Click on the 'Listen' button above to hear this interview. 

Over the course of the next two weeks, The Takeaway's new original series, "The Future of the Parties," will examine what Democrats and Republicans learned from the 2016 election, and how each party is making internal changes that could pave the way for the 2018 and even 2020 elections.

The series begins a little over a year after the 2016 election, which changed notions about the two party system in America, and who those parties represent.

This week, we focus on the Democratic Party. The Takeaway will speak with everyone from a first time councilman in Minneapolis, to Democratic National Committee insiders who are working on reforming the party from within.

But we begin today with one of the most recognizable figures in progressive politics, a person who doesn’t have a "D" next to his name, but an "I" for Independent. We're talking about Bernie Sanders, who has served as an Independent senator from Vermont since 2007, and was a member of the House of Representatives for years before that. 

Related: The Early Political Education of Bernie Sanders

Despite seeing a number of electoral victories earlier this month, Senator Sanders says that "the democrats need to do some real soul searching." 

"If we don’t reform the Democratic Party and we don’t bring energy to the party and if we don’t have grass roots support in the party, I worry about the future," he tells The Takeaway. "There has to be a fundamental rethinking of the direction of the Democratic Party. My view, very strongly, is open the doors, get working people in, make it a 50-state party."

Click on the 'Listen' button above to hear the full conversation with Senator Bernie Sanders.