Recorded live at The Conduit in London in September 2024, Baratunde and Elizabeth Stewart sit down with their friend and longtime collaborator Jon Alexander, author of CITIZENS and co-host of the podcast How To Save Democracy, for a conversation about citizen as a verb: the radical, hopeful idea that democracy isn't something we have, it's something we do.

They get into the story we inherited about independence, the older and truer story about interdependence, the four pillars of citizening, and why a moment when so much feels like it's collapsing is exactly the moment to start building.

The timing is no accident. On Saturday, June 13, 2026 Jon takes the TED Democracy stage in Philadelphia at the birthplace of American independence, during America's 250th, to make the case for interdependence. A British man crossing the Atlantic to tell us the move is getting back together.

Keep practicing democracy. The verb, not the noun.

CHAPTERS

00:00:00 "We're gonna need some builders" (cold open)
00:02:11 Welcome to How To Save Democracy
00:02:45 How this London night came together
00:03:40 Citizen as a verb, and the shift from head to heart
00:05:40 Latent love: citizen, not consumer
00:07:25 Story as the most powerful technology we have
00:09:45 Consumer democracy and the only restaurant in town
00:10:59 Why the vote still matters
00:12:06 Head, heart, and gut
00:16:24 Co-authors of this world: nature, each other, machines
00:20:29 The four pillars, one at a time
00:21:00 Pillar 1 - Invest in relationships (including with yourself)
00:29:45 Pillar 2 - Understand power (and your attention)
00:33:35 Pillar 3 - Commit to the collective (Bahrain and Broadband Bruce)
00:44:10 Pillar 4 - Show up and participate
00:44:25 Questions from the room
00:46:42 Belonging, authoritarianism, and the case for builders
00:49:38 Burnout, rupture, and repair
00:52:35 Doomsday Preppers: two ways to survive
00:54:10 How might we live together, period
00:56:35 Citizens, not just consumers

LINKS

How To Save Democracy with Omezzine Khelifa & Jon Alexander: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-to-save-democracy/id1823945285

American Indigenous Democracy: A Call for Interdependence — the book from Haudenosaunee elders and wisdom keepers: https://americanindigenousdemocracy.com

Jon Alexander / CITIZENS: https://jonalexander.net

Recorded live at The Conduit in London in September 2024, Baratunde and Elizabeth Stewart sit down with their friend and longtime collaborator Jon Alexander, author of CITIZENS and co-host of the podcast How To Save Democracy, for a conversation about citizen as a verb: the radical, hopeful idea that democracy isn't something we have, it's something we do.
They get into the story we inherited about independence, the older and truer story about interdependence, the four pillars of citizening, and why a moment when so much feels like it's collapsing is exactly the moment to start building.
The timing is no accident. On Saturday, June 13, 2026 Jon takes the TED Democracy stage in Philadelphia at the birthplace of American independence, during America's 250th, to make the case for interdependence. A British man crossing the Atlantic to tell us the move is getting back together.
Keep practicing democracy. The verb, not the noun.
CHAPTERS
00:00:00 "We're gonna need some builders" (cold open) 00:02:11 Welcome to How To Save Democracy 00:02:45 How this London night came together 00:03:40 Citizen as a verb, and the shift from head to heart 00:05:40 Latent love: citizen, not consumer 00:07:25 Story as the most powerful technology we have 00:09:45 Consumer democracy and the only restaurant in town 00:10:59 Why the vote still matters 00:12:06 Head, heart, and gut 00:16:24 Co-authors of this world: nature, each other, machines 00:20:29 The four pillars, one at a time 00:21:00 Pillar 1 - Invest in relationships (including with yourself) 00:29:45 Pillar 2 - Understand power (and your attention) 00:33:35 Pillar 3 - Commit to the collective (Bahrain and Broadband Bruce) 00:44:10 Pillar 4 - Show up and participate 00:44:25 Questions from the room 00:46:42 Belonging, authoritarianism, and the case for builders 00:49:38 Burnout, rupture, and repair 00:52:35 Doomsday Preppers: two ways to survive 00:54:10 How might we live together, period 00:56:35 Citizens, not just consumers
LINKS
How To Save Democracy with Omezzine Khelifa &amp; Jon Alexander: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-to-save-democracy/id1823945285
American Indigenous Democracy: A Call for Interdependence &mdash; the book from Haudenosaunee elders and wisdom keepers: https://americanindigenousdemocracy.com
Jon Alexander / CITIZENS: https://jonalexander.net

How To Citizen with Baratunde reimagines the word “citizen” as a verb and reminds us how to wield our collective power. So many of us want to do more in response to the problems we hear about constantly, but where and how to participate can leave us feeling overwhelmed and helpless. Voting, while critically important, simply isn’t enough. It takes more to make this experiment in self-governance work! Listen in to learn new perspectives and practices from people working to improve society for the many. Join writer, activist, and comedian Baratunde Thurston on a journey beyond politics as usual that will leave us all more hopeful, connected, and moved to act.

How To Citizen with Baratunde

We're Gonna Need Some Builders — Live in London with Jon Alexander

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/e4ec584a-310b-47ec-b7d7-b46700766b5c/transcript