The January assault on the U.S. Capitol and the depth of toxic partisanship lead us to question our past assumptions about the American electorate and its relationship with the government.
This episode features two experts who have spent many years trying to understand us. Frank Luntz is one of the best-known pollsters and political communications experts in America today. We hear edited extracts from a recent interview he recorded with Harvard Law School Professor and attorney, Lawrence Lessig, on the podcast, "Another Way by Lawrence Lessig".
Ethan Porter is an assistant professor of media and public affairs at George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs, and the author of the new book "The Consumer Citizen" He investigates how voters' everyday experiences as shoppers and consumers influence their political behavior. We hear extracts from his interview on the podcast, "Politics in Question".
Read moreEven before the alarming and violent January 6 assault on the Capitol, American politics was in danger of spinning out of control— bumping up against the guardrails of our democratic institutions.
On social media and in the civic square, many have separated into two camps that seem to hate the other side. We have become estranged from family and friends over politics.
More than ever, we need nuance.
In this episode, our guest is a liberal writer and feminist, Meghan Daum, who is increasingly critical of her own side: the left. Meghan wrote the book, “The Problem With Everything. My Journey Through The New Culture Wars.” She’s also the host of “The Unspeakable”, a podcast that celebrates disagreement and encourages guests to speak uncomfortable truths.
Read moreMore than 10% of the U.S. population has received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, but injection rates are lower in black and brown communities, and many people express doubts about the shots made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. Vaccine hesitancy presents a barrier in the fight against coronavirus.
A recent poll by Pew Research Center found that "Black Americans continue to stand out as less inclined to get vaccinated than other racial and ethnic groups: 42% would do so, compared with 63% of Hispanic and 61% of White adults."
Our guest, Dr. Wrenetha Julion, professor and department chair at Rush University College of Nursing, discusses causes of vaccine hesitancy and how to encourage more people to take a high-effective vaccine against the virus.
Read moreWe are in a stunning moment for our country. A hoard of rioters invaded our nation’s seat of government to try to overturn an election. Many of them appear to have been motivated by false and inflammatory statements by President Trump, and under the sway of wild online conspiracy theories. In response, our leading tech platforms have tried to silence Trump and shut down many of the channels where his most extreme supporters communicate.
Is this the correct approach? Should Congress and the Biden Administration impose new regulations on big tech companies? How should free speech be protected?
We discuss these questions and more with Nadine Strossen, who has written, taught, and advocated extensively in areas of constitutional law and civil liberties. From 1991 to 2008, she was President of the ACLU— the nation's largest and oldest civil liberties organization.
Read moreJust before the 2020 election, pundits predicted that Latino Americans would overwhelmingly vote for Joe Biden. And it’s true—Latino voters do tilt Democratic. But Donald Trump won a greater share of Latino votes in some states and large cities than he did in 2016. Because of decades of investment and political courtship, as well as a nuanced and varied cultural identity, the Republican party has had a much longer and stronger bond with Hispanics than many political commentators realize.
In this episode, we speak with historian and Latino and Latina studies professor Geraldo Cadava about the findings of his recent book, "The Hispanic Republican".
Read moreDays after the historic 2020 election, final results were still coming in. But some lessons of the vote are becoming clear. On this episode, our hosts, Richard and Jim, discuss the five lessons they learned.
1. The system is working - so far. Despite the slow pace of counting, election day was met with massive enthusiasm by voters from all sides.
2. Reform opinion polls - They were wrong again. Polls in Florida, Texas and Wisconsin are among the worst examples. Many polls under-counted Trump voters.
3. Stop Generalizing! The Latino vote is much more complex than many assume. Faulty generalizations are also made about the influence of money in campaigns.
4. The Woke Counter Rebellion Has Begun. Despite Trump’s unpopularity with moderates, he did better than expected. Many voters may be put off by violence in Portland, progressive calls to defund the police, and higher taxes.
5. Character Counts. Joe Biden made this an election about character and decency. He understood the electorate better than most politicians.
Jim and Richard have some lively disagreements, but they find common ground on some big election controversies.
Read moreOne of the biggest surprises of the 2020 election may turn out to be turnout. Traditionally, a smaller percentage of American voters participate in elections than in many other democracies around the world. But this year, early voting hit a record high, with tens of millions of mail-in ballots, and very long lines at many polling places.
In this episode, we look at a highly innovative, successful initiative to use the internet to boost the number of voters in elections. "Our mission" says the non-profit group Democracy Works "is to make voting a simple, seamless experience for all Americans, so that no one misses an election."
Democracy Works CEO and co-founder. Seth Flaxman is our guest. "At the end of the day, we think every American is going to want a sort of service, like a concierge, helping them to vote in the election," he says. "Even people who say they never miss elections sign up to get the reminders."
Read moreIf the Covid pandemic has taught us anything, it is that the government's response to a global health emergency can mean the difference between living and dying.
America's woeful performance in recent months has exposed how far we have fallen behind public health systems in much of Asia. While China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore combined have recorded fewer than 1,000 cases per day since September, the U.S. is reporting over 60,000 daily cases.
Our guest is Adrian Wooldridge of The Economist, and co-author of "The Wake Up Call: Why the Pandemic Has Exposed the Weakness of the West and How to Fix It."
Read moreHow do you get supporters of Donald Trump and Joe Biden in the same room at the same time working together on something political? It sounds almost impossible, but even at a time of hyper-partisan division, progress and trust can be achieved on a local level.
In this episode, we look at the groundbreaking work of CivicLex, a non-profit civic education and solutions journalism group based in Lexington, a Kentucky city of nearly 400,000 people. Civic Lex has three main goals: Improve access to information, Change the processes that govern how the city interacts with residents, and Democratize political power.
Our CivicLex guests are: Executive Director, Richard Young, who has worked on civic engagement and community development projects for almost a decade, and Director of Programs, Megan Gulla, who has worked and volunteered in a variety of fields, including creative, local journalism.
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