PODCAST · education
PolicyCast
by Harvard Kennedy School
PolicyCast explores research-based policy solutions to the big problems and issues we're facing in our society and our world. Host Ralph Ranalli talks with leading Harvard University academics and researchers, visiting scholars, dignitaries, and world leaders. PolicyCast is produced at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Episodes
-
Forget smaller or bigger. If you want better government, invest.
Elizabeth Linos is the Emma Bloomberg Associate Professor for Public Policy and Management, and Faculty Director of The People Lab at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. The majority of her research focuses on how to improve government by focusing on its people and the services they…
more -
Christiane Amanpour says objective journalism means pursuing truth—not neutrality
Christiane Amanpour is chief international anchor of CNN’s flagship global affairs program “Amanpour,” which airs weekdays on CNN International and nightly on PBS in the United States. She is also host of “The Amanpour Hour,” and is based in the network’s London bureau. Beginning in 1983 as an...
-
The Arctic faces historic pressures from competition, climate change, and Trump
John Holdren is the Teresa and John Heinz Research Professor for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and co-director of the Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program at the School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. He is…
more -
Moments that matter: How to bake fairness into the workplace
Iris Bohnet is the Albert Pratt Professor of Business and Government and the co-director of the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard Kennedy School. She is a behavioral economist, combining insights from economics and psychology to improve decision-making in organizations and society, often...
-
Crypto is merging with mainstream finance. Regulators aren’t ready
Timothy Massad is currently a Senior Fellow at the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, an Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown Law School and a consultant on financial regulatory and fintech issues. Massad served as Chairman...
-
Professor Joe Nye coined the term “soft power.” He says America’s is in decline under Trump
Joseph S. Nye Jr. is a Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor, Emeritus, and former Dean of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. He has served as assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, as chairman of the National Intelligence Council, and as deputy...
-
America’s geopolitical realignments, authoritarianism, and Trump’s endgame
Ambassador Wendy Sherman, the 21st U.S. Deputy Secretary of State and the first woman in that position, has been a diplomat, businesswoman, professor, political strategist, author, and social worker. She served under three presidents and five secretaries of state, becoming known as a diplomat for...
-
If the U.S. courts can’t defend the rule of law, who can?
With a Republican Congress apparently unwilling to check Trump’s power, many Americans fear a looming constitutional crisis and are looking to the federal courts to ride to the rescue. But political scientist and Harvard Kennedy School Professor Maya Sen, who studies the federal judiciary, says…
more -
AI can make governing better instead of worse. Yes, you heard that right.
Danielle Allen and Mark Fagan say that when tested, thoughtfully deployed, and regulated AI actually can help governments serve citizens better. Sure, there is no shortage of horror stories these days about the intersection of AI and government—from a municipal chatbot that told restaurant owners...
-
Ricardo Hausmann on the rise of industrial policy, green growth, and Trump’s tariffs
For market purists, any mention of the term industrial policy used to evoke visions of heavy-handed Soviet-style central planning, or the stifling state-centric protectionism employed by Latin American countries in the late 20th century. But that conversation turned dramatically over the last...
-
Oligarchy in the open: What happens now as the U.S. confronts its plutocracy problem?
Ten years ago, political scientists Martin Gilens of Princeton and Benjamin Page of Northwestern took an extraordinary data set compiled by Gilens and a small army of researchers and set out to determine whether America could still credibly call itself a democracy. They used case studies 1,800...
-
What the EU must do to compete—and become the leader the world needs
Alexander De Croo became Belgium’s prime minister in October of 2020. It’s a relatively small country, with about 12 million inhabitants—slightly less than the city of Los Angeles—but it’s very much the face of Europe with the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, and NATO all...
-
The policy changes needed now to avoid a climate-driven global food crisis
The warning lights are blinking for the world’s food supply. At least that’s what 150 Nobel Prize and World Food Prize laureates said in a recently-published open letter calling for a “moonshot” urgency effort to start the immediate ramping up of food production to meet the global demands of 9.7...
