Givers, Doers, & Thinkers—A Podcast on Philanthropy and Civil Society

Welcome back to a new season of Givers, Doers, & Thinkers! 

To kick off the sixth season, Jeremy sits down with Jeremy Tedesco to discuss how we might better protect viewpoint diversity, free speech, and religious freedom in the workplace. 

Jeremy Tedesco is senior counsel and senior vice president of corporate engagement for Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF).  Jeremy has litigated First Amendment cases at the highest levels and has been part of legal teams arguing major suits involving religious freedom before the U.S. Supreme Court. He is also the founder of ADF’s Center for Conscience Initiatives, where he led efforts to protect individuals from government-coerced speech. Jeremy’s writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and USA Today, among other places, and he can be seen or heard on Fox News, CNN, PBS, NPR, and other leading networks.

Jeremy Tedesco sheds light on the perils of concentrated power, particularly within private companies. He reveals how the private sector is using its influence to undermine our cherished freedoms. From de-banking to viewpoint discrimination, Jeremy outlines the strategies to combat these issues, including the groundbreaking Viewpoint Diversity Score Business Index pioneered by ADF. Discover its real-time effects on major corporations like JPMorgan Chase and what this could mean for the future of corporate America.

Interested in joining the Center for Civil Society’s “K to Campus: How the Education Reform Movement Can Reshape Higher Ed” conference on October 23-24 in sunny Malibu, CA? Sign up today to receive special early-bird pricing! 

We’d love to hear your thoughts, ideas, questions, and recommendations for the podcast! You can shoot Katie Janus, GDT’s producer, an email anytime!

Center for Civil Society's YouTube Channel

This week on Givers, Doers, & Thinkers, Jeremy speaks with John Cuddeback about the art of crafting a joyful, rich, and worthy life.  

John Cuddeback is a professor of philosophy at Christendom College, where he has taught since 1997. He writes often for academic and nonacademic publications and is the author of True Friendship: Where Virtue Becomes Happiness. John founded LifeCraft, a community project that applies natural wisdom to the modern world with particular attention to issues relating to household, friendship, work, and stewardship.

Jeremy and John begin with the importance of meaningful relationships in the pursuit of a joy-filled life. John offers insights into the type of home environment humans crave and why the answer is less intuitive to younger parents. What are the daily rhythms and principles that lead families to a life of virtue? What are the makings of genuine friendship? How does a man become a leader in his home? What does it mean to be a good steward? John addresses all of this and more during this season's final episode.
 
You can find Givers, Doers, & Thinkers at Philanthropy Daily, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Buzzsprout, and wherever you listen to podcasts.

We’d love to hear your thoughts, ideas, questions, and recommendations for the podcast! You can shoot Katie Janus, GDT’s producer, an email anytime!

Center for Civil Society's YouTube Channel

This week on Givers, Doers, & Thinkers, Jeremy speaks with Marcus A. Ruzek about how to help and how to hurt our nation's veterans.

Marcus Ruzek is the Senior Program Director at the Marcus Foundation. Marcus is a combat veteran who served as an Army Special Forces Officer (Green Beret). He served in the Army for 13 years and received three Bronze Star medals. His work at the foundation focuses on military veterans and free enterprise programs. 

Jeremy starts this conversation by hearing more about Marcus' background in the military and transition to the Marcus Foundation, created by Bernie Marcus, co-founder of Home Depot. Marcus highlights the foundation's approach toward veteran-focused entrepreneurial philanthropy. He also shares the challenges facing veteran services: entitlement culture, healthcare bureaucracy, mental health, and traumatic brain injuries. 

You can find Givers, Doers, & Thinkers at Philanthropy Daily, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Buzzsprout, and wherever you listen to podcasts.

We’d love to hear your thoughts, ideas, questions, and recommendations for the podcast! You can shoot Katie Janus, GDT’s producer, an email anytime!

Center for Civil Society's YouTube Channel

This week on Givers, Doers, and Thinkers, Jeremy sits down with Aaron Withe to discuss the peculiar challenges government unions pose for a healthy civil society. 

Aaron Withe is the Chief Executive Officer of the Freedom Foundation. He began his career at the Freedom Foundation in 2015 and was appointed CEO in 2021. Aaron is the author of Freedom is the Foundation: How We Are Defeating Progressive Tyranny by Taking on the Government Unions. 

