No Time 2 Read!

Civilizations can carry a surprising number of parasites and live. But there’s a line — Rome crossed it, the Gilded Age toed it, and for the first time in history, we can measure it. This article comes from the substack The Grim Historian by Carlyn Beccia. It's longer than my normal at about 26 minutes. But I think you will find it engaging and though provoking. I encourage you to check out (a...

Contrary to my normal practice, today I am not bringing you an article by an esteemed public figure or scholar. I wrote a reflection on my feelings about celebrating the 4th of July in America in 2026. When I posted it on Facebook and Instagram the feedback was so affirming. One reader even said they were printing it out in order to share with their friends. My wife told me she felt it was one of...

In this episode, Danielle Allen explores how a copy of the Declaration of Independence ended up in the library of the 3rd Duke of Richmond in England and how England achieved a new constitutional monarchy without having to go through a revolution. If you'd prefer to read the article, you can find it here: https://therenovator.substack.com/p/how-much-revolution-does-a-guinea

by Danielle Allen in The Atlantic Magazine, May 21, 2026 Article to read can be found here: What the 18th Century Can Teach the 21st - The Atlantic Britain had a revolution too—slower and quieter than America’s. Did the British do it better? Looking back to the Age of Revolution, and across the sea, can offer some useful perspective. Although the fact is often forgotten, the American colonists wer...

Sixty-million American voters (1 in 4) are effectively disenfranchised by political structures designed to weaken or eliminate their vote. It's becoming a crisis and it's time to fix the system. This is the latest article in The Renovator by esteemed scholar Danielle Allen. In this article she explains how the disenfranchisement works in different states and outlines 3 paths to fixing the...

Have you ever wondered why the world does business in US dollars? Or whether that dominance confers special benefits to the US? Have you heard doomers who claim the dollar is about to be dethroned, most recently because Iran is charging Strait of Hormuz tolls in cryptocurrency or Chinese yuan? Well Nobel prize winning economist excels at explaining complex topics like this in layman's terms. T...

Harvard political theorist Danielle Allen wrote a series ofarticles for the Washington Post in 2023 and 2024.  That series was called "Democracy Refreshed".  Here is the 8th and final article where she examines the expansion of presidential power and how to overcome that problem. If you wish to read the article instead of listening, here's the link: Opinion | The Founders didn’t envi...

Harvard political theorist Danielle Allen wrote a series ofarticles for the Washington Post in 2023 and 2024.  That series was called "Democracy Refreshed".  Here is the 7th articlewhere Danielle answers some FAQs about democracy renovation. If you prefer to read the article instead of listening, here's the link: Opinion | What is democracy renovation? Here’s what to know. - The Wash...

Harvard political theorist Danielle Allen wrote a series ofarticles for the Washington Post in 2023 and 2024.  That series was called "Democracy Refreshed".  Here is the 6th articleon the importance of urgently fixing our civic education. If you prefer to read the article instead of listening, here's the link: Opinion | Civics education won’t succeed if we sell kids a broken democrac...

Harvard political theorist Danielle Allen wrote a series ofarticles for the Washington Post in 2023 and 2024.  That series was called "Democracy Refreshed".  Here is the 5th articleon the dangers AI poses for our democracy unless we renovate first. If you wish to read the article instead of listening, here's the link: Opinion | Artificial generative intelligence could prove too much...

Harvard political theorist Danielle Allen wrote a series ofarticles for the Washington Post in 2023 and 2024.  That series was called "Democracy Refreshed".  Here is the 4th articleon how to free the Supreme Court from pernicious politics. If you prefer to read the article rather than listen, here's the link: Opinion | The Supreme Court needs term limits. Justices can do it themselve...

Harvard political theorist Danielle Allen wrote a series ofarticles for the Washington Post in 2023 and 2024.  That series was called "Democracy Refreshed".  Here is the 3rd article. In the first two articles she advocated for a larger House of Representatives. In this article she answers the question about whether our Capitol could handle it. If you want to read the article instead of l...

Harvard political theorist Danielle Allen wrote a series of articles for the Washington Post in 2023 and 2024. That series was called "Democracy Refreshed". Here is the 2nd article on how to kill gerrymandering and grow the House. If you want to read the article instead of listening, here's the link: Opinion | How to fix gerrymandering and the electoral college at the same time - The...

Harvard political theorist Danielle Allen wrote a powerful series of articles for the Washington Post in 2023 and 2024 on Renovating Democracy. That series was titled "Democracy Refreshed". Here is the first article on why we need to grow the size of the House of Representatives as the first and most important step in renovating our democracy. If you want to read the article instead of l...

Harvard political theorist Danielle Allen wrote a powerful series of articles for the Washington Post in 2023 and 2024 on Renovating Democracy. That series was titled "Democracy Refreshed". Consider this episode the introduction to the series even though it came at the end. If you want to read instead of listen, you can find that article here: Opinion | Will you join the supermajority fo...

Audrey Tang is Taiwan’s first Digital Minister and the world’s first nonbinary cabinet minister. Awarded the Right Livelihood Award for “advancing the social use of digital technology to empower citizens, renew democracy and heal divides. In this guest article for The Renovator on Substack, she allows her AI avatar (called "a Kami") to write the article about the 6 elements that are requ...

In this article from The Renovator by Danielle Allen, she argues that the No Kings rallies are not just "protests" but that we (the people) DO have an agenda that can renovate our democracy in non-partisan ways. Even though this podcast is titled "No Time2Read" I do encourage you to give her article a visual look-see at What Comes After No Kings? - by Danielle Allen . It's...

Paul Krugman is a Nobel prize winning economist. He has an unusual ability to explain complex matters in easily understandable terms. In this episode he explains why, if the Strait of Hormuz remains choked off, the high price of auto gasoline is only half of the bad news for our economy. I encourage you to take a look at Paul's Substack where this article was published: $4 Gasoline is Less Tha...

Danielle Allen is the founder of Partners in Democracy and the Democracy Renovation project. She publishes regular articles on Substack. In this episode: The ancient Greeks knew that when "The Furies” appeared they inevitably unleashed cycles of vendetta that were exceptionally hard to end.  Revenge begets revenge. The goal of civilization is to transform the Furies into “thewell-minded ones”...