Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Meet the change leaders: Scott Klug

Nevins is co-publisher of The Fulcrum and co-founder and board chairman of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund.

After a 14-year career as an Emmy-winning reporter, Scott Klug upset a 32-year Democratic House member from Wisconsin in 1990. Despite winning four elections with an average of 63 percent of the vote, he stayed true to his term limit pledge and retired in January 1999.

But during his time in office, Klug says, he had the third most independent voting record of any member of Congress from Wisconsin in the last 50 years.


Klug now works at the law firm Foley & Lardner, where he is a public affairs director and co-chair of the firm’s federal public affairs practice. He represents a broad array of the firm’s clients in Washington and several state capitals. He is also able to draw on his time as a television reporter to help clients craft proactive media strategies, particularly when faced with crisis management challenges.

In 2013, he authored “The Alliance,” a mystery novel about religion and antiquities.

Klug has returned to the public eye to represent “Lost in the Middle” voices in a regular podcast he produces.

He is a resident of Madison, Wis., where he lives with his wife, Theresa Summers Klug. The couple has three children.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

I had the wonderful opportunity to interview Klug for the CityBiz “Meet the Change Leaders” series. Watch to learn the full extent of his democracy reform work:

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Read More

Red and blue speech bubbles
J Studios/Getty Images

Strengthening democracy: The power of dialogue and deliberation

Hummel is executive director of the National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation.

In today’s world, democratic values face challenges from rising polarization and declining trust in institutions. At a time when public discourse often feels fragmented, dialogue and deliberation have become essential tools for building trust, bridging divides and fostering community resilience. Democracy, at its core, rests on the principle that all voices deserve to be heard, regardless of political stance.

By cultivating spaces where diverse perspectives can coexist and be respected, dialogue and deliberation offer processes that reflect a broad spectrum of experiences and values.

Keep ReadingShow less
Halloween decorations with a sign that reads "Vote like your life depends on it"

Elections and Halloween can combine to create a scary atmosphere.

Noam Galai/Getty Images

Halloween, fear and democracy: Finding empathy amid the scary season

Nevins is co-publisher of The Fulcrum and co-founder and board chairman of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund. Becvar is co-publisher of The Fulcrum and executive director of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund.

Halloween, a holiday celebrated around the globe, traces its roots back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. The event marked the end of the Celtic year and symbolized a time when the boundaries between the living and the dead blurred, allowing spirits to roam among the living.

While Halloween is often associated with fear, darkness and death, it also represents an opportunity to confront our fears in a communal way. We dress up, share stories of ghosts and let ourselves feel scared for fun. Ironically, this holiday centered on facing fears falls less than a week before the elections, a time when many are most politically afraid. This Election Day, a majority of Americans are feeling fear about the outcome of the presidential election, which falls five days after Halloween, with some fearing what happens if Kamala Harris gets elected and some fearing what might happen if Donald Trump wins.

Keep ReadingShow less
blue and red paper cutout figures coming together
wildpixel/Getty Images

How to reunite America around a roadmap for the future

Erdman is founder and president of the Center for Collaborative Democracy, which is organizing the Grand Bargain Project.

Orekondy is an attorney and community organizer, and is Partnerships Director at the Grand Bargain Project.

American democracy is facing an onslaught of fear and anger — driven by elections that candidates can win just by demonizing opponents, and social media that earn billions by stoking our primal emotions. Those emotions are so raw that frequent calls for civility have failed to work.

Indeed, after the upcoming election, voters on the losing side are likely to lash out more fiercely than ever in our lifetimes. And in January, the two parties are nearly certain to clash incessantly over a path forward, further fueling Americans’ angst, perhaps to the breaking point.

Keep ReadingShow less
White House split into red and blue halves
Douglas Rissing/Getty Image

The war behind the presidential election

Hsu focuses on awareness through music in her Conscious Listening classes and residencies. Hsu is also a public voices fellow with The Op Ed Project.

This presidential election is one of the most high stakes and divisive races any of us have experienced. As we wait anxiously to see how swing state voters will decide the election for the rest of us, many feel powerless and irrelevant.

The frightening reality is that we have reached a tipping point where distrust and disconnection have become normalized. We no longer seem to have common values or the civility to disagree respectfully. And when we lose the ability to connect, reason disappears. We urgently need to reclaim the power to connect with ourselves and with others.

Keep ReadingShow less