sexual and gender identity at the center of our social, cultural and political life. The "identity synthesis", Mounk argues, denies that members of different groups can truly understand one another and this stifles public discourse.
In this podcast episode we learn why an obsession with identity undermines social justice, fuels culture wars, and boosts hateful hardliners on the right and left— from Donald Trump to protesters who support Hamas and its murderous attacks on Israeli civilians. We also hear how to politely but firmly push back against those who have become ensnared in "The Identity Trap," the name of Yascha Mounk's new book.
Having skewered right-wing populism and its demagogues in his two previous best-selling books, politics professor, writer, and podcaster Yasha Mounk turns now to the threat posed to liberalism from those progressives who champion "woke" identity politics. We discuss his latest, "The Identity Trap: A Story of Ideas and Power In Our Time."
This episode— the first of two with Yasha Mounk — looks at the complex roots of a highly influential ideology based on personal identity— specifically race, gender and sexual orientation. These are said to determine a person's power, role in society, and how they see themselves. Mounk explains how the identity synthesis, which has become widely accepted in many universities, nonprofits and large corporations, had its origins in several intellectual traditions, including post-colonialism, postmodernism and critical race theory.
Our interview mentions ideas and concepts raised by Michel Foucault, Derrick Bell, Kimberlé Krenshaw, Edward Said, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, and others. We learn how these thinkers sharply criticized modern liberalism and the civil rights movement of the Sixties and beyond.
Yes, it's our 400th episode. But instead of looking back over the past eight-and-a-half years of our podcasts, we consider the future: How collective optimism or pessimism can have a huge impact on the economy, risk taking, and the acceptance of new technologies that spark growth and innovation.
Our guest is scholar and journalist James Pethokoukis of the American Enterprise Institute, author of "The Conservative Futurist: How To Create the Sci-Fi World We Were Promised."
In this episode he argues that in the decades after World War Two and during the space race, America was the world's dream factory. TV and movies helped to turn imagination into reality, from curing polio to landing on the Moon to creating the internet. In those years we were confident that more wonders lay just over the horizon: clean and infinite energy, a cure for cancer, computers and robots as humanity’s great helpers.
But as we moved into the late 20th century, we grew cautious, even cynical, about what the future held and our ability to shape it. James Pethokoukis says that this year— 2023— marks the 50th anniversary of the start of the Great Downshift in technological progress and economic growth, followed by decades of economic stagnation, downsized dreams, and a popular culture fixated on catastrophe.
Affective polarization in America – the gap between voters' positive feelings about their own political party or "side" and negative feelings toward the opposing party – has sharply increased during the past two decades.
We speak with two leaders in local government and a nationwide students group about effective ways to bridge divides.
Erica Manuel is CEO and Executive Director at the Institute for Local Government in Roseville, California. She has over 20 years of experience helping public, private and nonprofit organizations implement innovative policies to provide strong leadership, advance climate resilience, support economic development, engage communities, and drive positive change.
Manu Meel is CEO of BridgeUSA, a student-led nonprofit organization that creates spaces at colleges and high schools for open discussion among students about political issues. BridgeUSA began in 2016 at the universities of Notre Dame, CU-Boulder and UC Berkeley in response to growing polarization on campus.
It's easy to look at the impacts of rigid polarization and blame our leaders and political parties, the media, or the education system. In this episode, we hear an argument that the first thing all of us should do is focus on what we can control: ourselves. We discuss how to learn to live with others despite deep divisions.
All democracies need protests and debates to flourish. But we also need to respect ourselves and acknowledge the dignity of others.
Alexandra Hudson is the author of the new book, "The Soul of Civility", and an adjunct professor in philanthropy at Indiana University. She argues that civility is a key solution for polarization and a breakdown in social order. In her writing she examines how civility—a respect for the humanity of others—transcends political disagreements. Civility, she writes, is not a technique, but a disposition: "a way of seeing others as beings endowed with dignity and inherently valuable."
The divided state of the world "is a timeless problem. It's an intractable problem, but there's no policy solutions or simple cure," Lexi tells us. "It requires constant vigilance on behalf of each of us. That's humbling."
Destructive conflict aims to destroy the other side. But constructive conflict can be a force for good.
In this episode we learn how good conflict helps move people beyond polarization, slogans, and angry tweets to a place where they can connect and grow— even as they strongly disagree. Hélène Biandudi Hofer says that when we have the vocabulary and basic skills to investigate conflict with curiosity, it can change everything.
Journalists Hélène Biandudi Hofer and Amanda Ripley co-founded Good Conflict, which works with news organizations, non-profits, elected officials, educators, religious leaders, and others to lean into conflict in a constructive, productive way. Hélène developed and managed the Solutions Journalism Network’s Complicating the Narratives project. She trained more than a thousand journalists across 125 newsrooms throughout the world.
Almost everyone has an opinion about the impact of social media on political polarization. Most of us believe that Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, YouTube and other sites have made our civic life more angry and divided. But how much of this is true? Are consumers as much to blame as the platforms themselves?
15 years ago, in the very early days of social media, many Americans had a much more positive view of this new technology. It was bringing friends and families together, opening up new sources of information, and that was viewed as a good thing.
We discuss the surprising findings of research into social media and polarization with Professor Chris Bail, founder of the Polarization Lab at Duke University. He’s the author of the 2021 book, “Breaking The Social Media Prism.” Bail studies political tribalism, extremism, and social psychology using data from social media and research from computational social science.
Have you ever been asked by a political opponent to describe what's wrong or weak about your own side's arguments? That's what Richard and Jim do here. This episode could have been ripped from a Braver Angels training seminar, but to our knowledge, no other podcast has tried this before.
Liberal-leaning Richard takes on three hot topics, picked by Jim, where the left is wrong. Jim does the same thing for his side, discussing three examples picked by Richard.
The ground rules are simple: No "your-side-ism". When describing the failings of their own side neither host was allowed to criticize their opponents. If they do, a loud bell rings. Listen to find out how many times the darn thing goes off!
Why is American politics so dysfunctional? Is it because we are too polarized or too fragmented? Throughout this fall we will be exploring different aspects of polarization— arguably the most important threat to both effective governance and a stable democracy.
This episode includes an edited recording of a lively conversation from the podcast, "Politics In Question", between Rick Pildes, Professor of Constitutional Law at NYU School of Law, and political scientist Lee Drutman, a senior research fellow at the New America Foundation.
Lee has been a guest on several previous episodes of "How Do We Fix It?". Author of the book, "Breaking the Two Party Doomloop: The Case for Multiparty Democracy in America", Lee is known as an advocate for proportional representation with ranked-choice voting, arguing that it would reduce political polarization and minimize the risks of democratic backsliding.
Toxic polarization is "the problem that eats all other problems... It's the sludge at the base of everything else," our guest Mónica Guzmán tells us. In this really useful repeat episode from 2022, we learn how to fight back against the confusion and heartbreak of living with rigid divides.
This show is a curtain raiser for a series we are doing this fall with funding from Solutions Journalism Network. We will be examining threats to our society from polarization and recent efforts to build a national movement to bridge divides.
Monica is a bridge builder and author of the highly-praised book "I Never Thought Of It That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times". She serves as a Senior Fellow for Public Practice at the national depolarization organization, Braver Angels.
Why aren’t Democrats doing much better in elections for Congress and also in state races? We explore several reasons. One is that Democrats have been losing the support of many black, white and hispanic working class voters. We heard a forceful argument about that in "How Do We Fix It?" episode #389 with Ruy Teixeira.
In this show we expand the argument and look at another group of voters often ignored by Democratic party leaders— Christians and especially Catholics who are among the largest group of swing voters.
This is a shared podcast with "Talkin' Politics and Religion Without Killin' Each Other". Their show and ours are members of the Democracy Group podcast network, Our guest is Lanae Erickson, Senior Vice President at Third Way, a center-left think tank that champions pragmatic liberal ideas. She spoke earlier this year with Talkin' Politics and Religion's host, Corey Nathan. Thank you, Corey, for giving us permission to share an edited version of a rich and thoughtful conversation.
