Nevins is co-publisher of The Fulcrum and co-founder and board chairman of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund.
As the chairman of the board of the Bridge Alliance, I’ve been working with our incredible team and our more than 100 member organizations for the last seven years to create a movement for a thriving, just and healthy democratic republic.
For true change to happen in our democratic republic, Americans must become involved and realize they have the power to bring about the change they desire.
The Fulcrum and our sister project, Citizen Connect, serve as the connective tissue to activate 12 million Americans through our collective network.
Yet I believe more must be done and we have to think outside the box to engage, excite, and involve more citizens. This past year the pop culture section of The Fulcrum has proven to be one of our most popular sections of our publication. The power of connecting the dots between pop culture and activating millions of Americans to create a functioning and healthy democracy is something I strongly believe in as a catalyst for change.
The Fulcrum has been honored to celebrate culture as a bridge to the latest news and analysis of politics, policy, and the birth of a new civic and political voice to build greater social cohesion, civic engagement, and problem-solving. Many of you have taken the journey with us as we shared stories, music, poetry and dance to inspire our better angels as a way of addressing our problems and creating solutions. We won’t rest on our laurels and we are focusing on new ways to amplify the power of pop culture to engage millions more of you in our movement.
This past year has proven to us that art has the power to break down boundaries and overcome distances between people. Music, theater, poetry, and all forms of pop culture have amazing healing and connecting powers. We know that when we join people together their energy for good can be amplified and scaled to help power our movement. The role of music in particular can play an important role in celebrating what unites us - rather than dividing us - in activating millions of Americans in a movement.
In the words of the great jazz artist Wynton Marsalis, “Music heals people because music is vibration, and the proper vibration heals.” Music indeed brings people together and multiplies their energy. When we join as one, we are more than the sum of our parts.
My dream is a Democracy Concert followed by a yearlong Democracy Call To Action Roadshow designed to Build a Movement; a movement that dismisses old definitions of right and left, and focuses instead on values, and an optimistic vision for the future of America. The roadshow I envision will inspire citizens to become active participants for healing and change. Imagine the passion and positive impact celebrities could inspire in this time of social media and internet driven divisiveness. Imagine the power of music and celebrity coming together, demonstrating unity for Democracy.
A kick-off concert bringing together artists from across the political spectrum - right, left and center - that includes a diverse group of musicians and celebrities of all genres would create a powerful tapestry representing the diversity of music in America while also reflecting the diversity of the citizens that is America. Musicians of all genres coming together can demonstrate a unity for Democracy. This is not about being a Democrat, Republican or Independent. It is about using the power of music to create a grassroots movement for a stronger Democracy, as well as a more diverse, more equitable, and inclusive Democracy.
Celebrities are powerful influencers in our society. The following are just a few examples of songs that provide the powerful message to bring Americans together:
- Revolution Josh: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bD1XmvnTCyI
- Common Ground - Heath Sanders: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxOLR65IIyg
- John Legend, The Roots - Wake Up Everybody, Melanie Fiona, Common: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJgxJ6JrPkc
- Empty Hands: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6P_okJ
- Andra Day - Stand Up for Something, featuring Common: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GhY7qXGx-0
- Andra Day --- Rise UP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNKu1uNBVkU
Through the power of music and celebrity the healing power generated can drown out the divisive voices of the extremes on both the left and the right. I believe most Americans want leaders to exemplify the best in America and are willing to take the lead to bring our country together and to create the Republic that we all deserve.
In the fight for a more representative democracy, our greatest strength is our people. Everyday Americans are the muscle behind change, they are the faces to our stories, they are the carrot and the stick in elections. A Democracy concert and yearlong Democracy Call To Action Roadshow can be the catalyst to reach people’s souls so we can engage them to join in a grassroots movement that scales and amplifies our victories and advances our values for lasting impact.
So WE can make a difference!
A golden tray sits on the Resolute Desk as President Donald Trump speaks during an announcement on American nuclear innovation in the Oval Office at the White House on July 24, 2026, in Washington, D.C. Trump is signing multiple executive orders targeting the nuclear energy sector and easing rules for new reactors and nuclear fuel supply chains.
