The Third Founding, with Mark Sappenfield

Subscribe to the Podcast

The Third Founding, with Mark Sappenfield

With our political system mired in problems, there’s plenty of talk about ‘fixing politics.’ But our guest, journalist Mark Sappenfield, says that idea is too simplistic. What needs to change, he says “is upstream from politics. It’s how we relate to each other as human beings in our society. And until that changes, politics isn’t going to change.”

In a deeply thoughtful conversation Mark, the editor of the Christian Science Monitor, shares his personal take on where the U.S. is and where it needs to go. Americans’ expectations have changed a lot in recent years with mass internet access and the instant gratification brought about by digital life. We want something? We expect to get it within hours. But Mark argues this culture of convenience and focus on the self has seeped into the rest of our lives, altering our expectations for what politicians can do for us and absolving us of personal responsibility.

From his current home in Germany Mark discusses the upside of a less convenient daily life, the difference between compromise and curiosity, and how a societal re-set he calls ‘a third founding’ may be needed to get America back on track.

Hear more on the latest episode of Let’s Find Common Ground.