Jenna Spinelle

V Spehar of TikTok's Under the Desk News joins us to discuss how social media can strengthen democracy by creating space for community and encouraging offline civic engagement.

Cynthia Miller-Idriss, one of America's leading experts on the far right, joins us this week to discuss what draws people to political extremism online and offline — and what we can do to combat it.

Scholars Yanna Krupnikov and John Barry Ryan argue that America might not be as polarized as we think because the media and political observers over-index on people who are deeply invested in politics at the expense of those who are not as engaged.

Tammy Patrick from the National Association of Election Officials joins us for our first full episode of 2024 to unpack the challenges facing the thousands of election officials across the U.S. in 2024 and beyond.

For the final episode of 2023, the Democracy Works team revisits some of its episodes from throughout the year and reflect on what's in store for democracy in 2024.

Two Penn State researchers join us this week to discuss their recent findings on the connection between state-mandated civics tests and voter turnout.

Democracy is sometimes described as "a system where political parties lose elections." That's true but doesn't capture the deeper feelings of grief and grievance associated with political loss. This episode dives into those emotions with Juliet Hooker of Brown University.

Cas Mudde, one of the world's leading experts in the study of populism and far-right politics, joins us this week to discuss the tensions between populism and democracy, and why populism has increased around world in recent years.

This week, we explore the shift of working class union voters from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party.

Penn State professors John Iceland and Eric Silver join us this week to discuss how the discrepancy between social order and social justice impedes political compromise and progress.