Tag Archives: Civil Liberties

Scholars’ Circle – Reasons for political violence and how it becomes inevitable – September 21, 2025

September 22, 2025 host

Political violence is on the rise, we get insight into why it happens and ways to mitigate it’s occurrence. With scholars of politics, social inquiry and criminal justice. [ dur: 58mins. ]

Roger Petersen is the Arthur and Ruth Sloan Professor of Political Science at MIT. He is the author of Understanding Ethnic Violence: Fear, Hatred, Resentment in Twentieth Century Eastern Europe, Death, Domination, and State-Building: The US in Iraq and the Future of American Military Intervention, and Emotions and backlash in US society and politics.
David L. Altheide is a Regents Professor Emeritus on the faculty of Justice and Social Inquiry in the School of Social Transformation at Arizona State University. He is the author of Terrorism and the Politics of Fear, The Media Syndrome and Gonzo Governance: The Media Logic of Donald Trump.
Brian Levin is Director of the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism and Professor of Criminal Justice at California State University, San Bernardino. He is co-author of the book The Limits of Dissent and co-author of the publications Report to the nation: hate crimes rise in US cities and counties in time of division and foreign interference, Posing the Why Question: Understanding the perpetration of racially motivated violence and harassment, and Fact Sheet: Anti-Asian Prejudice 2020 (March 2, 2021).

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Supreme Court allows deportation based on profiling ; The future of indigenous exhibits – September 14, 2025

September 15, 2025 host

How does the US Supreme Court decision to allow ICE to target immigrants based on language, accent, race, and employment affect the sweeps of undocumented immigrants in the US. And what are the social and economic impacts of Trump’s deportation policy? [ dur: 29mins. ]

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.
Tony Payan, Ph.D., is the Claudio X. Gonzalez Fellow in U.S.-Mexico Studies, the Françoise and Edward Djerejian Fellow for Mexico Studies and the executive director of the Center for the U.S. and Mexico at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. his publications include, Social and Economic Effects of Expanded Deportation Measures and TN Visa’s Role in the US Labor Market and Its Uncertain Future

green book cover with book tile of The Future is Indigenous - Stories from the new Native North America Hall at the Field Museum - Edited by Alaka Wali and Tom Skwerski

Museums are changing their approach to exhibiting Native American artifacts. What is the new model and what is the impact? [ dur: 29mins. ]

Alaka Wali is the Curator of North American Anthropology at the Field Museum in Chicago. She is co-editor of The Future is Indigenous: Stories from the Native North American Hall at the Field Museum.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Threat to Freedom of expression in US ; Author interview on case for universal Child Care for working American – September 7, 2025

September 7, 2025 host

As part of an ongoing attack on free expression, Donald Trump is trying to criminalize flag burning. Is this proposed ban constitutional? [ dur: 29mins. ]

Dennis Baron is Emeritus Professor of English at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is a frequent commentator on language issues in the national media and has written a number of popular books, including What’s Your Pronoun? (2020).

Picture of a Child's closet for a book titled Raising A Nation - 10 reasons every American has a stake in Child care for all. by Elliot Haspel.

Then, why is child care in America so expensive? This vital service that is so crucial for child and community development is among American families’ largest expenses. And why is child care so underfunded by the government? We speak with Elliot Haspel, author of Raising a Nation, 10 Reasons Every American Has a Stake in Child Care for All. [ dur: 29mins. ]

Elliot Haspel is a nationally recognized child care policy expert, a senior fellow at the think tank Capita. He’s the author of Crawling Behind America’s Child Care Crisis and How to Fix It, but today we’re going to talk about his new book. The new book is entitled, Raising a Nation, 10 Reasons Every American Has a Stake in Child Care for All. Elliott Hospital is currently pursuing his PhD in early childhood policy at the University of Colorado, Denver.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Alien Enemies Act policy use to deport immigrants and asylum seekers – August 31, 2025

August 31, 2025 host

The Trump Administration is using the Alien Enemies Act to seize Venezuelans and ship them to a notorious prison El Salvador without due process. What can be done to protect and uphold the rule of law and human rights in the face of the Trump Administration’s rejection of them? What are some means of legal and political resistance when human rights are being violated? [ dur: 58mins. ]

Jennifer Selin is Associate Professor of Law at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University. She’s written numerous articles, and in particular, Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelans to El Salvador sparks light Legal questions likely to reach the Supreme Court.
Victor Narro is Project Director for the UCLA Labor Center and Core Faculty for the UCLA Department of Labor Studies. He teaches immigration law and is author of The Activist Spirit – Toward a Radical Solidarity and No One Size Fits All: Worker Organization, Policy, and Movement in a New Economic Age (Cornell University Press, 2018) and others.
Andrea Pitzer is an author and podcaster. She’s written One Long Night, a global history of concentration camps. This traces the idea of mass civilian detention without trial from its beginnings through Auschwitz and beyond, including up to today. She’s also the host of the podcast, Next Comes What.

