This is Democracy

How Do We Get Them to Vote and Participate More?  Jeremi sits down with Pam Bixby to discuss the issue of getting young people to the polls. Zachary recites his poem entitled, "If Not For Tomorrow." Pam Bixby is a communications professional whose current job as the Director of External Relations for the National Trauma Institute pays the bills. A passionate volunteer and nonprofit leader, she has served on numerous nonprofit boards in Austin and currently co-chairs the First Vote! program for the Austin Area League of Women Voters. First Vote! is a collaborative effort among the League, the Travis County Tax Office Voter Registration Division and Travis County Clerk Elections Division to educate and register eligible high school students. The League of Women Voters offers extensive information on elections, candidates, and issues at vote411.org.

What are the problems with the current system and how can we reform it? Jeremi talks prison reform with Michele Deitch and how the current system can be improved. Zachary kicks off the episode with his poem, "Roll Me Away." Michele Deitch is an attorney with more than 30 years of experience working on criminal justice and juvenile justice policy issues with state and local government officials, corrections administrators, judges and advocates. An award-winning teacher and Soros Senior Justice Fellow, she holds a joint appointment as a senior lecturer at the LBJ School and the School of Law at The University of Texas at Austin. Her areas of specialty include independent oversight of correctional institutions, prison conditions, the management of youths in custody, and juveniles in the adult criminal justice system. She co-chairs the American Bar Association's Subcommittee on Correctional Oversight and helped draft the ABA's Standards on the Treatment of Prisoners. She has written numerous articles about correctional oversight, including a 50-state inventory of prison oversight models, as well as many reports on juvenile justice that have received national attention. Her TEDx talk "Why are we trying kids as adults?" was named a TEDx Editor's Pick in January 2015. Prior to entering academia, she served as a federal court-appointed monitor of conditions in the Texas prison system, as the policy director of Texas' sentencing commission, as general counsel to the Texas Senate Criminal Justice Committee and as an independent consultant to justice system agencies across the country.

What are the challenges for prospective politicians in 2019? What are the opportunities for change? Jeremi sits down with Bryan Jones and discusses what 2019 has in store for our democracy. Zachary sets the scene with his poem, "Reflections on the New Year, 2019." Bryan Jones, an entrepreneur and technologist, has started several companies and been issued multiple technology-based patents. In addition to being the founder and CEO of Strive and Solve Ventures, a boutique investment and advisory services firm, Bryan is also the Chairman of Stand Up Republic, a non-partisan 501c4 founded by Evan McMullin and Mindy Finn to defend democratic ideals, norms, and institutions. Bryan has a BSc Engineering, an MBA and a JD, all from the University of Texas at Austin. While at UT, Bryan was a 21-time All American swimmer, an American Record holder and captained the 2000 NCAA Championship team. Bryan has served as a board member of several organizations, including The Athletes Village, TeamTopia, the Greater Austin Chamber, PeopleFund, USA Swimming, The Seton Fifty and The Texas Exes. He was also recently recognized as a 2018 Outstanding Young Texas Exes.

This episode reprises many of the voices on our podcast from 2018 to emphasize the vibrance, diversity, resilience, and idealism of our democracy today. We are on the cusp of a moment of democratic renewal, and our podcast guests exemplify the bright future of reform in front of us. As Franklin Roosevelt advised in a prior moment of democratic renewal, our young citizens are writing the new chapters of democracy. Please listen and give them your support. Voices featured in this episode: Sophie Wysocki and Meena Anderson, Ep. 4 - Young citizens promoting democracy Dr. Peniel Joseph, Ep. 6 - Race and Democracy in America Today Augusta Dell'Omo and Chris Rose, Ep. 7 - Gender and Democracy Sean Hassan, Ep. 9 - Religion and Democracy: How are we making our democracy more open and inclusive for different faiths? Paul Stekler, Ep. 11 - The Media and Politics Dr. Ruth Wasem, Ep. 12 - Congress and Democracy Juliet Suarez and first time voter Jillian B. Smith, Ep. 13 - New and Future Voters: Why does this election matter so much? Bryan Jones and Dr. James Henson, Ep. 14 - What did the 2018 elections mean? Dr. Michael B. Stoff, Ep. 15 - The 100th Anniversary of the First World War

