Village SquareCast
Society & Culture
About
Village SquareCast is the podcast your mother warned you about. We talk politics, religion and race — across color, creed and ideology — and we do it like the partners in democracy that we really ought to be. At The Village Square, we've had hundreds of conversations with tens of thousands of people — and now we bring you our favorites of these conversations via podcast. We talk in bars, we talk in churches, we talk across a hundred continuous tables in the middle of a street downtown. And through all this talking, we've discovered something truly remarkable — people are hard to hate close up.Oh, and we really think civics ought not to be boring. We hope you'll join us.
Episodes
- God Squad | Old Lady Liberty is 250 (And She's Having an identity Crisis)
The God Squad discusses the challenges of finding common ground and agreeing on a national narrative for America, especially as the nation approaches its 250th anniversary. The program aims to identify transcendent principles that could fo…
- UNUM | "We Hold These Truths" with Monticello's Dr. Jane Kamensky
Dr. Jane Kamensky, CEO of Monticello, explores the enduring yet contradictory nature of the American idea, 250 years after the Declaration of Independence. The episode, part of the "UNUM: Democracy Reignited" series, examines how the Decla…
- God Squad | Us vs Them, Good vs Evil: So who's wearing the white cowboy hats in this (tired ole) rerun?
The Village SquareCast episode "God Squad" discusses the "us vs. them" narrative and the historical tendency to frame conflicts as a binary struggle between good and evil. It touches on how this Manichaean worldview has unfolded throughout…
- UNUM: The Pursuit of Liberty, with Jeff Rosen
Jeffrey Rosen, a scholar and author, joins Village SquareCast to discuss his book "The Pursuit of Liberty." The episode explores the historical tensions between American founders Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton, examining their inf…
- God Squad: Why Does God Squad Even Work?
The Village SquareCast episode "God Squad: Why Does God Squad Even Work?" reflects on the 15-year longevity of the God Squad program. It highlights the show's practice of engaging in discussions with individuals holding different perspecti…
- UNUM: Pride, Reckoning, Aspiration with Dr. Theodore R. Johnson
Navy veteran Dr. Theodore Roosevelt Johnson, his family name a legacy first chosen to honor the new possibilities for Black Americans many presidents ago, writes about a football game when he stood during the National Anthem and his son—on…
- America at 250: "Her ability to repair her faults"
"The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults." —Alexis de Tocqueville When Alexis de Tocqueville traveled to a freshly-minted America, he found a people…
- Flying Pig Academy: Conservative 101 for Liberals and Liberal 101 for Conservatives OR Empathy 101 for Everyone
Introducing the newest thing in higher (and we really mean higher — like look UP) education: The Flying Pig Academy. A dream of The Village Square (with support from Florida Humanities) for many years, it's finally aloft. The division in A…
- Flying Pig Academy: Bad Therapy OR why we really ought to think groupishly to address our political division
Introducing the newest thing in higher (and we really mean higher — like look UP) education: The Flying Pig Academy. A dream of The Village Square (with support from Florida Humanities) for many years, it's finally aloft. The division in A…
- Flying Pig Academy: Walk Away from That Box OR Why Fixing Civil Discourse Requires Less Politics, not more
Introducing the newest thing in higher (and we really mean higher — like look UP) education: The Flying Pig Academy. A dream of The Village Square (with support from Florida Humanities) for many years, it's finally aloft. The division in A…
- UNUM Series: Our Common Purpose with Dr. Laurie Patton
As we begin our reflections of the 250th year of our shared experiment—in the 5th season of our UNUM series—we are truly honored to bring you the current president of The American Academy of Arts & Sciences, Dr. Laurie L. Patton. Fresh fro…
- Flying Pig Academy: Core Catalyst Model OR What Old Trees Have to Teach Us About Rebuilding Civic Life
Introducing the newest thing in higher (and we really mean higher — like look UP) education: The Flying Pig Academy. A dream of The Village Square (with support from Florida Humanities) for many years, it's finally aloft. The division in A…
- Flying Pig Academy: Criss Cross Applesauce OR Complexity Changes Everything
Introducing the newest thing in higher (and we really mean higher — like look UP) education: The Flying Pig Academy. A dream of The Village Square (with support from Florida Humanities) for many years, it's finally aloft. The division in A…
- UNUM: Invisible Rulers, with Renee DiResta
We're making our way through a time of extreme disruption, led by rapid transformation in technology, especially in how we communicate information. According to our special guest Renée DiResta, the way power and influence have been profoun…
- God Squad: America Fourth?
