Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchIs America in a third reconstruction?
Episode 242
Peniel E. Joseph, author of The Third Reconstruction: America's Struggle for Racial Justice in the 21st Century, joins us this week to discuss how th…
2 years, 11 months ago
Between democracy and autocracy
Episode 241
Between democracy and autocracy is an anocracy, defined by political scientists as a country that has elements of both forms of government — usually …
2 years, 11 months ago
Living in a fragmented democracy
Episode 240
At the end of March, millions of Americans lost access to Medicaid as pandemic-era expansions to the program were rolled back. At the same time, Nort…
3 years ago
Feet in 2 Worlds: Immigrants in a Divided Country
This week, we bring you an episode from Feet in 2 Worlds and its series Immigrants in a Divided Country, which explores the current political landsca…
3 years ago
Harnessing the power of juries
Episode 239
Juries have been at the center of some of the most emotionally charged moments of political life, especially in high profile cases like the trial of …
3 years ago
Civic learning amid the culture wars
Episode 238
More than ever, civic learning is needed to ensure each and every person across this country has the necessary tools to engage as members of our self…
3 years, 1 month ago
Finding the "we" in civic engagement
People who want to improve the world often encounter problems of collective action (how to get many individuals to act in concert), of discourse (how…
3 years, 1 month ago
Why politics makes us depressed — and what we can do about it
Episode 237
Many of us can conjure moments when politics made us feel sad. But how often do those feelings translate into more serious forms of depression or oth…
3 years, 1 month ago
What will it take to make democracy more representative?
Episode 236
Why has the underrepresentation of women and racial minorities in elected office proved so persistent? Some experts suggest that women lack sufficien…
3 years, 2 months ago
Separating news from noise
Episode 235
How much news is too much? Or not enough? News Over Noise, the new podcast from Penn State's News Literacy Initiative explores that question and offe…
3 years, 2 months ago