American Democracy Lab

Host Alan Lambert welcomes Dr. Nancy Thomas, director of the Institute for Democracy & Higher Education at Tufts University. In this podcast, we discuss the dynamics of civic learning, students' participation in the democratic process, and issues of free speech on university campuses.

The founders of the US argued the necessity of a robust system of public education to support democracy. One of US higher education’s missions was to foster an educated populace who could engage in debate and dialogue. Over the past century, the role of higher education in the US democratic has shifted, and, recently, has become highly politicized. This episode will discuss the current and potential role of higher education in this civic moment.

Dr. Nancy Thomas directs the Institute for Democracy & Higher Education (a/k/a IDHE) at Tufts University.  Launched nearly ten years ago, IDHE is what’s called an applied research center, meaning their research informs learning and practice. IDHE has five areas of research:  college student voting, campus climates for political learning and participation (in other words, “what’s in the water at that place?”), political discussion, classroom teaching methods around matters of public concern, and higher education’s role in a democracy in question. In case you haven’t made this connection, Dr. Thomas designed and launched NSLVE (“n-solve”), the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement. NSLVE reports tell us how many of Wash U students voted, with breakdowns by demographics like age and gender, and field of study. She also has a long history of studying discussion, free speech, and inclusion on campuses. Her passion, besides skiing and kayaking and her kids, is around higher education’s role in reinventing democracy to be more inclusive, equitable, and just. She holds a doctorate from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and, as a loyal mid-westerner, a law degree from Case Western Reserve University.

In part two of our conversation revisiting the insurrection at the US Capitol Building on January 6, 2021, guests Richard Gephardt and Zach Wamp discuss the history of elections in the United States and identify potential reforms that could increase trust in the system, and offer their advice to current members of Congress on how to bridge the widening gap between Republicans and Democrats to restore faith in our democracy.

This episode concludes a two-part conversation about January 6, 2021, and launches the second season of American Democracy Lab.

American Democracy Lab returns for season two by revisiting the insurrection at the US Capitol Building on the one-year anniversary of the event through a special two-part conversation.

Our guests, the Honorable Richard Gephardt and Zach Wamp, spent much of their careers working inside the Capitol Building as members of the US House of Representatives. In this conversation, they reflect on January 6, 2021, recounting where they were when they first heard about the attack and their efforts as members of bipartisan groups focused on election integrity before and after the November 2020 election to restore trust in our election system at a time of increasing polarization.

Don't miss part two of the conversation in which our guests discuss the legacy of January 6, 2021, available now.

How do we build trust among Americans who have turned their back on the truth? How can we heal the deep divisions in our country? Host Alan Lambert welcomes author, lecturer, and journalist Anne Nelson to discuss the eroding trust in our democracy through a conversation about influence and information, an exploration of the Council for National Policy, and more.

Our Guest

Anne Nelson is an author and lecturer in the fields of international affairs, media, and human rights. Since 2003 Nelson has been teaching at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), where her classes and research explore how digital media can support the underserved populations of the world through public health, education and culture. She is most recently the author of Shadow Network: Media, Money, and the Secret Hub of the Radical Right.

The fate of our democracy is increasingly entwined in the systems that govern and guide our economy, culture, environment, and more. Guest Nate Hagens and host Alan Lambert discuss big questions like: How is energy related to climate change and what does this imply about future? Why are climate and energy issues so important to our democracy and future? And, more.

Our Guest

Nate Hagens is an adjunct professor at University of Minnesota, Executive Director of Energy and Our Future, and Co-Director of Systemic Economic Response Initiative. Formerly in the finance industry at Lehman Brothers and Salomon Brothers, since 2003 Nate has shifted his focus to understanding the interrelationships between energy, environment, and finance and the implication this synthesis has for human futures.

Voting rights legislation recently enacted in Georgia and elsewhere across the country, and the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, each provides critical frames to explore issues of race, power, and privilege in our democracy. This episode tackles questions related to race in our democracy surrounding these events, including: What is the legacy of racial violence in our electoral politics? And what would it take for all people to feel like they’re part of our democracy?

Our Guests

Dr. David Cunningham is the Department Chair and Professor of Sociology at Washington University in St. Louis. His research, focused on racial contention and its legacies, has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, and the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation. Professor Cunningham's past work centers on the Ku Klux Klan, in particular the complex roles that the KKK played in various communities throughout the 1960s and its enduring impacts on contemporary voting patterns and crime rates.

Dr. Geoff Ward is a Professor of African and African-American Studies and faculty affiliate in the Department of Sociology and American Culture Studies Program at Washington University in St. Louis. Dr. Ward’s scholarship examines the haunting legacies of historical racial violence and implications for redress.

Division, partisanship, polarization – these are all terms we consistently hear in current news headlines about the state of our citizenry and political landscape. Much of the conversation and argument about contemporary politics and social activity is about individual and collective anger and rage.  But these words are often used in vague and amorphous ways.

Episode 2 of the American Democracy Lab podcast will help us understand what anger means, particularly at this moment, and how we can build a more United States.

Dr. Peter Kastor (Guest Host) is chair of the History Department.  He teaches about and studies the American Presidency.  A regular guest on St. Louis Public Radio and other broadcasts, he’s also written about the Presidency for outlets including The Huffington Post, The Conversation, and Fortune Magazine.

Dr. Betsy Sinclair is a Professor of Political Science at Washington University. Her research interests include American politics and political methodology with an emphasis on individual political behavior.

Dr. Alan Lambert is an associate professor of psychology at Washington University. The overarching focus of Professor Lambert’s research is the cognitive and affective processes that underlie social and political judgment.

Our first episode is focused on the highest office in our democracy, the presidency, and explores the transition from Donald Trump, 45th President of the United States, to the recently inaugurated 46th President of the United States, Joe Biden.

Dr. Steve Fazzari is the Bert A. and Jeanette L. Lynch Distinguished Professor of Economics, and Professor of Sociology. His research studies the sources of economic growth and how macroeconomic policy affects job creation and contains business cycles. His commentary on economic issues appears regularly in the local and national press.

Dr. Peter Kastor is chair of the History Department.  He teaches about and studies the American Presidency.  A regular guest on St. Louis Public Radio and other broadcasts, he’s also written about the Presidency for outlets including The Huffington Post, The Conversation, and Fortune Magazine.