Category Archives: Scholars’ Circle Interviews

Information and recordings from Schloars’ Circle radio show is posted here.

Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – American Football and its discontents -/- US Gun Law Debate – October 8, 2017

Domestic violence is just one of the many problems of violent sports. We’ll take a close look at American Football and its discontents. We are joined by Steve Almond. [ dur: 28 mins. ]

  • Steve Almond is the author of Against Football: One Fan’s Reluctant Manifesto

Then, on the Scholars’ Circle panel, in light of the shooting in Orlando, we look at how the meaning of the second amendment has changed since its introduction and what it may mean for today’s debate about gun laws. Our guests have traced the historical meaning of the second amendment from the very first days when it was drafted and proposed. [ dur: 33 mins. ]

  • Michael Waldman is President of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law. He is the author of POTUS Speaks: Finding the Words That Defined the Clinton Presidency, A Return to Common Sense: Seven Bold Ways to Revitalize Democracy, The Second Amendment: A Biography and his latest, The Fight to Vote.
  • Adam Winkler is Professor of Law at UCLA School of Law. He is the author of Gunfight: The Battle Over the Right to Bear Arms in America and the co-editor of Encyclopedia of the American Constitution.

This program is produced with generous contribution from Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Tipping points of Eco-Systems and Climate – October 1, 2017

We spent the hour looking at the science of tippings and what they mean for our climate and our ecosystems on land and in water today. What causes these types of sudden changes? And how can society be better prepared for such events? We spoke with three scientists whose studies involve tipping points, how they happen and their effects.[ dur: 58mins. ]

  • Peter Ward is a Professor of Paleontology and Biology at the Earth and Space Sciences Department of the University of Washington, Seattle.He is the co-author of the best-selling Rare Earth: Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe, the author of many books including, Out of Thin Air: Dinosaurs, Birds, and Earth’s Ancient Atmosphere, Under a Green Sky: Global Warming, the Mass Extinctions of the Past, and What They Can Tell Us About Our Future, and The Medea Hypothesis: Is Life on Earth Ultimately Self-Destructive? which was listed by the New York Times as one of the “100 most important ideas of 2009.”
  • Simon Thrush is Professor of Marine Science and Head of the Institute of Marine Science at the University of Auckalnd in New Zealand, He is the co-author of many publications including, Real world biodiversity-ecosystem functioning: A seafloor perspective, The up-scaling of ecosystem functions in a heterogeneous world, and Altered Sea Ice Thickness and Permanence Affects Benthic Ecosystem Functioning in Coastal Antarctica.
  • George Perry is a Professor at the School of Environment at the University of Auckland. He studies the effects of humans on forest ecosystems. He is the co-author of many publications including, Positive Feedbacks to Fire-Driven Deforestation Following Human Colonization of the South Island of New Zealand, Feedbacks and landscape-level vegetation dynamics, and Pyrodiversity is the coupling of biodiversity and fire regimes in food webs.

This program is produced with generous contribution from Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Insights on refugee camps -/- Resistance in US through States’ Rights – September 24, 2017

First, why do people remain in refugee camps for decades? Elizabeth Dunn is the author of No Path Home. [ dur: 25mins. ]

  • Elizabeth Cullen Dunn is Associate Professor of Geography and International Affairs at Indiana University–Bloomington. She is also the author of Privatizing Poland.

Then, throughout US history conflict has risen between states’ rights to self-govern and the power of national government to pass laws applying across the country. With Donald Trump as president, many cities and states are gearing up to resist his agenda. How will states’ rights figure into the resistance? Is secession a real possibility? Sanford Levinson is the author of The Undemocratic Constitution and Nullification and Secession in Modern Constitutional Thought.[ dur: 33 mins. ]

  • Sanford Levinson is Professor in the Department of Government and Chair in Law at the University of Texas Law School. His numerous publications include, Framed: America’s 51 Constitutions and the Crisis of Governance, Constitutional Faith, Our Undemocratic Constitution: Where the Constitution Goes Wrong (and How We the People Can Correct It) and, most recently, Nullification and Secession in Modern Constitutional Thought.

This program is produced with generous contribution from Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Insight into Greenwashing Culture -/- Politics of Muslim Americans – September 17, 2017

First, greenwashing culture. How journalism, the entertainment industry and museums impact our environment. Joining us is Toby Miller author of 29 books, including Greenwashing Culture. [ dur: 28 mins. ]

  • Toby Miller is a Professor of media and the author of 29 books, including Greenwashing Culture.

Then, what are the politics of Muslim Americans? [ dur: 30 mins. ]

  • Emily Cury Tohma is a Research Fellow at Northeastern University’s Middle East Center. She’s the author of the research papers Muslim Americans and the 2016 Elections and Muslim American Policy Advocacy and the Palestinian Israeli Conflict: Claims-making and the Pursuit of Group Rights.
  • Aubrey Westfall is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Wheaton College. She is the author of the research papers Gender and Political Behavior among Muslim Americans, The Complexity of Covering: The Religious, Social and Political Dynamics of Islamic Practice in the United States, and the forthcoming Islamic Headcovering and Political Engagement: The Power of Social Networks.

