Democracy as a trust exercise
On this Election Day, we talk about how the events of Jan. 6 have affected our elections. Plus, what nations participating in COP26 will have to give up to avoid more climate change catastrophes.
Read more:
For months, journalists at The Washington Post have been trying to understand: How did the insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6 happen? And what\u2019s happened to the country since then?
As part of a three-part investigative series by The Washington Post, Rosalind S. Helderman has been reporting on how a deep distrust of the voting process has taken root across the country.
\u201cDemocracy is in some ways a trust exercise,\u201d she says. \u201cWe all go into it together and we make an agreement with each other that we are going to trust each other enough to hold an election, and if we lose, to accept the will of the majority. And if you don\u2019t trust that anymore \u2014 if the bonds of that trust erode \u2014 you just can\u2019t have a democracy.\u201d
Then we turn to climate reporter Sarah Kaplan for an update on COP26 in Glasgow \u2014 the massive climate change summit of almost 200 countries where she says \u201chumanity tries to figure out once again how we are going to tackle climate change.\u201d
If you value the journalism you hear in this podcast, please subscribe to The Washington Post. We have a deal for our listeners: one year of unlimited access to everything The Post publishes for just $29. To sign up, go to washingtonpost.com/subscribe.