Democracies around the world are under threat from populist movements, demagogues, and dogmatic extremists who use disinformation, conspiracy theories, cancel culture, and shaming to weaponize social media and challenge our ability to distinguish truth from falsehood. Most recently, the Russian government has used lies and fake news to justify its attempted land grab in Ukraine. In " The Constitution of Knowledge : A Defense of Truth", best-selling author, journalist, and public intellectual, Jo...
Mar 18, 2022•27 min•Ep. 344
Shock, surprises, and suffering are the most immediate results of all wars. Russia's brutal, yet deeply flawed invasion of Ukraine has profound implications for the West, global democracy, and the future of Europe and Russia. We hear the perspectives of two prominent thinkers, Jane Lytvynenko and Robert Kagen. Richard and Jim also share their analysis of the unexpected early outcomes of the war. This episode has extracts from an interview with Robert Kagan , a senior fellow at the Brookings Inst...
Mar 11, 2022•29 min•Ep. 343
The war in Ukraine and the global response to Russia's invasion are dominating the news. But missing in much of the coverage is a sense of the country and its people. In this historic moment, we hear a riveting account of the country's recent political awakening and why Ukrainians are prepared to resist and fight. In the past century, Ukraine suffered massively during two world wars, Nazi occupation , famine , and the Chernobyl disaster . Eight years ago, during the " Revolution of Dignity ", Uk...
Mar 04, 2022•43 min•Ep. 342
The invasion of Ukraine is a shocking reminder of what's at stake for democracies around the world. This moment is a stunning reminder of the vital importance of what we so often take for granted— personal freedoms and the rule of law. Despite well-advertised flaws, our constitutional system of governance is infinitely preferable to dictatorships or thuggish autocracies. In this episode, we share a conversation that touches on the relationship between voters and those who represent them, and wha...
Feb 25, 2022•27 min•Ep. 341
Partisan gerrymandering — where one party gains an unfair advantage by redrawing political maps to favor its candidates— is unpopular with voters , but widespread in many states. We examine why this process devalues democracy, and how data science is being used across the country to expose many of the most egregious examples, and help voters advocate for fair and transparent redistricting. Every decade, legislators across the country come up with maps for state and congressional districts. The l...
Feb 18, 2022•28 min•Ep. 340
Best-selling author Daniel Pink admits he's pedaling against the wind. His new book, " The Power of Regret " takes on the longstanding and deeply ingrained doctrine that paying attention to our regrets is foolish. In this episode, we ask him why this notion is wrong. "No regrets" is the name or theme of countless books and popular songs. Bob Dylan, Angelina Jolie, and Ruth Bader Ginsberg all advised us to live without regrets. "We think that it's courageous to say I have no regrets, but it's not...
Feb 11, 2022•32 min•Ep. 339
Two years of coronavirus have made the growing loneliness crisis even worse— with greater social isolation causing personal pain and mental and physical illnesses. "Even before the global pandemic introduced us to terms like social distancing, loneliness was becoming the defining condition of the twenty-first century. But it's also one we have the power to reverse," says our podcast guest, economist Noreena Hertz . Numerous surveys have found that reported cases of loneliness have jumped in rece...
Feb 04, 2022•27 min•Ep. 338
Across the board— from voter access to questions of race and gender , and views of the economy— the gap between Republicans and Democrats has grown wider in recent years. According to recent polling, a rising share of Americans say that having political conversations with those they disagree with is “ stressful and frustrating ”. Political polarization and the recent actions of party leaders have prevented compromise and resolution of critical problems. We discuss five personal ways to reduce po...
Jan 28, 2022•30 min•Ep. 337
What is the point of an education? Is it to learn skills that will help you get ahead in the workplace, or is it to acquire knowledge and to think more deeply about your place in the world? In this episode we hear from an educator who thinks that the great books— Plato, Aquinas, Shakespeare for example— aren’t just for a few well-off students at elite colleges, but for everybody. And he says encountering these thinkers when he was a poor immigrant teenager from the Dominican Republic literally c...
Jan 21, 2022•32 min•Ep. 336
Earth's global average temperature in 2021 was the sixth warmest on record, according to two new reports issued this week by U.S. Government agencies. Scientists at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies report that collectively the past eight years were the warmest since modern record keeping began in 1880. The research adds to overwhelming evidence of climate change. This episode looks at the role played by carbon-free nuclear power in providing one solution to the growing climate crisis. ...
