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Video: SNF Agora Symposium on Civic Health Part 2

SNF Agora Symposium on Civic Health Part 2: Panel Discussion

This SNF Agora Symposium on Civic Health Panel Discussion features a wide range of speakers including

  • Adam Seth Levine is the SNF Agora Institute Associate Professor of Health Policy and Management in the Bloomberg School of Public Health.
  • Giada Girelli is a senior analyst in the Human Rights and Justice team at Harm Reduction International.
  • Hahrie Han is the inaugural director of the SNF Agora Institute, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Professor of Political Science, and faculty director of the P3 Research Lab at Johns Hopkins University.
  • David Holt became Oklahoma City’s 36th mayor in 2018. He is the first Native American mayor of Oklahoma City and was, at the time he took office, the youngest mayor of Oklahoma City since 1923.
  • Alister Martin is a practicing ER physician and former chief resident at Massachusetts General Hospital.
  • Sarah Szanton, a nationally renowned researcher, leader, and health equity advocate, is dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing and the Patricia M. Davidson Health Equity and Social Justice Endowed Professor.

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America can rebuild the East Wing, but what about democracy?

An excavator sits on the rubble after the East Wing of the White House was demolished on Oct. 28, 2025, in Washington, D.C. The demolition is part of U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to build a ballroom on the eastern side of the White House.

(Alex Wong/Getty Images/TNS)

America can rebuild the East Wing, but what about democracy?

Here’s the problem with fuming over the bricks and mortar that was once the East Wing of the White House: The time and energy should go to understanding and reacting to the damage the administration has already caused to our institutions and ideals.

Here are just a few of them: The chaos the administration is inflicting on higher education, its attacks on court precedents upholding voting rights, disregard for public policy that looks out for farmers and other working people trying to build or maintain a decent middle-class way of life, not to mention the chaos the administration is unleashing around the world.

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U.S. President Donald Trump displays an executive order he signed announcing tariffs on auto imports in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, March 26, 2025.

TNS

Donald Trump Isn’t a Dictator, but His Goal May Actually Be Worse

Julius Caesar still casts a long shadow. We have a 12-month calendar — and leap year — thanks to Julius. July is named after him (though the salad isn’t). The words czar and kaiser, now mostly out of use, simply meant “Caesar.”

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The facade of the East Wing of the White House is demolished by work crews on Oct. 21, 2025 in Washington, D.C. The demolition is part of U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to build a ballroom reportedly costing $250 million on the eastern side of the White House.

(Andrew Harnik/Getty Images/TCA)

Trump’s excesses enrich only him, not Americans

The White House is full of so much rich history and tradition — it helps tell the story of America itself. And it’s an incredibly impressive and intimidating venue for facilitating international diplomacy.

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IN FLIGHT - OCTOBER 19: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to members of the press on October 19, 2025 aboard Air Force One. The President is returning to Washington, DC, after spending his weekend at Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.

Getty Images, Alex Wong

Your Essential Guide to How Trump Will Handle Literally Any Foreign Crisis

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Every American president has a foreign policy doctrine. But no president has ever had one quite like Donald Trump’s.

With President George W. Bush, it was to invade resource-rich countries under the pretext that there are terrorists there, preferably preemptively. Bomb them to spread freedom and democracy, but leave the Middle Eastern monarchy in Saudi Arabia that’s backing them alone, because, well, they already run a country that sells oil to the U.S.

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