Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Follow Us:
Top Stories

Get on democracy’s Love Train

Love Train feat. Jason Mraz, Chad Smith, Yo-Yo Ma | Turnaround Arts | Playing For Change (Click on Picture for Video)

It has been more than two months since The (New) Fulcrum was launched. At that time, we told you we would use the power of the arts to remind us of our shared heritages and traditions, which contribute to the health of our democracy.

Since then, we’ve presented music, poetry, theater and even comedy content as a bridge to the latest news and analysis of politics and policy that we publish daily. Our goal is to be a new civic and political voice to build greater social cohesion, civic engagement and problem-solving.


We thank you for your overwhelming support of this effort.

During this holiday season, a time of hope and celebration, what better way to bring in the new year than with a performance by Turnaround Arts, a national program of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. They work in schools across the nation to use the power of the arts to improve our schools and connect communities.

The ability of Turnaround Arts to transform elementary and middle schools through arts education is clear. The initial three-year evaluation of the Turnaround Arts pilot schools, released in 2015 found, “significant improvement in academic achievement, reduction in disciplinary referrals and increases in attendance, among other findings. In addition, the study found that Turnaround Arts schools outperformed comparable schools in their city or state that received federal funds for school improvement (“SIG schools”).

The arts can indeed play a powerful role in turning our divided nation around. Please celebrate with us with this performance of “Love Train” featuring Jason Mraz, Chad Smith, Yo-Yo Ma, Jackson Browne and many more.

Get on board the Love Train with us as we strive to realize the dream of our nation's motto: “e pluribus unum.” Out of many, we are one.


Read More

A Hollow Song for a Hollow Patriotism: Reclaiming the Real Patriotic Ballads
Imagine a democracy concert followed by a yearlong democracy call to action roadshow—designed to build a new civic movement
Getty Images, gilaxia

A Hollow Song for a Hollow Patriotism: Reclaiming the Real Patriotic Ballads

After musician after musician pulled out from Trump’s June 24 “Freedom 250” concert, we’re left with Lee Greenwood and an opera tenor. The anthem that made Greenwood a star, “God Bless the USA,” was written in 1985 during the height of the Cold War. It begins with the specter of loss—“If tomorrow—all the things were gone, I’d worked for all my life / And I had to start all over with my children and my wife.” Then the wounds disappear before they’re felt: “I’d thank my lucky stars to be living here today / Because the flag still stands for freedom and they can’t take that away.”

Ronald Reagan made the song his campaign theme while launching a new age of American inequality by systematically busting unions and cutting taxes for the wealthiest. Greenwood treats layoffs and the resulting toll on ordinary lives as a mere inconvenience. As the refrain shifts from violins and a church organ to a military march, he repeats, “I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free / And I won’t forget the men who died who gave that right to me.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Colbert’s Final Late Show Reveals What We’re Losing in Public Dialogue

Stephen Colbert attends the 51st Chaplin Award Gala honoring George Clooney at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center on April 27, 2026 in New York City.

(Photo by Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC Images)

Colbert’s Final Late Show Reveals What We’re Losing in Public Dialogue

Stephen Colbert hosted The Late Show for the last time last week.

Tributes have been pouring in for Colbert’s nightly monologue and comedic genius. And rightly so. He has a unique and deeply humane way of making the unbearable bearable, giving us a little light and lift on our darkest days.

Keep ReadingShow less
Stapleton’s Colbert Performance Shows Power of Nonpolitical Messages

Chris Stapleton performs onstage during the 59th Annual CMA Awards at Bridgestone Arena on November 19, 2025 in Nashville, Tennessee..

(Photo by Astrida Valigorsky/WireImage)

Stapleton’s Colbert Performance Shows Power of Nonpolitical Messages

On May 6th, I watched Chris Stapleton perform “Living in the Promiseland” on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. The song, a Willie Nelson classic from 1985, hit me hard. Originally, Nelson released it at a time when debates about immigration and the American dream were in the headlines, and the song became an anthem of hope and inclusivity. These days, almost everything gets viewed through a political lens, but the song’s opening lines felt powerful without being political:

Give us your tired and weak, and we will make them strong
Bring us your foreign songs, and we will sing along
Leave us your broken dreams, we'll give them time to mend
There's still a lot of love living in the promised land

Keep ReadingShow less
Bruce Springsteen Launches Protest Tour as Warning for American Democracy

Bruce Springsteen performs during the "No Kings" Rally Concert at the Minnesota State Capitol on March 28, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

(Photo by Astrida Valigorsky/Getty Images)

Bruce Springsteen Launches Protest Tour as Warning for American Democracy

When Bruce Springsteen spoke out from a Manchester stage in May 2025, many saw it as just another celebrity taking a political swipe. It was anything but. What happened that night and in the weeks that followed now looks less like a moment and more like the opening chapter of something broader. Springsteen wasn't merely criticizing a president; he was diagnosing a democracy in distress.

Now, with the announcement of his upcoming protest tour, he is making that diagnosis impossible to ignore. The protest tour is not just a series of concerts; it is a call to action. By combining music with onstage discussions and inviting local community leaders to each event, Springsteen hopes to inspire citizens to reengage with democratic values and speak out against rising authoritarianism. The tour aims to create spaces where attendees can learn practical ways to get involved, register to vote, and connect with others who care about defending democracy. In short, Springsteen's goal is to transform audience members from bystanders into participants in preserving our republic.

Keep ReadingShow less