Half the Answer #31: The Health of American Democracy

Caitlin M. Green, Trent R. Nelson, Jacob T. Levy Sep 5, 2025

Caitlin and Trent speak with Jacob T. Levy, Tomlinson Professor of Political Theory at McGill University, about the state of democracy in the U.S. How did we get here? What are the tools and motivations of the people working to dismantle the institutions that make us a democratic nation? Is there a way out of it?

Half the Answer can be heard on Spotify, on Apple, on YouTube, on Amazon, and elsewhere via its RSS feed.

Resources:

Jacob's website: https://jacobtlevy.com/

Jacob's book: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/rationalism-pluralism-and-freedom-9780198717140

Jacob's work with Niskanen Center: https://www.niskanencenter.org/author/jacob-t-levy/

That GAP ad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwzF26o0AuU

Subsequent Abercrombie ad: https://youtube.com/shorts/14sXRgWTfdk?si=CWT_dEqXzbE77H8C

Published in: Half the Answer, Podcast

Authors

Caitlin Green is a linguist specializing in Discourse Studies and Pragmatics. She lives in California with her husband, two daughters, and a very small black cat.

View articles

Trent R. Nelson is a poet, historian, and philosopher, as well as a political and socioeconomic analyst. He is the managing editor for MWF Springfield and a contributing editor with Liberal Currents.

View articles

Jacob T. Levy is the Tomlinson Professor of Political Theory at McGill University.

View articles