This is Democracy

Latest Episodes:

This is Democracy – Episode 130: We Survived 2020! Dec 21, 2020

Show notes

Today Jeremi and Zachary reflect on what they have learned this year from the many discussions with the guests they've had on the podcast, what 2020 has taught us, and why they have hope for 2021.

Zachary sets the scene with his poem titled "The Year of Elisions".

This is Democracy – Episode 129: Vaccinations Dec 18, 2020

Show notes

Today, Jeremi and Zachary, with guest Professor David M. Oshinsky discuss the history of vaccinations in American society and how it applies to the current pandemic and the arrivals of the newest COVID-19 vaccines.

Zachary sets the scene with his poem titled "In My Defense".

David M. Oshinsky directs the division of medical humanities in the department of medicine at New York University, where he is also a professor of history. His books include A Conspiracy So Immense: The World of Joe McCarthy (1983) and Worse Than Slavery: Parchman Farm and the Ordeal of Jim Crow Justice (1996), which garnered the Robert F. Kennedy Prize for distinguished contribution to human rights. His Polio: An American Story (2006) won both the Pulitzer Prize in history and the Hoover Presidential Book Award, and his articles and reviews appear regularly in the New York Times and other national publications. He is most recently the author of Bellevue: Three Centuries of Medicine and Mayhem at America's Most Storied Hospital (2016).

This is Democracy – Episode 128: The Republican Party Dec 08, 2020

Show notes

Today, Jeremi and Zachary, with guest Dr. Geoffrey Kabaservice discuss the mid-twentieth century history of the Republican party and what that can inform us about where the party might be going from where it is today.

Zachary sets the scene with his poem titled, "For Joseph McCarthy and his Brethren in Moral Promiscuity".

Dr. Geoffrey Kabaservice is Director of Political Studies at the Niskanen Center in Washington D.C. He is the author of several books including: The Guardians: Kingman Brewster, His Circle, and the Rise of the Liberal Establishment (Henry Holt, 2004) and Rule and Ruin: The Downfall of Moderation and the Destruction of the Republican Party, from Eisenhower to the Tea Party (Oxford 2012). Kabaservice has written for numerous national publications including the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Politico, and the Guardian. His most recent article appeared in the Washington Post on December 4: "The Forever Grievance.”

This is Democracy – Episode 127: Hopes for Democracy in Atlanta Dec 02, 2020

Show notes

Today, Jeremi and Zachary, with guest Dr. Shirley Thompson talk about the historical evolution of Atlanta, Georgia.

Zachary sets the scene with his song titled, "Don Quixote of Oakland and Sancho of the South Side".

Dr. Shirley Thompson is an Associate Professor of American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, and Associate Director of the John L. Warfield Center for African and African American Studies. She is the author of Exiles at Home: The Struggle to Become American in Creole New Orleans. Her new book project has the working title: "No More Auction Block for Me: African Americans and the Problem of Property.” She is the author of an influential recent article about social and political changes in Atlanta, "Georgia On My Mind,” New York Review of Books (19 November 2020.)

This is Democracy – Episode 126: Participatory Democracy from the Sixties to Today Nov 24, 2020

Show notes

Jeremi and Zachary, with guest Dr. Vaneesa Cook, discuss the Port Huron Statement, and the shifting ideals of democracy in America.

Zachary sets the scene with his poem, "Port Huron Revisited."

Vaneesa Cook received her PhD in US history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2015. She is the author of Spiritual Socialists: Religion and the American Left. Her articles on the history of social movements and religious thought have appeared in The Washington Post, Dissent magazine, and Religion & Politics, among others. She is currently the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency historian in residence for the UW-Madison Missing in Action Project.

This is Democracy – Episode 125: Right-Wing Militias Nov 16, 2020

Show notes

Jeremi and Zachary speak with Augusta Dell’Omo about right wing extremism and right wing militias in American society.

Zachary sets the scene with his poem titled, "Aron Gridinger and I survived."

Augusta Dell'Omo is a Ph.D. candidate in history at the University of Texas at Austin. She specializes in U.S. foreign policy and race in international relations from the late Cold War to the present. Focusing on political extremism, religion, African politics, and public history, Augusta is a graduate fellow at the Clements Center for National Security and the Centre for the Analysis of the Radical Right (CARR). She is an Ernest May Predoctoral Fellow in History and Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for 2020–2021. She has published columns for The Washington Post, appeared on news programs like CNN International, and produced two podcasts – 15 Minute History and Right Rising.

This is Democracy – Episode 124: Deportations Nov 11, 2020

Show notes

Jeremi and Zachary speak with Ruth Hargrove about deportations of asylum seekers coming into the U.S.

Zachary sets the scene with his poem titled, “Anius Meanwhile, Climbs the Rock”.

Ruth Hargrove is a professor at California Western School of Law. She runs a pro bono practice representing domestic violence victims, students in disciplinary matters, and tenants in landlord/tenant claims. She retired from teaching in 2018 to have more time to fight President Trump's most destructive policies. Her pro bono practice now concentrates on asylum law, working with Jewish Family Services of San Diego, the Immigration Justice Project, and the Board of Immigration Appeals Pro Bono Project.

This is Democracy – Episode 123: New Voters Nov 06, 2020

Show notes

Jeremi and Zachary speak with Jillian Smith and Eli Alter about what it's like for first-time voters during the presidential election and what role voting plays as our society continues to evolve.

Zachary sets the scene with his poem "I Remember when I was Four".

Jillian Smith is a junior at the University of Texas at Austin.

Eli Alter is a senior at New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois.

This is Democracy – Episode 122: Media Coverage of Elections Oct 27, 2020

Show notes

Jeremi and Zachary speak with Professor Paul Stekler about the way media has covered the U.S. 2020 Election as well as prior election seasons and how the history of media coverage has played a role in the way it is done in this election season.

Zachary first sets the scene with his poem titled "Water Balloons".

Professor Paul Stekler holds the Wofford Denius Chair in Entertainment Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. He is a nationally recognized documentary filmmaker whose critically praised and award-winning work includes George Wallace: Settin’ the Woods on Fire; Last Man Standing: Politics, Texas Style; Vote for Me: Politics in America, a four-hour PBS special about grassroots electoral politics; two segments of the Eyes on the Prize II series on the history of civil rights; Last Stand at Little Big Horn (broadcast as part of PBS’s series The American Experience); Louisiana Boys: Raised on Politics (broadcast on PBS’s P.O.V. series); Getting Back to Abnormal (which aired on P.O.V. in 2014); and 2016’s Postcards from the Great Divide, a web series about politics for The Washington Post and PBS Digital. Overall, his films have won two George Foster Peabody Awards, three Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Journalism Awards, three national Emmy Awards, and a special jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

This is Democracy – Episode 121: Historical Memory and National Trauma Oct 21, 2020

Show notes

Jeremi and Zachary speak with Dr. Susan Neiman about the role of historical memory in addressing past injustices.

Zachary sets the scene with his poem, "Herbst ich erinnere mich", or "Fall I Remember".

Susan Neiman is Director of the Einstein Forum in Berin, Germany. Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Neiman studied philosophy at Harvard and the Freie Universität Berlin, and was professor of philosophy at Yale and Tel Aviv University. She is the author of numerous books, including: Slow Fire: Jewish Notes from Berlin, The Unity of Reason: Rereading Kant, Evil in Modern Thought, Moral Clarity: A Guide for Grown-up Idealists, and Why Grow Up? Subversive Thoughts for an Infantile Age. Her most recent book is: Learning from the Germans: Race and the Memory of Evil. The paperback edition of the book includes a new epilogue on the Black Lives Matter Movement.

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