Ambassador Katz, after helping draft the Democratic Party’s national platform in 2008, was appointed to the position in 2010 by then-President Barack Obama. Prior to his diplomatic assignment, he helped form Florida’s largest law firm and spent decades in the legal profession.

Upon his return from Portugal, Ambassador Katz founded American Public Square: an organization which hosts and engages in fact-based conversations about local, regional and national issues by using civil discourse to bridge the partisan divide. Since then, APS has formed a partnership with William Jewell College, where Ambassador Katz is now a distinguished visiting professor of Political Science.

From Lisbon, where he joins us now, to Tallahassee, to Washington DC, to Kansas City, and more, Ambassador Katz has led a colorful and impressive career in which he’s learned a lot about what American democracy needs to thrive. Today, we’ll talk about the role civil discourse has to play in contemporary American politics and maintaining democratic health more broadly. In addition, Ambassador Katz shares some thoughts on how learning to listen is important even for the situation in Ukraine.

By the way, there's a bit of background noise toward the beginning of the episode. Stick with it though, as we resolve it after not too long.