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

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 Democracy00:02:45 How this London night came together00:03:40 Citizen as a verb, and the shift from head to heart00:05:40 Latent love: citizen, not consumer00:07:25 Story as the most powerful technology we have00:09:45 Consumer democracy and the only restaurant in town00:10:59 Why the vote still matters00:12:06 Head, heart, and gut00:16:24 Co-authors of this world: nature, each other, machines00:20:29 The four pillars, one at a time00:21:00 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 participate00:44:25 Questions from the room00:46:42 Belonging, authoritarianism, and the case for builders00:49:38 Burnout, rupture, and repair00:52:35 Doomsday Preppers: two ways to survive00:54:10 How might we live together, period00:56:35 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.netSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.