PODCAST

Democracy Nerd

"Democracy Nerd" is a podcast that asks the question "How do we ensure a more perfect union?" This podcast shines a light on hidden and overt threats facing American democracy. Policy proposals and people-powered movements that help ensure a healthy democracy will be celebrated.

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All Episodes

7120995840:00

Run For Something w/ Amanda Litman

Democracy Nerd ·

2023/05/08

Have you ever thought "Maybe *I* should run for office?" If so, then Amanda Litman has some advice for you: do it. Amanda co-founded Run For Something on Trump's inauguration day in 2017, with a goal to help progressive candidates get elected into office. Amanda joins the program to discuss the history of the organization and offer key advice to first-time candidates.

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8249502420:00

This Happened Here: The Trumping of America w/ Paul...

Democracy Nerd ·

2023/05/01

Author Paul Street joins the podcast to discuss his tenth book, "This Happened Here: Amerikaners, Neoloberals and the Trumping of America." Although those who warned that Trump would usher in an era of acceptable fascism were met with scorn or ridicule, Paul points out that they were correct. And may require a people-powered movement beyond the ballot box to ensure that Trump-branded fascism doesn't take a stronger hold.

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533197440:00

Anatomy of Fake News w/ Nolan Higdon

Democracy Nerd ·

2023/04/20

In this excerpt as guest host of the Thom Hartmann Show, Jefferson speaks with Professor Nolan Higdon, author of "The Anatomy of Fake News" and "Let's Agree to Disagree: A Critical Thinking Guide to Communication, Conflict Management, and Critical Media Literacy," about historic examples of fake news, how to take steps to spot and resist fake news, and why four minutes taken out of 41,000 hours of video doesn't prove that January 6th was a peaceful sight-seeing tour

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6790813380:00

Understanding the Limits of Black Capitalism w/...

Democracy Nerd ·

2023/04/17

Francisco Perez, Associate Professor Economics at the University of Utah, joins the podcast to discuss his essay "How Do We Build Back Black Wealth? Understanding the Limits of Black Capitalism," pointing out that a racially-diverse oligarchy is not the ideal end result for the purposes of economic and racial justice.

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533197440:00

Anatomy of Fake News w/ Nolan Higdon

Democracy Nerd ·

2023/03/20

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767457300:00

Political Disinformation and Misinformation: A Primer...

Democracy Nerd ·

2023/03/17

In this segment filling in as guest host for the Thom Hartmann Program, Jefferson speaks with Adam Berinsky, the director of MIT's Political Experiments Research Lab, who provides a primer on political disinformation & misinformation, including how each term is defined and also what (if anything) can be done to stop the spread of political disinformation & misinformation.

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577201440:00

Polls Show Bipartisan Support for President Biden's...

Democracy Nerd ·

2023/03/16

Filling in as guest host for The Thom Hartmann Program, Jefferson speaks with Grace Adcox, Polling Analyst for Data for Progress, who parses the data showing bipartisan support from voters for President Biden's legislative agenda, including the protection--even expansion--of Social Security. Little wonder Ron DeSantis keeps talking about "stopping woke," whatever that means.

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2608324320:00

We Need Senators, Not Partisan Hacks: A Senate Update...

Democracy Nerd ·

2023/03/08

Ira Shapiro, a longtime Capitol Hill staffer and Senate historian, joins the podcast to provide the current pulse of the U.S. Senate, touching on whether any GOP Senators will challenge Donald Trump in the Republican primary; the role age plays in determining a Senator's effectiveness; and whether the current Senate can continue last session's "comeback."

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3641348640:00

Using Sortition to Solve "Wicked Problems" w/ Hugh Pope

Democracy Nerd ·

2023/03/01

In the 1980s, noted classicist Maurice Pope wrote a manuscript about how sortition--or lottery-based democracy--should be implemented for a more fair and representative society. This manuscript proceeded to be rejected by each publishing house that had the chance. Decades later, this manuscript, titled "The Keys to Democracy: Sortition as a New Model For Citizen Power," is now seeing the light of day due to the diligent efforts of Maurice's son Hugh, who edited and revised the

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4481411520:00

COVID and Inequality w/ Stephen Bezruchka

Democracy Nerd ·

2023/02/20

Can an unhealthy and unequal democracy meet the needs of its people? The COVID pandemic exacerbated inequality in the United States, reaching levels not seen in a century. Not only do high levels of inequality pose a threat to democracy, but an unequal society is also an unhealthy society. Or so argues Dr. Stephen Bezruchka, faculty member of the University of Washington's School of Public Health and author of "Inequality Kills Us All: COVID-19's Health Lessons For Us All."