-
From insight to impact: Dean Jeremy Weinstein wants the Kennedy School to embrace and solve complex public problems
Jeremy Weinstein became the newest dean in the 88-year history of the Harvard Kennedy School this past June, arriving from Stanford University, where he was an award-winning scholar and the founding faculty director of the Stanford Impact Labs. The pursuit of deep scholarly curiosity and...
-
Legalized gambling is exploding globally. What policies can limit its harms?
Turbocharged by the internet and mobile technology, legalized gambling has exploded across the globe, leaving behind ruined lives, broken families and financial hardships, and should now be classified as a major public health concern. A four-year study by a public health commission on gambling...
-
How emotion science could help solve the leading cause of preventable death
The World Health Organization says smoking is the leading cause of global preventable death, killing up to 8 million people prematurely every year—far more than die in wars and conflicts. Yet the emotions evoked by national and international anti-smoking campaigns and the impact of those emotions...
-
Policies—and a new global program—to fight anti-LGBTQI+ discrimination
Anti-LGBTQI+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex) discrimination is on the rise, both in the United States, where hate crime statistics are climbing, and globally, with the increase in right-wing populist governments weaponizing public sentiment against marginalized people.…
more -
The essential reforms needed to fix the housing crisis
America is in the grip of a severe housing crisis. Tenants have seen rents rise 26 percent while home prices have soared by 47 percent since early 2020. Before the pandemic, there were 20 US states considered affordable for housing. Now there are none. And 21 million households—including half of...
-
How to change the narrative on women as leaders
As Vice President Kamala Harris making a strong bid for the U.S. presidency, HKS Women and Public Policy Program Co-Director Hannah Riley Bowles says Harris is just one of many “path breakers” who have dramatically increased leadership opportunities for women. But she also says the reaction to...
-
How to turn back a rising tide of political threats and violence
The attempted assassination of former President and candidate Donald Trump has catalyzed an important discussion about both actual violence and threats of violence against political candidates, office-holders, policymakers, election officials, and others whose efforts help make our democracy…
more -
Self-destructive populism: How better policy can reverse the anti-clean energy backlash
Populism—the political term that describes a group of self-described common people who oppose elite—has turned up in what for many is an unexpected place: the push for a worldwide transition to clean energy. Even though they’re vital to preventing the most catastrophic consequences of the manmade...
-
Public policy, values, and politics: Why so much depends on getting them right
Public policy has great power, both to improve people’s lives if it is planned and executed well and to cause significant suffering if it is not, says Harvard Kennedy School Dean Douglas Elmendorf, who will step back from his post this summer to rejoin the faculty. He joins PolicyCast host Ralph...
-
The Ghost Budget: How U.S. war spending went rogue, wasted billions, and how to fix it
HKS Senior Lecturer Linda Bilmes, an expert on public finance who has studied post-9/11 war costs for the past 20 years, says their staggering $5 trillion cost was enabled by what she calls “The Ghost Budget.” Using an unprecedented combination of borrowing, accounting tricks, and outsourcing,...
-
The Great Creep Backward: Policy responses to China’s slowing economy
Harvard Kennedy School Professor Rana Mitter and Harvard Business School Associate Professor Meg Rithmire say that after decades of tremendous growth, an economically slowing China is the new normal. With a growing debt-to-GDP ratio, an aging population, a devastating real estate bubble, and a…
more -
Two peoples. Two states. Why U.S. diplomacy in Israel and Palestine needs vision, partners, and a backbone
Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Ed Djerejian says Israeli Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin once told him “There is no military solution to this conflict, only a political one.” Rabin was assassinated a few years later and today bullets are flying, bombs are falling, and 1,200 Israelis are dead after...
-
We can productively discuss even the toughest topics—here’s how
As our discourse and our politics have become both more polarized and paralyzed, Harvard Kennedy School faculty members Erica Chenoweth and Julia Minson say we need to refocus on listening to understand, instead of talking to win. In mid-2022, the School launched the Candid and Constructive...
-
The document that redefined humanity: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights at 75
Harvard Kennedy School Professor Kathryn Sikkink and former longtime Human Rights Watch executive director Kenneth Roth have spent years both studying the transformational effects of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and have worked on the ground to make its vision of a more just, equal...
