Tag Archives: Politics and Activism

First, the media’s role in political change. Richardson discusses his book A Bomb in Every Issue: How the Short, Unruly life of Ramparts Magazine changed America. Scheer, founder of Truthdig, contributes his thoughts as a former journalist at Ramparts.[ dur: 18 mins. ]

Peter Richardson was the publisher of Ramparts Magazine.
Robert Scheer was the editor at Ramparts Magazine.

Then, in light of the crisis in law enforcement, particularly in the black community, we are rebroadcasting at look at the deep structural and cultural disparities that laid the groundwork for the events in Ferguson. [ dur: 40 mins. ]

Clarissa Rile Hayward is Professor of Political Science at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. She is the author of How Americans Make Race: Stories, Institutions, Spaces.
Delores Jones-Brown is Professor of Law, Police Science, and Criminal Justice at City University of New York. She is the author of Race, Crime and Punishment.
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.

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Scholars’ Circle- Guns and the US Constitution – June 19, 2016

June 18, 2016 host

With the latest and most lethal shooting in America, we spend the hour analyzing how the second amendment came to be interpreted as a individuals’ right to bear arms, and how this change contrasts with other changes in constitutional interpretation, including the right for marriage equality and human rights protection. With speak with David Cole. His latest book is “Engines of Liberty: The Power of Citizen Activists to Make Constitutional Law“. [ dur: 58 mins. ]

David Cole is Professor of Law and Public Policy at Georgetown University Law Center. He is an award winning author. His numerous publications include, The Torture Memos: Rationalizing the Unthinkable, Enemy Aliens: Double Standard and Constitutional Freedoms in the War on Terrorism, and his latest, Engines of Liberty: The Power of Citizen Activists to Make Constitutional Law.

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Scholars’ Circle- Renewable Revolution in South Korea -/- American Congress influenced by Wealthy – June 12, 2016

June 11, 2016 host

What technological changes are needed to power the renewable revolution? [ dur: 26 mins. ]

Sung-Young Kim is a Lecturer at the University of Auckland with a specialty in political economy. His publications include “Developmental Environmentalism: Explaining South Korea’s Ambitious Pursuit of Green Growth” and “South Korea Doubles Down on Green Growth.“

Then, we know that the wealthy have more influence than other Americans. But just how unrepresentative is the american congress and the state legislature? [ dur: 32 mins. ]

Thomas Hayes is Professor of Political Science at the University of Connecticut. He is the author of the publications, “Do Citizens Link Attitudes with Preferences? Economic Inequality and Government Spending in the New Gilded Age” and “Responsiveness in an Era of Inequality: The Case of the U.S. Senate.”
Martin Gilens is Professor of Politics at Princeton University. He is the author of Affluence and Influence: Economic Inequality and Political Power in America.
Patrick Flavin is Professor of Political Science at Baylor University. He is the author of the publications, “Campaign Finance Laws, Policy Outcome, and Political Equality in the American States,” and “State Party Competition and Citizen’s Political Engagement.”

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Scholars’ Circle- Reasons for unethical Foreign Policies -/- Earth Climate 2047 -/- Wars not in human nature – June 5, 2016

June 4, 2016 host

What drives destructive or unethical foreign policies? Some point to pathological beliefs and pursuits of exceptionalism, honor and glory. Others point to systemic flaws. What are the consequences? [ dur: 14 mins. ]

Christopher Fettweis is a Professor of Political Science at Tulane University. He is the author of The Pathologies of Power: Fear, Honor, Glory and Hubris in U.S. Foreign Policy, Dangerous Times? The International Politics of Great Power Peace and Losing Hurts Twice as Bad: The Four Stages to Moving Beyond Iraq.

Then, Professor Mora and his colleagues have calculated how climate change will affect our temperatures around the year 2047. In the future, they found, our coldest year will be warmer than the past hottest years. The changes, which will first occur in the tropics, are already driving some 25,000 species to extinction each year. [ dur: 15 mins. ]

Camilo Mora, Associates Professor of Geography at University of Hawaii, Minoa; News Release on the article

Finally, our panel argues that warring is a relatively new phenomenon in human societies and that human beings are not warlike by nature. [ dur: 28 mins. ]

Douglas P. Fry, is Director of Peace, Mediation & Conflict Research at Abo Akademi University, Finland. He is author of Beyond War : The Human Potential for Peace.
Darcia Narvaez, is Professor of Psychology at University of Minnesota. Co-author of Evolution, Early Experience and Human Development: From Research to Practice and Policy.
Brian Ferguson, is Professor of Anthropology at Rutgers University. Co-author of War in the Tribal Zone: Expanding States and Indigenous Warfare.

