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ANOTHER WAY

Another Way is a weekly podcast about how we can get reforming and improving our democracy front and center. This season, Larry Lessig and the Equal Citizens team will be talking to politicians, authors, activists, and more to bring you in-depth information about the For The People Act, the most significant fair elections bill in generations, and what you can do to help pass it. Subscribe using the tools on this page, or listen to episodes below.

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LATEST EPISODES

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S5E26: Lifeboats: Jon Stever

S5E26: Lifeboats: Jon Stever

In 2020, in the middle of a pandemic, Jon Stever launched an extraordinary experiment to draw together a representative sample of the world to discuss the climate and ecological crisis the world is facing. In this conversation, I talk to him about how he and his team...

S5E26: Lifeboats: Jon Stever

S5E25: Lifeboats: David Farrell

Ireland has been perhaps the most impressive example of citizen assemblies addressing national issues in a new and edifying way. David Farrell is an academic who has studied the Irish example. I talk with him about what Ireland can teach the rest of the world. Become...

S5E26: Lifeboats: Jon Stever

S5E23: Lifeboats: Claudia Chwalisz

Claudia Chwalisz is a social entrepreneur, spreading the gospel of citizen assemblies. In this episode we talk to her about citizens assemblies' potential and how they are spreading across the world. Become a Patreon subscriber: https://www.patreon.com/EqualCitizens...

PAST EPISODES

S5E22: Lifeboats: Kim Polese

S5E22: Lifeboats: Kim Polese

Not all AI is democracy ending AI. Some can support democracy and make it better. In this episode, I talk to Kim Polese, whose career launching transformative technologies (beginning with Java) has landed with a democracy enhancing AI, CrowdSmart. We talk about its...

S5E21: Lifeboats: David Van Reybrouck

S5E21: Lifeboats: David Van Reybrouck

David Van Reybrouck's book, Against Elections, helped crystalize a movement for citizen assemblies. In my conversation with him, we talk about the origin of this idea, and how it could complement democracy. Become a Patreon subscriber:...

S5E20: Lifeboats: Chloe Maxim / Canyon Woodward

S5E20: Lifeboats: Chloe Maxim / Canyon Woodward

Chloe Maxim and Canyon Woodward built a people focused movement in rural Maine to change the way politics works. I talk to them about their book, Dirt Road Revival, and the organization they've launched, DirtRoadOrganizing.org, aiming to change how we do politics, for...

S5E19: Lifeboats: Eli Pariser

S5E19: Lifeboats: Eli Pariser

Eli Pariser, Executive Director of MoveOn at 23, and founder of UpWorthy, talks to me about creating healthy online spaces, and democratic activism that builds up democracy rather than tearing it down. Become a Patreon subscriber: https://www.patreon.com/EqualCitizens...

S5E18: Lifeboats: Josh Greene

S5E18: Lifeboats: Josh Greene

Jennifer Pahlka, founder of the Code for America and former Deputy CTO, talks with me about improving digital governmental capacity, working from her new book, Recoding America: Why Government is Failing in the Digital Era and How We Can Do Better. Become a Patreon...

S5E17: Lifeboats: Jennifer Pahlka

S5E17: Lifeboats: Jennifer Pahlka

Jennifer Pahlka, founder of the Code for America and former Deputy CTO, talks with me about improving digital governmental capacity, working from her new book, Recoding America: Why Government is Failing in the Digital Era and How We Can Do Better. Become a Patreon...

S5E16: Lifeboats: Brink Lindsey

S5E16: Lifeboats: Brink Lindsey

Our first lifeboat is hope — hope that government could actually do good. Brink Lindsey, formerly of the Cato Institute, and now Director of the Open Society Project at the Niskanen Center, talks to me about governmental capacity, and how we could make it better....

S5E15: Lifeboats: Intro

S5E15: Lifeboats: Intro

We can make our unrepresentative representative democracy representative. But AI may mean that's not enough. This episode introduces the final section of this season — lifeboats: the changes we could make to make it so democracy can survive. Become a Patreon...

S5E14: Gashed Hull: AI: Tristan Harris

S5E14: Gashed Hull: AI: Tristan Harris

AI has already affected our society fundamentally. That effect first happened through social media. In this episode, we speak with Tristan Harris, co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology, about that first effect, and what we can expect as AI evolves. Become a...

S5E13: Gashed Hull: Media: Ben Smith

S5E13: Gashed Hull: Media: Ben Smith

What happens when news must compete? How does that affect the news? In this episode, we talk to Ben Smith, a journalist and entrepreneur who played a central role in the transformation of media through social media. His book, Traffic, tells that story better than any...

