Civil Discord: Recent Episodes
civildiscord
Civil Discord is a one-hour podcast program devoted to discussing various political, economic, and social issues, as well as those impacting higher education and students.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee shares some sociologically informed observations on camping and depressed rural communities based on his recent travels through the southland. In the second half of the episode, Jaffee and Phillips discuss the loss by Nina Turner for the Congressional seat in Ohio, the extended moratorium on evictions, and the bipartisan infrastructure bill making its way through Congress. The episode ends with the regular “Not The Onion” segment on vaccination behavior.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Phillips has the opportunity to share his experiences traveling to Las Vegas and southern Utah and wrapping it in socio-political context. This includes reference to climate change, police practices, and rental car nightmares. There is also the bout with Covid-like symptoms on his return. The episode ends with some discussion of the implications of the latest Delta-variant-charged spike in cases.
In this special “on the road” edition of Civil Discord, Jaffee reports on two significant political developments as he travels through Alabama and Mississippi. The first is the ongoing strike, now exceeding 100 days, by the United Mine Workers in Brookwood, Alabama against the Warrior Met corporation. The second segment takes us to Jackson Mississippi, home of the Jackson Women’s Health Organization (JWHO, aka “the Pink House”) which is at the center of the upcoming case to be heard on abortion by the Supreme Court. Jaffee interviews one of the co-organizers, Derenda Hancock, of the Pink House Defenders, a volunteer organization of escorts for women seeking the services of the JWHO in the face of anti-abortion protesters outside the facility.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips focus on crime and criminal justice issues. More specifically, in the first half, Phillips discusses the sharps rise in violence crime across the US and some potential explanations. In the second half, he turns to the decriminalization of drug use and possession in Oregon and the implications of this policy for policing and carceral trends.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Phillips (sans Jaffee) is joined by regular guest Daniel Cronrath, professor of political science at Florida State College at Jacksonville. They begin by discussing the aftermath of the Orange Crush festival, an event for largely African American college students hosted by Jacksonville. This segues into a conversation about the shameful state of race relations in the city. They next turn to a push by Catholic bishops in the United States to deny communion to pro-choice politicians—including the President of the United States. Next, they examine the new Florida “ideological diversity” law that was passed to address the presumed problem of “liberal indoctrination” in university classrooms. Both Phillips and Cronrath affirm the importance of ideological diversity, but not in the manner the law presumes. They close by speculating about the prospects of a progressive infrastructure bill.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips do a deep dive into the Critical Race Theory controversy. The first episode discusses the rule passed by the Florida Board of Education and the motivations and implications. In the second half, the conversation turns to the actual meaning of Critical Race Theory, the basic tenets, and some of the legitimate criticisms. The episode ends with another "This Is Not The Onion" segment focusing on the Amazon pacification strategy known as AmaZEN!
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips begin with an update on the Israeli-Palestinian situation. The conversation then turns to Biden’s effort to pass an infrastructure bill, the unsolicited capitulation by Biden, and the role of the ever-destructive Joe Manchin. After a musical break featuring Gil Scott-Heron’s classic, “Whitey on the Moon”, in honor of Jeff Bezos, the second half is devoted to a discussion of an industrial policy bill for which there is bipartisan support, largely on the basis of anti-China cold war sentiment, and then Phillips shares some thoughts on the Fauci email revelations. The episode ends with the Jaffee sharing a “Not The Onion” piece on your “friendscape”.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee (sans Phillips) is joined by very special guest Ranna Abduljawad, a Palestinian activist and Executive Vice President of the Arab American Community Center of Jacksonville, FL. Abduljawad discusses the source of the Palestinian struggle and the widespread misconceptions about the Israeli occupation and Palestinian resistance including the day-to-day living conditions for Palestinians, the recent confrontation between the Israeli military and the Palestinian resistance, role of Hamas, US foreign policy toward Israel, and future prospects for the Palestinian movement.[NOTE: audio difficulties in the first half of the episode are resolved in the second half].
In this episode, Jaffee and Phillips begin with a consideration of the Biden legislative proposals and the current state of the infrastructure bill (American Jobs Plan). In the second half, attention turns to the return of the Wuhan China lab-leak hypothesis as the source of Covid-19, and the plausibility of this explanation. The episode ends with a brief discussion of the implications of the Republican Party divisions in Arizona over voter fraud in Maricopa county.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips spend the first half of the episode discussing the Israeli-Palestinian situation. The second half is devoted to the presumed labor shortage impacting businesses seeking to recruit workers, and the factors that might be contributing to why some people have decided to sit out of the labor market at this time.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips begin with a discussion of some foreign policy items – the situation in Israel and the migration to the US border from the Northern Triangle. In the second half, they turn to some recent research on race versus class framing of social policy, the Liz Cheney affair, and the Biden announcement lifting intellectual property rights on the US manufactured vaccines.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips are joined by a very special guest, Dr. Marcie Jaffee, Ph.D. in Biochemistry from MIT, who explains the science of a virus and how vaccines work, while also providing a critical analysis of the way the Covid-19 science has proceeded, the development of the vaccines, the drawbacks to getting vaccinated, and the potentially negative, but insufficiently reported, side-effects.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee is joined by regular guest Daniel Cronrath, Professor of Political Science at Florida State College at Jacksonville. In the first half the discussion centers on the proposed withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan after twenty futile years, and the larger shape of US foreign/military policy. In the second half, Cronrath shares his well-informed perspective on guns, gun violence and gun control with consideration of an upcoming case coming before the Supreme Court.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee begins the first segment with a consideration of the extreme level of police violence and killing in the United States, and the lack of progress in addressing this epidemic. In the second segment, Phillips discusses his concerns about Covid-19 science and the problems with arriving at evidence-based conclusions in general.
