Episodes
Thursday Aug 12, 2021
The Plot to Destroy the West
Thursday Aug 12, 2021
Thursday Aug 12, 2021
Narration: James Lewis
Here's what you need to know about democracy this week
- The Plot to Destroy the West
Tucker Carlson’s trip to Hungary dominated headlines last week, and for good reason. But what exactly is Orbán’s plan to replace liberal democracy, and where does Tucker fit in?
- Whatever happened to the Durham Report?
John Durham’s investigation into the FBI’s probe of the 2016 Trump campaign was once the far right’s greatest hope for proving that the ‘deep state’ was colluding against Trump. But whatever happened to it, and why was it so important in the first place?
Thursday Aug 05, 2021
Three Elections (Way) Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Thursday Aug 05, 2021
Thursday Aug 05, 2021
Narration: Executive Director Uriel Epshtein
Here's what you need to know about democracy this week
It’s August. Europeans are enjoying their generous vacation time, Americans are partying like it’s 2019, and members of Congress are about to hunker down in their home districts until Labor Day. In other words, it seems like Western democracy might not collapse––at least not for a few weeks.
With that in mind, we’ve decided to skip ahead to the fall and highlight three elections with major consequences for the citizens of each country, and the world. In Germany, Angela Merkel will be replaced by a new chancellor––the first in 16 years. In Haiti, a country in free-fall, voters will determine the long-term replacement for the assassinated President Jovenel Moïse. And a potentially destabilizing election in Honduras will pit one corrupt official against another.
Thursday Jul 29, 2021
Do the Parties Represent the People?
Thursday Jul 29, 2021
Thursday Jul 29, 2021
Narration: Executive Director Uriel Epshtein
Here's what you need to know about democracy this week
- Do the parties represent the people?
Ballot initiatives in red and blue states alike have led to results which have surprised and annoyed the majority party. Lately, Republican-led states have been passing legislation to make these processes more arduous, and thus less likely to contradict their interests. But what does it mean that measures put up to a popular vote often run counter to the interests of the party running the state government?
- Why is democracy failing in Tunisia?
This past Sunday, the president of Tunisia suspended parliament, enacted emergency powers, and removed the prime minister from his post. As the only success story of the Arab Spring, why is Tunisia’s democracy failing now, and what could have been done to prevent it?
Thursday Jul 15, 2021
Are Cuban Protests Helping Republicans?
Thursday Jul 15, 2021
Thursday Jul 15, 2021
Narration: Executive Director Uriel Epshtein
Here's what you need to know about democracy this week
- Are Cuban protests helping Republicans?
Cubans have taken to the streets across their country in the largest protests in decades. Meanwhile, even though these protests are happening hundreds of miles offshore, they are already a partisan political issue in America.
- China’s Human Rights ‘Whataboutism’
Chinese state media, in response to allegations of human rights violations against Uyghur people, is running its own human rights media campaign––this one claiming that the real perpetrators are Western countries like the U.S. and Canada. How is China weaponizing human rights rhetoric, and how does this fit into China’s legacy of propaganda campaigns?
Thursday Jul 08, 2021
Why Can’t We Figure Out the Filibuster?
Thursday Jul 08, 2021
Thursday Jul 08, 2021
Narration: Executive Director Uriel Epshtein
Here's what you need to know about democracy this week
- Why can’t we figure out the filibuster?
Many Democratic senators are proposing changes to the filibuster, but others are resisting. Why can’t we figure out what to do with the filibuster, and what might positive reform look like?
- Could the world gain another democracy?
The nation of Eswatini is embroiled in protests against the government of King Mswati III, Africa’s last monarch. Could the world be on the precipice of gaining another democracy?
Thursday Jul 01, 2021
The Problem with Critical Race Theory
Thursday Jul 01, 2021
Thursday Jul 01, 2021
Narration: Executive Director Uriel Epshtein
Here's what you need to know about democracy this week
What is Critical Race Theory?
- It’s a term so ill-defined in the public consciousness that it can mean fundamentally different things to different people. But what really is “CRT,” and how are its different definitions driving division?
H.R 1 is dead. What’s next?
- Republican states aren’t the only ones with restrictive voting laws. How can we come together to define a common set of principles for what a free and fair election looks like, and what are some of those principles?
Thursday Jun 24, 2021
Can States Ignore the Federal Government?
Thursday Jun 24, 2021
Thursday Jun 24, 2021
Narration: Executive Director Uriel Epshtein
- Do states have to listen to the federal government?
Republican-led legislatures across the country are passing laws declaring that federal gun control regulations are invalid, and they aren’t going to allow local law enforcement to enforce them. But can states just ignore the federal government?
- What does America owe Afghan interpreters?
American forces continue their withdrawal from Afghanistan, slated for completion by September 11th of this year. But the Taliban is on the offensive, and Afghan interpreters who helped in the U.S. war effort are being left behind. What does America owe to the Afghan citizens who helped U.S. troops?
Thursday Jun 17, 2021
Why Do All Strongmen Sound Alike?
Thursday Jun 17, 2021
Thursday Jun 17, 2021
Narration: Executive Director Uriel Epshtein
Here's what you need to know about democracy this week
- Why does every strongman sound like Trump?
Israel’s now-former prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, called the elections which ultimately brought him down the “greatest election fraud in the history of the country.”
- Who’s to blame for hyperpartisanship?
Hyperpartisanship has been on the rise for decades and seems to only be getting worse. How much can we blame just one organization?
Thursday Jun 10, 2021
Peru: One Election, Two Prospective Dictators
Thursday Jun 10, 2021
Thursday Jun 10, 2021
Narration: Advisory Board Member Rina Shah
Here's what you need to know about democracy this week:
- Why can’t Peru elect a moderate?
Peruvian elections concluded on Sunday and radical communist Pedro Castillo is likely to defeat Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of Peru’s former dictator. Why are Peruvian politics so extreme and what does this mean for global democracy?
- Mass surveillance or:
How I learned to stop worrying and love Big BrotherFacial recognition is being used to track asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border. Is it time to panic about a surveillance dystopia?
Thursday Jun 03, 2021
COVID Lab Leak: Groupthink in Action?
Thursday Jun 03, 2021
Thursday Jun 03, 2021
Voice by RDI Advisor Rina Shah
- Is groupthink threatening democracy?
- Internet nationalism is on the rise