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The Podcast @ DC
by The Lab @ DC
The Podcast @ DC puts cutting-edge research in conversation with the bureaucratic realities of government. We get in the weeds on how to put science into action. Topics are as diverse as the challenges our city government tackles.The show is hosted by The Lab @ DC in the Office of the City Administrator for the District of Columbia.
Episodes
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The Art and Science of Measuring Diversity, Inclusion, and Anti-Harassment Initiatives
Using data to make organizations better places to work is an exciting new frontier in both data and social science. But data on its own is not automatically useful—and if not created, collected, generated, or evaluated with care, could even be harmful. In today’s episode, we will discuss the...
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The Federal Evidence Act: What Local Government Can Learn
On January 14, 2019, the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018, also called the Evidence Act, was signed into law by the President. This new law emphasizes collaboration and coordination among Federal agencies to advance data and evidence-building functions. It also mandates new...
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No Strings Attached: The Effects of UBI in the U.S.
Universal basic income (UBI), also referred to as a guaranteed minimum income, income guarantee, or unconditional cash transfer, involves regularly giving cash without conditions directly to everyone within a geographic or political territory on a long-term basis. The idea has become a widely...
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Protecting the Confidentiality of the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census is here. With growth in computing power, advances in mathematics, and easy access to large, public databases, how is the U.S. Census Bureau ensuring respondent privacy and confidentiality at every stage of the data lifecycle? Dr. John Abowd, Associate Director for Research and...
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What's trust got to do with it? - From the archives
As The Lab and the rest of the DC government respond to the COVID-19 public health emergency, we’re releasing a series of past podcasts from our archives. In this episode, former Lab Director, David Yokum, speaks with Benoy Jacob, Associate Professor in the School of Public Policy and Leadership…
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Aligning the stars for transit-oriented development
Policymakers often hope that transit stations will spur real estate and economic development in surrounding neighborhoods, but the results of empirical research on transit-oriented development (TOD) is mixed. In Los Angeles, which has built a substantial intra-city rail network since 1990, most…
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"It made me feel like I had someone to talk to"
Childhood is a very important time in a human’s personal and cognitive development. Unfortunately, early exposure to all sorts of traumatic events, including family violence, shootings, and community-wide disasters, is all too common for children. If the trauma goes undiagnosed and untreated,...
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Collecting Homelessness Information that Answers Local Questions
Every year, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, requires jurisdictions to conduct a census and survey of persons experiencing homelessness. These surveys, called Point-in-Time counts, provide a snapshot of the demographic characteristics and population of adults and...
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Modern Schools for a Modern World
What's the most important factor in a successful school? When we're renovating or building a new school, what do we care about the most? Most educators and parents will tell you it's student achievement. In 2018, DC Public Schools commissioned Perkins Eastman Research to study the effects of…
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Money or Warmth, a Heated Choice
Exposure to cold is one reason that mortality in the United States peaks in winter, and a higher heating price increases exposure to cold by reducing heating use. It also raises energy bills, which could decrease spending on food, medicine, and other expenses that could improve health. On this...
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The Scientific Approach @ DC: Step #6 Repeat
We’re doing something a little different on the podcast: we’ll be talking about our approach to figuring out what works for District residents. Each episode will explore a different step in how we’re trying to better serve the District: Listen. Design. Do something. Test. Decide. And Repeat. In...
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The Scientific Approach @ DC: Step #5 Decide
We’re doing something a little different on the podcast: we’ll be talking about our approach to figuring out what works for District residents. Each episode will explore a different step in how we’re trying to better serve the District: Listen. Design. Do something. Test. Decide. And Repeat. In...
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The Scientific Approach @ DC: Step #4 Test
We’re doing something a little different on the podcast: we’ll be talking about our approach to figuring out what works for District residents. Each episode will explore a different step in how we’re trying to better serve the District: Listen. Design. Do something. Test. Decide. And Repeat. In...
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The Scientific Approach @ DC: Step #3 Do Something
We’re doing something a little different on the podcast: we’ll be talking about our approach to figuring out what works for District residents. Each episode will explore a different step in how we’re trying to better serve the District: Listen. Design. Do something. Test. Decide. And Repeat. In...
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The Scientific Approach @ DC: Step #2 Design
We’re doing something a little different on the podcast: we’ll be talking about our approach to figuring out what works for District residents. Each episode will explore a different step in how we’re trying to better serve the District: Listen. Design. Do something. Test. Decide. And Repeat. In...
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The Scientific Approach @ DC: Step #1 Listen
Over the next six episodes, we’re doing something a little different on the podcast: we’ll be talking about our approach to figuring out what works for District residents. Each episode will explore a different step in how we’re trying to better serve the District: Listen. Design. Do something....
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Data and the Decisionmaker
What were some of the early steps DC took to involve data in decisionmaking? How did those efforts eventually spawn The Lab @ DC? On this episode, we’re going to talk to Kevin Donahue, who has been at the heart of these efforts in both DC and the federal government. He is the District’s Deputy...
