Skip to content
Project 2025
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories
An abstract grid wall of shipping containers, unevenly arranged with some jutting out, all decorated in the colors and patterns of the USA flag. A prominent percentage sign overlays the grid.

Tariffs on Trial: The Supreme Court’s Hidden Battle for Balance

Paramount-WBD Deal: Antitrust, Consumers, and the Future of Media

Paramount-WBD Deal: Antitrust, Consumers, and the Future of Media

Donald Trump isn’t joking about a third term

Donald Trump isn’t joking about a third term

Pete Hegseth walking in a congressional hallway

The War against DEI Is Gonna Kill Us

Two containers, one with a U.S. flag and another with Canada's flag.

Just the Facts: U.S.–Canada Tariff War Escalates As Trump Raises Stakes

Ukrainian Pie

Ukrainian Pie
David L. Nevins
By David L. NevinsMay 15, 2023
David L. Nevins
David L. Nevins serves as publisher of The Fulcrum. Additionally, Nevins serves as co-founder and Board Chairman of the Bridge Alliance. Nevins brings business acumen, vision and a tireless this-must-and-can-be-done zeal to the burgeoning movement to bridge divides to transform the political process. As a business leader, Nevins excels at building bridges between people and organizations from the right, left and center for civilized conversation and then action. He co-founded the Bridge Alliance because, as he says, “No matter how well managed and how well funded anyone organization is, significant political reform will not happen without an alliance to further collaborative interactions. Together we can and will raise the collective impact of all.” He is a member of the Aspen Institute Society of Fellows, with a focus on the Aspen Rodel Fellowship in Public Leadership, he established and continues to work with The Nevins Democracy Leaders program at Penn State University. Nevins graduated with honors in economics from Penn State in 1969 and received an M.B.A. in finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1971.
See More Writings by author

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

Music is an extremely powerful and unifying language that has the ability to speak to everyone across all borders.

I realize that music will not stop the fighting in Ukraine. However, music has proven throughout our history to move people to action.

Music once again is playing its vital role as the Ukrainian war enters its second year. For those who pray, you may pray more. For those who petition others in power, it might lead to a renewal of that effort. Or perhaps giving to a charity, or just being mindful of others around the world.

And so we offer you a song about Ukrainian defenders and the indomitable spirit of the people entitled, "Ukrainian Pie."

This version of the famous American hit, "American Pie" by Don McLean, is deeply influenced by the history of Ukraine's war with Russia. The writer researched various events and wrote the text to convey all the moods of our struggle as much as possible. In the song, President Volodymyr Zelensky is compared to John Wayne, Tom Cruise and Superman. Mayor of Kyiv Vitaliy Klitschko and former Prime Minister of Great Britain Winston Churchill are also mentioned there.

The song is written by Cleveland lawyer Harold Pollock, an entrepreneur, author, and lyricist. Ukrainian Pie has already garnered 1.7 billion views on TikTok and 450,000 views on YouTube. Pollock was looking for a performer for his composition for a long time and decided that it must be a Ukrainian singer. He found the perfect performer while watching the show "Voice of Bulgaria," where the musician from Ukraine Alex Kozar took part. Pollock managed to get in touch with him and they agreed to work together.

"I'm very glad that I had the honor to take part in the work on "Ukrainian Pie... It's not just the longest song I've had to record. This is the story of our struggle, which is recorded in poems and melodies. This is a dedication to the defenders who defend their native land, the strong Ukrainian people and its president, who received the support of the civilized world and turned the course of history," shared the performer of the hit, soloist of the orchestra of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine and finalist of "Voice of Bulgaria" Alex Kozar .

Currently, the song can be purchased in the U.S., with proceeds from the sales being sent to support Ukraine.

Please enjoy the song:

Latest news

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

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

Meet the Faces of Democracy: Toya Harrell
Democracy

Meet the Faces of Democracy: Toya Harrell

Two volunteers standing in front of a table with toiletries and supplies.
Governance & Legislation

Facing a Crackdown on Homelessness, Two Arizona Cities Offer Different Responses

Read More

Mandatory vs. Voluntary Inclusionary Housing: What Cities Are Doing to Create Affordable Homes

affordable housing

Dougal Waters/Getty Images

Mandatory vs. Voluntary Inclusionary Housing: What Cities Are Doing to Create Affordable Homes

As housing costs rise across United States cities, local governments are adopting inclusionary housing policies to ensure that some portion of new residential developments remains affordable. These policies—defined and tracked by organizations like the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy—require or encourage developers to include below-market-rate units in otherwise market-rate projects. Today, over 1,000 towns have implemented some form of inclusionary housing, often in response to mounting pressure to prevent displacement and address racial and economic inequality.

What’s the Difference Between Mandatory and Voluntary Approaches?

Inclusionary housing programs generally fall into two types:

Keep ReadingShow less
Rebuilding Democracy in the Age of Brain Rot
person using laptop computer
Photo by Christin Hume on Unsplash

Rebuilding Democracy in the Age of Brain Rot

We live in a time when anyone with a cellphone carries a computer more powerful than those that sent humans to the moon and back. Yet few of us can sustain a thought beyond a few seconds. One study suggested that the average human attention span dropped from about 12 seconds in 2000 to roughly 8 seconds by 2015—although the accuracy of this figure has been disputed (Microsoft Canada, 2015 Attention Spans Report). Whatever the number, the trend is clear: our ability to focus is not what it used to be.

This contradiction—constant access to unlimited information paired with a decline in critical thinking—perfectly illustrates what Oxford named its 2024 Word of the Year: “brain rot.” More than a funny meme, it represents a genuine threat to democracy. The ability to deeply engage with issues, weigh rival arguments, and participate in collective decision-making is key to a healthy democratic society. When our capacity for focus erodes due to overstimulation, distraction, or manufactured outrage, it weakens our ability to exercise our role as citizens.

Keep ReadingShow less
Trump's Clemency for Giuliani et al is Another Effort to Whitewash History and Damage Democracy

Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani, September 11, 2025 in New York City.

(Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Trump's Clemency for Giuliani et al is Another Effort to Whitewash History and Damage Democracy

In the earliest days of the Republic, Alexander Hamilton defended giving the president the exclusive authority to grant pardons and reprieves against the charge that doing so would concentrate too much power in one person’s hands. Reading the news of President Trump’s latest use of that authority to reward his motley crew of election deniers and misfit lawyers, I was taken back to what Hamilton wrote in 1788.

He argued that “The principal argument for reposing the power of pardoning in this case to the Chief Magistrate is this: in seasons of insurrection or rebellion, there are often critical moments, when a well- timed offer of pardon to the insurgents or rebels may restore the tranquility of the commonwealth; and which, if suffered to pass unimproved, it may never be possible afterwards to recall.”

Keep ReadingShow less
What the Success Academy Scandal Says About the Charter School Model

Empty classroom with U.S. flag

phi1/Getty Images

What the Success Academy Scandal Says About the Charter School Model

When I was running a school, I knew that every hour of my team’s day mattered. A well-prepared lesson, a timely phone call home to a parent, or a few extra minutes spent helping a struggling student were the kinds of investments that added up to better outcomes for kids.

That is why the leaked recording of Success Academy CEO Eva Moskowitz pressuring staff to lobby elected officials hit me so hard. In an audio first reported by Gothamist, she tells employees, “Every single one of you must make calls,” assigning quotas to contact lawmakers. On September 18th, the network of 59 schools canceled classes for its roughly 22,000 students to bring them to a political rally during the school day. What should have been time for teaching and learning became a political operation.

Keep ReadingShow less
© Copyright 2025