The Context
Alex Lovit, Charles F. Kettering Foundation
"The Context" is a podcast about democracy—its past, present and future—brought to you by the Charles F. Kettering Foundation. History ripples and changes. From decisions at the dinner table to declarations from the Rose Garden; moments build upon one another informing our past, illuminating our present, inventing our future. History makes meaning, especially when it comes to the state of our democracy, and context is everything. The Context is a new podcast about the history, trends, and ideas shaping democracy in the United States and around the world. In each episode, host Alex Lovit will interview someone who has seen it all—scholars, politicians, journalists and public servants—to get their take on how we got to where we are and what they’ve seen through their experience not only watching the news unfold but sometimes even being the news itself. Reckoning with racism, a crisis of democracy, the right role of government in our daily lives—every question has its reason; every answer has its context. Tune in every other week wherever you listen to podcasts. Subscribe to The Context to get the latest episodes. The Charles F. Kettering Foundation works to inspire and connect individuals and organizations to advance thriving and inclusive democracies around the globe. We believe all people belong and have the right to engage in and shape a democracy that serves them.
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Top 10 The Context Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best The Context episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to The Context for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite The Context episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
02/13/24 • 47 min
America’s institutions are not perfect, but they are essential to the functioning of the rule of law. James Comey shares his experience working to improve the Justice Department through honesty, oversight, and transparency. He also discusses the criminal charges against former president and current presidential candidate Donald Trump. James Comey has been a prosecutor, defense lawyer, general counsel, teacher, writer, and leader. He most recently served in government as Director of the FBI. Since leaving that role in 2017, he has written three best-selling books. Two are memoirs of his time in government: A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership (2018) and Saving Justice: Truth, Transparency, and Trust (2021). His most recent book is a fictional legal thriller: Central Park West (2023). He also serves as a senior fellow for the Charles F. Kettering Foundation. Links: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250192455/ahigherloyalty https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250799128/savingjustice https://penzlerpublishers.com/product/central-park-west/
Trailer: Welcome to The Context
The Context
01/22/24 • 1 min
Welcome to The Context. A podcast from the Charles F. Kettering Foundation about what it takes for democracy to thrive You may have heard that democracy is in crisis. In the United States, citizens are alienated from their government, corruption threatens to undermine representation, and many are losing faith in our institutions altogether. There are also some bright spots. Recent elections have seen the largest, most diverse electorate in American history. On “The Context,” a new podcast from the Charles F. Kettering Foundation, we’ll explore the complex story of our democracy – its failures and successes, missteps, and triumphs. American democracy has always been flawed, excluding some voices and prioritizing others. But even a flawed system can be used as a tool for pro-democratic reform – in fact, that’s the story of American history. On “The Context,” host Alex Lovit, senior program officer and historian, will interview leaders in the field to confront the real problems challenging democracy today – but also celebrate its strengths and its successes.
01/30/24 • 48 min
04/23/24 • 54 min
In 2015, the US Census Bureau released a report projecting that the US would become a majority minority nation by 2044. Justin Gest asserts that the US reached this milestone a long time ago. Gest discusses America’s immense diversity and immigrant roots, which can be sources of unity, rather than division. He interrogates the use of categories and labels that ultimately divide us, calling for a more civic and inclusive understanding of the nation. Justin Gest is a professor of Policy and Government at George Mason University. A scholar of the politics of immigration and demographic change, he has written six books, the most recent entitled Majority Minority (2022). His research is published in many peer-reviewed academic journals, and he provides commentary for major media outlets. You can keep up with his work on his website, justingest.com. Links: https://justingest.com/ https://global.oup.com/academic/product/majority-minority-9780197641798
03/12/24 • 62 min
Throughout history, the rules and practices of American democracy have contradicted the nation’s democratic ideals. Kimberlé Crenshaw has dedicated her career to developing inclusive legal frameworks to address some of our greatest democratic problems. As one of the foundational thinkers of Critical Race Theory, she sets the record straight on what the project is—and what it isn’t. Kimberlé Crenshaw is the Co-founder and Executive Director of the African American Policy Forum and the founder and Executive Director of the Center for Intersectionality and Social Policy Studies at Columbia Law School. She serves on the legal faculty at both UCLA and Columbia University. She is one of the most cited scholars in legal history. Links: https://www.aapf.org/intersectionality-matters https://www.aapf.org/shn-book
02/27/24 • 46 min
J. Michael Luttig was one of the earliest, and most prominent, conservative voices to publicly condemn the effort to overturn the 2020 election. A few days before the Capitol insurrection, he advised Mike Pence that the Vice President has no constitutional authority to overturn a presidential election. Three years later, he discusses whether Donald Trump should be disqualified from holding office for his role in the Capitol insurrection based on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution. Then and now, Judge Luttig has acted in defense of the Constitution, the rule of law, and American democracy. J. Michael Luttig served on the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit from 1991 to 2006. From 2006 to 2020, he was executive director, vice president, and general counsel of Boeing. He is currently counselor and special advisor to the Coca-Cola Company. Luttig is a trustee of Franklin-Templeton Mutual Funds, a trustee of the National Constitution Center, a board member of the nonprofit Society for the Rule of Law, and cochair of the American Bar Association Task Force on American Democracy. He also serves as a senior fellow for the Charles F. Kettering Foundation. https://www.kettering.org/resources/judge-luttig-says-sec-3-of-the-14th-amendment-should-disqualify-trump-for-reelection/
