Democracy is not just about elections. It's about what happens in between.
Where trust in democracy is eroding and access to justice remains deeply unequal, this global perspective on democracy, as something practiced daily, offers timely lessons.
Hosted by Sean Buffington, Vice President, Programs, Henry Luce Foundation, Luce Change: How Communities Are Shaping Their Futures (https://hluce.org/luce-change-podcast/) explores how Luce grantees are reimagining and reinvigorating democratic culture by partnering with communities, expanding knowledge, and forging new approaches to justice and civic life. This podcast takes an honest look at how democracy, local and global, can build more inclusive and self-determined futures for its citizens.
Aaron Tanaka, CEO of One Project and founder of the Center for Economic Democracy, joins Sean Buffington on this episode of Luce Change to make the case that America’s political crisis is, at its root, an economic one. When the majority of people have no real agency over the decisions that shape their lives, democracy becomes a ritual rather than a reality.
Tanaka traces this failure from the founding contradictions of the country through the bipartisan embrace of neoliberalism, and argues that the antidote isn’t better messaging—it’s restructuring who controls land, labor, and capital.
Articles & Organizations Mentioned:
One Project: https://oneproject.org/
Center for Economic Democracy: https://www.economicdemocracy.us
Boston Ujima Project: https://www.ujimaboston.com
Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative: https://www.dsni.org
Right to the City Alliance: https://righttothecity.org
City Life / Vida Urbana: https://www.clvu.org
Climate Justice Alliance: https://climatejusticealliance.org
Civic Lex: https://www.civiclex.org
Amazon Sacred Headwaters Alliance: https://www.amazonsacredheadwaters.org
Participatory Budgeting Project: https://www.participatorybudgeting.org
Interested in joining the conversation? Share this episode with a friend, follow Henry Luce Foundation on Instagram & LinkedIn, or subscribe to our newsletter.
20 May 2026
How the Arts Rebuild Rural Democracy
On this episode of Luce Change, Sean Buffington sits down with Ash Hanson—theater artist, rural cultural worker, and Creative Executive Officer at the Department of Public Transformation—to explore why bending the arc of history toward justice has to start locally. Ash makes the case that civic culture erodes the way sandstone does: slowly, incrementally, and at enormous cost to the communities least resourced to rebuild.
With only 3–7% of philanthropic dollars reaching the 20% of Americans who live in rural places, Ash argues that geographic inequity is foundational to the democratic crisis, and that artists and cultural organizers are doing the essential work of shifting community narratives and building civic imagination before traditional engagement can even begin.
Articles & Organizations Mentioned:
Department of Public Transformation: dopt.org
Voices for Rural Resilience: voicesforruralresilience.org
The Mellon Foundation: mellon.org
Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson: justmercy.eji.org
SiP Culture: sipculture.org
Blue Sky Center: blueskycenter.org
Cheyenne River Youth Project: cryp.org
No Hate in My Holler: nohateinmyholler.com
Epicenter Utah: epicenterutah.org
Art of the Rural: artoftherural.org
Springboard for the Arts: springboardforthearts.org
Daily Yonder: dailyyonder.com
Center for Rural Strategies: ruralstrategies.org
Rural Assembly: ruralassembly.org
Masumoto Family Farm: masumoto.com
Country Queers: countryqueers.com
Civic Lex: civiclex.org
Interested in joining the conversation? Share this episode with a friend, follow Henry Luce Foundation on Instagram & LinkedIn, or subscribe to our newsletter.
6 May 2026
Rebooting Democracy: Richard Young on Revitalizing Civic Assemblies
On this episode of Luce Change, Sean Buffington speaks with Richard Young, Executive Director of CivicLex in Lexington, Kentucky, about the power of place, and why local democracy is the most underestimated front in the fight to rebuild civic life in America.
At the center of the conversation is CivicLex’s first-ever civic assembly: 36 randomly selected, demographically representative Lexington residents convening across six sessions to deliberate on proposed changes to the city charter. Like the concentric rings of a public square, the assembly draws people inward toward a shared decision–Young believes that is exactly how civic repair begins.
Articles & Organizations Mentioned:
CivicLex: civiclex.org
American Academy of Arts and Sciences: amacad.org
Everyday Democracy (Martha McCoy): everyday-democracy.org
Harvard Kennedy School / Archon Fung: hks.harvard.edu
Kentucky Rural-Urban Exchange: kyrux.org
Oak Ridge Periodic Tables (David Allred, Oak Ridge, TN): oakridgeperiodictables.com
Black Yarn (Lexington, KY): blackyarn.com
Outlier Media (Detroit, MI): outliermedia.org
People’s Budget Office / Mural Arts Philadelphia: muralarts.org
North Carolina Local News Lab Fund: nclocalnews.org
Panelot (sortition software): panelot.org
The Austin Common (Austin, TX): theaustincommon.com
The Village Square (Liz Joyner, Tallahassee, FL): tlh.villagesquare.us
Good Neighbor Week (San Francisco, CA): sfgoodneighborweek.org
Department of Public Transformation: publictransformation.org
Knight Foundation: knightfoundation.org
Bluegrass Community Foundation: bgcf.org
Interested in joining the conversation? Share this episode with a friend, follow Henry Luce Foundation on Instagram & LinkedIn, or subscribe to our newsletter.