S5E12: Gashed Hull: Social Media: Jonathan Haidt

S5E12: Gashed Hull: Social Media: Jonathan Haidt

No technology in the last two generations has more affected ordinary life and ordinary politics more profoundly than social media. In this episode, we talk to NYU Stern School of Business Professor Jonathan Haidt about how social media has changed us, and especially...

S5E11: Gashed Hull: Broadcast Democracy: Markus Prior

S5E11: Gashed Hull: Broadcast Democracy: Markus Prior

What was media like? How has media changed? In this episode, we talk to Princeton Professor Markus Prior about the architecture of public media, over the period of what he calls "broadcast democracy," and in the period we're living within today. How does that...

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SERIES: ANOTHER WAY TO ELECT A PRESIDENT

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S5E26: Lifeboats: Jon Stever

Discussing The John Eastman Memo with John Eastman

Discussing The John Eastman Memo with John EastmanOn this special episode of Another Way, Lawrence Lessig and Matthew Seligman speak to John Eastman, former Chapman University law school professor and lawyer who represented former President Donald Trump in 2020...

S5E26: Lifeboats: Jon Stever

The Pundits vs. The For The People Act

The Pundits vs. The For The People Act On this episode of Another Way, Adam Eichen is joined by End Citizens United's Adam Bozzi and American Progress' Michael Sozan. The three discuss the media's handling of the fight to pass the For The People Act and why the...

S5E26: Lifeboats: Jon Stever

Another Way To Elect A President: Election Follow-Up

Title Another Way To Elect A President: Election Follow-Up Description: In this final episode of "Another Way to Elect the President," we consider whether Trump's lawyers could successfully contest the election results. We pick apart their legal cases and the facts...

S5E26: Lifeboats: Jon Stever

Live Election (and Beyond!) Special

Title Live Election (and Beyond!) Special Description: In our election day special, we bring you a recording of our live conversation from October 30. We talked about the worries of this election day, but we also looked beyond the election to discuss the policy...

S5E26: Lifeboats: Jon Stever

Another Way To Elect A President: Jumping The Shark

Title Another Way To Elect A President: Jumping The Shark Description: In this last episode in our mini-series, we bat around a few outrageous scenarios. Will votes be tossed out en masse? Can the House just refuse to count any votes at all? Find out! Music: Roundpine...

S5E26: Lifeboats: Jon Stever

Another Way To Elect A President: The VP’s Role (Part 9)

Title Another Way To Elect A President: The VP's Role (Part 9) Description: In this last regular episode of our mini-series about the road to selecting a president, we are joined by David Fontana of GW Law to talk about the Vice President. What role does the...

S5E26: Lifeboats: Jon Stever

Another Way To Elect A President: Contingent Elections (Part 8)

Title Another Way To Elect A President: Contingent Elections (Part 8) Description: In today's episode of the mini-series, we discuss the House contingent election. It hasn't happened since 1824, but could it this year? What could trigger it? And what would happen if...

S5E26: Lifeboats: Jon Stever

Another Way To Elect A President: The Death of a Candidate (Part 7)

Title Another Way To Elect A President: The Death of a Candidate (Part 7) Description: In this episode in our mini-series, we answer the question: what happens if a candidate dies right before or after the popular vote? The answer: it could get complicated. For more...

S5E26: Lifeboats: Jon Stever

Another Way To Elect A President: The Electoral Count Act (Part 6)

Title Another Way To Elect A President: The Electoral Count Act (Part 6) Description: In this episode, we speak with Professor Stephen Siegel, a Professor of Law at DePaul University, about the Electoral Count Act, which sets the rules for Congress when it counts...

S5E26: Lifeboats: Jon Stever

Another Way To Elect A President: The Presidential Electors (Part 5)

Title Another Way To Elect A President: The Presidential Electors (Part 5) Description: In this episode in our presidential election miniseries, we talk about the vote of the electoral college. Who are the electors, how do they cast their votes, and what could...

S5E26: Lifeboats: Jon Stever

Another Way To Elect The President: A Red Mirage? (Part 2)

Title Another Way To Elect The President: A Red Mirage? (Part 2) Description: In the next episode in our presidential election miniseries, we discuss election night itself. Will there be some states where early returns favor Trump even if Biden might win when all the...

S5E26: Lifeboats: Jon Stever

Another Way To Elect The President: Part 1 (Intro)

Title Another Way To Elect The President: Part 1 (Intro) Description: In this episode, Larry Lessig introduces a mini-series that will appear in this feed between now and election day: Another Way To Elect The President. This intro provides some historical and legal...

