Today we can take part in 21st century-style town meetings and national debates through websites such as America speaks. If your town is registered with participatory sites such as SeeClickFix, you can let your local government know about a road hazard you encountered using your smart phone. Our guest is Jared Duval, a fellow at Demos, a New York-based think tank, and author of New Generation Democracy: What the Open-source Revolution Means for Power, Politics and Change.

Our guest today is Professor Hirokazu Yoshikawa, who for more than 3 years, along with his colleagues, chronicled the everyday mix of fear, stress, and uncertainty that so often defines what it means to be undocumented in the United States. The results of this research can be found in his latest book Immigrants Raising Citizens: Undocumented Parents and Their Children. Join our conversation with Hirokazu Yoshikawa

On January 9th the people of Southern Sudan voted on a referendum for independence from Sudan's Khartoum government in the North. This could make Southern Sudan the African continent's 54th state. Whatever the future holds the South will have paid a heavy price for self-determination, having survived a nearly 22 year civil war. Our guest is Emmanuel Jal, musician, peace activist and author of the We Want Peace campaign.