-
Legacy of privilege: David Deming and Raj Chetty on how elite college admissions policies affect who gains power and prestige
Legacy admissions, particularly at elite colleges and universities, were thrust into the spotlight this summer when the U.S. Supreme Court effectively ended affirmative action in admissions. The ruling raised many questions, and fortunately, Harvard Kennedy School professor David Deming and…
more -
Need to solve an intractable problem? Try collaborative governing
Harvard Kennedy School faculty member Jorrit de Jong and Harvard Business School Professor Amy Edmondson say the big, intractable problems challenges facing city leaders today are too complex to be addressed by any one agency or government department. Complex challenges like the shortage of...
-
How to keep "TLDR" syndrome from killing your policy proposal
Harvard Kennedy School Professor Todd Rogers and Lecturer in Public Policy Lauren Brodsky say trying too hard to sound intelligent—even when communicating complex or nuanced ideas—isn't a smart strategy. Because today’s overburdened information consumers are as much skimmers as readers, Rogers…
more -
Dr. Rochelle Walensky on making health care policy under fire
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, who served as CDC director from 2021 to 2023, calls the job “probably the hardest thing I will ever do.” But she also calls it “the honor of a lifetime.” When she was appointed by President Biden as the CDC’s 19th director, she was already used to politicized health care...
-
AI can be democracy’s ally—but not if it works for Big Tech
Kennedy School Lecturer in Public Policy Bruce Schneier says Artificial Intelligence has the potential to transform the democratic process in ways that could be good, bad, and potentially mind-boggling. The important thing, he says, will be to use regulation and other tools to make sure that AIs...
-
The more Indigenous nations self govern, the more they succeed
Harvard Kennedy School Professor Joseph Kalt and Megan Minoka Hill say the evidence is in: When Native nations make their own decisions about what development approaches to take, studies show they consistently out-perform external decision makers like the U.S. Department of Indian Affairs. Kalt…
more -
If you don’t have multiracial democracy, you have no democracy at all
The history of American democracy has always been fraught when it comes to race. Yet no matter how elusive it may be, Harvard Kennedy School professors Khalil Gibran Muhammad and Archon Fung say true multiracial democracy not only remains a worthy goal, but achieving it is critically important to...
-
Why smart infrastructure is a smart investment—for both Democrats and Republicans—in an era of historic public works spending
As the U.S. prepares to spend hundreds of billions on new projects, HKS Professor Stephen Goldsmith says successfully upgrading our infrastructure will not only require spending all that money smartly, but spending it on infrastructure that is itself smart—full of sensors that can anticipate...
-
Transitioning to clean power without workers absorbing the shock
Harvard Kennedy School Professor Gordon Hanson and Harvard Vice Provost for Climate and Sustainability James Stock say an important part of the green energy transition will be mitigating its effects on employment, both in the United States and overseas. Talking about the clean energy transition…
more -
The rising tide no one’s talking about—finding homes for millions of climate crisis migrants
When it comes to the climate crisis, there’s barely a day that goes by when we don’t hear about the impending effects of rising sea levels and storm-driven tides. But Harvard professors Jaqueline Bhabha and Hannah Teicher say there’s another rising tide that’s not getting as much attention…
more -
Local news is civic infrastructure. And it’s crumbling. Can we save it?
Harvard Kennedy School professors Nancy Gibbs and Tom Patterson say local news is civic infrastructure. And it's crumbling. Like bridges, local news organizations use facts to help people connect with each other over the chasm of partisan political divides. People need reliable information to…
more -
There's groundbreaking new science to help cut methane emissions, but is there the political will?
Harvard Kennedy School Professor Robert Stavins and Professor Daniel Jacob of Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences are at the forefront of new efforts to monitor and control methane, a potent greenhouse gas. It used to seem like methane wasn't such a big deal. It was that other...