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Why People Move: Residential Stability in DC
As DC grows, the limited availability of affordable housing makes living in the District difficult, or even impossible, for many families. In response to residents’ concerns over the stock and affordability of large units in the District of Columbia, the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning…
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Routes to Roofs: Housing Interventions to Combat Family Homelessness
In 2008, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, launched the Family Options Study, a bold and rigorous assessment of the impact of various housing interventions for homeless families. This study used a rigorous evaluation design to examine what interventions (including...
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Evening the (Propensity) Score
It’s common sense that governments want to use their resources effectively by investing in programs and policies that have their intended effects. But studying programs and policies as implemented in the real world can be challenging. Each method we could use comes with upsides and downsides. So...
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"To know your future, you must understand your past"
Followers of The Lab @ DC may be familiar with one of our first projects, which was a collaboration with DC’s Metropolitan Police Department — MPD for short — to evaluate the impact of wearing a body-worn camera on many outcomes. Among those were our best existing measures of police-community...
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Putting Money Back in Washingtonians' Pockets
In 2001, the District government instituted its own version of the federal government’s Earned Income Tax Credit, also called the EITC. It's intended to assist low- to moderate-income working families with children. In a recent expansion of DC’s credit in 2015, the District offered access to...
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The Lab @ DC is Turning Two!
On July 20, 2017, Mayor Muriel Bowser launched The Lab @ DC within the Office of the City Administrator. Supported by Arnold Ventures philanthropy, The Lab is a bold effort to include a team of scientists in the inner workings of DC Government. When we first developed The Lab @ DC, we did so with...
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Don't Miss the Deadline
Deadlines. The word itself probably makes you a little anxious. And when the deadline is something like renewing your eligibility for social assistance, deadlines are high stakes. So what can we do to help people meet them? Are there bottlenecks we can lessen, or behavioral interventions we can...
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We're back and taking stock of DC's housing stock
In February 2018, DC welcomed its 700,000th resident, putting the city’s population at its highest its since the mid-1970’s. But with a growing population comes a growing concern around the District’s ability to provide affordable and inclusive housing. Does the city have enough homes? Are they...
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Are you paying attention?
Earlier this summer, our team had the opportunity to join the Association for Psychological Science’s annual conference in San Francisco. And while we were there, we got to talk to a few psychologists about the application of their research. In our final episode of the series is a discussion on...
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To the moon! ...and Mars
Earlier this summer, our team had the opportunity to join the Association for Psychological Science’s annual conference in San Francisco. And while we were there, we got to talk to a few psychologists about the application of their research. Next up in our three-part series is a discussion on...
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A podcast to remember
Earlier this summer, our team had the opportunity to join the Association for Psychological Science’s annual conference in San Francisco. And while we were there, we got to talk to a few psychologists about the application of their research. First up in our three-part series is a discussion on...
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Chocolate City Live
Monumental in scope and vividly detailed, Chocolate City: A History of Race and Democracy in the Nation's Capital tells the tumultuous, four-century story of race and democracy in our nation's capital. In this live recoding of The Podcast @ DC, we're joined by the book's authors - Chris Myers…
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Opportunity of the Commons
If you live in a city experiencing rapid urbanization, you know it's hard to agree on how to inclusively utilize important urban goods. What practical tools and governance forms can residents and policymakers rely on to come to a satisfactory agreement? We’re joined by Sheila Foster, Professor of...
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The First Thousand Days
High-quality child care is hard enough to find… let alone pay for it. What can be done to improve the quality, supply, and affordability of this care? We’re joined by Taryn Morrissey of American University to talk about those critical first thousand days of life and what governments can be doing…
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Job of a Superperson
Principals sit at the nerve center of our public schools. They lay the foundation for teachers so that students can excel. But when principals leave, that foundation is shaken – sometimes a lot. We’re joined by Abe Teklesslassie from The George Washington University to talk about principal…
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Test Driving Transportation Networks
Traffic. We've all been stuck in our fair share. Across the world, policy makers are constantly proposing solutions to improve the efficency of our roadways and transit systems. But what about when a shock occurs? Can our transportation system handle the emergency? We talk with Igor Linkov and...
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The Life of a City Administrator
What does a City Administrator do? And more specifically, what does DC's City Administrator do? In this first-ever, live recoding of The Podcast @ DC, Lab Director David Yokum and City Administrator Rashad Young sit down for a conversation. Music From the Free Music Archive: "The Grass is Always...
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New Eyes on the Street: Policing in the age of big data
Across the United States, police officers are being given a new arsenal of big data tools and with this wealth of information, a promise of smarter and more fair law enforcement. But, it raises some pretty big questions about privacy, security, and equity. We talk with Andrew Ferguson, author of...
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One City's Trash...
Where does our garbage go? Why do people litter? What do plastic bags have to do with the Anacostia? This Earth Day, we're pushing beyond the recycling conversation with the Mayor's new Office of the Clean City. Music From the Free Music Archive: "The Grass is Always Greener" by Pure Grease.
