Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Meet the change leaders: Shia Levitt

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

Shia Levitt is the director of News Ambassadors, a project of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund that links student reporters with their counterparts in politically or demographically dissimilar areas to collaborate on stories exploring solutions to contentious issues.

Levitt has taught radio reporting and audio storytelling at Brooklyn College in New York and at Mills College in Oakland, Calif., as well as for WNYC’s Radio Rookies and other organizations.


Her teaching builds on two decades of working in radio, primarily reporting for public radio outlets including NPR, Marketplace and KQED. Most recently (2022) Levitt was a news editor at KALW, where she launched the poetry segment, “Bay Poets.”

She has reported domestically and internationally, including in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, and her main beats have been covering science, health, labor and the environment.

Her vast experience includes producing and reporting radio features and news spots on issues including business, economics, labor, social trends and environment/health from the U.S., Japan, Philippines, India, Israel, Kenya and Ivory Coast.

She is also a freelance photographer for various magazines and occasionally produces for television.

To learn more, visit newsambassadors.org. (Disclosure: Like News Ambassadors, The Fulcrum is a project of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund.)

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

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

The Fulcrum Democracy Forum Meets Shia Levitt, Director of News Ambassadorswww.youtube.com

Read More

Robotic hand holding a ballot
Alfieri/Getty Images

What happens when voters cede their ballots to AI agents?

Frazier is an assistant professor at the Crump College of Law at St. Thomas University. Starting this summer, he will serve as a Tarbell fellow.

With the supposed goal of diversifying the electorate and achieving more representative results, State Y introduces “VoteGPT.” This artificial intelligence agent studies your social media profiles, your tax returns and your streaming accounts to develop a “CivicU.” This artificial clone would use that information to serve as your democratic proxy.

Keep ReadingShow less
Sen. Ron Johnson in front of a chart

Sen. Ron Johnson claims President Biden has allowed 1,700 terrorists to enter the country. That total refers to encounters (people who were stopped)

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

Has President Joe Biden ‘let in’ nearly 1,700 people with links to terrorism?

This fact brief was originally published by Wisconsin Watch. Read the original here. Fact briefs are published by newsrooms in the Gigafact network, and republished by The Fulcrum. Visit Gigafact to learn more.

Has President Joe Biden ‘let in’ nearly 1,700 people with links to terrorism?

No.

Border agents have encountered individuals on the federal terrorist watchlist nearly 1,700 times since President Joe Biden took office — that means those people were stopped while trying to enter the U.S.

Keep ReadingShow less
Social media app icons
hapabapa/Getty Images

Urban planning can counter social media’s impact on young people

Dr. Jones is a grassroot urban planner, architectural designer, and public policy advocate. She was recently a public voice fellow through The OpEd Project.

Despite the breathtaking beauty of our world, many young people remain oblivious to it, ensnared by the all-consuming grip of social media. A recent Yale Medicine report revealed the rising negative impact social media has on teens, as this digital entrapment rewires their brains and leads to alarming mental and physical health struggles. Tragically, they are deprived of authentic life experiences, having grown up in a reality where speculation overshadows genuine interactions.

For the sake of our society’s future, we must urgently curb social media’s dominance and promote real-world exploration through urban planning that ensures accessible, enriching environments for all economic levels to safeguard the mental and physical health of the young.

Keep ReadingShow less
podcast mic in the middle of a red and blue America
Topdesigner/Getty Images

Fellowship brings Gen Z voices into democracy and podcasting

Spinelle is the founder of The Democracy Group podcast network and the communications lead for the McCourtney Institute for Democracy at Penn State.

According to Edison Research, nearly half of Gen Z are monthly podcast listeners. But their voices are largely absent from podcasts about democracy, civic engagement and civil discourse. The Democracy Group’s podcast fellowship, which recently completed its third cohort, aims to change that.

Keep ReadingShow less
Microchip labeled "AI"
Eugene Mymrin/Getty Images

Preparing for an inevitable AI emergency

Frazier is an assistant professor at the Crump College of Law at St. Thomas University. Starting this summer, he will serve as a Tarbell fellow.

Artificial intelligence is advancing at a speed and in ways that were unanticipated even by the foremost AI experts. Just a few decades ago, AI was largely theoretical, existing primarily in the realms of science fiction and academic research. Today, AI permeates nearly every aspect of our lives, from the algorithms that curate social media feeds to the autonomous systems that drive cars. This rapid advancement, while promising in many respects, also heralds a new era of uncertainty and potential peril.

Keep ReadingShow less