PODCAST · news
Trending Globally: Politics and Policy
by The Watson School
An award-winning show exploring today's biggest global challenges with the world's leading experts, from the Watson School of International and Public Affairs at Brown University. Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.
Episodes
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A closer look at two of the key issues driving the Iran War
Seven months in, the Iran War continues to hinge on two critical issues: maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz and the trajectory of Iran’s nuclear program. On this episode, host Dan Richards talks with two experts about why these flashpoints dominate the conflict, what they mean for global...
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Inside the CHIPS Act: Industrial policy, national security and building a ‘startup within government’
On this episode, Watson School dean and economist John Friedman spoke with Todd Fisher, a 1987 graduate of Brown University, about the inner workings and long-term effects of the CHIPS and Science Act. Fisher served as Chief Investment Officer of the White House's CHIPS Program Office from…
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Ten years after the Brexit vote, the UK’s future is up for grabs
Ten years ago this summer, voters in the United Kingdom chose to withdraw from the European Union. In other words, the long and winding process of Brexit began. On this episode, Dan Richards talks with Watson professor and political economist Mark Blyth about the role Brexit has played in…
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Why this Ebola outbreak might be the deadliest one yet
In May, an outbreak of the Ebola virus was officially declared in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Aid groups are warning that it could become the deadliest Ebola outbreak in history. On this episode, Dan Richards spoke with two experts about why this outbreak is uniquely concerning,...
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Social media, the attention economy and the health of American democracy with Chris Hayes
On this episode: as part of the Watson School’s programming for Brown University’s Commencement and Reunion Weekend, Dean John Friedman spoke with MS NOW’s Chris Hayes ‘01 about how social media and the attention economy have reshaped American politics, how politicians should react to these…
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The war in Iran’s ripple effect on the global energy economy
The war in Iran is entering its third month, and according to the War in Iran Energy Cost Tracker — a new project from the Watson School's Climate Solutions Lab — the war has already cost Americans over 40 billion extra dollars in gas and diesel. But as Jeff Colgan, professor of political science...
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Border politics at our doorstep with Ieva Jusionyte
How do borders — both the physical barriers and the political realities — shape our society? These questions have long driven the work of Ieva Jusionyte, an anthropologist at the Watson School and director of Watson’s Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies. In the last nine months, Ieva...
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The extraction industry powering the green transition (from the Rhodes Center Podcast)
Lithium is an essential ingredient of most modern electronics. It helps to power our phones, our laptops, and increasingly EVs and other key parts of the green transition. As Thea Riofrancos, a political scientist and author of the new book “Extraction: The Frontiers of Green Capitalism,”…
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From pandemics to misinformation: rethinking security today
From a once-in-a-century global pandemic, to wars in Europe and the Middle East, to the unchecked rise of AI and social media technologies, we are living in an age of threats against humanity that are profound, fast-moving, and interconnected. On this episode, produced in collaboration with the...
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Biden’s industrial policy: what worked, what didn’t, and why it still matters
On this episode, Dan Richards talks with Andrew Schrank, a professor of sociology and international and public affairs at the Watson School, about the legacy of President Biden’s industrial policy — what it achieved, what it failed to achieve, and its continued effect on America’s economy and...
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A brief history of US interventionism in Iran and beyond
On this episode, Dan Richards spoke with Watson School Senior Fellow Stephen Kinzer about the history of U.S. foreign intervention and how it can help us to understand today’s conflict in Iran. Stephen is an award-winning foreign correspondent who spent more than 20 years reporting around the…
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How US economic policy is interacting with the global economy today
On this episode, Watson School Dean and economist John Friedman talks with economist Sebnem Kalemli Ozcan about how U.S. economic policy in the last year has changed the American economy, how those changes have rippled throughout the global economic and financial system, and what it means for...
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How federal courts shape US public policy — and how that’s changed under President Trump
President Trump has issued more executive orders in the first year of his second term than he did in all four years of his first. These orders — which have directed government action on issues ranging from immigration to tariffs to the funding of federal agencies — have been met with hundreds of...
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Are human brains wired for war?
