Democracy Does: The Civic Power Playbook

Why Voting Rights Shape Everyday Life

Professor Shannon Lane joined Democracy Does: The Civic Power Playbook for an essential conversation about why voting rights, policy, and civic participation directly impact our everyday lives. As Director of the Nancy A. Humphries Institute for Political Social Work at the University of Connecticut, Lane explained how social workers often see firsthand how policy decisions affect healthcare, education, housing, and access to resources. Despite growing frustration and voter fatigue, Lane emphasized that civic engagement still matters — and that small actions can create meaningful change.

Affordability is a Civil Rights Issue

What if the biggest civil rights issue today isn’t just freedom of speech—but the ability to afford to live? In my recent conversation with civil rights attorney Ehsan Zaffar, we explored a powerful idea: our current system of rights was designed for a very different America. At the founding, protections like free speech and religious liberty were essential against government overreach. But today, many of our daily struggles—healthcare costs, housing, food insecurity—aren’t fully addressed by those same frameworks. Ehsan argues that while these traditional rights still matter, they don’t meet the most urgent needs people face right now. After all, what good is free speech if you can’t afford life-saving medication? Or housing? Or food? We also discussed how much of our public discourse now happens on private platforms, where constitutional protections don’t apply in the same way—raising new questions about what freedom really looks like in a modern, digital society.

Getting to Civic Courage: Finding Your Why

What does it take to move from feeling powerless to becoming an agent of change? In my recent conversation with Sam Daley-Harris, the answer starts with one simple but profound idea: your story matters. Sam’s journey—from a percussionist in the Miami Philharmonic to founding RESULTS and Civic Courage—was shaped by what Marshall Ganz calls the “story of self.” It’s the thread that connects your life experiences to your purpose. For Sam, pivotal moments pushed him to ask: Why am I here? That question led to a lifetime of fighting poverty and empowering everyday people to use their voices. At the heart of his work is transformational advocacy—going beyond signing petitions to building relationships with decision-makers and, just as importantly, transforming how you see yourself.

The Courage to Stay in the Conversation

At a time when political and cultural divisions feel sharper than ever, one question keeps surfacing: How do we talk to each other without tearing each other apart? On this week’s episode of Democracy Does: The Civic Power Playbook, I spoke with podcast host Corey Nathan, creator of Talkin’ Politics and Religion Without Killing Each Other. His mission is exactly what the title suggests—helping people navigate difficult conversations in ways that preserve both truth and humanity. Corey’s journey into this work is deeply personal. A former theater and film producer turned serial entrepreneur, he eventually felt a pull back toward storytelling—this time through podcasting. What began as a creative outlet quickly became something larger: a platform dedicated to restoring goodwill and civic dialogue in a polarized era.

Why Your Energy Bills Are Rising: And What You Can Do About It

If your electric bill has felt like a shock lately, you’re not imagining it. In my recent conversation with energy economist Professor Severin Borenstein, we unpacked what’s really driving these increases—and it’s more complicated than any single headline. Across parts of the country like the mid-Atlantic and Midwest, demand for electricity is rising faster than supply. When that happens, prices go up. But that’s only part of the story. Aging infrastructure, climate-driven disasters, and the cost of rebuilding and protecting our electric grid are all being passed on to consumers—often hitting lower-income households the hardest. There’s also a policy layer. Efforts to revive older, less efficient energy sources like coal—and roll back support for renewables—risk adding costs over time, even as wind, solar, and battery technology become cheaper.