This is Democracy

Stephen Vladeck holds the Charles Alan Wright Chair in Federal Courts at the University of Texas School of Law. He recently published The Shadow Docket: How the Supreme Court Uses Stealth Rulings to Amass Power and Undermine the Republic. His work has been published in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and Slate, among other publications. He has argued before the Supreme Court and has been CNN's Supreme Court Analyst since 2013.

Jeremi and Zachary sit down with former Austin mayor, Steve Adler, to talk about the importance of city and local government and leadership. Zachary sets the scene with his poem: "For My City as It Was Three Years Ago". Steve Adler was the mayor of Austin, Texas from 2015-2023. Before that, he was a prominent lawyer working in the areas of eminent domain and civil rights law. He also served on many public service boards, including the Anti-Defamation League and the Texas Tribune. Throughout his career, Mayor Adler has been widely recognized for his innovative ideas, his leadership, and his hard work.

Paul Stekler taught at the University of Texas at Austin for many years. 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; two segments of the Eyes on the Prize II series on the history of civil rights; Last Stand at Little Big Horn; and Postcards from the Great Divide. 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.

Matthew Dallek is a historian and professor of political management at George Washington University’s College of Professional Studies. He is the author of: The Right Moment: Ronald Reagan's First Victory and the Decisive Turning Point in American Politics; Defenseless Under the Night: The Franklin Roosevelt Years and the Origins of Homeland Security; and, most recently, Birchers: How the John Birch Society Radicalized the American Right. Dallek's writings frequently appear in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, Politico, and other publications.

Jeremi and Zachary sit down with Cristina Tzintzun Ramirez to discuss young voters and the role they are playing in our democracy. Zachary sets the scene with his poem: "For My Generation and the Story We Will Write" Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez is the president and executive director of NextGen America, the largest youth-vote mobilization organization in the country. She is a millennial, a civil rights leader, and a 2020 U.S. Senate candidate who has spent the last 20 years taking on some of the most powerful special interests in her home state of Texas. Cristina’s dedication to lifting up the largest and most diverse generation in history is rooted in her conviction that young people have the power — and the right — to determine the future of our country.

Jeremi and Zachary sit down with Atar David to discuss the controversy surrounding the overhaul and fundamental efforts to transform the judiciary and the ways in which justice is administered in Israel. Zachary sets the scene with his poem, "Passover 2023." Atar David is an agricultural and environmental historian, currently completing his doctorate in the history department at UT-Austin. His current project examines the trans-regional history of agricultural practices, commodity exchange, and knowledge production between the Middle East and the American Southwest at the turn of the 19th century.

Jeremi and Zachary sit down with Jeffrey Engel to discuss the recent indictments on former president Trump, and other instances of presidential law-breaking. Zachary sets the scene with his poem, "Some Messes Can Only Be Cleaned Up With Time." Jeffrey Engel is a professor of history at Southern Methodist University, where he is the founding director of the Center for Presidential History. He is the author and editor of at least 10 books, including: Cold War at 30,000 Feet: The Anglo-American Fight for Aviation Supremacy, Impeachment: An American History, and When the World Seemed New: George H.W. Bush and the End of the Cold War.

Mikkael Sekeres is a Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Division of Hematology at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine. Dr. Sekeres has published hundreds of scholarly and Op-Ed articles, and he is the author of 8 books, including: When Blood Breaks Down: Life Lessons from Leukemia (The MIT Press 2020) and most recently, Drugs and the FDA: Safety, Efficacy, and the Public’s Trust (The MIT Press 2022).

Dr. Melvyn P. Leffler is the Edward Stettinius Professor of History Emeritus at the University of Virginia. He is one of the leading historians of U.S. foreign policy. Professor Leffler is the author of numerous prize-winning books, including: A Preponderance of Power: National Security, The Truman Administration, and the Cold War; For the Soul of Mankind: The United States, the Soviet Union, and the Cold War; Safeguarding Democratic Captialism; and, most recently, Confronting Saddam Hussein: George W. Bush and the Invasion of Iraq.

Benjamin Griffin is the Chief of the Military History Division in the History Department at the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he is a Major in the U.S. Army. Ben holds a PhD in History from the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author of: Reagan's War Stories: A Cold War Presidency.