Politics and Polls: Recent Episodes
Princeton University
The GOP is often seen as "the party of the rich," enacting policies that benefit the wealthy and leave the poor behind. However, a new book by historian Lily Geismer reveals that Democrats also played a significant role in deepening American inequality.
In this episode, she and Julian Zelizer discuss the Clinton-era policy decisions that led to skyrocketed inequality and poverty in the U.S. today. Her book, "Left Behind: The Democrats' Failed Attempt to Solve Inequality," was published in March 2022 by PublicAffairs.
Geismer is an associate professor of history at Claremont McKenna College. Her research and teaching focuses on 20th century political and urban history in the United States, especially liberalism and the Democratic Party.
* We apologize for any sound-quality issues in this episode. (Headphone microphones can be unkind.)
Big questions are coming up as the midterm elections inch closer. Where does the GOP stand in the post-Trump era? How severe is political polarization? And how will President Biden and his team tackle some of the country’s biggest challenges from responding to the war in Ukraine to getting a handle on inflation?
Former Congressman Will Hurd — and self-described “idealist” — proposes a blueprint for getting things done in Washington, all of which is explained in his new book, “American Reboot: An idealist Guide to Getting Things Done,” published this week by Simon & Schuster. He discusses this and more in a lively conversation with Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang in this week’s episode.
Hurd represented Texas’s 23rd Congressional District from 2015 to 2021. He previously worked for the CIA stationed primarily in Washington, D.C., including a tour of duty as an operations officer in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India.
Russia's attacks on Ukraine are getting closer to NATO countries and striking civilians trying to flee. Negotiations for a resolution have been attempted, but all have failed so far. Nuclear weapons seem as though they loom large, as the world watches how the conflict continues to unfold.
Julian and Sam discuss the current state of the war in Ukraine, how the media is responding, and what might lie ahead in this week's episode.
Following Russia's invasion into Ukraine, the world finds itself again in a moment of war. As gunfire and bombings continue, it's unclear whether Putin will give up this fight, leading to questions about how to achieve an end to the conflict. Moving into a successful post-war peace will require thoughtful and deliberate leadership — characteristics that President Abraham Lincoln displayed during and after the Civil War.
A new book by author John Avlon provides a groundbreaking, revelatory account of Lincoln's approach to peace — one that's inspired many famous leaders including Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Avlon joins Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang in this week’s show to talk about the book, “Abraham Lincoln: Fight for Peace,” published by Simon & Schuster in February 2022.
Avlon is a senior political analyst and anchor at CNN. He is an award-winning columnist and the author of Independent Nation, Wingnuts, and Washington’s Farewell. Previously, he was the editor-in-chief and managing director of The Daily Beast and served as chief speechwriter for the Mayor of New York during the attacks of 9/11.
COVID-19 restrictions are being dropped around the country as the U.S. enters what feels like a state of normalcy, at least to some. Oncologist and health expert Ezekiel J. Emanuel joins Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang to discuss how the nation will continue to live with the virus. As Sam described on his Twitter feed: “What’s out: surface transmission. What’s in: air quality, HEPA filters.” Tune in to learn more.
Emanuel is the vice provost for global initiatives, the Diane v.S. Levy and Robert M. Levy University Professor, and co-director of the Healthcare Transformation Institute at the University of Pennsylvania. From January 2009 to January 2011, Dr. Emanuel served as a special advisor on health policy to the director of the Office of Management and Budget and National Economic Council. He is the most widely cited bioethicist in history.
Emanuel visited the Princeton campus on Feb. 7-8 as part of the SPIA Leadership through Mentorship Program.
Taking readers from Ground Zero to the Capitol Insurrection, Karen Greenberg describes the subtle tools that were forged under George W. Bush in the name of security — all of which had profound effects on democracy. She details these tools in a new book, "Subtle Tools: The Dismantling of American Democracy from the War on Terror to Donald Trump," which she discusses with Julian Zelizer in this episode.
Greenberg is director of the Center on National Security at Fordham Law, an international studies fellow at New America, and a permanent member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
This recording debuted as a virtual book talk sponsored by the Princeton Public Library on Jan. 6, the anniversary of the insurrection. This interview was first recorded as a virtual public book talk sponsored by the Princeton Public Library Library.
Laura Coates '01, CNN anchor and legal analyst and, believes in education as a form of activism. This led her to write her new book, "Just Pursuit: A Black Prosecutor's Fight for Fairness," a groundbreaking account of bias in the courtroom.
In this episode, Julian and Sam talk with Laura about the essays in her book, which document her time as a prosecutor in the Department of Justice, and reveal how she experienced both racism and sexism in the courtroom. Despite her best intentions, she quickly realized that the "pursuit of justice creates injustice."
Considered a constitutional expert, Laura is a former federal prosecutor who served as assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, as well as a trial attorney in the Voting Rights Section of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice. In private practice, Laura was an intellectual property litigator with an expertise in First Amendment, defamation and media law.
In addition to her role with CNN, she is also a SiriusXM Talk Show Host and an adjunct professor at the George Washington University School of Law.
Her book, “Just Pursuit,” was published Jan. 18, 2022, by Simon & Schuster.
On the anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection, this week's episode focuses on the strains placed on American democracy. From voter suppression to wreckage at the U.S. Capitol, many of our political processes feel under attack, leaving some hopeless and others searching for solutions.
Julian and Sam dive into the subject with scholar Carolyn Shapiro, an expert on the Supreme Court and its role in our constitutional democracy. She provides a primer on the Guarantee Clause, which provides Congress with the authority to ensure that each state's internal governance meets a minimum standard of republicanism. This was the subject of a paper she penned for the Arizona Law Review.
It's the end-of-the-year broadcast for Politics & Polls! Julian and Sam recap the year, beginning with a discussion on the Jan. 6 insurrection and a seemingly under-the-radar fight for democracy. They also chat about the supply chain, inflation and jobs, as well as some of the biggest news stories of the year. Hint: COVID-19 continues to ravage, sparking anxiety and fear, but vaccine rates are going up. This is why the pair gives kudos to science and scientists at the tail end of the episode. Thanks, as always, for listening, and see you in 2022!
Omicron, a new variant of COVID-19, is making its way around the globe, shuttering international flights and bringing back former restrictions. How will the U.S. react? Julian and Sam discuss this moment and how it's a big test for the Biden administration. They also chat about polarization, redistricting, and — looking ahead to 2022 and 2024 — how we can maintain our faith in elections.
Is it too early to talk about the 2022 Midterm Elections? Julian and Sam don't think so, which is why they unpack some of the issues that may threaten Democratic power next year. They discuss the role redistricting will play and the complexities of gerrymandering — an issue that’s always on Sam’s mind. Thanks for tuning in!
Abraham Joshua Heschel was a Polish-born American rabbi, theologian, and civil rights and anti-war leader. To this day, Heschel remains a symbol of the fight to make progressive Jewish values relevant in the secular world.
Julian Zelizer wrote a biography on Heschel’s life from childhood to death, detailing his position at the intersection of religion and progressive politics in mid-20th-century America.
Sam Wang interviews Julian about the new book in this week's episode.
Pro-Trump extremists seem to have a tight grip on the Republican Party at both state and national levels. With elections around the corner, traditional Republicans are now calling for party officials to move the GOP away from "Trumpism." Some are even wondering whether a new center-right party may be needed — as a last resort.
These concerns were expressed by Gov. Christine Todd Whitman and Miles Taylor in a recent Washington Post op-ed. They join Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang in this week’s show.
Todd Whitman is the former governor of New Jersey (1994 to 2001). Taylor served at the Department of Homeland Security from 2017 to 2019, including as chief of staff, and was the anonymous author of a 2018 guest essay for The Times criticizing President Donald Trump’s leadership.
Since President Joe Biden pulled U.S. troops out of Afghanistan, many are sorting through whether a withdrawal was really necessary. Regardless, the decision marks a decided end to a long and protracted war, which began during 9/11.
Amb. Robert Finn joins Julian Zelizer in this week's episode to analyze the decision and its effects in this week's episode. A former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, Finn is a former lecturer on Turkish literature at Princeton University's Department of Near Eastern Studies and Ertegun Professor of Turkic Studies. His distinguished foreign service career includes posts at U.S. missions in Turkey and as ambassador to Afghanistan and Tajikistan.
Big government is often attacked. In the 1960s and 1970s, social advocates like Ralph Nader and Rachel Carson led the charge in the form of public interest groups. While they disrupted a number of government plans, some unintended consequences emerged: the undermining of big government liberalism, which is the alliance between government, business, and labor.
A book by academic and author Paul Sabin traces the history of the public interest movement, showing the ways in which American liberalism has been at war with itself. Sabin is professor of history and American studies at Yale University where he teaches U.S. environmental history; energy politics; and political, legal, and economic history.
How are Congress and the courts exercising their powers on the issue of voting rights? Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang are joined by Wendy Weiser, vice president for democracy at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University, for a conversation about voting rights from the Texas State legislature to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Weiser has appeared on CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, PBS, and has written for The New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, and others. Before joining the Brennan Center, Weiser was a senior attorney at NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund and a litigation associate at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison.
New daily Covid-19 infections in the U.S. are reaching 100,000+, yet, not too long ago, that number was 11,000. With everyone asking ‘where do we go from here?’, Dr. Leana Wen joins Julian and Sam to consider the path through the pandemic and the future of public health. The trio preview Wen’s brand-new book, “Lifelines: A Doctor's Journey in the Fight for Public Health,” which chronicles public health’s successful innovations through the lens of Wen’s personal journey from young immigrant to Baltimore Health Commissioner.
Throughout the pandemic, Wen’s expertise has been front-and-center in her contributing columns for The Washington Post and medical analyses on CNN. She is an emergency physician, visiting professor of health policy and management at George Washington University, and a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.
Behind almost every U.S. President there has been a First Lady... but we don't always hear much about them. This week, author Julia Sweig joins Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang to discuss her book and podcast, “In Plain Sight,” which delves into the audio diaries of Lady Bird Johnson.
Julia Sweig is a New York Times bestselling author whose writing has appeared in the Washington Post, the Atlantic, the Nation, and more. She’s a senior research fellow at the Lyndon Baines Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas-Austin. Her most recent book, “Lady Bird Johnson: Hiding in Plain Sight,” was released in March 2021. Sweig is also the creator, host, and executive producer of In Plain Sight, a podcast developed with ABC Audio and Best Case Studios focused on the same topic.
How are partisan identity and misinformation connected? Sam Wang is joined by Brendan Nyhan to discuss misinformation, partisan identity, and the stability of America's democratic norms.
Nyhan is a professor in the Department of Government at Dartmouth College. He is a researcher on politics, polarization, and healthcare, with an emphasis on false beliefs. He’s also a contributor to the Upshot from The New York Times and the co-founder of Bright Line Watch, a group that monitors the health of American democracy.
What in the world is going on? Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang catch you up on some of the biggest discussions happening in politics today: messaging about vaccines and the ongoing controversy about critical race theory and school curriculums.
Julian Zelizer sits down with David Kushner to discuss his new podcast Alligator Candy, which is based on his memoir of the same name. The podcast tells the story of Kushner’s family and how the community came together after the disappearance of his brother.
Kushner is an acclaimed author and journalist who serves as a contributing editor of Rolling Stone and Outside. He has also written for publications including Vanity Fair, Wired, The New Yorker, New York Times Magazine, GQ, and more.
How did Bill Barr alter the effectiveness of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) during his time as President Donald Trump's attorney general? Elie Honig joins Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang for a deep dive into the DOJ and a discussion of his new book, "Hatchet Man: How Bill Barr Broke the Prosecutor's Code and Corrupted the Justice Department,” released July 6.
Honig worked as a state and federal prosecutor for 14 years, trying cases including human trafficking and violent and organized crime. He’s now a CNN legal analyst, a writer for the online news outlet CAFE, and a special counsel for the firm of Lowenstein Sandler, LLP.
Is there life on other planets? Are UFOs evidence of such life? Astrophysicist Adam Frank joins Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang to discuss his research of technosignatures —signs of past or present use of technology on other planets — and the search for evidence of life outside Earth.
Adam Frank is professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Rochester. He’s a regular contributor to NPR’s All Things Considered, and he occasionally writes for The New York Times. Last year, he and several of his colleagues were awarded a grant from NASA to fund the study of technosignatures.
President Richard M. Nixon is perhaps best known for the Watergate scandal and becoming the first U.S. president to resign. But how much more is there to that familiar narrative? Kurt Andersen joins Julian Zelizer to discuss his new podcast, Nixon at War, and the behind-the-scenes story of the downfall of America's 37th President.
Kurt Andersen is a New York Timesbestselling author, journalist, and radio host. Currently he’s the host, writer, and co-producer of the new PRX podcast Nixon at War, a seven-episode series that tells the story of America’s 37th President.
The arrest of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. sent the 1960 Kennedy Campaign into overdrive in the last nine days of a historic campaign for the presidency. But what happened during that lead-up to one of the closest elections of the 20th century?
Author Paul Kendrick joins Julian Zelizer in this episode to discuss his recent book “Nine Days: The Race to Save Martin Luther King Jr. and Win the 1960 Election.”
Paul Kendrick is a writer and speaker whose articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Chicago-Sun Times, and many more publications. He’s also an adjunct professor at National Louis University in Chicago. “Nine Days” is the third book that he has written with his father, Stephen Kendrick.
Online misinformation runs rampant on social media and is having tangible impacts on American society. What can be done to combat the spread of these untruths?
Jonathan Mayer joins Sam Wang in this episode to discuss misinformation, big tech, and online data-driven research, and where they intersect with U.S. government policy. He also discusses his newest endeavor, Rally, which is a collaboration with Mozilla.
Mayer is an assistant professor in the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs as well as the Department of Computer Science. He studies the intersections of technology and law, focusing on online speech, consumer privacy, and national security.
We're living in a political disinformation era. Public opinion is sharply divided not just on the facts, but what actually constitutes fact or fiction. Two issues have made this dilemma crystal clear: the acceptability of COVID-19 vaccines and the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.
In this episode, Julian and Sam weed through the neuroscience of the brain and what makes people hold on to beliefs that may be factually inaccurate. They discuss the general distrust of institutions and how beliefs spread in our speedy social media ecosystem.
How much time does the Biden administration have until Republicans revitalize their strength or even expand in the midterms? This is a question brewing among Democrats who wonder whether they should go bold with legislation, or tread lightly to protect the slim majority of Democrats in the House and Senate.
In this episode and article, Paul Starr argues that Democrats must be bold in the battles they fight but careful about those they choose. Perhaps above all else, the party must prove that government can work for ordinary people while improving election reform so democracy survives.
Starr is professor of sociology and public affairs at Princeton University and Stuart Professor of communications and public affairs at Princeton's School of Public and International Affairs. He also serves as founding co-editor of The American Prospect, a liberal magazine that he co-founded in 1990 with Robert Kuttner and Robert Reich. Starr's work addresses a wide range of questions in politics, public policy, and social theory.
Catching up on the politics of the week, Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss how Rep. Liz Cheney was ousted from her role as House Republican Conference chair by the GOP, a position she's held since 2017, and what it means for democracy. Sam uncovers some suspicious Census undercounting of Hispanics in New York City, and they both evaluate COVID-19 vaccine messaging — and how to reach herd immunity.
The Biden Administration is steadfastly pushing through a $4.1 trillion infrastructure plan, which some are comparing to President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal of the 1930s. Moving beyond roads, bridges, and tunnels, Biden’s bipartisan bill includes improvements to broadband internet, climate change, and even racial justice.
Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang examine the plan with journalist Matt Yglesias — who recently wrote about it in his newsletter “Slow Boring.” Yglesias co-founded Vox.com with Ezra Klein and Melissa Bell in 2014. In 2020, he moved to Substack, an email newsletter subscription platform, where he writes independently.
After the election of Donald Trump, rural America — which made up a good portion of Trump's base — quickly became a focal point. Authors like J.D. Vance and others wrote about their struggling hometowns in the hopes of understanding the Trump appeal. And despite his 2020 election loss, Trump’s foothold remains strong in many of these pastoral pockets.
A native Nebraskan, author Ross Benes joins Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang in today's episode to discuss what made the Cornhusker State drift right in the 2016 election. Benes is the author of "Rural Rebellion: How Nebraska Became a Republican Stronghold," published by the University Press of Kansas. A journalist and research analyst, he has written for Esquire, The Wall Street Journal, Rolling Stone, and more.
Given today's anti-immigrant, nativist sentiments, is the American Dream even still possible for immigrants to the U.S.? For decades, the politics behind immigration control have undermined the idea of citizenship for all, making this a hard question to answer.
In a new book, historian Sarah Coleman reveals the roots behind today's immigration policies. She shows how immigration politics was not just about building or tearing down walls, but about employer sanctions, access to schools, welfare, and the role of local authorities in implementing policies. She discusses this and more in this episode with Julian Zelizer, her mentor when she was a Ph.D. candidate at Princeton, and Sam Wang.
Coleman is assistant professor of history at Texas State University. Her book, "The Walls Within: The Politics of Immigration in Modern America," was published by the Princeton University Press.
President Joe Biden is approaching his 100th day in office, yet his ultimate win against incumbent Donald Trump was never a foregone conclusion. In their new book, “Lucky: How Joe Biden Barely Won the Presidency,” political reporters Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes recount Biden’s perilous journey to the White House — from initial primary losses to the now-infamous first presidential debate.
Allen is a senior national political reporter with NBC News Digital, and Parnes is a senior correspondent for The Hill. The pair also are the authors of the New York Times bestseller “Shattered,” which debriefed readers on Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.
*This episode first debuted as virtual book talk hosted by Princeton SPIA.
An often-forgotten champion for racial justice in America is Thaddeaus Stevens, a 19th century statesman. He was a leader of the young Republican Party's radical wing, fighting for anti-slavery and anti-racist policies long before others endorsed them. Unlike many of his contemporaries, he saw the Civil War as a second American revolution — an opportunity to remake the country into a true multiracial democracy.
In this episode, Sam Wang takes a deep dive into the life of Stevens with historian Bruce Levine, a professor emeritus of history at the University of Illinois and the bestselling author of four books on the Civil War era. They also discuss "Special Field Order 15," which later became known by the wartime phrase "40 acres and a mule," in which some freed Black families were given 40 acres of tillable land.
As America’s only Black prime-time anchor, Don Lemon's monologues on racism, antiracism, and the nation's systemic flaws speak for his millions of fans. In this episode, Lemon speaks candidly with Julian Zelizer about his new book, "This Is the Fire: What I Say to My Friends About Racism," which currently sits at number on The New York Times Best Sellers list.
In an urgent, deeply personal, riveting plea, Lemon shows us all how deep our problems lie, and what we can do to begin to fix them. This podcast originally aired as a virtual book talk on March 29 co-sponsored by the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and Labyrinth Books.
Conspiracy theories are embedded in American history, though today they circulate at speeds we haven't seen before. Qanon, or Q, is a modern-day example of the power of conspiracies in American political discourse. Loyalty to Q is a common theme among those involved in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol.
Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang work to disentangle the web of conspiracy theories and their effects in this episode with two experts: Michael Butter and Nancy Rosenblum.
Butter is author of "The Nature of Conspiracy Theories" and is professor of American literature and cultural history at the University of Tübingen. Rosenblum is author of "A Lot of People Are Saying: The New Conspiracism and the Assault on Democracy" and is the Harvard University Senator Joseph Clark Professor of Ethics in Politics and Government emerita.
Within the first 100 days of Joe Biden’s presidency, he’s already signed a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package as the vaccine roll-out is accelerating. Meanwhile, the Democrats wrestle with advancing their priorities in the Senate, as Republicans continue to filibuster. There’s even talk of eliminating the filibuster, which could obstruct the Biden agenda. Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang unpack it all in this week’s episode.
John Marshall may be one of the most influential founders to never become President. As an early chief justice, he was a principal founder of the U.S. system of constitutional law. But more than that, his story is entwined with the entire founding of America.
In this episode, Sam Wang discusses Marshall's legacy with historian and author Robert Strauss. The pair go into great detail on the American issues Marshall helped to shape, which is the subject of a new book by Strauss titled “John Marshall: The Final Founder.”
The story of liberalism isn't often told, especially as the conservative era has taken root. Yet, there was a key figure in the formation of modern-day liberalism who is indeed worthy of attention: the late Sen. Edward “Ted” Kennedy.
Historian and writer Neal Gabler joins Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang in this week’s episode to discuss the early part of Ted Kennedy’s career. Gabler is the author of “Catching the Wind,” the first installment of a two-part volume on Ted Kennedy’s achievements, which include sponsoring nearly 700 bills that eventually became laws.
Gabler is the author of several books, and his essays and articles have appeared in The Atlantic, Vanity Fair, Esquire, Playboy, Newsweek, and Vogue, and more. He is currently a professor for the MFA program at Stonybrook Southampton.
Nearly every major decision governing the country bears the stamp of the U.S. Senate. Yet, the current makeup of the Senate — which is predominantly white, conservative males — does not necessarily represent the majority of Americans. Some even argue that the U.S. Senate has become one of the greatest threats to democracy.
Senate insider Adam Jentleson joins Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang in this episode of Politics & Polls, which originally aired as a live virtual event Feb. 22 and was hosted by Labyrinth Books. Jentleson, public affairs director at Democracy Forward and former deputy chief of staff to Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), is author of "Kill Switch," which shows how the Senate has been transformed over the decades by a minority of white conservatives.
Once all members are confirmed, President Joe Biden’s cabinet will be the most diverse group of advisers ever appointed. This team even includes Princeton’s Cecilia Rouse, who currently awaits a Senate vote.
