Shows / The Democracy Lab
The Democracy Lab
The Democracy Lab is a new podcast from Expand Democracy exploring the ideas, reforms, and civic energy shaping the future of American democracy. Every two weeks, hosts Eveline Dowling, Rob Richie, and Nivea Krishnan speak with scholars, organizers, and innovators at the forefront of the movement to advance participation and representation. Through our conversations, we test pro-democracy ideas, lift up solutions, and highlight communities strengthening and expanding democracy each and every…
Episodes
- The Democracy Lab
How Women Are Shaping the U.S. Midterms
In this episode, Senior Fellow Eveline Dowling sits down with Cynthia Richie Terrell, Founder and Executive Director of RepresentWomen, to ask why a record…
- The Democracy Lab
Making Democracy Doable
In this episode of Democracy Lab, Rob Richie sits down with Alex Iovine, founder and CEO of VoteMate, a nonprofit, nonpartisan AI ballot assistant that helps…
- The Democracy Lab
Lexington's Groundbreaking Civic Assembly
In this episode, Expand Democracy's Rob Richie talks with CivicLex deputy director Kit Anderson about Lexington, Kentucky's well-funded pilot of a…
- The Democracy Lab
Securing the Vote for Those Who Serve and Sacrifice
When more than two million Americans in uniform face a 27% voter turnout deficit compared to civilians, something in the system is broken. Sarah Streyder and…
- The Democracy Lab
The Contested Future of Voting Rights
In this episode, Expand Democracy President Rob Richie speaks with Todd Cox, Associate Director-Counsel of the Legal Defense Fund, about the alarming impact of…
- The Democracy Lab
The Simple Fix for RCV's Big Waiting Game
Ranked choice voting (RCV) is catching on across the country, but there's one thing people don't love about it: waiting days for results. Brian Strege…
- The Democracy Lab
Democracy On Demand
Nivea talks with Ramon Perez, Executive Director of the Digital Democracy Project, about DDP's platform letting voters weigh in directly on the bills their…
- The Democracy Lab
Team Huddle: Election Attacks, Aging Leaders, and Local Wins
Expand Democracy's Rob Richie and Nivea Krishnan sit in for a team catch-up on the state of American democracy and the latest news in the democracy reform…
- The Democracy Lab
How to Rewire Redistricting
In this episode, Rob talks with Sam Wang about his unlikely journey from Princeton neuroscience lab to congressional candidate — and back to election reform…
- The Democracy Lab
Why DC Statehood Can't Wait
Rob and Eveline sit down with Ankit Jain, DC's Shadow Senator, to dig into why the nation's capital remains one of the only democracies in the world where…
The Democracy LabThink Nationally, Build Locally
Democracy isn't just an outcome; it's a process and a practice built on the local infrastructure of our everyday communities. This week, Eveline talks with the…
- The Democracy Lab
A More Equitable Democracy
In this episode, Eveline sits down with Colin Cole and Heather Villanueva from More Equitable Democracy to break down their individual and organizational…
The Democracy LabWhy We Need Boring Election Officials
Eveline sits down with Kevin Johnson, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Election Reformers Network (ERN), to discuss the past, present, and future…
The Democracy LabShining a Light on Dark Money
Constitutional amendments are not just theoretical. In this episode, Expand Democracy President and Founder Rob Richie sits down with Jeff Clements, CEO of…
The Democracy LabThe Electoral College Workaround That Could Actually Work
The Electoral College isn't going anywhere, but there's a way to work around it without a constitutional amendment. Rob sits down with Chris Pearson, Executive…
The Democracy LabThe Future of Civic Engagement Is Already Here
Young leaders are taking the democracy space by storm. In this episode, our own Gen Z fellow Nivea Krishnan sits down with Alex Edgar (Made By Us), LaJuan…
The Democracy LabReimagining Election Administration in the Age of AI
This week on The Democracy Lab, Nivea sits down with Bill Gates, Executive Director of the Mechanics of Democracy Lab, to explore how artificial intelligence…
The Democracy LabThe Primary Problem No One Talks About
In 2024, 7% of voters effectively elected 87% of Congress. How? That's what Eveline dives into in this week's episode with Beth Hladick, Policy Director at…
The Democracy LabThe Credibility Crisis of the Courts
Trust in institutions is eroding, and the judiciary is no exception. In this episode, Democracy Fellow Nivea Krishnan speaks with democracy and justice reform…
- The Democracy Lab
The Right to Vote Is Far From Guaranteed
In this episode, Eveline speaks with documentarian Todd Drezner and attorney Jared Pettinato about their upcoming project detailing Pettinato's fight to…
- The Democracy Lab
How Ballot Access Laws Shape American Democracy
Why does the United States have such a durable two-party system, and why is it so difficult for new parties to compete? Rob Richie talks with ballot access…
The Democracy LabWomen's Power by Design: Inside the 2026 Democracy Solutions Summit
Alana Persson of RepresentWomen joins Eveline to preview the upcoming Democracy Solutions Summit, a global virtual gathering of women leaders advancing bold…
The Democracy LabThe Ballot Battle
In this episode, Rob sits down with Stephen Richer, former Maricopa County Recorder and current Senior Fellow at the Harvard Ash Center, to break down the…
- The Democracy Lab
The Reform Playbook
In this episode, Rob, Eveline, and Nivea explore two under-the-radar developments in the democracy reform movement: a new documentary examining a long-ignored…
- The Democracy Lab
When Lawmakers Won't Act, Voters Can
Ballot initiatives are one of the most direct ways people can shape the laws that govern their lives. In this episode, President and Founder of Expand…
- The Democracy Lab
Freedom vs. Democracy
Historian Jefferson Cowie joins Expand Democracy Senior Fellow and Research Analyst Eveline Dowling to unpack the core arguments of his book Freedom’s Dominion…
- The Democracy Lab
The Reformists: Where They've Been and Where They're Going
In this episode, we sit down with Meredith Sumpter, CEO of FairVote, and Rob Richie, who led the organization for more than three decades, for a wide-ranging…
- The Democracy Lab
The Fight to Get Dark Money Out of Politics
In this episode, Rob sits down with Tom Moore from the Center for American Progress to unpack how dark money shapes our political system and what the…
- The Democracy Lab
Democracy Defense is For the People, Not Parties (ft. Lisa Rice)
In this episode, Senior Fellow Eveline Dowling sits down with political strategist and CEO of Grow Democracy DC Lisa Rice to break down the herculean…
- The Democracy Lab
Building a Better Democracy Across Generations
Every democracy is an experiment—and so is this podcast. In our first episode, we unpack ideas like fusion voting and the role of protests in a healthy…