Recorded April, 2025.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – ICE and Militarization on the streets of Los Angeles – June 15, 2025

June 16, 2025 host

President Trump has ordered federalization of the California National Guard and deployed them to Los Angeles. He also has deployed active Marines in the city. Does this violate the law? What is the law of posse comitatus? What is its history? And will mass protests help preserve democracy? The law of Posse Comitatus needs reform to prevent abuse? In today’s political environment, is this even possible? [ dur: 58mins. ]

David S. Meyer is Professor of Sociology, Political Science, and Planning, Policy, and Design at UC Irvine. He is the author of The Politics of Protest: Social Movements in America and co-editor of The Resistance: The Dawn of the Anti-Trump Opposition Movement. His blog is Politics Outdoors.
Gautham Rao is Associate Professor in the Department of History at the American University Washington, D.C. He is the author of The Federal “Posse Comitatus” Doctrine: Slavery, Compulsion, and Statecraft in Mid-Nineteenth-Century America.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – First 100 days into the second Trump administration – May 11, 2025

May 12, 2025 host

We are 100 days into the second Trump Administration. How different is this term from his first and from other Presidents? What are the constitutional and normative challenges it poses to American democracy? Just how much has Trump attempted to consolidate power in the Presidency? What are the biggest threats his administration poses to the constitution, the rule of law and to American democracy? [ dur: 58mins. ]

Heidi Kitrosser is Professor of Law at the University of Minnesota Law School. She is the author of the book, Reclaiming Accountability: Transparency, Executive Power, and the U.S. Constitution, and the articles, The Shadow of Executive Privilege, and Accountability in the Deep State.
Jeremi Suri is Professor in the Department of History and the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, Austin. He holds the Mack Brown Distinguished Chair for Leadership in Global Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin. He is the co-author of “Problems with President Records are Not Just About Trump” with Kenneth Osgood. He is also the author of The Impossible Presidency: The Rise and Fall of America’s Highest Office. He is the host of the podcast This is Democracy.
Steve Swerdlow, Esq. is Associate Professor of the Practice of Human Rights in the Department of Political and International Relations at the University of Southern California. He writes extensively as a human rights monitor for Human Right Watch in both the Central Asian region and in the Caucuses.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Alien Enemy’s Act invoked to deport people from US without due process on civil charges – April 6, 2025

April 7, 2025 host

Jennifer Selin is Associate Professor of Law at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University. She’s written numerous articles, and in particular, Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelans to El Salvador sparks light Legal questions likely to reach the Supreme Court.
Victor Narro is Project Director for the UCLA Labor Center and Core Faculty for the UCLA Department of Labor Studies. He teaches immigration law and is author of The Activist Spirit – Toward a Radical Solidarity and No One Size Fits All: Worker Organization, Policy, and Movement in a New Economic Age (Cornell University Press, 2018) and others.
Andrea Pitzer is an author and podcaster. She’s written One Long Night, a global history of concentration camps. This traces the idea of mass civilian detention without trial from its beginnings through Auschwitz and beyond, including up to today. She’s also the host of the podcast, Next Comes What.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Trump’s assualt on academic freedom; Book author interview – We the Men – March 23, 2025

March 23, 2025 host

The Trump Administration has launched full frontal political assaults on academic freedoms on college campuses. Both professors and students are being targeted for their political positions. Schools fear the loss of funding based on protests on campus and faculty political advocacy. And departments are being targeted not just for classes but also existentially, such as gender studies and Middle East studies. What does this mean for academic freedom, academic excellence, free speech and advocacy on college campuses? How does the attack on colleges and universities signal this countrys drive to authoritarianism. [ dur: 32mins. ]

Mark LeVine is Professor of Modern Middle Eastern History in the Department of History at UC Irvine. He is the author of Why They Don’t Hate Us: Lifting the Veil on the Axis of Evil and Heavy Metal Islam: Rock, Resistance and the Soul of Islam. He is also the co-editor of One Land, Two States: Israel and Palestine as Parallel States and Religion and Social Practices and Contested Hegemonies: Reconstructing the Public Sphere in Muslim Majority Societies.
David S. Meyer is Professor of Sociology, Political Science, and Planning, Policy, and Design at UC Irvine. He is the author of The Politics of Protest: Social Movements in America and co-editor of The Resistance: The Dawn of the Anti-Trump Opposition Movement. His blog is Politics Outdoors.

