American democracy is more fragile than many of us ever imagined. But we’ve been neglecting and abusing it so much that maybe the bigger surprise is that it’s lasted as long as it has. A lot of that damage can still be fixed, though—as long as we don’t let the whole thing fall apart first. Spencer's guest Vinz Koller has great insights on what's gone wrong and how we can … [Read more...] about Vinz Koller: How to Repair Democracy
Episodes
Living With Big Lies
Even with Trump out of office, the Republican Party's leaders and media enablers seem determined to live in a world of lies — a place where democracy can't live. As host Spencer Critchley says, it's like life under Soviet domination as described by writers such as Vaclav Havel and Czeslaw Milosz: "Everything is a lie, everyone knows it's a lie, and everyone goes along with the … [Read more...] about Living With Big Lies
Ask Anything: The State of Democracy
Spencer Critchley hosted a Zoom-based "Ask Anything" discussion covering the chaos in the Republican Party, how we can both believe in tolerance and make clear moral judgments about something like the Capitol riot, whether better education would be enough to save democracy, what we can learn from other countries that have had to deal with shameful periods in their histories, … [Read more...] about Ask Anything: The State of Democracy
The Psychology of Trumpism
This time, host Spencer Critchley talks about the psychology of sedition, Trumpism as Freudian dream logic, and the apparent belief of Capitol rioters that they were in a movie. Listen to the episode as embedded above, or subscribe with Apple Podcasts and other podcast apps. Text Excerpt: Dream Logic In dream logic, the Capitol riot was the start of a patriotic … [Read more...] about The Psychology of Trumpism
What History Can Teach Us About the Attack on Democracy
In this episode, Spencer talks about what history can teach us about how to face the attack on democracy happening now: Why we can’t “just move on” after the Capitol riot — or everything else that’s happened over the past four years.The circle of shared moral values that must encompass democracy and how each of us can and must defend it — starting by simply speaking … [Read more...] about What History Can Teach Us About the Attack on Democracy