This week Jeremi sits down in conversation with Ann Howard, Executive Director of Ending Community Homelessness Coalition (ECHO) to discuss homelessness. How do we understand the problem? What can we do as a society? Zachary Suri's original poem, "Trees, Sleep and a Cold Christmas" sets the scene. Ann Howard is the first Executive Director of the Ending Community Homelessness Coalition in Austin, Travis County; she has held the position since October of 2011. After 1 year of Ann's leadership, the Texas Homeless Network named ECHO as the Outstanding Coalition in 2012.  Since then, ECHO has partnered with CSH to examine feasibility for Pay for Success and plans to advance to the deal structuring stage, acquired 3 HUD HMIS grants and 1 COC Planning Grant; been included in a $3.5 million state grant, and a $3M VA SSVF grant and has increased the ECHO budget from $100,000 to over $1,000,000.  ECHO participates with the CAN Indicator Dashboard Steering Committee, the PSH Finance Leadership Committee, Travis County Criminal Justice Planning Council, the Mayor's Task Force on the Innovation Zone, the Psychiatric Stakeholders Committee and the Housing Works Board of Directors as an advisory member. Ann was an active leader in the city-wide campaign to pass the recent $65M Affordable Housing Bonds and City resolutions to dedicate proceeds from a downtown Austin Density program to support housing first PSH and to set a new goal to build 400 units of PSH with at least 200 of them being housing first and to increase funding for health and human services. Ann is an alumnus of the University of Texas, with a JD from the School of Law, and an MPA from the LBJ School of Public Affairs.  Ann has been married to John Howard, her law school classmate for 26 years and together they have been active in Austin public schools, youth sports, scouts, The University of Texas and Baylor University and the Lutheran Church.  These activities assist Ann in her work to build collaboration and partnerships. Website: www.austinecho.org Volunteer sign up for the annual census of the people experiencing homelessness http://www.austinecho.org/pointintime/

What have we learned about health care policy? What are reform pathways forward? Dr. Suri discusses with Dr. Stephen Sonnenberg how a healthy society makes for a healthy democracy. Zachary sets the scene with his poem, "Dear Doctor." Stephen Sonnenberg has served as clinical associate professor of psychiatry at Howard University College of Medicine, adjunct clinical professor of psychiatry at Cornell University Medical College, clinical professor of psychiatry at George Washington University School of Medicine and clinical professor of psychiatry at Baylor College of Medicine. He is currently adjunct professor of psychiatry at The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland, where he served as clinical professor before moving to Texas. At The University of Texas at Austin, he is professor of psychiatry, population health, and medical education at Dell Medical School, adjunct professor in the School of Architecture, Fellow of the Trice Professorship in the Plan II Honors Program, and principal investigator of the National Endowment for the Humanities-funded Patients, Practitioners, and Cultures of Care Project, a research and development effort to create a new undergraduate Bridging Disciplines Program emphasizing the relationship of health care and the humanities. His most important committee assignments at UT Austin include the Rhodes, Marshall and Truman Scholarships Selection Committee and the chairmanship of the Hamilton Book Awards Selection Committee in 2017. Sonnenberg serves on numerous editorial boards and peer review panels of leading journals in the fields of psychiatry and psychoanalysis. He has contributed scholarly articles to the leading journals in those fields, is the co-author of the textbook “Psychodynamic Psychotherapy” (American Psychiatric Press, 1991, 1998, 2004), which has been translated into Russian, Mandarin, Taiwanese, Persian, and Japanese, and he is the co-author of chapters in important textbooks of psychiatry. He is the co-editor of “The Trauma of War: Stress and Recovery in Viet Nam Veterans” (American Psychiatric Press, 1985). Early in 2013 the award-winning book “CENTER 17: Space & Psyche,” which he co-edited, was published by the Center for American Architecture and Design, School of Architecture, The University of Texas at Austin. His research interests focus on the points of intersection of psychoanalysis, psychiatry, medical education, population health and other areas of scholarly inquiry. His subjects of study include war and violence; architecture in relation to health care; psychic trauma and PTSD; addiction and its treatment; education and effective teaching methods; medical humanities, ethics and the doctor-patient relationship; and health and human rights. In the past he has served as co-principal investigator of the Psychology of Deterrence Project at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; director of research of the Project on the Vietnam Generation at the National Museum of American History of the Smithsonian Institution; and research scholar at the Center for Psychology and Social Change, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School at Cambridge Hospital.