Globalization, technology, devastating impacts from the foreclosure crisis and the opioid addiction have wreaked havoc on communities left behind by the modern economy. Some of these discarded places are rural. Others are cities or suburbs. Some vote blue, others red. Some are the most diverse communities in America, while others are nearly all white, all Latino, or all Black.
In this episode we visit four cities and towns with deep poverty and gutted public services— where entire communities are struggling to hold on.
Our guest is Michelle Wilde Anderson, a professor of property, local government and environmental justice at Stanford Law School. Her recent book is "The Fight to Save the Town: Reimagining Discarded America".
Why do we connect emotionally with some places and not others? Why does that matter? What does loving the place you live in have to do with healing the partisan divide? We explore these questions and hear about solutions from author, researcher and speaker Peter Kageyama.
This shared episode is an edited version of a podcast released earlier this year by "Village Squarecast". Our show includes extracts from a speech delivered at a special meeting of The Village Square in Tallahassee, Florida.
Peter Kageyama is the author of For the Love of Cities: The Love Affair Between People and Their Places, the follow up, Love Where You Live: Creating Emotionally Engaging Places and his latest, The Emotional Infrastructure of Places. He loves cities and is the former President of Creative Tampa Bay, a grassroots community change organization and the co-founder of the Creative Cities Summit, an interdisciplinary conference that brings citizens and practitioners together around the big idea of ‘the city.’
American politics are evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans. But our guest argues that it doesn't have to be this way. He tells fellow Democrats: "Given the problems the Republicans have, why aren't you beating the hell out of these people?"
Political scientist and author Ruy Teixeira says that recent election results have been a lost opportunity as the left pursued identity politics instead of focusing on class. While more white college-educated voters have abandoned the Republicans in the past decade, Democrats have lost ground among white and hispanic working class voters.
"That's a fundamental question that Democrats should be confronting, but don't," he tells us.
Ruy Teixeira is among America's best-known political thinkers. He's a senior fellow at The American Enterprise Institute, where he writes and does research about changing party coalitions and the future of electoral politics. He calls himself a social democrat.
Ever since the 2008 financial crisis and recession, central bankers and most economists have agreed that it's good to keep interest rates as low as possible. Making it easy to borrow money very cheaply helps the economy recover from recessions and the COVID pandemic.
But what if very cheap money has unintended consequences such as asset bubbles and bank failures, and benefits the haves much more than the have-nots of society?
Our guest is financial analyst, journalist, and historian Edward Chancellor, author of the new book, "The Price of Time, The Real Story of Interest". Edward specializes in financial crises— bubbles, crashes and panics. He uses examples from history to challenge conventional wisdom about near-zero interest rates, and walks though his arguments in a relatable way.
"America is rigidly divided between red and blue." That's what we're constantly being told by pundits, politicians and media outlets, both left and right.
But what if that wasn't quite true?
On a surprisingly large number of issues, Americans agree on the broad outlines of public policy. Author, conflict mediator, and social entrepreneur, Bill Shireman makes the case that the middle 70% of the public should have a much greater say in who gets elected to make laws and decide policy.
"All it takes is a small number of folks who are aware of how we're being gamed to build a bridge between the political left and right, Bill says. "We need a relatively small percentage of voters who will not divide the way we are triggered to divide." Bill argues that the media and political industry make money and gain power by dividing Americans and making us mad at the other side.
Generative Artificial Intelligence has the power to transform lives and change our jobs. In this episode, we discuss the potential for good and bad from large, creative AI models such as ChatGPT.
Our guest is Nathanael Fast, who serves as Director of the Neely Center for Ethical Leadership and Decision Making and Co-Director of the Psychology of Technology Institute. Professor Fast teaches in the MBA, Ph.D., and Executive Education programs at USC Marshall in Los Angeles.
ChatGPT reached over 100 million active users within two months of its release. Consumers have used it to write essays, take tests, crack jokes and write poetry in response to questions or prompts. We raise the questions we need to ask about rapidly changing forms of artificial intelligence. Should we be scared or excited… or both?
The Coronation of King Charles III promises to be very big on pomp and circumstance, but it may also play a leading role in healing divisions between post-Brexit Britain and the European Union. Leading EU officials will be in attendance at Westminster Abbey.
This podcast shares a personal perspective on some of the momentous changes in the UK over recent years, and includes comparisons between the hot topics on both sides of The Atlantic. Our co-host Richard last lived in London in the 1970's and 80's. During late March and April he returned, spending a month there.
Richard tells us that forty years ago London was "darker, smellier, poorer, louder and less orderly than the great city of today." He shares examples that illustrate this shift, as well as discussing the great impact of Brexit on the UK economy and politics.
Jim and Richard examine the special relationship between the US and UK plus similarities and differences in debates over cancel culture, populism, immigration and abortion.
The news media and journalists themselves are faced with a crisis of confidence and trust. The internet broke the old business model of locally-based newspaper reporting and replaced it with national opinion journalism written by and for well-educated metropolitan elites.
Our guest is Nikki Usher, an Associate Professor at the University of San Diego, who studies journalism, politics, tech, and power. Nikki's recent book is "News For The Rich, White and Blue: How Place and Power Distort American Journalism".
In our conversation we look at the loss of place in American journalism, the gap between "news haves and have-nots", and how technology can be used to challenge old journalistic models and lead to new ways of delivering news to audiences that have been poorly served in the past.
In much of the country local news has collapsed, threatening civic pride and a sense of community for countless towns and cities. This dramatic change has also deepened America's divides.
As our guest, journalist and public policy researcher Anna Brugmann explains in this episode, "the internet disrupted the local journalism model". Newspaper advertising revenue fell 80% since 2000. Thousands of local and regional publications closed. Most surviving newsrooms faced drastic cutbacks. Coverage of all kinds of local events— from city hall, school board meetings and football games to local businesses and zoning decisions — disappeared.
First, Craigslist displaced print-based classified ads. Then Google, Facebook and other online firms became the main source of consumer advertising. We discuss the impact on local journalism. In recent decades, the news we read and listen to has largely shifted from local reporting to often highly polarizing national opinion journalism.
Rising interest rates and the end of easy money were two factors in the sudden collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and a subsequent stock market run on shares of regional banks. Questions were raised about the safety of the entire U.S. banking industry.
We examine risk in banking, investing and the broader economy.
Federal regulators faced harsh criticism for the latest bank failures. Progressives blamed politicians who eased regulations on medium-sized and small banks. Some on the right claimed that DEI — Diversity, Equity and Inclusion — distracted SVB from focusing on risk management.
Our guest is economist and risk expert Allison Schrager, author of "An Economist Walks Into a Brothel: And Other Unexpected Places to Understand Risk". She also writes frequently for Bloomberg Opinion and City Journal.
This episode looks at the causes of the recent bank panic and the current outlook for the financial industry.
The people of Ukraine are facing down a military giant. Their unity and bravery in the bloody, cruel year since the Russia invasion are an inspiration to the rest of the world.
Instead of talking about politics or the state of the war, we consider the battlefield of ideas. Above all this show is an attempt to put the war into context: What’s at stake for Western democracy, and what space does Ukraine fit in our history?
We speak again with Marci Shore, professor of European cultural & intellectual history at Yale University. She first appeared on "How Do We Fix It?" a year ago. In 2018 she received a Guggenheim Fellowship for her current book project, a history of phenomenology in East-Central Europe, tentatively titled “Eyeglasses Floating in Space: Central European Encounters That Came about While Searching for Truth.” Her most recent book is “The Ukrainian Night: An Intimate History of Revolution”. This show is a companion piece to episode #380 with Jacob Mchangama.
