Best DemWorks Posts of 2019
*Bonus 04* How does an American organization remain separate form the U.S. government?
Current and Former NDI presidents Brian Atwood, Derek Mitchell, and Ken Wollack (left to right)
As DemWorks first year draws to a close, NDI President Derek Mitchell has one final question for his predecessors, Brian Atwood and Ken Wollack. How, as an American organization, has NDI remained separate from the U.S. government, and how has the issue of democracy support evolved over time?
How does humor help democracy?
Matt Wuerker (left), Derek Mitchell (right)
In this DemWorks podcast we explore humor, arguably the most democratic form of speech. We talk to Matt Wuerker, the Pulitzer Prize winning editorial cartoonist for Politico, one of the leading news organizations in the United States dedicated to American politics.
Matt’s cartoons pull no punches, skewering Democrats, Republicans and all types of political absurdity. Matt also serves on the board of Cartoonists Rights Network International, an organization that has worked to defend the rights and security of political cartoonists worldwide.
How can democracies remain committed to their values amid rising authoritarianism?
In this DemWorks crossover episode, NDI President Derek Mitchell talks to Chris Walker and Shanthi Kalathil from the National Endowment for Democracy (the NED) about the rise of authoritarian influence around the world. With a focus on China, they discuss how China’s Communist Party has survived since Tiananmen Square, the One Belt, One Road initiative, and the hard questions China’s rise poses to open societies’ most fundamental principles.
Does the spirit of Tiananmen live on in China?
For NDI President Derek Mitchell, observing the Tiananmen Square demonstrations in person 30 years ago was a turning point in his life. There was never a question that – in that moment, at that time, in that place – he was witnessing something historic, a revolution in action.
Looking back at the footage he captured with his video camera, Derek reflects on the students, and the spirit, of Tiananmen.
How is Ukraine strengthening its democracy in the face of foreign aggression?
In this second episode of the DemWorks podcast, Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, the deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration in Ukraine, talks to NDI President Derek Mitchell about her decision to run for parliament in the wake of the Ukrainian revolution, confrontations with misogyny early in her career, and her fight to open up the Ukrainian military to female service members.
What is the state of democracy according to Madeleine Albright?
In the inaugural DemWorks podcast, I talk to the incomparable Madeleine K. Albright about her role as a risk-taking woman leader, the state of democracy and her role as chairman of NDI from its founding in 1983.