Scholars’ Circle – Author Interview – AMERICA’S WRONG TURN: US Health Care in the Neo-liberal Era – July 12, 2026

July 12, 2026 host

It didn’t always cost this much and deliver this little. Something broke in the early 1980s—and in AMERICA’S WRONG TURN: US Health Care in the Neoliberal Era (Johns Hopkins University Press, August 11, 2026 . You can use Promo-Code of HTWN at checkout to get 30% discount ), John E. McDonough explains exactly what it was.

The failings of the American healthcare system didn’t happen by accident. They happened because its already sprawling, fragmented structure—Medicare, Medicaid, employer-sponsored insurance, the VA, and more—left it uniquely exposed to a de-regulatory wave that moved fast and largely out of public view. A bedrock faith in free markets was let into the hen house, and the results are stark: the U.S. now spends more and delivers worse outcomes than any other wealthy nation on earth.

John McDonough watched neo-liberal economic agenda reshape American political thinking—often without recognizing the seismic nature of the shift in the moment. Its narrow focus on economic and business interests altered government’s role, drove consolidation across industries, deregulated the healthcare sector, and shifted corporate priorities away from consumer benefit and toward shareholder returns. [ dur: 36 mins. ]

John McDonough is a professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a former Massachusetts state legislator who served thirteen years in the 1980s and 1990s as neo-liberalism was overtaking American political life. He has also co-authored Overcoming the Digital Divide in Health Care AI.

Then, many observers argue, that the economic forces are corrupting medical care and eroding the trust between patients and their doctors. The problems in health care delivery have wide implications related to how health care should function particularly when there are limited resources. We examine the ethics of medicine and healthcare, and the modern day issues that complicate them. [ dur: 22 mins. ]

Note: this segment is an excerpt from interview recorded on January 16, 2015. The complete version can be found here.

Thomas Pogge is the Director of the Global Justice Program and Professor of Philosophy and International Affairs at Yale University. His books include World Poverty and Human Rights and Freedom from Poverty: Who Owes What to the Very Poor?.
Martin Wilkinson is Professor of Politics and International Relations at the University of Auckland. His books include Freedom, Efficiency and Equality and Ethics and the Acquisition of Organs.
Richard Cookson is Professor at the Centre for Health Economics, and Co-Director of the Equity in Health Policy (Equipol) research group at the University of York. His books include The Humble Economist: Tony Culyer on Health, Health Care and Social Decision Making and Jonathan Bradshaw on Social Policy: Selected Writings 1972-2011.

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker and Sudd Dongre.

Health, Politics and Activism, Healthcare Industry, Medicine, neo-liberal economics

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – SCOTUS Decisions: Birthright Citizenship and Refugee Rights – July 5, 2026

July 6, 2026 host

The 14th Amendment of the US Constitution, Section 1 reads as follows: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.” So all persons born in the US are citizens. We call this Birthright Citizenship. In Trump v Barbara, the US Supreme Court agreed. But only 5 of the 9 justices agreed. So what was the decision of the Court in this case, and what is the status of citizenship in the US? And how does it relate to the two asylum cases the Supreme Court decided, on temporary protective status or TPS and on where a person can claim asylum. On today’s show, we discuss the US and immigration and asylum. [ dur: 58mins. ]

Naomi Paik is Associate Professor of Global Asian Studies and Criminology, Law and Justice at University of Illinois, Chicago. She is the author of Bans, Walls, Raids, Sanctuary: Understanding U.S. Immigration for the 21st Century and Rightlessness: Testimony and Redress in U.S. Prison Camps since World War II, winner, Best Book in History.
Gabriel “Jack” Chin is Distinguished Professor of Law and Director of Clinical Legal Education at UC Davies School of Law. The U.S. Supreme Court has cited his work in two cases: Chaidez v. United States and Padilla v. Kentucky. And Justice Sotomyer has cited his law article in Utah v. Strieff. He is the co-author of Birthright Citizenship, Slave Trade Legislation, and the Origins of Federal Immigration Regulation and author of A Nation of White Immigrants: State and Federal Racial Preferences for White Noncitizens.
Hiroshi Motomura is the Susan Westerberg Prager Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is the author of Americans in Waiting: The Lost Story of Immigration and Citizenship in the United States and his latest book Borders and Belonging: Toward a Fair Immigration Policy.
Anna Law holds the Herbert Kurz Chair in Constitutional Rights at Brooklyn College, City University of New York. She is the author of The Immigration Battle in American Courts and Migration and the Origins of American Citizenship: African Americans, Native Americans, and Immigrants.

