The Context
Alex Lovit, Charles F. Kettering Foundation
"The Context" is a podcast about democracy—its past, present and future—brought to you by the Charles F. Kettering Foundation.
History ripples and changes. From decisions at the dinner table to declarations from the Rose Garden; moments build upon one another informing our past, illuminating our present, inventing our future. History makes meaning, especially when it comes to the state of our democracy, and context is everything.
The Context is a new podcast about the history, trends, and ideas shaping democracy in the United States and around the world. In each episode, host Alex Lovit will interview someone who has seen it all—scholars, politicians, journalists and public servants—to get their take on how we got to where we are and what they’ve seen through their experience not only watching the news unfold but sometimes even being the news itself. Reckoning with racism, a crisis of democracy, the right role of government in our daily lives—every question has its reason; every answer has its context.
Tune in every other week wherever you listen to podcasts. Subscribe to The Context to get the latest episodes.
The Charles F. Kettering Foundation works to inspire and connect individuals and organizations to advance thriving and inclusive democracies around the globe. We believe all people belong and have the right to engage in and shape a democracy that serves them.
History ripples and changes. From decisions at the dinner table to declarations from the Rose Garden; moments build upon one another informing our past, illuminating our present, inventing our future. History makes meaning, especially when it comes to the state of our democracy, and context is everything.
The Context is a new podcast about the history, trends, and ideas shaping democracy in the United States and around the world. In each episode, host Alex Lovit will interview someone who has seen it all—scholars, politicians, journalists and public servants—to get their take on how we got to where we are and what they’ve seen through their experience not only watching the news unfold but sometimes even being the news itself. Reckoning with racism, a crisis of democracy, the right role of government in our daily lives—every question has its reason; every answer has its context.
Tune in every other week wherever you listen to podcasts. Subscribe to The Context to get the latest episodes.
The Charles F. Kettering Foundation works to inspire and connect individuals and organizations to advance thriving and inclusive democracies around the globe. We believe all people belong and have the right to engage in and shape a democracy that serves them.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jul 29, 2025 • 34min
From Barber to Banker: The Man Fighting for Financial Justice in Little Rock
We can’t have a full democracy without financial justice. Host Alex Lovit speaks with Arlo Washington, a banker creating access to loans, credit, and financial literacy training for his underbanked community in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Arlo Washington is a barber, entrepreneur, and the founder and president of People Trust Community Federal Credit Union, a Community Development Financial Institution in Little Rock, Arkansas. People Trust is the first Black-owned financial institution established in Arkansas.
Washington is also the subject of the 2024 Oscar-nominated short documentary, The Barber of Little Rock.
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-documentary/barber-of-little-rock-arlo-washington-wealth-gap
https://www.peopletrustloans.org/
Jul 15, 2025 • 31min
Only Bad People Have Bad Politics. Right?
Americans are constantly arguing about politics—on the internet and at the family dinner table. But we rarely change one another’s minds, and we often emerge from those disagreements feeling frustrated and distrustful. Host Alex Lovit is joined by research psychologist Keith Payne to discuss the science behind the political divide and how the psychology of political disagreements can help us have more productive political conversations.
Keith Payne is a professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of North Carolina. He is the author of The Broken Ladder: How Inequality Affects the Way We Think, Live, and Die and Good Reasonable People: The Psychology Behind America's Dangerous Divide.
Jul 1, 2025 • 39min
The US Doesn’t Have Fair Elections. What Can We Do?
Voting rights are the foundation of democratic governance. But recent changes in elections policies have disenfranchised millions of Americans, and the voting gap between White and minority voters is continuing to expand.
Host Alex Lovit is joined by Sean Morales-Doyle. Morales-Doyle is the director of the Voting Rights and Elections Program at the Brennan Center for Justice.
https://www.brennancenter.org/issues/ensure-every-american-can-vote
Jun 17, 2025 • 31min
Learning US History Is about Hope, Not Shame
Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Annette Gordon-Reed joins host Alex Lovit to discuss Juneteenth’s history and the transformative potential of reckoning with our country’s complex past.
Annette Gordon-Reed is the Carl M. Loeb University Professor at Harvard, where she teaches both history and law. She’s the author of The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family and On Juneteenth.
