# If We Want Democracy to Survive, We Have to Understand This Distinction Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/defending-democracy-with-marc-elias-5919693/if-we-want-democracy-to-survive-we-have-to-understand-this-distinction Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/defending-democracy-with-marc-elias-5919693/if-we-want-democracy-to-survive-we-have-to-understand-this-distinction.md Podcast: [Defending Democracy with Marc Elias](https://stenobird.com/podcast/defending-democracy-with-marc-elias-5919693) Published: 2026-07-30T17:43:45+00:00 Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/democracydocket/episodes/If-We-Want-Democracy-to-Survive--We-Have-to-Understand-This-Distinction-e3monoq Audio file: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/APO2825901660.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/defending-democracy-with-marc-elias-5919693/episodes/if-we-want-democracy-to-survive-we-have-to-understand-this-distinction Duration seconds: 1922 ## Resource If we want democracy to survive, here’s what we need to understand: Donald Trump is actually acting normal. Marc Elias, founder of Democracy Docket, explains the important distinction between abnormal and immoral, why the courts should do away with the presumption of regularity, and what Democrats need to do to create a better, moral “new normal.” ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/defending-democracy-with-marc-elias-5919693/episodes/if-we-want-democracy-to-survive-we-have-to-understand-this-distinction/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/defending-democracy-with-marc-elias-5919693/if-we-want-democracy-to-survive-we-have-to-understand-this-distinction.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.