In the Making - Baratunde Thurston, Ashleigh Gardere, Michael McAfee

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Latest Episodes:

Building What’s Next Jul 09, 2026

On the final episode of “In the Making,” host Baratunde Thurston joins PolicyLink President Ashleigh Gardere and CEO Michael McAfee to discuss becoming the founders of a democracy that works for all, at the 250th anniversary of our nation.

This episode brings the series full circle, moving from fixing what's broken to building what's next.

They explore the often erased history of Indigenous democracy that existed on these lands before European colonization—the Haudenosaunee Confederacy's Great Law of Peace, which centered women in governance, reciprocal relationship with nature, and seven-generation thinking. For 250 years, the people excluded the most—Indigenous peoples, Black abolitionists, suffragettes, Civil Rights advocates, immigrant rights activists—have done the work to bring us closer to that promise.

The conversation gets into what this re-founding requires: remembering our power without romanticizing the struggle, designing for all so identity-based complaints become unnecessary, and understanding that mutual aid, charity, and systemic redesign must happen in tandem. They draw lessons from global movements for truth and reconciliation, from post-Apartheid South Africa to post-Holocaust Germany, for ideas of what it could look like to reckon with our past in order to build a new future. We end on the fact that the future we want and deserve, a real democracy where everyone has what the need to thrive is in the making right now—and it’s our work to do together.

Claiming the 14th Amendment’s Power Jul 02, 2026

What if the most powerful tool for democracy has been in our hands all along? In Episode 8 of In the Making, host Baratunde Thurston joins PolicyLink President Ashleigh Gardere and CEO Michael McAfee to explore how the 13th and 14th Amendments are living tools for us to build a democracy for all—not just 150-year-old texts reserved for lawyers and judges.

Policies and programs alone can't create lasting change because they can be dismantled by the next election or court ruling. But grounding movement work in constitutional law offers a path to durable progress that can't be easily reversed.

Instead of treating the Constitution as static or irrelevant, they reframe the 13th and 14th Amendments as underused tools that belong to all of us. The 13th Amendment abolished slavery and established that "all must mean all," while the 14th Amendment guarantees equal protection and requires government's affirmative duty to deliver safe water, excellent schools, healthcare, and good jobs for everyone.

They imagine how we could become "14th Amendment people" who build collective identity around fairness for all—similar to how First Amendment and Second Amendment advocates have rooted their movements in constitutional identity. This is about demanding what the Constitution already provides, and making change permanent because the people won't accept anything less.

About "In The Making"

Hosted by Baratunde Thurston and featuring PolicyLink President Ashleigh Gardere and CEO Michael McAfee, "In the Making" explores how we redesign the nation to serve all.

About PolicyLink

PolicyLink is a national research and action institute working to redesign this nation so that it governs for all.

Subscribe for more conversations on how to design our democracy to serve all.

#InTheMaking #PolicyLink #RacialEquity #EconomicJustice #America250 #WeAreTheFounders #GoverningForAll

Redesigning the Federal Government for All Jun 25, 2026

Baratunde Thurston reconvenes with PolicyLink CEO Michael McAfee and President Ashleigh Gardere to talk about how to redesign the federal government so that it actually works for everyone.

The episode opens with an honest acknowledgment: the federal government is failing most people right now, and cynicism feels rational. But checking out only hands power to those who want to use government to enrich themselves.

Instead of just responding to those who have an exclusionary vision for this country, they talk about how do a wholesale redesign of the federal government from our own vision – one grounded in the 13th and 14th Amendments' promise that government has an affirmative duty to ensure safe housing, clean water, excellent education, and good jobs for all people.

They imagine how we could become “14th amendment people” that bring this vision to life, and take inspiration from historical movements from Seneca Falls to the environmental justice movement – groups that have pushed forward transformation despite being small in numbers.

Governing for All, Where You Are Jun 18, 2026

Baratunde Thurston and PolicyLink CEO Michael McAfee and President Ashleigh Gardere return for “Governing for All, Where You Are,” exploring how local and state efforts can build governing power from the ground up.

They discuss how small local efforts with tangible results, like a park cleanup, can grow into larger political power, and how local level work can facilitate accountability through proximity.

They also explore how to implement a floor on governing standards–ensuring basic rights– with regional implementation that respects local culture and history.

They close with an invitation to answer deeper questions about who we want to be for the next 250 years, and how experiments in democracy happening in places like New Orleans, North Carolina, and across the country ladder up to a nation that finally governs for all.

About "In The Making"

Hosted by Baratunde Thurston and featuring PolicyLink President Ashleigh Gardere and CEO Michael McAfee, "In the Making" explores how we redesign the nation to serve all.

About PolicyLink

PolicyLink is a national research and action institute working to redesign this nation so that it governs for all.

Rooting in Place Jun 11, 2026

When the federal government blocks progress, how can state and local communities advance a nation that serves all? Baratunde Thurston and PolicyLink CEO Michael McAfee and President Ashleigh Gardere explore how states and local communities can and must be the center of transformative change on Episode 5 of "In the Making."

They discuss why localities and states must serve as safe harbors when the federal government stands against progress, and examine real-world examples, from New Orleans' post-Katrina rebuilding to Palm Springs reparations for displaced Black communities, to St. Paul, Minnesota winning tenant protections. They explore what it means for states to operationalize the Constitution's "general welfare" clause, and why moving beyond incremental reform requires us to abandon the winners-and-losers construct entirely.

Rewriting the Rules Jun 04, 2026

What will it take for this country to work for its people, and for government to earn public trust? Baratunde Thurston and PolicyLink CEO Michael McAfee and President Ashleigh Gardere explore how we rewrite the rules to serve all people on Episode 4 of “In the Making.”

They get into why even the best programs and policies can't create lasting change when the underlying design of our nation is working against them. They unpack how we need to empower the 14th amendment’s "affirmative duty of government.” This means we need a shift from making marginalized people prove they’re been discriminated against, to requiring government to proactively deliver for everyone.

They examine why proactive enforcement and accountability are the only way to restore trust between the people and governing institutions, and what a future could look like when we do the work necessary to make this a reality.

Rebuilding the Foundation May 28, 2026

Host Baratunde Thurston talks with PolicyLink CEO Michael McAfee and President Ashleigh Gardere to explore why America's foundation was flawed from the start—and how we can build a new one that works for everybody.

They discuss why the nation's original design excluded many from "We the People," how across ideology, so many experience the system as rigged, and why we should raise the level of our expectations and demands of what government should do.

They explore why the next founding must be built by millions, and why soul work—seeing each other's humanity—is an essential part of this transformation.

Becoming We the People May 21, 2026

Host Baratunde Thurston returns with PolicyLink CEO Michael McAfee and President Ashleigh Gardere to explore why we should be the founders of a redesigned nation for all.

They discuss why we must own our power and birthright to do this work, how love and accountability must guide us, and the six essential founders’ capacities we must cultivate in ourselves and our institutions on this journey.

Redesigning Democracy for All May 14, 2026

Amid political chaos, low trust in institutions and government, and the grief of this moment, host Baratunde Thurston, CEO Michael McAfee and President Ashleigh Gardere discuss why this moment calls for redesigning this nation—and how it's always been the people excluded from democracy who have brought it closer to its promise.

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