The Democracy Group

Steve Phillips is the host of the Democracy in Color podcast and the author of How We Win the Civil War: Securing a Multiracial Democracy and Ending White Supremacy for Good. We start off a new year of civic engagement and fighting for democracy with a conversation about his political leadership, thought leadership, and coalition building.The Confederate Battle plan of never giving an inch, ruthlessly rewriting the rules, distorting public opinion, silently sanctioning terrorism, and playing the long game has been present in every period of US history. Through organizing and civic participation, in the places that held people in slavery, the country is being transformed. The new American majority and the majority of eligible voters are people of color and progressive whites. We have the potential power to redraw the social contract.Follow Steve on Twitter: https://twitter.com/StevePtweetsFollow Mila on Twitter: https://twitter.com/milaatmosAdditional InformationFuture Hindsight PodcastMore shows from The Democracy Group Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hedrick Smith, Pulitzer Prize-winning former New York Times reporter and editor and Emmy award-winning producer/correspondent, has established himself over the past 50 years as one of America’s premier journalists. His best-seller, “Who Stole the American Dream” is a startling and revealing portrait of the past 30 years of U.S. political and economic history, hailed both for its compelling stories and ”brilliant analysis.”In 26 years with The New York Times, Smith served in Saigon, Cairo, Paris, the American South and as bureau chief in Moscow and Washington. In 1971, he was a member of the Pulitzer Prize-winning team for the Pentagon Papers series and in 1974, he won the Pulitzer Prize for international reporting from Russia and Eastern Europe.His subsequent book The Russians was a No.1 American best-seller translated into 16 languages. Smith’s next book, The Power Game: How Washington Works, was bedside reading for President Clinton. Many members of Congress used it as a political bible. He has written three other best-sellers.For PBS, Hedrick Smith has created 26 prime-time specials and mini-series since 1989 on such varied topics as “Inside the Terror Network,” “Is Wal-Mart Good for America?” “The Wall Street Fix,” “Inside Gorbachev’s USSR,” “Can You Afford to Retire?” and “Rediscovering Dave Brubeck.” He has won most of television’s top awards including two Emmys, two national public service awards, and two Dupont-Columbia Gold batons for the best public affairs programs on U.S. television in 1991 and in 2002.Join us for this conversation with Hedrick Smith, facilitated by Mary Ellen Klas, Capitol bureau chief for the Miami Herald.Additional InformationThe Village SquareCast PodcastMore shows from The Democracy Group Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Ana Sofia Palaez joins The Great Battlefield podcast to talk about her career as a food and culture writer and co-founding the Miami Freedom Project where they are working to organize the Cuban community in Miami.Additional InformationThe Great Battlefield PodcastMore shows from The Democracy Group Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

2022 was another year of COVID-induced anxiety with widespread worries about democracy, polarization, climate change and threats to democracy. But in this new year special Richard and Jim say we have reached peak fear. America may well be calming down and headed towards a new sense of normal. Our co-hosts throw caution to the wind with a series of fresh outside-the-box forecasts for the twelve months to come.We make predictions about the retreat of COVID, the outlook for inflation, and the migration crisis on the southern border that threatens havoc for the Administration. Hear what could happen next in Ukraine's war against Russian aggression. We also look closely at China's new struggles with COVID, street protests, and slowing growth.In a special section on technology and science, we focus on stunning advances in cancer and Alzheimer treatments plus new innovations in AI and the likely impact of ChatGTP, the app that's just been released to the public and is already raising ethical issues for schools, universities, and employers.We promise to release a scorecard of how we did at the end of the year. Is Jim right when he says there is a real likelihood of a new energy crisis in 2023?Is Richard's forecast about the 2024 Presidential race on target?Jim and Richard also share their year-end hopes for the new year and recommendations.Additional InformationHow Do We Fix It? PodcastMore shows from The Democracy Group Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We continue our Best of 2022 episodes with an  episode from the When the People Decide podcast, hosted by Jenna Spinelle.Learn about the basics of the ballot initiative, the history of how it caught on in the United States, and the pros and cons that she will explore throughout the series.A campaign in Michigan to end partisan gerrymandering in 2018 is part of a legacy of ballot initiatives dating back to the 1800s. After becoming disillusioned with the results of the 2016 election, Katie Fahey took to Facebook to gauge the interest of grassroots mobilization amongst her colleagues, friends and family. Now the executive director of a nonpartisan voter reform organization, Fahey shares how the ballot initiative excited everyday people about becoming active in politics, including its 10,000 volunteers, and how they were inspired to make political changes in their communities. In this episode, host Jenna Spinelle explores the basics of the ballot initiative, the history of how it caught on in the United States, and the pros and cons that she will explore throughout the series.Learn more about the podcast at thepeopledecide.show and follow us on Twitter @PeopleDecidePod.ResourcesGiving Voters a Voice: The Origins of the Initiative and Referendum in America  by Steven Piott.Katie Fahey's organization, The PeopleKatie Fahey on