Jaffee and Phillips devote the first half of this episode of Civil Discord to a discussion of the vote against union representation at the Amazon facility in Alabama. In the second half, they turn to the announcement by the CDC on the pausing of the J&J vaccine and the police killing of Daunte Wright in Minneapolis.
In this episode of Civil Discord, there is some preliminary commentary on the idiocy of Mitch McConnell’s statement on the role of corporations in politics, and the ability of restaurant chains to accommodate a $15 minimum wage. Jaffee and Phillips then devote the remainder of the episode to discussion of the Biden infrastructure bill. What is in it, what makes it special, pros and cons, reasons for support and opposition, the inclusion of the corporate tax proposal, the likelihood of its passage, and whether it represents a serious departure from the neoliberal philosophy on the role of government.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips began the program with some personal tales on the Covid-19 situation, why it was no surprise that Georgia corporations declined to oppose the anti-democratic voting restrictions passed into law, and reaction to a report that Baltimore is dropping prosecution of low-level crimes. In the second half of the episode, Jaffee goes not an extended exegesis, mercifully interrupted by questions from Phillips, on the Suez Canal Evergreen container vessel mishap and what it says about the larger neoliberal global economy.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips devote the first half to a discussion of recent CDC changes in guidelines for schools, a discovery on how mutant variants of the virus have evolved, tax evasion by the wealthy, the state of the Senate filibuster, and potential benefits of an infrastructure bill. The second half turns to foreign policy, with Jaffee providing some critical analysis of the early Biden foreign policy direction vis-à-vis China.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips are joined by frequent guest Daniel Cronrath, Professor of Political Science at the Florida State College in Jacksonville. (FSCJ). In the first half of the episode the discussion centers around the $1.9 trillion Covid relief package, positive and negatives, and its significance for broader progressive policy moving forward as well as the macroeconomic consequences. In the second half of the episode, the shift moves to the various forms of perverse and morbid pieces of legislation moving through Republican dominated legislatures.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips discuss their experience receiving the first Pfizer vaccine shot and issues related to vaccine distribution and access. In the second half, the discussion turns to the Democratic Party handling of the $1.9 trillion relief package and the failure to secure the $15 minimum wage provision. The episode concludes with thoughts on the state of the economy and the likelihood of inflationary pressures.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips take up several newsworthy items. Jaffee kicks off the first half of the episode with a diagnosis of the Texas winter weather blackout crisis, and the lessons we should learn from this ill-fated experiment with a deregulated free market power grid. In the second half, Phillips outlines the current political debate over the minimum wage proposal in the Covid-19 relief package, and his thoughts about the recently concluded Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). The episode concludes with Jaffee’s critical commentary on Biden’s foreign policy direction as demonstrated by the failure to hold the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) accountable for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and the airstrikes in Syria.
In this episode of Civil Discord, the first segment Phillips discusses the link between the war on drugs, crime, and mass incarceration, and the logic behind the call for wholesale drug legalization/decriminalization. In the second segment, Jaffee reports on the latest nation-wide effort by Republican state legislatures to roll back access to the ballot as a strategy to enhance their electoral prospects, and the latest manufactured professional class medical ailment, known as “Zoom dysphoria”.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips are joined by Sean Freeder, Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of North Florida. In the first half of the episode, the discussion focuses on Freeder’s important and fascinating research on the causes and consequences of partisan polarization generally, and “affective polarization” in particular. In the second half, the conversation turns to the implications of the 2020 election as it pertains to partisan trends, demographic voting patterns, and the potential for future political party realignment in the US.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips began the episode with a frivolous conversation about the Super Bowl. They then turn to the current status of the Covid relief bill. Then Phillips provides commentary on the state of the vaccination rollout and trajectory of the coronavirus pandemic. In the second half, Jaffee discusses the potentially historic and monumental vote to establish union representation at an Amazon sweatshop in Alabama, the critical political importance of expanding labor union presence and membership, and the need for labor reform under the Biden administration that would protect the right to organize (PRO Act).