10/22/24 • 45 min
For 49 years, from 1973 until 2022, the Supreme Court declared that the US Constitution protected abortion rights. With this precedent overturned, decision making about reproductive rights now resides with state governments. But the court’s 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization relied on a partial and inaccurate understanding of American history, and its claims to be a pro-democracy decision were disingenuous. Dobbs is just one example of the court smashing precedents in the last few years. Melissa Murray is the Frederick I. and Grace Stokes Professor of Law at New York University, where she specializes in family law, constitutional law, and reproductive rights and justice. She has written for a wide range of academic journals and popular publications and regularly provides legal commentary for several major media outlets. Her credits include the Harvard Law Review, the Yale Law Journal, the New York Times, Washington Post, and many others. She’s a legal analyst at MSNBC and is also one of the cohosts of the podcast Strict Scrutiny, which focuses on the Supreme Court. https://crooked.com/podcast-series/strict-scrutiny/ https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250881397/thefallofroe
Hahrie Han: Belonging Comes Before Belief
The Context
12/03/24 • 50 min
In 2015, Crossroads Church, a majority-White evangelical megachurch based in Cincinnati, Ohio, launched a new program to address racial division and racism. In this episode, Hahrie Han discusses her new book Undivided: The Quest for Racial Solidarity in an American Church, which tells the story of this program and its participants, many of whom changed their thinking, behavior, and relationships after taking part. The impact of Crossroads’s Undivided program demonstrates some of the elements of successful antiracist organizing —or organizing in general. These elements include sustained commitment, building relationships across difference, and empowering people to find their own solutions. Hahrie Han is the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Professor of Political Science, the inaugural director of the SNF Agora Institute, and the director of the P3 research lab at Johns Hopkins University. An elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, she has published four previous books. She was named a 2022 Social Innovation Thought Leader of the Year by the World Economic Forum’s Schwab Foundation. She has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The New Republic, among other national publications. The daughter of Korean immigrants, she lives in Baltimore, Maryland. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/669326/undivided-by-hahrie-han/
06/04/24 • 52 min
American voters have never been more dissatisfied. Unlike in business, where more competition promotes accountability and innovation, our political system only allows for two competitors. For most voters, America’s two-party system makes elections more about defeating the other side than solving problems and delivering. Katherine Gehl proposes Final-Five Voting, where five candidates advance from a nonpartisan primary and then are ranked, to promote competition and ensure representatives are accountable to a majority of voters. Katherine Gehl is a leader in the national nonpartisan movement for political innovation and the founder of The Institute for Political Innovation. A philanthropist and former CEO, she examines America’s political system through an industry-competition lens to better understand its biggest problems and to identify achievable solutions. Her book, The Politics Industry: How Political Innovation Can Break Partisan Gridlock and Save Our Democracy (2020), cowritten with Michael E. Porter, has changed the national reform community’s approach to modern political change. https://political-innovation.org/ https://store.hbr.org/product/the-politics-industry-how-political-innovation-can-break-partisan-gridlock-and-save-our-democracy/10367
Special Episode: How Novels Defend Democracy
The Context
12/31/24 • 15 min
This special episode of The Context includes voices from three previous guests on the show: James Comey, Stacey Abrams, and David Pepper. All three have had significant careers in public service, and all three have also written multiple novels. In these short excerpts, they all also argue that their creative writing is a method to communicate some of their knowledge and insights about democracy and public institutions. James Comey spent many years in public service, culminating in serving as Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation from 2013 until 2017. He is also a senior fellow at the Kettering Foundation. He’s written three novels, including one that will be published next year. Stacey Abrams served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 2007 until 2017, including six years as minority leader. She ran two celebrated gubernatorial campaigns in Georgia in 2018 and 2022. She’s written eleven novels. David Pepper is a former elected official and an adjunct law professor who served as chair of the Ohio Democratic Party from 2015 until 2021. He is also a senior fellow at the Kettering Foundation. He’s written six novels. https://jamescomeybooks.com/ https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/2214766/stacey-abrams/ https://davidpepper.com/ https://davidpepper.substack.com/p/2025-a-novel
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FAQ
How many episodes does The Context have?
The Context currently has 33 episodes available.
What topics does The Context cover?
The podcast is about News, Democracy, Podcasts, Politics and Government.
What is the most popular episode on The Context?
The episode title 'Steven Levitsky: Institutional Reform Won’t Save Democracy in 2024. What Will?' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on The Context?
The average episode length on The Context is 46 minutes.
How often are episodes of The Context released?
Episodes of The Context are typically released every 14 days.
When was the first episode of The Context?
The first episode of The Context was released on Jan 22, 2024.
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