Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Follow Us:
Top Stories

Podcast: God squad: Wanted – A few civic heroes

Podcast: God squad: Wanted – A few civic heroes

In celebration of The Village Square’s determination this year to celebrate what’s working and worth emulating (in a world in which so much seems broken), God Squad kicks off their 13th season thinking about our fellow humans who have behaved heroically during these challenging times.

But—beware—one person’s hero might be the other’s villain in these divisive “us or them” times. If we can’t agree, we’ll imagine what a hero might look like, and ask—might it fall to us to save ourselves?


This episode features Father Tim Holeda of St. Thomas More Co-Cathedral, Dr. Gary Shultz of First Baptist Church Tallahassee, Stefanie Posner of Temple Israel, Dr. Judy Mandrell of Life Changer Church of God in Christ, and Dr. Brant Copeland, Teaching Elder with Presbyterian Church (U.S.A).

https://open.spotify.com

Read More

The Democracy for All Project

The Democracy for All Project

American democracy faces growing polarization and extremism, disinformation is sowing chaos and distrust of election results, and public discourse has become increasingly toxic. According to most rankings, America is no longer considered a full democracy. Many experts now believe American democracy is becoming more autocratic than democratic. What does the American public think of these developments? As Keith Melville and I have noted, existing research has little to say about the deeper causes of these trends and how they are experienced across partisan and cultural divides. The Democracy for All Project, a new partnership of the Kettering Foundation and Gallup Inc., is an annual survey and research initiative designed to address that gap by gaining a comprehensive understanding of how citizens are experiencing democracy and identifying opportunities to achieve a democracy that works for everyone.

A Nuanced Exploration of Democracy and Its Challenges

Keep ReadingShow less
America Is Not a Place, It’s an Epic Road Trip
empty curved road
Photo by Holden Baxter on Unsplash

America Is Not a Place, It’s an Epic Road Trip

Despite its size, Afghanistan has only a single highway running through it. It’s called National Highway 1, or Ring Road, and I spent a little time on it myself years ago. It has no major intersections, not really. Just 1,400 miles of dusty road that cuts through mountains and across minefields to connect small towns and ancient cities.

Over many decades, America helped build and rebuild Ring Road to support free trade and free movement throughout the country.

Keep ReadingShow less