What does it mean to live in a democracy?
The Democracy Works podcast seeks to answer that question by examining a different aspect of democratic life each week — from voting to criminal justice to the free press and everything in between. We interview experts who study democracy, as well as people who are out there doing the hard work of democracy day in and day out.
The show’s name comes from Pennsylvania’s long tradition of iron and steel works — people coming together to build things greater than the sum of their parts. We believe that democracy is the same way. Each of us has a role to play in building and sustaining a healthy democracy and our show is all about helping people understand what that means.
We aim to rise above partisan bickering and hot takes on the news to have informed, nonpartisan, thought-provoking discussions about issues related to democracy. The show has been recognized with a People’s Choice Podcast Award and a Circle of Excellence Award from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.
Democracy Works is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.
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The relationship between capitalism and democracy is complex and never quite settled. We dive into it headfirst this week with a guest who has worked in the corporate world and now trains a new generation of investors and entrepreneurs to think differently about the common good. Dawn Carpenter is the creator and host of What […]
our favorite episodes
Democracy takes center stage on Wynton Marsalis’s latest album, The Ever Fonky Lowdown and his forthcoming work, the Democracy Suite. However, he’s been thinking about the connection between jazz and democracy for his entire career. We are thrilled that he took a few minutes to talk with us about it this week. Listen to this […]
More than 2,000 local newspapers have closed over the past 20 years, leaving some parts of the country in what’s known as a “news desert.” This week, we examine what impact that’s had on civic engagement and democratic participation — and look at ways people are trying to make local news great again. The connection […]
COVID-19, partisan gridlock, and Donald Trump have joined forces to create the potential for disaster in this year’s election. This week, the author of “Will He Go? Trump and the Looming Electoral Meltdown in 2020: joins us to explain what could happen and what we might be able to do about it. In this episode, […]
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