How are communities and democracies affected by the changing global environment? Dr. Suri talks with professor Sheila Olmstead on the lasting effects climate change will have on government policies, and human lives around the world. Zachary sets the scene with his poem, “So Fluorescently Away.” Sheila Olmstead is a professor at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, The University of Texas at Austin (UT), a visiting fellow at Resources for the Future (RFF) in Washington, DC and a senior fellow at the Property and Environment Research Center in Bozeman, Montana. From 2016–2017, she served as the Senior Economist for Energy and the Environment at the President’s Council of Economic Advisers. Before joining UT in 2013, Olmstead was a senior fellow (2013) and fellow (2010–13) at RFF, as well as associate professor (2007–10) and assistant professor (2002–07) of environmental economics at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Olmstead is currently an editor of the “Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists.” She has also served as vice president and a member of the board of directors of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, as associate editor of “Water Resources Research,” co-editor of “Environmental and Resource Economics,” book review editor of “Water Economics and Policy,” and editorial council member for the “Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists.” She holds a Ph.D. in public policy from Harvard University (2002), a master’s in public affairs from The University of Texas at Austin (1996) and a B.A. from the University of Virginia (1992).

What are the historical challenges of democratization in the Middle East? What are the possibilities? Dr. Suri, and Ph.D. candidate Emily Whalen, discuss why global perceptions can be damaging, and how the countries that comprise the Middle East could move towards a true democracy. Zachary sets up the conversation with his poem, “The Last Time I Cried For The Middle East.” Emily Whalen is a doctoral candidate in History at the University of Texas – Austin. Her dissertation, The Lebanese Wars: Civil Conflict and International Intervention, 1975-1985, focuses on the transnational history of war and U.S. policy in the Middle East. She is currently a Smith Richardson Predoctoral Fellow in International Security Studies at Yale University. Her website is www.emilyingridwhalen.com.

What are the legacies of the Great War for our world today? How can we avoid another terrible war in the 21st century? Dr. Suri talks with University of Texas history professor Michael Stoff about World War I, and what United States citizens should do to stay informed and care for its veterans. This episode opens with a reading of T.S. Eliot’s “The Hollow Men” by Tom O’Bedlam. Michael B. Stoff received his B.A. from Rutgers College and Ph.D. from Yale University. He is currently Associate Professor of History, University Distinguished Teaching Associate Professor and an Organization of American Historians Distinguished Lecturer.  For over a decade, he has been the director of the nationally acclaimed Plan II Honors Program at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author of Oil, War and American Security, co-editor of The Manhattan Project: A Documentary Introduction to the Atomic Age, series co-editor of The Oxford New Narratives in American History and co-author of five American history textbooks. He has been honored many times for his teaching, most recently with the UT system-wide Regents Outstanding Teaching Award. In 2015, he was recognized for his contributions with induction into the Philosophical Society of Texas. He is at work on a book about Nagasaki and the meaning of the atomic bomb.

What did the 2018 elections mean? What are the results and why do they matter? Dr. Suri sits down with Bryan Jones and James Henson to deconstruct the results, bring context to them and look forward to 2019 and beyond. Bryan Jones, an entrepreneur and technologist, has started several companies and been issued multiple technology-based patents. In addiction to being the founder and CEO of Strive and Solve Ventures, a boutique investment and advisory services firm, Bryan is also the Chairman of Stand Up Republic, a non-partisan 501c4 founded by Evan McMullin and Mindy Finn to defend democratic ideals, norms and institutions. Bryan has a BSc Engineering, an MBA and a JD, all from the University of Texas at Austin. While at UT, Bryan was a 21-time All American swimmer, an American Record holder and captained the 2000 NCAA Championship team. Bryan has served as a board member of several organizations, including The Athletes Village, TeamTopia, the Greater Austin Chamber, PeopleFund, USA Swimming, The Seton Fifty and The Texas Exes.  He was also recently recognized as a 2018 Outstanding Young Texas Exes. James Henson directs the Texas Politics project and teaches in the Department of Government at The University of Texas, where he also received a doctorate. He helped design public interest multimedia for the Benton Foundation in Washington, D.C., in the late 1990s and has written about politics in general-interest and academic publications. He also serves as associate director of the College of Liberal Arts Instructional Technology Services unit at UT, where he has helped produce several award-winning instructional media projects. In 2008, he and Daron Shaw, a fellow UT government professor, established the first statewide, publicly available internet survey of public opinion in Texas using matched random sampling. He lives in Austin, where he also serves as a member of the City of Austin Ethics Review Commission.