Catch up this summer on what you’ve missed. Today, legal scholar Jedediah Purdy joins Will and Siva to talk about the people and the law. Can Americans transcend gross inequality, neoliberal ideology, and the “politics of nihilism” taking root among their leaders? Looking to Frederick Douglass for inspiration, Purdy thinks so. His says citizens need to reimagine and rebuild the body politic — to rule themselves at last. It may be a crapshoot, but it’s one a free people can’t afford to let pass.
Jun 14, 2023
This May, the 75th anniversary of Israel’s founding was met with another round of fighting. As the Islamic Jihad fired rockets from Gaza, the Israeli military responded with brutal airstrikes. Meanwhile, thousands have been taking to the streets in Israel to oppose the authoritarian moves of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Two analysts — one Palestinian, one Israeli — offer some context on these events. And they try to imagine the shape of real democracy in a land of much promise and meager h...
May 31, 2023•50 min•Season 6Ep. 9
Law enforcement is among the most undemocratic institutions in America, says New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie. And the effect this has on communities of color is especially stark. Bouie visits Will and Siva’s class for another live recording with their students, to discuss police brutality, the country’s culture of violence, and the shifting ground of racial oppression in U.S. history. How citizens experience government, he says, depends a lot on what they look like and what levers of powe...
May 17, 2023•27 min•Season 6Ep. 8
After Elon Musk bought Twitter and fired most of its staff, the platform seems to be floundering, if not imploding. Traffic is flagging, major news outlets have abandoned their handles, hate speech is on the rise. And yet, Twitter remains one of the easiest ways to speak out in public. Media scholar Meredith Clark doesn’t know if Twitter will survive, but she does know it’s a repository for a remarkable history of antiracist activism. Hear how she is working to preserve that archive, and why.
May 03, 2023•33 min•Season 6Ep. 7
Manasseh Mathiang was twice exiled from his homeland. Once: as a child fleeing a bloody civil war. A second time: as an activist who returned to help build a new country but ran afoul of the authorities. His crime? Singing for freedom and justice in South Sudan, where the government promised democratic reforms and delivered oppression instead. Still, Mathiang and fellow artists of the Anataban movement continue their struggle for peace — through music, murals, comedy and, when need be, protest.
Apr 19, 2023•32 min•Season 6Ep. 6
The civil rights movement was a huge leap forward for voting rights, yet one group of the electorate remains largely on the sidelines: the poor. Legal scholar Bertrall Ross calls low turnout among the bottom 20 percent of American earners an insidious form of voter suppression, all but guaranteeing their interests won’t be served. And he offers some ideas on how to get political campaigns to court new voters. We also speak to Nevada’s new secretary of state, who defeated an election denier.
Apr 05, 2023•38 min•Season 6Ep. 5
This time on the show, we bring you a tale of two struggles. In Ukraine, a 16-year-old living just miles from the Russian border does what she can in the face of missile strikes, power outages and daily trauma. And in Estonia, an exiled Russian activist works to oppose Putin’s war and help refugees escape the conflict. Where democracy is most in danger, they teach us, joy comes from standing up for yourself — and for others.
Mar 22, 2023•38 min•Season 6Ep. 4
The end of federal protection for abortion rights has led to a patchwork of state and local laws banning and even criminalizing healthcare choices that women continue to make every day. Amy Hagstrom Miller, founder and CEO of Whole Woman’s Health, visits Will and Siva’s class to discuss the implications of these developments for her work, as she combats a culture of shame and stigma around abortion. She says it’s time to look for change beyond the judiciary — and to get men caring about reproduc...
Mar 08, 2023•33 min•Season 6Ep. 3
As many as a quarter of U.S. residents are foreign-born or the children of immigrants. Since the country’s founding, newcomers have made and remade the United States every generation. And yet debates about immigration policy are deeply fraught, highly cyclical and often coded in racial animus, says legal scholar Amanda Frost. America’s pathways to citizenship have gotten narrower in recent years, even as they face constant fire. It’s a problem, she argues, that political leaders shouldn’t ignore...
Feb 22, 2023•31 min•Season 6Ep. 2
America’s Constitution was meant to unify the new nation and help avert a civil war over the thorniest of divisions: slavery. Oops! In retrospect, that charter proved much too ambiguous, lending itself to both proslavery and abolitionist causes. In this season’s premiere, historian Liz Varon discusses the deep roots of polarization in the United States — with Will, Siva and an auditorium full of their students. The Union may have survived, Varon tells us, but its bloodiest war still echoes.
