How to imagine a better future for democ...

Gold may glitter, but the hidden cost of mining it is devastating. Amazon researcher and TED Fellow Claudia Vega exposes how mercury pollution from artisanal gold mining poisons local communities and destroys rainforests — and shows why protecting the planet is far more valuable ... Show More

It took alcohol 200 years to go from scientific discovery to industrial revolution, but tech innovator Xu Hao says we can’t afford to wait that long to tackle the climate crisis. He explores why most climate solutions are still stuck in labs — despite breakthrough science that ca ... Show More

History has been written by whoever controls the dominant fuel of the era — until now, says renewables entrepreneur Matt Tilleard. He explains why, as the clean energy transition ramps up, we’re moving from a world where energy comes from burning fuels to one where it will come f ... Show More

David Runciman is author of "How Democracy Ends" and host of the Talking Politics podcast. We spoke about what the function of democracy is, the significance of the generational divide when voting, the relationship between corporations and government, anarcho-syndacalism & the ri ... Show More

The history of American democracy has always been fraught when it comes to race. Yet no matter how elusive it may be, Harvard Kennedy School professors Khalil Gibran Muhammad and Archon Fung say true multiracial democracy not only remains a worthy goal, but achieving it is critic ... Show More

Original broadcast date: December 4, 2020. Last year's election saw historic voter turnout. But in a divided democracy, how else can we commit to our civic duties? This hour, Baratunde Thurston joins Manoush with ideas on how to citizen. Learn more about sponsor message choices: ... Show More

For better or worse, democracy and epistemology are intertwined. For one thing, politics is partly a matter of gathering, assessing, and applying information. And this can be done responsibly or incompetently. At least since Plato, a leading critique of democracy has focused on t ... Show More

History professor John Keane argues we need to harness the radical potential of democracy or the despots and demagogues will win. 

Our democracy is an evolving machine. The machine was built by a small group of people who were all men and looked the same. Over time the strength of American society is that it has grown and become more diverse and become very different. Our democracy has in an inefficient, epi ... Show More

Jason Brennan is an American philosopher and business professo at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University. Brennan writes about democratic theory, the ethics of voting, competence and power, freedom, and the moral foundations of commercial society. (Wikipedia.) ... Show More

This year's election saw historic voter turnout. But in a divided democracy, how else can we commit to our civic duties? This hour, Baratunde Thurston joins Manoush with ideas on how to citizen. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Po ... Show More

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the origins of democracy. In the Gettysburg Address Abraham Lincoln called it “Government of the people, by the people, for the people”, but the word democracy appears nowhere in the American Constitution; the French Revolution was fought for Liber ... Show More

Original broadcast date: December 4, 2020. The 2020 election saw historic voter turnout. But in a divided democracy, how else can we commit to our civic duties? This hour, Baratunde Thurston joins Manoush with ideas on how to citizen. Learn more about sponsor message choices: pod ... Show More