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In April this year, Jon was invited to help launch a new community-centre-cum-democracy-hub in the city of Stavanger, Norway, with the brilliant name of The House Of Wonder And Disagreement - and of a world-first project to create a standing citizens’ assembly as part of a city’s governance from outside of government… As part of the launch, Jon hosted a conversation with Jan Inge Reilstad of KÅKÅ, the organisation running the project, and leading Norwegian journalist Hilde Sandvik, to find out more - and ask whether democracy needs saving everywhere, even in the Nordics. Chapters (00:00:03) - How to Save Democracy in Norway(00:06:17) - Koka: The House of Discussion and Disagreement(00:11:01) - The Comedy and Economy Festival(00:14:26) - Citizen Assembly(00:21:17) - The question of trust in the government(00:23:25) - Norway's culture of community work(00:26:45) - Taiwan's growing trust in government after COVID(00:29:55) - The challenges of life in Norway(00:33:17) - Social democracy and the Nordic model(00:36:11) - Bergen and Stavanger(00:41:44) - The City Panel(00:44:24) - The Random Selection Citizens' Panel(00:45:49) - Comments on the future of our democracy(00:48:24) - How to Save Democracy(00:50:18) - In the Elevator With Ananes(00:52:03) - How to Save Democracy

When the Eaton fire ripped through Altadena, Pasadena, in January 2025, a whole neighbourhood was virtually burned to the ground. One of the many to lose their home was Carola Secada. In this episode, we hear what happened next: the creation of Dena Heals, a mutual aid marketplace and wellness centre that has since supported over 7000 people from 1500 families as they have rebuilt their lives. Chapters (00:00:03) - Carola Cicada on How to Save Democracy(00:05:21) - Exploring Altadena: A Hidden Gem(00:07:40) - The Dina Heals Community Project(00:13:55) - Exploring the Community Center at Nike Sports(00:20:52) - In the aftermath of the fire, how to heal the soil(00:26:54) - Dina Heals: Still Healing the Communities after the Fires(00:32:02) - Dina Heals on the Help of the Community During a Crisis

At the end of 2020, a combination of Covid lockdowns and “Black Summer” bushfires across the Australian state of Victoria meant that Melburnians were confined to their homes for weeks on end. But instead of staring into crisis, a group of citizens came together determined to start reimagining and rebuilding their city out of it. Jon sat down with Kaj Lofgren and Charity Mosienyane to hear the story of Regen Melbourne, an organisation born in that moment to catalyse work across the city towards three “earthshot” goals, including making the Birrarung river swimmable from source to sea. Chapters (00:00:02) - Regen Melbourne: How to Save Democracy(00:01:31) - In the Know: Charity Musegnane(00:04:17) - What is Regen Melbourne?(00:06:45) - Regent Melbourne: The Centre for Place Based Work(00:10:22) - The Swimmable Birang: Melbourne's environmental rebirth(00:15:47) - The role of the London Mayor(00:20:52) - The Earthshots(00:27:02) - Rethinking the issue of water(00:32:24) - Regen Melbourne: The Conditions for a New Melbourne(00:41:00) - The End Game of Saving the River

Working with political theorist Jonny Benson, Omezzine has been looking back over her experiences in the politics of her native Tunisia - first as an activist in the Tunisian Revolution, and then as a politician in the aftermath. Their aim? To reflect on the role democratic innovations such as citizens’ assemblies might have played, and draw out lessons that could help the world. Jon takes the role of interviewer to see what they’ve found. Chapters (00:00:01) - How to Save Democracy(00:00:59) - Omazin: The role of citizens in the Tunisian(00:06:36) - Tunisia's democratic backsliding(00:10:02) - Tunisia's disillusionment with democracy(00:13:01) - Tunisia's democratic backsliding(00:16:21) - The case study of national tax reform(00:18:46) - The role of the advisor in the Tunisian government(00:21:16) - Democratic Innovation in the Tunisian Transition(00:29:56) - The trade off between transparency and privacy in democratic innovation(00:34:06) - The Future of Democracy in Tunisia(00:38:04) - How to Save Democracy

Jon has spent much of the last year based at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, as a Visiting Fellow on the “Reimagining Democracy” programme. As part of this, he published an essay calling for the creation of Departments of Citizen Empowerment at every level of government, everywhere in the world. In this episode, Omezzine interviews Jon about the ideas in the essay, with the help of our new friend from the University of Manchester, political theorist Jonny Benson. Chapters (00:00:01) - How to Save Democracy(00:01:18) - Community turnout to stop far-right violence in the UK(00:05:01) - Republicans on Doge and the(00:12:11) - Proposal: Department of Citizen Empowerment(00:15:21) - Have We Lost Faith in Humanity?(00:17:23) - What a Tuesday afternoon in the UK(00:18:44) - Citizen Empowerment and the US(00:24:31) - CISO empowerment and the traditional institutions(00:34:09) - John's Call for Citizens Empowerment(00:38:46) - How to Save Democracy