Feb 08, 2023•30 min•Season 6Ep. 1
The high court’s conservatives insist that strict readings of the U.S. Constitution have compelled them to strike down popular policies like abortion rights and campaign finance limits. Well, legal expert Christopher Sprigman has some news for these robed rogues. Buried in the law of the land is the key to reining in the federal judiciary. All Congress has to do is act, he says. And all the people have to do is demystify the courts. Join us for our last rebroadcast of the 2023 winter break.
Jan 25, 2023•31 min
We’ve never been a podcast about “Democrats” in danger. But in the United States, one political party epitomizes the antidemocratic moment. Donald Trump’s influence may be waning, but many Republicans remain devoted to his style, intent on suppressing the vote and hostile to racial justice. After last week’s debacle in the House, we bring you an episode (one more time!) that takes a hard look at the GOP — with help from a former Republican congresswoman who has dared to call out the former presi...
Jan 11, 2023•31 min
A consummate G-man, J. Edgar Hoover led the FBI for four decades, becoming one of the most influential figures of the 20th century. Demanding rigor, loyalty and stealth from his subordinates, he worked closely with presidents of both parties, but his own views were steeped in conservative ideas on religion, race and anticommunism. As new details emerge about the present-day investigation of Donald Trump, we revisit a conversation with historian Beverly Gage — about Hoover’s imprint on the agency...
Dec 28, 2022•36 min
Let’s face it. There are times you can’t stand your neighbor’s guts. The problem is, contempt and disgust for people who think differently from you is the death knell of democracy, says writer Anand Giridharadas. Over the last few years, he set out in search of the lost art of persuasion, and found it: among activists, cult-deprogrammers, political organizers and deep canvassers. Giridharadas shares what he learned and offers some advice on how to talk to your friends — and enemies — this holida...
Dec 14, 2022•31 min•Season 5Ep. 9
Two years ago, on the heels of mass protests, Chileans overwhelmingly agreed: they needed to draft a new constitution. This September, faced with an up-or-down referendum on one of the most progressive governing charters in world history, they balked. What went wrong? Political theorist Camila Vergara breaks down the breakdown in her country’s efforts to scrap a political framework dating back to the ruthless dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, who took power in 1973 in a U.S.-backed coup.
Nov 30, 2022•32 min•Season 5Ep. 8
Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr. and D’Sean Perry were returning from a field trip with their classmates when their lives were cut short. The gunman who killed them has been identified as another student on the trip. Our hosts and producers sit down together to mourn and make sense of yet another tragedy too close to home. And they ask: Where do we go from here — as a school, as a town, as a society?
Nov 23, 2022•31 min
The United States hasn’t overhauled immigration policy since the 1990s, even though most Americans agree the system is failing. And for thousands fleeing violence in Latin America, the consequences of inaction in Washington are treacherous. Will and our colleague Debbie Kang speak this time with a scholar fighting for asylum cases to get a fair shake, especially for women and LGBTQ applicants facing gender violence. With a backlog of nearly 2 million petitions, it’s a mammoth task.
Nov 16, 2022•31 min•Season 5Ep. 7
A consummate G-man, J. Edgar Hoover led the FBI for close to 40 years, becoming one of the most influential figures of the 20th century. Demanding rigor, loyalty and stealth from his subordinates, he worked closely with presidents of both parties, but his own views were steeped in conservative ideas on religion, race and anticommunism. Historian Beverly Gage considers Hoover’s legacy and helps us ask: Can the bureau he built effectively investigate a former president — and protect the republic?
Nov 02, 2022•34 min•Season 5Ep. 6
Pollsters in Brazil had Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the comeback candidate, leading by as many as 14 percentage points in the presidential election. But neither top nominee won a majority this month, sending citizens back to the polls for a historic runoff. And democracy itself is on the line. Incumbent president Jair Bolsonaro has waged war on reality, sowed division on social media and attacked the press. We check in with one of his targets, journalist Patrícia Campos Mello, ahead of the Oct. 3...
Oct 19, 2022•33 min•Season 5Ep. 5
The U.S. Constitution is an 18th-century straitjacket. It’s almost impossible to amend, it gives outsize power to small states, and its meaning is subject to the whims of unelected and increasingly intransigent judges. So what’s new? Well, you might be intrigued to learn on this episode just how America might wrench itself out of that morass, short of trashing the Constitution altogether. With the 2022 midterms on the horizon, our two guests offer up a few ideas — some new, some as old as Athens...