ANOTHER WAY STORIES

Another Way Stories, formerly known as Seasons One and Two of Another Way, was recenlty established as a separate podcast meant to be consumed as a continuous story in chronological order. Please note: the arguments in Season Two are rejected by our board member, Robert Reich.

About Another Way Stories

Can we make ending corruption and strengthening democracy the number one priority in 2020? Can we get to POTUS1?

That’s the challenge that has inspired this podcast by Equal Citizens founder Lawrence Lessig. In these first two seasons on Another Way, Larry and the Equal Citizens team bring you weekly conversations about what’s wrong with our democracy, how to fix it, and how to get candidates for President talking about those issues so that we can make this issue number one in the campaign. HR1 was a first step. Now we need POTUS1.

These are the conversation that the politicians aren’t giving us on their own. That’s precisely why we citizens must bring this issue to them. Please join us.

SEASON ONE

 

Introducing: Another Way

This is Larry Lessig. Anyone paying attention can see that we’re gearing up for a train wreck in 2020, as both political parties map out an increasingly partisan choice for America — as if we are just a nation divided, with nothing that we share in common....

Episode 1: Aiming for Something Different

Music: Roundpine by Blue Dot Sessions Noe Noe by Blue Dot Sessions Vengeful by Blue Dot Sessions It’s pretty clear how things are going to happen. In January, whatever the outcome in the 2018 election, Democrats are going to begin to vie in earnest to...

Episode 2: How Different Has Been Done

Music: Slow Line Stomp by Blue Dot Sessions Noe Noe by Blue Dot Sessions Vengeful by Blue Dot Sessions Clay Pawn Shop by Blue Dot Sessions Transcript: This is Larry Lessig and this is the second episode of this podcast, Another Way. In the first, I...

Episode 3: A Different (Kind of Control of) Congress

Transcript The single most unrecognized fact in American politics today is not how divided we are, but how united we are. This is Larry Lessig and this is the third episode of this podcast, Another Way. In the first, I described what everyone knows: that...

Episode 4: A Different Kind of President

Title: A different kind of President Transcript: In 1864, in the middle of our “great Civil War,” America held a presidential election. Lincoln was President. None were confident, especially his supporters, that he would be re-elected. Indeed without the...

Episode 5: How America Beats Donald

Title How America Beats Donald Transcript Drain the swamp and make America great again. Let me repeat it. Drain the swamp and make America great again. ——— This is Larry Lessig and this is the fifth episode of this podcast, Another Way. In the first, I...

Episode 6: Why Different When the Same Is So So Easy

Title: Why different when the same is so so easy Transcript “But why,” the Democratic politicians will insist, “why do we need anything more than simply elect Democrats? What’s the need for a Reform Caucus when the Democratic Party is already committed to...

SEASON TWO

*Please note: the arguments in this Season Two are rejected by our board member, Robert Reich.*

Introducing: Another Way Stories Season Two

There’s a scholar, an activist, a leader, a former Labor Secretary, a citizen, and a friend — Robert Reich — who has been trash-talking the idea of a convention to propose amendments to our Constitution. That fact really bothers me.OTHER EPISODESHOW YOU...

S2E1: How Constitutions Get Changed

The Constitution of the United States specifies the rules for its own amendment. Article V lays out those rules. An amendment must first be proposed and once proposed, adopted or, as the Constitution says, ratified. More than 11,000 amendments have been...

S2E2: That Conventions Terrify

This is Larry Lessig, and this is Episode 2 of Season 2 of the podcast Another Way. In the first episode, I described two ways that the Constitution allows that amendments to the Constitution might be proposed. Only one of those two ways of proposing...

S2E3: Why Conventions Terrify

“This would be chaos.” An Article V convention would be “chaos.” Or so says the great Robert Reich in the video that has triggered this season of Another Way.OTHER EPISODESHOW YOU CAN HELP SUPPORT ANOTHER WAY If you've saved your payment information with...

S2E4: Why Conventions Should NOT Terrify

So do we really need an Article V Convention? This should be the only real question that should trouble Americans just now. Do we need a different way to propose amendments to the Constitution? Do we need amendments to our Constitution at all?OTHER...

S2E5: Why We Need a Convention

There’s going to be a train wreck unless we act now. A train wreck for the convention movement, and hence, a train wreck for the only reasonable chance that we have to fix our broken Constitution, and hence, a train wreck for this nation.OTHER EPISODESHOW...

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