Civic Forum

Across many democracies, workers comprise a majority of the labor force but only a small fraction of elected office-holders. Why does democracy consistently fail the working class? And what can be done to get more workers on the ballot? Rory interviews political scientists Noam Lupu and Nick Carnes about their new book on working class representation.

On Civic Forum, Rory Truex interviews writer and journalist Jasmine Sun about how Silicon Valley is “bracing for a permanent underclass,” the belief among many AI insiders that AI will increase inequality, reduce economic mobility, and cause short-term mass job disruption that concentrates power and wealth. The conversation features insights from Jasmine's time in San Francisco, DC and China....

Will AI empower dictatorships to exert Orwellian level control over their citizens? In this session of Civic Forum, Rory is joined by two leading experts on China's censorship, propaganda, and surveillance practices, Margaret Roberts from UCSD, and Stanford's Jennifer Pan. The conversation focuses on whether and AI is shifting the balance of power in favor of authoritarian governments, how...

Rory is joined by ex-FBI special agent and Yale lecturer Asha Rangappa to talk about how the FBI has lost its way. Asha discusses her own experience as an agent, and how the values of Fidelity, Bravery and Integrity are instilled in young agents. The conversation focuses on the guardrails that were put in place to preserve the independence of the FBI and DOJ, and how those guardrails have eroded i...

What the prospects for democracy in Iran? What will happen to the regime after the death of Ayatollah Khamenei? What is the level of support for regime? In this "emergency" episode, Rory is joined by Daniel Tavana, a professor at Penn State University and expert on Iranian politics and society. Dan provides a primer on all things Iran and assesses the likely outcomes of this war.

How has Donald Trump changed the American presidency? How does his challenge to the Constitution fit in context with other backlash presidents like Andrew Johnson and Richard Nixon? In this episode of The Civic Forum, Rory is joined by Julia Azari, a leading scholar of presidential politics. They debrief the State of the Union, and then discuss Azari's theory of backlash presidencies. They close w...

In this episode of The Civic Forum, Rory speaks with authoritarianism scholar Dr. Marcel Dirsus, author of How Tyrants Fall, about whether the US is entering a period of authoritarianism and what stands out as unique about Trump. They discuss democratic backsliding, how governments tilt the electoral playing field, and why threats to the judiciary and control of security forces are key warning sig...

Rory is joined by Ex-CIA official Steven Cash to discuss the threats posed by Donald Trump to American democracy. Cash is the director of the Steady State, a group of former national security professionals dedicated to nonpartisanship and the preservation of American democracy. They discuss the culture of the intelligence community, how the national security has changed under Trump 2.0, whether IC...

Venezuela... Greenland... Iran... Denmark?. The list of Trump's foreign policy adventures seems to grow by the day. Rory Truex is joined by Paul Poast, Associate Professor at the University of Chicago, to help make sense of it all. They examine Trump as a ``19th-century president" operating in the modern international system, the logic of American interventionism, and the implications for the worl...

In this solo episode, Rory examines the state of American democracy under Donald Trump. He discusses the four distinct chapters in Trump's authoritarian power grab. This episode also explores the resilience of American society, and closes with a note of optimism and predictions for 2026.

Is Venezuela heading toward regime change? Are the U.S. and Venezuela destined for war? Why is Trump so interested in Venezuela, and what will be the fate of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro? Rory Truex is joined on The Civic Forum by University of Chicago's Michael Albertus, a leading scholar of Latin American politics, to break down the state of politics in Venezuela and possible outcomes mov...

Bridge Grades founder Brad Porteus joins Rory Truex on The Civic Forum to explain how polarization is shaping Congress and why some lawmakers work across the aisle while others fuel division. The conversation breaks down how Bridge Grades scores members of Congress, what collaboration really looks like in practice, and why bipartisan behavior is often hidden from public view. The episode explores...

