Episode Details

So if democracy is under pressure, what role do stories, culture, and imagination play in defending it?

In this episode, we're joined by Alan Jenkins, civil rights lawyer, former Ford foundation program director, Harvard Law School professor, and now comic book author, for a wide ranging conversation about story making and telling as a tool for social change. From Supreme Court litigation to graphic novels, Alan Jenkins traces how law, narrative, and culture intersect when democracy is at stake.

So in our conversation, we explore three big ideas I think matter a lot right now:

1. First, why is story inseparable from power?And how law, policy, and culture work together, whether we acknowledge it or not, to shape public belief and behavior.
2. Next, how popular culture and art have historically been used to confront authoritarianism. From Superman and Captain America to global protest movements that borrow symbol, humor, and myth.
3. And finally, what hybrid 21st century leadership looks like and why flexibility, empathy, and imagination may be as important as specialized expertise in this moment.

NOTABLE MENTIONS

People

Bill Cleveland

Host of ART IS CHANGE and founder of the Center for the Study of Art & Community.

Alan Jenkins

Harvard Law School professor; former civil rights and DOJ lawyer; former Director of Human Rights at the Ford Foundation; co-author of 1/6: The Graphic Novel.

Anthony S. Fauci

Former Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; referenced in discussion of ACT UP and activist pressure shaping public institutions.

Charles Lindbergh

Aviator and political figure cited in discussion of American isolationism and authoritarian sympathies prior to World War II.

Pablo Picasso

Artist whose painting Guernica is referenced as a defining cultural response to fascist violence.

Organizations & Institutions

Harvard Law School

Institution where Alan Jenkins teaches courses on civil rights law, narrative, and Supreme Court jurisprudence.

NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund

Civil rights organization where Jenkins worked early in his legal career.

United States Department of Justice

Referenced in connection with Jenkins’s Supreme Court litigation experience.

Ford Foundation

Global philanthropy where Jenkins served as Director of Human Rights.

Pop Culture Collaborative