By any measure, this has been a momentous week for global politics. President Biden’s surprise trip to Kyiv, his “freedom” speech in Warsaw, the visit of China’s top diplomat to Moscow, and Vladimir Putin’s decision to suspend Russian participation in the last remaining nuclear arms treaty with the U.S. are all signs of deepening big-power tensions.
This coincides with the first anniversary of the bloodiest conflict in Europe since World War Two. In the early hours of February 24 last year, Putin’s tanks rolled across Ukraine’s borders.
Our podcast guest is well-known human rights advocate, Jacob Mchangama, CEO of the Danish think tank Justitia, and author of the recent book, “Free Speech: A History From Socrates to Social Media”. We discuss the Ukraine war's broader implications for fundamental values that are a vital part of the growing struggle between the West autocratic powers.
The last time the U.S. faced a major showdown over the debt-ceiling was a decade ago. Much like today, House Republicans insisted on spending cuts before they would vote to raise the amount of money the government could borrow. Then-President Obama and now President Biden said they would not negotiate.
Who will blink first?
Nearly all economists and financial experts say that a debt default would have extremely serious consequences for the everyday economy and America's place in the world.
We look at the massive U.S. debt mountain, who has leverage in the current game of chicken, and discuss why both political parties are so reluctant to get serious about the debt. Our guest, fixed income specialist and economist, Chris Low of FHN Financial comes up with potential fixes.
Sixty years ago in his most famous speech, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke of his vision of an America transformed. "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character," he said.
Was this an argument for a color-blind society, or should racism be thought of as structural and systematic? Ibram X. Khendi, author of the best-selling book, "How To Be An AntiRacist", argues that "the most threatening racist movement" is the drive for race-neutrality. Our guest, Bion Bartning, argues that instead of emphasizing our common humanity, the approach of Kendhi and others lumps people into simplistic racial groupings.
Bartning founded the non-profit group, The Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism (FAIR). In its mission statement, FAIR calls for "advancing civil rights and liberties for all Americans, and promoting a common culture based on fairness, understanding and humanity."
One way to help solve America's polarization crisis is to hang out with someone not like you. Someone who sees the world differently or comes from a cultural background, social class, racial or ethnic group other than your own.
While social media, political elites and national news outlets profit from polarization, the rest of us do not. This episode looks at one highly successful local initiative to push back against the conflict entrepreneurs who want to make us angry, fearful and divided.
Our guest is Liz Joyner, founder and President of The Village Square, a non-profit based in Tallahassee, Florida, dedicated to reviving civic connections across divisions inside American communities. For the past 17 years she's been the leader of an organization that describes itself as "a nervy bunch of liberals and conservatives who believe that dialogue and disagreement make for a good conversation, a good country and a good time"
2022 was another year of COVID-induced anxiety with widespread worries about democracy, polarization, climate change and threats to democracy. But in this new year special Richard and Jim say we have reached peak fear. America may well be calming down and headed towards a new sense of normal. Our co-hosts throw caution to the wind with a series of fresh outside-the-box forecasts for the twelve months to come.
We make predictions about the retreat of COVID, the outlook for inflation, and the migration crisis on the southern border that threatens havoc for the Administration. Hear what could happen next in Ukraine's war against Russian aggression. We also look closely at China's new struggles with COVID, street protests, and slowing growth.
In a special section on technology and science, we focus on stunning advances in cancer and Alzheimer treatments plus new innovations in AI and the likely impact of ChatGTP, the app that's just been released to the public and is already raising ethical issues for schools, universities and employers.
We promise to release a scorecard of how we did at the end of the year. Is Jim right when he says there is a real likelihood of a new energy crisis in 2023?
Is Richard's forecast about the 2024 Presidential race on target?
Jim and Richard also share their year end hopes for the new year and recommendations.
In some ways our culture is less tolerant and more fragile than it once was. The teaching of literature in schools and colleges is often caught in the crossfire of the culture wars. Support for canceling books and authors by the illiberal left and demands to ban books from the reactionary right have led to the removal of important literature from classrooms and libraries.
In this episode author and literature professor Deborah Appleman mounts a rousing case for teaching troubled texts in troubling times. "Our classrooms need to remain a space where critical thinking is taught, tolerance from different viewpoints is modeled, and the sometimes-harsh truth of our history and literary heritage are not hidden," she says. Her latest book is "Literature and The New Culture Wars."
Professor Appleman taught high school English for nine years before receiving her doctorate from the University of Minnesota. She is chair of Educational Studies at Carleton College. Her recent research has focused on teaching college-level language and literature courses to the incarcerated.
Every day Americans take the reliable supply of electricity for granted. Except during severe storms, we rarely, if ever, think that the lights might not turn on in the morning.
But in some parts of the country, consumers face the threat of rolling blackouts, and sudden surges in the price of electricity. Nearly two years ago, nearly 300 people died when the Texas power grid partially failed during a winter cold snap. California came close to a grid collapse last summer. And New England might be in big trouble this coming winter.
Energy analyst, author, and chemist, Meredith Angwin, is our guest in this episode of "How Do We Fix It?" Her latest book is “Shorting the Grid: The Hidden Fragility of our Electric Grid.”
We have a 2022 post-election show with a twist. Instead of focusing on which party is up or down, we open the hood and examine the engine of our democracy. Voters delivered a clear verdict: Most election deniers were defeated as many voters, especially independents, split their ballots, and shunned the extremes.
Our guests are Layla Zaidane, President and CEO of Millennial Action Project— the nation's largest nonpartisan organization of young lawmakers— and David Meyers, founding Executive Editor of the democracy newsletter, The Fulcrum.
In the days before the election, the media was full of warnings, and perhaps some hyperbole, about the perilous state of American democracy. Both of our guests and podcast co-hosts agree that many of the results were reassuring for the guardrails of the electoral system.
No other issue has greater potential for common ground than America's housing affordability crisis. Progressives and conservatives alike agree that for far too many Americans there is a critical shortage of available homes.
Since COVID erupted in 2020 the costs of apartment rentals and homes to buy have soared. According to the real estate firm Zillow, average U.S. home prices doubled in the past decade. In recent months mortgage rates went up to levels not seen in nearly two decades. With the growing possibility of a recession in the near future, there is no shortage of pessimism in the housing market today.
We discuss solutions to the housing mess with Harvard University economist Ed Glaeser, author of "Rethinking Federal Housing Policy: How to Make Housing Plentiful and Affordable", "Survival of the City: Living and Thriving in an Age of Isolation" and many other books.
For much of the past fifty years, American political leaders of both parties have assumed that globalization and free trade would lead to more opportunity, higher living standards and increased business efficiency.
But our guest, author and Financial Times columnist, Rana Foroohar, argues that with supply chain disruptions and growing economic insecurity in much of the world, the long reign of globalization is coming to end. A shift to more resilient and local businesses is now at hand. We discuss the reporting and findings in the brand new book, "Homecoming: The Path to Prosperity in a Post-Global World."
"I think the pendulum of the old way is tapped out," Rana tells us. "Cheap money is over. Cheap labor from China is largely over. Cheap energy from Russia is definitely over."
How do you tell the difference between truth and lies? The answer involves a careful process of seeking knowledge that may contradict our long held beliefs. In this episode, our hosts share two conversations with expert guests who changed Jim and Richard's minds about how they approach topics central to our understanding of politics, science and society.
Journalist and scholar Jonathan Rauch is the author of the best-selling book, "The Constitution of Knowledge". He makes a stirring case for the social system of checks and balances used by scientists, lawyers, business leaders and researchers to turn disagreements into verifiable facts.
Alina Chan is a Canadian molecular biologist specializing in gene therapy and cell engineering at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, where she is a postdoctoral fellow. Chan is the co-author of "Viral: The Search for the Origin of COVID-19."
No one will ever know how many innocent people have been sent to prison because of junk science and flawed forensics. In this episode, we hear from Innocence Project attorney M. Chris Fabricant about how America’s broken and racist criminal justice system often relies on bogus scientific evidence for convictions.
