This Day Live: The Next Realignment, presented by the Charles F. Kettering Foundation

Join the Radiotopia history podcast This Day for a live conversation about the moment of democratic realignment we are living through right now. Are we witnessing a fundamental shift in who holds power, who gets left out, and how race and class are reshaping the coalitions that define American politics? And what can history teach us about moments like this one?

Host Jody Avirgan will be joined by co-hosts and historians Nicole Hemmer (Vanderbilt) and Kellie Carter Jackson (Wellesley) and Alex Lovit, host of the Kettering Foundation's podcast The Context. They’ll look back at the pivotal moments when America's political fault lines have shifted — from the rise of the first parties, to historic expansions of voting rights, civil rights battles that scrambled the map, and court decisions that changed who really holds power. And they'll connect those stories to the realignment unfolding today, as divisions over race, education, religion, voting rights, economic inequality and the very meaning of democracy reshape our politics heading into 2026 and 2028.

They'll be joined by special guest Reverend Dr. William J. Barber II—bishop, author, founder of the Poor People's Campaign and the Moral Mondays movement, and Kettering Foundation senior fellow— one of the most important voices in America on democracy, justice, and the long work of building a more inclusive country.

This conversation is part of a partnership between This Day and The Charles F. Kettering Foundation called “Democracy, Under Construction.” Be sure to catch the rest of their conversations in the This Day and The Context podcast feeds.