Hey, it's Manoucheer, and it's election time again in the United States.

Uh, when theoretically, we all go to the polls to actively participate in democracy.

Many of us on that day will wonder if we should be doing more all year round,

which brings me to our episode. So right before the 2020 presidential election,

I talked to the brilliant and funny Beretunde Thurston about how we can be better citizens,

like all the time. It is such a great reminder, and I think a great listen we could use right now.

I hope you think so too. This is the Ted Radio Hour.

Each week, groundbreaking Ted Talks. Our job now is to dream big.

Deliver it at Ted Conferences to bring about the future we want to see around the world,

to understand who we are. From those talks, we bring you speakers and ideas that will surprise you.

You just don't know what you're going to find. Challenge you. We truly have to ask ourselves,

like, why is it noteworthy? And even change you. I literally feel like I'm a different person.

Yes. Do you feel that way? Ideas worth spreading. From Ted and NPR.

I'm Manuch Zomerodi. And it has been a year of thinking how our actions affect our neighbors,

a year of realizing that many of our systems do little for the most vulnerable among us.

And here in the US, a year when the population further splintered over what it means to be an American.

And so how do we talk about all this stuff without alienating each other? How do we move forward

collectively? And what is our civic duty in the 21st century? These are big questions.

And so on the show today, we're going to explore ideas about how to citizen with Beretun

Day Thurston. He's been working on and thinking about this topic for years. And he recently came out

with a new podcast series appropriately called How to Citizen. Beretun Day. Can you please introduce

yourself? Hi, I'm Beretun Day Thurston. And it's so exciting to be here.

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