In this episode we talk with Dr. Anthony Fauci about the tensions between expertise and democratic decision-making during the pandemic and his advice for navigating apathy and misinformation during the next major public health crisis.

Germany has a history of being at the center of global debates about democracy. As Europe again finds itself dealing with democracy in crisis, this time with Russia's war against Ukraine, Minister Counselor Markus Teglas asks us to consider Europe again at a crossroads and what Russia's aggression against Ukraine and the rise of right wing populist movements across the continent means for global democracy.

It feels like free speech has become the number one issue confronting higher education today. Campuses are now hotbeds of discontent. Students are sitting in, protesting questionable speakers on campus. State elected officials are dismantling diversity, equity and inclusion programming. So what is being done to address the campus free speech woes? Stephanie King, senior director of strategic initiatives for the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, and Dannise Brown and Adonis Ortiz, members of the Madison Debate Society at James Madison University provide us with some answers to campus free speech issues.

March 6-10th is National Civics Education Week and on this episode of Democracy Matters, we're exploring youth civic education. We talk with Dr. Stacie Molnar-Main, research associate in civic education and deliberative pedagogy with the Kettering Foundation, and a school climate consultant for the Pennsylvania Department of Education about her research into elementary school's integrating deliberative democracy into the classrooms.

In this episode, Madison Center for Civic Engagement Democracy Fellow Leia Surovell interviews the new interim Executive Director, Dr. David Kirkpatrick and the new interim Associate Director Dr. Kara Dillard about their vision for the Madison Center and their views for what campus Centers for Civic Engagement should do for higher education.

In this episode of Democracy Matters, we speak with Dr. Laura Edwards, who is a legal historian and professor at Princeton University to discuss how she became involved in her research focused on the 19th century United States, her contributions to civic engagement, what a historian's role is in presenting issues, and her constitution lecture here on campus September 22.

What would American democracy look like if everyone participated? We discuss 100% Democracy: The Case for Universal Voting with co-authors Miles Rapoport, the Senior Practice Fellow in American Democracy at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the Harvard Kennedy School, and E.J. Dionne, Jr. senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, a syndicated columnist for the Washington Post, university professor at Georgetown University, and visiting professor at Harvard University.

What role can and should investors play in strengthening democracy? Ian Simmons, Co-Founder and Principal of Blue Haven Initiative, discusses impact investing, universal voting, foreign money in U.S. politics, the so-called wealth tax and more.

"Art can create the space, set the tone, to not even acknowledge power and to create a world for ourselves," says Aram Han Sifuentes, a fiber and social practice artist, writer, and educator who works to center immigrant and disenfranchised communities.

Daniel Beers, Colleen Moore, John Hulsey and Bernie Kaussler join us to provide historical and political context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the humanitarian and geopolitical consequences.