About the Program
A community discussion program for people who want to engage seriously with the issues that shape democratic life.
What It Is
The Attentive Public is a community discussion program designed to foster thoughtful, respectful, and substantive civic conversation. It is deliberately calm and serious in contrast to the heated, polarized discourse that dominates social media and much of public life.
The program uses high-quality video and audio material — documentary films, author interviews, lectures, and podcasts — as a starting point for moderated group discussion. Topics span artificial intelligence, public policy, history, economics, political philosophy, and the social dimensions of emerging technologies.
Sessions are held at public libraries in towns and cities across Canada and the United States, as well as online. They are open to community members of all backgrounds and viewpoints. No expertise is required — only a willingness to engage in good faith.
A trained facilitator guides each session to ensure all voices are heard, the conversation remains grounded in the source material, and discussion stays constructive even when views diverge sharply.
The health of a democracy rests on citizens who are willing to engage seriously with difficult questions — and to listen as much as they speak.— Program Mission Statement
The Name
Meaning one
The phrase attentive public names a quality of citizenship — the kind of engaged, informed, and consequential public that healthy democracy depends on. A democracy populated by attentive citizens is more resilient, more responsive, and more capable of self-correction than one populated by passive or disengaged ones. The program takes this ideal seriously and aspires to cultivate it, one conversation at a time.
Meaning two
The name also draws on Joel Devine's book The Attentive Public: Polyarchical Democracy, which argues that democracy in practice responds especially to a public that is informed, engaged, and politically consequential. The program aspires to cultivate exactly that kind of public — not as an abstract ideal, but as a practical project carried out in library meeting rooms and community spaces across the country.
Both together
The two meanings reinforce each other: a program that helps people become more attentive — better informed, more willing to listen, more capable of engaging seriously with complexity — is, in a very practical sense, contributing to the conditions that democracy requires. That is what The Attentive Public is trying to do.
Tone & Approach
Non-partisan
The program takes no position on the issues it discusses. The facilitator's role is to guide the process, not the outcome — to help participants think together, not to steer them toward a particular answer.
Substantive
Discussions begin with high-quality source material — often a book, a documentary, or an author interview — that gives the conversation an intellectual foundation and keeps it anchored to something concrete.
Welcoming
The program is designed for the general public, not for academics or activists. The only requirement is a willingness to engage respectfully with ideas and with other people. Every viewpoint is welcome at the table.
Who It's For
The Attentive Public is not an academic program, a political organization, or an activist network. It is a community project for people who want to engage seriously with important questions — and who believe that talking through ideas with other people, in a fair and civil setting, is one of the best ways to do that.
Sessions attract a wide range of participants: people who read widely and want to discuss what they've read; people who are new to a topic and want a grounded introduction; people who hold strong views and want to test them against other perspectives; and people who are simply curious.
Find a Session Near YouPeople who read seriously and want a space to discuss ideas with others — beyond the book club, beyond social media.
People who care about public life and want to think more carefully about the issues that shape it — without the noise of partisan debate.
People who are new to a topic and want a well-structured, welcoming introduction — guided by good material and a skilled facilitator.
People who believe that civic life is strengthened when neighbours make time to think and talk together — across difference and across viewpoints.
Find a session near you, or get in touch to learn about hosting, facilitating, or getting involved.