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Podcast: Village SquareCast celebrating 15 years & 50 episodes

Podcast: Village SquareCast celebrating 15 years & 50 episodes

Think it's impossible to bridge today's divisions? We beg to differ. Join politically diverse Village Square moderators looking back on the "best of" fifteen years—and now 50 podcast episodes— of bringing people together who don't look or think alike to discuss the thorniest issues of our time, while actually having fun. You'll hear about what made them laugh and cry, what inspired them, and other behind-the-scenes moments they've been mum about (until now, that is). Bill Mattox, Vita Woodrich, and Liz Joyner take a trip down memory lane while the rest of us pull out our notepads and soak up their wisdom.

This 50th SquareCast episode is packed with practical tips used by our guests as they navigate the challenges and joys of building bridges in their personal lives and with their beloved Village Square family.


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Heaven as a Hashtag: Trump, Ukraine, and the Transactional Soul of Modern Leadership

U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office at the White House on August 18, 2025 in Washington, DC.

(Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Heaven as a Hashtag: Trump, Ukraine, and the Transactional Soul of Modern Leadership

When Donald Trump called into Fox and Friends on Tuesday August 19th and mused that "I want to try and get to heaven, if possible," citing his role in the Ukraine peace process as a potential ticket upward, he offered far more than a personal aside.

It exposed the ethos of the man where redemption is transactional, compassion is conditional, and leadership is measured not by empathy but by negotiating oneself to heaven.

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Don’t Federalize and Militarize DC's Local Police

A busy city street with people walking and cars driving. The street is lined with buildings and has a crosswalk. Washington, DC

Getty Images, Erik Gonzalez Garcia

Don’t Federalize and Militarize DC's Local Police

When I walk my toddler home from daycare every evening, it is safe. That's here in Washington, D.C., where I have lived since I moved to work on government accountability 15 years ago.

For perhaps the next 30 days, or longer, District of Columbia residents will be policed by federalized civilian and military officers, per an executive order and presidential memorandum this morning. The executive order directs the police to be federalized to protect "national monuments" (which are in the safest parts of D.C. thanks to the existing park police) and other federal properties, but the memorandum directs the DC National Guard to address crime throughout the capital.

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The Voting Rights Act Turns 60 — but Its Promise Is Still Under Threat

The Voting Rights Act of 1965, signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson on August 6 of that year, effectively prohibited racial discrimination in voting and required federal oversight to ensure its implementation. But the promise of the now seminal Voting Rights Act is at risk as Americans mark this milestone anniversary.

LOC; The 19th

The Voting Rights Act Turns 60 — but Its Promise Is Still Under Threat

Sixty years ago, a landmark piece of voting rights legislation was signed into law — a policy that has aimed to course-correct America’s wobbled experiment of representative democracy.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965, signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson on August 6 of that year, effectively prohibited racial discrimination in voting and required federal oversight to ensure its implementation.

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The Battle Over Truth: Trump, Data, and the Fight for Reality
File:Donald Trump (29496131773).jpg - Wikimedia Commons

The Battle Over Truth: Trump, Data, and the Fight for Reality

I. The Battle Over Facts

When Donald Trump fired Dr. Kristine Joy Suh, head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, after a disappointing July jobs report, it wasn’t merely a personnel decision—it was a sharp break with precedent. Suh’s removal upended decades of tradition in which BLS commissioners, regardless of who appointed them, were shielded from political retaliation to preserve statistical integrity. In his second term, Trump has made it clear that data isn’t merely information to be reported—it’s a narrative to be controlled. If the numbers align with his message, they’re hailed as proof of success. If they don’t, they’re dismissed as fake—or worse, subversive.

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