The Democracy Group

Author Sasha Issenberg joins political and media experts, Jane Coaston, Reince Priebus, Simon Rosenberg, and Chuck Todd, for a conversation on what to expect during Donald Trump's second term as president. They discuss Trump's first actions as president, his influence on politics, how the Democratic Party has changed over time, and how politics is always shifting. This discussion is part of the Wa...

This episode features a conversation with Dana Castner, founder of Choice Tracker , a new and important tool in the fight for reproductive freedom. When the Supreme Court ruled in June 2022  that abortion laws must be decided by the states, that put a lot of power in the hands of our state legislators, many of whom we had never heard of, let alone knew their stances on abortion. That’s what Dana d...

We claim to be a nation founded on an idea. But, especially in these times of civic rupture, are we even all talking about the same idea? Contributing Washington Post opinion writer Dr. Ted Johnson joins us again to discuss his beautiful, powerful new book “If We are Brave: Essays of Black Americana.” The program is faciliated by Dr. Nashid Madyun, Executive Director of Florida Humanities. Find th...

We discuss what we can all do to say "no" to Project 2025, including getting Democrats to play hardball in local, city, and state offices, and to protect and win elections this year and in the midterms next year. Ezra’s civic action toolkit recommendations are:  Organize in your community with like-minded Americans  Use your constituent power to influence the political calculus of your elected rep...

In this week’s episode, host Ryan Coonerty speaks with New Jersey Senator Troy Singleton, who is working alongside Governor Phil Murphy and his legislative colleagues to address the housing crisis. New Jersey is one of the most densely populated states in our union, which poses unique challenges and unique opportunities to increase housing. Ryan and Senator Singleton explore misconceptions about w...

How Do We Fix It? raises questions about solutions to divisive topics of politics and public policy: Decidedly secular matters. In this episode we look at how religious groups and institutions can help bring people together across divides.  Braver Faith  is our focus. The Right Rev.  Mark Beckwith  is our guest. Braver Faith is one the newest and most vibrant groups within  Braver Angels — America...

In this episode, host Corey Nathan addresses the pressing issue of how pro-democracy patriots - the large coalition of folks who believe in this American experiment - can endure during times when anti-democratic tendencies are metastasizing. Drawing from personal experiences, philosophical insights, and cultural reflections, we explore ways of maintaining hope, practicing discernment, and fosterin...

Instances of political violence around the 2024 election and vote certification on January 6, 2025 did not come to fruition the way some experts feared they would throughout last year. But that doesn't mean that we can forget about threats of political violence until it's time for the next election. In fact, political violence continues to rise in the United States and throughout western Europe. O...

Bob Shrum and Mike Murphy welcome the Spring 2025 CPF Fellows to USC for a virtual discussion of Donald Trump’s inauguration and what a second Trump term may look like. The conversation features:   Bob Shrum (moderator) - Director, USC Dornsife Center for the Political Future Ed Goeas – Republican Pollster and Strategist Betsy Fischer Martin – Executive Director, Women & Politics Institute at Amer...

This week we bring you a special episode from Jenny Marquez, one of our 2024 Podcast Fellows. In the season premiere of Democracy Determined, host Jenny Marquez delves into the crucial topic of youth involvement in democracy. Special guest Aliza Lifshitz, a coalition organizer and strategist for youth movements like Youth and Gov and Voters of Tomorrow, discusses her inspiring journey into politic...

This week we bring you a special episode from Dashiell Quinn, one of our 2024 Podcast Fellows. In this inaugural episode of 'Democracy on Fire,' host Dashiell Quinn discusses the vulnerabilities and challenges facing democracy with special guest Mr. Hauser, an experienced lawyer and former federal prosecutor. The conversation dives into key issues such as political polarization, media manipulation...

This week we bring you a special episode from Sabrina Tomei Gonzalez, one of our 2024 Podcast Fellows. In this episode of Town Hall Conversations, Sabrina from Fairfield, Connecticut, interviews Jen Leeper, a state representative from the 132nd district of Connecticut. Jen shares insights into her background, journey to office, and passion for public policy. She discusses the importance of state g...