Jan 14, 2022•26 min•Ep. 335
Our first episode of 2022 is all about a constructive response to the calamitous events of one year ago: The January 6th riot at the U.S. Capitol. On January 5th, a coalition of organizations, led by Ideos Institute , will host the first annual National Day of Dialogue . We discuss this invitation to all Americans to push back against deep divides. We also explore the need for hard talk and getting into our discomfort zones. “As a nation, we have largely lost our ability to have hard conversatio...
Jan 03, 2022•31 min•Ep. 334
The Forever Pandemic, Omicron, Build Back Better, Biden, Putin, China, What's Trump got up his sleeve? The media gave these stories ad nauseum coverage in 2021, often marching in lockstep and suffering from a painful lack of imagination about what should be the big news of the day. But what about underreported stories: The important news that most of us missed? Richard and Jim share their gripes, observations, hopes and insights about the media, science, the environment and global affairs. Our c...
Dec 23, 2021•28 min•Ep. 333
Gerrymandering, low turnout elections, negative campaign ads, and increased polarization are all part of the flawed, fractured U.S. political system. Here we examine the case for constructive changes to how candidates for public office are elected. Our guest, Rob Richie , has been the leader of the non-profit advocacy group, FairVote, since co-founding the organization in 1992. He has been involved in helping to develop and implement: Ranked Choice Voting in several states and more than 20 citie...
Dec 17, 2021•27 min•Ep. 332
The huge difference between slogans and solutions is a key theme of this episode. While demands to “de-fund the police” or replace entire police departments with something new might sound good in theory, these ambitious experiments in public safety may backfire. Our guest is Minneapolis civil rights lawyer and activist Nekima Levy Armstrong . Her recent New York Times op-ed — “Black Voters Want Better Policing, Not Posturing by Progressives”— was written after the defeat of a November ballot ini...
Dec 10, 2021•29 min•Ep. 331
A crucial step in preventing the next global pandemic will be knowing where this one came from. Did SARS-CoV-2— the virus that causes Covid-19— jump from animals to humans, or was the outbreak the result of a lab leak? The world still doesn’t know the answer. This episode is part two of our wide-ranging interview with Alina Chan , a postdoctoral scientist who co-wrote an explosive online paper in May 2020. She argued that scientists and governments should investigate whether a virus from a labor...
Dec 03, 2021•24 min•Ep. 330
Two years after the known human case of COVID-19, the mystery of the origin of SARS-CoV-2 remains unresolved. Did the virus emerge from an animal in nature, or could it have accidentally leaked from a research lab in Wuhan, China? Shockingly, the world appears to be no closer to knowing the crucial answer. In this first of two episodes, we get a brief explanation of the growing controversy from our co-host, Jim Meigs, who has written about allegations of a scientific cover-up. Molecular biologis...
Nov 24, 2021•29 min•Ep. 329
"This book is a message from autistic people to their parents, friends, teachers, coworkers and doctors showing what life is like on the spectrum," writes our guest, author Eric Garcia in We're Not Broken . "It’s also my love letter to autistic people. For too long, we have been forced to navigate a world where all the road signs are written in another language.” Garcia, who is autistic, is a senior Washington correspondent for The Independent . He has worked as a writer and reporter covering po...
Nov 19, 2021•26 min•Ep. 328
Not long ago, most of us embraced social media as a life-changing opportunity to connect with friends and family all across the world. Today, public opinion, including members of Congress from both parties, has turned far more negative. Facebook, Twitter, Google, YouTube, and other tech giants are accused of corrupting our democracy, spreading disinformation, and fanning the flames of hatred. Our guest is Robby Soave , a libertarian author and journalist who is a senior editor for Reason and the...
Nov 12, 2021•35 min•Ep. 327
As world leaders discuss the planet's future at COP26 in Glasgow, climate change remains a massive challenge and a source of fierce debate. While two-thirds of Americans think that the government should be doing more, it's tempting to throw our hands up in despair and think: "There's nothing I can do." Climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe begs to differ. She says the most important thing is to talk about it—and she wants to teach us how. In this episode, we discuss her hopeful, passionate case for...
Nov 05, 2021•30 min•Ep. 326
Many millions of Americans are heading back to work — in person — for the first time since the pandemic hit. During this time of remote meetings and working from home, many of us learned new skills, and perhaps, forgot our old ways to work and successfully collaborate with colleagues. This episode is a timely and very personal reminder of how to make meetings better and develop stronger, more productive relationships with those we work and live with. We learn about the crucial differences betwee...
