Personal conviction and democratic activism often go hand-in-hand. Mohammed Ali Kadivar is both a scholar of democracy and an advocate whose family has long been vocal proponents of it.

On more than one occasion, we’ve welcomed guests to this show who engage in “speculative” or “useful” fiction. Elliot Ackerman and Admiral James Stavridis are the latest, their new book, titled 2034, looks at what a war between the United States and China might look like in the not-so-distant future.

With the advent of effective vaccines, it feels—we hope not foolishly—like the pandemic may be coming to an end. But Martin Halliwell says the crisis in American public health isn’t limited to one particular disease—it’s a theme that recurs again and again over the last century in these United States.

“The Other Black Girl” is one of the most anticipated and critically acclaimed releases of 2021. Part thriller and part social commentary, the author Zakiya Dalila Harris has been heralded for her “genre-bending evisceration of workplace privilege.”

The faithful among us often learn to pray as children. We ask for things. We might even, sometimes, say thank you. Father James Martin asks what it would mean to pray like adults—and offers insights about faith in public life and the challenges to democracy.

Documentary filmmakers take us into the lives of their subjects in a way that the written word can’t capture. We see what they see. We get a sense of the physical space they occupy with our own eyes. We hear their voices. Elaine McMillion Sheldon weaves these elements together in powerful films that explore everything from love to addiction.

The Human Rights Campaign estimates that there are 2 million transgender people living in the United States, today. Yet Kylar Broadus says the fight for human rights is not yet won as long as transgender Americans lack equal rights under the law.