Dictatorships do not come about in all the same way. The origin story, it turns out, is more than something interesting to read in a history book. Revolutionary autocracies, those born of violent social revolution, are extraordinarily durable. China, Cuba, Iran and Vietnam could be counted among this number. The record indicates that over …
While rejoining the Paris Agreement on climate might make us feel better, diplomacy is not enough to fix our growing problems. On this podcast, David Victor of the University of California, San Diego joins us. He, along with Charles Sabel, of Columbia Law School, have written the book, “Fixing the Climate: Strategies for an Uncertain …
Given that COVID-19 has been with us for a relatively short period of time, as viruses go, it’s hard to say whether the after effects that some people experience are short term or will become chronic. That’s why many scientists around the world are studying it now. The conditions related to it are as diverse …
How you heard of the field of bio mimicry? It’s a relatively new scientific field in which innovations inspired by the natural world enrich our lives every day and, in some cases, help save them. Let’s take one example among the many described on the podcast. Take kingfishers for example: the design of …
While little known, Harvard University tried a grand experiment starting in the 1940’s as it merged parts of the psychology department with the anthropology and sociology departments into a construct known as the Department of Social Relations. This interdisciplinary approach was meant to help unlock why we humans behave as we do. It made the …
Much attention is paid to mass shootings because they often involve our most precious citizens, our children. Yet, other forms of gun violence such as that between intimate partners, that associated with drugs on city streets and that which involves self harm and suicide get far less. America’s fascination with the gun goes unabated as …
It seems like the oldest false start in the world as a rumor swirls that a local mall is closing. Sometimes, they do. More times than not they are re-created to serve new, and often, public purposes, like libraries, museums and community event spaces. From Victor Gruen’s Southdale Shopping Center–America’s first indoor mall–which opened in …
That’s the question posed by our guest in his new book and on this podcast. The notion of a vital center in American politics has been a subject of inquiry for many years, going back to Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.’s 1949 book “The Vital Center”. This idea of all of us coalescing around solutions that are …
James Madison conceived of the states in our federalist system as being laboratories for democracy where policy innovations can take place. In an era when Congress has become more gridlocked and the parties more rigid ideologically, national partisan and activist groups, often one issue constituencies, have trained their sights on state legislatures, nationalizing state politics …
There is a lot of literature about the sacrifices that professional women make when choosing to have a family. Much has also been written about single moms and their travails. Our guest is exploring new territory as she zeroes in on working class young people and their approaches to caring for a baby while also …