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker and Sudd Dongre.

Politics and Activism, Governance / Law, Courts, Refugees, asylum seekers, birthright, Jurisdiction

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – SCOTUS Decisions: Gun Rights and Pushing Colorblind Justice – June 28, 2026

June 28, 2026 host

If its June, its time for Supreme Court decisions. On today’s show we will explore recent rulings on two large topics. The first is the extent of the second amendment. That’s the gun rights Amendment and the right to bear arms. Then we will turn to the broad question, is the Constitution colorblind? What role does and should race play in Supreme Court decisions? [ dur: 58mins ]

Robert J. Spitzer is Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Political Science Department at SUNY Cortland, New York. He is the author of Guns Across America: Reconciling Gun Rules And Rights, The Politics of Gun Control, and The Gun Dilemma.
Eric J. Segall, Ashe Family Chair Professor of Law and the Executive Director of Emmet J. Bondurant Center for Constitutional Law, Practice and Democracy at Georgia State University. He is the author of Originalism as Faith and Supreme Myths: Why the Supreme Court Is Not a Court and Its Justices Are Not Judges.
Carlton Larson is Martin Luther King Jr. Professor of Law at the University of California at Davis. He is the author of The Origins of Adversary Criminal Trial in America and One Nation Under Law: The Meaning of the Declaration of Independence.

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker and Sudd Dongre.

Politics and Activism, Governance / Law, Courts, Gun Lobby, Gun Violence

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Politics Around World Cup Games – June 21, 2026

June 22, 2026 host

The world is obsessed with the World Cup. Soccer, or what most of the world calls football, is the most popular sport across the globe. And no event captures more attention than the World Cup. And the host of the World Cup has the global attention on them throughout the tournament. This year’s tournament is the first to be hosted by three different countries, the United States, Mexico and Canada. It is a remarkable opportunity to build a nation’s image and reputation and build goodwill. But has this year’s World Cup and the controversies around it enhanced the images of these three nations? In particular, the tournament is taking place during a war where the country the US attacked, Iran, is playing in the US. Visa issues to enter the United States have dominated the news. And the high price of tickets for events have resulted in empty seats in stadiums. On today’s show, we will explore what is being called the “most political World Cup in history” and its impact on the hosts of the event. [ dur: 58mins. ]

Nick Cull is Professor of Public Diplomacy, Global Communication Policy Fellow, Center for Communication Leadership and Policy at the University of Southern California. He is the author of Reputational Security: Refocusing Public Diplomacy for a Dangerous World.
Simon Rofe is the world’s first Professor of Sports Diplomacy at Cernegie School of Sport at Leeds Beckett University. He is a leading expert in Sports Diplomacy. He is the author of Sport and Diplomacy: Games Within Games.
Daniel T. Durbin is a professor of communication and director of the Institute of Sports, Media and Society at the USC Annenberg School of Communications. He is the author of “The Rules of Sport and the Rule of Rhetoric: Sport as Performative Public Discourse”.
Lindsay Krasnoff Clinical Assistant Professor Preston Robert Tisch Institute for Global Sport at New York University. She is the author of Basketball Empire: France and the Making of a Global NBA and WNBA and The Making of Les Bleus: Sport in France, 1958-2010

A note: we are recording this on Friday, June 19.

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker and Sudd Dongre.