Jun 3, 2025 • 37min
Trans Kids Are Under Attack. That Hurts Everyone.
Who should make decisions about what kinds of health care American minors can receive: their parents and doctors, or their state governments? A growing number of states are claiming the right to ban gender-affirming health care for minors—but only if the person being treated is transgender. This month, the Supreme Court will decide if those power grabs are constitutional.
Host Alex Lovit is joined by Chase Strangio, one of the lawyers who argued the case in question, United States v. Skrmetti, before the Supreme Court. Their conversation explores the legal reasoning of that case and how American citizens can influence the court and build a society that embraces LGBTQ+ people.
Chase Strangio is the codirector of the LGBT & HIV Project at the American Civil Liberties Union. He was one of the advocates who argued the Skrmetti case before the Supreme Court and is the first openly trans lawyer to appear before that court.
May 27, 2025 • 36min
Sarah Longwell: To Defend Democracy, Stop Talking about “Democracy”
Pro-democracy progressives are their own worst enemy when it comes to recruiting conservative Americans to their cause.
In part two of our conversation, political strategist Sarah Longwell offers suggestions for how to connect with anti-Trump conservatives. Her ideas draw on what she hears from voters in her frequent focus groups, as well as on her experience as a gay conservative fighting for inclusion in American society and politics in the 2010s.
Longwell is the publisher of The Bulwark and the cofounder and executive director of the advocacy organization Defending Democracy Together. She hosts The Focus Group podcast and is a senior fellow at the Charles F. Kettering Foundation.
https://www.thebulwark.com/
https://www.defendingdemocracytogether.org/
May 20, 2025 • 35min
Sarah Longwell: The Republican Party Has Abandoned Its Principles
How did one of our major political parties abandon its principles? And what do voters make of that shift?
Host Alex Lovit is joined by Sarah Longwell—a political strategist who broke from the Republican party when it acquiesced to Trump’s authoritarian tendencies. She went on to cofound a media outlet (The Bulwark) and an advocacy organization (Defending Democracy Together) to advance pro-conservative causes. She’s also the host of The Focus Group podcast and a senior fellow at the Charles F. Kettering Foundation.
This episode is part one of a two-part conversation. Come back next week for part two.
https://www.thebulwark.com/
https://www.defendingdemocracytogether.org/
May 6, 2025 • 36min
Diane Ravitch: What’s Democratic about Giving Tax Dollars to Private Schools?
Public schools are essential for democracy—and they’re under attack. But the very policies that are being championed as their salvation may have a catastrophic impact on American education for generations. Public education advocate and historian Diane Ravitch unpacks how school choice policies like vouchers and charter schools are dangerous for democracy.
Diane Ravitch is a former assistant secretary in the United States Department of Education. She is the author of several books on the history and policy of American public schools. Her memoir, about her life as a leading public education reformer, will be published this fall. It’s called An Education: How I Changed My Mind About Almost Everything.
https://dianeravitch.net/
Apr 22, 2025 • 31min
Sharon L. Davies: Someone Has to Be Willing to Say “That’s Not Right”
US institutions are being pressured into compliance with the Trump administration’s capricious demands. Many law firms, philanthropic organizations, and higher education institutions are choosing the path of least resistance. But will it keep them safe?
Sharon L. Davies is the president and chief executive officer of the Charles F. Kettering Foundation. Davies’ career experiences span both academic and nonacademic fields. From 2017–2021, she was provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Spelman College. She joined Spelman from The Ohio State University, where she was vice provost for diversity and inclusion and chief diversity officer. Davies was also a member of OSU’s Moritz College of Law faculty for 22 years, serving as the Gregory H. Williams Chair in Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. In addition, she directed the university’s Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race & Ethnicity. Davies has an undergraduate degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a law degree from Columbia University School of Law.
https://kettering.org/
Apr 8, 2025 • 37min
Ece Temelkuran: There Is No Hope. There Is Us. That’s It.
Life under an authoritarian regime can erode one’s faith in humanity. Today's guest says that’s why it’s more important than ever for Americans to lean into building human connection.
Ece Temelkuran is a Turkish political thinker, writer, and award-winning journalist. Her two most recent books are How to Lose a Country: Seven Steps from Democracy to Fascism and Together: Ten Choices for a Better Now.
https://ecetemelkuran.net/
