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Podcast: Defending truth. Advancing knowledge.

Podcast: Defending truth. Advancing knowledge.

Democracies around the world are under threat from populist movements, demagogues and dogmatic extremists who use disinformation, conspiracy theories, cancel culture and shaming to weaponize social media and challenge our ability to distinguish truth from falsehood.

Most recently, the Russian government has used lies and fake news to justify its attempted land grab in Ukraine. In "The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth", best-selling author, journalist, and public intellectual, Jonathan Rauch, offers a stirring defense of the social system of checks and balances that is crucial for turning disagreement into verifiable facts.


In this episode of "How Do We Fix It?", Jonathan arms listeners and advocates of truth with a clear understanding of what they must protect, and how to do it. He makes a clear and moving argument for how all of us can help defend truth and free inquiry from threats that come from as far away as Russia and as close as our cellphones.

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The Power of Outrage and Keeping Everyone Guessing

Question marks on a stack of small blocks.

Getty Images / Sakchai Vongsasiripat

The Power of Outrage and Keeping Everyone Guessing

Donald Trump loves to keep us guessing. This is exactly what we’re all doing as his second term in the White House begins. It’s one way he controls the narrative.

Trump’s off the cuff, unfiltered, controversial statements infuriate opponents and delight his supporters. The rest of us are left trying to figure out the difference between the shenanigans and when he’s actually serious.

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Trump’s executive orders can make change – but are limited and can be undone by the courts

The inauguration of Donald Trump.

Getty Images / The Washington Post

Trump’s executive orders can make change – but are limited and can be undone by the courts

Before his inauguration, Donald Trump promised to issue a total of 100 or so executive orders once he regained the presidency. These orders reset government policy on everything from immigration enforcement to diversity initiatives to environmental regulation. They also aim to undo much of Joe Biden’s presidential legacy.

Trump is not the first U.S. president to issue an executive order, and he certainly won’t be the last. My own research shows executive orders have been a mainstay in American politics – with limitations.

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Donald Trump is gearing up to politicize the Department of Justice. Again.

President-elect Donald Trump, Wednesday, January 8, 2025.

(Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Donald Trump is gearing up to politicize the Department of Justice. Again.

With his loyalists lining up for key law-enforcement roles, Trump is fixated on former Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney, who helped lead the January 6 congressional investigation. “Liz Cheney has been exposed in the Interim Report, by Congress, of the J6 Unselect Committee as having done egregious and unthinkable acts of crime,” Trump recently said. Then he added: “She is so unpopular and disgusting, a real loser!”

This accelerates a dangerous trend in American politics: using the criminal justice system to settle political scores. Both the Trumps and the Bidens have been entangled in numerous criminal law controversies, as have many other politicians this century, includingScooter Libbey,Ted Stevens,Robert Coughlin,William Jefferson,Jesse Jackson Jr.,David Petraeus,Michael Fylnn,Steve Bannon,Bob Menendez, and George Santos.

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What Democracy Demands of Its Leaders When Disasters Strike

Firefighters continue battling Palisades fire as flames rage across Los Angeles, California, United States on January 09, 2025.

(Photo by Official Flickr Account of CAL FIRE / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)

What Democracy Demands of Its Leaders When Disasters Strike

An almost unimaginable tragedy is unfolding in Los Angeles, California. On Sunday, the Washington Post reported, "Four active fires in the Los Angeles region have burned over 40,000 acres — an area bigger than San Francisco … with flames claiming more than 12,000 structures and displacing tens of thousands.” Twelve people have lost their lives because of the fires.

Donald Trump’s response has been stunning, though not surprising. Instead of steadiness and solidarity, he has offered falsehoods, fictions, and blame. As in other things, he has departed from democratic traditions to which other Republicans have committed themselves.

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