Village SquareCast is the podcast your mother warned you about. We talk politics, religion and race — across color, creed and ideology — and we do it like the partners in democracy that we really ought to be.
At The Village Square, we've had hundreds of conversations with tens of thousands of people — and now we bring you our favorites of these conversations via podcast. We talk in bars, we talk in churches, we talk across a hundred continuous tables in the middle of a street downtown. And through all this talking, we've discovered something truly remarkable — people are hard to hate close up.
Oh, and we really think civics ought not to be boring. We hope you'll join us.
On the eve of America's 250th birthday, The Village Square and Florida Humanities proudly present:
Dr. Yuval Levin: American Covenant
As we near July 4th in our 250th year, we turn our attention to the document that charted a path for a new country—the Constitution. Far from being the source of our problems as has become fashionable to believe, Dr. Yuval Levin argues that the Constitution holds the power to save us. According to Levin, "it doesn't mean thinking alike, it means acting together." Are you wondering how we could possibly act together when we disagree so vehemently? Join us as we meet a scholar who "may be the most important voice in the political culture right now."
Learn more about our guests and find the program online here .
This program is part of the series in partnership with Florida Humanities — "UNUM: Democracy Reignited," a multi-year digital offering exploring the past, present and future of the American idea — as it exists on paper, in the hearts of our people, and as it manifests (or sometimes fails to manifest) in our lives. View the full series of programs online here. (https://villagesquare.us/event/truths/)
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The Village Square is a proud member of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what's broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.
UNUM: Democracy Reignited is funded in part by Florida Humanities (https://floridahumanities.org/) with support from Federation of State Humanities Councils (https://www.statehumanities.org/) and the Mellon Foundation. (https://www.mellon.org/) (Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of our funders.)
By the People: Conversations Beyond 250 is a series of community-driven programs
created by humanities councils in collaboration with local partners. The initiative was
developed by the Federation of State Humanities Councils and the Smithsonian Center
for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.
14 May 2026
God Squad | Old Lady Liberty is 250 (And She's Having an identity Crisis)
Lately it's pretty hard to zero in on what we have in common as a people. It often feels like we're living in alternate realities with completely different sets of values and priorities. What would it take for us to more widely agree on a national narrative, and what are the dangers of failing to do so? God Squad will make a valiant attempt to wrestle some transcendent principles out of the partisan mud pit—principles that stand a chance of leading us into a better time.
This program will be moderated by Liz Joyner of The Village Square, who will be joined by God Squad regulars Father Tim Holeda of Co-Cathedral at St. Thomas More, Rabbi Paul Sidlofsky of Temple Israel, and Joseph Davis Jr. of Truth Gatherers Community Church.
Check out the panel and more info about this program here.
Catch up on past God Squad programs here.
Interested in our topic of America's 250th? We've talked about it all year in our UNUM series in partnership with Florida Humanities. Check it out here. (https://villagesquare.us/series/unum/)
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Village SquareCast is funded in part by the Federation of State Humanities Councils with support from the Mellon Foundation and Florida Humanities.
30 Apr 2026
UNUM | "We Hold These Truths" with Monticello's Dr. Jane Kamensky
In this 250th year since the Declaration of Independence was signed, the American idea—an idea that has changed a whole world around it—finds itself under extraordinary pressure. As the Declaration's author, Thomas Jefferson has gifted us with both breathtaking credal words and a life lived so firmly in contradiction to their meaning that we cannot possibly look away. Our very special UNUM guest, Dr. Jane Kamensky, has made history her life's work as the President & CEO of Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. She calls our founding idea "leaky," as people of every color and creed both in America and in unfree corners of the globe heard this big idea 250 years ago and believed it could also be for them.
Learn more about our guests and find the program online here.
This program is part of the series in partnership with Florida Humanities — "UNUM: Democracy Reignited," a multi-year digital offering exploring the past, present and future of the American idea — as it exists on paper, in the hearts of our people, and as it manifests (or sometimes fails to manifest) in our lives. View the full series of programs online here. (https://villagesquare.us/event/truths/)
————————————————————
The Village Square is a proud member of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what's broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.
UNUM: Democracy Reignited is funded in part by Florida Humanities (https://floridahumanities.org/) with support from Federation of State Humanities Councils (https://www.statehumanities.org/) and the Mellon Foundation. (https://www.mellon.org/) (Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of our funders.)
By the People: Conversations Beyond 250 is a series of community-driven programs
created by humanities councils in collaboration with local partners. The initiative was
developed by the Federation of State Humanities Councils and the Smithsonian Center
for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.
Inside a recent episode
And the Pursuit of Happiness with Arthur Brooks
Published 24 Mar 2022 · Transcript excerpt
[…] Yeah. So people have often wondered, why did Thomas Jefferson write about the pursuit of happiness, which is a very radical thing? It was historically the case that Happiness was defined as a good life well lived by the ancient Greeks. And by the Enlightenment, it was something that the wealthy gentry could have, but it was certainly not a democratic ideal that everybody could define their happiness and pursue it. Thomas Jefferson actually wrote the Declaration of Independence. He mostly copied it from the Virginia Declaration of Rights. He's known as a great writer, but he wasn't. He was a great copier. […]
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