How to Fix Democracy

Israel has long stood out as a democracy in a region marked by authoritarian rule and political instability. Yet its democratic foundations are facing challenges, from judicial reform and growing political polarization to the aftermath of October 7 and the war in Gaza. In this episode of How to Fix Democracy , we speak with Marc Schulman, former Newsweek correspondent and author of Between Hope an...

What does it mean to be a citizen, not simply in a legal sense, but as an active member of the community? Andrew Keen speaks with Eric Liu, CEO of Citizen University and author of Live Like a Citizen , about what citizenship requires in an era of polarization and declining trust in democratic institutions. Liu argues that resilient democracy depends not only on politics and institutions, but on th...

What can Canada teach us about building resilient democracies? In this episode of How to Fix Democracy , Andrew Keen speaks with Canadian award-winning essayist and novelist John Ralston Saul about the country's long democratic tradition, the role of dialogue and negotiation in managing differences, and the importance of embracing Canada's complexity. They also discuss Canada's evolving relationsh...

What makes democracy resilient? Former Minneapolis mayor and current Minneapolis Foundation CEO R.T. Rybak argues that the answer starts at the local level. Drawing on decades of experience in public services, journalism and philantrophy, he explores how civic participation, local leadership, and strong communities can strengthen democracies in times of crisis. From responding to authoritarian pre...

After more than a decade of Viktor Orban's rule, Hungary has entered a new political chapter. In this episode, Andrew Keen speaks with cultural anthropologist Marc Loustau about how Orban built an illiberal state, why his political project ultimately faltered, and what Hungary's experience can teach democracies around the world about resisting authoritarianism. From the role of the European Union...

Can democracies become more resilient by being bolder? In this episode of How to Fix Democracy , Andrew Keen speaks with journalist, author and foreign affairs commentator John Kampfner about his new book Brave New World . Drawing on research from countries as diverse as Finland, Estonia, Taiwan, Morocco, Canada and Romania, Kampfner argues that democracy's greatest challenge is not a lack of idea...

What role do schools play in strengthening democracy? In this episode, award-winning author James Traub argues that civic education remains one of the most important tools for building democratic resilience. From declining attention spans and digital distractions to respectful disagreement and civic engagement, Traub reflects on what he learned from classrooms across America and what it takes to p...

What would the Founding Fathers make of America today? In this episode host Andrew Keen talks with constitutional historian Jeffrey Rosen about the centuries-old struggle between liberty and executive power. From Hamilton and Jefferson to Donald Trump and AI, Rosen traces how America's constitutional system has drifted from the Founders' orginal vision, and why restoring democratic resilience may...

In this episode of How to Fix Democracy, we turn to Turkey to explore what democratic resilience like over the long arc of history. Joined by the political scientist Soli Oezel, the conversation traces more than a century of "bouts of freedom" punctuated by military interventions, constitutional resets, and shifting balances between state authority and popular will. From the late Ottoman period to...

Poland's story is often told as a triumph of democracy, but it's far from over. In this episode, author, activist and journalist, Konstanty Gebert reflects on a lifetime spent confronting authoritarianism, from underground activism in the 1970s to the rise of Solidarity and the fall of communism. But victory brought new challenges: how do you transition from unity against oppression to the comprom...

As trust in political institutions fades, who really holds power in democracy? Helene Landemore argues that elite decision-making has left democracies less responsive and less resilient. In this episode she joins Andrew Keen to explore how citizen assemblies, broader participation, and new approaches to governance could reshape the future of democratic life.

As How to Fix Democracy opens its seventh season on democratic  resilience, host Andrew Keen welcomes Maury Giles, the new CEO of Braver Angels, for a candid conversation about whether American democracy can withstand what Giles calls the "industrial outrage complex." In a year marking the nation's 250th anniversary, Giles argues that resilience is not something institutions deliver from above, bu...

For 26 years, Richard Edelman has measured the world's trust levels through the Edelman Trust Barometer. In this final episode of our trust series, he joins Andrew Keen to diagnose a new and troubling phase: insularity. After years of polarization, grievance, and activism, societies are hardening into self-contained camps, "turtles in shells", as Edelman puts it, trusting only those who share thei...

