DemWorks, a podcast by the National Democratic Institute

In this DemWorks podcast we explore humor, arguably the most democratic form of speech. We talk to Matt Wuerker, the Pulitzer Prize winning editorial cartoonist for Politico, one of the leading news organizations in the United States dedicated to American politics.

Matt’s cartoons pull no punches, skewering Democrats, Republicans and all types of political absurdity. Matt also serves on the board of Cartoonists Rights Network International, an organization that has worked to defend the rights and security of political cartoonists worldwide.

Tunisians go to the polls on Sunday for the second democratic presidential election in the country’s modern history. What will they be thinking about as they cast their ballots? Jobs? Human rights? Pollution? How will these and other priorities reshape the political landscape in the months and years to come, as the country navigates the choppy waters of economic stagnation and more stringent popular demands for elected leaders to deliver? And how do those leaders—from the president all the way down—actually realize the promises they make during election season?

(Podcast Transcription: https://www.demworks.org/how-will-2019-fit-story-tunisias-democratic-development)

The answers to these questions are relevant not just to the people of #Tunisia—the birthplace of the Arab Spring—but for small-‘d’ democrats across the region who look to the country for hope and guidance. In the newest episode of the #DemWorks podcast, Leo Spaans, our country director in Tunisia, and Les Campbell, NDI regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, try to provide some answers.

DemWorks continues to celebrate International Youth Day by exploring the importance of gender equality in democracy. In episode 6, Laura Jewett, NDI’s regional director for Eurasia speaks with Olena Yena, who directs the Women Lead program in NDI’s Ukraine office. Olena spearheads NDI initiatives aimed at promoting gender equality, enhancing women's political participation, and combating gender stereotypes and discrimination.

In this episode of the DemWorks podcast, Michelle Brown, senior advisor for elections at NDI talks to NDI analyst Calvin Garner about Ukraine’s recent parliamentary elections. For the last seven months, Calvin has served as an expert analyst for NDI's international election observation mission in Ukraine, focusing on how media and digital trends are shaping—and in some cases undermining—the information environment around the election. They discuss how advances in digital communications impact pivotal elections.

In this episode of the DemWorks podcast, NDI President Derek Mitchell joins veteran journalist and Time magazine Person of the Year, Maria Ressa, at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit. They discuss the work of the Design 4 Democracy Coalition, the opportunities and challenges that technology presents for democracy, the threat of disinformation and the ways that authoritarians are using technology for nefarious purposes.

In this DemWorks crossover episode, NDI President Derek Mitchell talks to Chris Walker and Shanthi Kalathil from the National Endowment for Democracy (the NED) about the rise of authoritarian influence around the world. With a focus on China, they discuss how China’s Communist Party has survived since Tiananmen Square, the One Belt, One Road initiative, and the hard questions China’s rise poses to open societies’ most fundamental principles.

In this second episode of the DemWorks podcast, Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, the deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration in Ukraine, talks to NDI President Derek Mitchell about her decision to run for parliament in the wake of the Ukrainian revolution, confrontations with misogyny early in her career, and her fight to open up the Ukrainian military to female service members.

Derek Mitchell, NDI President, talks to the incomparable Madeleine K. Albright about her role as a risk-taking woman leader, the state of democracy and her role as Chairman of NDI from its founding in 1983.