Democracy Nerd

Tierney Sneed, investigative reporter for Talking Points Memo and creator of The Franchise newsletter, joins Democracy Nerd to discuss recent news and updates regarding the state of democracy and voting rights in America, discussing the inclusion of so many "typos" in the voting suppression bill pushed by Texas Republicans, the announcement by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to use the Department of Justice's Civil Rights division, and the breaking news that Senator Joe Manchin actually supports some expansion of voter protections after all.

Around the world, electoral autocracies are on the rise. On average, the global citizen enjoys a level of democracy not seen since 1990. These facts are from "Autocratization Turns Viral," the fifth annual report from the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Institute from Sweden's University of Gothenburg. Sebastian Hellmeier and Jean Lachapelle, two of the report's authors, join the podcast to discuss the state of global democracy.

How much money is "too much money?" At what point does amassed wealth no longer go towards buying things, but instead exerting power and shaping society? Just what the heck is a "precariat?" These questions are addressed by Chuck Collins, Director of the Program on Inequality and the Common Good at the Institute of Policy Studies, who joins Democracy Nerd to discuss his new book "Wealth Hoarders: How Billionaires Spend Millions to Hide Trillions"

David Dayen from the American Prospect joins Democracy Nerd to discuss the first 100 days of the Biden Administration, taking a look at the President's use of executive actions, where hope lies for any meaningful bipartisan legislation, and how it may take mobilization efforts to pass a pro-democracy agenda under President Joe Biden.

It's not hard to imagine that democracy in the United States could be improved. What would a better democracy look like? Would it include a parliamentary system--or a proportional representation system? Should universal automatic voter registration be considered? What role would sortition play? To answer these questions and discuss how America's system of government can be improved, Democracy Nerd is joined by Kristen Eberhard, author of "Building a Democracy: How We Can Fix the Electoral College, Gerrymandering, and Our Elections"

Joel Bakan, author / producer of "The Corporation," joins Democracy Nerd to discuss his follow-up "The New Corporation: How "Good" Corporations Are Bad For Democracy." Bakan explains how despite adopting efforts to portray themselves as good corporate citizens, corporations continue to operate from a single goal of maximizing shareholder profit. As a result, corporations portray themselves as the savior to fix society's problems, helping undermine global democracy. Can corporations be trusted to help fix the problems they helped create?

For this past year, a desire to "return to normal" has been shared by nearly all of us. But the COVID pandemic and Black Lived Matter protests revealed that a "return to normal" may not necessarily be the best option. On this episode of Democracy Nerd, host Jefferson Smith speaks with Philip Clayton, president of the Institute for Ecological Civilization and co-editor of "The New Possible: Visions of a World Beyond Crisis," about the need to seize the current opportunity to build a better future instead of returning to an unsustainable "normal."

In 2021, Seattle will use its Clean Campaigns Act for the first time, which includes ban on political donations from foreign-owned corporations. To discuss how these reforms will impact local elections, Democracy Nerd is joined by Cindy Black from Fix Democracy First and Ron Fein from Free Speech For People.

Victimhood is a powerful tool in modern politics. Even the perception of victimhood inspires supporters and helps justify attacking opponents. Joining Democracy Nerd to discuss the motivating tool of victimhood is Miles Armaly, Assistant Professor of Political Science at University of Mississippi and co-author of a new study, "Why Me? The Role of Perceived Victimhood in American Politics"

Victimhood is a powerful tool in modern politics. Even the perception of victimhood inspires supporters and helps justify attacking opponents. Joining Democracy Nerd to discuss the motivating tool of victimhood is Miles Armaly, Assistant Professor of Political Science at University of Mississippi and co-author of a new study, "Why Me? The Role of Perceived Victimhood in American Politics"