Skip to content
Project 2025
Donate to support
diverse voices
Search

Latest Stories

Follow Us:
Top Stories
Trump’s Plan to Gather Data on Every Voter Will Cripple Democracy

Trump’s Plan to Gather Data on Every Voter Will Cripple Democracy

​Performer Bad Bunny on stage.

Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl Halftime Show Sparks National Controversy As Trump Announces Boycott

The Insurrection Act, Revisited: Power That Waits in the Margins

The Insurrection Act, Revisited: Power That Waits in the Margins

Trump, Greenland, and the Alarming Silence in Congress

Trump, Greenland, and the Alarming Silence in Congress

Is the U.S. Better Off Today Than a Year Ago?

Is the U.S. Better Off Today Than a Year Ago?

What is your take?

Question mark
diyun Zhu/Getty Images
David L. Nevins
By David L. NevinsOct 08, 2021
David L. Nevins
David L. Nevins serves as publisher of The Fulcrum. Additionally, Nevins serves as co-founder and Board Chairman of the Bridge Alliance. Nevins brings business acumen, vision and a tireless this-must-and-can-be-done zeal to the burgeoning movement to bridge divides to transform the political process. As a business leader, Nevins excels at building bridges between people and organizations from the right, left and center for civilized conversation and then action. He co-founded the Bridge Alliance because, as he says, “No matter how well managed and how well funded anyone organization is, significant political reform will not happen without an alliance to further collaborative interactions. Together we can and will raise the collective impact of all.” He is a member of the Aspen Institute Society of Fellows, with a focus on the Aspen Rodel Fellowship in Public Leadership, he established and continues to work with The Nevins Democracy Leaders program at Penn State University. Nevins graduated with honors in economics from Penn State in 1969 and received an M.B.A. in finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1971.
See More Writings by author

Last week, The Fulcrum introduced "What is your take?" This biweekly feature where we will ask our readers a question or two.

We look forward to engaging with our readers as we share your responses and create a dialogue around different topics and issues that are important to all of us.

Today's question is: One of the most popular songs in the Broadway show "Hamilton" is "My Shot." As we strive to help protect and improve democracy in America, what do you see as "Your Shot" to make a difference?

Please share your responses by emailing to pop-culture@fulcrum.us.

In the meantime, let's look back at The Fulcrum's first question: What piece of art, music or theater has enhanced (or detracted) your connection to the work you do?

We were overwhelmed by the number of responses and thank everyone who participated. The responses showcase our belief that the arts have the power to break down boundaries and overcome distances between people.

Below are a few of the numerous responses we received speaking to the power of the arts to connect us as a people.

Responses

  • "The Peace Train" by Cat Stevens. I've always loved that song even without knowing all of the lyrics. I wish we all spent more time on the "peace train" and less time on the "crazy train!" — Mary Gaylord.

patriotic artworkwww.educatingforamericandemocracy.org

  • What a neat new idea! I saw the above piece from the Educating for American Democracy team. The category was civic honesty, reflective patriotism and the artist was in the 10th grade. It reminds me that we can touch democracy from many different angles and if the youth of today demonstrate this democratic beauty — then we must be creating "a more perfect union". — Sara Gifford, ActiVote.
  • Suzanne Brennan Firstenberg's installation on the National Mall of 690,000-plus white flags representing lives lost to Covid reminded me of the incredible power of art. This dramatic installation, "In American Flags," is providing both an opportunity for national recognition of the massive loss we have all experienced and personal acknowledgement for those who have lost loved ones. Absolutely incredible. — Liz Harvey, American Promise.
  • I was totally surprised and enchanted by the Wind Circle Peace Sculpture at the Devil's Tower National Monument. The Mobius Strip was by the community college where I taught as a symbol of paradox and unification. We had different fields (sometimes competing for resources) as well as a very disparate student body, and we were trying to unite and work together without discounting any of the components. The history behind the Junky Moto's Circle of Smoke Peace Sculpture reinforced my faith and hope. — Anonymous

When we asked our first question, we said we expected the answers to run the gamut from exasperated to humorous to anxious to hopeful. We were not surprised.

We are more convinced than ever that by engaging our readers through music, theatre, poetry, dance and all the arts, The Fulcrum can help us all find our shared humanity despite the sharp elbows of the day-to-day in American life and politics. And by doing so we hope to build upon The Fulcrum's mission of being a place where insiders and outsiders to politics are informed, meet, talk and act to repair our democracy and make it live and work in our everyday lives.

Thank you.
David L. Nevins
Co-Publisher, The Fulcrum


Latest news

Facts about Alex Pretti’s death are undeniable. The White House is denying them anyway
Ethics & Leadership

Facts about Alex Pretti’s death are undeniable. The White House is denying them anyway

Sheet music in front of an American flag
Bridging & Common Ground

Patriotic Songs Reveal the America ICE Is Betraying

March in memory of George Floyd
Democracy

Black History Month 2026: When Memory Becomes a Moral Test

Read More

Gavin Newsom, Ben Shapiro, and Donald Trump Finally Agree on a Major Voting Rights Issue
Image: IVN staff

Gavin Newsom, Ben Shapiro, and Donald Trump Finally Agree on a Major Voting Rights Issue

If you asked Gavin Newsom, Ben Shapiro, or Donald Trump whether they put voters first, all three would say yes.

They would say it confidently.

Keep ReadingShow less
Someone tipping the scales of justice.

Retaliatory prosecutions and political score-settling mark a grave threat to the rule of law, constitutional rights, and democratic accountability.

Getty Images, sommart

White House ‘Score‑Settling’ Raises Fears of a Weaponized Government

The recent casual acknowledgement by the White House Chief of Staff that the President is engaged in prosecutorial “score settling” marks a dangerous departure from the rule-of-law norms that restrain executive power in a constitutional democracy. This admission that the State is using its legal authority to punish perceived enemies is antithetical to core Constitutional principles and the rule of law.

The American experiment was built on the rejection of personal rule and political revenge, replacing it with laws that bind even those who hold the highest offices. In 1776, Thomas Paine wrote, “For as in absolute governments the King is law, so in free countries the law ought to be King; and there ought to be no other.” The essence of these words can be found in our Constitution that deliberately placed power in the hands of three co-equal branches of government–Legislative, Executive, and Judicial.

Keep ReadingShow less
Crumpled dollar bills, two coins, a wallet, book, glasses, and home phone on a table.

A new economic study shows tariffs are paid overwhelmingly by American consumers, exposing trade policy as a hidden domestic tax.

Getty Images, David Harrigan

The Tariff Receipt Americans Can No Longer Afford

For years, the American public has been told that tariffs are a sophisticated form of tribute, a way to extract wealth from foreign adversaries while shielding the domestic worker. It is a seductive narrative, painted in the bold strokes of nationalistic pride. But as a rigorous new study from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy confirms, the reality is far less heroic. The bill for these trade barriers is not being mailed to Beijing, New Delhi, or Brussels. It is being delivered, with startling efficiency, to the kitchen tables of the American family.

The findings are as clear as they are sobering. After analyzing more than 25 million shipment records totaling nearly 4 trillion dollars, researchers found that American importers and consumers have shouldered 96 percent of the cost of recent tariffs. Foreign exporters, by contrast, have felt a mere 4 percent of the sting. Despite the robust rhetoric emanating from the White House, the data suggests that tariffs function not as a foreign levy but as a domestic consumption tax. The government may have collected 200 billion dollars in customs revenue in 2025, but that money was extracted almost entirely from the pockets of the people it was ostensibly meant to protect.

Keep ReadingShow less
© Copyright 2026