Violent, organized conflict is a near constant in human history. But why? Often, large-scale conflicts and wars are explained in material or political terms: humans engaging in conflict over land, resources, or ideologies. But as Rose McDermott, the David and Marianna Fisher University Professor…
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Shutdown politics, gerrymandering, and the role of Congress as Trump enters his lame-duck phase
When President Trump took office in January, Congress seemed poised to play a supporting role in the story of Trump’s second term. Republicans largely fell in line to support President Trump’s cabinet nominees and much of his broader agenda; it’s been reported that Trump himself has joked that…
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Challenging the U.S. foreign policy consensus on Taiwan
In October, President Trump and President Xi Jinping met for the first time in Trump’s new presidential term. The meeting ended with commitments from both countries designed to lower trade tensions —– something many observers greeted with relief. But, according to Watson Senior Fellow and…
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The future of the green transition and the climate movement
In August 2022 — just over three years ago — the Inflation Reduction Act was signed into law. It represented the largest federal investment in renewable energy and climate action in U.S. history. The bill was a historic victory for the climate movement — and, as it turns out, its high-water mark…
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Inequality and democracy in India, the US, and beyond
In 2014, Narendra Modi became India’s Prime Minister, marking the beginning of what many experts and international watchgroups identify as a period of democratic erosion in the country. Since then, a number of other democracies around the world have followed India on this path — including, by…
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Small Barriers, Big Impact: Rethinking International Development
Bryce Steinberg is a development economist, which means she studies how lower-income countries grow into more prosperous ones. More specifically, she studies how to help people in low-income countries build their “human capital” — a phrase social scientists use to describe things like getting…
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‘Illicit global economics 101’ with Peter Andreas
Watson School political scientist Peter Andreas has spent decades studying the global economy — but not the one you read about in the business section, or are taught in Econ 101. His focus is on the illicit global economy. He’s written about everything from piracy in colonial America to the...
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Diplomacy, security, and the “Art of Coercion”
In his new book “The Art of Coercion,” Watson political scientist Reid Pauly provides a seemingly straightforward definition of coercion: “The practice of convincing a target by the use of threats, to bend to your will.” However, the simplicity of the definition belies the difficulty of doing it...
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The role of universities in a democratic society (originally broadcast on the Rhodes Center Podcast, in collaboration with “Brown 2026”)
What’s the role of a university in a democratic society? What responsibility do universities have to foster the public good, and what responsibilities does the public have to support centers of education and research? These have become some of the most fraught and pressing questions in our…
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What does the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ mean for America?
On July 4th, President Trump signed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” into law. The bill cuts trillions of dollars in taxes, and allocates hundreds of billions in new spending. To offset all of this, it calls for over a trillion dollars in cuts to a range of domestic programs. On this episode, Dan...
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USAID is gone. What's the future of international aid?
On July 1st, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) officially closed its operations. It was the culmination of a months-long effort by the Trump administration to dismantle the agency, which had been in charge of administering U.S. foreign aid for over half a century. Why...
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Inflation’s winners and losers, with Mark Blyth
On this episode, Dan Richards talks with Mark Blyth about his new book, co-written with Nicoló Fraccaroli, called “Inflation: A Guide for Users and Losers.” Mark and Dan discuss the competing theories for what causes inflation, the merits of each, and how they explain (or fail to explain) the...
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How American firearms fuel violence in Mexico (rebroadcast)
Mexico, like the United States, has a gun violence problem. It has one of the highest murder rates in the world, and most of those murders come from firearms. In 2019, for example, almost 70% of the country's 35,000 murders involved firearms. But unlike the U.S., Mexico doesn’t have tens of...
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Press freedom and democracy in Africa and around the world
The World Press Freedom Index, which is issued by Reporters without Borders, measures the health of press freedom around the world. They do so along a number of axes, including the economic health of independent media, legal protections for the press and the physical security of journalists. In...
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Trump’s (second) “first 100 days”
Tuesday, April 29, marked the first 100 days of Trump’s second term. To help make sense of all that’s happened (and a lot has happened), Dan Richards spoke with political scientist and Interim Director of the Watson Institute, Wendy Schiller. They discussed how Trump’s approach to governing has...
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Why America can’t build things like it used to
On this episode, Dan Richards talks with Marc Dunkelman, Watson Institute fellow in International and Public Affairs and author of the new book “Why Nothing Works: Who Killed Progress―and How to Bring It Back.” In the book, Dunkelman explores how American progressives transformed from a movement...
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AI and the future of human rights
In 2022, OpenAI, Inc. launched a free version of its software ChatGPT, ushering in a new phase in the widespread use of artificial intelligence. Since then, a constant stream of breakthroughs in AI tech by a handful of companies has made clear that artificial intelligence will reshape our planet...
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Is America’s “housing crisis” really a “mobility crisis”?
In the 19th century, about one in three Americans moved every year. In the 1960s, that figure had shrunk to one in five In 2023, it was one in 13. In other words, a smaller percentage of Americans are moving today than they have at any time in our history. As Yoni Appelbaum, historian and deputy...
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What Germany’s election means for Germany, the US, and the world
On February 23, Germans went to the polls. While the establishment center-right CDU/CSU alliance won the largest share of votes, the results revealed a country experiencing profound political and social change. The far-right AfD party received an unprecedented 20% of the vote, while the incumbent...
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The future of US-China relations under a new Trump administration
On this episode, Dan Richards talks with Tyler Jost, a political scientist and assistant professor at the Watson Institute. Tyler is an expert on international security and Chinese foreign policy, and his new book “Bureaucracies at War: The Institutional Origins of Miscalculation,” explores how...
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Education, democracy and the remarkable life and work of Mary McCleod Bethune
The Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol is a stately room just off the Great Rotunda, whose walls are lined with — you guessed it — statues. The statues celebrate notable figures from all 50 states. For most of its existence, there wasn’t a single statue of a Black American in this hall. But that...