In this episode, historian Lindsay Chervinsky joins Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang to discuss Biden’s senior leadership team, as well as the history of presidential cabinets. Chervinsky is author of a new book, “The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution.”
Chervinsky is the scholar in residence at the Institute for Thomas Paine Studies at Iona College, a senior fellow at the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies, and a professorial lecturer at the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University. She’s a historian of Early America, the presidency, and the government, especially the president’s cabinet.
From World War I to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, conflict has long been a part of American history. These events have molded society and culture, producing effects that ripple through generations.
Author and historian Margaret MacMillan joins Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang in this week's episode to discuss how war is in our bones. She is author of the new book, “War: How Conflict Shaped Us" and a professor of history at the University of Toronto and emeritus professor of international history and the former Warden of St. Antony's College at the University of Oxford.
At the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, religious messaging echoed through the streets as Christian-right activists protested the 2020 presidential election. What role did the religious right play in the uprising at the Capitol? And will they continue to be emboldened despite President Donald Trump’s departure?
Katherine Stewart joins Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang in this episode to discuss the religious right’s rise to power and its role in the insurrection. She penned an op-ed last month for The New York Times on “The Roots of Josh Hawley’s Rage,” which the trio disentangle on the show.
Stewart has reported on the religious right for more than a decade. She is the author of “The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism.”
January has been a politically charged month. Georgia flipped blue in two runoff U.S. Senate races, followed by a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. A week later, President Joe Biden was inaugurated, and now debates in the U.S. Senate continue to thunder as a second impeachment trial for Trump approaches. Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang unpack all that’s unfolded so far this month in this week’s episode.
People often wonder what a U.S. President’s legacy will be — especially those who only serve one term in office — but the ways we remember Presidents can change over time. One such case is President Jimmy Carter who, to some, was considered the embodiment of a failed presidency. In retrospect, however, many of the ways in which President Carter governed were ahead of their time.
Author and journalist Jonathan Alter joins Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang in this week’s episode to take a deep dive into President Carter’s legacy. Alter is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and author who has written three books about American presidents. The latest is “His Very Best: Jimmy Carter, a Life,” published in 2020 by Simon & Schuster.
Today, many are examining leadership in American politics. Historians, biographers, and journalists are turning to the past to uncover how leadership, especially the presidency, has changed throughout the decades.
Among those is historian Fredrik Logevall, who recently published a book on President John F. Kennedy, titled “JFK: Coming of Age in the American Century, 1917-1956.” Logevall joins Julian Zelizer in this episode to dispel some of the myths surrounding John F. Kennedy, presenting a complex and sometimes vulnerable American leader.
Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang speculate on the Georgia Senate runoff election in this episode, which was recorded Jan. 5 — before the final outcome was known. They discuss what the results will mean for the U.S. Senate, Joe Biden's presidency, and the Covid-19 pandemic response. They also chat about how unusual and unprecedented this post-election period has been.
Anew generation in American politics is emerging as millennials are now taking up political offices. Emboldened and energized, these young leaders are challenging conventional party leadership in the hopes of moving beyond today’s deeply embedded divisions.
Charlotte Alter joins Julian Zelizer in this episode to discuss this new generation of leadership, which she details in a new book: “The Ones We've Been Waiting For: How a New Generation of Leaders Will Transform America.”
Alter is a national correspondent at TIME Magazine covering politics and social issues. She has covered the 2016, 2018, and 2020 campaigns, the Women’s March and anti-Trump resistance, and the rise in activism around gun violence and climate change. Her coverage often has a special focus on women in politics, social movements, and youth activism.
*This episode was recorded on Oct. 26, 2020, as a virtual webinar sponsored by Princeton SPIA.
Donald Trump’s presidency has undoubtedly changed American political history, which many authors — from historians to journalists — have tried to capture. In essence, books on presidencies are the first drafts of history, and those on President Trump provide a keen look into a truly unique administration.
One of those authors joins Julian Zelizer in this episode to discuss: Carlos LozadaMPA ’97, who this year penned “What Were We Thinking: A Brief Intellectual History of the Trump Era.” The book tells the story of how we understand ourselves in the Trump era, using the political ideas and debates at play in America today as its main characters.
Lozada is the nonfiction book critic for The Washington Post. He has won the Pulitzer Prize for criticism and the National Book Critics Circle citation for excellence in reviewing. Previously, he has served as the Post's economics editor, national security editor, and Outlook editor.
*This episode was recorded on Oct. 19, 2020, as a virtual webinar sponsored by Princeton SPIA.
Presidents have a unique way of shaping polity, though government strength is also tested in other ways. Party polarization, money in politics, economic inequality, and other forces have all hindered the ability to govern.
American legal scholar Jack Balkin joins Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang in this week's episode to help walk through these “constitutional cycles.” He explains how the rise and fall of parties, polarization and de-polarization, as well as episodes of "republic decay" and renewal have all shaped American polity over time. These are all subjects in his latest book: “The Cycles of Constitutional Time.”
Balkin is Knight Professor of Constitutional Law and the First Amendment at Yale Law School. He is the founder and director of Yale’s Information Society Project, an interdisciplinary center that studies law and new information technologies. He also directs the Abrams Institute for Freedom of Expression and the Knight Law and Media Program at Yale.
*This episode was recorded in September 2020.
The unique circumstances of this year's elections created quite a stir among state courts regarding mail-in ballots, with some requiring intervention by the Supreme Court. In these politically charged times, what is the role of the courts?
Sam Wang interviews Marin Levy in this week's episode about state court packing, state court expansions, and more. She's a professor of law at Duke University, and her interests include judicial administration, civil procedure, remedies, and federal courts.
This episode was recorded prior to Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation to the Supreme Court.
The results are in: Joe Biden has won the presidency. However, President Donald Trump has yet to concede and is filing lawsuits in a number of states where he thinks voter fraud occurred.
It was good news for Republicans in the other races, though: The party gained seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and in state legislatures. Now, both parties await a double-runoff election in Georgia to determine which party will ultimately control the Senate.
Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang reflect on all that's unfolded in this week's post-election episode.
The results are in: Joe Biden has won the presidency. However, President Donald Trump has yet to concede and is filing lawsuits in a number of states where he thinks voter fraud occurred.
It was good news for Republicans in the other races, though: The party gained seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and in state legislatures. Now, both parties await a double-runoff election in Georgia to determine which party will ultimately control the Senate.
Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang reflect on all that's unfolded in this week's post-election episode.
On Election Day 2020, Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss which states they're keeping a close eye on and how things might shake out for this monumental presidential election. They harken back to the episode they recorded right before the 2016 election … and how much has changed since. This is an episode you don't want to miss. Also, get out and vote!
Election day is less than a week away, and early mail-in and absentee ballots account for more than 70 million votes to date. Given the unique circumstances of this year's election, will the returns that day reflect the final outcome? How will the media accurately cover this historic election day?
At the heart of every news network is the decision desk, a team of experts that analyzes and projects election winners. In this episode, Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang interview Arnon Mishkin, the Fox News analyst who leads the team that will call the election for the network.
Mishkin is director of the Fox News decision desk. Formerly a partner of The Boston Consulting Group and Mitchell Madison Group, he currently leads Mishkin Associates, advising clients on issues of core strategy, marketing, and targeting.
As the election inches closer, polling data seems favorable to the Democrats, especially in a number of Senate races. Yet some say the Democrats are being too optimistic and overly confident, mirroring some of the sentiments from 2016.
In this episode of Politics & Polls, Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss what will happen next — and the problems that are different from 2020. They go into the uncertainty not just on Election Day, but after — even in the new Congress.
The Republican Party seems to be divided: Is it the old guard, advocating for small government and tax cuts? Or has it moved into more of an America-first, isolationist space under the leadership of President Donald Trump?
In this episode, Jacob Hackerof Yale University joins Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang to discuss how the current combination of plutocratic economic priorities and right-wing populist appeals threatens the pillars of American democracy. This is the subject of Hacker’s latest book with Paul Pierson of the University of California at Berkeley: “Let Them Eat Tweets: How the Right Rules in an Age of Extreme Inequality.”
Hacker is the Stanley B. Resor Professor at Yale University and director of the Institution for Social and Policy Studies. He is known for his research and writings regarding health policy, especially his development of the so-called public option.
After a Rose Garden ceremony last week, President Donald Trump, members of his staff, and several Republican senators have all tested positive for Covid-19. The news has sparked a fiery debate about how the administration is addressing the pandemic.
Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, who was the youngest city health official in America at age 30 - leading the Detroit Health Department, joins this week's episode to discuss what he calls America's "epidemic of insecurity."
El-Sayed is a physician, epidemiologist, public health expert, and progressive activist. He ran for governor of Michigan in 2018. He is the author of "Healing Politics: A Doctor’s Journey into the Heart of Our Political Epidemic," which combines personal stories with history and science to show how inequality has created what he calls a political epidemic in the country.
Some criticize the way the media covers political issues, spurring conversations about how journalism can be improved, especially within the next generation of reporters. One 12-year-old — Jaden Jefferson — is already on his way to contributing to the news world through his local reporting efforts in Toledo, Ohio.
Jefferson, who joins Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang in this episode, has already interviewed a number of prominent figures including Sen. Elizabeth Warren. He's been interviewed by Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres, and others. You can find his stories on his YouTube channel at Jaden Reports.
Regardless of who wins the 2020 presidential election, American politics will be forever impacted by Trump's presidency.
In this episode, author David Frum discusses how America can rebuild — the subject of his new book, "Trumpocalypse: Restoring American Democracy" — with Julian Zelizer.
Frum is a senior editor The Atlantic. He virtually visited the School as a Leadership Through Mentorship guest; this episode was a live recording.
Young voters are notoriously criticized for not making it to the ballot boxes. What motivates young people to vote? And how we can ensure that more college-aged students make it to the polls this fall?
In this episode, Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang are joined by Emma Parish ’21 and Kesavan Srivilliputhur ’23, two Princeton University undergraduate students who are part of the Vote100 initiative, which aspires for 100% of the Princeton undergraduate body to engage civically, and for every eligible student to vote. The group engages in a lively discussion about what young people care about, their unique voting behaviors, and how older generations can help mobilize youth to vote.
This episode first aired on Facebook Live on Sept. 15.
In honor of the 200th episode of Politics & Polls, Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang reflect back on the show’s history with the show’s producer, B. Rose Huber. Zelizer and Wang answer a series of questions from how they met/started to the show to their most embarrassing moments on air to which historical figure they’d most like to interview (Hint: They share the same answer!). Miss your chance to submit a question? Email us at politicspolls@princeton.edu.
Many policies under President Donald Trump seem out of step with traditional Republican platforms. This has caused many conservatives to take a look at the party and ask: Is Trump a cause or product of the GOP?
Veteran political consultant Stuart Stevens is among those embedded in such conversations. In this episode with Julian Zelizer, Stuart discusses where the party has been, where it is today, and where it's going. Stevens also dives into details from new book: "It Was All a Lie: How the Republican Party Became Donald Trump."
Stevens is an American travel writer and political consultant. He is the cofounder of the political media consultancy Stevens & Schriefer Group. In 2013, he became a founding partner in Strategic Partners & Media, the consulting firm with the best record in statewide races. He served as a top strategist for Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign. He’s now part of the Lincoln Project, a conservative “Never Trump” group for the 2020 United States presidential election.
This week’s show is special: We’re running an episode of Democracy Works, a podcast produced by Penn State University’s McCourtney Institute for Democracy. (You may remember we swapped episodes with them last summer.)
This episode features Tehama Lopez Bunyasi, assistant professor at the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University, and Candis Watts Smith, associate professor African American Studies and political science at Penn State.
Bunyasi and Smith are coauthors of a book called "Stay Woke: A People’s Guide to Making all Black Lives Matter," which looks at the history of structural racism in the U.S. and gives people information and tools to become antiracists.
In this episode, they talk about the clumsiness associated with changing patterns of thinking and behavior and how that’s playing out across our online and offline lives and among both individuals and companies. They also discuss the inherent messiness of the Black Lives Matter movement and why that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
With the rise of online and social media platforms, free speech and political discourse have taken on new complexities. While providing the opportunity to connect with large audiences, social media platforms have increasingly depersonalized discussions.
Suzanne Nossel joins Sam Wang and Julian Zelizer to discuss censoring speech, freedom of expression during the Trump administration, and distrust in our public institutions. She’s the author of a recent book: “Dare to Speak: Defending Free Speech for All.” The trio look at “call-out” culture and whether free speech comes at the expense of social justice.
Nossel currently serves as the chief executive officer of PEN America, an organization focused on free speech and human rights issues. Since 2013, she has overseen PEN America’s growth, doubling its staff, budget, and membership. She previously served as chief operating officer of Human Rights Watch and as executive director of Amnesty International USA. She also has served in roles under the Obama and Clinton administrations. Her work has been published in the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and more.
The GOP went from full control in only three state governments in 1992 to 26 in 2018. How did the party achieve such rapid success on the state-level?
Political scientist Matt Grossmann joins Julian Zelizer in this week’s episode to discuss the rise of the modern conservative movement, its grassroots origins, and its state legislature strategy. Grossman also touches upon the social issues that have driven the conservative movement in America.
Grossman is a professor of political science at Michigan State University and the director of the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research. He’s also the author or co-author of four books, and his most recent book, “Red State Blues: How the Conservative Revolution Stalled in the States,” was published by Cambridge University Press in 2016.
With the Covid-19 pandemic, the conventions will look vastly different from previous years. In this episode, Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss the run-up to the Republican and Democratic National Conventions. They look at how a virtual convention might affect election coverage, voter enthusiasm, and rising political talent.
Later in the episode, they dig into polling numbers across the United States, particularly within the potential swing states of Georgia, Florida, and Texas. They discuss the impact of a potential Supreme Court vacancy or vote-by-mail suppression on the presidential election.
Finally, Wang tells listeners about “Moneyball 2020,” a model designed by the Princeton Election Consortium to identify races where voters have the most leverage to prevent partisan gerrymandering in 2021.
On Politics & Polls this week, Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss the roots of the modern Republican Party. Zelizer talks about his newly published book, “Burning Down the House: Newt Gingrich, The Fall of a Speaker, and the Rise of a New Republican Party,” which explores how Newt Gingrich’s political tactics and partisan maneuverings led to the modern GOP.
Julian Zelizer is co-host of Politics & Polls. He is the Malcolm Stevenson Forbes, Class of 1941 Professor of History and Public Affairs at Princeton University, and a CNN political analyst. He has written more than 100 op-eds and has edited and authored 21 books. He has been a fellow at the Brookings Institute, the New York Historical Society, New America, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the Russell Sage Foundation.
Redistricting has increasingly transformed the Congressional delegations of many states. Even slight changes in streets and neighborhoods can drastically shift who represents each district.
Journalist Dave Daley joins Sam Wang and Julian Zelizer in this episode to speak about redistricting and gerrymandering across the United States. Daley’s book, “Ratf**ked,” examines the legacy of Republican redistricting efforts in the 2010s. Daley, Wang, and Zelizer trace the history of gerrymandering since the late 1700s and explore how technology has accelerated the issue.
Daley also is the author of the new book “Unrigged: How Americans are Battling Back Efforts to Save Democracy.” He is the former editor-in-chief of Salon.com, and the former CEO and publisher of the Connecticut News Project. He is a digital media fellow at the Wilson Center for the Humanities and the Grady School of Journalism at the University of Georgia. He has appeared in the New Yorker, Washington Post, The Guardian, and Rolling Stone.
With two of the past three American presidents winning the electoral vote, but losing the popular vote, many question whether the institution stifles the will of the people and goes against the concept of democracy.
Jesse Wegman joins Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang to speak about the electoral college, political gridlock, and how to fix the system. Wegman recently published his first book, “Let the People Pick the President.” On this week’s episode, he discusses his book, alternatives to the system, the National Popular Vote Compact, and more.
Wegman is a member of The New York Times editorial board and writes on issues concerning the Supreme Court and legal affairs. He previously worked as a reporter, editor, and producer at outlets including National Public Radio, The New York Observer, Reuters, The Daily Beast, and Newsweek.
In light of the widespread Black Lives Matter protests, Americans are taking a deep look at police violence in the country. Many are demanding a complete transformation of our criminal justice system, tasking America’s leaders with delivering tangible policy.
This week, Alex Vitale joins Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang to discuss the Kerner commission, the militarization of policing, and where the country goes from here. Vitale, author of “The End of Policing,” explains the deep connection between police violence and racial inequality in America. The trio looks at why police departments are made to deal with homelessness, mental health issues, and medical care, and what could be ahead.
Vitale is professor of sociology and coordinator of the Policing and Social Justice Project at Brooklyn College. He is also a visiting professor at London Southbank University. He has spent the last 25 years writing about policing and consults both police departments and human rights organizations internationally.
With a dramatic uptick of coronavirus cases in many states, studies show young people comprise a disproportionate fraction of new cases. Historically, university students are more likely to take risks, so what will happen when they get back to campus? What do social distancing guidelines look like on a residential campus?
Laurence Steinberg joins Sam Wang to discuss these questions and the future of the campus college experience in a world after the Covid-19 pandemic. Steinberg and Wang discuss social distancing guidelines, federal bailouts for colleges, and remote learning for new and returning students.
Steinberg, Distinguished University Professor and the Laura H. Carnell Professor of Psychology at Temple University, has spent years studying adolescent psychology. He is the author of 450 articles and the author or co-author of 17 books on teenage development.
A vexing part of our democracy is that even overwhelmingly popular policies are sometimes not enacted into law because of political stalemates. This not only threatens the stability of our democracy, but also creates disillusionment among voters.
This week, Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss important questions about the health and future of our democracy with David Litt, former speechwriter to President Barack Obama and author of “Thanks Obama: My Hopey, Changey White House Years" and "Democracy in One Book or Less.” They touch on Mitch McConnell’s “rules of the game,” down-ballot elections, and how humor can change minds.
With nationwide protests in support for the Black Lives Matter movement and growing economic frustration from the Covid-19 pandemic, this election year will surely be eventful.
This week, Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss the Black Lives Matter protests and how social media and technology have boosted the movement. They look into the underlying resentment with, and potential reforms for, the current criminal justice system.
The U.S. postal or mail system, the purse strings of which are controlled by Congress, has been running at a deficit for years, calling into question its financial viability. Yet, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the system has taken on greater importance for Americans. In addition, as we look to the 2020 presidential election, its necessity for mail-in voting has erupted into a partisan battle.
Richard John, a historian at Columbia University’s School of Journalism, joins Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang to talk about the U.S. postal system’s role as a key part of America’s infrastructure and the new reality of the challenges it faces.
With expertise in the history of communications, John teaches and advises Ph.D. students and is a member of Columbia’s history department. He is the author of “Spreading the News: The American Postal System from Franklin to Morse,” which received the Allan Nevins Prize from the Society of American Historians and the Herman E. Krooss Prize from the Business History, and “Network Nation: Inventing American Telecommunications,” which won the first Ralph Gomory Book Prize from the Business History Conference and was the 2010 Best Book in Journalism and Mass Communication History.
When COVID-19 first emerged in South Korea, the country’s rapid response and decisive intervention enabled the country to detect cases early, slowing the spread of the infection and controlling mortality rates. Now, the country faces a new spike in cases, leaving many to wonder if a second wave is coming.
Sam Wang and Julian Zelizer discuss South Korea’s response to Covid-19 in this episode – recorded live on May 19 – which features Dr. Asaph Young Chun, director-general of Statistics Research Institute in South Korea, the state-run think tank of official statistics and data innovation.
Dr. Chun is faculty chair and director of the Pyongyang Summer Institute for Data Science, Survey Methodology and Interdisciplinary Research and Applications. He is a survey methodologist and sociologist with 25 years of experience in large-scale survey and census research funded by and conducted for U.S. federal agencies, such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the National Center for Education Statistics, Department of Health and Human Service, and National Science Foundation.
In grappling with the Covid-19 pandemic, many scientists and government officials are looking to the 1918 pandemic as a reference point for lessons learned. Also known as the "Spanish Flu," this epidemic was the most sweeping of the 20th century, infecting one third of the world’s population, and upending social, political, and economic norms.
John M. Barry, a New York Times best-selling author, joins this episode to discuss his book, “The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History.” The book was named the 2004 book by the National Academies of Science, and is garnering current attention given its relevancy to today.
Barry has been recognized in the field of science for his work and has been a source to politicians on both sides of the aisle for his insights on pandemics. He is also the author of several other books, including, “Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How it Changed America,” which won the 1998 Francis Parkman Prize for the best book of U.S. history; “Roger Williams and the Creation of the American Soul;” and "The Ambition and the Power: The Fall of Jim Wright: A True Story of Washington."
The 2018 midterm elections were a milestone for women in politics. Not since the 1992 midterm elections— popularly named “the year of the woman” — had so many women, especially from such diverse backgrounds, been elected to the U.S. Congress. Many of these women have emerged as headliners with powerful voices that are reshaping the country’s political landscape.
Today, Jennifer Steinhauer, a journalist at The New York Times and author, shares her thoughts on the freshman class of Congress. She is the author of a new book on the subject, “The Firsts: The Inside Story of Women Shaping Congress.”
Throughout American history, significant economic changes have had a profound impact on the socioeconomic landscape and political economy of the country. With Covid-19 laying bare some of today’s economic inequalities, many wonder if the “American Dream” has all but evaporated.
In this episode, author and academic Nicholas Lemann discusses this and more. Lemann, a staff writer at The New Yorker, is also the author of several books, the most recent of which is “Transaction Man: The Rise of the Deal and the Decline of the American Dream.”
Lemann is the Joseph Pulitzer II and Edith Pulitzer Moore Professor of Journalism and dean emeritus of the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University. He also directs Columbia Global Reports, a book publishing venture, and Columbia World Projects, a new institution that implements academic research outside the university.