Chris is the author of the new book, “Junk Science and the American Criminal Justice System.” Best-selling writer John Grisham calls it an “intriguing and beautifully crafted book that …illustrates how wrongful convictions occur.”
We explore the urgent need to fix the system and improve the quality of evidence presented in courtrooms. Independent crime labs are among the solutions that we discuss.
Energy prices have skyrocketed this year. Rolling blackouts are still a threat in California, and as winter approaches Europe is facing a full-blown crisis that may cause widespread suffering, factory closures and a deep recession.
Angered by the West's support of Ukraine, Russia has shut down supplies of natural gas that European nations had relied on for decades to heat homes and run industry. The EU, United Kingdom and others are now scrambling to find new supplies and reassure their citizens that the crisis can be contained. In this episode we discuss efforts to reduce carbon emissions and consider why the outlook for affordable energy has deteriorated.
Our podcast co-host Jim Meigs is the expert source for this episode. He argues that shutting down nuclear power plants, having unrealistic expectations of solar and wind production, and ignoring years of threats from Russia have all contributed to the energy crisis.
Starting this week we will publish new shows every other Thursday. After seven-plus years of being a weekly podcast, Jim and Richard decided that we need a little more time and love to make and share each new show.
We will also be sharing more details on our newsletter sent to friends and free subscribers of our podcast. You can sign up for regular updates right here on the website. Unlike substack and other independent publications, our solutions journalism podcast is entirely free.
If you'd like to support us, please go to our funding page at Patreon.
The recent controversy about the seizure of classified government documents at Mar-a-Lago is only the latest example of outrage over former President Trump's behavior, and the responses to it. But the forces shaking American democracy didn't begin with Trump's arrival on the political scene.
We learn why populism, polarization and other threats to public institutions will likely last for the foreseeable future. Our guest, Darrell West, vice president of Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution in Washington D.C., is the author of "Power Politics: Trump and the Assault on American Democracy." He's the author of 19 books on American politics and has won several prestigious awards for his writing.
In this episode we discuss why the grievances exploited by Trump that existed well before he became president, the threat of extreme authoritarianism, the role played by technological and social media, and Darrell West's constructive advice for protecting people, organizations and the country from challenges to democracy.
Ranked-choice voting (RCV) is a promising way to boost electoral turnout, reduce polarization, and cut the public cost of running elections. This relatively new reform is now being used in 55 states, cities and counties. In August, Alaska implemented ranked-choice voting for the first time since a 2020 referendum revamped its elections.
Our guest, Rob Richie, President and CEO of FairVote, makes the case for how it works and why RCV is a viable way to improve electoral politics. Right now, he says, we are in this "incredibly intense winner-take-all environment" in most states. Ranked-choice voting could change the equation.
Instead of picking just one candidate, voters rank as many candidates as they want in order of choice: first, second, third and so on. If your first-choice candidate is in last place, your vote counts for your highest-ranked candidate who can win by getting more than 50%. RCV removes voters' concerns that their favored candidate could split the vote.
Alaska and Maine now use RCV for all presidential and congressional elections. Beginning in 2023, Hawai will use it for some federal and local elections. Open primaries and ranked-choice voting will be on the ballot this November in Nevada.
The promise and perils of direct democracy are at the heart of the debate over voter propositions and ballot initiatives. They have emerged as one way that citizens in more than two dozen U.S. states can vote directly on policy and bring issues they care about to their fellow voters.
This episode is inspired by the recent podcast series, "When The People Decide", from The McCourtney Institute for Democracy. The show's producer, writer, and host, Jenna Spinelle, tells the stories of some remarkable people who have organized initiative campaigns across the country. We speak with her about the history of ballot measures, including California's Prop 13 in 1978, and more recent efforts to expand Medicaid.
Ballot initiatives are "a very powerful tool that citizens have, particularly when there is broad support for change to an existing policy or law", Jenna tells us. Over the past four decades in California and elsewhere the political establishment has been frequently shaken by the results.
World-renowned author and scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson became fascinated with astrophysics when he was a teenager. Best-selling science writer Mary Roach is known for her quirky humor and wide-eyed curiosity as she explores the often bizarre science of human behavior.
This episode includes six unique perspectives about passion, purpose and meaning in our own lives.
Investment advisor and wealth manager Karen Firestone shares a story about a chance encounter with advice columnist Ann Landers, who gave her a new understanding of risk vs. reward. Obstetrician-gynecologist Rose Gowen speaks about her mission to get her small city with a large obesity problem to exercise more and eat better food. Emily Esfahani Smith, author of "The Power of Meaning", talks about her passion for learning from strangers. Long distance trucker Finn Murphy reveals a long-time love of America's roads and highways.
From pandemics, populism and climate change, AI and ISIS, inflation and growing tensions with China and Russia, we are faced with enormous challenges— some of which threaten our existence.
In this episode we discuss how we are all influenced by our personal perspectives and prejudices— our frames— and how we can use mental models to see patterns, solve problems and go beyond a narrow lens of red vs. blue or "us" vs. "them."
Our guests are Kenneth Cukier, deputy executive editor of "The Economist" and Francis de Véricourt, professor of management science at the European School of Management and Technology in Berlin. Both are co-authors of "Framers. Human Advantage in an Age of Technology and Turmoil." This innovative book shows how framing is not just a way to improve decision-making in an age of algorithms and machine learning, but also a matter for survival at a time of upheaval.
American voters are deeply dissatisfied with the government in Washington. They feel shut out of Congressional deliberations. We discuss a promising new initiative that helps engage citizens much more directly in the work of Congress and state legislatures.
While Congressional gridlock has reached a new high, groundbreaking new research that we report on in this episode shows that the American people are far less polarized than elected officials. There is extensive bipartisan common ground on a surprising range of controversial issues— from abortion and immigration to the environment and law enforcement.
Our guests are Gail Hoffman, President of The Hoffman Group, a public affairs strategist and consultant for the Program for Public Consultation at the University of Maryland, and Voice of the People. She has served in federal and state government, including in the Clinton White House and in the U.S. Justice Department under Attorney General Janet Reno. JP Thomas is Voice of the People's Director of External Relations, and an organizer and government relations professional, who develops campaigns and strategies to promote the use of public consultation to consult citizens on key public policy issues.
Neighborhood, local and regional inequality has been overlooked too long. In this episode we visit four cities and towns with deep poverty and gutted public services— where entire communities are struggling to hold on.
Our guest is Michelle Wilde Anderson, a professor of property, local government and environmental justice at Stanford Law School. Her new book is "The Fight to Save the Town: Reimagining Discarded America".
"We have given up on many of these places", Michelle tells us. Discarded America is "a term that describes active decision making."
The January 6th hearings are a reminder of the impact of hatred for the other side and toxic polarization. We are rigidly divided by our politics, Facebook and other social media sites, and by news media. Nearly half of us have stopped talking with someone about political topics as a result of what they said in person or online. Our culture of contempt is dividing us all and making America ungovernable.
How do we use science and proven methods to reduce toxic polarization and push back against conflict entrepreneurs? This episode presents a way forward.
We repeat this episode with Peter Coleman, who is a leading expert on intractable conflict and sustainable peace. Peter is a professor of psychology and education at Columbia University and director of the Morton Deutsch International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution. Peter's new book is "The Way Out. How to Overcome Toxic Polarization."
Inflation is through the roof. Stocks are through the floor. Most economists say that a recession is likely to hit soon or is already here. Add to this the economic impact of the Ukraine invasion, an entitlements crisis with the possible bankruptcy of Medicare and Social Security trust funds in the coming years, and today's weird housing market.
In this episode, we discuss all these, plus the tough choices now facing the Federal Reserve, political dysfunction in Washington, disruption of global supply chains, and the roots of the inflation crisis.