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Scholars’ Circle- Daniel Patrick Moynihan Letters -/- Guantanamo Prison Update – May 29, 2016

May 29, 2016 host

First, we speak with Steven Weisman, editor of the book “Daniel Patrick Moynihan: A Portrait in Letters of an American Visionary” which weaves compelling read of carefully selected from a 10,000 page collection of Senator Moynahan’s correspondence, housed at the Library of Congress. [ dur: 18 mins. ]

Steven Weisman is a vice president for publications and communications at Peterson Institute for International Economics and formerly served as chief international economics correspondent of the New York Times. He is the editor of the book Daniel Patrick Moynihan: A Portrait in Letters of an American Visionary.

Then, who remains in Guantanamo detention center and why? We’ll discuss the history, the intents to close Guantanamo, and what it has meant for the United States, for international law and for the prisoners themselves. [ dur: 40 mins. ]

David Glazier is Professor of Law and fellow at Loyola Law School. Author of article: Playing by the rules: combating al Qaeda within the law of war, Destined for an Epic Fail: The Problematic Guantanamo Military Commissions and The Misuse of History: Conspiracy, and the Guantanamo Military Commission.
Jonathan Hafetz is Professor of Law at Seton Hall University. Author of Habeas Corpus after 9/11: Confronting America’s New Global Detention System and co-author of The Guantánamo Lawyers: Inside a Prison Outside the Law.
an Honisgberg is Professor of Law at the University of San Francisco, School of Law. He is the founder and director of the Witness to Guantanamo project. Co-author of Our Nation Unhinged: The Human Consequences of the War on Terror and author of Crossing Border Street: A Civil Rights Memoir.

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Scholars’ Circle- Authoritarians Rule Turkey -/- Uninformed Democracy – May 22, 2016

May 21, 2016 host

First, the normalized violence and growing authoritarianism in Turkey. What does it mean for the country, the region and European Union? We speak with Fatima Muge Gocek author of Denial of Violence. [ dur: 28 mins. ]

Fatma Müge Göçek is a Professor of Sociology and Women’s Studies at University of Michigan. Her publications include “Social Constructions of Nationalism in the Middle East“, “The Transformation of Turkey: Redefining State and Society from the Ottoman Empire to the Modern Era“, and her latest book “Denial of Violence: Ottoman Past, Turkish Present, and Collective Violence against the Armenians, 1789-2009”

Then, why do people seem to know so little about politics? And what does that mean for democracy? We speak with Arthur Lupia author of Uninformed: Why People Know So Little About Politics and What We Can Do About It. [ dur: 30 mins. ]

Arthur Lupia is the Hal R. Varian Collegiate Professor of Political Science at the University of Michigan and Chair of National Research Council’s Roundtable on the Application of Behavioral and Social Science. He is the co-author of “The Democratic Dilemma: Can Citizens Learn What They Need to Know?“, “Elements of Reason: Cognition, Choice, and the Bounds of Rationality“, and the author of his latest book “Uninformed: Why People Know So Little About Politics and What We Can Do About It“.

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Scholars’ Circle- Free Will affected by Parasites -/- Police Shooting on African Americans in US cities – May 15th, 2016

May 14, 2016 host

First, is our behavior free will or is it partly due to parasites? New science shows how parasites change behaviors throughout the animal kingdom. What does that mean for human behavior? [ dur: 14 mins. ]

Dr. Dickson Despommier is a Professor in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at Columbia University. He is the author of The Vertical Farm: Feeding the World in the 21st Century and People, Parasites, and Plowshares: Learning From Our Body’s Most Terrifying Invaders.
Patrick House is Neuroscientist at Stanford University. He is the co-author of Predator Cat Odors Acdivate Sexual Arousal Pathways in Brains of Toxoplasma Gondii infected Rats.

Then, behind fatal shootings of African Americans–Race relations, police culture and society. [ dur: 44 mins. ]

Dr. Kimberly Barsamian Kahn is a Professor of Social Psychology at Portland State University. She is the author of Racial bias in policing: Why we know less than we should.
Allan Y. Jiao is a Professor of Law and Justice at Rowan University. He is the author of Controlling Police Corruption and Misconduct: A Comparative Examination between Hong Kong and New York and the book Police Auditing: Theories and Practices.
Ronald Kramer is a Lecturer of Sociology at the University of Auckland. He is the author of The Mis-synchronization of Juvenile Reform: Competing Constructions of Temporality and Risk Among Rehabilitation Programs and Young Offenders and Neoliberal prisons and cognitive treatment: Calibrating the subjectivity of incarcerated young men to economic inequalities.

