Julian Brave NoiseCat is Vice President of Policy and Strategy at Data for Progress, Narrative Change Director of The Natural History Museum, author, and a First Nations member. We discuss the need for climate justice, what we can learn from our indigenous communities, and why durable clean energy policy is key to stopping climate change.

Thomas Abt is a Senior Fellow at the Council on Criminal Justice, and author of Bleeding Out, The Devastating Consequences of Urban Violence--and a Bold New Plan for Peace in the Streets. We talk about why violence must be tackled first, how it is the lynchpin of concentrated urban poverty, and what effective violence reduction strategies should look like.

Daniel Markovits is the author of The Meritocracy Trap as well as Guido Calabresi Professor of Law at Yale Law School. His book places meritocracy at the center of rising economic inequality and social political dysfunction. We talk about how the myth of meritocracy feeds inequality and erodes democracy.

Robert L. Tsai is a law professor at American University and an expert in constitutional law. His latest book, Practical Equality, is a call to arms for equality and social progress. We discuss why equality is essential for citizens in a democracy and how the law can often serve as the primary mechanism to ensure justice.

David Greising is the President and CEO of the Better Government Association, Illinois’ only non-partisan full-service watchdog organization. Through investigative reporting and policy advocacy, BGA works towards transparency, efficiency, and accountability in government. We discuss the value of exposing corruption and empowering citizens to engage and act.

Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice host Civics 101, the podcast refresher course about the basics of how American democracy works. We discuss the importance of empowering citizens and understanding the rules of our complex system, as well as the enduring repercussions of slavery in the United States.

Louise Dubé is the Executive Director of iCivics, an organization whose mission is to cultivate a new generation of students for thoughtful and active citizenship. We discuss the critical importance of high-quality civics education, the role of iCivics games in effective learning, and the necessity for robust investment and legislation in this space.

Billy Bragg is an acclaimed songwriter, activist, and author. We recently sat down in front of a live audience at Columbia University's Holder Initiative to discuss his latest book, The Three Dimensions of Freedom, the current state of Western Democracy, how we got here, and what we can do to make it better.

Liz Willen is the Editor in Chief of the Hechinger Report, an independent, nonprofit, and award-winning newsroom that covers inequality and innovation in education. We discuss who is attending and completing college, who is not, and why higher education must be more widely accessible to all Americans.

James Knickman is a health economist and the Director of the Health Evaluation and Analytics Lab, a joint initiative on health policy and population health at NYU. We discuss the necessary components that contribute to better health outcomes in populations and how we can achieve them going forward.

Robing Steinberg is the founder and CEO of The Bail Project, an unprecedented national effort to combat mass incarceration by transforming the pretrial system in the US. We discuss how cash bail has been used to incarcerate millions of innocent people, what the collateral cost of this system is to our society, and how we should reconceive it.

Lynn Paltrow is the Founder and Executive Director of National Advocates for Pregnant Women. We take a deep dive into the consequences of recognizing fetal personhood for the human rights of women and how reproductive health is at the center of the fight for equal rights.

Melissa Mark-Viverito is the former Speaker of the New York City Council and co-founder of the 21 in ’21 Initiative. She argues that electing women into government is critical for our society and democracy because their perspectives and experiences need to be represented in budgets, public policy, and legislation.

“I would tell people to encourage them to participate in the census because when they are counted, they are seen, and resources can come to your community.” This interview with Ashley Allison of The Leadership Conference about the important role of the census for our democracy was originally released on October 5, 2018. She speaks...

Micah White is the lifelong activist who co-created Occupy Wall Street and the author of The End of Protest. He is also co-founder of Activist Graduate School, which is taught by, and for, experienced activists. We discuss the limitations of contemporary protest, how protest and activism can be revitalized, and whether the time for a revolution is now.

In our interview with Jackie Zammuto of WITNESS, she provided a clear and comprehensive explanation of what to do when recording video. Listen to this how-to guide to learn the best way to conduct yourself if you ever have a chance to take a video of human rights abuse. For more information, please visit the …

Jackie Zammuto leads the programmatic work in the United States of WITNESS, an organization that makes it possible for anyone, anywhere to use video and technology to protect and defend human rights. We discuss how to use video more strategically and effectively for change, and how videos bring a human perspective to big complex challenges.

This interview with former Congressman Beto O’Rourke was originally released on May 5, 2018. We are reposting this episode because he is now a candidate for the highest office of the land. He is again running a people-powered campaign, visiting as many communities as possible in order to listen to the needs and concerns of every day Americans.