In this episode of How to Fix Democracy, host Andrew Keen explores America's deepening crisis of trust, both social and political. Joined by Frederick Riley of Weave at the Aspen Institute and Dr, Michael Neblo of the Ohio State University, the conversation examines rising isolation, collapsing confidence in institutions, and the growing divide across communities. From neighborhood-level connectio...

In this episode of How to Fix Democracy, host Andrew Keen sits down with Cynthia Miller-Idriss - scholar of extremism, founder of the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab (PERIL), and author of Man Up: The New Misogyny and the Rise of Violent Extremism. Together they explore one of democracy's most fragile foundations: trust. From gender polarization and the rise of the "manosphe...

In this episode of How to Fix Democracy, host Andrew Keen speaks with Derek Leebaert - historian, technologist and author of Unlikely Heroes - about the shifting foundations of trust in democracy. From Franklin D. Roosevelt's efforts to rebuild confidence in government during the New Deal era to today's rapid rise of articifical intelligence, Leebaert traces how accelerating technological change h...

Can democracy survive without trust in the law? In this episode of How to Fix Democracy, host Andrew Keen speaks with Burt Neuborne, founding legal director of the Brennan Center for Justice and professor of law at NYU, about the complex relationship between law and trust in America. From Hobbes and Rousseau to Madison, Lincoln, and the U.S. Constitution itself, Neuborne explores how law can both...

Is mistrust a defining feature and flaw in American democracy? Or is it a manifestation of basic opposition against long-term democratic and aspirational concepts such as "all men are created equally"? In this thought provoking conversation author and historian Richard Kreitner joins Andrew Keen to explore the deep mistrust in U.S. political life. Drawing on themes from his book Break it up: Seces...

Legal scholar and author Joan Williams joins  How to Fix Democracy to unpack the breakdown of trust between political elites and the American working class. Drawing from her new book Outclassed , Williams explores how class-blindness, cultural signaling, and economic inequality have shaped political divides - and what the left must do to win back working class voters. From language to long-term co...

In this episode Brookings's scholar Jonathan Rauch explores America's historically unprecedented position as a "high-tech, low trust society" - a dangerous combination where technological advancement coexists with collapsing social trust. Trust levels have plummeted since the 1970s warns Rauch, with America now ranking 52nd globally in believing strangers would return a lost wallet. He traces this...

In this episode of How to Fix Democracy , host Andrew Keen, speaks with journalist Sally Lehrman, founder of the Trust Project - a global initiative aimed at restoring trust in journalism. They discuss the origins of the project, inspired in part by the 1947 Hutchins Commission report on media responsibility, and how today's digital landscape has blurred the lines between news and content. Lehrman...

In this episode, host Andrew Keen sits down with Francis Fukuyama to explore the concept of trust. Fukuyama defines it as a byproduct of virtuous behaviors like reliability, truthfulness, transparency, and keeping commitments. He describes trust as a crucial "lubricant" for social interactions and distinguishes between interpersonal and institutional trust, both of which are built through experien...

Days before the U.S. election, Professor Carol Anderson of Emory University spoke with the three producers of the How to Fix Series about the current state of American democracy. With references to previous interviews, the discussion focuses on the urgency of the times, the criticical issues at stake, the forces of deep conflict and expectations for the future of America's democracy.

In conversation with Congressman Jamie Raskin, host Andrew Keen explores key elements of American democracy. Raskin highlights his deep commitment to public service, grounded in his believe that the rule of law is fundamental to America's greatness. He reflects on the influence of Presidents Reagan, Clinton, Bush, Obama and Trump on their political journeys and how their legacies relate to his vis...

In a conversation with Andrew Keen, Yuval Levin, Director of Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, explores the critical transition from the 1950s- a decade often seen as a conservative period of economic prosperity- into the 1960s, a turbulant era marked by confrontations over race, gender, and shifts in the politcal landscape of the Republican and Dem...