In the last year, Gallup has conducted a slew of polls to take the temperature on American hope, and the results are clear–Americans are more likely to say they are “extremely worried” about the future than that they are hopeful for the future. This might not come as a surprise, given how many of our public conversations, especially in politics, are shaped by words of doom and despair.

What is the role for hope in a time that feels, to many Americans, not very hopeful? What is the virtue of hope, and how might it help us to live better, and live better together?

To help us think through these questions, I am pleased to welcome Michael Lamb, a friend of the Lyceum, to the show today. Michael is the F. M. Kirby Foundation Chair of Leadership and Character, Executive Director of the Program for Leadership and Character, and Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary Humanities at Wake Forest University.

He holds a Ph.D. in politics from Princeton University, a B.A. in political science from Rhodes College, and a second B.A. in philosophy and theology from the University of Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar.

He is the author of many articles on politics and philosophy and, most recently, a book, A Commonwealth of Hope: Augustine’s Political Thought.

A political theorist with experience in practical politics, Michael has served as chief of staff for campaigns for state senate, Governor, and U.S. Congress in his home state of Tennessee. At the University of Oxford, he helped to launch the Oxford Character Project, which helps graduate students in various fields – including government, law, medicine, business, and academia – think about the role of ethics in their professions.