Always love it when I find a new passion that blends and builds on longstanding ones. I have been truly fascinated with people and their stories since I was a wee one, and hopefully Democracy Cafe and Socrates Cafe both are a reflection of that — at their most foundational level, a safe place and space for people to further discover, articulate and share their unique stories. My longtime lament — and one of the principal reasons I was spurred to start these initiatives all the way back in 1996 — has been that we all have special and singular stories to share, but there are few who take the time or even care to listen to them. So hopefully our flagship initiatives are to some extent game-changers in this regard.
For years on end I was a journalist and feature reporter, first for weekly newspapers in Maine and then in southwest Virginia, and then for what were at least at the time many of our country’s largest magazines. What I loved about this avocation, and would truly have done for free, was the unparalleled opportunity it afforded me to pick people’s brains. If I am cut out for anything in this world, it is to be a professional brain picker.
Enter the Democracy Cafe podcast — available here, here, here, here (and perhaps other places besides).
For 30 or so minutes, I have the grand excuse and opportunity to find out why the people I explore things with on the podcast are coming from where they’re coming from. I get to learn a good bit, and share with my listeners, what the story is behind their unique approach to life and living, what their philosophy of life amounts to, and who their primary influences were.
Hopefully my curiosity and passion for what my guests have to say comes through loud and clear as I listen and learn. About 50 percent of the time my guests say something to the effect of, ‘No one has ever asked me that before,’ or ‘What a great question.’ Many have been interviewed umpteen times, so this is pleasurable paydirt, since it shows that at least at times I’m taking a unique approach to exploration and inquiry with my guests. On the other hand, some have never been invited to be on a podcast before, and that is also a great thrill and honor for me.
The idea, among others, is for the podcast to be yet another forum for Socratizing and democratizing — all about listening, learning, empathizing, exploring, experimenting, become more connected, reasonable, thoughtful, open, on individual and societal scales. Most of all, those on the podcast with me have an endless and shared love of asking, ‘why? why? why?’
Of late my guests have a included: Will McLamy, a high school student from Constitution High School in Philly concerned about the state and straits of the military industrial complex and lack of sensible gun control laws in our country (and who brilliantly saw a connection between the two); Chris McGown, a truly inspiring longtime Salvation Army professional and a consultant who is one of the best listeners I’ve ever had the privilege to know, and whose insights spring from having his ear to the ground in a most unique way; Jeffrey Rosen, the CEO and President of the National Constitution Center, whose love of and passion for all things constitutional was serendipitous rather than planned; Meghan Leahy, a parent coach and columnist for the Washington Post who has a decidedly Socratic sensibility; Lawrence Lessig, one of our most renowned pro-democracy activists; and Odin Halvorson, a wunderkind who started a Democracy Cafe in Sebastopol, CA.
People like that, diverse, unique, with stories to share that resonate and speak to one and all at so many different levels.
I’m pleased to see the podcast catching on in popularity. It’s quite a commitment — prepping for the interviews, then getting them squared away for being posted, and spreading the word. But since it’s my newest labor of love, I find it a joy to do and hope you learn as much from my guests as I do.