Covid-19 has had a disproportionate impact on at-risk populations, shining the spotlight on economic inequality and instability. Issues such as limited access to health care, unemployment, and financial vulnerability are now driving much of the government’s response.
Today our guest is Sir Angus Deaton, Dwight D. Eisenhower Professor of International Affairs, Emeritus, and senior scholar at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Deaton won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 2015. His main interests are in poverty, inequality, health, development, well-being, and the use of evidence in social science and medicine. With Anne Case, he co-authored the recently published book, “Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism.”
The Covid-19 pandemic continues to have devastating impacts on the global and U.S. economy. As a result of quarantines and social distancing, the bulk of the economic activity has shut down, leaving thousands of workers and small businesses in the U.S. struggling and stock markets reeling. The federal government has made attempts to stabilize the economy, but will it be enough?
To discuss what lies ahead, today’s guest is Cecilia Rouse, dean of Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Rouse, whose interests are in labor economics, served as a member of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers from 2009 to 2011.
This week, we're releasing a bonus episode with special guest: Dr. Richard Besser of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Given the timeliness of this interview, we thought it best to release it early.
Health care is deeply intertwined with public policy, especially now as the world grapples with containing Covid-19. This battle is not only being fought on the government level, but also in hospitals and laboratories as scientists search for a cure.
Today’s guest, Dr. Richard Besser, president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is an expert in this arena. Besser was recently appointed to a multi-state council dedicated to restoring the economy amidst Covid-19 led by the governors of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts.
Besser is the former acting director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and ABC News’ former chief health and medical editor.
Aiming to "fix the bugs in our democracy," a people-powered activism movement has taken hold since the 2016 election. Those who are part of this wave are tackling difficult issues like gerrymandering, voting rights, and fairness in democracy through grassroots efforts.
Today's guest is an experienced leader in this area. Katie Fahey is the executive director of The People, which empowers individuals to get involved in the political process.
Previously, Fahey was the executive director of Voters Not Politicians (VNP), where she led more than 14,000 volunteers across Michigan to pass a ballot proposal with 61% of the vote that made political gerrymandering illegal. Prior to VNP, she worked in the garbage and recycling industry. She received her BA in Sustainable Business from Aquinas College in 2012.
This episode is part of a series produced by the Princeton Gerrymandering Project and Princeton's Pace Center for Civil Engagement.
In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court forcing Wisconsin residents to the polls during a global pandemic, many are wondering how 2020’s remaining elections may unfold. Congress is debating a massive expansion of absentee voting, and questions around microtargeting and dark money have resurfaced. Amid public health concerns and an increase in online campaigning, how do we protect the integrity of our elections?
Ellen Weintraub joins Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang to talk about how to make voting available to every citizen. Weintraub discusses the importance of an informed electorate and the regulatory jurisdiction of the U.S. Federal Election Commission (FEC), where she has served as a commissioner since 2002.
Weintraub most recently served as chair of the Commission in 2019 — her third time in this role. She has called for meaningful campaign-finance law enforcement and robust disclosure. Prior to her appointment to the FEC, Weintraub served as counsel to the House Ethics Committee.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on American life. As people prepare for extended stay-at-home orders, policymakers are looking for ways to mitigate the economic and financial ramifications of the crisis. Congress already passed a $2 trillion stimulus package, and talks are underway for additional relief. But is this enough? In this episode, Torsten Sløk, Julian Zelizer, and Sam Wang discuss the impact the first stimulus bill will have on consumers and businesses, as well as what the economy could look like in the aftermath of the pandemic.
Sløk is the Chief International Economist at Deutsche Bank Securities in New York. Prior to joining the firm, he worked at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and at the International Monetary Fund. He has published numerous journal articles and reviews on economics and policy analysis in publications including the Journal of International Economics, the Journal of International Money and Finance, and The Econometric Journal.
As the number of COVID-19 cases around the nation continues to climb, Americans are racing to respond. Entire cities have ground to a halt. Doctors have appealed for more masks, gowns, and eye gear. And many states have closed nonessential businesses and issued shelter-in-place orders. The pandemic is undoubtedly one of the biggest crises the nation has faced in recent decades. What will the next few months look like? And are our state and national governments doing enough?
Juliette Kayyem joins Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang in this week’s episode to discuss these questions, drawing on her experience as the assistant secretary for intergovernmental affairs at the Department of Homeland Security under the Obama administration. Kayyem explains how past governments have responded to crises and proposes two critical elements of good leadership: numbers and hope.
Kayyem has spent more than 15 years managing complex policy initiatives and organizing government responses to major crises in both state and federal government. She is the Senior Belfer Lecturer in International Security at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, where she is faculty chair of the Homeland Security and Security and Global Health Projects.
Kayyem is the author of “Security Mom: An Unclassified Guide to Protecting Our Homeland and Your Home,” in which she weaves her memoirs of living through these moments with the kind of work she has done. She is also the founder of Kayyem Solutions, LLC, a group that provides strategic advice in resiliency planning, risk management, event security, and more. She appears frequently on CNN as their on-air national security analyst.
World leaders continue to grapple with the appropriate crisis response for COVID-19, showcasing the need for stable leadership and a continuity of government officials.
Christopher Lu '88, former deputy secretary of labor, joins Sam Wang in this episode to discuss how U.S. presidents respond to crises and what a future administration would look like. Lu was present at the Obama administration's tabletop exercise of coordinated response to a hurricane, pandemic, and cyber intrusion — attended by the incoming Trump administration. He also makes the observation that if Biden was elected, his administration would bring in its own continuity, essentially from the Obama administration.
Lu served as assistant to the president and White House cabinet secretary for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as well as the co-chair of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Lu graduated from the Woodrow Wilson School and from Harvard Law School, where he was a classmate of Obama's.
Read the Politico story Wang and Lu discuss.
It's been a tumultuous week in American society as many are adjusting to life with the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, Democratic primaries have also taken quite a turn, with Joe Biden solidifying his position as the Democratic front-runner. In this episode, Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang sort out all that's transpired over these past few (and wild) weeks.
Mike Bloomberg and Tom Steyer’s self-funded presidential campaigns have revived questions about campaign finance reform. Before dropping out of the race, Bloomberg spent more than $500 million and Steyer more than $250 million dollars on their respective campaigns. Under current regulations, there is no limit on how much of their personal funds candidates can use for campaign purposes. Should there be? And how much does money actually influence an election?
With the 2020 campaign season underway, some are growing concerned about the fairness and accuracy of elections. The news is dominated with stories of Russian-based Internet hackers, voter suppression, and flaws in the campaign finance system. Given all this talk of “stolen” or “rigged” elections, can we be confident in the integrity of the results?
Rick Hasen joins Julian Zelizer in this week’s episode to discuss the state of our election system. Hasen’s latest book, “Election Meltdown: Dirty Tricks, Distrust, and the Threat to American Democracy,” examines the country’s decline in trust in our elections and proposes possible fixes.
Hasen is the Chancellor’s Professor of Law and Political Science at the University of California, Irvine. His research focuses on election law and campaign finance regulation. Hasen previously served as a founding co-editor of Election Law Journal and has authored more than 100 articles on election law issues, which have been published in numerous journals including the Harvard Law Review, Stanford Law Review, and Supreme Court Review. He is also the founder of Election Law Blog and the author of “The Justice of Contradictions: Antonin Scalia and the Politics of Disruption.”
Presidential biographies are some of the more popular forms of historical literature. They provide valuable insight into our founders, giving us some sense of who our leaders were and giving historical context to understand the presidency today. But there are some limits to these works. One author is reexamining how we talk and write about presidential history in our modern time.
Alexis Coe joins Julian Zelizer in this week’s episode to discuss her new book, “You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington.” Coe reimagines how we think about the first president, taking another look at the precedents he set and their implications on leadership today.
Coe is a writer, historian, and the award-winning author of “Alice + Freda Forever: A Murder in Memphis.” She is also a consulting producer on Doris Kearns Goodwin’s three-part series on George Washington and the host of “No Man’s Land.” She appears frequently on CNN and the History Channel and has contributed to a number of publications such as The New Yorker, The New York Times, The New Republic, and The Paris Review.
In honor of Valentine's Day, we're rereleasing an episode we love: #82 featuring Mike Cooley and Patterson Hood of the Drive-By Truckers. This Southern rock band has tackled a number of contentious political issues through song - from class to race and even partisan politics. They just released a new album, "The Unraveling," available now wherever you find music. Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang interviewed the band a year ago when they visited Princeton University for a public talk.
Monday night’s Iowa primary caucus ended without a clear Democratic winner at the end of the night, leaving many wondering what impact the results will have on the 2020 election and future caucuses. As the Democratic National Committee calls for accountability, voters are taking a closer look at the app created to streamline the process of reporting caucus results.
But how much does the Iowa caucus matter? While the winners of the Iowa caucus don’t always go on to become their party nominee, the caucus plays an overwhelming role in media coverage of how an election will play out. Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss this year’s caucus, its implications, and current prospects for Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaigns.
Today’s fight for women’s rights has been decades in the making. Feminist movements in the U.S. have lobbied for national progress on a number of issues, including suffrage, reproductive rights, and pay equity. While thousands of protestors gathered for the Women’s March in early January, a network of legal and political support continued to work behind the scenes to pass legislation to break down gender inequality.
Fatima Goss Graves joins Julian Zelizer in this week’s episode to talk about activism and leadership in light of the #MeToo Movement and the Trump administration. Goss Graves is the president and CEO of the National Women’s Law Center, where she and other members work to improve the lives of women and girls in areas such as income security, health and reproductive rights, education access, and workplace fairness.
Goss Graves is also currently an advisor on the American Law Institute Project on Sexual and Gender-Based Misconduct on Campus and was on the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Select Task Force on the Study of Harassment in the Workplace. She also is a Ford Foundation Public Voices Fellow.
Liberty is a value often associated with democracy. Grassroots advocates and organizers have historically mobilized to pressure leaders and bring about change in society. But these efforts haven’t always been successful. With this in mind, what does it take for liberty to emerge?
This pursuit of liberty is at the center of economist Daron Acemoglu’s new book, “The Narrow Corridor: States, Societies, and the Fate of Liberty.” In this week’s episode, Acemoglu joins Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang to discuss the role of norms and mobilization as states and societies struggle in the corridor to liberty.
Acemoglu is the Elizabeth and James Killian Professor of Economics at MIT. Earlier this year, he was named Institute Professor, the highest faculty honor at MIT. Acemoglu has authored multiple works, including “Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy” and “Why Nations Fail.”
Ronald Reagan is often regarded as a champion of modern American conservatism, but the former president didn’t always hold these political beliefs. Reagan actually grew up in a New Deal family and voiced his support for the Democratic Party well into the 1950s. So how did he come to be such a prominent figure in the Republican Party?
In this week’s episode, Robert Mann joins Julian Zelizer to discuss Ronald Reagan’s political origins and transformation from a Democrat to a Republican, the subject of Mann’s book, “Becoming Ronald Reagan: The Rise of a Conservative Icon.” Mann discusses Reagan’s political philosophies as they changed in the face of communism and the aftermath of the Vietnam War.
Mann holds the Manship Chair in Journalism at the Manship School of Mass Communication at Louisiana State University. He has authored several works, including “Daisy Petals and Mushroom Clouds: LBJ, Barry Goldwater and the Ad that Changed American Politics” and “The Walls of Jericho: Lyndon Johnson, Hubert Humphrey, Richard Russell and the Struggle for Civil Rights.” Mann also has penned op-eds and book reviews in such publications as The New York Times, the Boston Globe, Smithsonian, Politico, Vox, and Salon.
We're back - and with a very special episode! Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang interview some young political voices in this week’s episode, focusing on their projects, motivations, and hopes for 2020.
ABOUT THE GUESTS
Nick Guthman, Blue Future
Nick Guthman is a co-founder and the executive director of Blue Future, which connects young people to progressive campaigns. The group raised more than $70,000 to support student organizers working on congressional campaigns last year.
Henry Slater, Princeton University Asian American Students Association
Henry Slater is a sophomore at Princeton University. He and others are running voter registration drives on campus with the Asian American Students Association.
Sydney Ward and Hyrum Devenport, Project 320
Sydney Ward is a senior in high school and the founder of Project 320, which connects Utah students with their local reps and works to increase voter registration. Hyrum Devenport is a freshman at Brigham Young University and the community outreach director of Project 320.
Ella Berg, Vote Across America
Ella Berg, a high school senior at Staples High School in Connecticut, runs Vote Across America, which streamlines the voting process not only for Connecticut voters, but voters in every state and U.S. territory.
Natalie Sweet, Zero Hour
Natalie Sweet is a student at the Horace Mann School in the Bronx. She is co-head of Zero Hour, a non-profit organization dedicated to taking action to end climate change.
College debt is a defining characteristic of middle class life in America.
In this episode, Caitlin Zaloom joins Julian Zelizer to discuss the impact of debt on families and students, the historic value of education, and explanations behind the rising costs of college. These are all topics of her new book, “Indebted: How Families Make College Work at Any Cost.”
Zaloom is the editor-in-chief of Public Books and an associate professor in the Department of Social and Cultural Analysis at New York University. Her research focuses on urbanization, globalization, financial markets, science and technology, and social theory. She also is the author of “Out of the Pits: Traders and Technology.” Zaloom’s work has been recognized by multiple organizations, including the National Science Foundation, and the International Center for Advanced Study.
After President Donald Trump was elected, two congressional staffers wrote a guide to “resisting the Trump agenda,” which immediately went viral. Known as “Indivisible,” the guide sparked a grassroots movement across the country, and invisible groups are now working across the country to advocate for progressive leaders and policies.
Ezra Levin and Leah Greenberg, who are married, are the cofounders and executive directors of Indivisible and have published a book about the story of the movement: “We are Indivisible: A Blueprint for Democracy After Trump.” They join Sam Wang and Julian Zelizer in today’s episode to discuss.
Before starting Indivisible, Levin, an alumnus of Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School, was a federal antipoverty advocate. Greenberg was a human trafficking policy advocate on Capitol Hill. The two have been listed in Time’s “100 Most Influential People of 2019,” Politico 50 list, and GQ’s “50 Most Powerful People in Trump’s Washington.”
Is democracy under attack? With the rise of authoritarianism abroad and the erosion of rights and norms at home, many have started to reexamine the strengths and weaknesses of democratic institutions. Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss the state of American democracy in this week’s episode, looking at voting rights, truth in politics, and impeachment as the country enters the final year of President Trump’s term.
Impeachment headlines are dominating the news. Since the start of public hearings in the U.S. House impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump last week, several witnesses have testified on concerns about the Trump’s call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss the impeachment inquiry in this week’s episode, breaking down the substance of and the Republican response to the public hearings so far.
Florida will be a key state in the 2020 presidential election, and one Mayor Andrew Gillum hopes will flip blue. In this episode, he chats with Julian Zelizer about his run for governor and his current efforts to mobilize voters in Florida. Gillum is currently chair of Forward Florida Action, a voter registration organization working to build a vibrant, inclusive democracy that works for all Florida communities.
Voters cast their ballots this week, with a few key statewide elections taking place in Virginia, Kentucky, and Mississippi. Sam Wang and Julian Zelizer discuss the results of these elections and what it means for the 2020 election in this episode.
The duo also takes a look at the impeachment process, debating whether the inquiry has caused rallying among Republican voters. The short answer: It hasn’t — according to the pair.
Newly released polls show wide-ranging political scenarios, but reading the electorate can be hard. What exactly is going on and what might pundits and media be getting wrong? In this week’s episode, Joel Benenson discusses his work on four presidential campaigns with Sam Wang and Julian Zelizer. Benenson argues for tempered media coverage of these campaigns, suggesting the key to winning an election centers around addressing people’s lived experiences and economic struggles. Benenson is the founder and CEO of the Benenson Group and one of the leading strategists in the world for campaigns. He is an award-winning researcher and pollster who helped run President Barack Obama’s 2008 and 2012 campaigns. He also played a critical role in Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton’s 2016 campaign and President Bill Clinton’s 1996 campaign and is currently working on Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s 2020 campaign. Benenson was named “Pollster of the Year” by the American Association of Political Consultants. He previously worked as a journalist for the New York Daily News, communications director for Governor Cuomo, and vice president at FCB, a global advertising agency.
Income inequality in the U.S. has reached a five-decade high, according to data from the Census Bureau. Debates over why this is happening and how to address it have taken center stage in the Democratic debates, with Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren calling for a wealth tax while other candidates are pushing back. Emmanuel Saez joins Julian Zelizer in this week’s episode to discuss the erosion of the progressive tax system, which Saez and co-author Gabriel Zucman detail in their new book, “The Triumph of Injustice: How the Rich Dodge Taxes and How to Make Them Pay.” While the individual income tax is still progressive, Saez argues that other taxes, such as the sales tax and payroll taxes, make the tax system regressive as a whole. Saez is a professor in the Department of Economics and the director of the Center of Economic Growth at the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to joining the Berkeley faculty, he was an assistant professor of economics at Harvard University. His research focuses on taxation, redistribution, and inequality. Jointly with economist Thomas Piketty, Saez has constructed long-run historical series of income inequality in the U.S. that have been widely discussed in the public debate.
Economists shape conversations on topics ranging from business to politics, and their influence is widely felt; the Federal Reserve, trade negotiations, and public spending have become central focuses of political debate. But economists weren’t always permanent fixtures in policymaking. Binyamin Appelbaum joins Sam Wang and Julian Zelizer to discuss the rise of economists between the 1960s and 2000 — the focus of his new book, “The Economists’ Hour: False Prophets, Free Markets, and the Fracture of Society. His book explores the role of economists in shaping public policy on issues like the draft, income inequality and distribution, and minimum wage. Appelbaum is The New York Times Editorial Board’s lead writer on business and economics. Prior to joining the Board this year, he was a Washington correspondent for the Times, covering the Federal Reserve and other aspects of economic policy from 2001 to 2009. Appelbaum previously worked for the Charlotte Observer, where his reporting on subprime lending won a George Polk Award and a Gerald Loeb Award. He also was a finalist for the 2008 Pulitzer Prize.
Racism affects our criminal justice system — from policing methods to prison-system structures to punishments issued for different crimes. More than 50 years after the publication of the Kerner Report — which investigated the 1967 race riots — many of the same problems of institutionalized racism persist today. Carl Suddler joins Julian Zelizer in this episode to discuss the racialized nature of the criminal justice system, which is the topic of his new book, “Presumed Criminal: Black Youth and the Justice System in Postwar New York.” The book examines history of policies and strategies that led to the criminalization of black youth, including stop-and-frisk policing and no-knock warrants, and media coverage of black youth and crime. Suddler is an assistant professor in the Department of History at Emory University. Prior to joining to Emory faculty this year, Suddler was an assistant professor of African American history at Florida Atlantic University and a postdoctoral fellow at the James Weldon Johnson Institute for the Study of Race and Difference at Emory. His research focuses on the intersections of youth, race, and crime and on the consequences of inequity in the United States. Suddler is also a contributing writer for the Conversation and Bleacher Report and has published work in the Journal of American History, Journal of African American History, American Studies Journal, and The Washington Post.
Many conservative politicians have used the term “free enterprise” as a rallying cry during the past few elections. Yet, the exact meaning of the phrase is unclear. Where did this idea come from? What did it mean in different time periods? And what are the stakes in how we define it? Lawrence Glickman joins Julian Zelizer in this episode to discuss these questions, which he addresses in his new book, “Free Enterprise: An American History.” The book examines how the idea of free enterprise has changed over the past few decades, covering its origins in 1832, its growth as an oppositional ideology to the New Deal, and its role in American politics now. Glickman is the Stephen and Evalyn Professor of American Studies at Cornell University. He has authored four books, including “Buying Power: A History of Consumer Activism in America.” Prior to joining the Cornell faculty in 2014, Glickman was the Carolina Trustee Professor and chair of the Department of History at the University of South Carolina. He has written on public affairs for Boston Review, Dissent, and other publications.
The media has come under increasing attack over the past few years. While the adversarial relationship between past presidents and the media is not new, some have argued that President Trump has gone further than his predecessors by targeting specific journalists and using language meant to incite violence. As accusations of “fake news” grow, many are paying close attention to how media outlets cover the current administration. Jim Acosta of CNN joins Julian Zelizer in this episode to discuss his experiences covering the Trump administration’s first two years in office. His new book, “The Enemy of the People: A Dangerous Time to Tell the Truth in America” examines the recent attacks and death threats against Acosta and other members of the press corps, the roles of former Press Secretaries Sean Spicer and Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and media coverage of the 2020 presidential election. Acosta gave a public talk at Princeton on Sept. 23. Acosta is CNN’s chief White House correspondent, currently covering the Trump administration and previously covering the Obama administration. He has received several awards, including the National Association of Hispanic Journalists 2017 Presidential Award and the San Jose State University Journalism School 2018 William Randolph Hearst Foundation Award, and was a part of the CNN team that won an Emmy for their 2012 presidential campaign coverage. Prior to joining CNN in 2007, Acosta reported as a news correspondent for CBS News, CBS Newspath, and various local radio stations.
