DIY Democracy

I spoke with journalist and author Osita Nwanevu about his recently published book, The Right of the People: The Case for a New American Founding . In this episode, we talked about the first half of the book: how do we...

I spoke with Lily Geismer and Brent Cebul about their recent book, Mastery and Drift: Professional Class Liberals Since the 1960s. We discussed what we mean when we talk about liberal as a political philosophy, and how...

I interviewed Brian Jones about his book Black History is for Everyone, in which he details his personal journey to understanding the truth and importance of that statement. You can find the book Black History is for...

For this episode, I spoke with Prof. Manisha Sinha of the University of Connecticut, historian and author of the recent book The Rise and Fall of the Second American Republic: Reconstruction, 1860-1920 . We spoke about...

For this episode, I spoke with Prof. Manisha Sinha of the University of Connecticut, historian and author of the recent book The Rise and Fall of the Second American Republic: Reconstruction, 1860-1920 . We spoke about...

I spoke with Dr. Vaughn Joy, author of a recent book on Christmas movies and politics. We spoke about Frank Capra, his celebration of America through film, and his ostracization as an alleged Communist, despite that...

I spoke with Kim Kelly, labor journalist and author of the recent American labor history: Fight Like Hell about the book and about what we can learn from labor history to help us today. Music is by Evan Schaeffer.

I spoke with Professor Sara Bronin to learn about zoning: what is it, what is its purpose, and how does it work. Link to her book on bookshop: Key to the City: How Zoning Shapes Our World Link to her website tool to...

In advance of an upcoming interview about democracy with Osita Nwanevu, I revisited a 2020 interview with Lawrence Lessig about what the rule of law is, in order to be a better defender of and advocate for it. It's aged...

I spoke with Nicole Williams, a Philadelphia activist and organizer with Mt. Airy Community Fridge & Pantry about the work that the community fridge does as mutual aid and about mutual aid more broadly. Music is by Evan...

I spoke with Dr. Jess Calarco about her recent book, Holding It Together: How Women Became America's Safety Net . In the first half, which posted in the previous episode, Dr. Calarco shared how there are many...

I spoke with Dr. Jess Calarco about her recent book, Holding It Together: How Women Became America's Safety Net . Dr. Calarco shared how there are many labor-intensive tasks that are required for society to run in its...

I spoke to Josh Shepperd about his book, Shadow of the New Deal. In his book, Shepperd analyzed the history of how public media developed in the United States. You can find his book at bookshop here...

I spoke with Professor Ciara Torres-Spelliscy about her book, Corporatocracy, and about how money influences politics and what we can do about it. You can buy her book at Bookshop ( Corporatocracy: How to Protect...

I revisit an interview with Annette Gordon-Reed ( @agordonreed ) on her book, On Juneteenth and consider how best to celebrate the history of the holiday and build on and defend its legacy. For more Juneteenth...