The Power of Us

The Power of Us

Politics

Democracy in the (Dis)information Age

Issue 184: A guest lecture with Jay and Asha Rangappa from the Freedom Academy

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Dominic Packer & Jay Van Bavel and Asha Rangappa
Oct 17, 2025
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Last week, Jay was a guest for Asha Rangappa’s course, Democracy in the (Dis)information Age on her Substack, “The Freedom Academy”. He talked about how the power of shared identities can promote a healthier democracy.

Asha’s course is a “citizen’s academy” for democracy designed to share articles, books, and engaging content. People from all backgrounds convene to learn about how adversaries are manipulating their perceptions and, in doing so, empowering them to respond in ways that strengthen our democratic social fabric. Here is a snippet of her class syllabus!

Jay had a great conversation with Asha and we are able to share this content with our paid subscribers if you want to check out the video below.

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Asha Rangappa
Asha Rangappa is a Senior Lecturer at the Yale University's Jackson Institute for Global Affairs and a former Special Agent of the FBI, specializing in counterintelligence investigations.
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