24 Mar 2026
Can Faith Save Democracy?
In this episode of Luce Change, host Sean Buffington sits down with Paul Brandeis Rauschenbusch, an ordained Baptist minister, CEO of Interfaith Alliance, and co-author of an essay suggesting the US may be entering its next Great Awakening.
Paul makes the case that every major leap forward in American democracy has been powered not just by policy, but by a moral and spiritual awakening. He argues that what looks like a crisis may also be an invitation: a moment when people across lines of faith, race, and class are choosing to become neighbors to one another.
Articles & Organizations Mentioned:
"We Need a New Great Awakening" by Paul Brandeis Rauschenbusch & Ian Bassen: thebulwark.com
Interfaith Alliance: interfaithalliance.org
Faith for Libraries (Interfaith Alliance initiative): interfaithalliance.org
American Library Association: ala.org
No Kings: nokings.org
ISAIAH (Minnesota): isaiah-mn.org
March Minnesota: marchmn.org
Interested in joining the conversation? Share this episode with a friend, follow Henry Luce Foundation on Instagram & LinkedIn, or subscribe to our newsletter.
10 Mar 2026
Seeing Is Believing
What does a photograph prove—and who gets to decide? What does a photograph prove—and who gets to decide? Recorded live at MacDowell, archaeologist Nam Kim, curator and Magnum Foundation executive director Kristen Lubben, and photographer Accra Shepp join Sean Buffington on this episode of Luce Change to wrestle with photography’s contested role as historical evidence.
At a moment when AI is blurring the line between documentation and fabrication, their discussion cuts to the heart of how we trust images.
24 Feb 2026
Building a Culture of Citizenship with Eric Liu
We exist in challenging times. Deep, generational problems have surfaced as very real, present pain and terror. Where do we go from here? On this season of Luce Change, we ask: what comes after a crisis? What will it actually take to bend the arc of history? And where do we start? Host Sean Buffington sits down with Eric Liu, co-founder and CEO of Citizen University, to explore the tools we have, and which we might want to cultivate, to bend the arc of history toward justice—not in the next election cycle, but over generations.
The conversation moves beyond headlines to examine something deeper: the slow erosion of civic culture and our weakening faith in shared institutions. From the corridors of Washington, DC, to community-rooted work in Seattle, Liu has discovered that real civic renewal happens through relationships and local engagement, not national political theater.
Organizations mentioned: Citizen University: https://citizenuniversity.us/Civic Nebraska: https://civicnebraska.org/Trust for Civic Life: https://trustforciviclife.org/
Articles mentioned: Commission on the Practice of Democratic Citizenship: https://www.amacad.org/ourcommonpurpose/report“We Need a New Great Awakening” by Paul Brandeis Raushenbush and Ian Bassin: https://www.thebulwark.com/p/we-need-a-new-great-awakening
1 Oct 2025
Jonathan Holloway on Civic Repair and Rebuilding Institutional Trust
Our new president, Jonathan Holloway, joins Sean Buffington on the Luce Change podcast to reflect on the idealistic pursuit of truth, the ruptures in our civic square, and the opportunity—and obligation—for philanthropy and institutions to help rebuild trust, uphold purpose, and meet this moment with clarity and care.
16 Sept 2025
Indigenous Art, Advocacy, and the Museum System
A vibrant and timely panel discussion focused on new currents in Native art and the vital role of Indigenous voices in American arts institutions.
28 Jul 2025
Faith in Civic Life: Practice, Not Just Belief
In this episode of Luce Change, we dive deep into the complex landscape of faith in America, exploring how religion can both divide and unite us.
14 Jul 2025
The Fight for Local News Is a Fight for Democracy
In this episode of Luce Change, we explore what happens when the media neglects the communities they are meant to serve. We also examine what it takes to rebuild journalism from the ground up: with care, trust, and accountability.
1 Jul 2025
Ojibwe and the Right to Speak Your Language
17 Jun 2025
Power of Law in People's Hands: Namati's Community Paralegals
How everyday people around the world are strengthening democracies from the ground up--by knowing, using, and shaping the law.
27 May 2025
Coming Soon: The Barefoot Lawyers of Namati
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