Claim OwnershipGivers, Doers, & Thinkers—A Podcast on Philanthropy and Civil Society
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© 2025 Givers, Doers, & Thinkers—A Podcast on Philanthropy and Civil Society
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Givers, Doers, and Thinkers introduces listeners to the fascinating people and important ideas at the heart of American civil society. We speak with philanthropists, foundation leaders, reformers, social entrepreneurs, nonprofit executives, religious believers, historians, sociologists, philosophers, journalists, and anyone else who will help us understand contemporary civil society’s achievements and failures. We also sprinkle in practical advice for nonprofit leaders and fundraisers. This is the podcast for anyone interested in that vital space where philanthropy and civil society intersect.
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This week on Givers, Doers, & Thinkers, Jeremy sits down with Richard Avramenko (Arizona State University), Justin Dyer (University of Texas at Austin), and Josh Dunn (University of Tennessee)—three professors leading new civic education initiatives at major public universities. They discuss the rise of civic schools, the challenges of ideological homogeneity in higher education, and why students are increasingly drawn to serious conversations about American civics, political thought, and...
This week on Givers, Doers, & Thinkers, Jeremy Beer talks with Andrew Laubacher about the silent epidemic of digital addiction and what it’s doing to our mental health—especially among young people. Andrew shares his journey from social media burnout to working for Humanality, a movement helping people reclaim their lives from their screens. They dig into the psychology behind smartphone dependency, the launch of Humanality clubs on college campuses, and practical ways to form healthier r...
This week on Givers, Doers, & Thinkers, Jeremy Beer talks with Pastor Corey Brooks about his mission to transform one of Chicago’s most underserved neighborhoods through Project Hood. From launching a leadership and economic opportunity center to building a classical Christian school, Pastor Brooks shares how education, job training, and conservative values can drive lasting community change. They discuss what it means to promote self-reliance in a culture of dependency and why mindset sh...
This week on Givers, Doers, & Thinkers, Jeremy Beer sits down with Cary Sanders of JumpStart and Ralph May of St. Vincent de Paul in Boise to talk about what it really takes to break the cycle of incarceration. They share personal stories of re-entry, the challenges returning citizens face, and how their organizations are building paths to rehabilitation through community support, employment, and addiction recovery. Let’s go! Sponsored by AmPhil, helping nonprofits advance their m...
This week on Givers, Doers, & Thinkers, Jeremy Beer talks with Joel Penton about how LifeWise Academy brings Bible education to public school students—legally—during school hours. They dive into the 1952 Supreme Court decision that makes it possible, the role of local communities in launching programs, and how a small nonprofit exploded from 2 schools to over 1,100 in just a few short years. Let’s go! Sponsored by AmPhil, helping nonprofits advance their missions and raise m...
This week on Givers, Doers, & Thinkers, Jeremy Beer speaks with Pano Kanelos about why he launched the University of Austin (UATX), what’s broken in American higher education, how UATX blends liberal arts with real-world skills, and why academic freedom needs defending. Let’s go! Sponsored by AmPhil, helping nonprofits advance their missions and raise more money: https://amphil.com/. #interview #podcast #newepisode #nonprofit Center for Civil Society's YouTube Channel
Season 8 of Givers, Doers, & Thinkers is here! This special three-part season dives deep into the past, present, and future of American exceptionalism as we look ahead to America’s 250th birthday. This season, we're spotlighting "Doers"—the bold leaders and innovative organizations tackling some of the country’s biggest challenges: from higher education and prison reform to religious liberty and the growing crisis of social media addiction. Join us as we explore how these trailblazers a...
