This is Democracy

Jeremi and Zachary sit down with historian and former U.S. State Department official Michael Kimmage to take stock of where things stand in the fourth year of the war in Ukraine. Michael Kimmage is a professor of history at the Catholic University of America, and the director of the Kennan Institute. From 2014 to 2017, he served on the Secretary's Policy Planning Staff at the U.S. Department of State, where he held the Russia/Ukraine portfolio. His latest book is Collisions: The War in Ukraine and the Origins of the New Global Instability. Edited by Uriel Murillo.

Jeremi and Zachary discuss key lessons and impressions from 2025 to kick off the new year of 2026. Zachary opens the episode with an excerpt from George Orwell's essay, "Can Socialists Be Happy?"

This week, Zachary and Jeremi revisit the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, discussing recent developments and potential diplomatic solutions. They are joined by Michael Kimmage, Professor of History at the Catholic University of America, who offers insights into the complex political landscape, the roles of Putin and Zelensky, and the intricate US-European alliance. Zachary begins the episode by reading "Knife", a poem by Ukrainian author, Lyuba Yakimchuk. Michael Kimmage is a professor of history at the Catholic University of America, and the director of the Kennan Institute. From 2014 to 2017, he served on the Secretary's Policy Planning Staff at the U.S. Department of State, where he held the Russia/Ukraine portfolio. His latest book is Collisions: The War in Ukraine and the Origins of the New Global Instability.

This week, Zachary and Jeremi discuss the complexities and challenges surrounding the adaptability of the American Constitution with Professor Steven Skowronek. They delve into topics such as constitutional amendments, the role and evolution of the Supreme Court, and the potential need for a new constitutional framework to address contemporary issues. Zachary sets the scene with a passage from Alexander Hamilton's Federalist Paper No. 85. Dr. Stephen Skowronek is the Pelatiah Perit Professor of Political and Social Science at Yale University. His most recent book is The Adaptability Paradox: Political Inclusion and Constitutional Resilience. Other publications include Phantoms of a Beleaguered Republic: The Deep State and the Unitary Executive (with John Dearborn and Desmond King), The Policy State: An American Predicament (With Karen Orren), The Politics Presidents Make: Leadership from John Adams to Bill Clinton, and Building a New American State: The Expansion of National Administrative Capacities, 1877-1920 (1982).

This week, Jeremi and Zachary sit down with Dr. Mikkel Runge Olesen, a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies, to discuss Greenland and its growing significance in global politics. Dr. Olesen offers a comprehensive overview of Greenland's history, its political relationship with Denmark, and its strategic importance to the United States. The conversation also explores the broader geopolitical interests in the Arctic as well as the environmental impact of climate change in this crucial region. Zachary sets the scene with an excerpt from the poem "Rise" written by climate activists, Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner and Aka Niviana. Dr. Mikkel Runge Olesen is a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS). His research interests include NATO and transatlantic relations, the Arctic, the Nordic countries, Danish foreign policy, and recent Danish diplomatic history. His theoretical interests include realism (international relations), foreign policy analysis, and political psychology.

This week, we have Prof. John Beckett Wallingford to discuss the current landscape of federal science funding, and the importance of science in American industry and society. We set the scene with a reading of The Polio Vaccine, Chatham, Virginia, 1964, by Claudia Emerson. John Beckett Wallingford is a developmental biologist with three decades of experience. He is the Mr. and Mrs. Robert P. Doherty Jr. Regents Chair in Molecular Biology and a Professor in the Dept. of Molecular Biosciences at the University of Texas at Austin. Since 2003, his laboratory has sought to understand how form and function arise in embryos using advanced microscopy, systems biology, and biomechanics. Wallingford's research explores animal models and collaborates with human geneticists to understand human birth defects. He is writing a forthcoming book about embryos: In the Beginning.

This week, Jeremi and Zachary speak with returning guest Michael Kimmage, about the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine and the evolution of the conflict over the past three and a half years. Zachary sets the tone by re-reading the poem from the first episode about the conflict in Ukraine, entitled "Our Ukrainian Love Story" to reflect on the initial days of the invasion and how perceptions and realities have shifted. Michael Kimmage is a professor of history at the Catholic University of America, and the once-former-and-future director of the Kennan Institute. From 2014 to 2017, he served on the Secretary's Policy Planning Staff at the U.S. Department of State, where he held the Russia/Ukraine portfolio. His latest book is Collisions: The War in Ukraine and the Origins of the New Global Instability.

This week, Zachary hosts a conversation with Jeremi and Dr. Peniel Joseph about his new book, Freedom Season, which describes the pivotal significance of 1963 in the Civil Rights Movement, highlighting key events such as the Birmingham protests, the March on Washington, the Birmingham church bombing, and the assassination of JFK. This week, instead of the usual poem, we set the scene with an audio excerpt of Martin Luther King Jr. reading from his "Letter from Birmingham Jail." Peniel Joseph holds a joint professorship appointment at the LBJ School of Public Affairs and the History Department in the College of Liberal Arts at The University of Texas at Austin. He is also the founding director of the LBJ School’s Center for the Study of Race and Democracy. His career focus has been on “Black Power Studies,” which encompasses interdisciplinary fields such as Africana studies, law and society, women’s and ethnic studies, and political science. Prior to joining the UT faculty, Joseph was a professor at Tufts University, where he founded the school’s Center for the Study of Race and Democracy to promote engaged research and scholarship focused on the ways issues of race and democracy affect people’s lives. In addition to being a frequent commentator on issues of race, democracy and civil rights, Joseph wrote the award-winning books “Waiting ‘Til the Midnight Hour: A Narrative History of Black Power in America, “Dark Days, Bright Nights: From Black Power to Barack Obama," and “Stokely: A Life" as well as “The Black Power Movement: Rethinking the Civil Rights-Black Power Era” and “Neighborhood Rebels: Black Power at the Local Level.”" His most recent book is "Freedom Season: How 1963 Transformed America's Civil Rights Revolution."