Jon took the hot seat for this episode of award-winning comedian Robin Clyfan’s new current affairs podcast, Double Take Debate. This discussion pits the politics of deliverism, where politicians try to fix the problems of the world for us, against our vision of a more participatory democracy, where people hold the solutions to our own problems. The politics of England’s new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, get a mention or two along the way… Chapters (00:00:01) - Double Take Debate(00:00:41) - The question we're asking today(00:02:14) - In the Elevator With Matthew Torbett and John Alexander(00:03:24) - John and Matthew on the Future of Democracy(00:10:14) - On taxation and the future of the UK(00:17:36) - Democracy and the angry vote(00:22:47) - Citizens assemblies and their dangers(00:27:22) - Citizens assemblies and democratic accountability(00:29:56) - Crowdsourcing the Election(00:34:37) - The seriousness of politics(00:39:54) - Why We Should Save Democracy

Our friends Flavio and Stefania have brought together stories of participation and democracy from across four continents. In this episode, they interview the pioneering Portuguese politician Graça Fonseca about her time as Deputy Mayor of Lisbon - and about that city’s participatory budget, which every years sees millions of euros directly allocated to citizen ideas by citizen vote. Chapters (00:00:01) - It Takes a City: The Participatory Budget(00:01:23) - The Lisbon deputy mayor on participatory budgeting(00:08:10) - The participatory election in Lisbon(00:12:34) - How did the population that was participating in the budgeting change?(00:14:12) - Participatory Budget(00:19:48) - Portugal's participatory budget(00:22:58) - Natasha Grasse on Participatory Budgeting

Jon found himself in Perth, Western Australia, with the team from the DoingCo. This social enterprise supports a growing movement of “town teams” across the country and beyond: local doers coming together to shape their places, their way. This is a joyful, powerful movement - as you’ll hear from nightclub-promoter-turned-community-organiser Jimmy Murphy, and all-round citizen powerhouse Kendell Terrell. Chapters (00:00:00) - How to Save Democracy(00:01:09) - What is the Town Team Movement?(00:05:36) - Town Team Movement in Western Australia(00:09:25) - Jimmy Murphy at the Town Team Movement(00:16:22) - The Town Team Movement(00:18:22) - Vicious Cycle of community(00:24:11) - Town Team Movement: Building trust with government(00:36:46) - Give It A Go!

We host legendary artist Brian Eno and his co-author Bette Adriaanse to explore the ideas in their book, What Art Does. Feelings are not luxuries, they're powerful forces that can nurture democracy or, in the wrong hands, unmake it entirely. Even at its most intimate and personal level, art invites us to imagine alternatives, experiment, and find grounding, a sense of stability, and forward momentum in a world of increasing uncertainty. Chapters (00:00:01) - How to Save Democracy(00:00:37) - What Does Art Mean?(00:05:59) - What is the character of now(00:08:29) - The Conversation about Art and Democracy(00:13:57) - Feelings in the Art World(00:17:59) - On Feelings and the Right(00:20:05) - The Politics of Emotions(00:26:31) - Art and Children's Play(00:30:44) - The Power of Art in Politics(00:35:22) - From Hard Art to Community(00:40:19) - East Marshall United: Community Organization(00:46:18) - Soundbites 4, Control and Surrender(00:56:33) - The Future of Art(01:00:20) - How to Save Democracy Global(01:07:21) - How to Save Democracy

Radical architect Indy Johar and renowned community leader Immy Kaur share their understanding of the vital importance of neighbourhood-scale work in the face of the realities of our time. Sometimes brutal in their realism, they force us to stare hard at the challenges and not shy away from painful truths. But they're also insistent about what becomes possible when we work at a human scale: the scale of our lives and the places we live, where we all have a role to play in building the future we need. Chapters (00:00:01) - The freedom of the streets(00:00:47) - How to Save British Democracy(00:13:19) - The Home Retrofit: reimagine it(00:17:23) - In the Elevator With Imi(00:21:37) - The Retrofit of the House(00:30:46) - The 6 fundamentals of sustainable housing(00:37:07) - Indie and Immi on the Need for Community(00:42:38) - Predictions of degenerative volatility(00:45:15) - Community and the future of freedom(00:50:38) - The Alternative to Dictation(00:52:22) - The Need for More Money in Climate Science(00:55:32) - Community ownership in the UK(00:58:37) - John Oliver on the Future of Democracy(01:02:06) - On the future of science democracy(01:04:36) - How to Save Democracy