In this episode of Civil Discord with Jaffee and Phillips, the first half of the episode is devoted to the two asinine pieces of regressive legislation before the Florida legislature – “Combating Public Disorder” and “Denouncing Democratic Socialism” – and the larger problem of state governments dominated by the forces of right-wing reaction. In the second half of the episode the conversation turns to the state of the Covid relief package in Congress and Phillips’ analysis of the less than successful vaccine rollout.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips engage in a free-ranging discussion that includes the Biden inauguration’s most popular moment which would be the figure of Bernie Sanders and the resulting internet meme phenomenon, the true meaning of the term “mime” which has been twisted by the digital generation, the expected inauguration violence that never occurred and the militarization of Washington DC, the premature mythologizing of Biden, the prospects of getting progressive legislation through Congress without the eliminating the filibuster, whether Trump supporters are “irredeemable” or could be attracted to a progressive platform and the applicability of the term “fascism”, the significance of Biden’s Catholicism, and the politics of religion.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips are joined by regular guest Daniel Cronrath, Professor of Political Science at Florida State College at Jacksonville. Among the topics discussed include the January 6thmob riot on Capitol Hill, the larger implications of the event, the prospects for progressive policy implementation under a Biden administration, the role of the filibuster, the wisdom of domestic terrorism and social media legislation, the Biden inauguration, the future for Trump and Trumpism in the Republican Party, the predictable failure of the vaccine rollout and distribution, and the growing acceptance of Modern Monetary Theory proposing major government spending to address the multiple crises.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips discuss the causes and consequences of the January 6th mob insurrection on the U.S. Capitol. The conversation revolves around whether it was really such a surprise, why it was predictable, the indulgent police/security response to white right-wing protesters, what the consequences should be, how larger socioeconomic and political conditions fuel Trumpism and right-wing movements, and the calls for legislation to address protest and internet speech. The episode concludes with some commentary on the two Senate races won by Democrats in Georgia.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips have Georgia on their mind and the two Senatorial races not to mention Trump’s effort to convince the Georgia Secretary of State to commit election fraud. The conversation then turns to the vaccine, the role of the pharmaceutical industry, and the less than successful vaccine rollout and distribution. In the second half they turn to the comparative state of the renewed coronavirus spikes in California and Florida and the need for robust policy response to the larger economic crisis and fallout. The episode concludes with comments on the relevance of Modern Monetary Theory for moving forward on the policy front in the years ahead.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee (sans Phillips) is joined by very special guest Thelma Straight. Straight, a graduate of University of North Florida, is the author of two books: "The Stories My Foremothers Told Me" (conversations with women of color who witnessed the Civil Rights Movement in the Deep South), and "All You Could See Was the Water: Hurricane Katrina through The Eyes of Children" (conversations with children of color who witnessed Hurricane Katrina.). The conversation revolves around the content and method in her work. Straight describes how her biography has shaped her writing and area of interests, the insights gained from the oral histories of her mother and relatives of that generation growing up in the deep South during tumultuous times, how she came to interview children who had experienced the ravages of Hurricane Katrina, what it means to give people voice to tell their stories, tips and pitfalls in the process of recording the testimony of people who are sharing emotional subjects, and a more recent intergenerational project that trained young black boys in the technique of interviewing and recording the oral histories of older black men.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips welcome back as special guest Michael Binder, Professor of Political Science and Director of the Public Opinion Research Lab at the University of North Florida. In the first half of the episode the discussion revolves around the recent election results, nationally and state-wide, and the factors that impacted the inaccuracies in polling projections that predicted a larger margin of victory for Democrats. In the second half, the conversation turns to the local Jacksonville Lot-J development project, the polling of Jacksonville residents on the project, how it reflects a larger trend in what Jaffee describes as neoliberal urban development, and the implications for Mayor Lenny Curry and his administration.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips discuss the perils of traveling during Covid-19, holiday familial obligations and relations, the national disgrace that is student loan debt and the proposal to cancel the debt, Biden’s advisor and cabinet selections and their connections to the financial sector and Ivy League institutions, and the assassination of the Iranian nuclear scientist.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips began with an update on Trump’s challenge to the election outcome, whether Trump will face charges when he leaves office, and the latest news on a coronavirus vaccine. In the second half of the episode, the conversation turns to Biden’s advisor and cabinet picks, the relationship to identity politics, the apparent reliance on the Obama Alumni Association for key positions, and the implications for foreign policy under the Biden administration.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips have their regular guest Daniel Cronrath, Professor of Political Science at Florida State College at Jacksonville, to conduct a post-mortem on the election and a deeper analysis of Democratic Party failure. Discussion includes how Trump will leave office, why was the election as close as it was, prospects for the two parties going forward and possible realignment, Democratic Party rhetoric versus policy, the marginalization of the left wing of the party, some state and local political outcomes, the surge in Hispanic voter turnout, and the possible Biden cabinets picks.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips discuss the Tuesday election results and the current state of the Trump-Biden race, while votes are still being counted. Topics include the “red mirage” and the “blue wave” phenomenon, the strategies Trump may use to retain power in the face of a defeat, why the election was as close as it was, the failure once again of the pollster projections, the Hispanic vote in Florida, some preliminary results from exit surveys, Georgia goes blue, and the picture in the Senate and the House.