Our guest is Washington Post columnist Megan McArdle, the author of "The Up Side of Down: Why Failing Well is the Key to Success."
In recent weeks the great American divide grew again. Explosive revelations from the House January 6th Hearings and Supreme Court decisions on abortion, guns and the EPA's ability to limit carbon emissions from power plants are further examples of where the middle has been weakened. On many media platforms nuance is replaced by taunts and jeers.
Our nation is trapped in high conflict. Both sides are paralyzed by fear and anger as they demonize and misunderstand the actions and motivations of the other. The bitter national narrative of "us versus them" is a threat to democracy and stops Congress and other public institutions from working together to build a better world.
Best-selling author and investigative journalist, Amanda Ripley, is our guest in this repeat episode. She is well-known for her writing in The Atlantic, Time, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, and many other publications. We discuss her groundbreaking book, “High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped and How We Get Out."
Dementia provokes profound moral questions about our society and the meaning of life itself. How much are we connected to one another? In what ways are we distant and separated? What does it mean to have a self? How can we offer dignity to those who suffer from Alzheimer's and other forms of this terrible disease?
Worldwide around 55 million people have dementia. The US Centers for Disease Control estimates that the U.S. total is nearly six million cases. The numbers are growing with the aging of the population. The incidence of Alzheimer’s increased more than 50% in the past 15 years. People over the age of 85 are the largest growing share of the population.
British journalist and author Nicci Gerrard is our guest. Her father's long struggle with dementia led Nicci to investigate what the disease does to those who live with it and to their caregivers. She writes with deep wisdom, kindness, and empathy in her new book, "The Last Ocean A Journey Through Memory and Forgetting."
History was made on January 6th, 2021, yet nearly 18 months later we are still coming to terms with what happened before and during the attack on the U.S. Capitol. In this episode, Richard and Jim discuss what's been revealed by the House Select Committee that continues to investigate the disturbing events of that day.
We include excerpts from statements by Committee Chair Bennie Thompson (D) and Vice-Chair Liz Cheney. Our discussion looks at the controversy over how the Committee was formed and how its findings will be viewed by voters, elected officials, legal analysts and historians.
The first Select Committee hearing was aired during prime time on a Thursday night. While much of it was solemn and deliberative, there were moments of theater and passion. In their discussion, Jim and Richard share their different views of whether or not the work of the Committee has been as effective as it should have been.
The appalling carnage in Uvalde, Texas, Buffalo, New York, Tulsa, Oklahoma, and other communities across the country is a deeply painful source of grief, outrage, and national shame. Since 2009 more than 2500 people have been killed or wounded in 277 mass shootings in The United States— more than the number of U.S. military personnel killed in hostile action in Afghanistan over the same period.
But as horrible as they are, mass shootings represent a small percentage of overall firearms-related deaths. In 2020 — the latest year for which numbers are available — more than 45 thousand Americans were killed in shootings, including accidents and suicides. That’s more than the number of deaths on roads and highways.
In this episode we look at some ways to reduce the huge toll. Our guest is Dr. Patrick Carter, a professor of emergency medicine and health behavior at the University of Michigan, and a leading expert on firearm injury prevention. He argues that instead of endless debate, we need to think of gun deaths "as a public health issue and a science issue." Then we can make real progress, he argues.
"There is one and only one social responsibility of business," Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman famously declared more than 50 years ago. It is “to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase profits so long as it.. engages in open and free competition without deception or fraud.”
Times have certainly changed, especially in the past two decades. Today, corporate leaders and brands know that they can't always follow Friedman's advice, and are expected to step forward and contribute to solving crises facing society. But there are often hazards in doing so. Walt Disney, Delta Airlines, and Larry Fink, Chairman, and CEO of BlackRock, have all faced harsh criticism for their public stands.
We discuss the hazards and opportunities for corporations and their leadership with the author, researcher, and facilitator Elizabeth Doty, Director of the Erb Institute's Corporate Political Responsibility at the University of Michigan. She suggests constructive ways for businesses to play a key role in countering hyperpartisanship and other divisions in society.
Myths are widely seen as little more than lies. We're constantly told by experts in media and society that myths are for debunking and even ridicule.
Yet despite clear evidence frequently presented by doctors, journalists and scientists, many of us believe in legends and myths.
In this episode of "How Do We Fix It?", we explore the power of myths and legends: Why they are essential in making sense of life. Bestselling author of "The Swerve", "The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve" and other books, Harvard Humanities professor Stephen Greenblatt, is our guest.
What does it mean to be a winner? Is it simply about “crushing it” or hitting your targets at work? Do you always have to come first?
In this episode we get a new definition of winning and success from former British Olympic rower, Cath Bishop, who competed in three Olympics and won a silver medal. Today Cath works in leadership development and has spent years thinking deeply about what it means to be successful in life. Her new book is “The Long Win: The Search for a Better Way to Succeed”.
Cath spoke with audio journalist Ashley Milne-Tyte, host of the winning podcast, “The Broad Experience”, about women and the workplace. Here we share part of her episode with Cath.
In the second half of this episode Richard also has a conversation with Ashley about the insights she’s learned during the first decade of reporting for her podcast. We hear about racism and sexism in the workplace and how men can help women achieve true equality.
Elon Musk is the richest person in the world and the most interesting business leader of his time.
Disruptive and innovative, Musk has already revolutionized two giant industries— autos and aerospace. His planned purchase of Twitter will turn him into a power player in a third: social media.
In this episode we look at what Elon Musk and his team achieved with SpaceX and share part of our 2121 interview with journalist Eric Berger, senior space editor at the science and tech news site, Ars Technica. Eric wrote the book "Liftoff: Elon Musk and the Desperate Early Days That Launched Space." We also hear from our co-host Jim about his Commentary Magazine article, "Can Elon Musk Save Twitter?" We learn more about the risks and obstacles involved in buying the digital public square that Musk plans to take private.
All too often political movements are defined by their opponents. That is especially true for libertarians who are often labeled as uncaring— far more concerned with the individual than society. In this episode, we get a mostly positive view of what libertarians stand for and also why they oppose both the populist domination of the Republican Party and the leftward tilt by Democrats.
Our guest Nick Gillespie is editor at large of Reason Magazine, which has the motto "free minds and free markets." He's co-author of the book, “The Declaration of Independents: How Libertarian Politics Can Fix What’s Wrong With America,” and host of “The Reason Interview” podcast.
In this episode we discuss six main topics— What is a libertarian, public education and school choice, inflation, the role of billionaires in society, Ukraine & foreign policy, and the controversial Disinformation Governance Board.
How did the Republican Party go from being dominated by Ronald Reagan in the 80’s to the movement of Trump? What are the deep tensions between grassroots Republicans and Conservative elites who used to be in charge? Six months before the 2022 midterm election, why would liberals and progressives stand to benefit from understanding exactly why conservatives win so many races?
We grapple with these questions and many more in this episode of "How Do We Fix It?"
Our guest is conservative intellectual, scholar and journalist, Matthew Continetti— a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. His new book is "The Right: The Hundred Year War on American Conservatism."
Partisanship is up, trust is down and social media encourages us to believe we're right and everyone else is either ignorant, stupid or evil. But avoiding difficult conversations with those we disagree with is a big reason why our nation is so bitterly divided.
Journalist Mónica Guzmán set out to discover what was blinding us and learned that the best tool we have we're not using: Our own curiosity. In this episode we learn about her personal story as the loving liberal daughter of Mexican immigrants who strongly support Donald Trump. We hear how Mónica discovered ways to overcome divisions that hurt our relationships and society.
Mónica Guzmán is the author of the highly praised new book "I Never Thought Of It That Way". She serves as an advisor and storyteller at the depolarization organization, Braver Angels.
"The anger and the rage that we see out there that defines our division doesn't actually exist that much on the one-to-one level," Monica told us.
Reform advocates are full of good intentions and worthy goals— from ending hunger to improving access to healthcare and limiting the impacts of climate change. But good intentions are not the same as good results.