The media has come under increasing attack over the past few years. While the adversarial relationship between past presidents and the media is not new, some have argued that President Trump has gone further than his predecessors by targeting specific journalists and using language meant to incite violence. As accusations of “fake news” grow, many are paying close attention to how media outlets cover the current administration. Jim Acosta of CNN joins Julian Zelizer in this episode to discuss his experiences covering the Trump administration’s first two years in office. His new book, “The Enemy of the People: A Dangerous Time to Tell the Truth in America” examines the recent attacks and death threats against Acosta and other members of the press corps, the roles of former Press Secretaries Sean Spicer and Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and media coverage of the 2020 presidential election. Acosta gave a public talk at Princeton on Sept. 23. Acosta is CNN’s chief White House correspondent, currently covering the Trump administration and previously covering the Obama administration. He has received several awards, including the National Association of Hispanic Journalists 2017 Presidential Award and the San Jose State University Journalism School 2018 William Randolph Hearst Foundation Award, and was a part of the CNN team that won an Emmy for their 2012 presidential campaign coverage. Prior to joining CNN in 2007, Acosta reported as a news correspondent for CBS News, CBS Newspath, and various local radio stations.
The Democratic field has started to narrow. Of the 26 candidates who announced their bid for the presidency, 20 remain as of mid-September. And at the third Democratic presidential debate last week, only 10 qualified, giving voters a closer look at the candidates’ policy positions. Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss possible reasons behind Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s steady rise in the polls and the cases in favor and against President Donald Trump’s reelection, as well as the role of voter ID laws, vote suppression, and redistricting in the next election.
Digital technology is playing an increasingly large role in our lives. We use our smartphones to communicate, post photos, read breaking news, watch videos, and more — to the point where we touch our phones an average of 2,600 times a day, according to a study by research firm Dscout. Author James Williams joins Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang in this episode to discuss his new book, “Stand Out of Our Light: Freedom and Resistance in the Attention Economy.” The book examines the attention economy and how this relentless competition for attention from our digital products and services is undermining individual human will and democracy at large. The book was chosen by Princeton President Christopher L. Eisgruber ’83 as the pre-read selection for the Class of 2023. Williams joined Eisgruber and other faculty (including Wang) at a Sept. 9 book talk. The recipient of the inaugural Cambridge University “Nine Dots Prize” for original thinking in 2017, Williams recently completed his doctoral work in philosophy at Oxford University. Before that, he worked for Google as a technology and business strategist. He also is a co-founder of the Time Well Spent campaign, a project that aims to steer technology design toward having greater respect for users’ attention, goals, and values. His writing about the philosophy and ethics of technology has been published in The Observer, WIRED, and other publications.
Political discussions — and subsequent controversies — unfold by the minute on platforms like Twitter. In this episode, Julian Zelizer speaks with David Karpf about viral moments and their ramifications. Karpf is an associate professor in the School of Media and Public Affairs at the George Washington University. His work focuses on strategic communication practices of political associations in the United States, with a particular interest in internet-related strategies. He is the author of "The MoveOn Effect: The Unexpected Transformation of American Political Advocacy" and "Analytic Activism: Digital Listening and the New Political Strategy." Both books discuss how digital media is transforming the work of political advocacy and activist organizations. His writing about digital media and politics has been published in a wide range of academic and journalistic outlets, including The Nation, Nonprofit Quarterly, and The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Voter suppression, gerrymandering, money in politics, and even issues with the electoral college all call into question whether the United States truly has a representative democracy. How might these issues play a role in the upcoming 2020 elections? Renowned scholar Lawrence Lessig of Harvard Law School joins Sam Wang on today’s program for a discussion on election reform. Lessig is the is the Roy L. Furman Professor of Law and Leadership. Prior to rejoining the Harvard faculty, he was a professor at Stanford Law School, where he founded the school’s Center for Internet and Society, and a professor at the University of Chicago. He clerked for Judge Richard Posner on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals and Justice Antonin Scalia on the United States Supreme Court. Author of numerous books, he’s also received many awards, including the Free Software Foundation’s Freedom Award, Fastcase 50 Award and was named one of Scientific American’s Top 50 Visionaries.
History is rife with examples of people behaving badly, sometimes with truly evil intent. Yet noted scholar Nicholas Christakis argues that humans are actually wired for goodness. His recent book, “Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society,” makes the case for what he calls a “social blueprint for goodness,” which he discusses with Sam Wang and Julian Zelizer in this episode. A physician and sociologist, Christakis directs the Human Nature Lab at Yale University and is the Sterling Professor of Social and Natural Science in the Departments of Sociology, Medicine, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Statistics and Data Science, and Biomedical Engineering. Nicholas was named one of Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in the World” and one of Foreign Policy magazine’s “Top 100 Global Thinkers.”
Silicon Valley has emerged as the epicenter of technological innovation within the American economy. Yet, people often know little about the region’s origins and how it grew to become an influential force behind new innovations in society. Margaret O’Mara joins Julian Zelizer to discuss her new book, “The Code: Silicon Valley and the Remaking of America,” which addresses the history behind the development of Silicon Valley. O’Mara is the Howard & Frances Keller Professor of History at the University of Washington. Her previous books include “Cities of Knowledge: Cold War Science and the Search for the Next Silicon Valley” and “Pivotal Tuesdays: Four Elections That Shaped the Twentieth Century.” Before becoming a professor, O’Mara was a contributing researcher at the Brookings Institution in the Clinton White House.
This week’s show is special: We’ve swapped episodes with Democracy Works, a podcast produced by Penn State University’s McCourtney Institute for Democracy. (They ran an episode of ours last week.) As the definition of neoliberalism contrasts among many individuals, Wendy Brown joins this episode to talk about what neoliberalism is, not only on an economic level, but also on a social and political level. Brown addresses the influence of neoliberalism on democratic societies in her most recent book, “In the Ruins of Neoliberalism,” a follow up to her 2015 book, “Undoing the Demos.” Democracy Works is hosted by Michael Berkman, professor in the Department of Political Science and director of the McCourtney Institute for Democracy, along with Christopher Beem, managing director of the McCourtney Institute for Democracy. Brown is the Class of 1936 First Chair at the University of California, Berkeley, where she also teaches political theory. She received her Ph.D. in political philosophy from Princeton University in 1983. Her research interests include the history of political theory, 19th- and 20th-century Continental theory, critical theory, and theories of contemporary capitalism. Democracy Works addresses a wide range of issues involving democracy and is meant for “people coming together to build things that are greater than the sum of their parts.” The podcast is recorded at WPSU Penn State, central Pennsylvania’s NPR station.
In the 1980s, supply-side economics became a rallying cry of conservative politicians. This macroeconomic theory posits that lower taxes and decreased regulation can lead to economic growth, helping everyone on the income ladder as benefits to the rich “trickle down” to those less well-off. Monica Prasad joins Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang in this episode to discuss her new book, “Starving the Beast: Ronald Reagan and the Tax Cut Revolution.” Referencing archival documents from the Regan Library in Simi Valley, California, the book investigates President Ronald Reagan’s 1981 supply-side tax cut, offering a new understanding of how it has influenced today’s political landscape and what the true motivators are for the most recent round of tax cuts. Prasad is a professor of sociology and director of graduate studies at Northwestern University. Her previous books include “The Land of Too Much,” “The Politics of Free Markets” and “The New Fiscal Sociology.”
Efforts at controlling the powers of concentrated wealth has been an ongoing problem within society. Some believe overcoming the issue involves looking back at the foundations of democratic societies. Paul Starr from Princeton University joins Sam Wang and Julian E. Zelizer to discuss about his new book, “Entrenchment: Wealth, Power and, the Constitution of Democratic Societies.” The book examines how societal changes in the foundations of contemporary politics are difficult to reverse and how the efforts against entrenchment can be found in the foundations of society to influence the future of America’s democracy. Starr is Stuart Professor of Communications and Public Affairs and professor of sociology and public affairs at Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. He is co-founder and co-editor of The American Prospect magazine and received the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction and the 1984 Bancroft Prize in American History. His other books include “The Social Transformation of American Medicine” and “The Creation of the Media” and more.
With reports that voting rights are being compromised, some have concluded that elections are not truly democratic. Yet, individuals are making positive changes in their communities to protect these important rights. Joshua Douglas joins Sam Wang to discuss his new book, “Vote for US: How to Take Back Our Elections and Change the Future of Voting.” The book captures the positive stories of Americans working to secure elections by improving their local and state voting processes. In writing this book, Douglas aims to not only chart efforts to fight against voter suppression but also promote improvements that are making elections more inclusive, convenient, and democratic. Douglas is the Thomas P. Lewis Professor of Law at the University of Kentucky. His research includes election law and voting rights, civil procedure, constitutional law, and judicial decision-making. He co-edited the book “Election Law Stories” and has published his work in top academic journals, including the Georgetown Law Journal, Penn Law Review Online, Vanderbilt Law Review, Washington University Law Review, among others.
The internet continues to expand and grow in complexity, yet many people are unaware of its origins. Understanding the internet’s roots could be beneficial when looking toward the future of the web. David Kushner, award-winning journalist and author, joins Julian E. Zelizer to talk about his new book, “The Players Ball: A Genius, A Con Man, and the Secret History of the Internet’s Rise.” The book tells the relatively unknown story of Gary Kremen, creator of Match.com, and his fight for ownership of Sex.com against Stephen Michael Cohen. Kushner demonstrates how the Internet has evolved as a commercial platform through communication and business. Kushner is a contributing editor of Rolling Stone and has written for publications including The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Wired, New York Times Magazine, New York, and GQ. He has also written “Masters of Doom,” “Jonny Magic and the Card Shark Kids,” and more.
As the country debates whether President Trump should be impeached, many are making comparisons to past presidencies like Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton. Less attention, however, is paid to the impeachment of Andrew Johnson, the first president to be impeached by the House of Representatives. Brenda Wineapple, author of “The Impeachers: The Trial of Andrew Johnson and the Dream of a Just Nation,” joins Julian Zelizer to discuss the components of the impeachment process of Johnson. Having begun “The Impeachers” six years ago, Wineapple talks about her book and demonstrates Johnson’s impeachment as a significant event in American history. Wineapple also wrote “Ecstatic Nation: Confidence, Crisis, and Compromise, 1848-1877,” named a “Notable Book” by The New York Times and “White Heat: The Friendship of Emily Dickinson and Thomas Wentworth Higginson,” a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award.
Many in the media argue that the Trump administration is challenging democratic norms. Are they right or overstating the case? Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin joins Sam Wang to discuss the role of the fourth estate, the danger of “normalizing chaos,” and how Rubin transitioned from a passionate Reagan conservative to a never-Trumper who left the GOP. Rubin’s column covers politics and policy and provides insight into the conservative movement, the Republican and Democratic parties, and threats to Western democracies. She is also a contributor to MSNBC. Previously, Rubin worked at The Weekly Standard and Commentary magazine, and practiced labor law for two decades before becoming a journalist. Rubin will be visiting the Woodrow Wilson School as part of its Leadership through Mentorship Program Oct. 16-17, 2019.
Of the 23 candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for president, who is the most electable? How does one define “electability,” and how does the media drive its relevance? As the initial Democratic primary debates approach, Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss what the early “horserace” polling numbers tell us, as well as the influence of communication media such as live television and Twitter.
Following the release of the Mueller Report, much of the media and the public’s focus has been on potential obstruction of justice. Yet, argues Georgetown University’s Marty Lederman, more attention should be paid to whether President Trump’s conduct violated his Constitutional oath of office and undermined the counterintelligence investigation into Russian election interference. As Democrats continue debating whether to file articles of impeachment, Lederman joins Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang to discuss how the report transcends Mueller’s decision-making on obstruction of justice. Lederman was deputy assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) from 2009 to 2010, and an attorney advisor in the OLC from 1994 to 2002.
Last week, former White House Counsel Don McGahn — a key figure in Volume II of the Mueller Report — reportedly was instructed by the Trump administration not to comply with a subpoena from House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler for documents and testimony related to the Committee’s obstruction of justice investigation. Continuing our Mueller Report book club, journalist Quinta Jurecic joins Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang to give listeners a roadmap to Volume II. They examine the elements comprising obstruction of justice, instances of the President’s conduct Mueller weighed against the criminal statutes (including previous orders he gave McGahn), and why Mueller felt barred by existing Justice Department policy from indicting Trump — yet explicitly states the report does not exonerate him. Jurecic is the managing editor of Lawfare and a contributing writer to The Atlantic. She writes about politics, legal issues, and the rule of law. She previously served as an editorial writer for The Washington Post and as Lawfare's associate editor.
Hundreds of former federal prosecutors asserted in a recent statement that, were Donald Trump not the President, he would have been charged with obstruction of justice based on findings contained in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s (Class of 1966) report. As the aftermath of the report continues to unfold, what should Americans retain and understand from the document itself? In part one of a three-episode series, independent journalist Marcy Wheeler joins Professors Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang in a deep-dive look at Volume I — which examines whether there was conspiracy or coordination between Trump’s associates and the Russian government on its election interference efforts, and describes in detail activities not deemed criminal but likely to be considered political graft. Marcy Wheeler writes about national security and civil liberties at her eponymous blog, emptywheel. She also publishes at outlets including Motherboard, the New Republic, and Al Jazeera, and appears frequently on television and radio. Blogging full-time since 2007, Wheeler was declared an internet human rights hero by Access Now. She serves on the advisory committee for the House Fourth Amendment Caucus and as a senior fellow at GWU’s Center for Cyber & Homeland Security. She holds a Ph.D. in comparative literature from the University of Michigan.
Has feminism changed in in recent years, particularly with the #MeToo movement and presidential elections as the backdrop? A new book by author and actress Amber Tamblyn explores "coming of age in a time of rage,” showing how self-reflection can lead to personal upheaval and, ultimately, positive change. Tamblyn discusses her book, “Era of Ignition,” in this episode with co-host Julian Zelizer. She discussed the book during an April 23 visit to the Princeton University campus. Tamblyn is known for her work on "General Hospital," "Joan of Arcadia," "Two and a Half Men" and "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants." In June 2018 Tamblyn released her first novel "Any Man." "Era of Ignition" is her second book, published by Penguin Random House.
A redacted version of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report was released April 18, giving politicians time since to respond to its findings. In this episode, Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss the politics of navigating the report, particularly for the Democratic Party. The pair discuss some of the various reactions of several leading primary candidates, especially Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Zelizer also makes the case for why embarking on impeachment proceedings in 2019 might not yield the same consequences as the Republican-led effort in the 1990s.
Reproductive rights have been a contentious issue for decades and have come into particular focus during the Trump presidency. In this episode, Julian Zelizer discusses possible future for reproductive rights in the United States with Cecile Richards, former president of Planned Parenthood. In their conversation, they talk about the Trump administration’s efforts to restrict reproductive rights in the legislature and in the judiciary. Richards discusses state-led efforts to limit reproductive rights and the wide-ranging implications of the Kavanaugh confirmation. She also explains several of the interconnections among reproductive rights, women’s rights, health care rights, and more. INSERT PODCAST Richards is a national leader for womens rights and social and economic justice. She was the president of Planned Parenthood for twelve years and previously served as the deputy chief of staff for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Richards is also the author of The New York Times’ bestseller “Make Trouble: Stand Up, Speak Out, and Find the Courage to Lead.”
Donald Trump’s presidency has raised serious questions about the future direction of the Republican Party. Former Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona has been among those to raise concerns about the party. In this episode, Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss the GOP with Flake, who outlines some of his divergences with the President’s views. Flake, who was a U.S. Senator in Arizona from 2013 to 2019, expresses concern that the Republican party has seemed to abandon what it believes to be right in favor of what makes for an effective campaigning message. Flake further asserts his view that Republicans have failed to fully internalize what he believes to have been a ringing defeat during the midterm elections. While in the Senate, Flake worked on the Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and Law and chaired the Africa Subcommittee of the Foreign Relations Committee. He previously served as the executive director of the Goldwater Institute and then spent six terms in the House of Representatives from 2001 to 2013. He is the author of The New York Times bestseller: “Conscious of a Conservative: A Rejection of Destructive Politics and a Return to Principle.”
The technology sector is an important part of the economy, yet there exists a dearth of women in the field — especially females of color. Joining this episode to discuss breaking through these barriers is Kimberly Bryant, founder and CEO of Black Girls CODE, a non-profit organization dedicated to “changing the face of technology” by introducing girls of color (ages 7-17) to the field of technology and computer science. Bryant’s organization will host a workshop for young girls who want to explore artificial intelligence this Saturday, April 6, in New York City. Prior to starting Black Girls CODE, Bryant worked for over 20 years in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries as an engineering manager in a series of technical leadership roles for various Fortune 50 companies such as Genentech, Merck, and Pfizer. Since 2011, Bryant has helped Black Girls CODE grow from a local grassroots initiative serving only the San Francisco Bay Area, to an international organization with fourteen chapters across the United States and in Johannesburg, South Africa. Black Girls CODE has currently reached over 7,000 students and continues to grow and thrive.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller released his report on Russia interference in the 2016 election this week, finding no collusion between President Donald Trump and Russia, but neither charging nor exonerating Trump on obstruction of justice. Now, many Democratic leaders argue the report, which has not been made public, should be made available in its entirety to lawmakers and Congress. In this episode, Sam Wang and Julian Zelizer discuss how the absence of this public report is shaping the overall narrative of the investigation and its results.
There are unprecedented rates of incarceration in America today, with hundreds of thousands of people being jailed annually. How does the cash bail system contribute to those pending trial but unable to meet bail? And what are the rights of those who are incarcerated? Alec Karakatsanis joins this episode to discuss what he calls “mass human caging” in America. Karakatsanis is the founder and executive director of Civil Rights Corps, a non-profit organization dedicated to groundbreaking systemic litigation and advocacy challenging pervasive injustices in the American criminal legal system. Karakatsanis visited Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs in late February 2019 as as part of its Christian A. Johnson Endeavor Foundation Leadership through Mentorship Program. He graduated from Yale College in 2005 with a degree in Ethics, Politics, & Economics and Harvard Law School in 2008, where he was a Supreme Court Chair of the Harvard Law Review.
The 2020 election is on the horizon. In this episode, Sam Wang and Julian Zelizer discuss prospects for the 2020 election, analyzing data-based and qualitative factors. The pair is particularly interested in the potential for a Joe Biden candidacy and consider the question of whether Biden would be the best candidate for the Democratic Party. Wang and Zelizer also consider the implications of such a large Democratic field of candidates and the different characteristics required to run in the primary election as compared to the general election against President Donald Trump.
In this episode, Julian Zelizer discusses the threats posed to civil liberties since the 9/11 attacks with guest Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union. Romero argues that current threats to civil liberties are not a product of the Donald Trump presidency, but are instead a new data point on a larger path of expanded executive power in American government. He outlines efforts the ACLU has undertaken under his leadership to defend civil liberties and explains the rationale underlying the ACLU’s current opposition to Trump’s invocation of a national emergency on the southern border. Romero received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University in 1987. He took the helm of the ACLU just a few days before the 9/11 attacks. Under his leadership, the ACLU has undertaken several initiatives including the Keep America Safe and Free Campaign, the ACLU’s national security project, which achieved many legal victories on the Patriot Act.
David Sanger, national security correspondent and senior writer for The New York Times, joins Sam Wang in this episode to discuss the growing cybersecurity threats facing the United States. Sanger outlines how cyber warfare levels the playing field, allowing rich and poor countries alike to attack other nations, especially the United States. He also details several cyber attacks, including those undertaken by North Korea. In Sanger’s 36-year reporting career for The Times, he has been on three teams that have won Pulitzer prizes, including one in 2017 for international reporting. He is also the author of several books, including his most recent one “The Perfect Weapon: War, Sabotage, and Fear in the Cyber Age.”
Some media outlets are reporting that special counsel Robert Mueller may soon hand over a report regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election. Will this bring bad news for President Donald Trump and his administration? Joining this episode to discuss the state of our intelligence institutions is Asha Rangappa, who recently penned a piece on the subject for the Washington Post. She discusses the impact of the ongoing tension between law enforcement and the president with Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang. Rangappa is director of admissions and senior lecturer at Yale University's Jackson Institute for Global Affairs as well as a 1996 alumna of Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School.
How has the state of journalism changed during President Donald Trump's tenure? Seasoned journalist Mara Liasson joins this episode to discuss what is and isn't working in the media realm as well as the trajectory of her own career at NPR. Liasson is the national political correspondent for NPR. Her reports can be heard regularly on NPR's award-winning newsmagazines Morning Edition and All Things Considered. Liasson provides extensive coverage of politics and policy from Washington, DC — focusing on the White House and Congress — and also reports on political trends beyond the Beltway.
Certain speeches and sermons linger in the minds of Americans, often becoming part of our national imagination and history. One oft-quoted sermon that remains both provocative and timeless was given by John Winthrop in 1630 at New England’s founding. In his lay sermon, he warned his fellow Puritans about the power of exceptionalism, saying, “For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill.” Historian Daniel Rodgers unravels Winthrop’s words in a new book published by the Princeton University Press: “As a City on a Hill: The story of America’s Most Famous Lay Sermon,” which he discusses in this episode. Daniel Rodgers is the Henry Charles Lea Professor of History, Emeritus, at Princeton University. His books include “Age of Fracture,” winner of the Bancroft Prize; “Atlantic Crossings”; “Contested Truths”; and “The Work Ethic in Industrial America.”
Candidates have begun launching their 2020 presidential campaigns, prompting many to look a look back at Donald Trump’s presidential victory in 2016. In this episode, Sam Wang interviews Michael Tesler, co-author of a compelling book about how the 2016 election was not just a battle for the White House, but for what America “should be.” Tesler co-authored “Identity Crisis: The 2016 Presidential Campaign and the Battle for the Meaning of America Hardcover,” with John Sides and Lynn Vavreck. The book was published in October 2018 by Princeton University Press. Tesler is associate professor of political science at the University of California, Irvine, and author of “Obama’s Race,” also published by the University of Chicago Press. He studies American politics, ethnicity and politics, and quantitative methods.
The government shutdown is now in its 33rd day, with the Senate ready to vote today on proposals to reopen government. Both are expected to fail. Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss the implications of the shutdown in this episode.