What are private sector unions, and how are they different from government unions? What is the impact of the 2018 Janus v AFSCME decision? Jeremy and Aaron discuss the influence of unions and what is required to ensure transparency for taxpayers and union members. Aaron shares his experience in resisting the power of government unions and the cost of doing so.  

You can find Givers, Doers, & Thinkers at Philanthropy Daily, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Buzzsprout, and wherever you listen to podcasts.

We’d love to hear your thoughts, ideas, questions, and recommendations for the podcast! You can shoot Katie Janus, GDT’s producer, an email anytime!

Center for Civil Society's YouTube Channel

This week on Givers, Doers, & Thinkers, Jeremy speaks with Alexandra O. Hudson about how cultivating the misunderstood virtue of civility can help us overcome our individual anxieties and social pathologies. 

Alexandra Hudson lives in Indianapolis, where she is an Adjunct Professor at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. She was a Novak Journalism Fellow and the creator and developer of a TV series called Storytelling and the Human Condition. She has contributed to the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Politico, and other publications. Most recently, Alexandra is the author of a new book titled The Soul of Civility: Timeless Principles to Heal Society and Ourselves.

What’s the difference between civility and politeness? How do we cultivate healing in our society? Jeremy and Alexandra discuss what defines civility and the timeless set of principles that can heal our society. They further expand on the need for civility and its impact on protest, societal change, social media, education, and philanthropy. And most importantly, how Larry David fits into it all.  

You can find Givers, Doers, & Thinkers at Philanthropy Daily, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Buzzsprout, and wherever you listen to podcasts.

We’d love to hear your thoughts, ideas, questions, and recommendations for the podcast! You can shoot Katie Janus, GDT’s producer, an email anytime!

Center for Civil Society's YouTube Channel

This week on Givers, Doers, & Thinkers, Jeremy speaks with Oren Cass about the rising cost of thriving, our broken labor movement, alternative visions of the free market, and how to build stronger families and communities. 

Oren Cass is the executive director of American Compass, an increasingly influential nonprofit policy organization based in Washington, DC. Oren is the author of The Once and Future Worker: A Vision for the Renewal of Work in America, which was published in 2018, and is a contributing opinion writer for the Financial Times. He writes regularly for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and elsewhere. And this fall, Oren was profiled in New York Magazine as “the nerd trying to turn the GOP populist.”

Jeremy and Oren dive right in by discussing economic dogmas of the past—think Reagan’s response to the 1970s—and how various policies require evolution given the new challenges facing America today. What is America’s economic diagnosis? Is capitalism out? What is the common good? Oren shares his insights on Trump, growing polarization, the middle class, inflation, economic inequality, AI, and what can be done about it all. 

You can find Givers, Doers, & Thinkers here at Philanthropy Daily, and at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Buzzsprout, and wherever you listen to podcasts.

We’d love to hear your thoughts, ideas, questions, and recommendations for the podcast! You can shoot Katie Janus, GDT’s producer, an email anytime!

Center for Civil Society's YouTube Channel

During this week's episode of Givers, Doers, & Thinkers, Jeremy speaks with Joshua Mitchell about how and why today's neo-puritans think our liberation depends on destroying those mediating institutions that constitute civil society.

Joshua Mitchell is a professor of political theory at Georgetown University. He was on the start-team for Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service in Doha Qatar, and has taught courses there periodically for the past 15 years. He was also the Acting Chancellor of The American University of Iraq–Sulaimani. His research interest lies in the relationship between political thought and theology in the West. Dr. Mitchell has written several books including Not by Reason Alone, The Fragility of Freedom, Plato's Fable, Tocqueville in Arabia: Dilemmas in the Democratic Age; and his most recent book, American Awakening: Identity Politics and Other Afflictions of Our Time. 

Jeremy and Joshua start by discussing identity politics’ impact on civil society and its morphism into a religious movement. Joshua shares a bit on the idea of “scapegoating” and the rise of anti-liberal movements in America—it’s not quite what you think. This is an action-packed conversation with Joshua's insights on Trump, political competence, social justice, and rebuilding mediating institutions. 