In this special pre-election episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips discuss what we might expect over the next few weeks as the “mother of all Presidential elections” is just 5 days away. In the first half of the episode, we discuss prospects for fascism, the nightmare election day scenario involving the “red mirage” and the “blue tide”, how a contested election might be “resolved, and their respective experiences voting or preparing to do so. After a musical interlude with Billy Bragg and Wilco doing “All You Fascists”, the second half of the episode turns to the question so many ask – “why would anyone vote for Trump?” – and the various ways to think about this in the context of social theory and political institutions. The conversation continues with some data and thoughts on the youth vote, what organizations are preparing to do if there is a Trump “coup”, and what to look for on election night.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee kicks off the discussion with a report on the recent elections in Bolivia and the vindication of the party of Evo Morales, this leads to a consideration of what might happen here in the US on election day and whether the polls predicting a Biden win are plagued by the same problems as those in 2016. Jaffee then points to one positive and one negative aspect of the Biden performance in the second debate. In the second half of the episode, Phillips shares a sociological observation about pandemic behavior and how it varies by both age and ethnicity producing the concept of “rational herding”. The discussion turns to the administration’s odd warnings about Iranian and Russian interference, the Trump 60 Minutes interview, and Pelosi’s inability to know when to step aside and turn the speakership over to the next generation.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips spend the first half discussing the latest developments in the Trump-Biden race including the dueling town halls, prospects for a Biden win, Supreme Court nominee Amy Barrett, and some senate races. The second half is devoted primarily to the current debate over approaches to handling the pandemic in the US and the claim that Trump is now pursuing a “herd immunity” approach and what that would actually mean.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips are joined by their colleague Michael Binder, Professor of Political Science and Director of the Public Opinion Research Lab (PORL) at the University of North Florida. Binder discusses the challenges conducting phone surveys in the time of Covid-19, the results from two recent PORL polls of Florida voters with a Hispanic oversample, the current state of the Presidential race in Florida and across the nation, several Florida ballot amendments, the potential for an election day “red mirage”, and other aspects of the dysfunctional American political system.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee is on hiatus so Phillips is joined by frequent guest Daniel Cronrath, Professor of Political Science at Florida State College at Jacksonville. Their original plan was to discuss the first Presidential debate, but this plan was upended by Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis. The episode begins with some “what if” scenarios that imagine the possible impact of Trump’s illness on the campaign, and the society. This is followed by an irreverent analysis of the debate, and a discussion of the politics surrounding a possible second stimulus package to offset the economic damage wrought by the pandemic. The episode closes with Cronrath’s analysis of Florida ballot initiatives.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips are joined by special guest Adrienne Lerner, faculty member in the Political Science and Public Administration department at University of North Florida and Director of the Pre-Law program to discuss the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, her legacy and contribution to civil and equal rights, the battle over the nomination, RBGs judicial philosophy, how the battle over the court will shape the November election, the role of the institution of the Supreme Court in a democratic polity, and the various reforms that have been proposed to address perceived problems with the current court. The episode concludes with a discussion of the current state of law school admissions and the advice Professor Lerner would give to students interested in pursuing a career in law.
In this freewheeling episode of Civil Discord, Phillips describes his recent visit to Disneyworld in Orlando under coronavirus conditions, which inevitably shifts, at the prompting of Jaffee, to the politics of the I-4 corridor in Florida, the growing Puerto Rican population, and the political implications of the Latinx vote. This is followed by discussion of prospects for a new relief package from Congress along with the revelations from Bob Woodward’s latest book and audio recordings with Trump on Covid-19.
In the second half, Phillips shares a classroom experience in which the Gen-Z students, en mass, expressed their growing anxiety, alienation, and disaffection which also revealed some inter-generational tensions. Jaffee and Phillips discuss the socio-economic sources of this generational malaise. The episode concludes with some commentary on the current state of college football in the time of Covid-19.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips are joined again by Daniel Cronrath, Professor of Political Science at Florida State College at Jacksonville (FSCJ). The first half of the show focuses on local and state politics including a Jacksonville congressional race, the continuing saga of former gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum, and the performance of Governor Ron DeSantis. The second half shifts to some broader political issues including the status of the ballot amendment on restoring voting rights to ex-felons, the current state of the Trump-Biden race, and the failure of the Democratic party to mobilize working-class voters.
Episode 46 begins with a tribute to the brilliant anthropologist and political activist David Graeber, who passed away unexpectantly at the age of 59. He was an iconoclastic academic who studied capitalism, debt, bureaucracy and work from a critical and politically charged perspective. Jaffee reads a brief excerpt from his last sensational work Bullshit Jobs: A Theory.
The remainder of the first half is devoted to a discussion of how Jaffee and Phillips approach their Facebook engagement, with Jaffee sharing a piece he wrote “On Voting for Biden (or not)” that provides a leftwing rationale for voting for Biden. The piece generated the kind of intense argument and debate both Jaffee and Phillips always hope to instigate.
In the second half of the episode, Phillips provide a sociology of science critique of media reports on Covid-19, and what the current research tells us about the virus and risk factors.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips devote the first half to the boycott/strike by the NBA and other professional sports in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and the prospects for sporting events to take place in the Fall. In the second half, Phillips reports on his experiences teaching in the classroom at the University of North Florida in the time of Covid-19, both the good and the bad, and how he has adapted to the conditions to ensure the most positive learning experience possible.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips are joined by Julie Ingersoll, Professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies at the University of North Florida, and author of several major works including Evangelical Christian Women: War Stories in the Gender Battles and Building God's Kingdom: Inside the World of Christian Reconstruction. The episode is devoted to a conversation on the character and political direction of Christian evangelicalism, the rise of a Christian reconstruction movement and what it means, the relationship between evangelical Christians and the Trump administration, and the implications for the Biden-Trump contest in November.