The efficient delivery of services is important for all citizens. In this episode, we look at how to design technology that makes government smarter, much more efficient, and even friendlier.
Amanda Renteria is CEO of Code for America, a non-profit group that uses coding and other forms of tech expertise to ensure the delivery of equitable digital tools and services. Amanda grew up in California's Central Valley, the daughter of Latino farm workers. She spent years in public service, as former National Political Director for Hillary Clinton, chief of staff for two Democratic Senators and chief of operations for California’s Attorney General.
Our brains are prediction machines: How we frame everyday tasks and challenges of our lives can have a profound impact on their outcomes. In this episode, we learn about new discoveries in science that reveal the many ways our expectations shape our experience.
Author and science writer David Robson is our guest. His latest book, "The Expectation Effect" cites findings from well-over 400 "robust experiments" and takes readers on a tour of cutting-edge research that uncovers new techniques to improve our fitness, productivity, intelligence, health and happiness.
We learn why people who believe aging brings wisdom live longer. Reappraising stress as something that's energizing increases your creativity under pressure. Cultivating an indulgent attitude to food may help you lose weight. Taking a placebo, even when you know it is a placebo, can still improve your health.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine made Europe's energy dependence painfully clear. "We are supporting and actually financing the war by purchasing oil and gas and other fossil fuels from Russia," Finland's Prime Minister Sanna Marin bluntly put it.
Fossil fuel energy is vital for Russia's economy, accounting for almost half of its exports. One-third of Europe's oil and as much as 40% of natural gas imports come from Russia.
In this episode, we discuss how the war in Ukraine is changing the debate over fossil fuel dependency. Our guest is climate economist and Bloomberg News columnist Gernot Wagner of NYU and Columbia School of Business.
Democracies around the world are under threat from populist movements, demagogues and dogmatic extremists who use disinformation, conspiracy theories, cancel culture and shaming to weaponize social media and challenge our ability to distinguish truth from falsehood.
Most recently, the Russian government has used lies and fake news to justify its attempted land grab in Ukraine. In "The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth", best-selling author, journalist, and public intellectual, Jonathan Rauch, offers a stirring defense of the social system of checks and balances that is crucial for turning disagreement into verifiable facts.
"This global network of people hunting for each others' errors is far and away the greatest human technology ever invented," Jonathan tells us. The constitution of knowledge "is a global conversation of people looking for truth, and more especially, looking for error."
In this episode of "How Do We Fix It?", Jonathan arms listeners and advocates of truth with a clear understanding of what they must protect, and how to do it. He makes a clear and moving argument for how all of us can help defend truth and free inquiry from threats that come from as far away as Russia and as close as our cellphones.
Shock, surprises and suffering are the most immediate results of all wars. Russia's brutal, yet deeply flawed invasion of Ukraine has profound implications for the West, global democracy and the future of Europe and Russia. We hear the perspectives of two prominent thinkers, Jane Lytvynenko and Robert Kagen. Richard and Jim also share their analysis of the unexpected early outcomes of the war.
This episode has extracts from an interview with Robert Kagan, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a contributing columnist for The Washington Post. He spoke with podcast producer and host Jenna Spinelle of "Democracy Works". We also share part of an interview from the current episode of "Democracy in Danger" with journalist Jane Lytvynenko, who covers technology, disinformation, and now, Ukraine. She was born in Kyiv. Jane is also a senior research fellow at Harvard University's Technology and Social Change Project at the Shorenstein Center.
This podcast is produced with the generous help of the Democracy Group podcast network and the McCourtney Institute for Democracy at Penn State University.
The war in Ukraine and the global response to Russia's invasion are dominating the news. But missing in much of the coverage is a sense of the country and its people. In this historic moment, we hear a riveting account of the country's recent political awakening and why Ukrainians are prepared to resist and fight.
In the past century, Ukraine suffered massively during two world wars, Nazi occupation, famine, and the Chernobyl disaster. Eight years ago, during the "Revolution of Dignity", Ukranians stood up against corruption, brutality, and Russian dominance. A new democracy and civic bond were formed. The country profoundly changed.
"Ukranians are fighting for all of us," says our guest, Yale University historian Marci Shore, the author of “The Ukrainian Night: An Intimate History of Revolution.” She is a scholar of Eastern Europe in the post-Soviet era.
The invasion of Ukraine is a shocking reminder of what's at stake for democracies around the world. This moment is a stunning reminder of the vital importance of what we so often take for granted— personal freedoms and the rule of law. Despite well-advertised flaws, our constitutional system of governance is infinitely preferable to dictatorships or thuggish autocracies.
In this episode, we share a conversation that touches on the relationship between voters and those who represent them, and what is meant by "representative democracy". The interview is shared with us by our friends at the "Democracy Paradox" podcast.
Lisa Disch, author of the book, “Making Constituencies: Representation as Mobilization in Mass Democracy” is this week’s guest. She is a professor of political science at the University of Michigan and an elected member of the Ann Arbor City Council. She is a committed member of the Democratic Party, but her views and research should be of interest to listeners from across the political spectrum.
Partisan gerrymandering— where one party gains an unfair advantage by redrawing political maps to favor its candidates— is unpopular with voters, but widespread in many states. We examine why this process devalues democracy, and how data science is being used across the country to expose many of the most egregious examples, and help voters advocate for fair and transparent redistricting.
Every decade, legislators across the country come up with maps for state and congressional districts. The latest round of changes, due to be finished well before primaries are held before the 2022 midterm elections in November, is facing widespread criticism. Redistricting reformers also see strong ties between partisan and racial bias.
Our guest in this episode shows citizens how they can fight back against local examples of gerrymandering by both Democrats and Republicans. Professor Sam Wang oversees the Princeton Gerrymandering Project, which runs an informative website that helps voters in every state decide if they live in an unfairly drawn legislative or Congressional District.
Best-selling author Daniel Pink admits he's pedaling against the wind. His new book, "The Power of Regret" takes on the longstanding and deeply ingrained doctrine that paying attention to our regrets is foolish. In this episode we ask him why this notion is wrong.
"No regrets" is the name or theme of countless books and popular songs. Bob Dylan, Angelina Jolie, and Ruth Bader Ginsberg all advised us to live without regrets.
"We think that it's courageous to say I have no regrets, but it's not," Pink tells us. "What's courageous is staring your regrets in the eye, confronting them, and doing something about them".
Two years of coronavirus have made the growing loneliness crisis even worse— with greater social isolation causing personal pain and mental and physical illnesses.
"Even before the global pandemic introduced us to terms like social distancing, loneliness was becoming the defining condition of the twenty-first century. But it's also one we have the power to reverse," says our podcast guest, economist Noreena Hertz.
Numerous surveys have found that reported cases of loneliness have jumped in recent decades. More than three-in-five Americans told a 2020 poll, conducted before the pandemic, that they felt left out, poorly understood and lacking in companionship.
Noreena Hertz is the author of "The Lonely Century: How to Restore Human Connection in a World Pulling Apart." Her book is a personal and deeply-researched investigation into the roots of the loneliness epidemic and what we can do to come together.
Across the board— from voter access to questions of race and gender, and views of the economy— the gap between Republicans and Democrats has grown wider in recent years. According to recent polling, a rising share of Americans say that having political conversations with those they disagree with is “stressful and frustrating”.
Political polarization and the recent actions of party leaders have prevented compromise and resolution of critical problems.
We discuss five personal ways to reduce polarization with our guest, Kamy Akhavan, Director of the Center for the Political Future at the University of Southern California, and former CEO of the well-known non-partisan site procon.org
What is the point of an education? Is it to learn skills that will help you get ahead in the workplace, or is it to acquire knowledge and to think more deeply about your place in the world?
