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January 3, 2020

Season 2020

01. Baldwin and Buckley: Advocating and Denying Civil Rights

Nicholas Buccola on his book "The Fire is Upon Us: Baldwin, Buckley, and Race in America."

30min
January 3, 2020

02. The Battle for the Constitution and Pelosi's Originalism

Justin Driver of Yale Law on constitutional law and the struggle to preserve democracy.

30min
January 6, 2020

03. Grand Strategy for the Campus Commons and Beyond

Vassar College president Elizabeth Bradley on free speech and engaged pluralism.

30min
January 13, 2020

04. Bias, Bigotry, and Tyrannical Discourse

Robert Boyers on "The Tyranny of Virtue: Identity… and the Hunt for Political Heresies."

30min
January 20, 2020

05. The Science and Necessity of Friendship

Science journalist Lydia Denworth on the evolution, biology, and power of friendship.

30min
February 3, 2020

06. Unbecoming a Democracy

Patricia Roberts-Miller of University of Texas on demagoguery and its historical origins.

30min
February 10, 2020

07. The Kremlin’s Hack Attacks

Wired reporter Andy Greenberg discusses the next wave of Russian cyber crimes.

30min
February 18, 2020

08. Democratizing the Jury

Wesleyan University’s Sonali Chakravarti on her book "Radical Enfranchisement."

30min
February 24, 2020

09. Facts and Fears of a Pandemic

NBC News reporter Brandy Zadrozny on coronavirus, anti-vaxxers, and conspiracy-mongers.

30min
March 16, 2020

10. Breaking Up and Deradicalizing the Socials

Mother Jones’ Ali Breland on combating bigotry online and breaking up new media monopolies.

30min
March 23, 2020

11. Knowing the Enemy of Truth

Information warfare expert Molly McKew on foreign interference in US elections.

30min
March 30, 2020

12. The FEC is AWOL

Center for Responsive Politics’ Anna Massoglia on campaign finance accountability issues.

30min
April 6, 2020

13. Big Tech = Dystopia Incorporated

NBC News dystopia reporter Ben Collins on exposing deception and companies that enable it.

30min
April 13, 2020

14. The Cult of QAnon

QAnon Anonymous host Travis View on QAnon conspiracy theorists and what motivates them.

30min
April 20, 2020

15. American Demagogue

Jennifer Mercieca on "Demagogue for President: The Rhetorical Genius of Donald Trump."

30min
April 27, 2020

16. Gen Z in the Heartland

Nico Gendron of The Wall Street Journal on engaging rural youth in a Local News Fellowship.

30min
May 4, 2020

17. The Revolution is Online

Online News Association CEO Irving Washington on the future of digital news.

30min
May 11, 2020

18. The Alchemy of Us

Materials scientist Ainissa Ramirez on her new book "The Alchemy of Us."

30min
May 18, 2020

19. @V2019N

Rachel Graham on tracking COVID-19 from its inception to inform public health on Twitter.

30min
May 25, 2020

20. Hiding in Plain Sight

Sarah Kendzior on her book "Hiding in Plain Sight" and the threat of authoritarianism.

30min
June 1, 2020

21. The Youth Vote in 2020

UVA professor and coauthor of "Making Young Voters," John Holbein on civic participation.

30min
June 8, 2020

22. The Pandemic’s Prophet

Pulitzer Prize winning science journalist Laurie Garrett on predicting COVID-19.

30min
June 15, 2020

23. Army of the Decent

Lincoln Project’s John Weaver on holding people in power accountable to their oaths.

30min
June 22, 2020

24. Dystopia for Realists

"Humankind" author and historian Rutger Bregman on hope for a prosocial society.

30min
June 29, 2020

25. Renewing Democracy for Today

Garry Kasparov and Uriel Epshtein of the Renew Democracy Initiative on authoritarian rule.

30min
July 6, 2020

26. Will COVID Paralyze the Vote in November?

Mother Jones voting rights correspondent Ari Berman on the pandemic and voting turnout.

30min
July 13, 2020

27. American Hospitals...Surviving and Treating the Pandemic

Dr. Jeffrey Matthews, of U of Chicago Medicine, on hospitals’ response to the pandemic.

30min
July 20, 2020

28. America Without Law

Jack Jackson on "Law Without Future: Anti-Constitutional Politics and the American Right."

30min
July 27, 2020

29. John Lewis and The Third Reconstruction

Atlantic Magazine’s Adam Harris on John Lewis and a new Civil Rights Movement in America.

30min
August 10, 2020

30. How to Speak Justly and Bridge Divides

University of Chicago psychologist Katherine Kinzler on her new book “How You Say It.”

30min
August 17, 2020

31. Gaslighting 2020 and Comorbidities of the GOP

Republican presidential campaign veteran Stuart Stevens on his new book "It Was All a Lie."

30min
August 24, 2020

32. Will the Pandemic Mean Justice in America?

Minister, activist and Princeton scholar Nyle Fort on re-imagining a post-pandemic America.

30min
August 31, 2020

33. Political and Personal Accountability

Cong. (Ret.) Katie Hill on her new book "She Will Rise" and the battle for true equality.

30min
September 7, 2020

34. Calling Bull____ and the Threat of a Show Vaccine

Carl Bergstrom on "Calling Bull____: The Art of Skepticism in a Data-Driven World."

30min
September 14, 2020

35. Will There Be a Legitimate 2020 Election?

Election security advocate Jennifer Cohn on election oversight and hand-marked paper trail.

30min
September 21, 2020

36. Supercharging Antibodies for a COVID Vaccine

Yale University immunologist Akiko Iwasaki discusses an efficacious COVID vaccine.

30min
September 28, 2020

37. Will Trump Hoax the Nation on Election Night?

CNN’s Brian Stetler on the danger of disinformation on Election Night, Week, and Month.

30min
October 5, 2020

38. American Autocracy

U.S. democracy and authoritarianism.

30min
October 7, 2020

39. After 200K+ Dead, Vote For Your Life

Civil Rights leader and MSNBC’s Rev. Al Sharpton on the mobilization of Black voters.

30min
October 13, 2020

40. Four More Years of Social Media Failure

MIT scholar Sinan Aral on how to regulate social media to have a constructive impact.

30min
October 19, 2020

41. Voting is the Civil Rights Movement of 2020

Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law’s Kristen Clarke on justice at the polls.

30min
October 26, 2020

42. The Flight of Humane Poetics

Julie Swarstad Johnson and Christopher Cokinos on their new book "Beyond Earth’s Edge."

30min
November 2, 2020

43. Chinese Hegemony

CSIS fellow Jon Hillman on his new book "The Emperor’s New Road" and relations with China.

30min
November 9, 2020

44. Our Brains on Totalitarianism

Neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett on her book "Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain."

30min
November 16, 2020

45. Republicanism vs. Trumpism

Lincoln Project’s Mike Madrid on Georgia’s Senate run-off election and defeating Trumpism.

30min
November 24, 2020

46. The Strongman in the USA

Historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat on Trump’s defiance of the 2020 election results and history.

30min
November 30, 2020