In this episode #43 of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips are back together again. The first half of the episode is devoted to the current debate over “cancel culture”, its relationship to the anti-racist/BLM movement, and some of the political implications. In the second half, they turn to the state of the Biden-Trump race, including factors contributing to Biden's polling advantage, VP possibilities, and some potential policy implications from the Covid-19 crisis and beyond.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee goes rogue/solo covering a range of topics that happen to be on his mind at the moment. These include what we now know about the Bolivian coup discussed on a prior episode, a reiteration of factors contributing to the exceptional failure of the US to manage a public health crisis of the Covid-19 magnitude, the relief package response and why one should not worry about federal public debt or the deficit, the racialized appeals of the Biden and Trump campaign to attract suburban voters, and the routine practice by the media and conservative forces to equate property damage with police violence during protests.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee is joined by his sociology colleague JR Woodward, Professor of Sociology at Florida State College at Jacksonville (FSCJ). The first half of the episode is devoted to discussion of the unexceptional US response to the Covid-19 pandemic and the implications for "American exceptionalism" and expressions of national pride, and how Jaffee and Woodward handle this issue in the classroom. After a musical interlude featuring the incomparable and relevant political lyrics of the Drive-By Truckers, the conversation turns to the BLM protests, and what anti-racism means politically. As has become the habit, the episode concludes with consideration of the Biden-Trump race and how one should approach this utterly abysmal choice facing voters.
In this extended July 4th episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee is joined by three special guests who have in common a commitment to bringing poetry, literature, and writing programs and workshops to incarcerated inmate populations in various prisons.
Elizabeth Straight is an English Language Arts and Meditation teacher in West Palm Beach, FL and the founder of the now defunct Poetry Is... Annual Prison Tour that brought poets, musicians and "kick ass" inspiration into state and federal prisons; Kathie Klarreich, the founder and executive director of Exchange for Change, a nonprofit organization that facilitates writing classes in South Florida prisons and runs letter writing exchanges between incarcerated students and local academic institutions; and Dr Adam Henze, a Research Associate at the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community and director of Power of a Sentence, a reading and creative writing program in Indiana prisons. The lively conversation focuses on the various prison education programs the guests have developed, the impact on the prison population, challenges working in a prison environment, how Covid-19 has affected these programs and the conditions in the prisons, and the extent to which the current Black Lives Matter movement may raise awareness about the criminal justice system as well as how the movement has already been co-opted by corporate interests.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips kick off the episode considering the wisdom of Phillips’ planned trip to Utah for a family wedding. That leads naturally into conversation on the rising number of coronavirus cases across the nation, research on some of the differential geographic economic impacts of the Covid-19 crisis, and how weak workers’ rights in the US, as measured by the International Trade Union Confederation, contribute to the severity of the crisis. In the second half, the discussion turns to gender disparities in Covid-19 infection and mortality rates as well as gender disparities in the acquisition of a college degree, and potential explanations. The episode concludes with a consideration of the current state of the Biden-Trump race for President given recent events.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips welcome back their colleague Michael Hallett, Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at University of North Florida. The episode starts, once again, with a discussion about the wisdom of opening the university for classes in the Fall. Hallett thinks it’s a bad idea; Phillips supports the decision. After that, the remainder of the episode is dedicated to a discussion of the criminal injustice system in the United States and the role of policing. Hallett provides some valuable insights on how to assess the current call for defunding the police and the social conditions that might enhance public safety without relying on punitive forms of social control.
In this episode of Civil Discord, the first half is devoted to a conversation about the uprising over police violence and what it means to “defund the police”. Jaffee provides his definition and Phillips highlights the importance of decriminalizing various activities as a critical component of the process. In the second half, the conversation turns to the removal of confederate statues in Jacksonville and beyond, the decision by the Republican party to bring their convention to Jacksonville, and the issues emerging as universities open up to students and faculty in the Fall.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips discuss the protests ignited by the George Floyd murder at the hands of police. In the first half they consider the significance of this nationwide movement, how it differs from previous protests/riots, the composition of the participants, the actions of the police, and the prospects for social change. After a Bob Marley interlude, the second half of the episode turns to Trump’s response, militarism and creeping neo-fascism, and how this might impact the November election.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips welcome back JR Woodward, Professor of Sociology at Florida State College in Jacksonville (FSCJ). In the first half of the episode, Woodward discusses the motivation and intended message of his blog Our Social Landscape. In addition to promoting the Sociological Imagination, the conversation turns to how that would be applied as a mode of analysis for various social issues including the current string of deaths of blacks males at the hands of white police and former police, and the social construction of “looting”. In the second half, the conversation moves to the Covid-19 crisis, opening the economy, and how we will manage teaching in the Fall. The session concludes with a discussion of the relationship between religion and political action.