American Flag background with silloette of Women protesting for the book cover We the Men , how forgetting Women's Struggles for Equality Prepetuates Inequality.

Have women’s stories been made invisible in the retelling of history and law? If so, what are the consequences of that? American history is too often told without the experiences of American women. And American Constitutional Law far too often reflects this invisibility by perpetuating inequality. Today’s guest has a new book on this historical invisibility and its consequences. Jill Hasday is the author of We the Men: How Forgetting Women’s Struggles for Equality Perpetuates Inequality. [ dur: 26mins. ]

Jill Hasday is the distinguished McKnight University professor and Centennial professor of Law at the University of Minnesota Law School. She’s the author of Family Law Re-imagined, Intimate Lies in the Law, and her new book We the Men, how forgetting women’s Struggles for equality perpetuates inequality. She is editor-in-chief of Constitutional Commentary.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – The Suffragist Peace: How women gained voting rights and affected global politics – March 16, 2025

March 15, 2025 host

The expansion of the vote to women throughout the 20th Century has had an impact on the discourses and politics of war and peace. What is the relationship between women voting, electing women leaders, and women-lead groups in civil society on the issue of war and peace?
Does the expansion of the vote to women lead to the election of women as leaders? And are these leaders more committed to peace than their male counterparts? We explore a new book, The Suffragist Peace: How Women Shape the Politics of War..[ dur: 58mins. ]

Book cover of The Suffragist Peace, classic painting with woman in center against war and suffering

Joslyn Barnhart is Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of California Santa Barbara. She is also senior research scientist at Deep Mine in London. She is the author of The consequences of humiliation, anger, and status, threats in international politics
Robert F. Trager is a Professor in the political science department at the University of California, Los Angeles. He’s the author of a forthcoming book Diplomacy Communication and the Origins of International Order

Together they have authored The Suffragist Peace: How Women Shape the Politics of War

This interview was recorded April 2024.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Author interview – The Digital Fourth Amendment: Privacy and Policing in our Online World – January 5, 2025

January 6, 2025 host

The fourth amendment has protected privacy for Americans. But with new technologies, smart phones, the internet, and other devices, our protections are easily compromised. Will protecting privacy in the digital age require a new Digital 4th Amendment? We interview Orin Kerr author of The Digital Fourth Amendment: Privacy and Policing in our Online World [ dur: 58mins. ]

Orin Kerr is a professor of law at Stanford Law school. His new book titled The Digital Fourth Amendment Privacy and policing in our online world. He has also published 70 law review articles many of which has been cited by Federal Courts.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

The Scholars' Circle Interviews

Tag Archives: Civil Liberties

Scholars’ Circle – Reasons for political violence and how it becomes inevitable – September 21, 2025

Scholars’ Circle – Supreme Court allows deportation based on profiling ; The future of indigenous exhibits – September 14, 2025

Scholars’ Circle – Threat to Freedom of expression in US ; Author interview on case for universal Child Care for working American – September 7, 2025

Scholars’ Circle – Alien Enemies Act policy use to deport immigrants and asylum seekers – August 31, 2025

Scholars’ Circle – ICE and Militarization on the streets of Los Angeles – June 15, 2025

Scholars’ Circle – First 100 days into the second Trump administration – May 11, 2025

Scholars’ Circle – Alien Enemy’s Act invoked to deport people from US without due process on civil charges – April 6, 2025

Scholars’ Circle – Trump’s assualt on academic freedom; Book author interview – We the Men – March 23, 2025

Scholars’ Circle – The Suffragist Peace: How women gained voting rights and affected global politics – March 16, 2025

Scholars’ Circle – Author interview – The Digital Fourth Amendment: Privacy and Policing in our Online World – January 5, 2025

By Maria Armoudian