-
Joe Aldy on the complex economics of the clean energy transition
Economist and Harvard Kennedy School Professor Joe Aldy says possibly the most complex—and one of the most existentially important—problems facing humanity is how to pull out the roots of fossil fuel infrastructure that are so deeply embedded in the global economy. The work is complex and the…
more -
Goals and realities: What World Cup performances can teach us about development in African countries
Matt Andrews, the faculty director of the Building State Capability program at Harvard Kennedy School, says the reasons why African nations haven’t done better at soccer’s world championships have a lot in common with why much of the continent’s economic promise has also gone unfulfilled. The…
more -
How American cities can prepare for an increasingly destructive climate
Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has a unique perspective on the topic of climate resiliency. He was a city official in 2012 for Superstorm Sandy—which many call the worst disaster in New York City’s history—and in 2021 for Hurricane Ida, which caused $24 billion worth of flooding in the...
-
Why women are authoritarianism’s targets—and how they can be its undoing
Harvard Kennedy School Professor Erica Chenoweth and Lecturer in Public Policy Zoe Marks say the parallel global trends of rising authoritarianism and attempts to roll back women’s rights are no coincidence. The hard won rights women have attained over the past century—to education, to full...
-
Former Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven on stemming the tide of right-wing authoritarianism
During his 7 years leading Sweden’s government from 2014 to 2021, Stefan Löfven had a front row seat to observe the rise of right-wing and neo-fascist political parties both at home and around Europe. A former welder, and union leader from working class roots, Löfven earned the nickname “the…
more -
Low-wage and gig workers have it worse than we thought—and why that matters for us all
Harvard Kennedy School Professor Danny Schneider says research shows that even as they were being lauded as heroes during the COVID-19 pandemic, working conditions for hourly workers were deteriorating. Eight years ago, Schneider co-founded The Shift Project, which has built an unprecedented...
-
Data analysis and policy design—not good intentions—will fix healthcare post COVID
As healthcare policy navigates what is widely seen as a historic inflection point, Harvard Kennedy School professors Amitabh Chandra and Soroush Saghafian say policymakers need to pursue change with care, deeply analyzing the weaknesses the COVID-19 pandemic exposed and using that data to design...
-
Values, courage, and how good public leadership can save us
New Center for Public Leadership co-director Deval Patrick ascribes bad leadership as a root cause of many of the huge problems facing human society and the world, including the climate crisis, and threats to democracy and human rights. But are bad leaders flawed because of their personal...
-
He predicted globalization’s failure, now he’s planning what’s next
For more than a quarter century, economist and Harvard Kennedy School professor Dani Rodrik has been ringing alarm bells about the dangers of globalization. And for a long time, it didn’t seem like a whole lot of people were listening. Now as record economic inequality, a climate in crisis, and...
-
Reform, refugees, and the war next door: President Maia Sandu of Moldova
As war rages in neighboring Ukraine, Moldovan President Maia Sandu talks to about fighting corruption, moving her country toward the European Union, and the half million refugees who’ve crossed the border since February. Sandu is a popular choice on lists of up-and-coming world leaders, including…
more -
The pandemic's silver lining—a trove of data on social protection programs
Rema Hanna is the Jeffrey Cheah Professor of South-East Asia Studies and Chair of the International Development Area at the Harvard Kennedy School. She also serves as the Faculty Director of Evidence for Policy Design (EPoD) at Harvard University’s Center for International Development and is the...
We're indexing this podcast's transcripts for the first time — this can take a minute or two. We'll show results as soon as they're ready.
No matches for "" in this podcast's transcripts.
No topics indexed yet for this podcast.
Loading reviews...
ABOUT THIS SHOW
PolicyCast explores research-based policy solutions to the big problems and issues we're facing in our society and our world. Host Ralph Ranalli talks with leading Harvard University academics and researchers, visiting scholars, dignitaries, and world leaders. PolicyCast is produced at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
HOSTED BY
Harvard Kennedy School
CATEGORIES
Loading similar podcasts...
Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does PolicyCast have?
PolicyCast currently has 220 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is PolicyCast about?
PolicyCast explores research-based policy solutions to the big problems and issues we're facing in our society and our world. Host Ralph Ranalli talks with leading Harvard University academics and researchers, visiting scholars, dignitaries, and world leaders. PolicyCast is produced at the Kennedy...
How often does PolicyCast release new episodes?
PolicyCast publishes regularly with 220 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to PolicyCast?
You can listen to PolicyCast on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts PolicyCast?
PolicyCast is created and hosted by Harvard Kennedy School.
URL copied to clipboard!