Jeremy speaks with Patrick Deneen about the ambiguities inherent in the American founding, the differences between progressive liberalism, classical liberalism, Marxism, and conservatism, and how our elites mask their eliteness. Sponsored by AmPhil, helping nonprofits advance their missions and raise more money: https://amphil.com/. #interview #podcast #newepisode #nonprofit Center for Civil Society's YouTube Channel
Jeremy speaks with Wendy Wang about the evolving state of marriage and family in America as we approach the semiquincentennial, what the lack of good jobs for men is doing to the marriage market, and, most alarmingly, what a shockingly high percentage of Gen-Zers are looking forward to an AI boyfriend or girlfriend. Sponsored by AmPhil, helping nonprofits advance their missions and raise more money: https://amphil.com/. #interview #podcast #newepisode #nonprofit Center for Civil Society's Yo...
Jeremy speaks with Aaron Renn about his influential book, Life in the Negative World. They speak about his framework for understanding the three eras in which American Evangelicals have found themselves in the post-war context—the positive world, the neutral world, and the negative world—and we talk about the decline of institutions, Evangelical strategies for surviving and flourishing in the negative world, and much more. Sponsored by AmPhil, helping nonprofits advance their missions and rai...
Jeremy speaks with Joshua Hochschild about the principle of subsidiarity, the idea of the order of charity, and the challenges presented by contemporary technology. Sponsored by AmPhil, helping nonprofits advance their missions and raise more money: https://amphil.com/. #interview #podcast #newepisode #nonprofit Center for Civil Society's YouTube Channel
This week on Givers, Doers, & Thinkers, Jeremy is joined by political scientist and philanthropic leader James Piereson, who discusses his time at the helm of the Olin Foundation and William E. Simon Foundation. They also discuss the impact of conservative philanthropy since Reagan, the successes and missteps of conservative philanthropy during that time, what the future holds for the conservative movement, and what Trump’s ultimate influence will be. Sponsored by AmPhil, helping n...
Center for Civil Society's YouTube Channel
This week on Givers, Doers, & Thinkers, Jeremy is joined by one of America’s foremost thinkers on philanthropy, Indiana University’s Les Lenkowsky, about the Jewish philanthropic tradition in America. They highlight, in particular, Julius Rosenwald, who funded over 5,000 schools for African Americans in the Deep South in the first half of the 20th century. They also discuss the impact of the Trump administration on contemporary philanthropy and touch on the troubling rise of anti-Semitism...
This week on Givers, Doers, & Thinkers, Jeremy is joined by historian John Pinheiro to discuss the negative role philanthropy has sometimes played in American history. They discuss the “second great awakening,” anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic prejudice, the popularity of eugenics, how experts have turned apocalyptic, and the harm caused by even a well-intentioned technocratic mindset. Center for Civil Society's YouTube Channel
This week on Givers, Doers, & Thinkers, Jeremy interviews historian Wilfred McClay about his best-selling book Land of Hope, which offers a more balanced view of American history than the hypercritical perspective popular today. Wilfred expands on the importance of teaching history accessibly and free of academic jargon, the selective application of criticism to historical figures, what the adoption of technology says about the adaptability of American culture, the “unsettlement of Europe...
Center for Civil Society's YouTube Channel
The seventh season of the Givers, Doers, & Thinkers podcast is here! In this special three-part season, we’ll explore the past, present, and future of American exceptionalism as we approach America’s 250th birthday. In this season, we will explore how American civil society came about, what challenges threaten its flourishing, and what the future promises for our great country. In part one of the season, we discuss with leading thinkers the historical, religious, and philosoph...
To end the sixth season of Givers, Doers, & Thinkers, we are opening the archive to share three particularly relevant episodes. The third episode features Patrick Deneen. Patrick Deneen, author of Why Liberalism Failed, Professor of Political Science and Chair of the David A. Potenziani Memorial College at the University of Notre Dame. Patrick specializes in the history of political thought, American political thought, religion and politics, and literature and politics. Jeremy and P...
This week on Givers, Doers, & Thinkers, we are opening the archive to share three particularly relevant episodes. The second episode features Timothy P. Carney. Timothy P. Carney is a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he works on economic competition, cronyism, civil society, localism, and religion in America. He is also the a senior columnist at the Washington Examiner. Jeremy sits down with Jeremy asks about Timothy’s latest book, “Alienated America: Why S...
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