Democracy:Differently

In this episode co-hosts Jessica Sutherland and Keith Hyams sit down together to discuss Keith's own work! From the role of empathy in democracy to the reasons for starting the podcast, Keith discusses why now more than ever we need to be speaking about democratic innovation.

Keith Hyams is a professor of political theory and ethics at the University of Warwick. His current work focuses on democratic innovation and justice.

We will return for series 2 on January 14th, 2026. In the meantime check out the 12 episodes from our first series!

In this episode, host Jessica Sutherland is in conversation with Professor Juliet Hooker about Black grief, white grievance, and the role of protests and uncivil disobedience.

Juliet Hooker is the Merton P. Stoltz Professor of Social Sciences at Brown University. She is the author of several books, the most recent of which is Black Grief/White Grievance: The Politics of Loss.

New episodes every two weeks!

In this episode, host Keith Hyams talks to Jennifer Edmond about how democracy may be changed by artificial intelligence and knowledge technologies.

Jennifer Edmond is Associate Professor of Digital Humanities at Trinity College Dublin. Her research looks at how technology intersects with culture, identity, and politics, and how democracies can adapt to new technological challenges while protecting human agency.

New episodes every two weeks!

In this episode of Democracy: Differently, host Keith Hyams talks with Professor André Bächtiger about what democracy could look like if we started from scratch, on Mars. What would citizens design? What do those ideas teach us about democracy here on Earth?

André Bächtiger is a political scientist and Professor at the University of Stuttgart, specializing in deliberative democracy, political communication, and the empirical study of democratic processes. He has been working on an innovative research project where people imagine a democracy on “Mars” as a blank slate to surface fresh ideas for reforming democracy here.

New episodes every two weeks!

In this episode of Democracy:Differently, host Jessica Sutherland speaks with Jonathan Benson about democratic scepticism, the epistemic benefits of democracy, and the importance of defending democracy against critics by valuing its ability to gather and interpret knowledge, alongside exploring alternatives to traditional election-based decision-making.

Jonathan Benson is a lecturer in Political Theory at the University of Manchester, with research focusing on democratic theory, particularly the epistemic value of democracy, and challenges to democracy from an interdisciplinary perspective in politics, philosophy, and economics.

New episodes every two weeks!