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Podcast: They changed our minds

Podcast: They changed our minds

How do you tell the difference between truth and lies? The answer involves a careful process of seeking knowledge that may contradict our long held beliefs.

This episode features two conversations with expert guests who changed hosts Jim and Richard's minds about how they approach topics central to our understanding of politics, science, and society.


Journalist and scholar Jonathan Rauch is the author of the best-selling book, "The Constitution of Knowledge". He makes a stirring case for the social system of checks and balances used by scientists, lawyers, business leaders, and researchers to turn disagreements into verifiable facts.

Alina Chan is a Canadian molecular biologist specializing in gene therapy and cell engineering at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, where she is a postdoctoral fellow.

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We Are Not Going Back to the Sidelines!

Participants of the seventh LGBTIQ+ Political Leaders Conference of the Americas and the Caribbean.

Photograph courtesy of Siara Horna. © liderazgoslgbt.com/Siara

We Are Not Going Back to the Sidelines!

"A Peruvian, a Spaniard, a Mexican, a Colombian, and a Brazilian meet in Lima." This is not a cliché nor the beginning of a joke, but rather the powerful image of four congresswomen and a councilwoman who openly, militantly, and courageously embrace their diversity. At the National Congress building in Peru, the officeholders mentioned above—Susel Paredes, Carla Antonelli, Celeste Ascencio, Carolina Giraldo, and Juhlia Santos—presided over the closing session of the seventh LGBTIQ+ Political Leaders Conference of the Americas and the Caribbean.

The September 2025 event was convened by a coalition of six organizations defending the rights of LGBTQ+ people in the region and brought together almost 200 delegates from 18 countries—mostly political party leaders, as well as NGO and elected officials. Ten years after its first gathering, the conference returned to the Peruvian capital to produce the "Lima Agenda," a 10-year roadmap with actions in six areas to advance toward full inclusion in political participation, guaranteeing the right of LGBTQ+ people to be candidates—elected, visible, and protected in the public sphere, with dignity and without discrimination. The agenda's focus areas include: constitutional protections, full and diverse citizenship, egalitarian democracy, politics without hate, education and collective memory, and comprehensive justice and reparation.

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ICE’s Growth Is Not Just an Immigration Issue — It’s a Threat to Democracy and Electoral Integrity

ICE’s Growth Is Not Just an Immigration Issue — It’s a Threat to Democracy and Electoral Integrity

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ICE’s Growth Is Not Just an Immigration Issue — It’s a Threat to Democracy and Electoral Integrity

Tomorrow marks the 23rd anniversary of the creation of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Created in the aftermath of 9/11, successive administrations — Republican and Democrat — have expanded its authority. ICE has become one of the largest and most well-funded federal law enforcement agencies in U.S. history. This is not an institution that “grew out of control;” it was made to use the threat of imprisonment, to police who is allowed to belong. This September, the Supreme Court effectively sanctioned ICE’s racial profiling, ruling that agents can justify stops based on race, speaking Spanish, or occupation.

A healthy democracy requires accountability from those in power and fair treatment for everyone. Democracy also depends on the ability to exist, move, and participate in public life without fear of the state. When I became a U.S. citizen, I felt that freedom for the first time free to live, work, study, vote, and dream. That memory feels fragile now when I see ICE officers arrest people at court hearings or recall the man shot by ICE agents on his way to work.

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Meet the Faces of Democracy: Toya Harrell

Toya Harrell.

Issue One.

Meet the Faces of Democracy: Toya Harrell

Editor’s note: More than 10,000 officials across the country run U.S. elections. This interview is part of a series highlighting the election heroes who are the faces of democracy.


Toya Harrell has served as the nonpartisan Village Clerk of Shorewood, Wisconsin, since 2021. Located in Milwaukee County, the most populous county in the state, Shorewood lies just north of the city of Milwaukee and is the most densely populated village in the state with over 13,000 residents, including over 9,000 registered voters.

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