A Roadmap for Building a Better Future

Just in time for election season, Laura invites her sister Stephanie back to the program. Stephanie is the head of Economics and Government at Bloomberg News and head of Bloomberg Economics. Sixty-four countries (plus the European Union) — nearly half of the world’s population — are facing an election this year. Some are calling 2024 “The Ultimate Election Year”, but what should we look out for?

When it comes to crime and migration, all sorts of politicians have justified mass detention and incarceration in the name of confronting a dangerous crisis. But what's real and what's fear mongering, and how can reformers counter the rhetoric to advance alternatives? Activists can do their best to call out abuses, but what is really needed is an entirely new approach.

In “ZODIAC: A Graphic Memoir”, the renowned artist Ai Weiwei writes that artists should “ignite stories”, “fight for freedom” and “help us hope.” Over his long and defiant career, he has used his art in a wide variety of media to do just that. In this wide-ranging conversation with Laura Flanders, they discuss the role of the artist and ask why is “Power so afraid of art and poets?”