TwitterAdditional InformationWhen the People Decide PodcastMore shows from The Democracy Group Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We continue our Best of 2022 episodes with an  episode from the Village SquareCast podcast, hosted by the Village Square.How do societies respond to great demographic change? This question lingers over the contemporary politics of the United States and other countries where persistent immigration has altered populations and may soon produce a majority minority milestone. Or where the original ethnic or religious majority loses its numerical advantage to one or more foreign-origin minority groups. Until now, most of our knowledge about large-scale responses to demographic change has been based on studies of individual people’s reactions, which tend to be instinctively defensive and intolerant. We know little about why and how these habits are sometimes tempered to promote more successful coexistence.Dr. Justin Gest is an Associate Professor of Policy and Government at George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government. He is the author of six books, primarily on the politics of immigration and demographic change—all from Oxford University Press or Cambridge University Press.Dr. Gest's research has been published in journals including the British Journal of Politics and International Relations, Comparative Political Studies, Ethnic and Racial Studies, Global Governance, Global Policy, International Migration Review, Migration Studies, Polity, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. He is the editor of Silent Citizenship: The Politics of Marginality in Unequal Democracies (Routledge, 2016), special issues of Citizenship Studies, and the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies.He has also provided commentary, analysis, or reporting to a number of broadcast networks, including ABC, BBC, CBC, CNN, and NPR, and news publications including The Atlantic, The Boston Globe, The Guardian, Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, POLITICO, Reuters, The Times, Vox, and The Washington Post.Find this program online at The Village Square.This podcast series is presented in partnership with Florida Humanities.Additional InformationThe Village SquareCast PodcastMore shows from The Democracy Group Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We continue our Best of 2021 episodes with an  episode from the The Bully Pulpit podcast, hosted by Bob Shrum and Mike MurphyFor the 2022 Trojan Family Weekend, CPF Co-Directors and veteran political strategists Bob Shrum and Mike Murphy have a balanced and witty conversation about the latest political headlines. They discuss Joe Biden's administration, the state of the Democratic and Republican parties, and the midterm election and what it means for the 2024 general election.Additional InformationThe Bully Pulpit PodcastMore shows from The Democracy Group Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We continue our Best of 2022 episodes with an  episode from the Our Body Politic podcast, hosted by Farai Chideya.Our Body Politic celebrates its 100th episode. Host Farai Chideya reflects on some of the show’s most impactful moments of news and political coverage over the past two years with OBP regular contributors Karen Attiah, columnist for the Washington Post and Tiffany Jeffers, associate professor at Georgetown University Law Center. The trio examines the current political atmosphere, its origins, and reflect on how issues like reproductive rights, the COVID-19 crisis, and the aftermath of the Jan. 6 Insurrection could impact this year’s midterms elections and why cultivating hope and safeguarding democracy is more important than ever. Additional InformationOur Body Politic PodcastMore shows from The Democracy Group Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We continue our Best of 2022 episodes with an  episode from the Democracy Paradox podcast, hosted by Justin Kempf.So, I came back from that trip and said to one of my good friends back in Budapest, ‘I think I've met the most dangerous person I've ever met personally.’ And she said, ‘Oh Viktor, he's nothing. He's like a kid. He's in his thirties.’ I mean, he was an aspiring politician at this point. His party was at the bottom of the polls. It didn't look like he had any future. And I said, ‘No, this guy has something. It's hard to define what it is, but we're going to be hearing from him.’Kim Lane ScheppeleA full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com.Kim Lane Scheppele is the Laurance S. Rockefeller Professor of Sociology and International Affairs and the University Center for Human Values at Princeton University.Key HighlightsIntroduction - 0:50Kim Lane Scheppele meets Viktor Orbán - 2:45Viktor Orbán as Prime Minister 1998-2002 - 9:21Hungary Changes its Constitution 15:56Orbán Undermines Democracy Legally - 26:32Why do Voters Support Orbán and Fidesz - 41:48Key LinksLearn more about Kim Lane Scheppele"How Viktor Orbán Wins" by Kim Lane Scheppele in the Journal of Democracy9/11 and the Rise of Global Anti-Terrorism Law: How the UN Security Council Rules the World edited by Kim Lane Scheppele and Arianna VedaschiAdditional InformationDemocracy Paradox PodcastMore shows from The Democracy Group Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We continue our Best of 2022 episodes with an  episode from the 70 Million podcast, a documentary podcast about criminal justice reform from LWC Studios.Grand juries are supposed to safeguard against the government charging people with a crime when it lacks sufficient evidence. But because prosecutors control what happens in grand jury proceedings, they almost always get an indictment. That is, unless the accused is a police officer. Reporter Mark Betancourt explores a case of police brutality in Dallas that evaporated after going before a grand jury.Find a resource guide and annotated transcript at our website here.Additional Information70 Million PodcastMore shows from The Democracy Group Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.