This program is produced with generous contribution from Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Fake News and Informed Democracy -/- Politics and Society as Climate Change Unfolds – September 10, 2017

First, hacking, fake news, paid trolls both from within the country and from afar, are they destroying democracy? [ dur: 29 mins. ]

  • Chris Tenove is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Ethics and the Munk School of Global Affairs of the University of Toronto. He studies international relations and political theory, with an emphasis on issues of global governance and global justice. He is also an award-winning freelance writer and broadcaster.
  • Jennifer Forestal is an Assistant Professor of Political Science (Theory) at Stockton University in New Jersey.

We also get insight into unprecendented storms that are ravaging communities and destroying lives all while revealing dynamics in society, politics and power. What are these risks and revelations and what needs to be done? [ dur: 26 mins. ]

  • Steve Matthewman is a Professor of Sociology at the University of Auckland. He is the author of Disasters, Risks and Revelations.
  • Naomi Zack is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Oregon. She is the author of the Ethics of Disaster.

This program is produced with generous contribution from Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Labor Union movement in America -/- Lives affected by Storms and Fires – September 3, 2017

First, we examine the history of labor unions and how they have shaped America today. We are joined by Philip Dray author of There Is Power in a Union: The Epic Story of Labor in America.

  • Philip Dray is an author, historian, fellow @ New York Institute for the Humanities at NYU.

Then, storms and fires are on the rise in quantity and severity bringing disastrous consequences to lives and livelihood. How will we deal with the storms, particularly with the loss of power?

  • Steve Matthewman, University of Auckland, NZ. Studies and teaches on Social theory, technology studies, the underbelly of modernity, the sociology of accidents and disasters
  • Julie MacArthur, University of Auckland, NZ. Studies and teaches environmental politics & renewable energy policy,

This program is produced with generous contribution from Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Bird Songs -/- New Form of Corporate Lawlessness – August 27, 2017

First, scientists have made fascinating discoveries on how animals communicate. Birdsongs are more than music; they are warnings of danger understood by many species. [ dur: 30 mins. ]

  • Erick Greene, Professor of Biological Sciences at University of Montana. He has published numerous papers in ornithology, the latest in collaboration with the Cornell labs of Ornithology

Then, companies like Uber, Google and AirBnb claim to be civil rights leaders, but they are introducing a new form of corporate lawlessness? [ dur: 28 mins. ]

For a transcript of this interview, please visit: TheBigQ

  • Siva Vaidhyanathan, Professor of Media Studies at University of Virginia. Author of “The Googlization of Everything: (And Why We Should Worry)“. His articles at Slate can be found here. He co-authored an opinion piece on Guardian UK newspaper with Frank Pasquale ( author of Black Box Society: The Secret Algorithms that Control Money and Information (Harvard University Press, 2015) Uber and the lawlessness of ‘sharing economy’ corporates

This program is produced with generous contribution from Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Preparing for Nazis in Charlottesville -/- Survey of Extremists and Radicalization in USA -/- Power Breeds Immorality and Hypocrisy – August 20, 2017

In this hour, we explore why the Nazis came to Charlottesville. [ dur: 32 mins. ]

  • Siva Vaidhyanathan is Professor in the Department of Media Studies at the University of Virginia. He is the author of The Googlization of Everything and Why We Should Worry, The Anarchist in the Library: How the Clash Between Freedom and Control is Hacking the Real World and Crashing the System, Copyrights and Copywrongs: The Rise of Intellectual Propery and How it Threatens Creativity.

What the common patterns among violent extremists are. [ dur: 16 mins. ]

We end with discussion on how power can breed immorality and hypocrisy. [ dur: 10 mins. ]

  • Adam Galinsky is the Chair of Management Department and Professor of Business at the Columbia Business School at Columbia University. He is the co-author of FRIEND AND FOE: When to Cooperate, When to Compete, and How to Succeed at Both​.​

This program is produced with generous contribution from Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Big Science insight -/- Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen – August 13, 2017

The birth of what we know as big science. The big money supported, cross institution collaborations that have supported both medicine and weaponry. How did science and government get so entrenched with industry, and one another? And what have been the results? Michael Hiltzik is the author of Big Science: Ernest Lawrence and the Invention That Launched the Military Industrial Complex. [ dur: 28 mins. ]

  • Michael Hiltzik is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and author. He has been writing for the Los Angeles Times for three decades and is currently the Times’ Business Columnist. He is the author of many books including, The New Deal: A Modern History; The Plot Against Social Security, and his latest Big Science: Ernest Lawrence and the Invention That Launched the Military Industrial Complex.

Yemen is facing one of the worst humanitarian crisis on earth. How did it get to this? And what should be done? [ dur: 30 mins. ]

This program is produced with generous contribution from Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Insight into Good and Evil part II -/- Race, Ethnicity, Politics and Society – August 6, 2017

First, we continue our conversation with preeminent psychology scholar Ervin Staub. Last week we discussed how to build peaceful societies, particularly when some groups have been traumatized by violence, war or genocide. Erwin Staub’s latest book is The Roots of Goodness and Resistance to Evil. This is part two of our discussion.

  • Ervin Staub is a Professor of Psychology Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and Founding Director of its ​Ph.D. concentration in the Psychology of Peace and Violence.

Then, what is race? How is it distinct from ethnicity? And what do they mean for politics and society?

  • David Livingstone Smith is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of New England. He is the author of Less Than Human: Why we Demean, Enslave and Exterminate Others and The Most Dangerous Animal: Human Nature and the Origins of War.
  • Garrett Albert Duncan is Associate Professor of Education in Arts & Sciences. He also teaches African & African American Studies at Washington University in St. Louis. His publications are listed here.

This program is produced with generous contribution from Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

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