How Do We Fix It?

All too often political movements are defined by their opponents. That is especially true for libertarians who are often labeled as uncaring— far more concerned with the individual than society. In this episode, we get a mostly positive view of what libertarians stand for and also why they oppose both the populist domination of the Republican Party and the leftward tilt by Democrats.Our guest Nick Gillespie is editor at large of Reason Magazine, which has the motto "free minds and free markets." He's co-author of the book, “The Declaration of Independents: How Libertarian Politics Can Fix What’s Wrong With America,” and host of “The Reason Interview” podcast. In this episode we discuss six main topics— What is a libertarian, public education and school choice, inflation, the role of billionaires in society, Ukraine & foreign policy, and the controversial Disinformation Governance Board."I value individual choice. I devalue coercion," Nick tells us. "I believe in a s

How did the Republican Party go from being dominated by Ronald Reagan in the 80s to the movement of Trump? What are the deep tensions between grassroots Republicans and Conservative elites who used to be in charge? Six months before the 2022 midterm election, why would liberals and progressives stand to benefit from understanding exactly why conservatives win so many races? We grapple with these questions and many more in this episode of "How Do We Fix It?"Our guest is conservative intellectual, scholar and journalist, Matthew Continetti— a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. His new book is "The Right: The Hundred Year War on American Conservatism.""I resist this temptation to simply pathologize conservatism, because I don't think it explains why the American right has been so successful," Matthew tells us. Asked about critics who argue that Republicans are racist, sexist or homophobic, he says, "I think it's dangerous for the American left to

Partisanship is up, trust is down and social media encourages us to believe we're right and everyone else is either ignorant, stupid or evil. But avoiding difficult conversations with those we disagree with is a big reason why our nation is so bitterly divided.Journalist Mónica Guzmán set out to discover what was blinding us and learned that the best tool we have we're not using: Our own curiosity. In this episode we learn about her personal story as the loving liberal daughter of Mexican immigrants who strongly support Donald Trump. We hear how Mónica discovered ways to overcome divisions that hurt our relationships and society.Mónica Guzmán is the author of the highly praised new book "I Never Thought Of It That Way". She serves as an advisor and storyteller at the depolarization organization, Braver Angels. "The anger and the rage that we see out there that defines our division doesn't actually exist that much on the one-to-one level," Monica told us.In this epi

Reform advocates are full of good intentions and worthy goals— from ending hunger to improving access to healthcare and limiting the impacts of climate change. But good intentions are not the same as good results. The efficient delivery of services is important for all citizens. In this episode, we look at how to design technology that makes the government smarter, much more efficient, and even friendlier.Amanda Renteria is CEO of Code for America, a non-profit group that uses coding and other forms of tech expertise to ensure the delivery of equitable digital tools and services. Amanda grew up in California's Central Valley, the daughter of Latino farm workers. She spent years in public service, as former National Political Director for Hillary Clinton, chief of staff for two Democratic Senators, and chief of operations for California’s Attorney General. "Nearly $60 billion in government services go unclaimed each year by people who are el

Our brains are prediction machines: How we frame everyday tasks and challenges of our lives can have a profound impact on their outcomes. In this episode, we learn about new discoveries in science that reveal the many ways our expectations shape our experience.Author and science writer David Robson is our guest. His latest book, "The Expectation Effect" cites findings from well-over 400 "robust experiments" and takes readers on a tour of cutting-edge research that uncovers new techniques to improve our fitness, productivity, intelligence, health, and happiness.We learn why people who believe aging brings wisdom live longer. Reappraising stress as something that's energizing increases your creativity under pressure.Cultivating an indulgent attitude to food may help you lose weight. Taking a placebo, even when you know it is a placebo, can still improve your health."What the latest research has just done is to tell us that if the placebo effect is happening in a doctor's

Russia's invasion of Ukraine made Europe's energy dependence painfully clear. "We are supporting and actually financing the war by purchasing oil and gas and other fossil fuels from Russia," Finland's Prime Minister Sanna Marin bluntly put it.Fossil fuel energy is vital for Russia's economy, accounting for almost half of its exports. One-third of Europe's oil and as much as 40% of natural gas imports come from Russia. In this episode, we discuss how the war in Ukraine is changing the debate over fossil fuel dependency. Our guest is climate economist and Bloomberg News columnist Gernot Wagner of NYU and Columbia School of Business.The invasion has already prompted a dramatic rethink by European policymakers. The EU has pledged to sharply reduce and ultimately phase out purchases of Russian oil and gas. In an abrupt about-face, Germany halted the Nordstream 2 gas pipeline project. The unprovoked attack on Ukraine "certainly provides the moral clar

Democracies around the world are under threat from populist movements, demagogues, and dogmatic extremists who use disinformation, conspiracy theories, cancel culture, and shaming to weaponize social media and challenge our ability to distinguish truth from falsehood.Most recently, the Russian government has used lies and fake news to justify its attempted land grab in Ukraine. In "The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth", best-selling author, journalist, and public intellectual, Jonathan Rauch, offers a stirring defense of the social system of checks and balances that is crucial for turning disagreement into verifiable facts."This global network of people hunting for each others' errors is far and away the greatest human technology ever invented," Jonathan tells us. The constitution of knowledge "is a global conversation of people looking for truth, and more especially, looking for error."In this episode of "How Do We Fix It?", Jonathan arms listeners and advocates of truth with a clear understandi

