Once the party of the working class, the Democratic Party is now the home of highly educated citizens with progressive social views who prefer credentialed experts to make policy decisions, while Republicans have become the populist champions of white voters who increasingly distrust scientists, journalists, universities, Hollywood, and even corporations. The result of this new …
When you experience grief, the world can feel overwhelming. It can be difficult to imagine a future. You feel lost and hopeless. This can happen because of the death of a parent, partner, sibling, child or even a longtime companion. Or it can occur because of the death of a relationship, marriage or even a …
We have been talking about returning manufacturing jobs to the Rust Belt of the Midwest and the once vibrant manufacturing hubs of the Northeast for a long time. Almost since much manufacturing moved offshore about 50 years ago, leaving behind empty husks of buildings, environmental damage and broken lives. Yet doing so is easier said …
Interconnected technological change is happening more rapidly than at any time in history and on such a scale that its impacts will be profound in fields as diverse as health, food production, and the strength of the overall economy. It may even bail us out from our assaults on the planet. In a clear-eyed and …
There was a time that America sensed that the right leader came along at the right time and pulled us through many crises–war, The Depression, pandemics and other economic travails. I am not certain we feel that way about some of the recent commanders in chief. Yet history reminds us we have had many forgotten …
Math is used by campaign strategists to help politicians decide where to travel and spend money when running for office. The same kinds of calculations can help ordinary citizens make the best use of their time and resources. And for change agents who want a more representative democracy, these simulations and ‘what-if’s’ might give us …
When we think of institutions that define welcoming spaces to convene and conduct business in virtually every community in America the local library is first and foremost. It represents the one place in which you can build social cohesion, promote civic renewal, and advance the ideals of a healthy democracy. And where you can get …
We have been the powerhouse on the world’s stage since WWII and we virtually stood alone as a dominant force since 1989 when the Berlin Wall came down. While there have clearly been wobbles since, like the Iraq debacle, we now must envision a new era in foreign policy, both because of the rise of …
The guest on this podcast is pretty remarkable, not only because he’s willing to say that the polling industry got things wrong, but why. And he doesn’t exclude himself. Yet he has enough self-awareness to admit that not knowing who, among those polled, is coming out to vote really makes this job of polling a …
Our guest on today’s podcast, Rafael Martinez, is an assistant professor of Southwest Borderlands at Arizona State University. There he focuses on immigration, migration, the US-Mexico Borderlands, and the American Southwest. Through that work he demonstrates how communities along the US-Mexico border contribute to the social, political, and economic fabric of the US. He calls …