Democracy Works

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.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.

Democracy Works is a government podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 342 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Unknown Host hosts Democracy Works, a government show with 342 episodes published.

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  Episode #303

  How to create social change that sticks

  May 18, 202639 minS0

  <p>Changing the world is difficult. One reason is that the most important problems, like climate change and democracy reform are structural. They are larger than any one person can solve on their own, yet we're bombarded with information about individual actions like attending a public meeting or lowering your carbon footprint. Do these individual actions even matter? Should we focus instead of fixing broken systems? </p> <p>For our final episode of the season, we explore how individual actions and structural reform can work together to create lasting social change on a range of issues, including democracy. Our guests o...

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  Episode #302

  Talk Nerdy: Black Evidence with Candis Watts Smith

  May 4, 20261h 5mS0

  <p>Democracy Works host Candis Watts Smith joins Cara Santa Maria on the Talk Nerdy podcast to discuss her new book, Black Evidence: A History and a Warning.</p> <p>From Reconstruction to Redemption, from the enactment of landmark civil rights legislation to the execution of the Southern strategy, from 2020’s multiracial protests to the swift elimination of policies etching out a more inclusive society, Americans regularly experience periods of racial reckoning followed by walloping retrenchment.</p> <p>In Black Evidence, Smith shows that this pattern is the result of an American habit: denying the truths about our society that Bl...

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  Episode #301

  When politics enters the doctor's office

  Apr 20, 202632 minS0

  <p>From the COVID-19 pandemic to debates over vaccines and the Make America Healthy Again movement, politics and medicine are intertwined in ways not seen in previous generations. When politics enters the doctor's office, what does it mean for the health of our democracy? Julianna Pacheco is working to answer that questions and joins Democracy Works host Chris Beem for a conversation about medicine and politics. They also discuss deaths of despair and how feeling hopeless can lead to political disengagement. </p> <p>Pacheco is professor and department chair of political science at the University of Iowa. She received a Ph...

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  Episode #300

  The Declaration of Independence and democracy renovation

  Apr 6, 202647 minS0

  <p>Danielle Allen's work straddles the line between past and present. On one hand, she's on the road this year talking about America's 250th anniversary in the context of her book on the Declaration of Independence. On the other hand, she's hard at work on Substack writing and talking about democracy reform (or renovation she calls it). She's also leading a coalition working to bring nonpartisan primary elections to Massachusetts through a ballot initiative this fall.</p> <p>Allen return to the show to discuss America's Semiquincentennial and what lessons today's democracy renovators can draw from the process that the...

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  Episode #299

  Janet Napolitano on higher education and democracy

  Mar 16, 202635 minS0

  <p>What is the role of higher education in a democracy? To what extent should American universities respond to the demands of those in power? Are we meeting this moment? As a former governor, cabinet secretary, and university president, Secretary Janet Napolitano is uniquely positioned to address these questions. She spoke with Michael Berkman, director of the McCourtney Institute for Democracy and professor of political science at Penn State.</p> <p>This conversation is, in many ways, a follow up to the one that Michael had with Penn State professor Brad Vivian at the end of 2025.</p> <p>Napolitano is...

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