In this episode, we hear from an educator who thinks that the great books— Plato, Aquinas, Shakespeare for example— aren’t just for a few well-off students at elite colleges, but for everybody. And he says encountering these thinkers when he was a poor immigrant teenager from the Dominican Republic literally changed his life.
Roosevelt Montás is senior lecturer in American Studies and English at Columbia University. He is director of the Center for American Studies Freedom and Citizenship Program, which introduces low-income high school students to primary texts in moral and political thought, as well as seminars in American Studies including “Freedom and Citizenship in the United States.” From 2008 to 2018, he was director of Columbia’s Center for the Core Curriculum.
Earth's global average temperature in 2021 was the sixth warmest on record, according to two new reports issued this week by U.S. Government agencies. Scientists at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies report that collectively the past eight years were the warmest since modern record-keeping began in 1880. The research adds to overwhelming evidence of climate change.
This episode looks at the role played by carbon-free nuclear power in providing one solution to the growing climate crisis. Our guest, British environmental activist and science communicator, Zion Lights, tells us why she changed her mind about nuclear safety and reliability. After playing a leading role with Extinction Rebellion UK, Zion left the group and founded Emergency Reactor, which calls on fellow activists to "stop spreading misinformation and fear. Follow the science about nuclear energy."
Our first episode of 2022 is all about a constructive response to the calamitous events of one year ago: The January 6th riot at the U.S. Capitol.
On January 5th, a coalition of organizations, led by Ideos Institute, will host the first annual National Day of Dialogue. We discuss this invitation to all Americans to push back against deep divides. We also explore the need for hard talk and getting into our discomfort zones.
“As a nation, we have largely lost our ability to have hard conversations without judgment, animus, or fear,” says our guest, Ideos President & CEO, Christy Vines. "Deep down we all want to have these kinds of moments with somebody we would disagree with and who we often see as the enemy... Not enough people are getting those opportunities to see the human behind the positions they hold."
The Forever Pandemic, Omicron, Build Back Better, Biden, Putin, China, What's Trump got up his sleeve? The media gave these stories ad nauseum coverage in 2021, often marching in lockstep and suffering from a painful lack of imagination about what should be the big news of the day.
But what about underreported stories: The important news that most of us missed?
Richard and Jim share their gripes, observations, hopes and insights about the media, science, the environment and global affairs. Our co-hosts are not only solutions journalists with decades of reporting experience, they're also voracious readers and observers of current events
Gerrymandering, low turnout elections, negative campaign ads, and increased polarization are all part of the flawed, fractured U.S. political system. Here we examine the case for constructive changes to how candidates for public office are elected.
Our guest, Rob Richie, has been the leader of the non-profit advocacy group, FairVote, since co-founding the organization in 1992. He has been involved in helping to develop and implement: Ranked Choice Voting in several states and more than 20 cities, fair representation voting systems in numerous states, Voting Rights Act cases, the National Popular Vote plan in 16 states, and voter access proposals like voter preregistration and automatic voter registration.
"We're in a winner-take-all environment and it's incredibly tense," Rob tells us. The current voting system allows for only one choice, which can add to bitterness and deep division. "Ranked Choice Voting gives the voter a chance not only to just put an X next to one candidate but to make a series of choices."
The huge difference between slogans and solutions is a key theme of this episode. While demands to “de-fund the police” or replace entire police departments with something new might sound good in theory, these ambitious experiments in public safety may backfire.
Our guest is Minneapolis civil rights lawyer and activist Nekima Levy Armstrong. Her recent New York Times op-ed— “Black Voters Want Better Policing, Not Posturing by Progressives”— was written after the defeat of a November ballot initiative that would abolish the Minneapolis Police Department and replace it with a department of public safety. She expressed frustration over the lack of a detailed, well-researched plan.
While white progressives mostly voiced support for the proposal, majority-black neighborhoods rejected it. We find out why.
A crucial step in preventing the next global pandemic will be knowing where this one came from. Did SARS-CoV-2— the virus that causes Covid-19— jump from animals to humans, or was the outbreak the result of a lab leak? The world still doesn’t know the answer.
This episode is part two of our wide-ranging interview with Alina Chan, a postdoctoral scientist who co-wrote an explosive online paper in May 2020. She argued that scientists and governments should investigate whether a virus from a laboratory in Wuhan, China caused the pandemic.
In this episode, we discuss the need for much greater transparency when viral outbreaks occur. The world needs to adopt new policies and strategies to prevent or mitigate future outbreaks. Proposed solutions include more regulation of scientific experiments— including “gain of function” research, better lab safety standards, greater international oversight of groups that study how viruses cross species barriers, and a global treaty governing viral research.
Two years after the known human case of COVID-19, the mystery of the origin of SARS-CoV-2 remains unresolved. Did the virus emerge from an animal in nature, or could it have accidentally leaked from a research lab in Wuhan, China? Shockingly, the world appears to be no closer to knowing the crucial answer.
In this first of two episodes, we get a brief explanation of the growing controversy from our co-host, Jim Meigs, who has written about allegations of a scientific cover-up. Molecular biologist Alina Chan, a postdoctoral fellow in a gene therapy lab at the Broad Institute, is our interview guest.
Dr. Chan first became widely known last year for suggesting that COVID-19 could have escaped from a laboratory. Her early research was called a "conspiracy theory" by leading scientists and mainstream media journalists. But in recent months, expert views of this mystery have decisively changed.
"This book is a message from autistic people to their parents, friends, teachers, coworkers, and doctors showing what life is like on the spectrum," writes our guest, author Eric Garcia in We're Not Broken. "It’s also my love letter to autistic people. For too long, we have been forced to navigate a world where all the road signs are written in another language.”
Garcia, who is autistic, is senior Washington correspondent for The Independent. He has worked as a writer and reporter covering politics at The Washington Post, The Hill, and the National Journal.
"My main point is autistic people are fine as they are," Eric tells us in this episode. “The idea that they are fundamentally flawed and failed human beings is simply not true... Instead of trying to cure autistic people, society should help them live fulfilling lives.”
Not long ago, most of us embraced social media as a life-changing opportunity to connect with friends and family all across the world. Today, public opinion, including members of Congress from both parties, has turned far more negative. Facebook, Twitter, Google, YouTube, and other tech giants are accused of corrupting our democracy, spreading disinformation, and fanning the flames of hatred.
Our guest is Robby Soave, a libertarian author and journalist who is a senior editor for Reason and the author of two books: "Panic Attack: Young Radicals in the Age of Trump" and his latest, "Tech Panic: Why We Shouldn't Fear Facebook and the Future."
Robby is highly skeptical of most efforts to reform or break up technology firms. In a lively conversation we explore some of the biggest issues animating both right and left: bias, censorship, disinformation, privacy, screen addiction, crime, and more.
As world leaders discuss the planet's future at COP26 in Glasgow, climate change remains a massive challenge and a source of fierce debate. While two-thirds of Americans think that the government should be doing more, it's tempting to throw our hands up in despair and think: "There's nothing I can do."
Climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe begs to differ. She says the most important thing is to talk about it—and she wants to teach us how. In this episode, we discuss her hopeful, passionate case for enacting positive change from the ground up, and the finding of her new book, "Saving Us: A Climate Scientist's Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World."
Katharine shares the science of climate change, how to talk about it across the political divide, and personal stories about engaging highly skeptical audiences, such as when she spoke to a crowd of conservative business leaders in West Texas at a meeting of Rotarians. The outcome was remarkable!
Many millions of Americans are heading back to work — in person — for the first time since the pandemic hit. During this time of remote meetings and working from home, many of us learned new skills, and perhaps, forgot our old ways to work and successfully collaborate with colleagues.
This episode is a timely and very personal reminder of how to make meetings better and develop stronger, more productive relationships with those we work and live with. We learn about the crucial differences between exchange and communal forms of collaboration. Our guest, former psychology professor and national non-profit head, Deb Mashek, spent two decades studying how people form relationships with each other, as well as the challenges & rewards of doing so.
