Let's Find Common Ground

Growing numbers of voters are fed up with politics as usual. In a recent survey, 62% of Americans say a third party is needed — up 5% from September of last year, and the highest it has ever been since Gallup polls first asked the question nearly twenty years ago.

Our podcast guest, former two-term Florida Congressman David Jolly, says it's time to reexamine the system that reinforces the entrenched power of both the Republican and Democratic parties. Last year, Jolly was named Executive Chairman of the Serve America Movement (SAM), a growing organization that exists in some states as a third party, and in others as a non-partisan political reform group that backs office holders who work across party lines.

SAM calls itself a big tent political movement that brings people together who have different ideologies but shared political principles. In this episode, David Jolly makes the case for his movement's ambitious goal: fixing our broken politics in America.

"Multiparty democracies give greater voice to more people," David tells us. "We have allowed the two major parties to protect the duopoly themselves. The one thing that today's Democratic and Republican parties agree on is 'let's create the rules of the game in a way that we are only two major participants.'"

CPF Director Bob Shrum is joined by California Senators Ben Allen and Sydney Kamlager and Los Angeles Sustainability Officers Gary Gero and Dominique Hargreaves to discuss how Southern California should move forward on climate change issues and the role of institutions in reducing its impact.

• Robert Shrum - Director, USC Center for the Political Future; USC Warschaw Chair in Practical Politics
• Ben Allen - California State Senator, District 26
• Gary Gero - Chief Sustainability Officer, County of Los Angeles
• Dominique Hargreaves - Deputy Chief Sustainability Officer, Office of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti
• Sydney Kamlager - California State Senator, District 30

CPF Co-Director Mike Murphy is joined by Congressman Garret Graves, climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe, journalist Bina Venkataraman, and USC professor Wandi Bruine de Bruin to discuss how to communicate the urgency of environmental legislation and encourage bipartisan support for climate change solutions.

• Mike Murphy - Co-Director, USC Center for the Political Future; NBC Political Analyst
• Garret Graves - U.S. Representative (R-LA)
• Katharine Hayhoe - Climate scientist; Founder and CEO of Atmos Research
• Bina Venkataraman - Journalist, author, science policy expert
• Wandi Bruine de Bruin - USC Provost Professor of Public Policy, Psychology, and Behavioral Science

In the third installment of the CPF Fellows Roundtable Series of 2021, Spring 2021 CPF Fellows Barbara Comstock and Todd S. Purdum are joined by former Fellow Ron Christie (Fall 2019) to discuss how new far right outlets are challenging Fox News, the influence of these new far right outlets on conservatism, and why conservatives don't trust "mainstream" outlets. This discussion was moderated by CPF Fellows Manager, Harry Burke.

Featuring:

Ron Christie: Former Special Assistant to President George W. Bush and CPF Fall 2019 Fellow

Barbara Comstock: Former U.S. Representative (R-VA) and CPF Spring 2021 Fellow

Todd S. Purdum: Former New York Times Reporter and Staff Writer at The Atlantic; CPF Spring 2021 Fellow

She lived in liberal Seattle and covered science, climate change and the environment for NPR for more than a decade. Then in 2018, journalist Ashley Ahearn made a big jump, moving with her husband to one of the most conservative counties in rural Washington State.

In this episode of "Let's Find Common Ground," we hear about the profound rural-urban divide in America, and what Ashley discovered about her new neighbors and herself when she switched from the city to the country, now living on a 20-acre property with a horse and a pickup truck. We also discuss how politics and views of the land and climate differ greatly according to where people live.

Recently, Ashley Ahearn launched her 8-part podcast series, "Grouse", which looks at life in rural America through the lens of the most controversial bird in the West— the greater sage-grouse. One of her great passions is storytelling, and helping scientists better communicate their research to the broader public.

When Joe Biden became president he wanted to bring Americans together, to forge unity. But maybe unity isn't what we should aim for. Our guest this week says instead of focusing on that elusive goal, Americans need to concentrate on what's damaging all of us: toxic polarization.

In this episode we look at what toxic polarization is and how to end it, person by person.

Peter Coleman has advised the Biden administration on how to detoxify America. He is a mediator and psychologist who specializes in conflict resolution. A professor of psychology and education at Columbia University, he is the author of the forthcoming book, The Way Out: How to Overcome Toxic Polarization.

In the second installment of the CPF Fellows Roundtable Series of 2021, Spring 2021 CPF Fellow Shaniqua McClendon is joined by former Fellows Barbara Boxer (Fall 2020) and Dan Schwerin (Fall 2018) to discuss current progressive policies and debates and the future of progressivism in the U.S. This discussion was moderated by CPF Fellows Manager, Harry Burke.

Featuring:

Barbara Boxer: Former U.S. Senator (D-CA) and CPF Fall 2020 Fellow

Shaniqua McClendon: Political Director, Crooked Media and CPF Spring 2021 Fellow

Dan Schwerin: Director of Speechwriting, Hillary Clinton and CPF Fall 2018 Fellow

CPF Co-Director Mike Murphy is joined by historians Sylvain Piron and Jay Rubenstein, former Congressman Denver Riggleman, and Marley Clements, co-creator of "QAnon: The Search For Q" on Vice, to examine the similarities between the Apocalyptic and Millenarian cults in the Middle ages to modern conspiracies around Y2K and QAnon.

Featuring:

• Mike Murphy - Co-Director, USC Dornsife Center for the Political Future
• Marley Clements - Documentary filmmaker, political strategist, and co-founder of Bunker Crew Media
• Sylvain Piron - Director of Studies and Chair of Intellectual History of Medieval Societies at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences in Paris, France
• Denver Riggleman - Former U.S. Congressman (R-VA); CEO of Riggleman Information and Intelligence Group (RIIG); Author, "Bigfoot... It's Complicated"
• Jay Rubenstein - Director, USC Center for the Pre-Modern World and Professor of History at the University of Southern California

CPF Director Bob Shrum is joined by historians Sean L. Field and Julien Théry, filmmaker Kristin Pichaske, and best-selling Author Michael Shermer to discuss the history of the Templars and how similar trends target America's civic institutions, drawing on events from the Kennedy assassination to 9/11.

Featuring:

Robert M. Shrum - Director of USC Dornsife Center for the Political Future and Carmen H. and Louis Warschaw Chair in Practical Politics

Sean L. Field - Professor of History at the University of Vermont

Kristin Pichaske - Award-winning Filmmaker, "Pulling The Thread;" Associate Professor of Cinema and Television Arts at Columbia College Chicago

Julien Théry - Professor of History at Université Lyon II Louis Lumière in Lyon, France

Michael Shermer - Best-Selling Author and Founding Publisher of Skeptic magazine

CPF Executive Director Kamy Akhavan is joined by historians Elizabeth A.R. Brown and Dallas Dennery and psychology experts Sara Gorman and Norbert Schwarz to explore how beliefs in conspiracies shaped the politics and psychology of the medieval world and our current political climate.

Featuring:

Kamy Akhavan – Executive Director, USC Dornsife Center for the Political Future Elizabeth A. R. Brown - Professor Emerita of History at Brooklyn College and The Graduate Center, CUNY Dallas Denery - Author, Professor of History at Bowdoin College Sara Gorman - Mental health expert; Author of " Denying to the Grave: Why We Ignore The Facts That Will Save Us" Norbert Schwarz: Provost Professor, Department of Psychology & Marshall School of Business; Co-Director, USC Dornsife Mind & Society Center