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Scholars’ Circle- How humanity will respond to Climate Change -/- Life long effects from act of Bullying – May 8th, 2016

May 7, 2016 host

First, the scenarios we face with climate change and the options for humanity. Gwynne Dyer is author of Climate Wars: The Fight for Survival as the World Overheats. [ dur: 28 mins. ]

For a transcript of this interview, please visit: TheBigQ

Gwynne Dyer, author, military historian, journalist. He is the author of Climate Wars: The Fight for Survival as the World Overheats

Finally, on the scholars’ panel we take a close look at bullying. Bullies and victims of bullies are much more likely to develop psychological disorders such as agoraphobia, panic disorder, suicidal thoughts and aggressive behavior, as adults. In both adult and adolescent settings bullying cultures can emerge when bystanders and others disengage and allow the behavior to continue, ultimately creating abusive organizations. What is the long term effect on individuals and by extension on societies at large, resulting from bulling behaviors? [ dur: 30 mins. ]

Joyce T. Heames is Chair and Professor of Management and Industrial Relations in the College of Business & Economics at West Virginia University. She is the author of publications: “A bully as an archetypal destructive leader” and “Bullying: From the Playground to the Boardroom”.
Catherine Bradshaw is a Professor in the Department of Mental Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and has a joint appointment in the Johns Hopkins School of Education. She is the Deputy Director of the Johns Hopkins Center for the Prevention of Youth Violence and the Co-Director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Prevention and Early Intervention. Catherine Bradshaw is the co-author of publication “Bullies, gangs, drugs, and school, Understanding the overlap and the role of ethnicity and urbanity”.
Jaana Juvonen is Professor of Developmental Psychology in the Department of Psychology at UCLA. She co-authored “Peer harassment in school: The plight of the vulnerable and victimized” and “Bullying in school: The power of bullies and the plight of the victims”.

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Scholars’ Circle- Study on effects of consumerism -/- humanity affected by history of science and religion – May 1st, 2016

May 1, 2016 host 2 Comments

First, how most of what we buy and consume helps create wars, prop up dictatorships and systems of oppression, and some ways to start changing this. [ dur: 27 mins. ]

For a transcript of this interview, please visit: TheBigQ

Leif Wenar is Chair of Philosophy and Law at King’s College London. He is the author of “Blood Oil: Tyrants, Violence and the Rules That Run the World“. Leif Wenar website

Then, how might Big History change our thinking about the role of humanity in the history of the earth and the convergence of science and religion. [ dur: 30 mins. ]

Jonathan Markley is Associate Professor of History at California State University, Fullerton. He is part of the Big History movement and has been featured in many television episodes related to it. Big History Project website

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Scholars’ Circle- Campaign, Elections and Voters -/- Politics of Power – April 17th, 2016

April 16, 2016 host

First, we talk to two political scientists about campaigns, elections and how voters decide, at the Midwest Political Science Association conference.[ dur: 42 mins. ]

Sean Theriault is Professor of Political Science at University of Texas. He is the author of “Party Polarization in Congress” and “The Gingrich Senators: The Roots of Partisan Warfare in Congress“.
David Redlawsk is a Professor of Political Science at Rutgers University. He is the co-author of “How Voters Decide“, and author of the new book, “The Positive Case for Negative Campaigning“.

Then, What is power? Who has it? How does it work? We discuss politics of power with William Domhoff renowned author of the classic book Who Rules America. [ dur: 16 mins. ]

William Domhoff is a Research Professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He is the author of numerous books including “Who Rules America?“, “Changing the Powers That Be: How the Left Can Stop Losing and Win“, “Class and Power in the New Deal: Corporate Moderates, Southern Democrats, and the Liberal-Labor Coalition” , and “Diversity in the Power Elite: How It Happened, Why It Matters“.

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The Scholars' Circle Interviews

Tag Archives: Politics and Activism

Scholars’ Circle – Ramparts Magazine -/- Crisis in Law Enforcement – July 10, 2016

Scholars’ Circle- Guns and the US Constitution – June 19, 2016

Scholars’ Circle- Renewable Revolution in South Korea -/- American Congress influenced by Wealthy – June 12, 2016

Scholars’ Circle- Reasons for unethical Foreign Policies -/- Earth Climate 2047 -/- Wars not in human nature – June 5, 2016

Scholars’ Circle- Daniel Patrick Moynihan Letters -/- Guantanamo Prison Update – May 29, 2016

Scholars’ Circle- Authoritarians Rule Turkey -/- Uninformed Democracy – May 22, 2016

Scholars’ Circle- Free Will affected by Parasites -/- Police Shooting on African Americans in US cities – May 15th, 2016

Scholars’ Circle- Study on effects of consumerism -/- humanity affected by history of science and religion – May 1st, 2016

Scholars’ Circle- Campaign, Elections and Voters -/- Politics of Power – April 17th, 2016

By Maria Armoudian