We begin a new season of Democracy Works with a fundamental question: What is democracy?
Astra Taylor grapples with this question in her film and forthcoming book of the same name. She traveled the world and interviewed people from all walks of life. We talk with her this week about what she learned from making the film and talking with people from all walks of life. As you'll hear, she did not set out to make a documentary about democracy, but kept coming back to that question.
Taylor is a writer, documentarian, and organizer. In addition to "What is Democracy?," her films include "Zizek!," a feature documentary about the world’s most outrageous philosopher, and "Examined Life,: a series of excursions with contemporary thinkers including Slavoj Zizek, Judith Butler, Cornel West, Peter Singer, and others.
Her writing has appeared in The Nation, the London Review of Books, n+1, the New York Times, The New Yorker, The New Republic, and elsewhere. She is the editor of Examined Life, a companion volume to the film, and the coeditor of Occupy!: Scenes from Occupied America. Her 2015 book, "The People’s Platform: Taking Back Power and Culture in the Digital Age," won an American Book Award.
