In this Substack Live conversation, I was joined by historian Alexis Coe for a wide-ranging, unscripted discussion about history, democracy, and the moral responsibility of the present moment.
We talked about what history is—not as a static record of the past, but as a living process we are actively shaping. We explored why the United States struggles to tell a coherent story about itself, why the coming 250th anniversary of American independence feels emotionally unresolved, and why democratic societies falter when they lose the ability to speak honestly about both pride and failure at the same time.
Alexis brought the historian’s discipline to questions of national myth, memory, and accountability, while I approached the conversation from the perspective of civic meaning and democratic legitimacy. Together, we examined why nostalgia is not a substitute for moral seriousness, why “moving on” without reckoning is a form of denial, and why democracy depends less on perfect institutions than on citizens willing to stay in the room and do the work of shared interpretation.
This was not a debate and not a performance. It was a live act of thinking together—about power, responsibility, narrative, and the fragile conditions that make self-government possible.
If you’re interested in how history informs democratic resilience, how societies recover moral confidence without sliding into myth, or why meaning—not just policy—matters in moments of civic crisis, this conversation is for you.
