This Is What Democracy Looks Like – Details, episodes & analysis

We are joined by David Bollier, one of the world's leading theorists and evangelists for the idea of the “commons” —  a new (old) paradigm for re-imagining economics, politics, and culture. He pursues this work as Director of the Reinventing the Commons Program at the Schumacher Center for a New Economics and as cofounder of the Commons Strategies Group, an international advocacy project. His classic book on the topic is Think Like a Commoner: A Short Introduction to the Life of the Commons. And his most recent book is The Commoner's Catalog for Changemaking, inspired by the format and spirit of The Whole Earth Catalog, but focused on commons and commoning as a countercultural force.

Follow David on twitter here.

Learn more at Bollier.org.

Get a copy of The Commoner's Catalog for Changemaking here.

Get a copy of Think Like a Commoner here.

Get a copy of Free Fair and Alive here.

Listen to Frontiers of Commoning here.

Learn more about the Democracy Policy Network at DemocracyPolicy.network.

Our theme song is from "Come Spring" by Noble Dust.

We are joined by Civil Rights Corps founder Alec Karakatsanis to talk about his work helping change the unjust criminal legal system—and the policies and strategies he believes are promising to achieve mass decarceration at the state and local level.

Follow Alec on twitter here.

Get a copy of Alec's recent book, Usual Cruelty here.

Learn more about Civil Rights Corps here.

Read about the BREATHE Act here.

Learn more about the Democracy Policy Network at DemocracyPolicy.network.

Our theme song is from "Come Spring" by Noble Dust.

We are joined by Community Wealth Builders director Stephanie Geller to talk about her work fostering more equitable, inclusive, and sustainable neighborhood economies through community wealth building models and strategies across Baltimore.

Follow Stephanie on twitter here.

Learn more about Community Wealth Builders here.

Read about the Maryland Neighborhood Exchange here.

Read about Portlands' Community Investment Trust here.

Check out Sporty Dog Creations here.

Learn more about the Democracy Policy Network at DemocracyPolicy.network.

Our theme song is from "Come Spring" by Noble Dust.

We are joined by strategist, organizer, wonk, and former Chicago mayoral candidate Amara Enyia to talk about her policy-focused Chicago mayor race, the power of public banks, and what she meant when she said she wanted to help turn Chicago into a "Cooperative City."

Follow Amara on twitter here.

Read a recent interview with Amara on transforming Chicago policing here.

Watch Chance the Rapper's interview with Amara here.

Learn more about the Democracy Policy Network at DemocracyPolicy.network.

Our theme song is from "Come Spring" by Noble Dust.

We are joined by physician, author, former Detroit health director, and former Michigan governor candidate Dr. Abdul El-Sayed to talk about the power of state policy, the status of the Medicare for All movement, and the promise of state-level single payer campaigns.

Follow Abdul on twitter here.

Read Abdul's newsletter here.

Subscribe to Abdul's podcast here.

Read Abdul's latest book, Medicare for All: A Citizen's Guide, here.

Learn more about the New York Health Act here.

Read about Rep. Ro Khanna's bill to help states better use federal money to create state health plans here.

Learn more about the Democracy Policy Network at DemocracyPolicy.network.

Our theme song is from "Come Spring" by Noble Dust.

A special episode to explain the organizational home of this podcast: The Democracy Policy Network (DPN, for short).

DPN's website is: www.DemocracyPolicy.network

DPN's launch video is here.

DPN's policy agenda page is at: www.DemocracyPolicy.network/agenda

DPN's first five policy kits are here:

DPN's newsletter is here.

This podcast originally aired on the Current Affairs Podcast.

Our theme song is from "Come Spring" by Noble Dust.

We are joined by NYC DSA Debt and Finance Working Group leader Jenny Zhang to talk about their cutting edge state-level Tax the Rich campaign.

Follow the NYC DSA Debt & Finance Working Group on twitter here.

Learn more about the Tax the Rich campaign here.

Read an explanation of Tax the Rich's six proposals here.

Learn more about the Democracy Policy Network at DemocracyPolicy.network.

Our theme song is from "Come Spring" by Noble Dust.

In our inaugural episode, we are joined by cooperative lawyer Jason Wiener to talk cooperatives, employee ownership, and the inspiring Main Street Phoenix project.

Follow Jason's legal work here.

Learn about the Main Street Phoenix Project here.

Follow Jason on twitter at and watch Jason's Harvard Law Forum speech here.

Learn more about the Democracy Policy Network at DemocracyPolicy.network.

Our theme song is from "Come Spring" by Noble Dust.