Political Thinking for Everyday Citizens
Repeat the Question: What Happens After the Pandemic
A history professor at Indiana University took to The Ideas pages of The Atlantic to consider a question that’s occupying minds across the country: Do we really want to just go back to what we thought was normal?
Questions of Civic Proportions: Why does it matter if we find the right words for this?
We’re all asking one another, “how are you holding up?” The standard response usually starts with a deep breath and includes some bad joke.
We’re looking for a new approach to our standard greetings. The usual ones don’t seem to do enough to recognize that we’re all keeping a safe distance from one another.
Questions of Civic Proportions: Are We All Going to Get This?
This is a moment when we need everyone to get it. Dr. Sanjay Gupta told late-night host Stephen Colbert that he thought we were. People are starting to get this, Gupta said, "I have an obligation now, not just for my health, my family's health, but for your health and...
Questions of Civic Proportions: What will be the fight of your life?
Big announcements of Democratic candidates dropping out of the 2020 presidential race have shaped the news this week. While the media has talked for some time about a contest that quickly excluded candidates of color, Elizabeth Warren was the last woman standing until...
Reading List: What the Warmth of Other Suns Tells Us about the American Dream
Reading List: What the Warmth of Other Suns Tells Us about the American DreamThe Warmth of Other Suns is the story of the American Dream turned backwards or inside out. It's a story that's absolutely necessary to understand before we use that idea of the United States...
Questions of Civic Proportions: Can we avoid the dead end of despair?
I want to share a call to arms: "Less despair. More repair." So says Austin Kleon, a local artist and writer here in Austin, Texas. His most recent book Keep Going wants readers to persist in their creative pursuits. I'm borrowing this call for resolve in the...
John Lewis: Grit in Service to Civic Life
John Lewis: Grit in Service to Public Life How Civic Grit Builds Community and Fights FailureGrit is a funny word. When someone says it, there’s almost always a guttural growl or a sneer added. When we say grit, we feel it. A small group of early-stage entrepreneurs...
Questions of Civic Proportions: What’s the danger in being dangerously uninformed?
By now, you've heard discussion of the latest book about the Trump presidency. You've undoubtedly heard one of its key phrases, "dangerously uninformed." But is any of this news? We have long documented just how comfortably uninformed the American public is. Last...
We can judge our progress by the courage of our questions and the depth of our answers, our willingness to embrace what is true rather than what feels good.
—Carl Sagan