In this inaugural episode of This is Democracy, Dr. Jeremi Suri sits down with his son, Zachary Suri, to lay out the groundwork for what this podcast hopes to achieve. They begin by reviewing President Franklin D. Roosevelt's November 2, 1940 speech in Cleveland, Ohio. Roosevelt declares that, "We Americans of today—all of us—we are characters in this living book of democracy."

Jeremi and Zachary use this speech as a jumping off point to discuss generational gaps in the United States – who has a voice in our democracy? Whose voices are amplified in the United States? And, ultimately, who are the authors in the so-called "living book of democracy?"

The FDR speech mentioned above can be found at: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=15893