This is Democracy

Professor Paul Stekler holds the Wofford Denius Chair in Entertainment Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. He is a nationally recognized documentary filmmaker whose critically praised and award-winning work includes George Wallace: Settin’ the Woods on Fire; Last Man Standing: Politics, Texas Style; Vote for Me: Politics in America, a four-hour PBS special about grassroots electoral politics; two segments of the Eyes on the Prize II series on the history of civil rights; Last Stand at Little Big Horn (broadcast as part of PBS’s series The American Experience); Louisiana Boys: Raised on Politics (broadcast on PBS’s P.O.V. series); Getting Back to Abnormal (which aired on P.O.V. in 2014); and 2016’s Postcards from the Great Divide, a web series about politics for The Washington Post and PBS Digital. Overall, his films have won two George Foster Peabody Awards, three Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Journalism Awards, three national Emmy Awards, and a special jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

Jeremi chats over the phone with Professor Clark Miller to discuss transitions on a global scale to sustainable energy and the numerous, diverse challenges that come with such a task. Zachary sets the scene with his poem, “Eulogy.” Clark Miller is the Director of the Center for Energy and Society at Arizona State University and a Professor in the School for the Future of Innovation in Society. He also leads the sustainability team at the Quantum Energy and Sustainable Solar Technologies photovoltaics engineering research center. For the past decade, his research has explored the human dimensions of large-scale transitions in the energy sector and the potential for leveraging energy transitions to improve human futures. His most recent book, The Weight of Light: A Collection of Solar Futures, is free to download as an e-book from the ASU Center for Science and the Imagination. His other books include Designing Knowledge, a guide for organizations who want to better create and use knowledge in decision-making; Science and Democracy: Making Knowledge and Making Power in the Biosciences and Beyond; The Practices of Global Ethics; and Changing the Atmosphere: Expert Knowledge and Environmental Governance.

Jeremi sits down with Dr. Teresa A. Sullivan to discuss the U.S. Census, it’s history, and how it affects our society today. Zachary sets the scene with his poem, “Dear Governor.” Teresa A. Sullivan, university professor and president emerita of the University of Virginia, is currently serving as the interim provost at Michigan State University, her alma mater. As president of UVA, Sullivan led a team that stimulated the revitalization of the UVA Health System, raised faculty salaries, launched an ambitious program of faculty hiring, raised both the numbers and quality of applications, reached new fundraising records, and launched the university’s bicentennial celebration. Earlier, she was the executive vice president and provost at the University of Michigan, executive vice chancellor for academic affairs for the University of Texas System, and vice president and graduate dean at the University of Texas at Austin. In her academic career as a demographer, Sullivan developed analytic techniques for the use of U.S. Census Public Use Sample. She was an investigator on a large international sample survey, and with law colleagues Elizabeth Warren and Jay Lawrence Westbrook, she led several original large-scale data collections of consumer bankruptcy records. The first book-length analysis of the bankruptcy records, As We Forgive Our Debtors, received the Silver Gavel Award of the American Bar Association. The second book, The Fragile Middle Class, received the Writing Award of the American College of Financial Services Lawyers. Sullivan has held faculty positions at the Universities of Chicago, Texas, Michigan, and Virginia and has received five major teaching awards. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Jeremi sits down with John Sipher to discuss how intelligence agencies operate within a democracy. As usual, Zachary kicks things off with his original poem, “Supposed to Forget.” John Sipher retired in 2014 after a 28-year career in the Central Intelligence Agency’s National Clandestine Service. At the time of his retirement, he was a member of the CIA’s Senior Intelligence Service, the leadership team that guides CIA activities globally. John served multiple overseas tours as Chief of Station and Deputy Chief of Station in Europe, Asia, and in high-threat environments. John also served as a lead instructor in the CIA’s clandestine training school and was a regular lecturer at the CIA’s leadership development program. He is the recipient of the Distinguished Career Intelligence Medal.

Jeremi sits down with Dr. Christopher Rose to discuss the coronavirus within the context of historical pandemics. As always, Zachary kicks things off with his poem entitled, “With an Unspoken Doubt.” Christopher S Rose is a historian of early modern and modern Egypt and the eastern Mediterranean. He is currently (2019-2020) a Postdoctoral Research fellow at the Institute for Historical Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author of “Implications of the Spanish Influenza Pandemic (1918-1920) for the History of Early 20th Century Egypt,” forthcoming in the Journal of World History. He is also currently working on a book project titled Home Front Egypt: Famine, Disease, and Death During the Great War, 1914-1919, which examines the impact of World War I on the Egyptian peasantry, focusing on food shortages and disease.

Jeremi sits down to discuss impeachment in context with Professor Jeffery Tulis. As always, Zachary kicks things off with his poem entitled, “Two Images.” Professor Jeffrey Tulis is a leading scholar of American politics and the presidency in particular. He is the author of numerous books, including: The Rhetorical Presidency, The Presidency in the Constitutional Order, and The Legacies of Losing in American Politics.

Jeremi sits down with Professor Alan McPherson to discuss the legacy of dictators in Latin American countries, how they used terror to control their regime, and how the U.S. has contributed to and interacted with these regimes in the past and present. Zachary sets the scene with his poem “Excuse Us.” Alan McPherson is a professor of history at Temple University, where he directs the Center for the Study of Force and Diplomacy. He is the author of numerous books on U.S.-Latin American relations and U.S. foreign relations. His most recent book is: Ghosts of Sheridan Circle: How a Washington Assassination Brought Pinochet’s Terror State to Justice.

Jeremi sits down with Michael Lind to discuss the evolution of the American Working Class. Once again, Zachary sets the scene with his poem “Picturing America’s Working Class.” Michael Lind is a professor of practice at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author of more than a dozen books of nonfiction, fiction, poetry and children’s literature, including several that were New York Times Notable Books of the Year. His studies of U.S. history, economics and foreign policy include The Next American Nation (1995), The American Way of Strategy (2006), Land of Promise:  An Economic History of the United States (2012) and, most recently, The New Class War:  Saving Democracy from the Managerial Elite (2020).

Jeremi sits down with Clay Katsky to discuss congress and war powers. As always, Zachary sets the scene with his poem “An Adaptation of Alan Ginsburg’s ‘A Supermarket in California for a Nation on the Brink of War’.” Clay Katsky is a historian of Congress’ role in American foreign policy. He is completing a dissertation on Congress’ efforts to oversee policy and presidential actions after the Vietnam War. Clay is a Ph.D. student in the Department of History at the University of Texas at Austin and a teaching assistant this semester for Professor Suri’s course on US History since the Civil War.

At year’s end, we want to share some of the voices from our podcast that exemplify the diversity and dynamism of our democracy today. The energy of change and reform is all around us. We can see many promising pathways to renew our democracy.  Please listen and get involved.