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3227717760:00

Spotchecking the Enumerators to Prevent Curbstoning:...

Democracy Nerd ·

2023/02/14

Dan Bouk, Chair of History at Colgate University, provides insights of the 1940 U.S. census from his book "Democracy's Data: The Hidden Stories in the U.S. Census and How to Read Them" Plus: an emergency NBA trade deadline podcast.

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5008070160:00

Using Honesty to Hold Political Liars Accountable w/...

Democracy Nerd ·

2023/02/06

Politicians aren't exactly known to be a paragon of virtue and honesty. Chances are, if they don't lie at least a little bit they don't stand a good chance of getting elected. But does this mean everyone running for office needs to go full-blown George Santos? What if honesty is used to extract negative cost to lying politicians? That is the noble idea proposed by Professors Sarah Croco, Jared McDonald, and Candace Turitto, co-authors of a paper on the topic.

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3491363520:00

The Constitution Should Not Be a Suicide Pact w/ Rick...

Democracy Nerd ·

2023/01/17

For the first episode of 2023, the podcast is joined by Rick Hasen--operator of the Election Law Blog and one of the top current democracy nerds--who explains why the Supreme Court needs to re-examine its decisions in the need to balance free speech interests with the need to have free & fair elections.

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702026940:00

Direct Democracy, Canadian Style w/ Peter MacLeod

Democracy Nerd ·

2022/12/03

In this excerpt while filling in as guest host of the Thom Hartmann Program, Jefferson speaks with Peter MacLeod, a principal from Toronto-based MASS LBP, who assists the Canadian government with the recruitment and running of citizens' assemblies, allowing members of the public to weigh in on policy decisions. Sometimes the best way to make sure democracy works is to have even more democracy.

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550641360:00

Should Everything Be Privatized? w/ Donald Cohen

Democracy Nerd ·

2022/12/02

Should everything be privatized? What goods or services should be the responsibility of the private sector? What is the proper role of government oversight? In this excerpt from The Thom Hartmann program, Jefferson fills in as host and discusses these issues with Donald Cohen, Founder and Executive Director of In the Public Interest, and author of "The Privatization of Everything: How the Plunder of Public Goods Transformed America and How We Can Fight Back."

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773767380:00

2022 Midterm Elections: A Red Ripple Instead of a Red...

Democracy Nerd ·

2022/11/30

In this excerpt while filling in as guest host of The Thom Hartmann Program, Jefferson speaks with Grace Adcox, polling analyst for Data for Progress who helps explain the circumstances and variables that helped turn the expected "Red Wave" in the 2022 midterm elections into a "Red Ripple."

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2109218400:00

Democracy Day w/ Joe Amditis

Democracy Nerd ·

2022/11/07

September 15, 2022 was the first-ever "Democracy Day," a collaboration with newsrooms across the country in which journalists and opinion writers focused on the current threats facing American democracy. This effort was spearheaded by the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University in New Jersey. The podcast is joined Joe Amditis, the Center's Assistant Director, who describes the various steps needed to turn Democracy Day from an idea to reality, and what to

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3649164480:00

The Role of Education When Democracy is Under Attack...

Democracy Nerd ·

2022/10/24

What role does education play when democracy is under attack? How important is it to teach controversial issues when elected officials would prefer to prohibit such discussion? What steps should educators to consider discussing these issues, both inside the classroom and beyond? A panel of guests including Judy Pace from the University of San Francisco, Eric Soto-Shed from Harvard University, and Elizabeth Yeager Washington from University of Florida join the podcast to provide

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3432726000:00

The Politics of a Darkening America w/ Keith Boykin

Democracy Nerd ·

2022/10/03

Keith Boykin--regular contributor to CNN and CNBC and the co-founder of the National Black Justice Coalition--joins Democracy Nerd to discuss his recent book "Race Against Time: The Politics of a Darkening America," inspired by the 2020 George Floyd / Black Lives Matter protests, and provides a sneak peek of his upcoming book "Quitting: Why I Left My Job to Live a Life of Freedom"

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4017094560:00

Restoring the Right to Vote w/ Desmond Meade

Democracy Nerd ·

2022/07/25

As the Executive Director of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, Desmond Meade helped lead the successful passage of Florida's Amendment 4, restoring voting rights to over a million returning citizens who had completed prison sentences yet were unable to participate in society. Desmond joins the podcast to explain how this Amendment received far-reaching bipartisan support, and why it matters so much to democracy to have voting rights restored.

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