Terms of Engagement

Optimism is in short supply these days in the backlash against AI systems and their potential effects on everything from the economy to the environment to society and democracy. But technologist and security expert Bruce Schneier believes that AI, if deployed in the public interest, can strengthen democracy and help citizens have a stronger voice in how they are governed. Schneier, a Senior Fellow...

America’s 250th birthday is both a milestone and a crossroads, so as both a political historian and a theorist, Harvard Kennedy School Professor Danielle Allen is the ideal guest for this special episode of Terms of Engagement . She joins hosts Archon Fung and Stephen Richer to discuss thoughtful and original ideas on the past, present, and future of U.S. democracy Allen, the director of the Allen...

What’s happening on the ground during an already-busy Congressional primary season? How much change and uncertainty has been the result of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Louisiana v. Callais? Are more voters registering, and what does it take to turn a civic bystander into a participant? The 2026 midterms seem to prompt a nearly endless array of questions. Andrea Hailey, who leads Vote.org,...

The United States is experiencing record levels of inequality amid the rising political and economic influence of finance, tech, and corporate leaders. But popular discontent from across the political spectrum is also growing, as issues including the impact of technology platforms, financial industry practices, and high-profile scandals involving prominent individuals are increasingly contributing...

The U.S. Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision in the case of Louisiana v. Callais effectively dismantled Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which has been the primary tool for voting rights advocates to challenge racially discriminatory voting districts. Within days, states began altering maps, including in Louisiana where Republican Gov. Jeff Landry suspended a congressional primary—in which mail-in vot...

Princeton University Professor Kim Lane Scheppele is a leading scholar of international constitutions who coined the term “Frankenstate” to describe the legal, but illiberal, tactics employed by autocrats seeking to consolidate power in constitutional democracies. She joins Terms of Engagement to explore the future of Hungary, Europe, and Trump in a world after the recent resounding defeat of Hung...

This special episode of Terms of Engagement featuring a conversation with political commentator and former Obama administration advisor Van Jones. explores what drove that change and what it means for the future of democracy, political power, and the influence of technology elites. The relationship between Silicon Valley and the Democratic Party has undergone a dramatic shift over the past decade,...

In early 2023, federal juries found members of the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers guilty of seditious conspiracy, one of the most serious crimes under American law, for their role planning the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice has moved to vacate those convictions, a legal maneuver that goes beyond the pardons he gave other January 6 defend...

The American institution of birthright citizenship, which stems from English law and was codified in the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, generally grants automatic citizenship to those born on U.S. soil. But in one of the first acts of his second term, President Donald Trump tried to end birthright citizenship for children undocumented immigrants and temporary workers—only to have his executiv...

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy holds a unique vantage point on one of the most transformative eras in American politics. Having led a historic, 15-ballot effort to secure the Speakership in January 2023, McCarthy successfully steered the nation through critical moments, including negotiating a resolution to the debt ceiling crisis and passing bipartisan fiscal deals to prevent a government sh...

For more than two centuries, the U.S. Constitution and legal precedent have held that elections, even for federal officeholders, are the administrative domain of state and local governments. But now President Trump and much of the Republican congress are pushing a federal bill mandating proof-of-citizenship requirements and other restrictions, which critics say would make it harder for millions of...

The ideal college campus, the thinking goes, is a place where students and professors engage respectfully across the ideological gulfs that divide them. Yet free thought and expression are being squeezed from many sides: peer pressure from students and faculty, university leaders leery of the fallout from campus protests, and a presidential administration that has clear views about what kinds of s...

Father and son billionaire duo Larry and David Ellison, allies of President Donald Trump, are poised to add CNN and Comedy Central and soon TikTok US to their growing media empire. The Ellisons have already pushed CBS News’ programming to the Trump-friendly right, as fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos has done with the Washington Post's editorial page while laying off hundreds of journalists. Meanwhile...

The United States and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, killing the country’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and other top officials in an airstrike on his presidential compound. But regime decapitation isn’t the same as regime change, which has been one of the Trump Administration’s stated goals for the conflict.  But even if the regime collapses, Boston College Associate Professor and cu...

The last two U.S. presidents have both faced questions of senility and cognitive decline while in office. The Wall Street Journal recently published an article on wealth distribution titled “Over 65? Congratulations, you own the economy.” Meanwhile, Millennials and members of Generation Z are finding it next to impossible to afford things older generations took for granted, like buying a home and...

Unpacking the most pressing threats to American democracy requires deeper investigation of the historical currents shaping today’s civil rights battles. What lessons from the Civil Rights Movement remain relevant in addressing modern political conflicts? And if key voting protections continue to erode, where should the voting rights movement go from here? In this episode, co-hosts Archon Fung and...

The 2026 midterms are shaping up to be unlike any in recent history. While these elections traditionally serve as a standard check on the presidency, today’s landscape of federal pressures and localized flashpoints has many questioning if the old rules still apply. Are we looking at a routine political correction, or an unprecedented “election meltdown”? In this episode, co-hosts Archon Fung and S...

Under President Trump, the White House looks different than ever before, from press relations to the construction of new ballroom. But how does the Trump White House actually operate—and has that approach begun to shift in 2026? Recent developments, including immigration enforcement in Minneapolis and clashes over the Kennedy Center, raise questions about whether the administration’s actions are d...

Few political labels are as charged as “fascism,” a term often used as an insult rather than an analytic category. But recent developments under the Trump administration have prompted a growing number of scholars and commentators to revisit the term and what it actually means, and to argue that it may be a fitting label for what’s happening in American politics today.   In this episode, Archon Fun...

The red-hat-wearing crowd at a Trump rally has become one of the most enduring images in American politics. But according to nonprofit More in Common’s new report, Beyond MAGA: A Profile of the Trump Coalition , that picture hides a much more complex reality. Trump’s support comes from a coalition of groups with overlapping concerns but distinct identities, priorities, and worldviews. And less tha...

Once one of Latin America’s strongest democracies, Venezuela has endured years of economic collapse, humanitarian crisis, and authoritarian rule under Nicolás Maduro. In January 2026, a U.S. military operation captured Maduro, a move the Trump administration has characterized as an effort to remove a dictator and stabilize the country. However, questions remain about its legality and the path forw...

The January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol marked an unprecedented breach of democratic norms and further divided an already fractured public. Five years later, the events remain contested, as the Trump administration works to rewrite its history and debates continue over how it happened, who was responsible, and what its impact has been. This week, co-hosts Archon Fung and Stephen Richer welcome Ma...

The New Right blends ideas from podcasters, academics, and think tanks that push against democratic norms and multiracial inclusion. Some openly deny election legitimacy, while others promote visions of a society rooted in Christian nationalism. And yet many Americans know very little about who these figures are or what they actually believe. This week, co-hosts Archon Fung and Stephen Richer sit...

The push to disclose the Epstein files has escalated into a highly charged political debate that has dominated recent news cycles. What began as a call for transparency around Jeffrey Epstein’s network has exposed deep rifts within both parties. On the right, populist voices are clashing with party leadership; on the left, Democrats are divided over whether the issue is a distraction or an overdue...

From the deployment of the National Guard in D.C. to a new compact for higher education and the longest-ever government shutdown, the past few months have been packed with news. Join co-hosts Archon Fung and Stephen Richer in looking back at the last five months of headlines as they celebrate the twentieth episode of Terms of Engagement. Fung and Richer will reflect on some of the major themes the...