<em>One Day at a Time</em> Is a Sitcom That Doubles as a Civics Lesson

Not too long ago, it was fashionable to fear that Americans are losing the fine art of conversation. We are forgetting how to talk to each other, the warnings went; we are forgetting how to listen to each other. Recent years, though, have swapped that fear for another anxiety: that we have become bad not just at conversing, but, against all odds, at arguing. Our debates devolve Godwinward. Our discussions quickly veer into harassment. We yell. We roll our eyes. We troll. We hide behind memes. We despair—because, while democracy demands debate, what the American version may not have anticipated is that debating is a skill as much as it is a pastime. And skills can be lost, so easily.

I mention that—bear with me for a moment—because of . Yes, the remake of Norman Lear’s classic ’70s sitcom that premiered this month, with a full 13-episode season, on Netflix. The show that centers, this time around, on