Deb founded MyCo Consulting, where she puts her research into practice, helping academic leaders cultivate collaboration among diverse stakeholders to accomplish ambitious goals.
From local school board elections to state legislatures, an impassioned nationwide debate has erupted over allegations that Critical Race Theory (CRT) is being taught in public schools.
Anti-CRT bills have been passed in more than two dozen Republican-led states. What do we mean by Critical Race Theory? What are these laws aiming to accomplish? How will they affect schools in the US? We share a lively discussion from "Banished", a new podcast series, hosted by Amna Khalid, a history professor at Carleton College.
In this episode we listen to interviews with Harvard Law Professor Randall Kennedy, Acadia University Professor Jeffrey Sachs, and former ACLU President, Nadine Strossen of New York Law School. All three support free speech and disagree with banning the teaching or discussion of controversial, even dangerous ideas and theories.
Never before in living memory has America been as politically polarized as it is today. We are divided by our politics, Facebook and other social media sites, and by news media. Nearly half of us have stopped talking with someone about political topics as a result of what they said in person or online. Our culture of contempt is dividing us all and making America ungovernable.
How do we use science and proven methods to reduce toxic polarization and push back against conflict entrepreneurs? This episode presents a way forward.
Peter Coleman is a leading expert on intractable conflict and sustainable peace. He's a professor of psychology and education at Columbia University and director of the Morton Deutsch International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution. Peter's new book is "The Way Out. How to Overcome Toxic Polarization."
Imagine a future where smart machines are more intelligent than humans. That future may be coming much faster than we think. The stark implications are considered in this podcast.
The former Chief Business Officer at Google X, Egyptian entrepreneur Mo Gawdat has long been at the heart of the artificial intelligence revolution, deeply involved in engineering, robotics and AI. Mo is also a podcaster with a focus on how we can promote happiness. In his latest book, "Scary Smart", he argues that AI reflects our values, and that unless humans change their online behavior, the consequences could be terrifying.
"The true pandemic of our times is not COVID-19, Mo tells us. "AI is the real pandemic. It's at its infancy and will grow in intelligence until a point where it is undisputed that they will be the leaders."
This episode addresses a great problem of our age: How do we curb the enormous power of giant technology companies and limit the disruption caused by them and their products
20 years ago, we lived in an era of digital utopianism when most people thought that the internet would give us a new freedom to find information. But we didn't anticipate many of the most disturbing technological changes. Today, a handful of firms control most internet communication. Social media platforms amplify division more than they spread knowledge.
Our guests are two Stanford University professors, Mehran Sahami and Jeremy Weinstein. Along with philosophy professor Bob Reich, they wrote the new book, "System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot."
The line between our “civilized” lives and wild, unpredictable nature seems to have gotten a little thinner lately. Nature is great, but it can also be dangerous if we don’t show proper respect.
This show is about awkward encounters with bears, mountain lines, gulls and other wild creatures. We also discuss "killer trees" with best-selling science writer, Mary Roach, author of the new book, "Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law".
Mary is widely known for her funny, smart and sometimes gross writing and reporting in a series of books with one-word titles. Previously, we spoke with her about "Grunt", which looks at the surprising science of war. She also wrote "Stiff" about — you guessed it — dead people, "Gulp" on the digestive tract, and "Bonk" where we learn all about sex.
"I now believe the 9/11 Truthers I encountered were canaries in the coal mines of American society," writes our co-host, Jim Meigs, in the current issue of City Journal. In this episode, we hear about conspiracy theories, those who believe in them, and the corrosive impact of paranoia on American political life.
Richard interviews Jim about his work at Popular Mechanics in the years after the 9/11 attacks. A team of reporters, editors and fact-checkers at the magazine interviewed more than 300 experts and sources in civil engineering, air traffic control, aviation, fire fighting and metallurgy. Their findings were published in the 2006 book, "Debunking 9/11 Myths. Why Conspiracy Theories Can't Stand Up to the Facts."
Jim also asks Richard about his reporting from the streets of Manhattan in the hours and days after the attacks that brought down the North and South Towers of The World Trade Center twenty years ago.
Only four in 10 Americans say they have a lot of trust in the news media. That's a big problem for our democracy. While journalists are supposed to tell the truth and get the story right, just 35 percent of right-of-center voters have some trust in what they see in the news.
Democrats and independents are much more likely to trust journalists, but Americans of almost all shades of opinion are skeptical toward the news media, questioning not only the quality of journalists’ work but their intentions behind it.
Our guest is Joy Mayer, Director of the non-profit Trusting News, which is working with local newsrooms around the country to help journalists earn consumers' trust.
For much of its history, the United States kept the rest of the world at arm’s length. What happened in the decades after the 1941 military strike on Pearl Harbor, and several years after the 9/11 attacks, could be seen as an aberration.
The sudden, chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Taliban takeover, and resulting humanitarian disaster may lead to another American foreign policy shift, plus a far greater reluctance to deploy U.S. forces overseas. While isolationism is derided by policy experts and global elites, this movement has a surprisingly enduring legacy. We examine it here.
Charles Kupchan is a professor of international relations at Georgetown University and a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. "Isolationism: A History of America’s Efforts to Shield Itself from the World" is his most recent book. We share extracts from an interview with Charles by Justin Kempf, host of the Democracy Group podcast, "Democracy Paradox".
Successful politicians on the right and left often use anger and resentment to build support for their campaigns. "A lot of our politics is dignity politics," argues Stanford political scientist, Francis Fukuyama, our guest in this episode. "It's one group saying, 'look, you are not taking us seriously. You disregard our rights and we demand a different kind of world.'"
We discuss whether identity politics are damaging our democracy at a time of deep polarization when many national and global institutions struggle to respond to growing challenges.
"We have shifted from arguing about economic policies to arguing about identities," Fukuyama tells us. In his book, "Identity: The Demand for Dignity and The Politics of Resentment," he warns that unless we forge a clear understanding of human dignity, we will doom ourselves to continuing conflict.
Francis Fukuyama is probably best-known for "The End of History and the Last Man", published after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. His other major works include "The Origins of Political Order" and "America at the Crossroads".
In this special episode, Richard and Jim have an extended conversation around six solutions to help us manage the pandemic more successfully, and improve responses to future public health emergencies
1. Have a more realistic view of the virus. This includes understanding that the virus won't go away anytime soon. Clear, honest communication from the media and government health officials will help.
2. Restoring Trust. Greater transparency by public health officials and honesty about what is not known are two ways to improve understanding and trust.
3. Improve access to care and medical literacy.
4. Focus on the severe cost of the pandemic to children.
5. Make it Harder for People to be Unvaccinated.
Over 95% of new COVID-related hospital cases are among unvaccinated Americans.
6. COVID will probably increase life expectancy: The virus has led to advances in mRNA vaccines and viral medicine. The pandemic will speed up and intensify research into other life-threatening illnesses.
These final days before the election are tense times. Today’s toxic politics are hurtful and heart breaking for many of usMaybe we all need a hope vaccine. An injection of kindness, curiosity and understanding for those who see the world differently than we do.
In our latest report on the work, ideas, and people of Braver Angels, the nationwide citizen-led campaign against political polarization, we learn more about its Election Day Initiative: A volunteer-led effort to push back against political climate change— the hurricane of hate resentment and disdain that many on the left and right feel for the other side.
Our guests in this episode are liberal Dorsey Cartwright and conservative Roger Haynes. They are two of many red/blue pairs of citizens who will sit and stand together outside polling places across America.
M. Dorsey Cartwright is a retired marriage and family therapist in Austin, Texas. She travelled internationally leading workshops for couples, individuals, adult children and parents, as well as for communities. Valuing the healing of relationships, Dorsey has turned her attention to America’s political environment. First as an active member of No Labels and its mission to depolarize the House and Senate, and then Braver Angels, with its mission to depolarize our citizenship. Her politics lean blue.