Closing Notes: 
The Center for Civil Society is pleased to announce its 2024 Givers, Doers, & Thinkers conference, which will take place on the campus of Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. Join us in Malibu on October 23rd & 24th, 2024. Our Early Bird registration is now open, and attendees can receive 50% off the standard ticket price for a limited time by using code EARLYBIRD when registering. For information about conference sponsorships, including table sponsorships for your organization, please contact Center Director Jonathan Hannah at [email protected].

We’d love to hear your thoughts, ideas, questions, and recommendations for the podcast! You can shoot Katie Janus, GDT’s producer, an email anytime!

Center for Civil Society's YouTube Channel

This week on Givers, Doers, & Thinkers, Jeremy speaks with journalist Ericka Andersen about why so many women have stopped attending church and what can be done about it.  

Ericka Andersen is a freelance journalist and author of a new book titled Reason to Return: Why Women Need the Church and the Church Needs Women. Ericka writes regularly for the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Christianity Today, World, and other outlets. She also has her own podcast called “Worth Your Time.” 

Jeremy and Ericka discuss why women are leaving religion at faster rates than men. Ericka shares insights on the connections between spiritual health and loneliness, faith communities and their impact on rebuilding the church, and how a simple invitation can reengage those who have fallen away. 

You can find Givers, Doers, & Thinkers here at Philanthropy Daily, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, Buzzsprout, and wherever you listen to podcasts.

We’d love to hear your thoughts, ideas, questions, and recommendations for the podcast! You can shoot Katie Janus, GDT’s producer, an email anytime!

Center for Civil Society's YouTube Channel

What are the characteristics of genuine charity? During this week's episode of Givers, Doers, & Thinkers, Jeremy Beer and James Whitford explore this question together.

James Whitford is the Founder and CEO of True Charity. James founded the True Charity Initiative to advance the cause of privately funded effective charity at the most local level nationally. His work has appeared in the Heritage Foundation’s Index of Culture and Opportunity, Patrick Henry College’s Newsmaker Series, World, The Christian Post, and The Hill.

Jeremy and James start their conversation with background on the Watered Gardens ministry and how trial and error helped shape its mission to address the root causes of poverty. They cover entitlement mentality, restoring dignity, practical interventions, and more. This week's episode is a perfect transition into your Thanksgiving weekend and the giving season. 

You can find Givers, Doers, & Thinkers here at Philanthropy Daily, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music,  Buzzsprout, and wherever you listen to podcasts.

We’d love to hear your thoughts, ideas, questions, and recommendations for the podcast! You can shoot Katie Janus, GDT’s producer, an email anytime!

Center for Civil Society's YouTube Channel

This week on Givers, Doers, & Thinkers, Jeremy sits down with leading philanthropy scholar Les Lenkowsky about the giving landscape in America and how it may or may not be changing.

Leslie Lenkowsky is a leading scholar on philanthropy and has been a faculty member of Indiana University's School of Public and Environmental Policy since 2004, and, for five years, was the director of Graduate Programs at IU's Center on Philanthropy in Indianapolis. From 2001-2004, he was appointed by the Bush Administration as CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service. Among his other positions, he served as president of the Hudson Institute ('90-'97), president of the Institute for Educational Affairs, a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, an adjunct faculty member at Georgetown University, and director of the Philanthropy Roundtable. His writing has appeared in such publications as Commentary, The Weekly Standard, The Wall Street Journal, The Public Interest, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, and the Indianapolis Business Journal.

During this conversation, Les shares where he thinks giving is headed in America and the trends worthy of note. Is the decline of church-goers the source of the decline in household giving? Jeremy and Les discuss the politicization of philanthropy, donor privacy, the origins of the ACE Act, and whether tax rates influence charity. To close, we hear an often-forgotten story of Julius Rosenwald, one of the most impactful civil rights philanthropists of the early twentieth century. 

You can find Givers, Doers, & Thinkers here at Philanthropy Daily, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music,  Buzzsprout, and wherever you listen to podcasts.

We’d love to hear your thoughts, ideas, questions, and recommendations for the podcast! You can shoot Katie Janus, GDT’s producer, an email anytime!

Center for Civil Society's YouTube Channel