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Policing For Tomorrow
With growing tension between civilians and police, how should we prepare officers to serve their communities? We talk with Georgetown University and the Metropolitian Police Department about how they're starting a dialogue with officers. Music From the Free Music Archive: "The Grass is Always...
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Practicing Restorative Justice
Nationally, black males are 15% less likely to graduate high school then their white counterparts. That’s a loss of a generation. We talk with Principal Williams of Ron Brown High School and Dr. Warren of Michigan State University about restorative approaches to closing this gap in DC and beyond....
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Cure for the Common Scold
The foundation of criminal justice is legislation - the criminal code. And the District’s is more than a 100 years old. We talk with Criminal Code Reform Commission Executive Director, Richard Schmechel, about how he and his team are modernizing DC's code for the 21st century. Music From the Free...
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Benoy Jacob - What's trust got to do with it?
By most measures civic engagement is declining in America. One explanation for this, is that increased economic inequality has eroded our ‘trust in others.’ Lab Director, David Yokum, speaks with Benoy Jacob, Associate Professor in the School of Public Policy and Leadership at the University of...
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Derek Hyra - How DC Became the Cappuccino City
For long-time residents of Washington, DC’s Shaw/U Street, the neighborhood has become almost unrecognizable in recent years. Where the city’s most infamous open-air drug market once stood, a farmers’ market now sells grass-fed beef and homemade duck egg ravioli. American University Associate...
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Chloe Gibbs - How Out-of-School Time is Shaping Children's Educational Trajectories
Elementary school students in the U.S. spend less than 25 percent of their waking hours in school over the course of a year. Coupled with the large influence of outside-of-school factors in shaping children's educational trajectories, researchers and policymakers alike are exploring and testing...
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Dan Ariely - What does Behavioral Economics have to do with Policy Making?
Despite our intentions, why do we so often fail to act in our own best interest? Why do we promise to skip the chocolate cake, only to find ourselves drooling our way into temptation when the dessert tray rolls around? Why do we overvalue things that we’ve worked to put together? What are the...
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Don Green - That's so Random...ized
About our guest: Donald P. Green is J. W. Burgess Professor of Political Science at Columbia University. Professor Green is the author of four books and more than one hundred scholarly articles spanning a wide array of topics: voting behavior, partisanship, campaign finance, hate crime, and...
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Eugen Dimant - The Spread of Anti-Social Behavior
How does pro- and anti-social behavior spread among individuals and groups? What is the role of social coherence among peers in affecting it? Is the combination of punishment and norms always helpful in improving compliance and what are the potential downsides? Dr. Dimant and Director Yokum…
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Jon Guyan - Use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to Reduce Crime
Crime and violence have enormous social costs. These costs are disproportionately borne by economically disadvantaged groups. Finding promising ways to reduce crime at reasonable cost is therefore an important policy goal. While great progress has been made over the past several decades in…
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Kathryn Newcomer - Encouraging Government to Use a Portfolio of Evidence
How do we encourage state and local governments and partners to develop and use a portfolio of evidence? What might that portfolio contain? What are recurring challenges and potential remedies to address the challenges. Dr. Newcomer will address these questions and discuss the current environment...
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Nick Hart - Recommendations of the Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking
The U.S. Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking developed a strategy for increasing the availability and use of data in order to build evidence about government programs, while protecting privacy and confidentiality. During the course of the bipartisan Commission’s work, members studied how...
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Schroeder Stribling - Addressing Homelessness in DC
Each year over 1400 women experiencing homelessness and hardship in DC will use the housing and support programs of N Street Village. Lab Director, David Yokum, and N Street Village Executive Director, Schroeder Stribling, address the measurement of N Street Village's service delivery impact and...
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Tim Wilson - Changing Behavior by Changing the Story
In the past few years a new way of changing people's behavior has been discovered: Helping them to revise the stories they tell about themselves and their social environment. Dr. Wilson describes this "story-editing" technique and give several examples of how it has been used to address a variety...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
The Podcast @ DC puts cutting-edge research in conversation with the bureaucratic realities of government. We get in the weeds on how to put science into action. Topics are as diverse as the challenges our city government tackles.The show is hosted by The Lab @ DC in the Office of the City Administrator for the District of Columbia.
HOSTED BY
The Lab @ DC
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does The Podcast @ DC have?
The Podcast @ DC currently has 53 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is The Podcast @ DC about?
The Podcast @ DC puts cutting-edge research in conversation with the bureaucratic realities of government. We get in the weeds on how to put science into action. Topics are as diverse as the challenges our city government tackles.The show is hosted by The Lab @ DC in the Office of the City...
How often does The Podcast @ DC release new episodes?
The Podcast @ DC has 53 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to The Podcast @ DC?
You can listen to The Podcast @ DC 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 The Podcast @ DC?
The Podcast @ DC is created and hosted by The Lab @ DC.
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