Some say the United States is heading down a road toward isolationism. In this episode, Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss the uncertain future of American global leadership with Ivo Daalder and James Lindsay. They are authors of a new book: “The Empty Thrown: America’s Abdication of Global Leadership.” Daalder and Lindsay describe the key aspects of the rules-based international order the United States helped to create after the unprecedented destruction wrought by World War I and World War II. The guests analyze how this order has largely endured, despite periods of American foreign policy mistakes. They feel, however, that the persistence of this order is not assured under President Trump.
In his farewell address, President Barack Obama identified a number of “fault lines” in American society from politics to economics to race. In this episode, Sam Wang discusses these societal divisions with regular podcast co-host Julian Zelizer and guest Kevin Kruse — co-authors of a new book on contemporary American history. Released this week, “Fault Lines: A History of the United States Since 1974,” examines how these political divides evolved into what they are today from what they were during the upheaval of the 1970s. Kruse is a historian and professor at Princeton University where he studies the political, social and urban/suburban history of the 20th century.
Issues related to immigration have occupied a central role in political debates, especially during the Trump presidency. Although the current focus tends to be on on Central and Latin America, backlash unfolded throughout American history, including among Chinese immigrants in the 19th century. Much of what took place then has shaped the contours of immigration policy today. Joining today's episode to discuss immigration is Beth Lew-Williams, assistant professor of history at Princeton University. Lew-Williams is a historian of race and migration in the United States, specializing in Asian American history. Her book, "The Chinese Must Go: Violence, Exclusion, and the Making of the Alien in America," maps the tangled relationships between local racial violence, federal immigration policy, and U.S. imperial ambitions in Asia.
First ladies often play big roles in the White House, either behind the scenes or in the public eye. In this episode, Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss the highly variable roles played by first ladies with Lauren Wright, a lecturer in politics and public affairs at Princeton University. Wright is the author of “On Behalf of the President: Presidential Spouses and White House Communications Strategy Today” and is a regular contributor to The Hill and The Huffington Post. She’s currently working on a book about celebrities running for elected office, which will be released next year.
Climate change is one of the most pressing issues facing the world today. In this episode, Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss the politics of combating climate change with author Jeff Nesbit. Nesbit examines the consensus in the scientific community concerning climate change. He explains how the U.S. is effectively shielded from the worst effects of climate change because of its wealth and situation in a temperate zone. This is not the case in the rest of the world. Nesbit sees a bipartisan opportunity to address climate change through clean energy, but it's a race against time. Nesbit is the author of several books, including “This is the Way the World Ends,” which was published in September. He was the director of public affairs for two science agencies: the National Science Foundation and the Food and Drug Administration. He now serves as the executive director of Climate Nexus and is a regular opinion contributor to several national publications.
Donald Trump’s presidency has been unsettling to some, often spurring controversy while testing our country’s political institutions. Some argue he is at the root of the problem while others say he is simply a symptom of an already broken system. To unravel this a bit more and to offer possible ways out, Greg Sargent of the Washington Post’s Plum Line Blog joins this episode of Politics & Polls with Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang. Sargent has written a new book on the subject, “An Uncivil War: Taking Back Our Democracy in an Age of Trumpian Disinformation and Thunderdome Politics.” Sargent is an opinion writer covering national politics at the Washington Post. Previously, he wrote for New York magazine, the New York Observer, Talking Points Memo and numerous political websites. He lives in Maryland with his family.
Three weeks after the midterm elections, the results are finally clear. In this episode, Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang examine the emerging consensus regarding the outcome of the midterms that there was, in fact, a Blue Wave—at least in terms of the U.S. House of Representatives. The pair discuss the effects of geographic polarization and gerrymandering on the election results and how the size of the Democratic party’s popular vote victory is historic. Zelizer and Wang also discuss Nancy Pelosi’s prospects for resuming the title of Speaker of the House.
How is today’s brand of conservatism different from past presidencies? In this episode, Julian Zelizer discusses the ins and outs of conservatism today, particularly compared with that during the Ronald Reagan presidency, with economist Arthur Brooks. Brooks elaborates on his own unlikely path to becoming a leading conservative thinker and expresses his firm belief that, because of the unique history of the United States, nearly all Americans are progressive, regardless of their party identification. He also takes an historic look at the conservative movement, noting, for example, that while many of Trump’s views are in opposition to those of Reagan, they are very much in line with the conservatism of President William Taft. Brooks is currently the president of the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C., and also author of numerous books including “The Conservative Heart: How to Build a Fairer, Happier, and More Prosperous America.” He also writes comments in several media outlets including The New York Times.
Democrats gained control of the U.S. House of Representatives on Nov. 6, while Republicans bolstered their majority in the U.S. Senate. Democrats also gained seven new governorships, including in states key to President Donald Trump’s victory in 2016 like Michigan, Wisconsin and Kansas. In this episode, Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss the election results and voting rights with Valerie Jarrett, former senior advisor to President Barack Obama. Jarrett believes that wrestling control of the House from the Republicans was a massive accomplishment and asserts that the Democrats did what they set out to do, successfully communicating a message to the electorate that resonated broadly across the country. Jarrett also discusses the strategy she and other women developed to make sure their ideas were heard in the White House.
he past week has been marked by a series of hate crimes. Pipe bombs were sent to a few political critics of President Donald Trump by a fanatic in Florida; two African Americans were shot by a white nationalist in Kentucky; and a horrific attack at a synagogue in Pittsburgh left 11 people dead. In this episode, Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss how these events could influence next week’s midterm elections. They examine how white nationalism is being leveraged to maximize voter turnout and if voter suppression attempts will affect tight gubernatorial and Congressional races. They also discuss voter rights expansion, which has substantial implications for 2020 and beyond.
Uncertainty looms regarding next week’s midterm elections. In this episode, Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang consider the dynamics shaping the midterm elections and the potential implications with journalist Barry Yeoman and political scientist Danielle M. Thomsen. Yeoman discusses a judicial race in North Carolina that has significant implications for democracy and voting rights in the state. Thomsen speaks about the likely role that female candidates and women voters will play in November. Thomsen is an assistant professor of political science at the University of California, Irvine, and a visiting scholar at the Center for the Study of Democratic Politics, Princeton University, 2018-19. She is the author of the 2017 book, “Opting Out of Congress: Partisan Polarization and the Decline of Moderate Candidates.” Her research focuses on the kinds of candidates who run for Congress, how this has changed over time, and why this matters for partisan trends in Congress. Barry Yeoman is a journalist who “specializes in in-depth reporting that puts a human face on complex issues.” In addition to his work in print media, Yeoman has also made forays into documentary radio. His work has won numerous accolades, including an honor by the Columbia Journalism Review, which proclaimed him to be one of “the best unsung investigative journalists working in print in the United States.”
Technological innovations have fundamentally altered the landscape of illicit trade. From war lords to state actors, top-down forces have harnessed technology to expand illicit trade in everything from pesticides to rhino horns. In this episode, Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss the current state of the global illicit economy with expert Louise Shelley of George Mason University. Shelley explains the roles of market forces, criminal actors and non-criminal actors in the illicit trade market. Shelley is the Omer and Nancy Hirst Endowed Chair for Civil Intellectuals, a professor in the Schar School of Government at George Mason University and the founder and director of the Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center. She also is the author of a new book, “Dark Commerce: How a New Illicit Economy is Threatening Our Future.”
Following a bitter and contentious confirmation process, Justice Brett Kavanaugh has been sworn in to the Supreme Court. Could his confirmation galvanize Republican support in the upcoming midterm elections? And what effect will it have on the reputation of the Court? Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang dive deep into the aftermath of Justice Kavanugh’s confirmation in this episode. They discuss Kavanaugh’s career, the increasingly politicized Supreme Court and whether this confirmation process was, indeed, historically divisive.
Questions abound regarding what impact the recently opened FBI investigation will have on Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation process. In this episode, Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss Kavanaugh’s prior political career, recent testimony and prospects for confirmation with research journalist Marcy Wheeler. Wheeler discusses Kavanaugh’s role in both the Ken Starr investigation of President Bill Clinton and the national security legislation of the George W. Bush administration. Wheeler also discusses her unique approach to journalism, which relies predominantly on document analysis rather than human sourcing.
Working-class citizens have been historically underrepresented in American politics. In this episode, Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss the influence of money in politics — both in terms of who rises to elected office and how those elected govern — with political scientist Nicholas Carnes. Carnes asserts that government would be more responsive to what the general public wants if the socioeconomic backgrounds of politicians were more in line with those of the general public. Carnes then explains the cash barriers that exist, which bar working-class Americans from running for office.
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has been accused of sexual assault. How might this play out? And what effect will it have on the midterm elections? Professors Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss this and more in today's episode. (Note: This episode was recorded on Tuesday, Sept. 18.)
The conservative news media has had a historical role in shaping national politics. In this episode, Julian Zelizer discusses the influence of conservative news media, both then and now, with historian Laurence Jurdem. Jurdem goes into detail about how conservative publications were created as a means to influence policymakers and as an alternative to the liberal news media. These outlets influenced presidents like Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan. Jurdem is the author of a new book, “Paving the Way for Reagan: The Influence of Conservative Media on US Foreign Policy 1964-1980.” He also is a regular contributor to numerous national publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the National Review.
Between the death of Senator John McCain, recent developments in the Trump-Russia investigation, and Congressional upsets, quite a bit has unfolded in the political sphere. Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss all that's happened in this week's episode.
Fictional work often stimulates a broader debate about politics and history. This was the case following the release of Harper Lee’s “Go Set a Watchman” in 2015. A beloved literary hero, Atticus Finch was remade into a bigoted antagonist. In today’s episode, historian and author Joseph Crespino joins Julian Zelizer to discuss the controversy that sparked following the release of “Go Set a Watchman.” Crespino, who’s written a book about Harper Lee’s writing, argues that her second book raised a number of questions about race relations and the American South.
The 25th Amendment has returned to national dialogue and become a popular topic during Donald Trump’s presidency. The amendment, adopted in 1967, addresses what happens if the President of the United States is removed, dies, is incapacitated, or otherwise unable to fulfill the powers and duties of the presidency. A leading law expert, Harold Hongju Koh joins today’s episode to explain the intricacies of the 25th Amendment. Earlier this year, Koh worked with the Rule of Law Clinic at Yale Law School to publish, “The Twenty-Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution: A Reader’s Guide,” which provides thorough guidance on the 25th Amendment. Koh is Sterling Professor of International Law at Yale Law School and one of the country’s leading experts in public and private international law, national security law and human rights.
In recent history, federalism has been favored by the Republican party, while Democrats have aimed to nationalize certain policies. But given Republicans’ current control of the federal government, progressive Democrats may need to aim to achieve their policy goals at the state level. Daniel Hemel joins this episode to discuss what he calls “blue state federalism” and how states themselves can be “laboratories of democracy.” Hemel, a law scholar, explains how states can set precedents for the federal government with regard to social issues. For example, Massachusetts did this by legalizing gay marriage and through adopting Romney-care, a precedent to the Affordable Care Act. Hemel is assistant professor of law at the University of Chicago Law School. His research focuses on taxation, nonprofit organizations, administrative law and federal courts.
Sports have a long history of being intertwined with American politics. Drawing on his experience as a former presidential speechwriter, Curt Smith examines the relationship between baseball and the American presidency in a new book: “The Presidents and the Pastime.” In this episode, he joins Julian Zelizer to discuss the book, which provides a narrative of how American leaders from Theodore Roosevelt to Donald Trump have treated baseball, making it a quintessentially American sport. Smith was the speechwriter for President George H.W.Bush. Smith is also America's "leading voice of authority on baseball broadcasting," author of 15 books, GateHouse Media columnist and National Public Radio affiliate series host. He's currently a senior lecturer at the University of Rochester.
The United States and Europe have seen a rise in outsider political movements, with more voters supporting populist authoritarian leaders who buck traditional cultural values than in the recent past. In this episode, Sam Wang interviews researcher and writer David R. K. Adler, who argues, contrary to contemporary belief, that centrists — not those on the political left and right extremes — are the driving force behind this hostility toward democracy. Adler explains how this “centrist paradox” may be influencing elections, weakening democratic institutions and sharpening political divides. Adler is a writer and researcher based in London, United Kingdom. His work focuses on the political economy of urban development: how cities grow, how their demographics change, how movements resist these changes, and how governments respond to those movements. He has written about these themes for a variety of publications, including Foreign Affairs, The Guardian, Foreign Policy, Jacobin Magazine, and Current Affairs.
Share » In this special 100th episode of Politics & Polls, Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang reflect on aspects of Donald Trump’s presidency that have surprised them both individually. Zelizer is surprised by public tolerance of Trump’s most controversial actions, especially his immigration policies and behavior during the Helsinki summit with Vladimir Putin. Wang is surprised by what he sees as the passivity of the judicial branch, including the Supreme Court on issues like the travel ban. Both hosts also analyze the stability of our democratic institutions and explain why this is both a positive and a negative aspect of our government.
Every so often, a presidency comes to be seen in a new light. An example of this is President Jimmy Carter, a man viewed by some as part of a troubled period in Democratic politics. A series of new books are shedding light on the Carter presidency, his legacy and what was happening in the 1970s. In this episode, Julian Zelizer is joined by Amb. Stuart Eizenstat, who offers a comprehensive history of the Carter presidency. Amb. Eizenstat has held several key positions, including chief White House domestic policy adviser to President Jimmy Carter, U.S. ambassador to the European Union, undersecretary of commerce for international trade and deputy secretary of the treasury in the Clinton administration. In his new book, “President Carter: The White House Years,” Eizenstat draws on more than 5,000 pages of notes and hundreds of interviews to give a close view on how the presidency works, Carter’s successes and failures and his lasting impact on the country.
The #MeToo movement has transformed American political debate, having a huge influence on prominent figures in a number of arenas. Many believe it could play a role in voter turnout during the midterm campaigns and even carry weight with the 2020 presidential election. Regardless of its specific effects, one thing is certain: America is experiencing a stunning period in the history of gender politics. Award-winning actress Amber Tamblyn, author of a new book, “Any Man,” joins this episode with Julian Zelizer to discuss this period in American history. Released this week by Harper Collins, the fictional book sheds light on the nightmare of sexual assault. Tamblyn first came to national attention in her role on the soap opera “General Hospital” as Emily Quartermaine, followed by a starring role on the prime-time series “Joan of Arcadia,” portraying the title character, Joan Girardi for which she received Primetime Emmy and Golden Globe nominations. Tamblyn’s feature film work includes roles in “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” (2005), “The Grudge 2” (2006), “The Ring” (2002), and “127 Hours” (2010); she had an extended arc as Martha M. Masters in the medical drama series House. She also had a starring role as Jenny on season eleven of the CBS sitcom “Two and a Half Men.”
With the recent rise in anti-Semitic rhetoric and violence in Europe and parts of the United States, the history of anti-Semitism has gained renewed academic interest. To understand this phenomenon, academics often study the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Eastern Europe, where pogroms devastated the Jewish community and helped lay the foundation for the Holocaust that took place during World War II. In this episode, Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang interview Steven J. Zipperstein, the Daniel E. Koshland Professor in Jewish Culture and History at Stanford University. Zipperstein discusses violence against Jews in the Russian Empire and the mass emigration of Jews to the United States, England, South Africa and other parts of the world.
The entertainment industry is an endless source of fascination among Americans. Movies and films offer keen insights into American society while also exposing its undersides. At the heart of the industry are writers, producers, and directors determining how to put these stories together. In this episode, Zelizer sits down with Bonnie Timmermann, one of the most prominent casting directors over the past four decades. Timmermann has cast nearly 100 eclectic films including “The Insider,” “Armageddon,” “Dirty Dancing,” “The Karate Kid,” “Black Hawk Down,” “Miami Vice,” “Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” “Bill Durham,” “Quiz Show,” and many more.
The United States moved its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem last month, raising questions for some about whether the United States can still be a neutral negotiator for peace in the Middle East. The future of the Middle East seems more unstable than ever before. Is a two-state solution still possible with Israel and the Palestinians? Joining this episode to discuss this and more is Yossi Klein Halevi, author of the new book, “Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor.” The book explores what the key points of tension have been on this issue and what might be a path forward.
In politics, like sports, moments arise that beg the question, “What if?” In baseball, some think, “What if the runner on third had made it home?” Politics is not quite different. Winners and losers in both, pivotal moments leave us wondering: what if it had happened differently? Joining this week’s episode to discuss the great what-ifs - of both sports and politics - is Mike Pesca, a radio journalist who is host of Slate magazine's daily podcast, The Gist. Pesca recently published a book, “Upon Further Review: The Greatest What-Ifs in Sports History,” about a number of counterfactual sporting scenarios. The book includes a number of historical and political essays, including one penned by Julian Zelizer, co-host of Politics & Polls with Sam Wang.
Where is the Russia investigation going and what will the political impact be? While some wonder whether the investigation will soon come to a close, President Donald Trump has launched a counterattack by charging the FBI with having attempted to spy on his 2016 presidential campaign. The political implications of this are unclear, but one thing is clear: they will loom large over the midterm campaigns. In this episode, Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss the politics of the Russia investigation going into the middle of 2018 — and what may be yet to come.
In 1974, a new wave of legislators entered Congress after the Watergate Scandal, determined to change the American political landscape. While these “Watergate Babies” inspired great change, some argue that they also contributed significantly to the growing divide between Republicans and Democrats. Could a similar situation play out in today’s political landscape? John A. Lawrence, author of “The Class of ’74: Congress after Watergate and the Roots of Partisanship,” joins Julian Zelizer to discuss this and more in this episode of Politics & Polls. Lawrence is a visiting professor at the University of California, Washington Center. He worked in the House of Representatives for 38 years, the last eight as chief of staff to then-Speaker and Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi.
Some feel these are the worst of times, that we’re living in an America fraught with political discord and governmental dysfunction. But how bad is it in American towns? Writers James and Deborah Fallows traveled 100,000 miles across the country to find out. Using a single-engine prop airplane, the husband-wife team visited dozens of towns from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to Allentown, Pennsylvania. They interviewed civic leaders, immigrants, educators, artists and more, turning their interviews into a book, “Our Towns,” released this week by Pantheon Books. James Fallows joins Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang in this episode to discuss the book and an account of a country busy remaking itself. James Fallows has been a national correspondent for The Atlantic for more than 35 years, reporting from China, Japan, Southeast Asia, Europe and across the United States. He is the author of eleven previous books. His work also has appeared in many other magazines and as public-radio commentaries since the 1980s. He has won a National Book Award and a National Magazine Award. For two years, he was President Jimmy Carter’s chief speechwriter. Deborah Fallows is a linguist and writer who holds a Ph.D. in theoretical linguistics and is the author of two previous books. She has written for The Atlantic, National Geographic, Slate, The New York Times and The Washington Monthly, and has worked at the Pew Research Center, Oxygen Media and Georgetown University. She and her husband have two sons and four grandchildren.
Comedian Michelle Wolf’s performance at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner sparked a flurry of controversy this week, as she took several jabs at members of the Trump administration, some of whom were in the audience and on the dais. Julian Zelizer was in attendance at this year’s dinner hosted by the White House Correspondents' Association, which was founded in 1914 under President Woodrow Wilson’s tenure as president. Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss this year’s dinner in this episode.
The battle over voting rights has been one of the most contentious issues in American politics over the past five decades. The country has celebrated a number of advancements and achievements, only for some of them to be overturned later. It’s an issue that continues to resurface, as it’s at the heart of the American democratic process. Joining today’s episode to discuss voting rights is former civil rights attorney Gloria J. Browne-Marshall. She’s an associate professor of constitutional law at John Jay College of Criminal Justice at the City University of New York. Browne-Marshall litigated cases for Southern Poverty Law Center in Alabama, Community Legal Services in Philadelphia, and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Inc. She’s the author of many articles and several books including “Race, Law, and American Society: 1607 to Present,” which includes a chapter on voting rights and race. Her forthcoming book is “Black Women and the Law: Salem Witch Trials to Civil Rights Activists.” An award-winning playwright of seven produced plays, her most recent work, “Diversity,” examines marriage choices.
In this special episode, Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss social media’s influence on politics in front of a live audience. Their discussion was the keynote presentation at Princeton University’s Social Media Day held April 13 on campus. The episode was also broadcast on Facebook Live.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg appeared before Congress this week, answering questions about the platform’s use of personal data. The social media giant has been under fire regarding the spread of fake news on the platform throughout the 2016 U.S. elections, and revelations political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica harvested the data of 87 million Facebook users. In this episode, Julian Zelizer discusses Zuckerberg’s testimony and the power of the internet in politics with award-winning journalist David Kushner.
Questions about democracy have been front and center in the United States, especially since the 2016 election. What is the state of democracy both in the United States and around the globe? How are our democratic institutions faring in the modern age — especially given new and emerging threats like “fake news?” In this episode, Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss the overall health of democracy — and whether it’s in danger — with Steven Levitsky, professor of government at Harvard University, and co-author of “How Democracies Die,” with Daniel Ziblatt. Levitsky’s research interests include political parties, authoritarianism and democratization, and weak and informal institutions, with a focus on Latin America. In addition to “How Democracies Die,” he is author of “Transforming Labor-Based Parties in Latin America: Argentine Peronism in Comparative Perspective” (2003), co-author (with Lucan Way) of “Competitive Authoritarianism: Hybrid Regimes after the Cold War” (2010), and co-editor of “Argentine Democracy: The Politics of Institutional Weakness” (2005); “Informal Institutions and Democracy: Lessons from Latin America” (2006); and “The Resurgence of the Left in Latin America” (2011). He is currently engaged in research on the durability of revolutionary regimes, the relationship between populism and competitive authoritarianism, problems of party-building in contemporary Latin America and party collapse and its consequences for democracy in Peru.