Politics and Activism, Society and Culture, Organized Sports

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Pathways to End the War on Lebanon and Iran – June 14, 2026

June 15, 2026 host

The War between Israel and the US on one side and Iran and Lebanon on the other is in its fourth month. Despite claims from the White House that a deal is imminent, the war and the destruction have continued. Indeed the concept of a cease fire is undermined with every attack. The global economy is struggling with the increased energy costs due to the closing of the Straits of Hormuz. And people continue to die. So on today’s show we update the news on the war, explore any potential pathways to end the war and examine the impact of the war particularly on both Iran and Lebanon. [ dur: 58mins. ]

Yeghia Tashjian is the Regional and International Affairs Cluster Coordinator of Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy & International Affairs (IFI) and a part time Instructor at American University of Beirut. He is the author “The International North-South Transport Corridor and the Belt and Road Initiative in the South Caucasus,” published in the edited volume of Routledge Handbook of China’s Belt and Road Initiative in Eurasia (2025).
Ervand Abrahamian is Professor Emeritus at City University of New York. He is the author of A History of Modern Iran and Inventing the Axis of Evil: The Truth About North Korea, Iran and Syria.
Stephen Zunes is a Professor of Politics at the University of San Francisco. He is the author of numerous publications including Tinderbox: U.S. Middle East Policy and the Roots of Terrorism, Western Sahara: War, Nationalism and Conflict Irresolution co-authored with Jacob Mundy.

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker and Sudd Dongre.

Politics and Activism, War / Weapons, Middle East, Iran, Israel, Lebanon , US

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Ebola Outbreak, WHO and US CDC Policies on Infectious Diseases – June 7, 2026

June 6, 2026 host

Africa once again has an Ebola outbreak. At this point, it is centered in the so-called Greak Lakes region, with the largest number of cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Uganda has also seen several cases. Sadly this is not new news. But it takes place in the context of a weakened World Health Organization, with the US withdrawal, and a stark memory of the Covid outbreaks. It also is exacerbated by the shuttering of USAID and severe cuts in health funding from the Trump Administration. The United States is insisting that any American that tests positive for the virus would be treated outside of the country, provoking protests in East Africa such as in Kenya. So is the Ebola outbreak a potential pandemic? What has been the most effective means to treat these kinds of outbreaks. And how does it influence the current intense discourses about health care delivery and wellness in the United States. [ dur: 58mins. ]

Heather Wipfli is Professor and Clark Leadership Chair in Global Health at the University of Maryland. She is the co-author of Investigating global mental health: Contributions from political science and Network influences on policy implementation: Evidence from a global health treaty. And she has extensive experience in Uganda.
Lawrence Gostin is Faculty Director of the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law and is the Founding O’Neill Chair in Global Health Law at Georgetown Law. He is the co-editor of Global Health Security: A Blueprint for the Future and Global Health Law & Policy: Ensuring Justice for a Healthier World (2023). And he is working with the WHO and the Intergovernmental Negotiation Body (INB) to draft a Pandemic Treaty. His opinion posted in Washington Post titled – “Don’t tell Trump, but the U.S. is still a WHO member” and in The Hill where he co-authored “America’s wrong and unlawful response to Ebola must pivot“.
Amesha Adalja, Senior Scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He is the author of Recognition and Management of Infectious Bio-threats and Emerging Pathogens and AI and the Future of Medical Countermeasures to Protect Against Biological Threats. He has served on US government panels tasked with developing guidelines for the treatment of plague, botulism, and anthrax in mass casualty settings, the system of care for infectious disease

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker and Sudd Dongre.

Health, Infectious Diseases, Public Health and Safety, Uganda, Democratic Republic of the Congo

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Issues and Candidates for California Governor and Los Angeles Mayoral Elections – May 31, 2026

June 2, 2026 host

California has a state GDP of $4.25 trillion dollars. This is over $1 trillion more than the second largest state, Texas, with $2.9 trillion. If it were its own country, it would be the 4th largest GDP in the world (just past Japan and behind only Germany, China, and the US). It is the largest state by population, with just over 39 million. It’s over 12% of the total population. And it is holding a primary for state offices. Governor Gavin Newsom is term limited out and the field for Governor is vast. And California has a primary system where the top 2 in votes proceed to the general election regardless of party. On today’s show we will explore the Gubernatorial primary and the issues this state faces. [ dur: 28mins. ]

Christian Grose is Professor of Political Science and Public Policy at the University of Southern California. He is the Academic Director of the USC Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy. He is the co-author of Independent Redistricting Commissions Increase Voter Perceptions of Fairness and Local Election Administrators in the United States: The Frontline of Democracy.

