Another Way, by Lawrence Lessig

In this episode, Lessig and Hepburn continue the conversation, discussing the hot-button issues shaping the start of 2026. Become a Patreon subscriber: https://www.patreon.com/EqualCitizens Music: Roundpine by Blue Dot Sessions; Noe Noe by Blue Dot Sessions; Vengeful by Blue Dot Sessions Post-production: Josh Elstro of Elstro Production Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The latest (and penultimate) episode of Season 7, continuing the conversation with Ben Hepburn.Become a Patreon subscriber: https://www.patreon.com/EqualCitizensMusic: Roundpine by Blue Dot Sessions; Noe Noe by Blue Dot Sessions; Vengeful by Blue Dot SessionsPost-production: Josh Elstro of Elstro Production Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Pulling it all together, Lessig asks his high school friend Ben Hepburn: How can you defend this? Listen to the conversation, and the common ground that gets built. Become a Patreon subscriber: https://www.patreon.com/EqualCitizensMusic:Roundpine by Blue Dot SessionsNoe Noe by Blue Dot SessionsVengeful by Blue Dot SessionsPost-production:Josh Elstro of Elstro Production Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode, Lessig and Hepburn discuss what Lessig has elsewhere described as Trumps strategy of extortion — illegal threats to force compliance by every institution that might resist him. (Plus a quick trip to Vietnam, and the promise of a brand new Trump resort!)Become a Patreon subscriber: https://www.patreon.com/EqualCitizensMusic:Roundpine by Blue Dot SessionsNoe Noe by Blue Dot SessionsVengeful by Blue Dot SessionsPost-production:Josh Elstro of Elstro Production Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode, Lessig and Hepburn discuss the tariffs. Is there some point at which MAGA supporters call uncle?Become a Patreon subscriber: https://www.patreon.com/EqualCitizensMusic: Roundpine by Blue Dot Sessions; Noe Noe by Blue Dot Sessions; Vengeful by Blue Dot SessionsPost-production: Josh Elstro of Elstro Production Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Lessig's conversation with Ben Hepburn continues, this time about Ukraine, DOGE and RFKJr Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this second episode, Ben Hepburn and Lessig continue to see where we can find common ground in our understanding of the current administration. Are we on the left too pessimistic? Is the other side too optimistic? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this season, Lessig will have a conversation with Ben Hepburn, a friend from high school, whose politics is not Lessig's. The plan for the season is to check in regularly about the latest questions raised by the new Trump administration, and see whether a conservative and a liberal can find common ground, or even just understanding. This first episode was recorded just before in Inauguration. Become a Patreon subscriber: https://www.patreon.com/EqualCitizensMusic:Roundpine by Blue Dot SessionsNoe Noe by Blue Dot SessionsVengeful by Blue Dot SessionsPost-production:Josh Elstro of Elstro Production Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On this episode (recorded before Tuesday's election), Lessig is joined by his colleagues Matthew A. Seligman (Stris & Maher), Ned Foley (Moritz College of Law, The Ohio State), and Derek Muller (Notre Dame Law School) to discuss what could (have) happen(ed) in the period after Election Day and before the counting of electoral votes. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode, Lessig outlines what happens if Maine passes Question 1. What are the next steps, and the arguments that will get us to the Supreme Court — and to victory! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On this episode, Lessig describes the campaign in Maine. The legislature chose to let the people decide whether to vote against SuperPACs in Maine — and if upheld, the nation. This episode discusses that campaign, and the risks it faces. Check out the website of the campaign at CitizensToEndSuperPACS.org. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On this episode, Lessig keeps the story going. We got the signatures. The next step was that the Maine legislature needed to decide whether it would pass the initiative into law itself, or let it go to the ballot. This episode is the story of the legislative hearing, and its decision on how to handle the initiative. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On this episode, Lessig chronicles the next chapter in the story of the Maine initiative. We had an idea — based on FreeSpeechForPeople’s brilliant argument — for an initiative. And Mainers were excited about the idea. A poll showed overwhelming support for the initiative. We just needed to raise the funds to get the signatures gathered. That proved to be an enormous challenge — unsurprisingly, as our theory of victory included convincing the Supreme Court we were right. This episode tells the story of how we got the signatures gathered. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On this episode, Lessig details how we got to this initiative that could end Super PACs: FreeSpeechForPeople.org’s brilliant argument, and the decision to take that argument into the field and win! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On this episode, Lessig provides a brief history of the fight to end SuperPACs. Then, critically, he examines how the theory of the conservatives — originalism — supports our argument against SuperPACs. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On this episode, Lessig asks: How is money a problem in a democracy, and how is it like the other problems we’re facing in our democracy? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On this episode, Lessig explains the legal background to the Maine initiative, from Citizens United to the case that gave us SuperPACs: SpeechNow v. FEC (2010). Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On this episode, Lessig introduces the upcoming Maine initiative that could end SuperPACs and lays out the plan for Season 6 of Another Way. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

