Given Biden’s exit from the race, I thought it might be interesting to replay the first episode I recorded following his election. Here is my November 5th, 2020 conversation with Rob Johnson, Executive Director of the Institute for New Economic Thinking. Rob and I have made a point to talk after the last several elections. This episode is very much a conversation rather than an interview, as the two of us give you our take on where the country stood at that moment, how we’d gotten there, and our hopes for a Biden administration. Joe Biden’s age was the one issue where voters agree with the Republicans for which there was no defense.

I’ve talked with journalist and best-selling author, GEORGE PACKER, about 2013’s National Book Award-winning The UNWINDING and 2021’s LAST BEST HOPE, in which he offers four narratives of America that motivate and divide us. Today our jumping off point will be his current cover story in The Atlantic on Phoenix, Arizona, WHAT WILL BECOME OF AMERICAN CIVILIZATION? Conspiracism and Hyper-partisanship in the Nation’s Fastest-growing City. More tour guide than pundit, George chooses the characters and makes the introductions, but the voices in this piece are those of the people of Phoenix.

Packer, George - Edited Transcript - 7.11.24

Two conversations about the big picture. First, 20 years ago USPS released a stamp honoring inventor and multi-hyphenate visionary Bucky Fuller. Here’s my 2004 conversation about the man and his work with his daughter, ALLEGRA FULLER SNYDER. Buckminster Fuller Institute: bfi.org. Second, one of my favorites, my 2008 conversation with MacArthur-winning evolutionary biologist STUART KAUFFMAN about his book, REINVENTING THE SACRED: A NEW VIEW OF SCIENCE, REASON, AND RELIGION. Is the universe’s ceaseless creativity the best way for us to think about God? Learn more: stuartkauffman.com

This week, we step aside from today’s news to dig into a story millions of years in the making, as I speak with ZOE SCHLANGER about her best-selling THE LIGHT EATERS: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth. What are we to make of a vine that grows leaves to blend into the shrub on which it climbs, a flower that shapes its bloom to fit exactly the beak of its pollinator, a pea seedling that can hear water flowing and make its way toward it? Schlanger‘s research over the last several years reveals a reality that challenges our understanding of consciousness, intelligence, and life itself. You can learn more at zoeschlanger.com

As Congress negotiates a new “Farm Bill” – they do so every 5 years – will health, nutrition, poverty, and nature/climate get seats at the table or will Big Ag and Big Food dominate and dictate as usual? Speaking of food, here’s my 2021 conversation with MARK BITTMAN, longtime fixture at the New York Times, author of 30 books, about one of his latest – ANIMAL, VEGETABLE, JUNK: A History of Food from Sustainable to Suicidal. How did things get so bad and how can we turn things around before it’s too late? Learn more at markbittman.com

The US holds one national popular vote and the Republican party has won that vote once since 1988, that’s 36 years. Yet they’ve held the presidency nearly 12 of those years. Since Nixon, they’ve appointed 15 Supreme Court justices, to the Democrats 4. I speak with ARI BERMAN about his new book, MINORITY RULE: The Right-Wing Attack on the Will of the People—and the Fight to Resist It. I learned a lot about the pulling back from direct democracy by the framers between the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. The GOP exploits the resulting Constitutional weaknesses. This may be the most critical domestic challenge we face today. Learn more at aribermanauthor.com

In May, FATHER GREGORY BOYLE, founder of HOMEBOY INDUSTRIES in Los Angeles — the largest gang intervention and re-entry program in the world — was honored by President Biden with the Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. Homeboy said that Boyle “…exemplifies the transformative power of compassion, forgiveness, and second chances. For nearly forty years, Father Greg has empowered hundreds of thousands of individuals to break free from the cycles of poverty, violence, and incarceration.” Here’s our 2010 conversation where we talk about his work and his first book, TATTOOS ON THE HEART. We were joined by Luis Perez, one of the senior staff at Homeboy. Learn more: homeboyindustries.org

With an eye on the election, I speak with RICHARD CIZIK, founder of Evangelicals for Democracy, which aims to build a community of evangelicals across the political spectrum who champion democracy as an act of Christian faith. Earlier he spent nearly three decades deep inside the Religious Right. In 2008, after 28 years at the National Association of Evangelicals, Rev. Cizik was forced to resign as VP for Governmental Affairs, for publicly supporting civil unions and for advocacy on climate change. Learn more: EvangelicalsforDemocracy.org