Los Angeles is the second largest city in America. It has a $14.8 billion budget. As an entertainment capital, its developments are often national news. It is an incredibly diverse city with a history of a disconnection between the power of City Hall and the needs of its population. And it has a primary election coming up to elect a mayor. Karen Bass, the current mayor, is running for re-election. She is leading in polls but has high disapproval ratings. A leftist critic of her administration is running. And a former reality show personality is also running. So today we examine the LA mayor race, and the history of the office as one of limited power. [ dur: 30mins. ]

Matthew Barreto is Professor of Political Science and Chicana/o Studies at UCLA and the faculty director of the UCLA Voting Rights Project. He is the author of Ethnic Cues: The role of shared ethnicity in Latino political behavior and co-author of Race, Class, and Precinct Quality in American Cities with David Leal.
Isaac Hale is Assistant Professor of Politics at Occidental College. He is co-author of “Interest Group Influence on Preferences for New Voting Rights Legislation in a Polarized Environment” and “Resentment & Democratic Politics: The Role of Racial Resentment in Motivating Electoral Participation.”

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker and Sudd Dongre.

Economics, Politics and Activism, Homelessness, Elections, Califiornia, Los Angeles

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Trauma Experienced by Children from School Shootings – May 24, 2026

May 24, 2026 host

Mass shootings in the Unites States are unprecedented in advanced industrial democracies. We explore the psychological impact of these shootings on the survivors and witnesses, with a particular attention to the children who experience this trauma. What are effective actions to confront the traumas experienced by the children who survive school shootings? Overwhelming the response of mass shootings is to “do something.” But what should we as a society and as an electorate do in response to these mass shootings? [ dur: 58mins. ]

Karla Vermeulen is the Deputy Director of the Institute for Disaster Mental Health and an Associate Professor of Psychology at SUNY New Paltz.She is the author of Generation Disaster: Coming of Age Post-9/11 and co-editor of Disaster Mental Health Case Studies: Lessons Learned from Counseling in Chaos.
Robin Gurwitch is a Professor in the Duke University Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and is Senior Advisor for the Terrorism and Disaster Program of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network. She is the co-author of Children in Disasters and Trauma-Directed Interaction (TDI): An Adaptation to Parent-Child Interaction Therapy for Families with a History of Trauma. Resource – National Child Traumatic Stress Network – Talking to children about shooting.
Heather Littleton is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Colorado, at Colorado Springs, and Research Director at the Lyda Hill Institute for Human Resilience. She is the co-author of “PTSD near and far: Symptom networks from two to 12 months after the Virginia Tech campus shootings.” And “Can people benefit from acute stress? Social support, psychological improvement, and resilience after the Virginia Tech campus shootings” as well as numerous publications on sexual violence and the trauma of the LGBTQI+ community.

More resources are available at:

https://www.newpaltz.edu/idmh/

https://www.nctsn.org/resources/talking-children-about-shooting

This panel was recorded on June, 2022.

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker, Melissa Chiprin and Sudd Dongre.

Health, Society and Culture, Mental Health, Childhood, Schools

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – SCOTUS Allows Access to Medication Abortion Pill Delivery by Mail – May 17, 2026

May 17, 2026 host

In 2022, the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, which guaranteed a constitutional right to an abortion. But previously the Court had allowed restrictions on abortions, making access quite challenging in a large part of the country. In response to these restrictions, women had gained access through prescription drugs, or what is called medication abortion. This involves two prescription drugs, mifepristone and misoprostol. Last week, a federal court issued an order disallowing mifepristone to be prescribed via telehealth and then distributed by mail. As we record today, the Supreme Court is expected to rule on this federal court order. So on today’s show, we take account to the status of access to medication abortion and what it means both for reproductive rights and health and for the law on this issue. [ dur: 58mins. ]

