This is Democracy

This week, Jeremi and Zachary sit down with Dr. Mikkel Runge Olesen, a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies, to discuss Greenland and its growing significance in global politics. Dr. Olesen offers a comprehensive overview of Greenland's history, its political relationship with Denmark, and its strategic importance to the United States. The conversation also explores the broader geopolitical interests in the Arctic as well as the environmental impact of climate change in this crucial region. Zachary sets the scene with an excerpt from the poem "Rise" written by climate activists, Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner and Aka Niviana. Dr. Mikkel Runge Olesen is a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS). His research interests include NATO and transatlantic relations, the Arctic, the Nordic countries, Danish foreign policy, and recent Danish diplomatic history. His theoretical interests include realism (international relations), foreign policy analysis, and political psychology.

Jeremi and Zachary have a conversation with Gryffin Wilkens-Plumley about his work designing assemblies of independent citizen governance. They have an in-depth discussion of deliberative democracy, a practice that is about citizen's individual participation, reasoning, and sense of duty to vote and make decisions in society, and how it could apply to our democracy today. Jeremi sets the stage with some words by William James from 1897. Gryffin Wilkens-Plumley is a senior at Yale University and a deliberative-democracy designer. He currently works as Project Manager and Design Lead for the Connecticut Citizens’ Assembly initiative at the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities -- an initiative to hold the first ever official State-level citizens’ assembly in America. Gryffin's work focuses on citizen governance, designing assemblies for independent citizen governance, and working with funders and elected officials to turn designs into reality.

This week, we have Prof. John Beckett Wallingford to discuss the current landscape of federal science funding, and the importance of science in American industry and society. We set the scene with a reading of The Polio Vaccine, Chatham, Virginia, 1964, by Claudia Emerson. John Beckett Wallingford is a developmental biologist with three decades of experience.  He is the Mr. and Mrs. Robert P. Doherty Jr. Regents Chair in Molecular Biology and a Professor in the Dept. of Molecular Biosciences at the University of Texas at Austin.  Since 2003, his laboratory has sought to understand how form and function arise in embryos using advanced microscopy, systems biology, and biomechanics. Wallingford's research explores animal models and collaborates with human geneticists to understand human birth defects. He is writing a forthcoming book about embryos:  In the Beginning.

This week, Jeremi and Zachary sit down with Dr. Jack Loveridge, Vice President of the El Paso Independent School District (ISD) Board of Trustees, to discuss the start of the new school year, with a particular focus on American schools' challenges and opportunities at this moment. Dr. Loveridge shares insights into the primary issues facing his district, including budget constraints and declining enrollment, the impact of Texas' new school voucher program, and the importance of holistic approaches to address poverty and educational disparity. Zachary sets the scene with Muriel Rukeyser's "Elegy in Joy". Dr. Jack Loveridge is the vice president of the El Paso ISD Board of Trustees, a public school district serving over 48,000 students on the U.S.-Mexico border. He is also the CEO and co-founder of Panoculum, Inc., a digital history startup based in his hometown. Jack holds a Ph.D. in History from the University of Texas at Austin, an M.Phil. in International Development from Oxford, and a B.A. with honors from Stanford University.

This week, Jeremi and Zachary speak with returning guest Michael Kimmage, about the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine and the evolution of the conflict over the past three and a half years. Zachary sets the tone by re-reading the poem from the first episode about the conflict in Ukraine, entitled "Our Ukrainian Love Story" to reflect on the initial days of the invasion and how perceptions and realities have shifted. Michael Kimmage is a professor of history at the Catholic University of America, and the once-former-and-future director of the Kennan Institute. From 2014 to 2017, he served on the Secretary's Policy Planning Staff at the U.S. Department of State, where he held the Russia/Ukraine portfolio. His latest book is Collisions: The War in Ukraine and the Origins of the New Global Instability.

