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Voting isn’t the most important part of democracy. What matters far more is what precedes the vote—ideally, an exchange of ideas, conducted in an atmosphere of mutual respect. Unfortunately, our political era is marked more by slogans and applause lines than a serious effort to engage in thoughtful deliberation. Complex times demand complex conversations, but in the age of the bumper sticker and the tweet, ours are getting simpler and simpler. Social scientists worry, rightly, about the ways in which technology enables us to live in echo chambers, where we confront only those who agree with us. What we spend less time thinking about is how the technologies themselves, no matter what their content, often make it hard for us to cope with complexity. Yale professor Stephen Carter argues that the last best hope for restoring a healthy discourse relies on a simple and age old tool: books.
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USA
In a time of heightened distrust, how can media outlets reclaim the public’s confidence? We hear from a longtime journalist.
The idea of unity is a compassionate, hopeful aspiration for a country ravaged by a global pandemic, racial injustice, economic downturn and mob violence.
Two weeks before the first woman of color became Vice President, an angry mob that included members of the white supremacist group Proud Boys, stormed the US Capitol. As Ibram...
Biden believes deeply that actions like the January 6th violence at the Capitol are not who we want to be as a country, says Evan Osnos, author of a Biden biography.
As the nation reels from the attack on the Capitol, we look for ideas that will move us forward.
Peggy Clark asks Dan Glickman to reflect on this past year and to share what he expects from our country under President-elect Joe Biden’s leadership.
“We are not in a rush to pull people back into the workplace,” says Rob Falzon
NPR's Tamara Keith and Dan Glickman discuss what a Biden agenda might look like.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka’s family has called the city home for over 100 years.
