Volya Vysotskaia is one of five Belarusian activists recently tried and convicted in absentia. Their crime? Unmasking police who beat and detained protestors in 2020. Vysotskaia and Serbian pro-democracy advocate Srdja Popovic join Steve Parks in our inaugural installment of “The Power of Many.”

Our friend Steve Parks returns to the show for a wide-ranging conversation with Emily and Siva about the aesthetics of social movements. And we unveil our plans for a new segment featuring pro-democracy activists from around the world.

In 2016, Russian trolls worked doggedly to polarize Americans more than they already were. To do it, they peddled cynicism and pandered to the belief that you can’t change anyone’s mind anyway. Our guest tries to prove them wrong.

Four years ago, ethnographer Emily Van Duyn embedded herself in a group of covert progressives in rural Texas. Does their story tell us what’s wrong with America’s political climate — or what might save it?

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.

Nonviolent protests have taken down dictators and protected civil rights. But very often they fail instead. Renowned Serbian activist Srdja Popovic outlines the key characteristics of successful movements.