President Donald Trump’s moods and temperament are a hot topic for journalists, lawmakers and academics. In fact, earlier this year, a psychiatrist from Yale University actually briefed Democratic lawmakers on president’s mental state, which she called “dangerous.” The analysis, by Dr. Bandy Lee and others, received criticism given that she and others haven’t actually examined President Trump. She joins the podcast this week to explain her position, which is described in her book, “The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President.” Lee is an internationally recognized expert on violence. Trained in medicine and psychiatry at Yale and Harvard Universities, and in medical anthropology as a fellow of the National Institute of Mental Health, she is currently on the faculty of Yale School of Medicine’s Law and Psychiatry Division.
President Donald Trump tweeted choice words last weekend about special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference with the 2016 presidential election. Trump then added another lawyer to his team — Joseph diGenova, a former U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, who has spoken aggressively against the Russia investigation. Both moves concern many lawmakers, who worry Trump may actually find a means to have Mueller fired in an attempt to quash the examination. If Mueller is fired, has he positioned the investigation so it can continue without him? This and more is discussed in this episode of Politics & Polls as Fordham Law Professor Jed Shugerman joins the show. Note: This episode was recorded on March 14, 2018, before President Trump posted tweets calling out Mueller for the first time. That same day, an opinion piece by Shugerman and his colleague Ethan Leib appeared in the Washington Post (link below), explaining how a part of the Constitution could stop Trump from abusing his pardon power or from firing Mueller. They also published a piece in Slate (link below) arguing Sessions also may not fire Mueller. Jed Shugerman teaches at Fordham Law. He has a bachelor’s degree, a J.D., and a Ph.D. in American History from Yale University. He is the author of “The People's Courts: Pursuing Judicial Independence in America” (2012) on the evolution of judicial elections and politics in America. He is currently working on anti-corruption emoluments litigation against the Trump administration, and he is writing about American prosecutors, and the “faithfully execute” fiduciary limits on the executive branch. He writes about law and politics at shugerblog.com. Washington Post: http://bit.ly/2GaWBvo Slate: http://slate.me/2IGE74k
Music has long been an important avenue for political discussion. This episode features Mike Cooley and Patterson Hood of the Drive-By Truckers, a Southern rock band whose music has tackled a number of contentious political issues from class to race and even partisan politics. Cooley and Hood co-founded the Drive-By Truckers in 1996, and the band has produced nearly a dozen albums since. For decades, their hard-driving sound has blended the classic sounds of the South with literary skill and sonic power. Their latest album, “American Band,” is perhaps their most explicitly political yet, capturing the many tensions America faces in the age of Trump. Cooley and Hood chat with Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang about rock-and-roll, progressive politics and the dirty South in this episode.
Is President Donald Trump a threat to American democracy? This is explored in a new book by The Washington Post’s E.J. Dionne Jr., a regular on MSNBC, NPR’s All Things Considered and ABC News’ This Week. He joins this week’s episode to discuss this new era of politics and what it means for American democracy. Currently a syndicated columnist for The Washington Post, Dionne started his journalism career in 1975 at The New York Times before joining The Post in 1990 as a political reporter. He has been writing his column for The Post since 1993 — it appears in more than 240 newspapers. Dionne is the author of six other books, including “One Nation After Trump: A Guide for the Perplexed, the Disillusioned, the Desperate, and the Not-Yet-Deported,” “Why the Right Went Wrong: Conservatism – From Goldwater to Trump and Beyond” and “Why Americans Hate Politics,” which won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and was a National Book Award nominee. He has edited or coedited seven volumes, including most recently “We Are The Change We Seek,” a collection of President Barack Obama’s speeches. Dionne also serves as a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a professor in the foundations of democracy and culture at Georgetown University. He is visiting the Woodrow Wilson School as part of its Christian A. Johnson Endeavor Foundation Leadership through Mentorship Program.
President Donald Trump’s recently passed tax bill included a sizable tax break for many American corporations, slashed from 35 percent to 21 percent. While the tax cuts have increased cash flow for businesses, they also raise questions about the power of corporations in Washington through lobbying, campaign finance and political mobilization. Author and academic Gordon Lafer joins this episode of Politics & Polls to discuss the corporate tax cut and his new book, “The One Percent Solution: How Corporations Are Remaking America One State at a Time.” Lafer is a political economist and is an associate professor at the University of Oregon’s Labor Education and Research Center. He has written on issues of labor and employment policy and is author of “The Job Training Charade” (Cornell University Press, 2002). Lafer has served as an economic policy analyst for the Office of the Mayor in New York City and has testified as an expert witness before the U.S. Senate, House of Representatives, and state legislatures. Lafer is the founding co-chair of the American Political Science Association’s Labor Project, and has taught as a visiting faculty member at the University of Massachusetts’ Union Leadership Academy and at the Universidad Latina de America in Michoacan, Mexico. From 2009 to 2010, Lafer took leave from his faculty position to serve as senior labor policy advisor for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor.
Today, the nation faces a series of major policy challenges revolving around immigrants and refugees. In this episode, Julian Zelizer talks to NPR veteran Deborah Amos about how President Donald Trump has used executive power to move the country rightward on these issues and what the impact has been on local communities. Amos also talks about the state of journalism in 2018 and its future. Amos covers the Middle East for NPR News. Her reports can be heard on NPR's award-winning “Morning Edition,” “All Things Considered,” and “Weekend Edition.” Amos travels extensively across the Middle East covering a range of stories including the rise of well-educated Syria youth who are unqualified for jobs in a market-drive economy, a series focusing on the emerging power of Turkey and the plight of Iraqi refugees.
As the earth continues to warm, life - both in cities and rural areas - will undoubtedly change. Urban centers, which contribute the lion’s share of carbon into the atmosphere, are at a greater risk, especially those in coastal zones where sea levels are rising. In this episode, Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss the future of cities in an age of climate change with eco-justice scholar and author Ashley Dawson. Dawson is the 2017 Barron Visiting Professor in Environmental Humanities at the Princeton Environmental Institute. His book, “Extreme Cities: The Peril and Promise of Urban Life in the Age of Climate Change,” offers an alarming portrait of the future of our cities. Dawson also is a professor of english at the CUNY Graduate Center, and at the College of Staten Island, City University of New York. He specializes in postcolonial studies, cultural studies, and environmental humanities with a particular interest in histories and discourses of migration.
2018 has started off with a bang under President Trump, especially with the release of a controversial memo about the Russia investigation by Rep. Devin Nunes (R- Calif.) The three-and-a-half-page memo, written by Nunes' congressional aides, accused the F.B.I and Justice Department of using their surveillance powers to spy on Carter Page, a former Trump campaign adviser suspected of being an agent of Russia. The news has led some to wonder whether the memo is skewed and misleading. Others say the Russia investigation is corrupt. A classified Democratic memo is expected to soon rebut the Republican memo, though President Trump may redact parts of it. Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss the memos and their influence on the country’s government institutions in this episode.
Best-selling author and radio host Charlie Sykes is among the leading conservative voices standing in opposition to President Donald Trump and the alt-right. His latest book, “How the Right Lost Its Mind,” presents an impassioned, regretful and deeply thoughtful account of how he believes the American conservative movement lost its values. In this episode, Sykes discusses his book and the state of conservatism with professors Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang. Sykes visited the Princeton University campus in December 2017 through the Woodrow Wilson School’s Christian A. Johnson Endeavor Foundation Leadership through Mentorship Program. One of the most influential conservatives in Wisconsin, Sykes is a contributor and analyst for MSNBC. Previously, he was the host of WNYC’s “Indivisible.” He is the author of eight additional books, including “A Nation of Victims,” “Dumbing Down Our Kids,” “Profscam,” “The Hollow Men,” “The End of Privacy,” “50 Rules Kids Won't Learn in School,” “A Nation of Moochers,” and “Fail U.: The False Promise of Higher Education.” He also was co-editor of the National Review College Guide. Sykes has written for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Politico, Salon, USA Today, National Review, The Weekly Standard and other national publications. He has appeared on the Today Show, ABC, NBC, Fox News, CNN, PBS, the BBC, and has been profiled on NPR. He is also the founder and editor-in-chief of the website Right Wisconsin.
Intense partisanship. Rampant wealth and inequality. Racial divisions. While they sound like the issues of today, they were also prevalent during the Gilded Age, an important time in American history. It was during these years — between 1865 and 1896 — that many of the foundations of modern society were set into place. In this episode, Professors Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss this era and how it compares to today with award-winning historian Richard White, author of “The Republic for Which It Stands: The United States during Reconstruction and the Gilded Age, 1865-1896.” White is a historian of the United States specializing in the American West, the history of capitalism, environmental history, history and memory, and Native American history. His work has occasionally spilled over into Mexico, Canada, France, Australia and Ireland. He is a MacArthur Fellow and a recipient of the Mellon Distinguished Professor Award. His work has won numerous academic prizes, and he has twice been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.
President Donald Trump’s election stirred up what some call a resurgence of white nationalism. But is this a new phenomenon outside of mainstream America? Or has white nationalism been more part of American culture than we’ve been willing to admit? Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang untangle this issue in this episode, which features historian Linda Gordon, who recently published “The Second Coming of the KKK: The Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s and the American Political Tradition.” Gordon is a professor of history and a University Professor of the Humanities at New York University. Her early books focused on the historical roots of social policy issues, particularly as they concern gender and family issues. More recently, she has explored other ways of presenting history to a broad audience, publishing the microhistory “The Great Arizona Orphan Abduction” (Harvard University Press, 1999) and the biography “Dorothea Lange: A Life beyond Limits” (W.W. Norton, 2009), both of which won the Bancroft Prize. She is one of only three historians to have won this award twice.
A panel of federal judges rejected a congressional district map in North Carolina, calling it a partisan gerrymander. Never before has a court overturned a Congressional districting plan on grounds of partisanship. The panel ordered the state legislature to redraw the map. Gerrymandering, a practice which manipulates district boundaries for political gains, is a much-debated topic in the political sphere. In this episode, Professors Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss what’s next for North Carolina and the practice of gerrymandering in general.
From smart phones to social media, digital technology has changed the way we live —allowing for new explorations of human behavior. Big data now enables scientists to process data about human behavior on a scale never before imaginable. In this episode, Professors Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang interview Matt Salganik, a professor of sociology at Princeton University. Salgnik’s new book, “Bit by Bit: Social Research in the Digital Age,” explores these concepts, detailing how the digital revolution is transforming how social scientists observe behavior, ask questions, run experiments and engage in mass collaborations. Salganik is also affiliated with the Center for Information Technology Policy and the Center for Statistics and Machine Learning at Princeton University. His research has been funded by Microsoft, Facebook, and Google, and has been featured on NPR and in such publications as the New Yorker, The New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal.
What’s going on in the mind of President Donald Trump? Journalist Ellis Henican provides a humorous, illustrated look into the president’s psyche in a new book, “Trumpitude.” He discusses this and more with professor Julian Zelizer in this episode.
Democrat Doug Jones won a pivotal Alabama Senate seat Dec. 12, a victory carrying with it significant national consequences. Jones, a former U.S. attorney, defeated Republican Roy S. Moore, a former chief justice who’s been ensnarled in claims of sexual harassment. Professors Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss the race results in this episode of Politics & Polls.
How the media covers race remains a palpable concern in today’s America. In this episode, award-winning journalist Tanzina Vega chats with Professors Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang about the many issues related to race and the media. Vega is speaker on issues of race, media and inequality in the United States as well as a Ferris Professor of Journalism at Princeton University and an Eisner Fellow at the Nation Institute. Her forthcoming book is titled, “Uppity: Women, Race and Class in America.” Vega has worked for and contributed to CNN, CNNMoney, WNYC Radio, Reuters, Billboard magazine and The New York Times, where she won an Emmy award for outstanding new approaches in documentary media and various awards from the National Press Photographers Association. NPR’s Code Switch included her in their “Journalists — Of Color! — To Watch” list and The Huffington Post listed her as one on of the 40 top Latinos in American media.
Photographers are often on the front lines of war, risking their lives to document deadly conflict zones. One such photojournalist is Jonathan Alpeyrie, a French-American photographer who was captured and held hostage by Syrian rebels in 2013. In this episode, Alpeyrie describes his 81 days of being bound, blindfolded and beaten — an experience that forced him to question the value and risks of his career. He explains why, despite the violence thrust upon him, he chose to see the humanity in his captors, immersing himself in their culture, language and traditions. This and more is explored in his new book, "The Shattered Lens: A War Photographer's True Story of Captivity and Survival in Syria,” published by Simon & Schuster in October 2017.
Democrats triumphed in the Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial races Nov. 7, which some say is a strong rebuke to Republican President Donald Trump. Are the democratic victories a predictor of what’s to come in the midterm results next year? Joining this episode are Larry Sabato and Geoffrey Skelley of Sabato’s Crystal Ball, a website run by the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics known for being a leader in the field of political predictions. The Crystal Ball keeps tabs on presidential elections, along with every Senate and gubernatorial race, as well as the tightest campaigns for the House.
In this episode, Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang take a look back at the past year and analyze all that has unfolded since Donald Trump was elected president of the United States.
Given the news consistently coming out of Washington, it can be easy to forget what’s happening at the local level. In this episode, Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang turn their attention toward Alaska, a state whose budget has been especially affected by steep drops in oil prices. They discuss this and more with state Rep. Bryce Edgmon (D-Dillingham), Speaker of the Alaskan House of Representatives. An Alaskan native, Edgmon represents the 37th District since 2006. He is the first Alaskan native to hold the position. He is currently serving as co-chair of the Health & Social Services Committee and chair of the Committee on Committees. He is also a member of the Commerce, Community & Economic Development; Legislative Council; Arctic Policy; and Economic Development, & Tourism committees for the 30th Legislature.
There are 468 seats up for grabs in Congress for the 2018 election, with the Republican Party currently holding a majority in both the Senate and the House. But will this hold after election day? Joining today’s episode to discuss the congressional races is Levi Tillemann, the democratic candidate for Colorado’s 6th Congressional District. Tillemann is a Colorado native and expert on technology policy, renewable energy and autonomous cars. Raised in a working-class Latino community in North Denver, Tillemann has kept in touch with his roots over the years by tutoring math, english and ESL in public schools and community centers. While in graduate school, Tilleman founded IRIS Engines, Inc. to develop a more efficient engine -- a design for which he holds multiple patents. Later he shifted his focus to electric vehicles as a better solution to climate change. He has served as a policy advisor to the Department of Energy under President Barack Obama and is currently managing partner at Valence Strategic. Tillemann’s commentary appears regularly in national publications including the New Yorker, The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times and on national and international radio and TV outlets. He has bachelor’s degree in history from Yale and an master’s degree and Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies. Levi is the author of “The Great Race: The Global Quest for the Car of the Future,” published by Simon and Schuster in 2015, and he speaks Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, and Portuguese. Last, but not least, he has a dog named Tesla.
Leading conservative thinker David Frum was one of the earliest and most prominent conservative voices to come out in opposition to President Donald Trump. A CNN contributor and senior editor at The Atlantic, Frum said in a public radio interview that Trump “is shattering the safeguards that protect democracy.” In this episode, Julian Zelizer interviews Frum about being a conservative in the age of Trump. In 2007 and 2008, Frum was a senior policy adviser to the presidential campaign of Rudy Giuliani. From 2001 to 2002, he served as a special assistant and speechwriter for President George W. Bush. He is the author of nine books, including the first “insider” book about the Bush presidency: “The Right Man: An Inside Account of the Bush White House.” After leaving the White House, Frum was a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. In 2005, he formed and led the group Americans for Better Justice, which spearheaded the opposition to the nomination of Harriet Miers to the U.S. Supreme Court. Frum is a member of the board of directors of the Republican Jewish Coalition; the British think tank, Policy Exchange; and vice chairman and an associate fellow of the R Street Institute, an American conservative and libertarian think tank. His most recently published book is “Patriots: A Novel.” Frum’s forthcoming book, “Trumpocracy: The Corruption of the American Republic,” will be released early next year.
This episode is about one of Sam Wang’s favorite topics: gerrymandering. Wang visited the U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 3 to hear arguments in Gill v. Whitford, a case challenging Wisconsin’s 2011 redistricting plan as being the product of partisan gerrymandering. With the Princeton Gerrymandering Project, Wang and collaborators are studying how voting districts are created, giving insight into how it works and offering ideas on how it can be and is being addressed. In this episode, Julian Zelizer and Wang discuss the case, Wang’s day in D.C. and whether this case could potentially put guardrails on the partisan gerrymandering process.
Are identity politics hurting the Democratic Party? Some argue Democrats have strayed away from core economic issues, favoring religion, race, sexuality, gender or social background (to name a few) to form their political alliance – thereby undercutting the party’s effectiveness. Joining this episode is an author who has written extensively on the rise of identity politics: Mark Lilla, professor of humanities at Columbia University and regular contributor to the New York Review of Books. He describes how identity politics are shaping voters, politicians and the democratic process. Lilla specializes in intellectual history. He is the author of “The Once and Future Liberal: After Identity Politics,” published this year, as well as several other books. He is currently writing a book titled, “Ignorance and Bliss,” and another on the history of the idea of conversion.
With special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, some have drawn comparisons between the Russia investigations and the Watergate scandal. How are the two events similar? In what ways do they differ? And is it too early to really link the two? Elizabeth Drew discusses her reporting of the Watergate scandal as it relates to today in this episode of Politics & Polls. Drew has been covering American politics since the 1970s. She has written for the Atlantic Monthly, the New Yorker, the New York Review of Books, among other publications. She is the author of 15 books including “Washington Journal: Reporting Watergate and Richard Nixon's Downfall,” which provides a first-hand account of Watergate, a scandal that shaped American politics.
Is free speech under threat at colleges across America? Some argue campus environments are no longer conducive to open dialogue. Others say debates on campus are alive and well. A recent nationwide survey of younger voters shows their commitment to free speech is reduced. Of 1,500 undergraduate students across U.S. universities, a fifth of them responded that it’s acceptable to use physical force to silence a speaker who makes “offensive and hurtful comments.” In this episode, Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss the survey with Catherine Rampell, who wrote about it in a recent opinion piece in The Washington Post. Rampell frequently covers economics, public policy, politics and culture, with a special emphasis on data-driven journalism. Before joining The Post, Rampell wrote about economics and theater for The New York Times. She has received the Weidenbaum Center Award for Evidence-Based Journalism and is a Gerald Loeb Award finalist. She grew up in South Florida (the New York part) and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Princeton University in 2007.
The country has recently faced a number of storms, both geographic and political. Texas and Florida were both hit with significant hurricanes while President Donald Trump struck up a deal to raise the debt ceiling, causing concern among some. Prominent political players are also making their way to the media stage. Steve Bannon, former White House chief strategist, said a Republican civil war is brewing, while presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s new book was released, reminding Americans of her defeat in the 2016 presidential election. How are all of these events affecting Trump’s political base? Professors Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang catch up on all of this and more in this week’s episode of Politics & Polls.
Some have argued that Donald Trump was propelled into office by people who have been characterized as discouraged and depressed by a world that no longer feels like their own. But what was it about Donald Trump’s motto, “Make America Great Again,” that captured the attention of so many who voted for him? In this episode, Professors Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang interview Arlie Russell Hochschild, a sociologist who traveled deep into the heart of the “American Right.” Hochschild’s five-year journey culminated in the bestselling book, “Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right,” a National Book Award finalist. Hochschild is professor emerita of sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. She is the author of nine books, and three of her books have been named by The New York Times as Notable Books of the Year. She is the winner of the Ulysses Medal as well as Guggenheim and Mellon grants.
A brutal protest in Charlottesville, Virginia, left three people dead and dozens injured on Aug. 11 and 12 as white nationalists, white supremacists and Neo-Nazis descended on the city and clashed violently with anti-racism protestors. President Donald Trump initially condemned the conflict on Twitter and then a few days later declared blame upon both parties involved in the clash. The event, which has rattled Americans, has brought racial tensions to the forefront. In this episode, Professors Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss the aftermath of Charlottesville — and what to expect in the weeks ahead.
Joining today’s episode is Nancy MacLean, an award-winning scholar of the twentieth-century United States, whose new book, “Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America,” has been described by Publishers Weekly as “a thoroughly researched and gripping narrative… [and] a feat of American intellectual and political history.” Booklist called it “perhaps the best explanation to date of the roots of the political divide that threatens to irrevocably alter American government.” McClean discusses her book with Professors Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang, as well as the widely-publicized controversial debates that have surrounded its publication. McClean responds to some of her critics in an illuminating conversation. The author of four other books, including “Freedom is Not Enough: The Opening of the American Workplace” (2006) called by the Chicago Tribune "contemporary history at its best,” and “Behind the Mask of Chivalry: The Making of the Second Ku Klux Klan,” named a New York Times "noteworthy" book of 1994, MacLean is the William H. Chafe Professor of History and Public Policy at Duke University. Her articles and review essays have appeared in American Quarterly, The Boston Review, Feminist Studies, Gender & History, In These Times, International Labor and Working Class History, Labor, Labor History, Journal of American History, Journal of Women’s History, Law and History Review, The Nation, the OAH Magazine of History and many edited collections. MacLean’s scholarship has received more than a dozen prizes and awards and been supported by fellowships from the American Council of Learned Societies, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Humanities Center, the Russell Sage Foundation and the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowships Foundation. In 2010, she was elected a fellow of the Society of American Historians, which recognizes literary distinction in the writing of history and biography. Also an award-winning teacher and committed graduate student mentor, she offers courses on post-1945 America, social movements, and public policy history.