For this final episode of Season 5, Lessig speaks to TedX Berlin about AI, democracy, and the future. You can watch a video recording of this TedX talk here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zYHqg1PwoQ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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 did that, and what it teaches us about the potential for citizen assemblies generally. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Katrín Oddsdóttir is a founding mother of the still-not-ratified Iceland Constitution. In 2012, the people of Iceland told their Parliament to adopt a constitution based on the draft that she and 24 other Icelanders crafted. They had crafted their draft based upon the results from two citizens assemblies. We hear about that history and what it can teach us going forward. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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 potential, as well as the open source alternative, pol.is. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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 the better. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

After hope, we need health. Josh Greene, professor of psychology at Harvard University and author of Moral Tribes talks to me about building healthier engagement between increasingly polarized citizens. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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 other just now. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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 our kids, and what we might do to respond. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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 architecture affect the politics that is possible? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

There was a time when the presumption of democracy — that the people were rational and guided our democracy to reasoned conclusions — was true. Or tru-ish. In this episode, we speak with the authors of one of the most important work studying this relatively healthy period, Ben Page and Robert Shapiro. Their 1992 book — The Rational Public — presented an enormous amount of evidence demonstrating how democracy worked. We discuss what made that working possible. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The premise of the first part to this season is that our broken democracy can be fixed. The solutions are clear and achievable. Many of them would be enacted if the Democrats regained sufficient control of our government. But in this part, we explore why these solutions won't be enough. We can right the overturned tables for sure; but there's a gash in the hull that will make even these changes not enough. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The obscure rules of the Senate are an important part of the dysfunction of American democracy today. In this episode, we speak to a former Secretary for the Majority of the United States Senate and, for the last two years of the Obama administration, the Deputy Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs at the White House, Martin Paone. There is perhaps no one in America with a better sense of how our Senate works — or doesn't work — or with a better intuition about how to fix it. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Just 8% of voters elect 83% of the House: This is the fact standing behind the reform proposed by Nick Troiano in his book, The Primary Solution, which we discuss in this episode. The problem is truly astonishing. And the solution is quite genius. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Democracy reform needs a target. We can say things like "representative democracy must be representative," but what does that exactly mean? In this episode, we speak with Harvard Law Professor Nick Stephanopoulos about his conception of representativeness — "alignment" — and what that says about the reforms we should be pressing. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Even great ideas need to be studied and understood scientifically. Jennifer Heerwig has done more than anyone studying the effects of the voucher experiment in Seattle, Washington. In this episode, we hear what she has learned, and what that could mean for reform more generally. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The single best reform for the way we fund campaigns would be democracy vouchers. In this episode, we speak to the man who heard about this idea and then made it real in Seattle. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The assumption of most lawyers — or Americans — who know the word "SuperPAC" is that the Supreme Court has declared that the First Amendment protects SuperPACs. In this episode, you'll learn why that assumption is flat-out false, and about the fight to end SuperPAC money in America's democracy. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Reform is possible. Congressman John Sarbanes is proof. Sarbanes is the most important architect of democracy reform in Congress today. In this episode, Lessig and Sarbanes speak about the For the People Act, and where reform will continue. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The new season of Another Way is finally here! In this episode, Lawrence Lessig outlines his plan for the season, which will eventually be turned into a book. Listeners are invited to reconceptualize the crisis that American democracy faces and to join Lessig in the search for democracy's "lifeboats". Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode, Lawrence Lessig outlines our plan to fight back against SuperPACs. He explains the logical mistake in SpeechNow v. FEC, why we launched a video competition (with a $50,000 prize!), and the legal strategy that could render SuperPACs largely powerless.For more information on the video contest, visit:cancelsuperpacs.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode, Lessig speaks to Ron Fein, the Legal Director for Free Speech For People. The two discuss a major legal mistake made by the courts, which, if corrected, would allow states to regulate SuperPACs. They discuss efforts by Free Speech For People and Equal Citizens to bring to light this mistake. If you are interested in learning more about the $50,000 video contest, visit www.equalcitizens.us Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode, Lawrence Lessig speaks to Tristan Harris, the co-founder and Executive Director of the Center for Humane Technology, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to align technology with humanity’s best interests. Lessig and Harris discuss the (real, not sci-fi-inspired) threats posed by generative A.I. (artificial intelligence) technology and some potential guardrails that could guide the technology in a way that benefits — not harms — society. This episode is the first of two previews for the upcoming season of Another Way. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Adam Eichen speaks with Jonathan Mehta Stein (Executive Director of California Common Cause) and Vernetta Woods (IVE Team leader at Oakland Rising Action). They discuss the innovative fair elections initiative that will appear on this year's midterm ballot in Oakland and how it could inspire similar efforts across the nation. They also speak about what keeps them from burning out, even during an intensive ballot initiative campaign. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Listen to Rabbi Pollack's appearance on Another Way from 2019: https://equalcitizens.us/how-a-rabbi-in-pennsylvania-is-fixing-democracy/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.