Deep Dives and Updates
Our written pieces and Substack newsletter offer reflections, research highlights, and fresh perspectives on polarization, media, and the psychology of outrage—helping you make sense of the noise without getting lost in it.
Popular Articles
- What Bridge-Building Owes Democracy
- Pushing back against treating asymmetric threats as symmetric for the sake of appearing balanced.
- The Unity Paradox
- Exploring the data, the delusions, and the difficult path to true national reconciliation.
- The Roman Mirror: Lessons on Stability and Backsliding
- We romanticize the Roman Republic as a bastion of civic virtue, but the reality was centuries of civil strife. Understanding this history can inform a more grounded perspective on democracy today.
- Why America Isn’t Ready for a General Strike
- Can you really shut down a country that can’t agree on what it wants?
- Why “Save Democracy” Didn’t Land in 2024 and How to Make It Matter Again
- What Young, Cynical Voters Actually Need to Hear About Democracy
- Why the “Trump is Tanking” Narrative Is Mostly Wishful Thinking
- Trump’s falling polls delight the left, but an 80% Republican floor means his grip on the party—and his power to challenge the rule of law—remains unbroken.
- Depolarization Isn’t Weakness—It’s Strength
- Understanding division is how we keep our democracy healthy.
- The NYT Got the Headline Wrong on Polarization
- Silence Isn’t Neutral — It Shapes Our Politics
- “I Don’t Like Politics” — Sound Familiar?
- When the World Feels on Fire, Must We Keep Shouting?
- What if we stopped rewarding outrage?
- Beyond Seeing Ghosts: Recognizing the Early Shadows of Authoritarianism
- When fear reshapes freedom, the ghost may already be real.
- Tequila, Quaaludes, and American Decline
- The U.S. chose chaos—again. Frum’s metaphor isn’t a warning. It’s a diagnosis.
- Surviving the Storm: Strategies for Resilience in a Fractured America
- Authoritarian movements aren’t invincible—the challenge is being ready with a better alternative.
- Breaking the Cycle: Why Bridge-Building Feels One-Sided (and How We Fix It)
- If both sides wait for the other to engage, no one ever will.
- Weekend extra: The Quiet Tragedy of a World Without True Community
- How the Pursuit of “More” is Eroding Our Sense of Community and Fulfillment
- Starting 2025 with Purpose: Overcoming Nihilism in Divided Times
- Polarization, Cynicism, and the Limits of Bridge-Building
- Outrage Overload’s Hidden Goal: Strengthening Resilience
- Think Outrage Overload Is Just About Dialogue? Think Again.