Tag Archives: Governance / Law

Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – History, Law and the Trump Presidency – January 14, 2018

In this hour, the showdown between Robert Mueller’s independent investigation and the President in historic and legal context.

The year 2018 may be one of the most important years in American history, says one of our next guests. Constitutional law professor Louis Michael Seidman argues that what happens in 2018 may determine whether or not we still have a coherent country in the U.S.A. What are those determinants? And what might actually happen? What are the constitutional issues—good and bad—that are contributing to the crisis that the USA seems to find itself in. We spend the hour with three experts on American history and law. [ dur: 58 mins. ]

  • Louis Michael Seidman is a Professor of Constitutional Law at Georgetown University Law School. He is the author of Silence and Freedom, On Constitutional Disobedience and Our Unsettled Constitution: A New Defense of Constitutionalism and Judicial Review.
  • Sanford Levinson is a Professor of Political Science and Law at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author of Framed: America’s 51 Constitutions and the Crisis of Governance, Our Undemocratic Constitution: Where the Constitution Goes Wrong (And How We the People Can Correct It) and Constitutional Faith.
  • Jennifer Frost is Professor of American History at University of Auckland, NZ. She is the author of An Interracial Movement of the Poor: Community Organizing and the New Left in the 1960s and Hedda Hopper’s Hollywood: Celebrity Gossip and American Conservatism (American History and Culture).

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 – Propaganda in democratic society -/- Post-Truth Society – January 7, 2018

First, how does propaganda work, particularly in democratic settings? How does propaganda in a democratic state differ from propaganda in an authoritarian state? This is part two of our two part interview with Professor Jason Stanley. Part one can be found here. [ dur: 29 mins. ]

  • Jason Stanley is Professor of Philosophy at Yale University. He is the author of How Propaganda Works , Know How and Knowledge and Practical Interests (Lines of Thought)

Then, some call it post-truth society. With increased media consolidation, fake news and plummeting trust in media, what needs to be done? [ dur: 29 mins. ]

  • Victor Pickard is Associate Professor at the Annenberg School for Communication at Pennsylvania State University. He is the co-editor of Will the Last Reporter Please Turn out the Lights (with Robert McChesney), The Future of Internet Policy (with Peter Decherney), America’s Battle for Media Democracy: The Triumph of Corporate Libertarianism and The Future of Media Reform
  • Robert Entman is Professor of Media and Public Affairs and Professor of International Affairs at The George Washington University. He is the author of The Black Image in the White Mind: Media and Race in America (with Andrew Rojecki), Projections of Power and Scandal and Silence: Media Responses to Presidential Misconduct

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 – Propaganda in democratic society -/- Silencing science, how and why – December 31, 2017

First, how does propaganda work, particularly in democratic settings? This is part 1 of our 2 part interview with Professor Jason Stanley. ( Hear Part 2 )[ dur: 26 mins. ]

  • Jason Stanley is Professor of Philosophy at Yale University. He is the author of How Propaganda Works , Know How and Knowledge and Practical Interests (Lines of Thought)

Then, what are the ways cience is being silenced? And to what end? We gain insight from Professor Shaun Hendy. [ dur: 32 mins. ]

For a transcript of this interview, please visit:  TheBigQ

  • Shaun Hendy, Professor of Physics at University of Auckland, New Zealand. He is the author of Silencing Science.

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 – Are Google and Facebook increasing income inequality and damaging democracy and art -/- Teaching Children about community, Giving and Empathy – December 3, 2017

First, are Google and Facebook increasing income inequality, harming the arts and damaging democracy? Our guests says yes. [ dur: 44 mins. ]

  • Jonathan Taplin was the founding director of the USC Annenberg Innovation Lab and an Oscar nominated filmmaker, a music manager and author. He is the author of Move Fast and Break Things: How Facebook, Google, and Amazon Cornered Culture and Undermined Democracy.

Then, how one university professor is teaching children about community, civics, empathy and giving. [ dur: 14 mins. ]

  • Ann Crigler is Professor of Political Science at USC. She is the co-author of Common Knowledge: News and the Construction of Political Meaning and Crosstalk: Citizens, Candidates and the Media in a Presidential Campaign, and the co-editor of Rethinking the Vote: The Politics and Prospects of American Election Reform and The Affect Effect: Dynamics of Emotion in Political Thinking and Behavior

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 aspects of Money Laundering – November 19, 2017

We discuss the many faces to money laundering, the cost to society and potential remedies. Why is it so hard to track and prosecute money laundering? How does it finance terrorism? [ dur: 58 mins. ]

  • Moyara Ruehsen is Associate Professor at Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, California. She is the Director of Financial Crime Management Specialization. Her expertise is in financial regulatory compliance and investigations, and public policies related to illicit markets as well as macro-economy. She is the author of Follow the Proliferation Money and Terrorism Financing Methods: An Overview.
  • Richard Gordon is Professor of Law at Case Western University. He is also Director of the Financial Integrity Institute; Associate Director of the Frederick K. Cox International Law Center. He is the author of A Model Regulation on the Prevention of Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism and Public Corruption And Money Laundering.

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 – Nazi attempt to control Hollywood and America in 1930’s -/- Insight into North Korean Standoff – November 5, 2017

First, how one man infiltrated the Nazi cells and foiled their plots to sow chaos in Los Angeles. Steven J. Ross is the author of Hitler in Los Angeles: How Jews Foiled Nazi Plots Against Hollywood and America. [ dur: 33 mins. ]

  • Steven J. Ross is Professor of History at USC. He is the author of Hollywood Left and Right: How Movie Stars Shaped American Politics, and his most recent Hitler in Los Angeles: How Jews Nazi Plots Against Hollywood and America.

Then, an in depth analysis of the growing crisis with the US and North Korea. [ dur: 25 mins. ]

  • Stephan Haggard is Professor of Korea-Pacific Studies, director of the Korea-Pacific Program, and distinguished professor of political science at University of California, San Diego. He has co-authored with Marcus Noland Famine in North Korea: Markets, Aid, and Reform, Witness to Transformation: Refugee Insights into North Korea and Hard Target: Sanctions, Inducements, and the Case of North Korea.
  • Charles K. Armstrong is Professor of Korean Studies at Colombia University. He is the author of The North Korean Revolution, 1945-1950, The Koreas (2nd edition), and Korean Society: Civil Society, Democracy, and the State Recent.

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 – 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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