Past, Present, Future
With this live taping from West Lafayette, Ind., we close out season four. Three experts on Black Power, women’s movements, and Democracy’s discontents join Siva and Will onstage to discuss what the past has to teach us about defending - and improving - government by the people.
Saving Social Media
Facebook and Twitter have helped topple dictators and foment social movements. They also have unimaginable power over how people communicate and what they understand about the world. Hear what two pols have to say on what lawmakers can do to save the internet — and democracy.
In Ukraine, Hell — and Hope
By UN and U.S. estimates, as many as 20,000 soldiers have been killed in Russia’s war on Ukraine. Many more civilians have likely perished. Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s end game remains unclear; but one Ukrainian-born journalist finds hope amid the rubble, for his native country and its enemies.
Broken News
More than half of American newspapers are now controlled by financial firms. And while media moguls wring more from smaller staffs to squeeze out bigger profits, journalism hangs in the balance. Two seasoned j-profs share their hopes for the news business in the 21st century.
Criminal Laws
University of Virginia historian Deborah Kang unpacks the racist history behind American immigration law. Plus, two federal public defenders tell us how they’re fighting back against a discriminatory system in court — and winning.
Learning Curbed
School board meetings have been getting unruly lately, with parents decrying lessons on race and gender that sometimes aren’t even taught. The outrage may be manufactured, but the frustration it echoes is real, historian Natalia Petrzela says: Genuine shifts in public education have met pandemic fatigue.
Crisis of Faith
The power of white evangelical leaders in the United States has reached a kind of zenith. President Trump helped make their dreams possible — but Sarah Palin before him laid the rhetorical groundwork, historian Anthea Butler says. So did a little-known Supreme Court ruling in 1971.
False Flag
With a single video posted on social media, a little-known pastor launched a mass movement that helped oust the longtime president of Zimbabwe. But after a military coup kept the ruling party in power, pro-democracy groups splintered. So the struggle goes on.
Titans of Tech
The technologies developed in Silicon Valley launched Americans into space and laid the groundwork for the internet. But defusing the threats that Big Tech poses for self-government will take social and political innovation — not more gadgets or cleverer code.