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One of our main goals in the show is to highlight great scholars who are working on the problems democracy faces today, said co-host William I. Hitchcock, James Madison Professor of History. We wanted to help get that academic work out to the broader public, because students and citizens everywhere need context to understand our current democratic crisis. Listeners want the depth and substance they cannot find in a lot of media, and were here to deliver.

The Webby Awards is an international program intended to honor excellence on the internet. Categories included in the awards program range from websites and mobile sites to video, advertising, social media, games and apps.

The awards were established in 1996 and are presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences.

Intercepted, a podcast produced by The Intercept, took the judges award in the News and Politics division, whereas Democracy in Danger won the peoples choice. Into America, by NBC News Audio; Post Reports, by the Washington Post; and The Prince by The Economist, were among the nominees in the Karsh Institutes category.

How did we beat those other guys? For one, we have extremely dedicated listeners who appreciate the work we do. Our show goes beyond the sound bites and conventional storylines of the 24-hour news cycle, said Roberto I. Armengol, a UVA anthropologist and the podcasts producer. We address pressing issues that are in the headlines, but we go beyond the headlines. We contextualize real and present threats to democracy with deep scholarship, robust arguments and compelling stories about the struggle for freedom and self-governance in the United States and around the world. Sometimes, were even funny.

Vaidhyanathan said the podcast started as the public-facing project of the Democracy Lab that he operated from 2019 to 2022. When the lab project ended, the podcast continued within the Karsh Institute.

Our breakthrough moment was, sadly, the exact moment when American democracy found itself under attack from domestic enemies: Jan. 6, 2021, Vaidhyanathan said. We were teaching a January term course called Democracy in Danger when suddenly we were all transfixed by the invasion of our Capitol and the violence perpetrated on law enforcement. Our students and we had an emotionally cathartic class session that bonded us forever.

Vaidhyanathan said the podcast is not a dry, academic, theoretical account of various threats to democracy, but introduces listeners to activists, artists, leaders, lawyers, scholars and even songwriters.

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'Democracy in Danger' Podcast Wins Webby Award Against Stiff ... - UVA Today