
Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas
368 | Elizabeth Alexander on Why Democracy Needs Imagination
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About this episode
In all sorts of ways, the modern world makes it difficult to nurture our individual humanity and connect with the humanity of others. The disciplines that try to do so are, naturally enough, the humanities. Poet Elizabeth Alexander's new book, Signals Across Vast Distances , grapples with the question of how literature and other humanistic studies can help us build empathy and become better people, and why that task is crucial to a flourishing democratic society. Blog post with transcript: https://preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2026/09/21/368-elizabeth-alexander-on-why-democracy-needs-imagination/ Use code MINDSCAPE at https://monarch.com/ to get your first year of Monarch Core half off…