Rachel Rebouché is Professor of Law at the University of Texas at Austin. She is the author of Abortion Rights as Human Rights and co-author of The New Abortion Battleground and Abortion Pills (with David S. Cohen and Greer Donley).
Carole Joffe is Professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco. She is the author of Doctors of Conscience: The Struggle to Provide Abortion before and after Roe v. Wade and the co-author of After Dobbs: How the Supreme Court ended Roe but not Abortion with David Cohen.
Natalie Fixmer-Oriaz, F Wendell Miller Associate Professor of Communication Studies and Gender, Woman’s the Sexuality Studies at the University of Iowa. She is author of Homeland Maternity: US Security Culture and the New Reproductive Regime (2019) and Doing Gender Justice: Queering Reproduction, Kin, and Care (2025; with Shui-yin Sharon Yam).

This program is produced by Doug Becker, Ankine Aghassian, Maria Armoudian, Anna Lapin and Sudd Dongre.

Health, Medicine, Reproductive Health, Courts, Feminism, Mothers

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Why SCOTUS Ruined the Voting Rights Act of 1965 – May 10, 2026

May 11, 2026 host

The Voting Rights Act, or VRA, is viewed as the most important piece of legislation advancing civil rights in the 1960s. Passed in 1965, it was intended to redress the dis-empowerment of African Americans whose voting rights had been restricted due to several states legislation, ranging from poll taxes to literacy tests and other restrictions on voting. Throughout the Roberts Court, the VRA has been restricted and its protections stripped away. In 2026, perhaps the last of these provisions have been overturned, in a decision in the case Louisiana v Callais. On todays show, we will explore this decision and the impact it has on drawing Congressional districts, in an era of particularly aggressive gerrymandering. [ dur: 58mins. ]

Eric J. Segall, Ashe Family Chair Professor of Law and the Executive Director of Emmet J. Bondurant Center for Constitutional Law, Practice and Democracy at Georgia State University. He is the author of Originalism as Faith and Supreme Myths: Why the Supreme Court Is Not a Court and Its Justices Are Not Judges.
Seth C. McKee is a Professor of Political Science at Oklahoma State University. He is the author of The Dynamics of Southern Politics: Causes and Consequences and coauthor of Rural Republican Realignment in the Modern South: The Untold Story with MV Hood.
Christian Grose is a Professor of Political Science & Public Policy and the Academic Director of the USC Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy at the University of Southern California. He is the author of Independent Redistricting Commissions Increase Voter Perceptions of Fairness and co-author of Local Election Administrators in the United States: The Frontline of Democracy.

This program is produced by Doug Becker, Ankine Aghassian, Maria Armoudian, Anna Lapin and Sudd Dongre.

Politics and Activism, Elections, Redistricting, Voting Rights, Congress, Courts, Democrats, Republicans

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The Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Author Interview – AMERICA’S WRONG TURN: US Health Care in the Neo-liberal Era – July 12, 2026

Scholars’ Circle – SCOTUS Decisions: Birthright Citizenship and Refugee Rights – July 5, 2026

Scholars’ Circle – SCOTUS Decisions: Gun Rights and Pushing Colorblind Justice – June 28, 2026

Scholars’ Circle – Politics Around World Cup Games – June 21, 2026

Scholars’ Circle – Pathways to End the War on Lebanon and Iran – June 14, 2026

Scholars’ Circle – Ebola Outbreak, WHO and US CDC Policies on Infectious Diseases – June 7, 2026

Scholars’ Circle – Issues and Candidates for California Governor and Los Angeles Mayoral Elections – May 31, 2026

Scholars’ Circle – Trauma Experienced by Children from School Shootings – May 24, 2026

Scholars’ Circle – SCOTUS Allows Access to Medication Abortion Pill Delivery by Mail – May 17, 2026

Scholars’ Circle – Why SCOTUS Ruined the Voting Rights Act of 1965 – May 10, 2026

By Maria Armoudian