This week we bring you a special episode from Claire Baek, one of our 2024 Podcast Fellows. In this episode of Dear Government, host Claire Baek and guests from Shansley High School's newspaper, The Purple Tide, analyze and discuss the unexpected results of the 2024 presidential election. The conversation dives into the electoral and popular vote outcomes that led to President Donald Trump's victo...

We continue our Best of 2024 episodes with an  episode from the Democracy Decoded podcast, with host Simone Leeper. In the end, the worst of everyone’s election fears — political violence, overt foreign interference or a razor-thin margin between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump leading to a hotly contested legal battle — did not come to pass. Instead, Donald Trump won a plurality of votes for presi...

We continue our Best of 2024 episodes with an  episode from An Honorable Profession podcast, with hosts Debbie Cox Bultan and Ryan Coonerty. In this week’s episode, host Ryan Coonerty speaks with Pittsburgh, PA, City Controller Rachael Heisler. Heisler explains the role of the controller, which consists of three core functions: accounting, accounts payable, and auditing. She also discussed her rol...

We continue our Best of 2024 episodes with an  episode from the Future Hindsight podcast, hosted by Mila Atmos. We discuss deepening our understanding of the climate crisis, the urgent need for decarbonization, and our role in speaking truth about phasing out fossil fuels. Genevieve Guenther is the founding director of End Climate Silence and affiliate faculty at The New School. Her most recent bo...

We continue our Best of 2024 episodes with an  episode from The Great Battlefield podcast, with hosts Nathaniel Pearlman. Regina Wallace-Jones joins The Great Battlefield podcast to talk about her career in tech, politics and business and her current role as CEO of ActBlue, a nonprofit fundraising platform for progressives, and where she wants to take it. Additional Information The Great Battlefie...

We continue our Best of 2024 episodes with an  episode from the Democracy Works podcast, hosted by Jenna Spinelle, Christopher Beem, Michael Berkman.  Cynthia Miller-Idriss, one of America's leading experts on the far right, joins us this week to discuss what draws people to political extremism online and offline — and what we can do to combat it. Miller-Idriss is the director of the Polarization...

We continue our Best of 2024 episodes with an  episode from the Village SquareCast podcast, hosted by the Village Square. We wanted you wonderful SquareCast listeners to know that we didn't plan for this episode to drop on Leap Day and we didn't plan on it being (we kid you not) Episode 100. But both things just happened . At the very least, we think that's a sign that you really ought to listen....

We continue our Best of 2024 episodes with an  episode from the Bad Watchdog podcast, hosted by Maren Machles.  For the past few episodes, Maren has explored the reality of immigration detention, uplifting the conditions in Department of Homeland Security (DHS) centers where thousands are held under the presumption that they may be threats to national security. In the season finale of Bad Watchdog...

Democracy Works host Michael Berkman, director of the McCourtney Institute for Democracy and professor of political science at Penn State talks with Christopher Claassen , a political scientist at the University of Glasgow, about how to measure support for democracy across countries and across generations.  Claassen grew up in South Africa and was 16 when the country held its first democratic elec...

Do you believe what you see in newspapers, websites and on TV? Most Americans don't trust the people who are supposed to truthfully report the news.  A new Gallup poll  says Americans have record-low trust in mass media. Only one-in-three adults has a "great deal" or a "fair amount" of confidence in the media to report the news "fully, accurately and fairly." More than 150,000 readers each day tur...

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question , Lee and James explore the role of the Senate and the dysfunction we see today with Sean Theriault. Theriault is a Professor at the Department of Government at the University of Texas, Austin and the author of Disruption?: The Senate During the Trump Era (Oxford University Press, 2024). Do we need the Senate? What has caused gridlock in the Senate? W...

Mike talks with Stephen J. Ducat, an author, political psychologist, psychoanalyst, and former psychology professor in the School of Humanities at New College of California. They discuss Professor Ducat’s most recent book, Hatreds We Love: The Psychology of Political Tribalism in Post-Truth America . Topics Mike and Stephen discuss include: - why tribal loyalty often overrides material self-intere...

We discuss why American democracy should not treat the Latinx community as a monolith, what actually matters to this community, and how the strength of their engagement in U.S. democracy will play out in this year’s presidential election. Maria Teresa’s civic action toolkit recommendations are:  VOTE! Share your excitement to vote with everyone you know, especially young people. Maria Teresa Kumar...