In this episode of Civil Discord in the time of Covid-19, Jaffee and Phillips are joined by their regular guest Daniel Cronrath, Professor of Political Science at Florida State College at Jacksonville (FSCJ). The conversation in the first half focuses on the now proposed opening of universities and colleges in the Fall, the pros and cons of this decision, and how this will impact both faculty and students. The second half of the episode shifts to the larger move to open state economies and whether this is being done correctly and for the right reasons. The episode concludes with Phillips sharing his firsthand experience getting tested for Covid-19.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips welcome their guest Michael Sampson, co-founder and head organizer of the Jacksonville Community Action Committee (JCAC). The JCAC is a prominent and active community organization devoted to addressing and improving relations between law enforcement, the criminal justice system, and the larger Jacksonville community. The conversation with Sampson focuses on the effort to establish a Jacksonville Police Accountability Council, police-community-relations in Jacksonville generally, approaches to addressing crime that extend beyond funding more police officers, both the opportunities and threats for organized labor during the Covid-19 crisis, and various strategies for change. As always, the episode ends with some commentary on national political affairs and the upcoming presidential election.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips discuss the pros and cons of “reopening” state economies, a silver lining of the lockdown for Phillips, the current situation in Sweden and comments from the architect of Sweden’s strategy, and Blue Angel flyovers as recognition of first responders and the practice of military rituals in the US. The episode concludes with conversation on various items in the news, the need for a New New Deal, and the associated prospects for Biden’s candidacy.
In this episode of Civil Discord in the time of Covid-19, Jaffee and Phillips discuss their department’s virtual commencement ceremony, inevitable changes facing higher education, motives driving the rush to re-open the economy, and the potential power and leverage of the working class. The episode closes with Phillip’s assessment of the sexual assault allegations against Biden.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips lose track of the time. The episode starts with some advice on obtaining a pulse oximeter to monitor your health. The remainder of the first half is devoted to a discussion of all the reasons the Democratic Party is likely to lose the November election. In the second half, Phillips gives an update on some of the latest research results on Covid-19 and what it might mean for the future. The episode ends with some serious discord between Jaffee and Phillips over the question of public spending and whether we should worry about the federal deficit. Jaffee says no, Phillips says yes.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips kickoff the first half with a discussion of the financial consequences of Covid-19 on institutions of higher education, followed by some thoughts on the current state of the crisis and the pandemic more generally. In the second half, Jaffee provides some commentary on Bernie Sanders and his decision to endorse Biden, and then the conversation turns toward whether Sanders’ supporters will actually vote for Biden in the November election.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips are joined again by their academic colleague Daniel Cronrath, a political science professor at Florida State College of Jacksonville (FSCJ), to continue where they left off last week in the conversation on various aspects of the Covid-19 crisis. However, the episode begins with recognition of feedback from a listener who accurately pointed out that the particular experiences of Jaffee, Phillips, and Cronrath during this crisis must be considered in the context of their relatively privileged race, gender, and class position. This leads to a discussion of the central sociological insight on the differential effects of crisis across racial/ethnic/class communities and the huge racial disparities currently reported in the corona virus fatality rate. Other topics discussed include the Coronavirus Relief Bill, the relationship between crises and crime, the “tradeoffs” between economic hardship, social isolation, and public health, and the experience of various Nordic countries that are pursuing some divergent strategies to manage the crisis.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips are joined by Daniel Cronrath, political science professor at Florida State College at Jacksonville, for an extended free-wheeling conversation on the wide-ranging implications of Covid-19. This includes observations on daily behaviors in this strange new world, the current state of the outbreak, methods for controlling the spread of the virus, various political implications, the shortage of medical supplies, vulnerability of Gen-Z vs boomers, social control strategies, and whether this crisis will create solidarity or division.
In this episode of Civil Discord in the time of Covid-19, the subject is Covid-19, Covid-19, Covid-19. Jaffee and Phillips are together again, virtually, using conferencing technology to comply with the shelter-in-place precautions. In the first half of the episode Phillips shares his accumulated knowledge on the epidemiological aspects of the virus and the prospects moving forward. In the second half, the discussion turns to the political, social, and educational implications of the current covid-19 crisis.
