Talking Progress

In the final episode of our "Talking Progress" series, we push past the headlines of friction and trade disputes to uncover a resilient new framework for cooperation: subnational diplomacy. When national governments falter, it is our cities, states, and industrial regions that are stepping up to protect democratic values, spearhead green innovation, and drive local economic opportunity.

This episode brings you the crucial takeaways from the second panel of our closing conference, “Heartlands: Navigating Rearmament, Recarbonisation, and Realignment” (December 2025). Host Florian Ranft sits down with two renowned American policy experts and practitioners to discuss how local leaders can keep the transatlantic spirit alive from the ground up.

Featured Guests:

Key talking points in this finale episode:

This episode is narrated by Jan Kjell Lange.

This podcast is produced in the context of the Transatlantic Dialogue on the Industrial Heartlands: Shaping the Future project. A project by Das Progressive Zentrum and distinguished partners at The Progressive Policy Institute, Georgetown University’s BMW Center for German and European Studies and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, and with the support of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action.

In the fifth episode of our "Talking Progress" series, we put the spotlight on the crucial role of local governance. Looking at the Industrial Heartlands in both the US and Germany, we explore how local governments shape the day-to-day lives of citizens, and why delivering reliable answers on the ground is the most effective remedy against the populist radical-right.

This episode brings the key insights from our closing conference, “Heartlands: Navigating Rearmament, Recarbonisation and Realignment” (December 2025), straight to your ears. We feature a high-level Mayors' Panel where Steve Patterson (Mayor of Athens, Ohio) and Dr Eckart Würzner (Lord Mayor of Heidelberg) share their concrete success stories and strategies for achieving a Just Transition. Chair: Claire Ainsley (Director of the Project on Center-Left Renewal at the Progressive Policy Institute)

Key talking points in this episode:

The essay by Steve Patterson that is featured in this episode may be found here.

This podcast is produced in the context of the Transatlantic Dialogue on the Industrial Heartlands: Shaping the Future project. A project by Das Progressive Zentrum and distinguished partners at The Progressive Policy Institute, Georgetown University’s BMW Center for German and European Studies and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, and with the support of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action.

In light of the recent geo-economic shifts accelerated by the pandemic, global crises and conflicts, and the ongoing efforts to tackle the climate crisis, one group is facing particular challenges: The middle class in the former industrial heartlands across the US and Europe.

In the third episode of our series on the industrial heartlands, we hear from Brencia Berry, Political Director of the US Democratic National Committee, Franziska Brantner, Parliamentary State Secretary in the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, Holger Mann, Social Democrat Member of the German Parliament and Tim Ryan, former Democratic US Congressman for Ohio how residents of the industrial heartlands in the US and Germany should be part of the conversation around national green transition policies and what can be done to lessen their economic concerns. This discussion was part of the Progressive Governance Summit in Berlin on 21 June, 2024.

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This podcast is produced in the context of the Transatlantic Dialogue on the Industrial Heartlands: Shaping the Future project. A project by Das Progressive Zentrum and distinguished partners at The Progressive Policy Institute, Georgetown University’s BMW Center for German and European Studies and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, and with the support of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action.

What do people in the industrial heartlands of the US Midwest actually think about politics? And what are the actual needs and concerns of these communities?

Four weeks prior to the US presidential election, we visited the crucial electoral battlegrounds in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan together with the fellows of our Industrial Heartlands project. In this episode, the two working group leads Colleen Dougherty and Friedrich Opitz talk with Neel Brown, Managing Director of the Progressive Policy Institute, about the remarkable efforts to revitalize these once-thriving centers of industrial manufacturing but also point out the remaining challenges that became apparent both during the study tour and in the election results.

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This episode was produced by The Progressive Policy Institute in the context of the Transatlantic Dialogue on the Industrial Heartlands: Shaping the Future project. A project by Das Progressive Zentrum and distinguished partners at The Progressive Policy Institute, Georgetown University’s BMW Center for German and European Studies and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, and with the support of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action.

A week ago, Donald Trump moved into the White House for the second time, and the radical shift in US politics has already become abundantly clear.

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This podcast is produced in the context of the Transatlantic Dialogue on the Industrial Heartlands: Shaping the Future project. A project by Das Progressive Zentrum and distinguished partners at The Progressive Policy Institute, Georgetown University’s BMW Center for German and European Studies and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, and with the support of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action.

The second episode showcases best practices and proposals for action from the participants of the conference in Brussels, among others John Austin, Director of the Michigan Economic Center; Jamie Driscoll, Mayor of North of Tyne in the UK; Thomas Wobben, Director for Legislative Works at the European Committee of the Regions; and Bill Peduto, former Mayor of Pittsburgh, USA, and Member of the project’s Sounding Board.

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This podcast is produced in the context of the Transatlantic Dialogue on the Industrial Heartlands: Shaping the Future project. A project by Das Progressive Zentrum and distinguished partners at The Progressive Policy Institute, Georgetown University’s BMW Center for German and European Studies and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, and with the support of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action.

The first episode of the industrial heartlands series focuses on the keynote speech held by Cathryn Clüver Ashbrook, an important voice on transatlantic relations and Member of the Sounding Board of our Transatlantic Dialogue, on "The Democratic Imperative to Deliver for the Heartlands".

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This podcast is produced in the context of the Transatlantic Dialogue on the Industrial Heartlands: Shaping the Future project. A project by Das Progressive Zentrum and distinguished partners at The Progressive Policy Institute, Georgetown University’s BMW Center for German and European Studies and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, and with the support of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action.

Russia’s attack on Ukraine has been nothing short of a turning point for Europe and the world. An authoritarian attack with the goal of dismantling democracy in Europe, progressive administrations are now tasked with supporting democratic allies at the global level while delivering on climate and justice domestically.

Now led by a progressive coalition of Social Democrats, Greens, and Liberals, Germany is redefining its global role in light of the attacks on democracy in Ukraine, Europe and beyond. The Scholz administration is now taking generation-defining decisions on energy partners, defense spending, trade, and its role as the de facto leader of Europe. What is clear: How Germany supports democratic allies in need and how it allies with value-aligned democracies globally will ultimately play a determining role if democratic projects around the world rise or demise.

This episode is a conversation between Pulitzer Prize Winner Anne Applebaum and Head of the German Federal Chancellery and Federal Minister for Special Tasks Wolfgang Schmidt, moderated by the Editor-in-Chief of the Guardian Katharine Viner on Germany’s role in preserving democracy in Europe and beyond. With an address by Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

The discussion is the fifth part of our Progressive Governance podcast series. We recorded this conversation as part of the Progressive Governance Summit which took place on October 13th 2022. To rewatch our debates, visit: progressive-governance.eu/live.

Post-production and additional recordings done by Emma Gasster and Das Progressive Zentrum. This session was designed in cooperation with the Foundation for European Progressive Studies and the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung.

The discussion took place at the 2022 Progressive Governance Summit: Joining Forces, in Berlin on October 13th.

This episode was recorded at the Progressive Governance Summit 2022. For the full session, which was called “Urban Power: Uniting Progressives in Cities & Across Regions” and included Brian Hanson, watch our recording at progressive-governance.eu/live.

New Urban Progress is the joint metro initiative of Das Progressive Zentrum, the Alfred Herrhausen Gesellschaft and the Progressive Policy Institute. The project is supported by the Transatlantic Program of the Federal Republic of Germany and funded by the European Recovery Program (ERP) of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy (BMWi).