Oct 29, 2021•27 min•Ep. 325
From local school board elections to state legislatures, an impassioned nationwide debate has erupted over allegations that Critical Race Theory (CRT) is being taught in public schools. Anti-CRT bills have been passed in more than two dozen Republican-led states. What do we mean by Critical Race Theory? What are these laws aiming to accomplish? How will they affect schools in the US? We share a lively discussion from "Banished", a new podcast series, hosted by Amna Khalid, a history professor at...
Oct 15, 2021•27 min•Ep. 324
Never before in living memory has America been as politically polarized as it is today. We are divided by our politics, Facebook and other social media sites, and by news media . Nearly half of us have stopped talking with someone about political topics as a result of what they said in person or online. Our culture of contempt is dividing us all and making America ungovernable. How do we use science and proven methods to reduce toxic polarization and push back against conflict entrepreneurs? Thi...
Oct 08, 2021•28 min•Ep. 323
Imagine a future where smart machines are more intelligent than humans. That future may be coming much faster than we think. The stark implications are considered in this podcast. The former Chief Business Officer at Google X, Egyptian entrepreneur Mo Gawdat has long been at the heart of the artificial intelligence revolution, deeply involved in engineering, robotics, and AI. Mo is also a podcaster with a focus on how we can promote happiness . In his latest book, " Scary Smart" , he argues that...
Oct 01, 2021•29 min•Ep. 322
This episode addresses a great problem of our age: How do we curb the enormous power of giant technology companies and limit the disruption caused by them and their products? 20 years ago, we lived in an era of digital utopianism when most people thought that the internet would give us new freedom to find information. But we didn't anticipate many of the most disturbing technological changes. Today, a handful of firms control most internet communication. Social media platforms amplify division m...
Sep 24, 2021•35 min•Ep. 321
The line between our “civilized” lives and wild, unpredictable nature seems to have gotten a little thinner lately. Nature is great, but it can also be dangerous if we don’t show proper respect. This show is about awkward encounters with bears, mountain lines, gulls and other wild creatures. We also discuss "killer trees" with best-selling science writer, Mary Roach , author of the new book, " Fuzz : When Nature Breaks the Law". Mary is widely known for her funny, smart and sometimes gross writi...
Sep 17, 2021•28 min•Ep. 320
"I now believe the 9/11 Truthers I encountered were canaries in the coal mines of American society," writes our co-host, Jim Meigs, in the current issue of City Journal . In this episode we hear about conspiracy theories, those who believe in them, and the corrosive impact of paranoia on American political life. Richard interviews Jim about his work at Popular Mechanics in the years after the 9/11 attacks. A team of reporters, editors, and fact-checkers at the magazine interviewed more than 300 ...
Sep 10, 2021•26 min•Ep. 319
Only four in 10 Americans say they have a lot of trust in the news media. That's a big problem for our democracy. While journalists are supposed to tell the truth and get the story right, just 35 percent of right-of-center voters have some trust in what they see in the news. Democrats and independents are much more likely to trust journalists, but Americans of almost all shades of opinion are skeptical toward the news media , questioning not only the quality of journalists’ work but their intent...
Sep 03, 2021•25 min•Ep. 318
For much of its history, the United States kept the rest of the world at arm's length. What happened in the decades after the 1941 military strike on Pearl Harbor, and several years after the 9/11 attacks, could be seen as an aberration. The sudden, chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Taliban takeover, and resulting humanitarian disaster may lead to another American foreign policy shift, plus a far greater reluctance to deploy U.S. forces overseas. While isolationism is derided by policy ex...
Aug 27, 2021•28 min•Ep. 317
Successful politicians on the right and left often use anger and resentment to build support for their campaigns. "A lot of our politics is dignity politics," argues Stanford political scientist, Francis Fukuyama , our guest in this episode. "It's one group saying, 'look, you are not taking us seriously. You disregard our rights and we demand a different kind of world.'" We discuss whether identity politics are damaging our democracy at a time of deep polarization when many national and global i...
Aug 13, 2021•28 min•Ep. 316
In this special episode, Richard and Jim have an extended conversation around six solutions to help us manage the pandemic more successfully, and improve responses to future public health emergencies. 1. Have a more realistic view of the virus. This includes understanding that the virus won't go away anytime soon. Clear, honest communication from the media and government health officials will help. 2. Restoring Trust. Greater transparency by public health officials and honesty about what is not ...
Aug 06, 2021•29 min