In this episode of Civil Discord in the time of Covid-19, Jaffee is practicing social distancing from Phillips, and is therefore doing a solo episode. Jaffee rejects the admonition that one should never “politicize a crisis” and discusses the relationship between the neoliberal political-economy and the ability of the US to manage this public health crisis, various policy proposals that are being advanced, the necessity to reject market solutions, and the response by some Americans to stock up on guns and ammo. The episode concludes with Jaffee’s opinion on the call for Bernie Sanders to end his campaign for the Democratic nomination.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Phillips is joined by UNF faculty colleague Michael Binder, Professor of Political Science and Director of the Public Opinion Research Lab (PORL) at the University of North Florida. The focus in the first half of the episode is on the Democratic primary race. Phillips and Binder discuss the most recent Florida polling results from PORL, some unique demographic patterns in Florida, the current state of the race between Biden and Sanders, the upcoming two-person debate, and what the general election might look like. The second half is dedicated to lively conversation on the coronavirus and the political and economic implications, including Trump’s handling of the public health crisis.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips are joined by Daniel Cronrath, a professor of political science at Florida State College at Jacksonville (FSCJ). The lively conversation focuses on the state of the Democratic Party primary race now between Biden and Sanders, their respective prospects going forward, their strengths and weaknesses, and what role Elizabeth Warren might play at this stage. The episode concludes with some thoughts about the US electoral system generally.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips discuss and occasionally argue over (in a civil fashion!), various aspects of the current Democratic primary race including Bernie Sanders’ success in Nevada and Sanders’ policy proposals, with a focus on Medicare For All. Jaffee takes issue with the style and rhetoric and logic of many of the media attacks being aimed at Sanders, while Phillips provides some context. The lively episode concludes with a conversation about the coronavirus.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips are joined by their faculty colleague Josh Gellers. Gellers is an Associate Professor of Political Science with a specialty in international relations. The conversations moves seamlessly from Trump’s foreign policy impulses and motives, whether there is a foreign policy “blob”, what a progressive foreign policy should look like including policy toward Israel, the “realist” foreign policy perspective, the role of NATO, foreign policy toward Russia and Latin America, the Trump-Russia connection, Trump’s and Sander’s political appeal based on “moral foundations” and their relative prospects for ultimate success in the 2020 election, and the current state of the coronavirus.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips dissect and debate the current state of the race for the Democratic nomination from the Iowa caucus to New Hampshire to the present. This includes what Jaffee describes as the “machinations of the DNC”, the rise of (“robo-candidate”) Buttigieg, Biden’s collapse, and the role of Bloomberg. On Bloomberg, Phillips outlines the criminological origins of Bloomberg’s “stop and frisk” campaign, its intended and unintended consequences, and recent revelations regarding Bloomberg’s comments about crime and race. You won’t want to miss this lively discussion.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips have invited Sarah LaChance Adams, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Florida Blue Center for Ethics at University of North Florida, to discuss activities at the ethics center, her work on the ethics of seduction, her book titled Mad Mothers, Bad Mothers, and What a 'Good' Mother Would Do: The Ethics of Ambivalence, and the study and teaching of ethics and philosophy generally.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips discuss the rise of Bernie Sanders in the polls, his endorsement by Joe Rogan, Sanders’ Iowa caucus prospects and beyond, and the on-going impeachment affair. In the second half they look back at the factors that contributed to the devastating financial crisis of 2008, and current economic conditions shaping the 2020 election. The show concludes with reference to Trump’s so-called Israeli “peace plan” for which there are, apparently, no words.
In this lighthearted episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips take up the issue of comedy and humor in the age of political correctness, trigger warnings, and safe spaces with two UNF faculty colleagues Mitch Haney (Philosophy) and Linda Howell (English). Haney and Howell are currently teaching courses devoted to the subject of humor and comedy and are exploring the ethical and rhetorical methods and boundaries of jocular endeavors.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips discuss the Warren-Sanders dispute over their private conversation, and the vacuity of media sponsored candidate debates demonstrated by CNN. In the second half, they then turn to the statement by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez that she and Biden belong in different political parties, and their differing interpretations. The episode concludes with some thoughts on the sharp increase in the number of college students visiting campus counseling centers, declining levels of emotional well-being, and some of the factors that may be contributing to this trend.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips invite their colleague Michael Binder, Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of the Public Opinion Research Lab at the University of North Florida, to discuss election polling. It is this polling that drives the horse race journalism dominating the political news cycle, as well as determining who can participate in the Democratic Party debates. In this lively episode we learn about the methods, techniques, and pitfalls in election polling, and comment on the current state of the Democratic party primary contest as indicated by the polls.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips discuss a range of topics in the news including the Iran-Iraq situation and the assassination of the head of the Revolutionary Guard Qasem Soleimani, Bret Stephens’ op-ed piece and backlash on the intellectual superiority of Ashkenazi Jews, lessons from the British election and the Labour Party defeat, and the current state of the impeachment process.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee goes solo. While spending a week up in Asheville NC, Jaffee met with a couple leaders of the Asheville chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America – Sky and Evan --to discuss the political, economic, and social scene in this ever-popular, and fast-growing, traveler and tourist destination.
Do the politics in Asheville match the widespread perception of the community as the hip, progressive, artsy mecca in the mountains?
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee and Phillips take up the issue of student loan debt. Jaffee lays out an analysis of the origins of the crisis, linking it to neoliberal political-economic policies first instituted in the 1980s. The remainder of the episode is a discussion of the economic situation facing students today and the macroeconomic and demographic consequences of the debt overhang.
In Episode 11 of Civil Discord, Phillips and Jaffee do solo segments. Jaffee takes the first half and describes some of the similarities and differences between Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. In the second half of the episode, Phillips discusses some things we can be thankful for this Thanksgiving – and will be arguing that we have made various forms of progress, for example, declining rates of human violence globally and nationally, as well as declining levels of sexism, misogyny, and racism in our culture -- and how people have understood these trends.
In this episode of Civil Discord, David and Rick spend the first half discussing a couple items in the news – the New York Times reporting on Elizabeth Warren’s wealth tax proposal, and the Bipartisan Congressional Budget Reform Act and the way it is structured to handle budget deficits. The second half of the program is devoted to a conversation about the current state of the Democratic primary field with some commentary on Pete Buttigieg, Michael Bloomberg, and Deval Patrick.
