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Together, organizational behavior professor Matthew Feinberg and sociologist Robb Willer have extensively studied why liberals and conservatives so rarely succeed at persuading each other — and how to overcome these challenges. They find that people tend to make arguments that appeal to the ethical code of their own side, rather than the values of those they are trying to...
Norman Lear and Khizr Khan on liberty, democracy, and enduring American values.
Biden believes deeply that actions like the January 6th violence at the Capitol are not who we want to be as a country, says Evan Osnos, author of a Biden biography.
Valerie Jarrett, a former senior advisor to the president, looks back on the Obama White House.
The divide between targeted values-based approaches and broad-based efforts remains a fascinating reflection of the tensions inherent in Trump-era women’s organizing.
David Skorton became the 13th secretary of the Smithsonian Institution on July 1, 2015. A board-certified cardiologist who previously served as president of Cornell University, Skorton entered the institution at a time of transition and renovation, with new museums like the National Museum of African American History and Culture slated to open soon and major overhauls on o...
History has made the term "socialism" vague and unproductive, according to linguistics professor John McWhorter. Should it be retired?
The alt-right, or alternative right, is largely an online movement, politically defined as very far right, and often described as white nationalist or white supremacist. In recent years, sentiments among those who affiliate with this extreme side of the right have percolated in ugly, often violent, and sometimes deadly ways. To the chagrin of most in the Republican establi...
The relationship between business and society in America has always been close. Today, it is perhaps closer than ever. Catalyzed by events like the murder of George Floyd and inspired by powerful social movements, many corporations have moved from tacit to far more open positions on hot-button social issues. Society, in turn, has largely moved to embrace corporations whose...
Can the Republican party and the White House get in alignment on priorities and core values?
Authoritarian populists are gaining power from Ankara to Athens, from Warsaw to Washington. Meanwhile, popular support for democratic values is sliding in many countries around the world. Is our political system in existential danger? And what can we do to save it?
In their new book, co-authors and Stanford professors Rob Reich and Mehran Sahami argue that big tech’s obsession with optimization and efficiency has sacrificed fundamental human values. In this conversation, they outline steps we should take to change course and renew democracy.
Institutions and communities across America are divided over politics, culture, identity, and the overall direction of the country. Are religious congregations any different? How do religious leaders today navigate deeply divisive issues — like the “Muslim ban” and terrorism, new American actions in the Middle East, gay marriage, abortion, the administration’s handling of...
Spend an hour with two of America’s best teachers, exploring the ups and downs of their experiences on the front lines of American education. What brought them to the classroom—and why did they stay? What do they wish parents and policymakers understood better about the life of a teacher? What’s changed the most about their jobs in the last few years? How do they focus on...
This is not a moment to take democracy for granted. The 2016 emergence of Donald Trump and his populist counterparts in Europe didn’t signal the start of something new. Rather, they announced a long simmering, troubling trend away from liberal democracy in the United States and elsewhere. How did we get here? How are Western values shifting? What might the future hold?
In a recent book review, Wall Street Journal critic Bart Swain asks a penetrating question: “Isn’t the great problem of our politics precisely that so much of it can’t be conducted face to face?” Innumerable factors, ranging from the bubble culture of social media to the geographic distributions of population — north versus south, coasts versus middle America, urban versus...
How can such deeply faithful citizens support a president whose behaviors and values don’t exactly match up to traditional Christian mores?
Bipartisanship is as rare a commodity in Washington as perhaps it has ever been. But as we look to transition from several decades of incarceration-focused criminal justice, Democrats and Republicans often find themselves on the same page. What are the driving values of each party’s proposals for reform? What priorities, ideas, and solutions are the bases for consensus—and...
The dramatic rise in suicides, violence, and addiction signal a society disconnected from meaning and a social fabric fraying at its seams. With participation in organized religion on the decline, and fewer traditional places to do the work of fellowship and ritual, what other places are people turning to to define their values and explore the big questions? To probe what...