Nathan Stoltzfus is the Dorothy and Jonathan Rintels Professor of Holocaust Studies at Florida State University and author of Hitler's Compromises: Coercion and Consensus in Nazi Germany. We discuss how Hitler used popularity, legitimacy, and ideology to build power for himself and the Nazi Party.

Alice Marwick is Associate Professor of Communication and a Principal Researcher at the Center for Information Technology and Public Life at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. We discuss whether social media can build and sustain political movements, help politicians win elections, and how it has changed the way we interact with politics.

Jess Kutch is co-founder of Coworker.org, a platform that deploys digital tools, data, and strategies to help workers experiment with power-building and win meaningful change in the 21st century economy. We discuss the importance of worker voice, organizing in the digital age, and practicing democracy in the workplace.

Adam Cohen, senior writer for Time magazine and prior member of The New York Times editorial board, is the author of Supreme Inequality: The Supreme Court's Fifty-Year Battle for a More Unjust America. We discuss the power of the Supreme Court, the far-reaching consequences of the court’s decisions, and the decades-long consistency of rulings against America’s poor.

Nick Tilsen is the President and CEO of NDN Collective, an organization led by Indigenous People that builds Indigenous power and restores Indigenous self-determination. We discuss decolonization, revitalizing Indigenous cultures and languages, and creating sustainable solutions on Indigenous terms.

K. Sabeel Rahman is an Associate Professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School, and co-author of Civic Power: Rebuilding American Democracy in an Era of Crisis. We discuss the concept of civic power, putting policy-making decisions in the hands of affected communities, and building an equitable economy for all Americans.

Alex Hertel-Fernandez is Associate Professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, and the author of State Capture: How Conservative Activists, Big Businesses, and Wealthy Donors Reshaped the American States – and the Nation. We discuss the efficacy of controlling state legislatures and implementing public policies to reshape the political terrain.

Theda Skocpol is Professor of Government at Harvard University, where Caroline Tervo is a Research Editor. They edited Upending American Politics: Polarizing Parties, Ideological Elites, and Citizen Activists from the Tea Party to the Anti-Trump Resistance, which looks at organized collective action on the Left and Right and their impact on state, local, and national politics.

Drew Kromer built a Democratic party precinct in Davidson, NC, recently served as the Vice Chair of the National Council of College Democrats, and is currently a PLEO delegate for Vice President Biden. We discuss the importance of local politics, building a deep bench of candidates and volunteers, and the need to show up and be engaged.

Eitan D. Hersh is associate professor at Tufts University and author of Politics is for Power: How to Move Beyond Political Hobbyism, Take Action, and Make Real Change. We discuss how politics is the way we solve our society’s problems and why building political power is the key to making our civic engagement effective.

Alexandra Minna Stern is a professor at the University of Michigan and author of Proud Boys and the White Ethnostate: How the Alt-Right Warped the American Imagination. We discuss the meta-political work of the Alt-Right in mainstreaming white supremacy and ways to counter this ideology.

Nicole Hemmer is a political historian and the author of Messengers of the Right: Conservative Media and the Transformation of American Politics. We discuss the birth of conservative media activism, the different way conservatives understand truth, and their impact on American society.

Peter Loge is the founding Director of the Project on Ethics in Political Communication and an Associate Professor at The George Washington University. We discuss making American civil religion the moral backbone of our body politic through ethical communication, substantive press coverage of politics and policy, and promoting the truth.

Nancy Rosenblum is Professor of Ethics in Politics and Government at Harvard University and co-author of A Lot of People are Saying: The New Conspiracism and the Assault on Democracy. We discuss why this kind of conspiracism is deeply destructive to our society and how enacting democracy can protect reality and relegimitate our institutions.

Lee C. McIntyre is the author of Post-Truth and a Research Fellow at the Center for Philosophy and History of Science at Boston University. We discuss what post-truth means and where it started, what the function of fake news is, and how propaganda plays a role in subordinating a population.

Thomas O. Melia is the Washington Director of PEN America, a non-profit organization that champions free speech and defends the liberties that make it possible. We talk about authoritarians worldwide consolidating power under cover of COVID, the ever-encroaching surveillance state, and the public perception of Trump’s pandemic response.

Leah Stokes is a professor at UCSB and the author of Short Circuiting Policy. She works on energy, climate and environmental politics. We talk about the successes and failures of clean energy policy in the US, and how energy companies are fighting back against decarbonizing the energy system.

Jerry Taylor is the President and co-founder of the Niskanen Center, a non-partisan think tank that works to promote an open society. We talk about his conversion from climate denier to climate advocate, working behind the scenes to persuade Republican lawmakers to act on climate change, and why a carbon tax is the most effective public policy to do so.

Michael Baranowski is the founder and one of the hosts on the popular podcast The Politics Guys. The podcast is a place for bipartisan, rational, and civil debate on American politics and policy. We discuss why civil dialogue is critical in a democracy, the value of keeping an open mind, and the relative strength of our institutions and electoral system.

Jane Suiter and David Farrell helped co-found the Irish Citizens’ Assembly, a deliberative forum that puts citizens at the heart of the considerations for constitutional and political reforms. We discuss how regular citizens can be trusted to weigh the evidence, make nuanced policy decisions, and become deep stakeholders in civic life.