Democracy in Crisis

Laura Arnold sits down with former presidential candidate Andrew Yang and Stanford professor Larry Diamond, a leading scholar in democracy reform, to discuss the crisis eating away at American democracy and potential solutions, including ranked-choice voting.

America's criminal justice system has exploded in scope over recent decades and the punishment for these individuals does not always end when they leave prison or jail. In this episode of Deep Dive, Laura Arnold sits down with three guests to examine the vast and complex web of legal barriers and exclusions that people with criminal records face, the way these barriers reinforce racial inequity and the implications for society writ large.

Nearly two out of every five students who start a full-time, four-year undergraduate program drop out. This is especially true for part-time students, low-income students and students of color.  The U.S. higher education system is clearly broken, yet solutions have remained elusive because of a lack of data needed to answer basic questions about a school's performance. 

Recent mass shootings in Georgia and Colorado have spurred cries for change, including President Biden's effort to ban assault rifles.  But will this moment be any different?  In this episode, Laura Arnold sits down with four experts on gun violence prevention to discuss the evidence about the causes of gun violence and effective approaches to prevention.  Together, they dissect the political dynamics that continue to stand in the way of action. 

The video of police officer Derek Chauvin pressing his knee into George Floyd's neck for approximately 9 minutes served as the spark that ignited a tinder box of demonstrations calling for police reform. We examine the root causes of the accountability crisis in policing and the impacts on communities of color; outline the various policies that have been proposed and the evidence on their effectiveness; and explore what's next in this movement to effect change in policing. 

Systemic failures in the nation's electoral and legislative systems have led to extreme polarization and partisan rancor, raising questions about whether American democracy is still working.  This episode examines three possible improvements:  ranked-choice voting, open primaries, and changes in legislative rulemaking.

Voters in California have a historic issue in front of them on election day: whether to become the first state to abolish money bail and replace it with a system centered on safety, not money, or stick with the status quo. This episode, which includes interviews with California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Alliance for Safety and Justice President Lenore Anderson, examines ballot measure Prop. 25 and explores how California's decision could have a dramatic impact on the national movement for bail reform.

The COVID-19 pandemic is having a devastating impact on families, individuals, and organizations around the world.  The global health crisis has touched virtually every aspect of our lives, from the way we interact with one another to the manner in which we work and travel.  In this episode, we take a closer look at how the work at Arnold Ventures is adjusting to the "new normal" in two critical areas, criminal justice and health care.

Right now in the United States, there are almost 500,000 people being held behind bars who have yet to receive their day in court.  In the vast majority of those cases, the defendant is being held simply because they cannot meet the financial demands imposed by a money bail system.  In short, they do not have enough money to buy their freedom.  Now, in the midst of a reform movement, the fundamental fairness of that system is being questioned.  But reform is also giving rise to a new question, "what should the new system look like?"

There are 115,000 Americans on an organ transplant waiting list, and their future health hangs on several different factors — age, blood type, condition — that play a key role in determining who gets placed next in a potentially life-saving line. But another key factor is the answer to one simple question: How good is the government contractor where you live?