Luce Change

On this episode of Luce Change, Sean Buffington speaks with Richard Young, Executive Director of CivicLex in Lexington, Kentucky, about the power of place, and why local democracy is the most underestimated front in the fight to rebuild civic life in America. At the center of the conversation is CivicLex’s first-ever civic assembly: 36 randomly selected, demographically representative Lexington residents convening across six sessions to deliberate on proposed changes to the city charter. Like the concentric rings of a public square, the assembly draws people inward toward a shared decision–Young believes that is exactly how civic repair begins. Articles & Organizations Mentioned: CivicLex: civiclex.org American Academy of Arts and Sciences: amacad.org Everyday Democracy (Martha McCoy): everyday-democracy.org Harvard Kennedy School / Archon Fung: hks.harvard.edu Kentucky Rural-Urban Exchange: kyrux.org Oak Ridge Periodic Tables (David Allred, Oak Ridge, TN): oakridgeperiodictables.com Black Yarn (Lexington, KY): blackyarn.com Outlier Media (Detroit, MI): outliermedia.org People’s Budget Office / Mural Arts Philadelphia: muralarts.org North Carolina Local News Lab Fund: nclocalnews.org Panelot (sortition software): panelot.org The Austin Common (Austin, TX): theaustincommon.com The Village Square (Liz Joyner, Tallahassee, FL): tlh.villagesquare.us Good Neighbor Week (San Francisco, CA): sfgoodneighborweek.org Department of Public Transformation: publictransformation.org Knight Foundation: knightfoundation.org Bluegrass Community Foundation: bgcf.org Interested in joining the conversation? Share this episode with a friend, follow Henry Luce Foundation on Instagram & LinkedIn, or subscribe to our newsletter. 

In this episode of Luce Change, host Sean Buffington sits down with Paul Brandeis Rauschenbusch, an ordained Baptist minister, CEO of Interfaith Alliance, and co-author of an essay suggesting the US may be entering its next Great Awakening. Paul makes the case that every major leap forward in American democracy has been powered not just by policy, but by a moral and spiritual awakening. He argues that what looks like a crisis may also be an invitation: a moment when people across lines of faith, race, and class are choosing to become neighbors to one another. Articles & Organizations Mentioned: "We Need a New Great Awakening" by Paul Brandeis Rauschenbusch & Ian Bassen: thebulwark.com Interfaith Alliance: interfaithalliance.org Faith for Libraries (Interfaith Alliance initiative): interfaithalliance.org American Library Association: ala.org No Kings: nokings.org ISAIAH (Minnesota): isaiah-mn.org March Minnesota: marchmn.org Interested in joining the conversation? Share this episode with a friend, follow Henry Luce Foundation on Instagram & LinkedIn, or subscribe to our newsletter. 

What does a photograph prove—and who gets to decide? Recorded live at MacDowell, archaeologist Nam Kim, curator and Magnum Foundation executive director Kristen Lubben, and photographer Accra Shepp join Sean Buffington on this episode of Luce Change to wrestle with photography’s contested role as historical evidence.     At a moment when AI is blurring the line between documentation and fabrication, their discussion cuts to the heart of how we trust images.

We exist in challenging times. Deep, generational problems have surfaced as very real, present pain and terror. Where do we go from here? On this season of Luce Change, we ask: what comes after a crisis? What will it actually take to bend the arc of history? And where do we start? Host Sean Buffington sits down with Eric Liu, co-founder and CEO of Citizen University, to explore the tools we have, and which we might want to cultivate, to bend the arc of history toward justice—not in the next election cycle, but over generations.  The conversation moves beyond headlines to examine something deeper: the slow erosion of civic culture and our weakening faith in shared institutions. From the corridors of Washington, DC, to community-rooted work in Seattle, Liu has discovered that real civic renewal happens through relationships and local engagement, not national political theater.  Organizations mentioned: Citizen University: https://citizenuniversity.us/Civic Nebraska: https://civicnebraska.org/Trust for Civic Life: https://trustforciviclife.org/ Articles mentioned: Commission on the Practice of Democratic Citizenship: https://www.amacad.org/ourcommonpurpose/report“We Need a New Great Awakening” by Paul Brandeis Raushenbush and Ian Bassin: https://www.thebulwark.com/p/we-need-a-new-great-awakening

Our new president, Jonathan Holloway, joins Sean Buffington on the Luce Change podcast to reflect on the idealistic pursuit of truth, the ruptures in our civic square, and the opportunity—and obligation—for philanthropy and institutions to help rebuild trust, uphold purpose, and meet this moment with clarity and care.