We're wondering if the secret to a healthy America is to… wait for it… put "America Fourth!" Perhaps too much of our lives are now wrapped up in this life or death, us v. them struggle for us to be happy people. According to political scie…
- Flying Pig Academy: Carom Shots OR how to become a civility pool shark
Introducing the newest thing in higher (and we really mean higher — like look UP) education: The Flying Pig Academy. A dream of The Village Square (with support from Florida Humanities) for many years, it's finally aloft. The division in A…
- Flying Pig Academy: How Jonathan Haidt Wrote THE Book for Pigs with Higher Aspirations
Introducing the newest thing in higher (and we really mean higher — like look UP) education: The Flying Pig Academy. A dream of The Village Square (with support from Florida Humanities) for many years, it's finally aloft. The division in A…
- UNUM Series: OUTRAGED with Dr. Kurt Gray
Why does it feel like those on the "other side" are not just different but dangerous? According to our special guest UNC psychologist Kurt Gray in his new book OUTRAGED: Why We Fight About Morality and Politics and How to Find Common Groun…
- God Squad: Ten Paces at High Noon
We have become a most tediously offended people. We're not talking about the big stuff — it's the "little" things we wonder about. "Sticks and stones may break my bones" and "water off a duck's back" seem quaint and anachronistic in today'…
- Flying Pig Academy: Location, Location, Location
Introducing the newest thing in higher (and we really mean higher — like look UP) education: The Flying Pig Academy. A dream of The Village Square (with support from Florida Humanities) for many years, it's finally aloft. The division in A…
- Dr. Theodore R. Johnson: If We Are Brave | UNUM Series
We claim to be a nation founded on an idea. But, especially in these times of civic rupture, are we even all talking about the same idea? Contributing Washington Post opinion writer Dr. Ted Johnson joins us again to discuss his beautiful,…
- Mónica Guzmán: One Step Closer | UNUM series
As we contemplated who we might invite for this post-election UNUM gathering, we were (temporarily) flummoxed. A week after the election would we be in need of an expert in election law, a therapist or an exorcist ? Could we just place all…
- God Squad: Lost & Found
America's young adults are telling us they're not OK — in ways large and small. It's high time to take a good, close listen and have a frank conversation about the spiking anxiety & depression among adults coming of age in this time of dis…
- Tim Urban: What's Our Problem?
What, exactly, is our problem? Author Tim Urban, known for his extended riff on procrastination in his endlessly wise, sidesplittingly funny, stick-figure illustrated Wait But Why blog, emerged from a 6-year deep think with an answer that…
- God Squad: Church v. State
As we barrel toward America's 250th, one could argue that if we crack up before we get there (some bad days we'd take even odds), it'll have something to do with the complexity of being in charge of executing one of the founders' biggest i…
- Frenemies: Berny + Geston both love their country.
Friends since middle school, Berny Jacques and Geston Pierre are both children of Haitian political refugees who fled political instability that put their families at risk – with Geston's parents arriving a little earlier than Berny's. Des…
- Wisdom from Conflict: Resetting The Table
Drawing on decades of experience addressing volatile disagreements surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Resetting the Table works to transform toxic polarization and destructive political conflict in the U.S. We'll be joined by Re…
- God Squad: Seeking High Ground in the School Wars
In a culturally, religiously and racially diverse society like ours — with a single public school system designed to educate America's children — maybe we shouldn't be surprised that the culture wars have Officially Hit Our Schools. When y…
- Jonathan Haidt: The Anxious Generation
We were honored to hang out with our intellectual hero, Dr. Jonathan Haidt, a few weeks before the release of his recent book The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness. Unsurprisin…
- UNUM Series: The Soul of Civility
Find the program online here: https://tlh.villagesquare.us/event/soul-of-civility/ While our special guest Alexandra O. Hudson, author of "The Soul of Civility: Timeless Principles to Heal Society and Ourselves," finds the challenges to ci…
- Fragile Neighborhoods with Dr. Seth Kaplan
"Fragile Neighborhoods is an essential and engaging read for everyone who wants to better understand the challenges facing our cities, towns and our nation at large." Richard Florida – Bestselling Author of "The Rise of the Creative Class"…
- God Squad: Everyone is Canceled!
