Can the Center Hold?
Where people are getting their information and the lack of civics education in this country is a crisis in our democracy
Setup
Partisanship has been a hallmark of American democracy since the Hamiltonians and Jeffersonians first squared off. But many political thought leaders have begun to worry that this period — with partisans gravitating toward distant poles and the energy of each party coming from their extreme wings — is different. Especially in Congress, where compromise has become a dirty word, the ability to govern on a basic level is in question. Yet a wide majority of Americans hold views that put them somewhere in a broad political center. How did we get here? What would it take to make our politics reflect us more accurately? Underwritten by the Walton Family Foundation.
- 2019 Festival
- USA
Explore More
USA
Many more Americans are struggling to survive and make ends meet than is typically portrayed in the media and public policy debates. And when poverty is depicted, harmful and...
America’s “second founding” came on the heels of the Civil War, when the architects of the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments thought long and hard about how to enshrine civil rig...
It’s been decades since the United States has updated its immigration policies in any sort of comprehensive way, and the problems and suffering at the southern border have per...
Whether they publicly tout it or not, U.S. technology companies play a powerful role in politics, cultural issues and the way we live. Founder and investor Peter Thiel is one...
The 2024 presidential election is only months away, and the past few weeks alone have brought shocking headlines that change the political ground we stand on — an attempted a...
Sizable electorates around the world are flocking to populist candidates who promise power, domination and a return to better times. The global experiment in liberalism seems...
The federal right to abortions in the United States has been overturned, access to contraception and IVF services are threatened in many states, and the gender wage gap persis...
The Supreme Court has issued another series of controversial and consequential decisions this term, fueling discussion on the current state of the judicial branch. Recent poll...
The rollback of reproductive rights, the push to end no-fault divorce, and gun laws that allow domestic abusers to own a firearm are turning the clock back on women’s rights....
Americans feel more polarized than ever, but two governors from opposite sides of the aisle have made it their mission to show otherwise.
Former Senators Bill Nelson and Kay Bailey Hutchison discuss the bipartisan work that defined their careers, suggest ways for today’s elected officials to find common ground,...
As the Supreme Court concludes another contentious term, it is once again reshaping the legal landscape. With cases on abortion, gun rights and social media — and potentially...
Two billion people worldwide are set to vote in elections this year, amid global conflict, societal mistrust, broken information ecosystems — and the truth-destroying disrupti...
Amid seismic shifts in the entertainment world, Oscar-, Golden Globe- and Emmy-winning Brian Grazer has managed to keep pivoting to new ways to tell stories in movies, TV and...
Images communicate truths, and also lies. Learning to pay attention to photographs can help us discern. An art and cultural historian and a visual artist host a master class o...
Peter Thiel has made no secret of his feelings about economic and cultural issues. Hear him discuss his vision for the future, his bets on AI and digital currencies, his thoug...
Hurray for the Riff Raff is more than Alynda Segarra’s musical moniker; they spent their youth hopping trains across America, capturing that life in youthful poetry then and a...
Firearms are one of the leading causes of death among children in the U.S., a country where there have been more than 150 mass shootings in the first five months of 2024. Sit...
From climate change and mental health to hate crimes and chronic school absenteeism, no challenge is too big for young people’s community-changing solutions. Hear from teams o...
Join our panel of expert analysts for a pre-debate conversation about how the 2024 election is shaping up. Stay for the debate watch party and refreshments, then hear the pane...