Oct 05, 2022•35 min•Season 5Ep. 4
The high court’s conservatives insist that strict readings of the U.S. Constitution have compelled them to strike down popular policies like abortion rights and campaign finance limits. Well, legal expert Christopher Sprigman has some news for these robed rogues. Buried in the law of the land is the key to reining in the federal judiciary. All Congress has to do is act, he says. And all the people have to do is demystify the courts — stripping them of an imperious aura they’ve too long enjoyed.
Sep 21, 2022•31 min•Season 5Ep. 3
In January 2017, millions of women marched in solidarity to oppose Donald Trump’s inauguration. But in a small Texas county, a growing network of like-minded ladies found each other — and began meeting in secret. Communications scholar Emily Van Duyn followed these women as they became improbable, undercover champions of civic engagement while keeping their activism hidden, from their husbands, families and neighbors. We ask what their story says about the politics of silence and the silencing o...
Sep 07, 2022•25 min•Season 5Ep. 2
We’re back! Legal scholar Jedediah Purdy joins Will and Siva to help launch a new season focused on democracy, law and the people. Can Americans transcend gross inequality, neoliberal ideology, and the “politics of nihilism” taking root among their leaders? Looking to Frederick Douglass for inspiration, Purdy thinks so. His new book urges readers to reimagine and rebuild their body politic — to rule themselves at last. It may be a crapshoot, but it’s one a free people can’t afford to pass up.
Aug 24, 2022•Season 5Ep. 1
Public schools are ground zero in the battle over American civic life. Teaching history is under attack, book banning is on the rise, and leaders in red states are legislating homophobia in the guise of protecting children. Historian Natalia Petrzela locates the roots of such political backlash in cultural upheavals of the 1960s that continue to play out today, amid a climate of discontent mixed up with pandemic anxieties. With kids heading back to school this month, we revisit our recent educat...
Aug 10, 2022•27 min
President Biden’s recent covid diagnosis is a reminder that the country is not out of the pandemic woods yet. As new variants crop up and infection numbers spike, the demand for remote working and learning will remain. But as many as 120 million Americans lack consistent, high-speed internet. This time we revisit our show with media scholar Christopher Ali. He says the broadband divide isn’t just an economic problem but a threat to democracy itself. Hear why he thinks internet access is a vital ...
Jul 27, 2022•31 min
Just as FDR and his allies were crafting the New Deal, a retired Marine named Smedley Butler came forward with a shocking revelation. Powerful business interests, Butler alleged, were plotting to overthrow the U.S. government. Inspired by the rise of fascism in Europe, the conspirators had sought Butler’s aid. Little did they know, decades of fighting for American imperialism had left him disillusioned, so he blew the top on “the Business Plot.” As the Jan. 6 hearings heat up, we revisit this bi...
Jul 13, 2022•23 min
There are more firearms — nearly 400 million — in the United States than people. Hundreds of them were on full display at a pro-gun rally in Virginia, in 2020, where a group of strange bedfellows met in praise of the Second Amendment. On this replay, we revisit that story, and our interview with historian Carol Anderson. If you thought the right to “bear arms” was about individuals carrying weapons, or even about letting militias defend a free state against foreign invasion, think again.
Jun 29, 2022•43 min
Coming to you live this week from the American Political History conference at Purdue University, it’s our season finale. Will and Siva speak with three historians — Liette Gidlow, Derek Musgrove and Thomas Zimmer — about the past, present and future of government by the people. Our guests ponder the Jan. 6 hearings, D.C. statehood, social mobilization and the structural problems of the Constitution itself. Did America’s founders sign democracy’s death warrant at its birth?
Jun 15, 2022•42 min•Season 4Ep. 16
In recent years, American politicians seem to be getting tougher about internet oversight. But it remains unclear whether Washington has the will to regulate big tech companies and the platforms they control. This week we hear from Sen. Mark Warner, a Democrat, and former Rep. Barbara Comstock, a Republican, live from the University of Virginia’s celebrated dome room. They see hope for bipartisan action on Capitol Hill — to protect users and free speech alike. Siva reflects with guest-host Danie...
Jun 08, 2022•36 min•Season 4Ep. 15
Russian forces have pulled back from around the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. They’ve left the country’s second largest city, Kharkiv. But farther east and south, the fighting has intensified, and the civilian death toll is mounting. How will this war end? What will remain of Ukraine? And are European powers doing enough to punish Russia for its devastating invasion? Journalist Peter Pomerantsev — recently back from covering the conflict for the Atlantic — helps Will and Siva parse a complex picture.
Jun 01, 2022•31 min•Season 4Ep. 14