Joining today’s episode is Nancy MacLean, an award-winning scholar of the twentieth-century United States, whose new book, “Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America,” has been described by Publishers Weekly as “a thoroughly researched and gripping narrative… [and] a feat of American intellectual and political history.” Booklist called it “perhaps the best explanation to date of the roots of the political divide that threatens to irrevocably alter American government.” McClean discusses her book with Professors Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang, as well as the widely-publicized controversial debates that have surrounded its publication. McClean responds to some of her critics in an illuminating conversation. The author of four other books, including “Freedom is Not Enough: The Opening of the American Workplace” (2006) called by the Chicago Tribune "contemporary history at its best,” and “Behind the Mask of Chivalry: The Making of the Second Ku Klux Klan,” named a New York Times "noteworthy" book of 1994, MacLean is the William H. Chafe Professor of History and Public Policy at Duke University. Her articles and review essays have appeared in American Quarterly, The Boston Review, Feminist Studies, Gender & History, In These Times, International Labor and Working Class History, Labor, Labor History, Journal of American History, Journal of Women’s History, Law and History Review, The Nation, the OAH Magazine of History and many edited collections. MacLean’s scholarship has received more than a dozen prizes and awards and been supported by fellowships from the American Council of Learned Societies, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Humanities Center, the Russell Sage Foundation and the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowships Foundation. In 2010, she was elected a fellow of the Society of American Historians, which recognizes literary distinction in the writing of history and biography. Also an award-winning teacher and committed graduate student mentor, she offers courses on post-1945 America, social movements, and public policy history.
Spin. It’s used by public relations gurus and politicians to shape an image or message, thereby influencing the public’s perception of a story. And it’s engrained in American politics, as presidents and presidential candidates both have used the art of spin to frame stories and public opinion. To discuss the art of spin, David Greenberg, a professor of history and journalism and media studies at Rutgers University, joins this episode of Politics & Polls. Greenberg’s book, “Republic of Spin: An Inside History of the American Presidency,” examines the rise of the White House spin machine, from the Progressive Era to the present day, and the debates that Americans have waged over its implications for democracy.
Drawing connections between the past and present often sparks fierce debates within the American political landscape. In this episode, Eric Foner, one of America’s most distinguished historians, discusses these interpretations of history and how they relate to today. His latest book, “Battles for Freedom,” explores this “use and abuse of American history,” unearthing the hidden history of American radicalism. Finer is the DeWitt Clinton Professor of History at Columbia University and specializes in the Civil War and Reconstruction, slavery, and 19th-century America.
The Civil Rights Movement is often looked back upon as a time when social activism sparked real political change. During that time, the United States saw some of its greatest leaders guide the country through turbulent years. Martin Luther King Jr. and President John F. Kennedy provided different models of leadership, which some argue are needed today. In this episode, Professor Julian Zelizer interviews Steven Levingston, nonfiction editor at the Washington Post, about the battle over civil rights. Levingston is the author of "Kennedy and King: The President, the Pastor, and the Battle over Civil Rights", “Little Demon in the City of Light: A True Story of Murder and Mesmerism in Belle Époque Paris” and “The Kennedy Baby: The Loss that Transformed JFK.”
President Donald Trump has spent his first months faced with a potential scandal involving Russia, an issue that’s only grown since the election with discussions and investigations about possible obstruction and collusion. In recent weeks, this has dominated national political debates, especially in Congress and the White House. Benjamin Wittes, co-founder and editor-in-chief of the Lawfare blog, joins this episode of Politics & Polls to discuss where things stand in the Trump-Russia scandal. The Lawfare blog is “devoted to sober and serious discussion of ‘hard national security choices.’” Wittes, a journalist who focuses on national security and law, is also a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution. He is the author of “Detention and Denial: The Case for Candor After Guantanamo”, published in November 2011; co-editor of “Constitution 3.0: Freedom and Technological Change,” published in December 2011; and editor of “Campaign 2012: Twelve Independent Ideas for Improving American Public Policy,” published in May 2017 by the Brookings Institution Press.
This week marks the one-year anniversary of Politics & Polls! In this episode, Professors Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang reflect on everything that’s transpired over the past year from the presidential campaign to President Donald Trump’s election.
America’s experienced a blitz of political twists and turns in the past few months, which may cloak some of the deep-rooted challenges still facing the nation. Still looming large in the background are issues related to the political process — like democracy, gerrymandering, voting laws and federalism. In this episode, the focus turns toward the structure of politics with special guest Heather Gerken, one of the country’s leading experts on constitutional law and election law. Gerken is the J. Skelly Wright Professor of Law at Yale Law School and founder of the “nationalist school” of federalism; her work focuses on federalism, diversity, and dissent. Hailed as an “intellectual guru” in the The New York Times, Professor Gerken’s scholarship has been featured in The Atlantic, the Boston Globe, NPR, The New York Times, and Time. At Yale, she founded and runs the country’s most innovative clinic in local government law. Gerken is also a renowned teacher who has won awards at both Yale and Harvard and was named one of the nation’s “twenty-six best law teachers.” Gerken clerked for Judge Stephen Reinhardt of the 9th Circuit and Justice David Souter of the United States Supreme Court. She then served as an appellate lawyer in Washington, D.C., before joining the Harvard Law School faculty in 2000. Gerken came to Yale in 2006 and became the inaugural J. Skelly Wright Professor of Law in 2008. She will serve as the 17th dean of Yale’s Law School, starting July 1, 2017.
One of the ongoing challenges in American politics is appealing to younger demographics - not simply through elections and voter turn-out but engaging young people with the political process. Today’s young people - and even some adults – find politics difficult to digest and unappealing, presenting challenges in the ways that Americans learn, interpret and analyze politics. Gabe Fleisher, a 15-year-old student in St. Louis, is looking to change that with his newsletter “Wake Up to Politics,” which is sent to 36,000 readers every morning. Our youngest guest to date, Fleisher discusses his newsletter and how to make politics appealing in this episode of Politics & Polls.
Race remains a potent political force in America, as evidenced by the 2016 presidential election. Despite the progress that’s been made, race continues to infiltrate many areas of public policy from health care to education to employment. Professor Eddie Glaude from Princeton University joins this episode of Politics & Polls to discuss current race relations in America. Glaude, chair of the Center for African American Studies and William S. Todd Professor of Religion and African Studies at Princeton.
President Donald Trump’s attacks on the media persist while journalists continue to grapple with how to cover such a tumultuous presidency. Amidst the clamor, new voices in journalism have risen to the top, positioning themselves as political power players in a media-saturated world. Among these voices is Lauren Duca, an award-winning journalist at Teen Vogue. In December 2016, Duca penned an essay, “Donald Trump is Gaslighting America,” which argued that Trump relies on deceit to undermine the truth so his critics question their own judgment. The essay quickly went viral, generating more than one million views to date. Duca joins this episode of Politics & Polls to discuss her essay, her work at Teen Vogue and the future of journalism under the Trump administration.
More than 100 insider sources helped journalists Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes lift the veil on Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the many avoidable missteps that turned a winnable election into a stunning defeat. Allen and Parnes’ new book, “Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton’s Doomed Campaign,” digs deeper to illuminate a flawed campaign that resulted in a defeat that shocked the world. In this episode, professor Julian Zelizer interviews Allen and Parnes about their #1 New York Times best-seller.
Washington has been hit with a trifecta of catastrophic events in the past week. First, President Donald Trump fired Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey, justifying his decision by pointing toward Comey’s mishandling of the investigation of Hillary Clinton’s emails. Trump later changed course, admitting he fired Comey for continuing the investigation about Russia’s role in disrupting the 2016 election. Just days later, news broke that Trump shared classified information about the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) with Russian diplomats in the Oval Office — a decision defended by Trump and Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster, Trump’s national security advisor. Now, Comey has returned to the spotlight following media reports that he wrote a memo about a conversation in which Trump told him to end the Michael Flynn investigation. (Flynn was forced to resign his role as national security advisor after just 24 days, due to his secret communications with the Russians.) How have the dramatic events of this week changed Washington? What’s next in the ongoing saga of the Trump presidency? Is an investigation or impeachment possible? Professors Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss this and more in episode #44 of Politics and Polls.
President Donald Trump pledged to bring jobs back to America during his campaign, appealing to a strong middle class base that’s been struggling with stagnant wages and few job opportunities. Since the 1990s, death rates among this demographic — specifically middle-aged white Americans without college degrees — have been on the rise thanks to opioid addiction, alcohol abuse and suicide. This same pattern isn’t seen in other parts of the world, reversing decades of progress. Economist Anne Case, whose landmark study with co-author Sir Angus Deaton first detected the rise in mortality rates, joins this episode to discuss why “deaths of despair” are plaguing middle-aged white Americans. Case, who has written extensively on health over the life course, is the Alexander Stewart 1886 Professor of Economics and Public Affairs at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. She also serves as director of the Research Program in Development Studies. Case and Deaton’s research on midlife mobility and mortality has been cited in hundreds of media outlets around the world. For this work, she received the Cozzarelli Prize from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Case also was awarded the Kenneth J. Arrow Prize in Health Economics from the International Health Economics Association or her work on the links between economic status and health status in childhood.
In his campaign promise to make America great again, President Donald Trump vowed to “bring jobs back to America” and revitalize the nation’s labor industry. Now, one hundred days into the Trump presidency, some might be wondering: Where are all of those jobs? Believers say job creation is right around the corner, while critics argue little has been done, as Trump has mostly focused on rhetoric instead of policy. In an effort to untangle such labor issues, professors Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang interview Christopher P. Lu ‘88, former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Labor. In this episode, Lu provides an inside look at the Department of Labor as well as the Trump transition.
The first 100 days of Trump’s presidency have been a whirlwind of victories and setbacks, leaving Americans with mixed opinions about President Trump and how the next four years could unfold. While his approval ratings are at historic lows and he has yet to enact any major legislation, his supporters have been pleased with the burst of executive actions and his defiant stand against the political establishment. How has President Trump done, and how does he compare to past presidents? Why is the first 100 days in office used as a barometer in the first place? Do these presidential beginnings predict the course of an entire term? In this episode of Politics & Polls, professors Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang interview political historian Meg Jacobs, a research scholar at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Jacobs explains the concept of evaluating a president’s first 100 days and how she thinks Trump’s faring from a historical perspective. Jacobs, who is married to Zelizer, is the author of “Pocketbook Politics: Economic Citizenship in Twentieth-Century America,” and, more recently, “Panic at the Pump: The Energy Crisis and the Transformation of American Politics in the 1970s.” She is currently working on a new book with Viking Press about the history of the New Deal and World War II.
From Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election to the looming federal budget negotiations, the 115th U.S. Congress currently has a full plate. What other challenges might today’s Congress face in the months ahead? In this episode of Politics & Polls, Professor Sam Wang interviews Congressman Leonard Lance (R-NJ) about what’s next for the Affordable Care Act and how Rep. Lance has been handling recent (and sometimes contentious) Town Hall meetings. A key “moderate conservative” in the Republican caucus, Rep. Lance shared his views about maintaining key payments to keep health care insurers afloat. He also talked about what it would take for him to approve an independent investigative committee to look into Russia’s role in the 2016 election and Donald Trump's taxes. Rep. Lance is a graduate alumnus of Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in November 2008 and re-elected to a fifth term in November 2016 to represent New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District. Lance previously served on the House Financial Services Committee and is now on the Committee on Energy and Commerce, which focuses on national energy and environmental policy, health and health facilities, interstate and foreign commerce, consumer affairs and consumer protection, and travel and tourism. Prior to being elected to Congress, Rep. Lance served as a member of the New Jersey State Senate beginning in 2002, and held the position of minority leader of the Senate from 2004 to 2008. He is the third generation of his family to serve in the New Jersey State Legislature, following his great-uncle, H. Kiefer Lance, and his father, Wesley L. Lance. In Politics & Polls, he reflects on the transition from state politics to the national scene.
Last week, a chemical weapons attack killed dozens of Syrians, prompting President Donald Trump to launch 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles on a Syrian airbase. Meanwhile, concern about North Korea’s nuclear arsenal builds, with satellite images hinting at another detonation test. Plus, there are ongoing national security issues: The scandal with Russian intervention in the 2016 election has loomed large over each decision the Trump administration makes in international relations, while President Trump’s Twitter habits and attacks on the intelligence community have generated tension in Washington. How will such emerging and continued threats endanger national security? Gen. David Petraeus (U.S. Army Ret.) joins Politics & Polls this week to discuss the national security challenges facing the Trump administration. Gen. Petraeus is chairman of the KKR Global Institute. Prior to joining KKR, Gen. Petraeus served for more than 37 years in the U.S. military, including command of coalition forces in Iraq, command of U.S. Central Command, and command of coalition forces in Afghanistan. Following his service in the military, Gen. Petraeus served as the director of the CIA. He graduated with distinction from the U.S. Military Academy and subsequently earned his MPA and Ph.D. degrees in international relations from Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.
As the investigation into Russia’s interference with the 2016 U.S. election continues, President Donald Trump continues to call the story “fake news,” “phony,” and “a total scam,” mostly by way of Twitter. He also continues to try to change the conversation by making groundless allegations, particularly his claim that President Barack Obama wiretapped Trump Tower. What do we know for certain about Trump’s connection to Russia? And what else might be revealed as the Senate and House intelligence committees continue their investigations? To better unravel this ongoing news story, Professors Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang interview Sarah Kendzior, a St. Louis, Mo.-based commentator who writes about politics, the economy and media. The crux of the conversation stems from Kendzior’s recent article, “At long last, a forum where Trump cannot escape the truth.” Kendzior is currently a columnist for the Globe and Mail, where she focuses on U.S. politics. She also is the U.S. correspondent for De Correspondent, a Dutch news outlet. Previously, Kendzior was an op-ed columnist for Al Jazeera English, where she wrote about exploitation, particularly in higher education, the diminishing opportunities of America’s youth and gentrification. She also has covered internet privacy, political repression and how the media shape public perception.
Shortly after the bill to replace the Affordable Care Act was pulled, President Trump called The Washington Post’s Robert Costa to discuss what happened. The President had a “defiant and even-tempered tone," says Costa. The defeat in the House introduced Trump to the realities of the legislative process and Congress' factions. How will Mitch McConnell fare in securing the Senate votes needed to confirm Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court? What can these events tell us about Trump’s evolving relationship with and influence over Congress? Professors Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang interview Robert Costa for the latest episode of Politics & Polls. Costa is a national political reporter at The Washington Post and a political analyst for NBC News and MSNBC.
President Trump’s budget blueprint proposes deep cuts to research at the National Institutes of Health and the Environmental Protection Agency. What lies ahead for scientific expertise and evidence-based policymaking? Are facts, evidence and truth under siege by the new administration? In this episode of Politics & Polls, professors Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang interview Rush D. Holt about the current state of science in the U.S., from public opinion to its role in government decision-making. Holt, Ph.D., is chief executive officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest multidisciplinary scientific society, and executive publisher of the Science family of journals. As a physicist and a former long-time member of the U.S. House of Representatives for New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District, Holt draws on his experiences to help researchers bridge the gap between science and politics.
The election of President Donald Trump has challenged the political machine of conservativism. Now, many on the right are grappling with how to make sense of “Trumpism” and whether it fits into the conservative movement that’s been developing over the past few decades. A new policy and political journal, “American Affairs,” aims to intellectualize the Trumpism movement as it unfolds. The publication is led by Julius Krein, a 2008 Harvard University graduate, who joins professors Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang on this episode of Politics & Polls. Krein is an American political writer and the founding editor of American Affairs. He first went into a career in finance, working for several firms, including Bank of America and the Blackstone Group, before leaving finance to found and edit American Affairs.
The start of Donald Trump’s presidency has been anything but predictable. So far, his first 100 days in office have been filled with a lot of heat, noise — and executive orders. But is this that abnormal? Or is it par for the course? Where do we draw the line between what is unprecedented, and what we’ve seen before? Professors Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss these questions — which are based on a recent article in The Upshot, a column for The New York Times— in this episode.
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to withdraw from the negotiating process of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and has vowed to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement. Both moves signal to foreign nations that the United States may have a very different outlook on international trade under President Trump. In this episode of Politics & Polls, professors Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang interview (Ret.) Amb. Michael B.G. Froman ’85 about his outlook for international trade in a ‘Trumpian World.’ Amb. Froman served in President Obama’s cabinet as the U.S. Trade Representative from June 2013 to January 2017. There, he worked to open global markets for U.S. goods and services, enforce America’s rights in the global trading system and foster development through trade.
Almost every U.S. president has struggled to broker peace agreements in the Middle East, especially among Israel and Palestine. For many, the possibility of a peace agreement seems dire, with a two-state solution that seems to be fleeting. But what can we expect to see from President Donald Trump? To unravel these complex issues, Amb. Daniel Kurtzer joins this episode of Politics & Polls with co-hosts Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang. Kurtzer is the S. Daniel Abraham Visiting Professor in Middle Eastern Policy Studies at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Following a 29-year career in the U.S. Foreign Service, Kurtzer retired in 2005 with the rank of career-minister. From 2001 to 2005, he served as the U.S. ambassador to Israel and, from 1997 to 2001, he served as U.S. ambassador to Egypt.
Donald Trump’s presidency has evoked strong emotional and psychological responses from both the public and the president himself, raising issues not often brought forth in public policy and governance. Many, including members of the media, are trying to make sense of this complicated web of anger, passion, rationality and irrationality. Among those reporters is Jesse Singal of New York Magazine, who is bringing the social sciences into the news amid an often-heated environment. In this episode of Politics & Polls, professors Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang interview Singal and discuss, among other topics, his recent articles on fear among conservatives and how the “contact hypothesis” — when members from different groups interact — can diminish prejudice and hatred. Jesse Singal is a writer-at-large at New York Magazine, where, among other things, he covers social science, politics and weird internet subcultures. He’s an alumnus of Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.
A federal appeals court has blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order issuing an immigration ban barring people from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Trump also has made moves toward building a border wall with Mexico, which recent figures suggest may cost an estimated $21 billion. If implemented, what would an immigration ban and a border wall accomplish? In this episode, professors Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang take a deep dive into immigration and border control with Doug Massey, one of the country’s leading experts in this field. Throughout the discussion, Massey busts many myths, including the question of whether the effect of a border wall is to keep people out of the United States - or cage them inside. Massey is the Henry G. Bryant Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs at Princeton University and the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. He studies international migration, race and housing, discrimination, education, urban poverty and Latin America, especially Mexico.
The digital revolution is generating massive amounts of information. And while this big data certainly benefits researchers and consumers, it also poses significant privacy concerns. In this WooCast episode, Tim Lee of Vox interviews Princeton professors Prateek Mittal and Matt Salganik about the benefits, risks and concerns related to big data. This episode is part of a series featuring moderators and panelists who will participate in the Princeton-Fung Global Forum: “Society 3.0+: Can Liberty Survive the Digital Age?” The conference, to be held March 20-21 in Berlin, is being organized by the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Timothy B. Lee is a senior correspondent at Vox.com, where he covers technology and economics. He previously covered technology policy for The Washington Post and Ars Technica. He holds a master's degree in computer science from Princeton. Follow him on Twitter: @binarybits Prateek Mittal is an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering at Princeton University, where he is also affiliated with the Center for Information Technology Policy. His research aims to build secure and privacy-preserving communication systems. His research interests include the domains of privacy enhancing technologies, trustworthy social systems and internet/network security. His work has influenced the design of several widely used anonymity systems. Matthew Salganik is professor of sociology at Princeton University, and he is affiliated with several of Princeton's interdisciplinary research centers including the Office for Population Research, the Center for Information Technology Policy, the Center for Health and Wellbeing and the Center for Statistics and Machine Learning. His research interests include social networks and computational social science. He is the author of the forthcoming book "Bit by Bit: Social Research in the Digital Age."
It seems as if America is watching two shows in parallel. On one hand, we’re seeing the political process unfold with cabinet nominees being appointed and executive orders being signed. On the other hand, the country has front-row seats to The Donald Trump Show, a gripping drama filled with unexpected twists and turns. Are we seeing the birth cries of an authoritarian regime? Or is it the gang that couldn't shoot straight? Professors Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang debate this and more in episode #29.
Hailed as one of the largest protests in American history, the Women’s March on Washington gathered hundreds of thousands of people both the district and millions in sister marches across the world. Held just a day after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, the protest was an opportunity for Americans to bring gender and reproductive rights to the forefront, an issue many feel is under threat by a Trump administration. In this episode of Politics & Polls, professors Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss the march and reproductive rights with Katha Pollitt, a columnist for The Nation. Pollitt’s column, “Subject to Debate” has been cited as “the best place to go for original thinking on the left.” Pollitt is an American feminist poet, essayist and critic. In 2007 Random House published her collection of personal essays, “Learning to Drive and Other Life Stories.” Her most recent book is “Pro: Reclaiming Abortion Rights,” which The New York Times listed as a Notable Book of 2014. Pollitt has also written essays and book reviews for The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New Republic, Harper’s, Ms., Glamour, Mother Jones, The New York Times and the London Review of Books.