For our first live recording, we host Turkish writer and political commentator Ece Temelkuran to discuss her brave and beautiful new book, Nation Of Strangers. In a world unmaking our sense of safety and belonging, Ece offers something we desperately need: a vision of the future we can create together and requiring all of us. Her most powerful insight? The unhomed among us aren't simply victims of our times. They're pioneers, already carrying the know-how we need to build our new home together. Chapters (00:00:03) - How to Save Democracy(00:07:19) - How To Lose A Country(00:11:49) - Where Are We Now?(00:14:31) - NATION OF STRANGLERS(00:21:37) - Turkish intellectuals' struggle for freedom of speech(00:22:52) - The Beauty of Exiles(00:25:17) - How did we get to this?(00:30:20) - The Light and the Darkness(00:33:49) - The Right to Be Beautiful(00:35:30) - I Am Being Unholed(00:42:43) - Watching the Reality(00:45:32) - Ajay's Favorite Words(00:46:29) - The End of The Odyssey(00:52:29) - A message for the stranger(00:55:58) - How to Save Democracy

Trust in government has been collapsing all over the world over the last decade - but one country has bucked the trend. Fewer than 10% of the population trusted government in 2014, but by 2024, that figure had climbed above 70%. Spurred on by a collective of civic hackers calling themselves “Gov Zero”, Taiwan has trusted its people, opened its institutions, and even crowdsourced what was arguably the world’s most successful Covid response. In this episode, we draw out the lessons every nation can learn from this story with the help of one of its key actors, Audrey Tang. Audrey is Taiwan’s “Cyber Ambassador” and former Minister of Digital Affairs. A prominent member of the Gov Zero collective, she became a reverse mentor to Minister Jaclyn Tsai in the aftermath of the peaceful Sunflower Revolution in 2014, before joining government herself in 2016 - and becoming the world’s first transgender minister in the process. Chapters (00:00:01) - A prayer for the Internet(00:00:43) - How to Save Democracy in 2030(00:04:27) - Protesters and the Tunisian Revolution(00:08:33) - The 'GoV0' movement in Taiwan(00:11:25) - The Sunflower Revolution and the Occupy Movement(00:22:07) - Taiwan's vaccination response: Fast, Fair and Fun(00:26:38) - Taiwan's growing trust level(00:34:22) - Audrey's Singularity: The Future of Collaboration(00:40:51) - Citizen Story: Building a Bridge(00:50:45) - The Time for a Demonstration(00:52:51) - How to Save Democracy

In September 2025, Jon hosted a live event in Dublin exploring the past, present and future of one of the most exciting democratic experiments of recent times. Over the last 15 years, Ireland's Citizens' Assembly has brought nearly 600 randomly selected citizens together to deliberate on issues from abortion to marriage equality to biodiversity, before making recommendations to elected officials. Join us as we delve into what happened, how, and why - and ask whether this approach could help save democracy all over the world. David Farrell is Chair of Politics at UCD and was part of the original We The Citizens project that preceded the Irish Constitutional Convention and the Citizens’ Assembly. Art O'Leary is chief executive at An Coimisiún Toghcháin, the Electoral Commission of Ireland, the management and oversight organisation for electoral and wider democracy matters, and Secretary to the Citizens’ Assembly. Louise Caldwell is one of the randomly selected citizens to have taken part in the Assembly, and has since joined the board of People Powered, the global advocacy organisation for participatory democracy. Chapters (00:00:03) - Becoming a Citizens Assembly member(00:01:19) - Irish Citizens Assembly(00:05:20) - Citizens Assembly(00:13:28) - The Irish Citizens Assembly(00:16:39) - Citizens' Assembly(00:17:55) - Citizens Assembly and the Ireland referendum(00:25:48) - Ireland's first Citizens Assembly(00:33:31) - What is the Citizen Assembly(00:39:18) - Citizens Assembly: The best cure for polarization(00:43:42) - Citizens Assembly and the future(00:51:23) - The German Community Parliament's Citizens Assembly(00:58:33) - Citizens Assembly: The Safe Space for Democracy(01:03:48) - How to Save Democracy

In this episode, co-host Omezzine Khelifa turns the mic on her fellow presenter, Jon Alexander. Before founding the New Citizenship Project and writing Citizens, Jon spent a decade in the world of advertising — helping big brands sell more stuff. So how did he make the leap from marketing to reimagining democracy? Omezzine asks the thoughtful (and tough) questions as we trace Jon’s journey from consumer culture to citizen action — as they explore what it really means to tell a hopeful new story about democracy’s future.

We’re figuring out how to fix democracy. Not by talking about it from a distance, but by meeting the people doing the work. In this episode, you have the chance to get to know co-host, Omezzine Khelifa — someone who’s lived every facet of this fight: reformer, revolutionary, politician, and practitioner. Omezzine proudly calls herself French-Tunisian, and her story begins in the heart of the 2010 Tunisian Revolution — what would become known to the world as the Arab Spring. From the frontlines of protest to the halls of parliament, from activism to tech, and even acting, Omezzine brings a rare mix of insight, experience, and conviction. Chapters (00:00:03) - How to Save Democracy(00:01:11) - How I became involved in the revolution in Tunisia(00:11:51) - Tunisia's first year under democratic rule(00:15:26) - Tunisia's opposition to authoritarian rule(00:19:54) - The 2019 Tunisian election(00:28:30) - How to Save Democracy