American democracy isn’t unraveling in Washington—it’s happening in the states. In this episode, Rory Truex talks with political scientist Jake Grumbach, author of Laboratories Against Democracy, about how federalism, once a safeguard of liberty, has become a major engine of democratic backsliding. Grumbach explains what his State Democracy Index reveals about gerrymandering, voter suppression, el...

What does a second Trump term actually mean for U.S.–China relations? Could Washington and Beijing find their way to a political truce, or are we headed toward a sharper, more dangerous phase of rivalry? In this episode of The Civic Forum, Rory Truex talks with Jessica Chen Weiss about the state and stakes of U.S.-China relations. They get into Trump’s emerging approach to China, Xi Jinping’s ince...

In this episode of the Civic Forum, Rory Truex, an associate professor from Princeton University, discusses the intersection of democracy and the business community with Daniella Ballou-Aares, the founder of The Leadership Now Project. The conversation explores the importance of business engagement in democratic processes, the challenges of forming cross-partisan coalitions, and the role of inform...

Indivisible's Ezra Levin joins Rory Truex to reflect on No Kings, the Democrats' November 2025 election wins, and where the pro-democracy movement goes from here.

Are America’s courts still capable of protecting the rule of law in the face of Trump's authoritarian power grab? In this episode, Princeton constitutional scholar Deborah Pearlstein joins Rory Truex on The Civic Forum to break down the state of the courts — and whether legal institutions are equipped to defend democracy in this moment.

New America's Lee Drutman joins Rory Truex to explain how the U.S. two-party system fuels polarization, gridlock, and democratic decline—and how reforms like proportional representation and fusion voting could help fix it.

In this week’s episode of The Civic Forum, Rory Truex is joined by Holden Thorp, the Editor-in-Chief of the Science family of journals. They discuss the state of American science and how Trump's attacks on universities may make U.S. science fall behind. They also discuss ways universities must improve their relationship with the American public and how far science has come in China.

In this episode of The Civic Forum, Rory leads a conversation with four leading scholars of democratic erosion — Steven Levitsky (Harvard), Adam Przeworski (NYU), Susan Stokes (UChicago), and Daniel Ziblatt (Harvard) — on the current state of American democracy. They discuss what's surprising and unique about Trump's authoritarian power grab, the state of political opposition, strategies for the D...

In this week’s episode of The Civic Forum, Rory Truex is joined by Kevin Arceneaux, professor at Sciences Po and leading expert on political psychology, to explore how Americans really think about democracy, authoritarianism, and political violence. They discuss:- Why most Americans support democracy in the abstract, but may condone bad behavior when their side benefits.- The rise of the “need for...

Is American democracy in crisis? In this week’s episode of The Civic Forum, Rory Truex is joined by Dartmouth professors John Carey and Brendan Nyhan, co-founders of Bright Line Watch, the project tracking democratic backsliding in America. They discuss: Why expert ratings of U.S. democracy have dropped to historic lows. Why the U.S. may now resemble countries like Brazil or Hungary more than Cana...

In this week’s session of The Civic Forum, Rory Truex is joined by Amanda Litman, co-founder of Run for Something. Amanda explains why America’s political system is dominated by older leaders, and how young people can step up. We discuss: Why the U.S. is a gerontocracy, and how it affects democracy. The underrepresentation of Millennials, Gen Z, women, and working-class people in Congress. The str...

In this week’s session of The Civic Forum, Rory is joined by Princeton professor Kim Lane Scheppele, who explains how Viktor Orbán and his Fidesz Party consolidated power in Hungary — and how Donald Trump and his allies are adopting Orbán’s authoritarian playbook in the United States through Project 2025.Key topics:- How Orbán dismantled Hungary’s democracy in just three years.-The direct connecti...

In this week's session, Rory is joined by Erica Chenoweth, a professor in the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and one the country's leading experts on social movements and nonviolent resistance. Erica provides opening remarks about what we know about when social movements and nonviolent resistance are effective. They then provide an assessment of the state of the pro-democracy m...