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President Trump is back in office. What have we learned so far?
On Monday, January 20, Donald Trump was once again sworn in as President of the United States. The ceremony was moved indoors due to the cold, where Trump declared in his inaugural address that no president has ever been tested like he has, and that “the new golden age for America starts now.”...
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Can the “free market” solve the climate crisis?
While there are many hurdles to addressing the climate crisis in a meaningful way, there’s been one consistent bright spot in climate news over the last decade: the price of renewable energy — particularly solar and wind power — has dropped dramatically. By many measures, they’re now cheaper to...
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The surprising causes and effects of democratic erosion
In the last two presidential elections in the United States, one issue has entered our political debates in a way we haven’t seen in recent history: the health and future of American democracy itself. And as Rob Blair, a political scientist at the Watson Institute and co-founder of the Democratic...
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Amidst melting glaciers and rising seas, finding hope for the future on an Antarctic voyage
In January of 2019, journalist Elizabeth Rush joined 56 scientists and crew people aboard an ice-breaking research vessel to study the Thwaites glacier in Antarctica. The glacier, which is about the size of the state of Florida, has been nicknamed the “Doomsday Glacier” for the effect its...
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To understand Trump’s victory, look around the world
On November 5, Americans went to the polls and once again elected Donald Trump president of the United States. By this point, you probably know the broad strokes of his victory: He won every swing state and, unlike in 2016, the popular vote as well. It also seems clear that a key part of the...
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How control of Congress will shape US politics, no matter who’s elected president
On November 5, all eyes will be on the race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump for the White House. But no matter who wins the presidency, there’s another close competition that will have a huge impact on U.S. politics: the fight for control of Congress. In…
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“Inside the global supply chain”, with New York Times’ Peter Goodman
Remember the supply chain problems of 2020 and 2021? The story we were told was that COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the world’s ability to make and transport goods, leaving us with shortages of everything from surgical masks to infant formula (not to mention seven dollar eggs). However, it turns out...
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Why is this election so close? The issues and voters driving 2024
While no one knows how this November’s election is going to go in the U.S., there’s one thing most experts agree on: It’s likely going to be close. Very close. Poll after poll suggests that, especially in a few key states, support for the two candidates is evenly split in a way we haven’t seen in...
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The state of political journalism in an election year unlike any other
Even for an election year, the last few months have seen a head-spinning amount of political news in the United States. So, on this episode, Dan Richards spoke with someone uniquely suited to help make sense of the race as it enters the homestretch. Isaac Dovere is a senior reporter for CNN based...
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A history of presidents who threatened American democracy (and the citizens who saved it)
Many Americans see a potential Trump victory in this year’s election as a threat to American democracy. Whether you share that concern or not, the rise of Donald Trump and the prospect of a second Trump term have brought up new and unsettling questions about presidential power and the fragility…
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The Secret History of the Pope and World War II (originally broadcast 2022)
In March 2020, the Vatican’s Apostolic Archives of Pope Pius XII — also known as the Vatican’s “secret archives” — were opened to scholars from around the world. Historian and Watson Professor David Kertzer was one of those scholars. What he found there is helping to reframe the role that the...
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South Africa’s elections, 30 years after apartheid: part 2
This is the second part in our two-part series on South Africa’s politics 30 years after the election of Nelson Mandela, and with it, the end of apartheid. Around the same time as that anniversary this past spring, there was another momentous event in the country: South Africans went to the polls...
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This summer’s UK and French elections explained, with Mark Blyth
Over the course of 2024, roughly half of the world’s population will participate in national elections. On this episode, we take a closer look at two of them: this summer’s elections in the United Kingdom and France. In the U.K., the center-left Labour Party won in a landslide in July, ending 14...
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South Africa, 30 years after apartheid: part 1
This spring marked the thirtieth anniversary of the election of Nelson Mandela as South Africa’s president and the end of apartheid, the system of legalized racial segregation that had existed in South Africa for decades. Around the same time as that anniversary, there was another momentous event...
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The surprising results of India’s election
On June 4, results came in from the largest democratic election in history. Over 640 million people voted in India’s election, which took place at over one million polling places across the country over the course of six weeks. Many predicted that India’s prime minister Nerandra Modi and his…
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A former police officer (and public health expert) on the opioid crisis and public safety
For this week’s show, we’re sharing an episode of “Humans in Public Health,” a podcast from The Brown School of Public Health. It makes a great follow-up to our episode earlier this month about Rhode Island’s first-in-the-nation legally approved proposal for a safe injection site (also known as…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
An award-winning show exploring today's biggest global challenges with the world's leading experts, from the Watson School of International and Public Affairs at Brown University. Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.
HOSTED BY
The Watson School
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Trending Globally: Politics and Policy currently has 213 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
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An award-winning show exploring today's biggest global challenges with the world's leading experts, from the Watson School of International and Public Affairs at Brown University. Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.
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Trending Globally: Politics and Policy publishes regularly with 213 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
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