Major discord erupts on Civil Discord as David and Rick, after generally agreeing about the start of the televised impeachment proceedings, turn to more contentious issues. There is considerable jousting over the situation in Bolivia and the resignation/removal of President Evo Morales, centrism and the Obama legacy, Medicare for All, and the question of candidate “electability”. But despite the discord, civility prevails!
In this episode of Civil Discord, Rick and David spend the entire hour discussing crime, race, punishment, and rehabilitation with Michael Hallett, Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at University of North Florida and lead author of the recently published book The Angola Prison Seminary: Effects of Faith-Based Ministry on Identity Transformation, Desistance, and Rehabilitation.
Among the specific topics discussed with Hallett include differences between criminology and criminal justice, systemic and institutional racism in the criminal justice system, factors contributing to mass incarceration in the US, the failure of criminal justice in Jacksonville, and the criminal industrial complex. In the second half of the episode we hear about Hallett’s path-breaking research project, conducted inside Angola prison in Louisiana (America’s largest maximum-security prison, still named after a slave plantation), on the role of faith-based educational programs in the penitentiary.
In this episode of Civil Discord, David and Rick are together again for the first half of the program with a discussion of some of the issues raised in Rick’s interview (in Episode 6) with sociologist Ryan Cragun pertaining to factors contributing to the decline in religious attachment, as well as some of the political implications including the role of the religious right, and evangelical support for Trump. In the second half, David interviews Alison Bruey, a Professor of History at the University of North Florida, on the popular uprisings sweeping Latin America with special focus on the case of Chile.
In Episode 6 David and Rick are once again geographically separated. For that reason, the episode is divided into two separate interviews/conversations.
In the first segment, David’s guest is J.R. Woodward, a professor of sociology at Florida State College at Jacksonville (FSCJ). J.R. describes how he became a sociologist, the issues that galvanized his sociological imagination, his experience teaching in two different institutional settings of a major university and a community college, and his strategies for engaging students with controversial issues such as race and guns.
In the second segment, Rick interviews Ryan Cragun, a professor of sociology at the University of Tampa. Like Rick, Cragun specializes in the sociology of religion, and their conversation addresses some of the current debate and understanding over declining levels of religious attachment in the U.S., what it means to be labeled “non-religious”, the demographic correlates of the “non-religious” category, the finding that successive generations report increasingly lower levels of religious attachment, the differences in religiosity between the U.S. and Europe, and the interaction of religion and politics.
In this lively episode of Civil Discord, David and Rick begin discussing a couple items in the news – the mass protests and uprising in Ecuador and the role of the IMF, and a book burning on the campus of Georgia Southern University in reaction to a lecture referencing “white privilege”. Turning to the “outrages of the week”, Rick comments on the firing of a school guard for repeating the n-word and the associated problem with speech codes, while David points to work requirements for Medicaid recipients and the larger issue of conservatives using administrative burdens to limit access to programs.
In this episode, David and Rick have a free-floating conversation on two general topics – the impeachment inquiry and free speech/academic freedom on college campuses. Along the way they touch on Trump’s behavior, whether the impeachment process will help or hurt the Democrats, some foreign policy dynamics, the rehabilitation of George W. Bush, trigger warnings and safe spaces for students, strategies for open discourse in classes, the organization Turning Point, the pastors/preachers who stand on the green promoting the gospel, and an incident where a professor used the “n-word” for seemingly pedagogical purposes.
In this episode, David and Rick begin with a discussion of a few news items -- Trump migration/asylum policy, the affordable housing crisis, and Wall Street influence on the Democratic Party. For the weekly outrages, Rick identifies his disappointment and mild outrage at Joe Biden's ability to sustain support as the centrist candidate, while David responds to the Trump Department of Education's attempt to encroach on the academic freedom of the Mid East Studies program at Duke and UNC. In the debunked segment, Rick defends the value of a liberal arts college degree against claims about its economic value. In the final segment, David interviews Adrienne Lerner, an instructor in the Political Science and Public Administration department at the University of North Florida (UNF) and Director of the Pre-Law program, about issues related to free speech and academic freedom on college campuses, including UNF.
In this episode of Civil Discord, Jaffee goes solo while Phillips travels to disseminate sociological wisdom. After covering a few news items, Jaffee reveals his weekly outrage -- stock ownership among US Senators and the obvious conflict of interest it represents; in the Debunked segment, Jaffee takes on the Trump administration claim that immigrants from the southern border contribute to criminal activity by examining the evidence; Jaffee then discusses the "bread and circus" distraction strategy of Trump, how it works, how it has been successful, and just one example of an area that is ignored as a result -- the massive rollback of environmental protections.
In the second half of the episode, Jaffee is rescued from his loneliness by two guests -- Monique Sampson and Sharif Hall -- who are the student leaders of University of North Florida's (UNF) chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). The students share their views on why they organized and joined SDS, the issues that SDS hopes to tackle here at UNF, and lessons from the national SDS convention that they hosted here at UNF.
In this inaugural episode David Jaffee and Rick Phillips cover various issues including the UAW-GM strike, Trump's communication with Ukraine, closing of polling stations in the US, debunking the vaping scare, the guns debate, and debunking the belief that the US has the best electoral democracy in the world.