Can liberty survive the digital age? In this episode, Princeton University professors Jennifer Rexford and Janet Vertesi discuss internet infrastructure and its effect on how people use the web as a vehicle for communication and information. This episode is part of a series featuring panelists who will participate in the Princeton-Fung Global Forum: “Society 3.0+: Can Liberty Survive the Digital Age?” The conference, to be held March 20-21 in Berlin, is being organized by the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Jennifer Rexford is the Gordon Y.S. Wu Professor of Engineering, professor of computer science and chair of the Department of Computer Science at Princeton University. Before joining Princeton in 2005, she worked for eight years at AT&T Labs—Research. Jennifer received her bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Princeton University in 1991 and her Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of Michigan in 1996. She is co-author of the book "Web Protocols and Practice" (Addison-Wesley, May 2001). She served as the chair of ACM SIGCOMM from 2003 to 2007. Jennifer was the 2004 winner of ACM's Grace Murray Hopper Award for outstanding young computer professional. She is an ACM fellow (2008) and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2013) and the National Academy of Engineering (2014). Janet Vertesi is a sociologist of science and technology at Princeton University, where she is an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology. At Princeton, she teaches classes on the sociology of science and technology, technology in organizations and human-computer interaction. Vertesi has spent the past decade as an ethnographer of spacecraft missions at NASA, and is the author of "Seeing Like a Rover: How Robots, Teams and Images Craft Knowledge of Mars." In addition to her research on complex technical organizations, she nurtures a passion for public understanding about the intersection of technology and society, especially with respect to online privacy. Best known publicly for her “opt out” experiments that reveal underlying assumptions embedded in computing technologies, she is an advisory board member of the Data & Society Institute in New York City, has blogged extensively on the topic at Time.com and is a faculty affiliate of the Center for Information Technology Policy.
The Democratic Party may be in a “crisis,” many argue, and not only because of a Donald Trump presidency but also due to continued Republican control of Congress. Given these challenges, will the Democrats be able to rebuild their strength? In episode #27 of Politics & Polls, professsors Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang interview leading political scientist Theda Skocpol about her recent article in Vox: “A Guide to Rebuilding the Democratic Party from the Ground Up.” In the piece, Skocpol outlines how the Democratic Party can be rebuilt from the ground up, beginning at the state and local levels. Skocpol’s work covers an unusually broad spectrum of topics including comparative politics and American politics. In particular, her research focuses on U.S. social policy and civic engagement in American democracy, including changes since the 1960s. She has recently launched new projects on the transformations of U.S. federal policies in the Obama era. Her books and articles have been widely cited in political science literature and have won numerous awards.
Since the election, Democrats have struggled with how to respond to a Donald Trump presidency. But one group is starting to get some traction - the authors of an online guide that is going viral: “Indivisible: A Practical Guide for Resisting the Trump Agenda.” Originally posted as a Google document, the guide was co-written by former Congressional staffers Ezra Levin and Angel Padilla, who both received their Master in Public Affairs from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School, Leah Greenberg, and others. At the heart of the publication are two ideas: presidential power is not unlimited, and Congress responds to pressure when applied the right way. Levin and Padilla use their real-world experience with the Tea Party as a model for how citizens can keep the pressure on Congress and get results. In episode #26 of Politics & Polls, Professors Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss the Indivisible guide in depth with Levin and Padilla. Levin is D.C.-based domestic poverty policy wonk. He's served as associate director of government affairs at the Corporation for Enterprise Development, deputy policy director for Congressman Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) and at AmeriCorps VISTA in the Homeless Services Division of the San Jose Department of Housing. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Carleton College and a Master in Public Affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. Padilla works for an immigrant rights nonprofit on federal health care advocacy. Padilla previously worked as an immigration policy consultant at National Council of La Raza. From 2009 until 2011, he worked for Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-IL), advising on issues related to health care and the Affordable Care Act, among others. Padilla also has interned with the Department of Homeland Security Advisory Council and the Foreign Affairs Committee in the House. He is a graduate of Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.
Should the government play a major or minor role in the lives of American citizens? This core question resurfaces during each election and continues to divide the political parties. It turns out that this argument is not new. In his newest book, Yale historian Steve Pincus challenges those who argue that the Declaration of Independence should be used for political guidance today, saying it’s in favor of limited government. Pincus shows that the Declaration of Independence actually gives the government more power, primarily to promote and protect citizens’ welfare. What was the original intent of the founding fathers? And is the document still applicable today? In episode #25, professors Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang interview Pincus, who examines these issues in his new book: “Heart of the Declaration: The Founders’ Case for an Activist Government.” Pincus, Bradford Durfee Professor of History at Yale University, studies Atlantic history, the history of Britain, the British empire, global history and early American history. He also is the author of “Protestantism and Patriotism: Ideologies and the Making of English Foreign Policy, 1650-1668,” “England’s Glorious Revolution 1688-89” and “1688: The First Modern Revolution.”
Polarization was a strong undercurrent to the 2016 presidential election, powerfully affecting the electorate and politics. Looking toward President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet appointments, those same divisions remain clear. As Trump builds his team, the nation is beginning to see the outlines of a Trump administration - one that fits well with congressional Republicans. In their first live recording of Politics & Polls, professors Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss Trump’s recent appointments, the state of polarization today and how the polls got it wrong.
Since Donald Trump’s election, there has been considerable debate about what the Democratic party should do next. While some Democrats argue for an openness to cooperation, others insist there isn’t room for compromise given Trump’s views on race and individual rights. In this episode of Politics & Polls, professors Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang interview one of the most powerful voices in this debate: Jamelle Bouie. In his writing, Bouie — who serves as Slate’s chief political correspondent — has tackled a host of issues from white nationalism to minority voters to Trump’s vision of Black America. His work has appeared either online or in print at The New Yorker, The Washington Post, The Nation and other publications. He also serves as a political analyst for CBS News.
The vacant seat on the U.S. Supreme Court has returned to the spotlight, with President-elect Donald Trump promising supporters that he will nominate a conservative justice, and Democrats fuming from Senate Republicans’ refusal to hold a vote on Obama nominee Merrick Garland. In this episode of Politics & Polls, professors Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang interview Linda Greenhouse about how a Trump presidency may affect the U.S. Supreme Court. Greenhouse is the Knight Distinguished Journalist in Residence and Joseph Goldstein Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School. She covered the Supreme Court for The New York Times between 1978 and 2008 and writes a biweekly column on law. She’s the author of several books, including, most recently, “The Burger Court and the Rise of the Judicial Right.”
Political polarization is the worst it’s been since the Civil War, some experts argue. How did we get here? How have America’s ideologies shifted so much in the past four decades? What forces underlie the growing divide between Republicans and Democrats? And how has social media and varying sources of information widened the gap? In episode 21, professors Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss party polarization with Matt Grossmann and David Hopkins, co-authors of the new book, “Asymmetric Politics: Ideological Republicans and Group Interest Democrats.” Published by Oxford University Press, the book provides a new understanding of contemporary polarization. Grossmann and Hopkins show how Republicans are more ideological, gaining public support by pledging their loyalty to broad values, while Democrats are more interested in special interest groups, appealing to voters’ group identities and interests through the endorsement of certain policies. The result: two parties that think differently, argue past one another, rely on completely different sources of information and pursue divergent governmental goals.
In a stunning upset, Donald Trump was elected the 45th president of the United States. Professors Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang react to the results in episode #20, their first post-election recording. Among a host of issues, they discuss why the polls might’ve been off and what a Trump presidency means the nation and the history of democracy.
In their last episode before the election, professors Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang look ahead to election day 2016. Among other issues, they discuss what the results will do to the GOP, which states Wang in particular will be watching on election night (hint: it’s not what you’d think), how the Senate races might turn out and if this particular election may shape political discourse in 2020 and beyond.
Since the 1970s, the religious right has been an important part of the Republican coalition. This group, comprised mostly of right-wing Christians, are characterized by their strong support of socially conservative policies. Throughout this presidential campaign, both candidates, especially Donald Trump, have tested the religious right. Trump’s personal wrongdoings, in particular, have ruffled feathers, which some say are causing splits within the religious right. In this episode, professors Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss this sect with their colleague Kevin M. Kruse, a professor of history at Princeton University. Kruse studies the political, social, and urban/suburban history of 20th-century America, with particular interest in the making of modern conservatism. Kruse is the author of “White Flight: Atlanta and the Making of Modern Conservatism” and, most recently, “One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America,” a study of the rise of American religious nationalism in the mid-twentieth century.
Who knew that the discharge petition—signed by members of the House of Representatives to bring a bill from committee to the floor—could be good material for a Tony Award-winning play and HBO feature film? In this episode, Professors Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang interview Robert Schenkkan whose play “All the Way” about Lyndon B. Johnson has been brought from the stage to the screen. “All the Way” is a play and film depicting LBJ’s efforts to enact the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and his re-election victory against Republican candidate Barry Goldwater. Schenkkan is an American screenwriter, actor and playwright. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1992 for his play “The Kentucky Cycle” and his play “All the Way” earned the 2014 Tony Award for Best Play. He has three Emmy nominations and one Writers Guild of America Award. The conversation explores how artists encourage us to think about politics beyond the scope of the media or academia and, in unique ways, teach Americans how politics work. Through plays such as “All the Way,” Zelizer and Wang discuss with Schenkkan how the arts have opened up conversations about politics and play an important role in an era when many Americans seem distrustful.
Donald Trump has made it clear that if he loses on Nov. 8, it is because the election was “rigged.” He has warned that there might be widespread voter fraud that will favor Democrats. But does this threat have any basis in reality? Or is the real threat new voter identification laws that have the potential to disenfranchise significant portions of the population? And why, after a century of working to expand the right to vote, have we seen the restrictions put into place? Professor Julian Zelizer discusses these questions with special guest Ari Berman, senior contributing writer for The Nation magazine. A fellow at The Nation Institute, Berman is author of “Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America,” a book published in August 2015 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
While it may be hard to look away from the steel cage match between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, it’s time to start looking "down ticket,” as these congressional races could be one of the biggest stories in the 2016 election. What happens in the House and Senate races will ultimately shape and influence the next presidency. And many questions remain: What will the Trump effect be on congressional races? What impact will this have in the Senate? Is there any possibility that the House, currently with a large Republican majority, could swing to the Democrats? And will the Freedom Caucus expand or contract in size, and what challenges will this pose House Speaker Paul Ryan? These questions and more are answered in episode 15 of Politics & Polls with special guest David Wasserman, house editor of The Cook Political Report. A political analyst, Wasserman is responsible for handicapping and analyzing U.S. House Races for The Cook Political Report, a widely regarded nonpartisan, independent newsletter. Wasserman has served as an analyst for the NBC News Election Night Decision Desk in 2014, 2012, 2010 and 2008, and has appeared on NBC Nightly News, ABC World News, C-SPAN Washington Journal, CNN and NPR.
Despite this year’s tense presidential debates, fierce political battles and polarized atmosphere, it still comes down to one simple act: marking your ballot. While it takes mere seconds, voting remains at the heart of our democracy. But voting wasn’t always so easy. The issue of voting rights in America has been long debated and has changed dramatically since the country was founded. From then until now, Americans have fought for the right to vote, while many tried to stop them. In episode 14, professors Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang interview Michael Waldman, author of “The Fight to Vote,” a book chronicling the long struggle to win voting rights for all citizens. Waldman is president of the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan public policy and law institute focused on issues related to democracy and justice. From 1995 to 1999, he served as the director of speechwriting for President Bill Clinton. He is the author of numerous books and publications including “The Second Amendment,” which traces the ongoing argument on gun rights from the Bill of Rights to present day.
A previously unknown subculture has emerged onto the political scene thanks to the 2016 presidential election. The alternative right, known as the “alt-right,” is a diverse group of people who identify as right-wing and are unified in opposition against mainstream American conservatism. The movement — which has gained attention through their support of Donald Trump’s campaign — has been associated with white nationalism, white supremacism and right-wing populism and other fringe groups. But who exactly comprises the alt-right? Where did the group first originate? Is this a new phenomenon? And have we seen glimpses of such a movement throughout history? In episode 13, professors Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang interview Rick Perlstein, author of The New York Times bestseller “Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America” about the origins and implications of the alt-right and its connections to the Republican Party.
The presidential election is at a crossroads as the race is beginning to tighten between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Now, we’re entering a season of debates, with the first one kicking off Monday, Sept. 26, at 9 p.m. from Hofstra University in New York. Some predict this first debate could be the most-viewed in our history. But how might these debates influence voters? What impact will the debates have when the polls suggest that the race has really tightened in many of the battleground states? Will they have the capacity to remake the race? And, more broadly, what role have debates played throughout history? Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss this and more in episode 12 of Politics & Polls.
Hillary Clinton was sidelined by walking pneumonia this week, lighting up the internet with speculations and rumors about her health. These stories about the first female presidential candidate shine a spotlight on one of the biggest issues in the campaign: the role of gender in politics. Since Clinton was named nominee of the Democratic Party, commentators have been taking a hard look at the way gender impacts the political process. Yet, when it comes to gender, it is rarely a clear-cut or easy discussion. Working to disentangle the role of gender in politics is award-winning journalist Rebecca Traister, the best-selling author of “All the Single Ladies: Unmarried Women and the Rise of an Independent Nation.” In this episode of Politics & Polls, professors Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang interview Traister, a writer-at-large for New York Magazine who has written extensively about gender and politics. Traister’s latest book, “All the Single Ladies,” draws upon historical research and interviews with nearly 100 women to examine the intricate truths of single women’s sexual, economical and emotional lives. In episode 11, Traister dives deep into how gender has influenced the campaign and describes the powerful role of single female voters.
In one of the most powerful transformations in the history of American politics, African Americans shifted loyalties to the Democratic Party while Republicans became the party of racial conservatism. How and why did this happen? Did certain moments in history cause this bipartisan ‘racial realignment?’ How has this realignment led to the political polarization of 2016? In episode 10 of Politics and Polls, professors Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang interview Eric Schickler, a political scientist at University of California, Berkeley, about his new book, “Racial Realignment: The Transformation of American Liberalism, 1932-1965” (Princeton University Press). Schickler challenges the conventional argument that this realignment occurred in the 1960s, dating the change to several decades earlier following the aftermath of the New Deal. Drawing upon rich data sources and original historic research, Schickler shows that top party leaders were among the last to move, and their choices were dictated by changes that had occurred beneath them — not unlike this year's presidential race.
Game-changing events often occur during presidential campaigns. These moments — which can transform party dynamics, voters and even the candidates themselves — oftentimes influence the outcome of the election. But what about the 2016 presidential campaign? Have we seen moments like these? And, if we have, are they even worth looking back upon? In episode nine of “Politics & Polls,” professors Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang close out the summer by sharing their top three moments from the 2016 presidential election thus far. Note: The next episode of “Politics & Polls” will air Thursday, Sept. 7.
From straw polls of the 19th century to modern polling of today, polls have played a significant role in the American political landscape. But what is a poll? With dozens of new polls coming out every week, how can we make sense of the data onslaught? Is there a way to reduce the confusion? And what role can polls play in 2016, an election year fraught with drama and uncertainty? In episode eight of “Politics & Polls,” professors Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang talk all about polls: what they are, whether to trust them and some simple tricks to reduce confusion in a dense media environment.
Donald Trump has tried to calm tensions with the Republican Party this week by endorsing House Speaker Paul Ryan, Senator John McCain and Senator Susan Collins. But while these endorsements appear as a move toward unity, it's not clear whether these Republican candidates actually want Trump's endorsement, as evidenced by Collins's refusal to support Trump. If disaffected Republicans like Collins stay home, this could spell trouble for downticket races. What kind of effect will these endorsements - and Trump's campaign in general - have on the House and the Senate? Could Trump have inverse coattails, and drag other candidates down? How does gerrymandering complicate this? And how could third-party candidates like Evan McMullin, who joined the race this week, influence the election? Could McMullin give reluctant Republicans a reason to turn out - and help save downticket candidates in the process? Professors Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss this and more in episode seven of Politics & Polls.
The media have played a powerful role in the 2016 presidential election. Some critics argue Donald Trump became a viable candidate thanks to his “free airtime,” and that he might not have won the Republican bid without the attention. Others point out blatant sexism in the media given the attention paid to Hillary Clinton’s voice and clothing—something reporters didn’t do as much with male candidates. And Bernie Sanders’ supporters contend “corporate-owned" media are uninterested in scrutinizing his campaign and platform issues. What is the right way to tell the story of the election? What are the roles of polling data and of shoe-leather journalistic coverage? Can they co-exist? Can they help one another? Professors Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss this and more in episode six of Politics & Polls.
Within the grand speeches at this week’s Democratic National Convention lies a central message — Clinton and the Democrats, not Trump, can better serve struggling working and middle-class voters who have felt excluded from both parties. When both candidates return full-throttle to the campaign trail, they’ll be competing for these voters in key states such as Pennsylvania. How has the Democratic Party’s relationship with these voters evolved in the past? What messages should the candidates deliver to sway them, and in what ways? Professors Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang debate this issue and more in episode five of Politics & Polls.
It’s been an interesting week at the Republication National Convention in Cleveland. Donald Trump’s wife Melania was accused of plagiarizing her speech. Ted Cruz was booed offstage after failing to endorse Trump. And Hillary Clinton was called a “criminal” and compared to “Lucifer.” Will such dramatic incidents have an impact on voters? And more generally speaking, what role do these conventions play in modern America? Professors Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang debate this issue and more in episode four of Politics & Polls.
People often vote based on who’s already in the White House. How have we seen this play out throughout history? And how is President Obama’s legacy shaping the current campaign? Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss in episode three of Politics & Polls.
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will soon announce their running mates—but does the vice president pick still matter? While it was once used as a way to bring regional balance to the ticket, it's not clear what the vice president selection means in 2016. Professors Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss this and more in episode two of Politics & Polls.
In 1964, Lyndon B. Johnson crushed Barry Goldwater in the presidential election. Could we see another landslide like this in 2016? Or does today’s political environment make that impossible? Tune in to the first episode of "Politics and Polls” as Professors Julian E. Zelizer and Sam Wang debate this issue and more.
Nancy Duff Campbell is the founder and co-president of the National Women's Law Center. In this podcast, she discusses her path to public service.
When engaging with other countries, the U.S. government has a number of different policy instruments at its disposal, including foreign aid, international trade and the use of military force. But what determines which policies are chosen? A new book released by a Princeton-Harvard team focuses on how domestic U.S. politics – in particular the interactions between the president, Congress, interest groups, bureaucratic institutions and the public – have influenced foreign policy choices since World War II and shows why presidents have more control over some policy instruments than others. Presidential power matters, and it varies systematically across policy instruments. The book, "Sailing the Water's Edge: The Domestic Politics of American Foreign Policy" was written by Helen V. Milner, B.C. Forbes Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, and Dustin Tingley, professor of government at Harvard University. In the following podcast, Milner and Tingley provide a preview of their work and explain the inspiration behind their book.
Paul Volcker has spent most of his professional life in public service. In this WooCast, he discusses the importance of public service, its role in good governance and his advice for students charting career paths in public service. He also talks about the papers he donated to Princeton’s Seely G. Mudd Manuscript Library.
Resolving epidemics like the Ebola crisis requires a multidisciplinary approach –involving not only public health and medical knowledge but an understanding of its economic, environmental, political and historical roots and consequences. This is why Princeton University is gathering together some of the world's leading academic, public health experts and more at this year's Princeton-Fung Global Forum, "Modern Plagues: Lessons Learned from the Ebola Crisis." This year's conference will bring together multiple perspectives in the hopes of identifying methods for avoiding future global health crises. In this WooCast, we take a behind-the-scenes look at the forum, which will be held Nov. 2 and 3 in Dublin, Ireland. Joining us is Elisabeth Donahue, associate dean of public affairs and communications at Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School, one of the lead organizers of the event.
When someone has a heart attack, he or she is immediately rushed to the emergency room. At that point, the doctor has to make a choice: either treat the patient with clot-busting drugs or perform invasive surgery. But how do doctors decide which procedure is best? Do they rely on what's worked in the past, or do they choose based on the individual patient? How do these decisions influence patient outcomes? Janet Currie, Henry Putnam Professor of Economics and Public Affairs at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School and chair of the Department of Economics, wanted to answer these questions. She discusses her findings on this episode of WooCast. Currie, who is director of Princeton's Center for Wellbeing, is a panelist at the upcoming Princeton-Fung Global Forum, "Modern Plagues: Lesson Learned from the Ebola Crisis."
The Iran nuclear deal proposes limiting Iran's production of enriched uranium and plutonium – the two fissile materials used to build nuclear weapons – in exchange for the end of international oil and financial sanctions. So far, negotiations have primarily focused on Iran's capacity to produce enriched uranium. But the world’s stockpiles of separated plutonium has grown enormously over the decades. Today, there is enough separated plutonium – which is extracted from highly radioative spent fuel produced by nuclear reactors – to produce 30,000 nuclear bombs, according to metrics provided by the International Atomic Energy Agency.* In this WooCast, we discuss the process of plutonium separation – and its associated risks – with M.V. Ramana, a physicist and lecturer at Princeton University's Program on Science and Global Security, based at the Woodrow Wilson School. Ramana is part of the International Panel on Fissile Materials, an independent group of arms-control experts from 18 countries. The group recently published a report on the status of plutonium separation in nuclear power programs around the world. They are also working on issues related to the Iran nuclear deal. * The IAEA defines a "significant quantity" of fissile material to be the amount required to make a first-generation implosion bomb, including production losses. That number is 25 kilograms of uranium 235 contained in highly enriched uranium and 8 kilograms of plutonium.
Can history shape decision-making regarding the Ebola crisis? In this WooCast, health historian Keith Wailoo discusses the past plagues, how they were handled and the lessons learned. Wailoo, vice dean of Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School, is a panelist at the upcoming Princeton-Fung Global Forum, "Modern Plagues: Lesson Learned form the Ebola Crisis." Register for the forum: http://bit.ly/1ces4dP
America has long struggled over pain. Liberals "understand" your pain while conservatives say "grin-and-bear-it." Such political stances and today's debates over who is in pain, who feels another's pain and what relief is deserved continue to form new chapters in America's history of pain. In his new book, "Pain: A Political History," Keith Wailoo, vice dean of Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School, explores the political pain divide between liberals and conservatives, tracing the development of pain theories in politics, medicine and law as well as legislative and social quarrels over the morality and economics of relief. We sat down with Wailoo and asked him a few questions about his new book.