The Context
Do you ever watch the news and wonder, “How did we get here?” Or think to yourself, “Things are bad... What can I do?”The Context is here to help. Our show breaks down the ideas, history, and trends that are shaping democracy.
- Indexed episodes, last 90 days
- 6
- Latest publication
- Sep 15, 2026
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- Checking…
- Earliest in this view
- Jul 14, 2026
Latest episodes
Seneca Falls (Part 1): Special Series with This Day Podcast (opens the original)
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For the second installment of our month-long collaboration with This Day, we go to western New York in the summer of 1848. This Day’s hosts, Jody Avirgan, Nicole Hemmer, and Kellie Carter Jackson, are joined by Deva Woodly, Kettering research fellow and professor at Brown University, to discuss the Seneca Falls Convention on women’s rights—the characters who cooked it up over afternoon tea, the Declaration of Sentiments they wrote in the shadow of the Declaration of Independence, and the one res
Bill of Rights (Part 1): Special Series with This Day Podcast (opens the original)
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Special series announcement! For the next four weeks, we’re bringing you a special series as part of Kettering’s America 250 initiative, “Democracy, Under Construction.” It’s about key events in American history that have brought us toward, or away from, an inclusive democracy—and the work that remains to be done. We coproduced this series with our friends at a podcast called This Day. It’s a history show, and they’re doing a whole year of episodes about major events that shaped our nation. So,
Religion, Racism, and Representation (opens the original)
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Faith-led movements in the US have catalyzed some of our greatest expansions of civil rights. But, at the same time, Christianity has also been used as justification for some of the worst evils in American history. How do people of faith reckon with this tension? And what will it take for Americans of all racial backgrounds, ethnic origins, and faith traditions to commit to dismantling faith-cloaked racism? Jemar Tisby joins host Alex Lovit to discuss how to protect the progress toward racial eq
Who Gets to Be American? (opens the original)
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How long do people have to live in America before they’re considered American? How long does it take to prove themselves as productive, peaceful members of society? For millions of immigrants who have lived in the United States for decades, the answer seems to be, “never.” Immigrants without documents or with temporary status are vulnerable to exploitation by their employers and have been made scapegoats by xenophobic politicians. Patricia Campos-Medina joins host Alex Lovit to discuss how probl
The Making of a Dissident (opens the original)
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How does a dissident become a dissident? The Atlantic staff writer Gal Beckerman joins host Alex Lovit to discuss his new book, How to Be a Dissident. It’s part instruction manual, part history, and part call to action to resist the oppressive forces of our own times. Gal Beckerman is a writer and editor. His previous books include The Quiet Before: On the Unexpected Origins of Radical Ideas and When They Come for Us, We’ll Be Gone: The Epic Struggle to Save Soviet Jewry. https://www.galbeckerma
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