Politics and History

American flag

If you want to know what a state-of-the-art election system looks like, you won't find it in the United States. Pippa Norris runs the Electoral Integrity Project at Harvard and the University of Sidney, which monitors elections in 153 countries. She told Rehman Tungekar that most of our democratic neighbors do a better job.

Consider that the average American voter doesn't understand basic political facts like who their local representatives are. Should they still be allowed to vote? Philosopher Jason Brennan makes the case for an epistocracy: the rule of the knowledgeable.

Targeted person

Cathy O'Neil, data scientist and author of the blog mathbabe.org, warns that politicians are perilously close to being able to tell voters only what they want to hear.

Candles

When suicide bombers blow up crowded marketplaces, or a lone shooter attacks a nightclub, one question we’re always left with is why. This hour, a look at the underlying psychology of political violence.

"the queue" book cover

Writer Basma Abdel Aziz on the transformative effect of the Egyptian uprising

Science March

Journalist Mark Engler explains why some protests flourish whereas others fail.

Barney Frank

Former Congressman Barney Frank believes that if you want to see political change, don't go to a demonstration. Instead, lobby your local representatives and vote.

Joe Scheidler

Joseph Scheidler on his decades-long career as an anti-abortion protester.

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