“A republic, if you can keep it”
New Thinking for a New World - a Tallberg Foundation Podcast
01/29/21
•37m
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One of America’s most revered founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin, allegedly used those words to describe what kind of political system the writers of the U.S. Constitution had created. The amazing events of recent weeks—Donald Trump’s concerted efforts to undo an electoral outcome that he didn’t like, the assault on the Capitol, and the impeachment of a President who is no longer in power—caused many Americans to remember Franklin’s concerns about the stability of their form of government.
Congressman Dick Gephardt, former Majority and Minority Leader in the House of Representatives, shares those worries. In this episode of New Thinking for a New World, he told host Alan Stoga, "I think we're as divided and in danger of losing the democracy as we were in 1860,” when the United States fought its civil war. Congressman Gephardt, a Democrat, firmly believes America needs bipartisanship to cope with the divisive spirits that are tearing at the country. Listen as he talks about some of the things that urgently need to be done, not just in the United States, but everywhere that democracy is under pressure.
If your sound isn’t perfect as you listen today, blame us not your speakers.
Previous Episode
Lines in the Sand
January 21, 2021
•28m
History is replete with leaders drawing real or metaphorical lines in the sand, challenging opponents to cross only if they dare. David Andelman, an American journalist and author, believes that one way to understand global risks and challenges is to explore the nexus of red lines that define global politics.
Indeed, Andelman—in this episode of New Thinking for a New World and in his recent book A Red Line in the Sand: Diplomacy, Strategy, and the History of Wars That Might Still Happen—argues that never before have global affairs been so entangled by red lines. Moreover, he says that Donald Trump made everything worse. Can we recover without a catastrophe?
Next Episode
Looking for a New Normal (or something like it)
February 4, 2021
•31m
We live at a time of pandemic, recession, growing doubts about the future and form of capitalism, challenges to democracy, shifts in global power. The response of many if not most organizations, public as well as private, is to hunker down and try to survive. But some are embracing the challenges and opportunities of profound change. That certainly describes the Robert Bosch Stiftung, one of Europe’s most important private philanthropies which works in areas ranging from health care to climate to migration and well beyond.
Under the leadership of Sandra Breka and others, the Foundation recently rethought, rebooted and relaunched its operations—surfing, rather than fleeing from the forces released by shifting tectonic plates. Listen as she discusses how they fared and what kind of world she and her colleagues hope to help shape.
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