Jacob Roundtree is a postdoctoral fellow in the Center for Economy and Society within the SNF Agora Institute, an academic and public forum at Johns Hopkins University (JHU). The program is fully integrated into the university and operates as a multi-disciplinary center where JHU faculty, students, and researchers study and work to strengthen global democracy and civic engagement. A political theorist by training, now writing on political epistemology, enlightened democratic constitutionalism, and modern intellectual history, Roundtree is currently building the Civic Discourse Network, which seeks to unite similar university extension centers across America in one continuous dialogue and shared civic mission. Jacob received his PhD in political theory from Harvard in 2023, and a BA in philosophy, politics, and economics from Colby College in 2010.  His dissertation is a critical genealogy of the social theories of Hegel and Marx that raises the question of whether freedom is possible in the modern world given the complexity of capitalism and the modern nation-state. Roundtree is especially concerned with the contemporary problems of public ignorance, ideology, propaganda, elite dogmatism, and political polarization. He views these phenomena as the great obstacles to achieving a rational democratic society. Roundtree’s pedagogical approach is designed to help students and citizens combat the epistemic pathologies of present–day politics. He has deployed this approach in a range of courses dealing with the politics of truth, Marxism, German Idealism, Conservatism, race and politics, and the politics of technology. His current book project, "Crisis and Redemption-The Theory of American Democracy," diagnoses the essential source of our problems today as stemming from our collective subordination to oligarchic systems of power and proposes enlightened democratic constitutionalism as a new framework for ordering society that can lead us out of the morass in which we presently find ourselves.

Jason Finder is the Founder of Good Food Works, the food social enterprise incubator launched out of The Doe Fund, a leading New York City non-profit organization model for solving homelessness and criminal recidivism, perhaps best known for their "Ready, Willing & Able" program. Finder's past work in the community includes serving on Bushwick Food Cooperative’s Board of Directors for six years, with three of them as President. His latest venture is "Salad Days," which brings delicious, nutritious, high-quality, affordable salads (GFW's head chef managed Eleven Madison Park's food truck operation) to low-income communities. The simple, seasonal, affordably-priced, Michelin-worthy salads, are largely subsidized by selling at market price to corporate offices and private clients across the New York City area. Salad Days was incubated in Good Food Works after considerable boots-on-the-ground canvassing in communities across the five boroughs, many of them in so-called "food deserts," to determine their specific wants and needs. On this episode of Good Standing, we discuss breaking through stereotypes and presumptions to instead connect at a deeper human level. In an increasingly uncertain economy, good food, but perhaps more importantly, real access to it, will undoubtedly serve as a core foundational component to the healthy future of the United States. Whether you're a staunch MAHA disciple or lining up for Mayor Mamdani's city-run grocery stores, everybody wants and deserves to eat well and feel good.

Edward Poteat is a born-and-raised, New York-based affordable housing advocate, activist, and developer. He is the founder and President of Carthage Advisors (LLC), a leading creator of workforce and affordable housing across the Tri-State and New York City region, working to expand access to quality affordable housing and economic opportunity. Ed, who named his development firm after the city from which the famed general Hannibal hailed, is focused on addressing the long-standing inequities that have disproportionately impacted Black and Brown communities by leveraging the power of the private market to deliver meaningful, lasting change. A Yale graduate and author, he is also an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP), where he teaches graduate courses on affordable housing finance, development, and policy. On this episode of Good Standing, we discuss New York City's debt problems and how Mayor Mamdani could further solve New York's housing issues. General topics are addressed herein, but also, the minutia and often tricky nuance required to bridge complex conversations between what it means to have true empathy for struggling New Yorkers (systemically and/or due to contemporary market forces) and the urgent need to keep NYC from spiraling deeper into debt. From the Marcus Garvey Village project, a massive, recently developed Carthage Advisors endeavor in Harlem, to what Ed would do if afforded a blank check for affordable housing anywhere in the city, this is a brisk primer, courtesy of a real, hands-on expert, for anyone interested in housing in New York City, past, present and future.