This podcast project, Extremism, Polarization, and the Future of Democracy, is hosted by the Centre for Constitutional Studies at the University of Alberta, with hosts Dax D'Orazio (post-doctoral fellow) and Kaitie Jourdeuil (doctoral candidate), both with the Department of Political Studies at Queen's University.
This podcast mini-series is comprised of seven episodes, six of which feature an in-depth interview with an expert. The series includes an introduction, and the first substantive episode features an interview with journalist and filmmaker Daniel Lombroso (The New Yorker).
The podcast was inspired by a course taught by D'Orazio in 2022, a third-year political theory course focused on the twin phenomena of extremism and polarization. Students read articles and watched documentaries, and then submitted questions in response to the material. Using these questions, common themes were found and scripts were created for interviewing the featured authors and filmmakers. This allowed for students to be included in the process of creating a podcast and to co-produce knowledge.
The series grapples with timely issues related to public discourse and will appeal to listeners outside of the academy.