Shock, surprises, and suffering are the most immediate results of all wars. Russia's brutal, yet deeply flawed invasion of Ukraine has profound implications for the West, global democracy, and the future of Europe and Russia. We hear the perspectives of two prominent thinkers, Jane Lytvynenko and Robert Kagen. Richard and Jim also share their analysis of the unexpected early outcomes of the war. This episode has extracts from an interview with Robert Kagan, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a contributing columnist for The Washington Post. He spoke with podcast producer and host Jenna Spinelle of "Democracy Works". We also share part of an interview from the current episode of "Democracy in Danger" with journalist Jane Lytvynenko, who covers technology, disinformation, and now, Ukraine. She was born in Kyiv. Jane is also a senior research fellow at Harvard University's Technology and Social Change Project at the Shorenstein Center.  Th

The war in Ukraine and the global response to Russia's invasion are dominating the news. But missing in much of the coverage is a sense of the country and its people. In this historic moment, we hear a riveting account of the country's recent political awakening and why Ukrainians are prepared to resist and fight.In the past century, Ukraine suffered massively during two world wars, Nazi occupation, famine, and the Chernobyl disaster. Eight years ago, during the "Revolution of Dignity", Ukranians stood up against corruption, brutality, and Russian dominance. A new democracy and civic bond were formed. The country profoundly changed."Ukranians are fighting for all of us," says our guest, Yale University historian Marci Shore, the author of “The Ukrainian Night: An Intimate History of Revolution.” She is a scholar of Eastern Europe in the post-Soviet era. "I'm terrified for my friends," Marci tells us. "The Ukrainians will not give up... I'm desperately hopeful that as di

The invasion of Ukraine is a shocking reminder of what's at stake for democracies around the world. This moment is a stunning reminder of the vital importance of what we so often take for granted— personal freedoms and the rule of law. Despite well-advertised flaws, our constitutional system of governance is infinitely preferable to dictatorships or thuggish autocracies. In this episode, we share a conversation that touches on the relationship between voters and those who represent them, and what is meant by "representative democracy". The interview is shared with us by our friends at the "Democracy Paradox" podcast.Lisa Disch, author of the book, “Making Constituencies: Representation as Mobilization in Mass Democracy” is this week’s guest. She is a professor of political science at the University of Michigan and an elected member of the Ann Arbor City Council. She is a committed member of the Democratic Party, but

Partisan gerrymandering— where one party gains an unfair advantage by redrawing political maps to favor its candidates— is unpopular with voters, but widespread in many states. We examine why this process devalues democracy, and how data science is being used across the country to expose many of the most egregious examples, and help voters advocate for fair and transparent redistricting. Every decade, legislators across the country come up with maps for state and congressional districts. The latest round of changes, due to be finished well before primaries are held before the 2022 midterm elections in November, is facing widespread criticism. Redistricting reformers also see strong ties between partisan and racial bias.Our guest in this episode shows citizens how they can fight back against local examples of gerrymandering by both Democrats and Republicans. Professor Sam Wang oversees the Princeton Gerrymandering Project, which runs an informative website that

Best-selling author Daniel Pink admits he's pedaling against the wind. His new book, "The Power of Regret" takes on the longstanding and deeply ingrained doctrine that paying attention to our regrets is foolish. In this episode, we ask him why this notion is wrong."No regrets" is the name or theme of countless books and popular songs. Bob Dylan, Angelina Jolie, and Ruth Bader Ginsberg all advised us to live without regrets. "We think that it's courageous to say I have no regrets, but it's not," Pink tells us. "What's courageous is staring your regrets in the eye, confronting them, and doing something about them".Almost everybody has regrets. And if we acknowledge them in fresh and imaginative ways, we can enlist our regrets to make smarter decisions, perform better at work and school, and deepen our sense of meaning and purpose. In our solutions podcast, we hear that examining what we regret the most helps us understand what we value the most.Pink draws on research in psychology,

Two years of coronavirus have made the growing loneliness crisis even worse— with greater social isolation causing personal pain and mental and physical illnesses."Even before the global pandemic introduced us to terms like social distancing, loneliness was becoming the defining condition of the twenty-first century. But it's also one we have the power to reverse," says our podcast guest, economist Noreena Hertz. Numerous surveys have found that reported cases of loneliness have jumped in recent decades. More than three-in-five Americans told a 2020 poll, conducted before the pandemic, that they felt left out, poorly understood, and lacking in companionship. Noreena Hertz is the author of "The Lonely Century: How to Restore Human Connection in a World Pulling Apart." Her book is a personal and deeply-researched investigation into the roots of the loneliness epidemic and what we can do to come together. In our interview, we discuss the importance of the workplace in enhancing comm