Find the full program online here — and meet The God Squad: https://tlh.villagesquare.us/event/canceled/ . We're living in a time when a bad choice of words (much less a deeply held countercultural opinion) can tank your career, in a media…
- Dr. Jonathan Haidt | After Babel: "The Fragmentation of Everything"
We wanted you wonderful SquareCast listeners to know that we didn't plan for this episode to drop on Leap Day and we didn't plan on it being (we kid you not) Episode 100. But both things just happened . At the very least, we think that's a…
- The Big Sort with Bill Bishop
Pulitzer Prize finalist journalist Bill Bishop joins The Village Square for Dinner at the Square. (See photos from the event here .) Turns out Americans have been sorting ourselves in every aspect of our lives – in the news we watch, the b…
- Being Human in Divided Times: A fireside chat with Village Square founder Liz Joyner
In this episode of SquareCast Village Square Founder & CEO Liz Joyner let Village SquareCast Corey Nathan talk her into being the guest in an episode. It's hard to get away from the doom scroll that typifies our life and times right now —…
- Rachel Brown: The Roots of Belonging & The Risks of Othering
In this episode of SquareCast we're joined by the extraordinary Rachel Brown, the Founder of Over Zero —named in reference to the "zero sum game" that exists in sporting events, but becomes dangerous when it overtakes a society, as it has…
- Stephen P. Kiernan: Authentic Patriotism
In this age of deep and growing civic divisions, perhaps it's time to revise the comic strip Pogo's iteration of U.S. Navy Master Commandant Oliver Perry's quote from the War of 1812: "We have met the enemy and it is us." From our special…
- God Squad: Ending the Cycle of Mean
Americans are sad and lonely, and we don't feel like we belong. With depression and "deaths of despair" on the rise, over half of us say that no one knows us well—a truly alarming statistic that doesn't bode well for our future. As if matt…
- God Squad: Shut Up and (Don't) Sing
With our culture wars at a full rolling boil, apparently all it takes to send our enmity over the edge is…a good old-fashioned country song?? The furor over Jason Aldean's " Try That in A Small Town " (and then there's Oliver Anthony's " R…
- Dr. Todd Rose | Collective Illusions: Conformity, Complicity and the Science of Why We Make Bad Decisions
At the core of the deep societal divisions we navigate every day is an assumption that we share little with "those people" with whom we share a country—a belief that leaves us on dangerous ground as a nation. But author and entrepreneur Dr…
- Robert Putnam & Shaylyn Romney Garrett | Join or Die: Why you should join a club — and why the fate of America depends on it
"Our national myths often exaggerate the role of the individual heroes and understate the importance of collective effort. —Robert Putnam This is when you meet a living legend and get the benefit of his thinking on the topic he's been bril…
- The Way Out: Overcoming Toxic Polarization, with Dr. Peter T. Coleman
"A remarkable combination of scientific insight, practical guidance, and grounded hope." —Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author of THINK AGAIN Toxic polarization and conflict is exhausting . Whether it's in your family, at work…
- TP&R Feed Drop | Tim Keller and Michael Gerson, A Tribute with Pete Wehner and Jonathan Rauch
The Village Square is truly delighted to offer you a feed drop episode of Talkin' Politics & Religion Without Killin' Each Other —a podcast we loved so much , we convinced its host to also be our host (that's fandom). Along with Village Sq…
- When the People Decide Feed Drop | Libraries as civic spaces
The Village Square is truly delighted to offer you a feed drop episode of When The People Decide, a podcast about how everyday people are shaping democracy. Along with Village SquareCast, they're a member of The Democracy Group , a network…
- How Do We Fix It Feed Drop | The Middle 70%. In This Together: Bill Shireman
The Village Square is truly delighted to offer you a feed drop episode of the "How Do We Fix It?" podcast , from the coolest podcast hosting dynamic duo we know and love, Richard Davies and Jim Meigs . These two have real fun together and…
- Let's Find Common Ground Feed Drop | Patriotism: Pride, Race and Reckoning
The Village Square is truly delighted to offer you a feed drop episode of the "Let's Find Common Ground" podcast , from the extraordinary national leader in bridging divides Common Ground Committee . (Shout out to the co-founders Bruce Bon…
- Democracy Works Feed Drop: Separating News From Noise
The Village Square is truly delighted to offer you an episode of one of the best podcasts in the democracy space— Democracy Works . Meet them: The Democracy Works podcast seeks to answer that question by examining a different aspect of dem…
- TP&R Feed Drop: Bob Cusack, Editor in Chief at THE HILL
The Village Square is truly delighted to offer our very favorite listeners (you) this feed drop of one of our very favorite podcasts (that isn't Village SquareCast)—Talkin' Politics & Religion Without Killin' Each Other—with its host the o…
- A Braver Story: The Braver Angels Story of American Citizenship
The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. —Abraham Lincoln. This episodes tells the story of one group of people who have risen. Built by patriotic volunteers, Braver Angels is a national movement to b…
- God Squad: Political Football, Inc.
Is political branding of everything really good for anyone? These days politicians aren't the only ones who have to state their opinion on every single political disagreement du jour. It seems like practically every religious, nonprofit an…