Guitar strums and energetic beats bring life into the computer speaker. As the music subsides, the voices of a father, son and guest speaker address the audience, discussing the state of democracy worldwide.

Jeremi Suri, history and public affairs professor, co-hosts a weekly podcast, “This is Democracy,” with his 18-year-old son, resident poet Zachary Suri. In the podcast, the father-and-son duo discuss world events of the past and present, usually with a special guest each episode. 

“This Is Democracy” began with Jeremi’s 2017 book “The Impossible Presidency: The Rise and Fall of America’s Highest Office.” Zachary, a listener of podcasts, said he suggested that his father channel his thoughts into audio. Jeremi said he assigns the podcast to students in his history course “The History of the United States since 1865.”

“One of the things I love about it is it requires us to slow down and have a thoughtful conversation,” Jeremi said. “I have gained more respect for Zachary’s thinking about issues and seeing them differently as a young person.”

When planning each episode, Jeremi said he focuses on contacting the most fascinating guest whereas Zachary concerns himself with the quality of each episode’s topic, sometimes causing their ideas to clash. 

“(Zachary is) influenced by me, but he brings his perspective as a thoughtful young person,” Jeremi said. “Sometimes we have disagreements we’ve been forced to work through. It can’t just be father telling son what to do.”

Zachary said he hesitated to involve himself in the podcast when they launched it in August 2018. However, he decided to begin as the poet-in-residence. Each episode launches with one of his poems related to that week’s topic. His poems managed to move one of the show’s more critical guests: Lorinc Redei, associate professor of instruction and assistant dean for academics. Skeptical of a podcast leading with a poem, Redei said he found Zachary ’s poetry inspiring. 

“The poems were really good,” Redei said. “(Zachary’s) poem (was) the best way to start this train of thought.”

Attending Yale University next year, Zachary said the podcast enhanced his application to the Ivy League school and his father’s alma mater. Zachary said working on the podcast alongside Jeremi provides him with an enriched understanding of his father’s strong suits.

“I appreciate, even though he makes it look easy, how hard it is to do a good interview,” Zachary said. “Or to read a book and come up with questions, but also understand it at a deeper level.”

Zachary may not study his father’s area of interest, remaining undecided on his major. However, he said history stands out as a possibility for him. Regardless, the duo’s passion for public affairs etches itself in audio as the father and son host conversations about politics’s most pressing topics.

“I like making it feel like it’s a community project, not a university project,” Jeremi said. “I love being able to bring something to people who normally don’t want to hear history or (are) tired of politics. It makes me very proud of what we’ve done.”