Across the board— from voter access to questions of race and gender, and views of the economy— the gap between Republicans and Democrats has grown wider in recent years. According to recent polling, a rising share of Americans say that having political conversations with those they disagree with is “stressful and frustrating”.Political polarization and the recent actions of party leaders have prevented compromise and resolution of critical problems.We discuss five personal ways to reduce polarization with our guest, Kamy Akhavan, Director of the Center for the Political Future at the University of Southern California, and former CEO of the well-known non-partisan site procon.org "In today's political climate we don't respect the other side: We don't care what they have to say," says Kamy. "Our immediate reaction goes to defense. It is 'stop that side'".5 personal tips to depolarize:1. Listen to understand not to judge.2. Commit to speak with and learn from others y

What is the point of an education? Is it to learn skills that will help you get ahead in the workplace, or is it to acquire knowledge and to think more deeply about your place in the world?In this episode we hear from an educator who thinks that the great books— Plato, Aquinas, Shakespeare for example— aren’t just for a few well-off students at elite colleges, but for everybody. And he says encountering these thinkers when he was a poor immigrant teenager from the Dominican Republic literally changed his life.Roosevelt Montás is senior lecturer in American Studies and English at Columbia University. He is director of the Center for American Studies Freedom and Citizenship Program, which introduces low-income high school students to primary texts in moral and political thought, as well as seminars in American Studies including “Freedom and Citizenship in the United States.” From 2008 to 2018, he was director of Columbia’s Center for the Core Curriculum. "There is a

Earth's global average temperature in 2021 was the sixth warmest on record, according to two new reports issued this week by U.S. Government agencies. Scientists at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies report that collectively the past eight years were the warmest since modern record keeping began in 1880. The research adds to overwhelming evidence of climate change.This episode looks at the role played by carbon-free nuclear power in providing one solution to the growing climate crisis. Our guest, British environmental activist and science communicator, Zion Lights, tells us whyt she changed her mind about nuclear safety and reliability. After playing a leading role with Extinction Rebellion UK, Zion left the group and founded Emergency Reactor, which calls on fellow activists to "stop spreading misinformation and fear. Follow the science about nuclear energy." "People are already worried and scared about climate change. Let's look at solutions," s

Our first episode of 2022 is all about a constructive response to the calamitous events of one year ago: The January 6th riot at the U.S. Capitol.On January 5th, a coalition of organizations, led by Ideos Institute, will host the first annual National Day of Dialogue. We discuss this invitation to all Americans to push back against deep divides. We also explore the need for hard talk and getting into our discomfort zones. “As a nation, we have largely lost our ability to have hard conversations without judgment, animus, or fear,” says our guest, Ideos President & CEO, Christy Vines. "Deep down we all want to have these kinds of moments with somebody we would disagree with and who we often see as the enemy... Not enough people are getting those opportunities to see the human behind the positions they hold." The National Day of Dialogue is a series of virtual and live events across the country, and the premiere of a documentary movie "Dialogue Lab: America", which inc

The Forever Pandemic, Omicron, Build Back Better, Biden, Putin, China, What's Trump got up his sleeve? The media gave these stories ad nauseum coverage in 2021, often marching in lockstep and suffering from a painful lack of imagination about what should be the big news of the day.But what about underreported stories: The important news that most of us missed?Richard and Jim share their gripes, observations, hopes and insights about the media, science, the environment and global affairs. Our co-hosts are not only solutions journalists with decades of reporting experience, they're also voracious readers and observers of current events.In this episode, we learn how COVID has super-charged the development of promising new mRNA vaccines against malaria, lyme disease and other challenging illnesses, the hidden social upsides of remote working on family life, the broad benefits of the private space flight boom, and the hard truths of global energy production. We also examine why curiosity,

Gerrymandering, low turnout elections, negative campaign ads, and increased polarization are all part of the flawed, fractured U.S. political system. Here we examine the case for constructive changes to how candidates for public office are elected.Our guest, Rob Richie, has been the leader of the non-profit advocacy group, FairVote, since co-founding the organization in 1992. He has been involved in helping to develop and implement: Ranked Choice Voting in several states and more than 20 cities, fair representation voting systems in numerous states, Voting Rights Act cases, the National Popular Vote plan in 16 states, and voter access proposals like voter preregistration and automatic voter registration."We're in a winner-take-all environment and it's incredibly tense," Rob tells us. The current voting system allows for only one choice, which can add to bitterness and deep division. "Ranked Choice Voting gives the voter a chance not only to just put an X next to one candidat

The huge difference between slogans and solutions is a key theme of this episode. While demands to “de-fund the police” or replace entire police departments with something new might sound good in theory, these ambitious experiments in public safety may backfire.Our guest is Minneapolis civil rights lawyer and activist Nekima Levy Armstrong. Her recent New York Times op-ed— “Black Voters Want Better Policing, Not Posturing by Progressives”— was written after the defeat of a November ballot initiative that would abolish the Minneapolis Police Department and replace it with a department of public safety. She expressed frustration over the lack of a detailed, well-researched plan.While white progressives mostly voiced support for the proposal, majority-black neighborhoods rejected it. We find out why.In the months after the murder of George Floyd, there was a massive outcry over police violence against African-Americans. The protest movement was multi-racial. In many towns and cities, Whites marche