Trump’s hubris rivals the fallen heroes of ancient Greek mythology
In January, the New York Times asked President Donald Trump if there were any limits on his global powers.
“Yeah,” the president responded, “there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.”
That was eight months ago, but fortunately Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster adaptation of “The Odyssey” has made ancient Greek literature newly relevant. Before that window closes, I’d like to talk about hubris.
Today, the term mostly means excessive pride or arrogance. That’s part of what the Greeks meant by it too, but the meaning was a bit richer and more specific. Hubris was an insolent or outrageous act that offended the gods, often because the transgressor was claiming abilities or authorities that solely belonged to supreme beings.
Nolan renamed and slightly modified the concept of xenia for the film, calling it “Zeus’ law.” In the director’s telling, mortals should follow the rules laid out by the gods, specifically the requirement to treat strangers with respect lest they be gods in disguise.
In a sense, hubris is the opposite, or at least the rejection, of xenia. The hubris of the suitors, and at times Odysseus himself, invites punishment by the gods and their mortal instruments.
Which brings me back to Donald Trump. His claim that there are no constraints on his personal power to dictate events on the global stage was one of the greatest expressions of hubris ever uttered by a political leader.
Trump’s claim was obviously false when he made it.
He vowed that he could end the Russia-Ukraine war in 24 hours. He’s proved powerless to make that happen. If he had divine powers to work his will, why would he have balked at implementing his tariffs so often that Wall Street adopted the “TACO trade” term for his deals? “TACO” stands for “Trump always chickens out.”
And why would Trump have made so many embarrassing concessions to China — from rescinding tariffs on Chinese goods to allowing them to buy crucial and incredibly valuable computer chips?
But Trump saw his success at capturing Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro as proof of his ability to launch missiles to the same effect as Zeus’ lightning bolts. Trump believed he was the most powerful man who ever lived.
This is no exaggeration. In March, when the Iran invasion seemed successful, Trump gave a document penned by“Presidential Historian David King” to New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan purporting to prove that Trump was “the most powerful person to have EVER walked this planet.” King was, in fact, a businessman and occasional caddy for legendary golfer Gary Player.
King compared Trump favorably to many of history’s most powerful, and often heinous, figures: Alexander the Great, Attila the Hun, William the Conqueror, Napoleon Bonaparte, Joseph Stalin, Genghis Khan, Mao Tse Tung, Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Lenin. Many of these men thought they were the most powerful person in the world, too. And many were defeated precisely because they believed it.
At least Napoleon and Hitler had a string of truly impressive victories before they learned the folly of hubris. The limits on Trump’s power have been exposed by far less august forces than the combined might of the allies in World War II or the fearsome Russian winter.
Iran is a comparatively middling power. But the regime’s ability to absorb punishment while imposing its will on the Strait of Hormuz has proved to be a greater constraint on Trump’s power than his morality or mind. We should note that, at least rhetorically, his morality has not proved much of a constraint. He has repeatedly promised to destroy Iranian “civilization” if the regime refuses to capitulate.
But they haven’t — and won’t anytime soon — because the regime’s tolerance for pain far outstrips Trump’s. The combined fear of skyrocketing oil prices, outrage of Gulf state potentates, diminishing weapon supplies and domestic unpopularity is doing the work that international law, congressional oversight and the collective opinion of foreign policy experts can’t or won’t do.
If I considered Trump more heroic than reason and facts could allow, I would say his Sisyphean predicament has the whiff of Greek tragedy to it. Trump is vexed by the fact that the Iranians won’t honor deals or ratify his countless premature claims of victory — giving new meaning to his vow that his presidency would make people tired of winning. It’s almost like they’re out-Trumping Trump.
Things might have gone better if he’d heeded that great Greek tragedian Sophocles: “For Zeus utterly abhors the boasts of a proud tongue.”
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Jonah Goldberg is editor-in-chief of The Dispatch and the host of The Remnant podcast. His Twitter handle is @JonahDispatch.