This week, Jeremi and Zachary speak with Colonel Nathaniel Lauterbach about the significant changes in the US military over the past 20 years, and their implications for US foreign policy and civil-military relations. Jeremi sets the scene with some words from a lecture from George Kennan, an influential American diplomat and historian. Colonel Nathaniel Lauterbach is an active-duty United States Marine Corps officer. He recently commanded a squadron in California. He previously served as an operational planner and strategist with the 2d Marine Aircraft Wing, responsible for war plans and long-range planning for all combat marine aviation on the US East Coast. Colonel Lauterbach served as a lead planner for NATO and efforts to integrate military robotics and artificial intelligence into the Marine Corps. He received his B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he was a student of Professor Suri.

This week, Zachary hosts a conversation with Jeremi and Dr. Peniel Joseph about his new book, Freedom Season, which describes the pivotal significance of 1963 in the Civil Rights Movement, highlighting key events such as the Birmingham protests, the March on Washington, the Birmingham church bombing, and the assassination of JFK. This week, instead of the usual poem, we set the scene with an audio excerpt of Martin Luther King Jr. reading from his "Letter from Birmingham Jail." Peniel Joseph holds a joint professorship appointment at the LBJ School of Public Affairs and the History Department in the College of Liberal Arts at The University of Texas at Austin. He is also the founding director of the LBJ School’s Center for the Study of Race and Democracy. His career focus has been on “Black Power Studies,” which encompasses interdisciplinary fields such as Africana studies, law and society, women’s and ethnic studies, and political science. Prior to joining the UT faculty, Joseph was a professor at Tufts University, where he founded the school’s Center for the Study of Race and Democracy to promote engaged research and scholarship focused on the ways issues of race and democracy affect people’s lives. In addition to being a frequent commentator on issues of race, democracy and civil rights, Joseph wrote the award-winning books “Waiting ‘Til the Midnight Hour: A Narrative History of Black Power in America, “Dark Days, Bright Nights: From Black Power to Barack Obama," and “Stokely: A Life" as well as “The Black Power Movement: Rethinking the Civil Rights-Black Power Era” and “Neighborhood Rebels: Black Power at the Local Level.”" His most recent book is "Freedom Season: How 1963 Transformed America's Civil Rights Revolution."

This week, Jeremi and Zachary speak with Steven Simon about the renewed tensions over Iran's nuclear program, recent military actions by Israel and the U.S., and their implications for global politics. Simon provides historical context and strategic analysis, touching on the complexities of diplomacy and regional power dynamics. Zachary sets the scene with his poem, "The Stars". Steven Simon is a senior research fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft in Washington, D.C., and a visiting professor at Dartmouth College. He served at the State Department and National Security Council for over 20 years. His most recent book is: Grand Delusion: The Rise and Fall of U.S. Ambition in the Middle East (2023).

In the 300th episode of This Is Democracy, Jeremi and Zachary look back on seven years of podcasting, reflecting on their conversations with scholars, activists, and students about democracy, human rights, and civic engagement. Zachary reads from his first poem for the podcast, "In A Quieter Time", and reflects on how his writing has evolved over the years. The episode emphasizes the need for nuanced, non-partisan discussions on democracy, the role of youth in shaping political discourse, and the importance of non-violent solutions to political challenges.

This week, Jeremi and Zachary are speaking with Professor Bryan D. Jones to explore the history and evolution of southern politics. They delve into the persistent divisions and conflicts within southern politics over the last century and a half, and analyze how these dynamics shape contemporary issues of democracy, race, justice, and power. Zachary opens with his poem titled "At Mr. Evers' Home". Bryan D. Jones holds the  J. J. "Jake" Pickle Regents Chair in Congressional Studies, and he is a professor in the Department of Government at the University of Texas at Austin. Prof. Jones’ books include: Reconceiving Decision-Making in Democratic Politics (1994), Politics and the Architecture of Choice (2001), and most recently, The Southern Fault Line: How Race, Class, and Region Shaped One Family's History (2025).