The Democracy Works podcast, a production of the McCourtney Institute for Democracy at Penn State University, seeks to determine what it means to live in a democracy by examining a different aspect of democratic life each week.

Will Friedman, president of Public Agenda, was interviewed by the podcast about our Hidden Common Ground initiative in an episode released November 16. The discussion covered striking moments of common ground and agreement seen across the entire year of the project on issues of healthcare, climate change, immigration, race and policing and other polarizing topics.

Will discusses how Hidden Common Ground and other peer initiatives beg the question—if this common ground is already prevalent in our society and our democracy, then why is it hidden? What are the prevailing forces that cloud our vision to solutions-focused democratic reforms? How do we work toward common ground in a way that does not simply maintain the status quo?

Listen to the podcast episode.