Serve to Lead® | James Strock

Germany sustained a political earthquake in recent elections in the eastern states of Thuringia and Saxony. The parties of the national governing coalition sustained grievous losses—and a populist surge propelled the right-wing Alliance for Germany to record votes. Some sense ominous echoes of the rise to prominence of the Nazi Party in 1924.

Jürgen Resch is well suited to evaluate the historic changes underway. He leads the respected NGO, Deutsche-Umwelthilfe. He is a co-founder of the Euronatur Foundation, the Global Nature Fund, and the Lake Constance Foundation. Active worldwide, including throughout the European Union and the United States, he is a recipient of many recognitions, including the Haagen-Smit Award from the California Air Resources Board.

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In discussion with James Strock, Resch illuminates the recent shock election results, including their implications for Germany and the broader European political landscape. He surveys the challenges faced by Germany's current federal government coalition, the rise of populism, and the decline of traditional political parties. Resch considers the consequences for environmental and energy policies in Germany, the impact of electric vehicles on the auto industry, and the future of renewable energy.

Jurgen Resch is the author of a well-received book detailing his effective activist approach to environmental and energy politics: Druck machen!: Wie Politik und Wirtschaft wissentlich Umwelt und Klima schädigen–-und was wir wirksam dagegen tun können.

Image Credit | Deutsche-Umwelthilfe.

Elliot Ackerman is a widely respected writer. His reach extends across fiction and non-fiction, from novels to essays to memoir and commentary. He is an exemplar of Theodore Roosevelt’s ideal of service combining thought and action.

In this episode of the Serve to Lead podcast, Ackerman discusses his bestselling new book, 2054: A Novel. This is a successor to 2034: A Novel of the Next World War. Each is coauthored with Admiral James Stavridis. A third volume, 2084, is also planned.

Ackerman shares his views of the value of history and literature in comprehending the unprecedented challenges of our moment of global change and unrest—ranging from great power competition to climate disruption to the rise of new technologies, including artificial intelligence and biotechnology. He also reflects on how longstanding notions of spheres of influence may be transformed in our interconnected world.

In this episode of the Serve to Lead podcast, noted journalist Kourosh Ziabari shares his perspective on the intertwined destinies of Iran and America. Ziabari represents a rising generation in Iran and the US. Currently enrolled in the master’s program of the Columbia Journalism School, he has accrued experiences worthy of an extended career. Ziabari urges Americans to distinguish between our reactions to the authoritarian regime in Teheran and our affinities with the Iranian people.

Benn Steil is an award-winning writer in the fields of finance, history, and biography. He is a senior fellow and director of international economics at the prestigious Council on Foreign Relations in New York.

In this episode of the Serve to Lead podcast, Steil discusses his important new book, “The World That Wasn’t: Henry Wallace and the Fate of the American Century.' He explains the ongoing significance of Henry Wallace to our understanding of a hinge point of history, with parallels to our current moment.

Philip K Howard is a leading reformer of American law and government. He combines thought and action: A prolific, best-selling writer and frequent commentator who founded the non-partisan group, Common Good.

He is the author of an eagerly awaited new book, Everyday Freedom: Designing the Framework for a Flourishing Society.

In this episode of the Serve to Lead podcast, Howard discusses the urgent need and prospects for change, in time for vigorous and informed citizen engagement in the pivotal 2024 national elections. In additional to national issues, he offers informed perspectives on state and local developments, including the vast reach of the California state budget.

Can America overcome the political polarization and dysfunction afflicting us in recent decades?

Or are our circumstances so dire and unprecedented that decline is inevitable and history holds few lessons?

If you’re a pessimist, veteran political commentator and public official Ted Van Dyk would like a word.

In this episode of the Serve to Lead podcast, Van Dyk applies his extraordinary experiences in politics, government, and academe, pointing toward the potential for positive change ahead.

Jennifer Hernandez is a widely respected practitioner and thought-leader in environmental and land-use law. In this episode of the Serve to Lead Podcast, she discusses how some well-intentioned environmental laws have become impediments to governance--including imposing costly delays to environmentally protective infrastructure projects.

Richard Norton Smith is at the top tier of American presidential historians. He is the author of the highly acclaimed new biography: An Ordinary Man: The Surprising Life and Historic Presidency of Gerald R. Ford.

Smith is widely recognized for his regular appearances on the PBS News Hour, as well as a historical commentator on CBS and other networks. He’s a familiar and beloved guide to history on CSPAN.

In this episode of the Serve to Lead podcast, Smith discusses his new book, including its genesis and the many parallels and connections between President Ford’s era and our own.

Sasha Stone is a pioneering blogger and founder of Awards Daily, as well as a widely-read, provocative Substack, “Free Thinking Through the Fourth Turning.”

She is on the vanguard of the realignment and re-sorting underway in our politics and culture.

Sasha Stone’s lived experience is representative of those Bridget Phetasy calls “the politically homeless.” This refers to the rising plurality of Americans—nearing a majority of voters—who reject the enforced duopoly of the Democrats and Republicans. It’s as if the legacy parties are in a war of attrition, prompting a flood of refugees who have no place to call their own.

In this episode of the Serve to Lead podcast, Sasha Stone discusses her journey from Hillary Clinton activist to politically independent. She concludes that some of the core values that inspired her earlier affiliations have prompted her to find unanticipated empathy with many Americans who are routinely marginalized and disrespected by the dominant political and cultural narrative of our polarized moment.

Derek Leebaert—historian, strategist, organizational leadership and management consultant, and bestselling author of a series of critically acclaimed books—has written an outstanding and timely new work: Unlikely Heroes: Franklin Roosevelt, His Four Lieutenants, and the World They Made.

In this episode of the Serve to Lead podcast, Leebaert discusses the book, its genesis and its uncanny relevance in our historic moment.

Publisher’s Summary

Only four people served at the top echelon of President Franklin Roosevelt's Administration from the frightening early months of spring 1933 until he died in April 1945, on the cusp of wartime victory. These lieutenants composed the tough, constrictive, long-term core of government. They built the great institutions being raised against the Depression, implemented the New Deal, and they were pivotal to winning World War II.Yet, in their different ways, each was as wounded as the polio-stricken titan. Harry Hopkins, Harold Ickes, Frances Perkins, and Henry Wallace were also strange outsiders. Up to 1933, none would ever have been considered for high office. Still, each became a world figure, and it would have been exceedingly difficult for Roosevelt to transform the nation without them. By examining the lives of these four, a very different picture emerges of how Americans saved their democracy and rescued civilization overseas. Many of the dangers that they all overcame are troublingly like those America faces today.

About Derek Leebaert

Derek Leebaert won the biennial 2020 Truman Book Award for Grand Improvisation. His previous books include Magic and Mayhem: The Delusions of American Foreign Policy from Korea to Afghanistan and To Dare and to Conquer: Special Operations and the Destiny of Nations, both Washington Post Best Books of the Year. He was a founding editor of the Harvard/MIT journal International Security and is a cofounder of the National Museum of the U.S. Army. He holds a D.Phil from Oxford and lives in Washington, D.C.

Otherwise he has long been a management consultant, advising enterprises in the IT, defense, and healthcare sectors. He coauthored the MIT Press trilogy on the rise of the information technology revolution, including MIT's The Future of the Electronic Marketplace.