Tag Archives: Political Science

Insighters & Scholars’ Circle – Sept. 9th, 2012

First, after a lifetime of working with the poorest children in America, Jonathan Kozol helps us understand their harsh realities and the factors that help the most disadvantaged kids to thrive.  Jonathan Kozol is the author of numerous books including Fire in the Ashes: Twenty-Five Years Among the Poorest Children in America, Rachel and her Children and Amazing Grace. [ dur. 29mins. ]

Then, on the Scholars’ Circle, what is driving the growing poverty levels in America and what should be done about it? [ dur. 28 mins. ]

  • Peter Edelman is Professor of Law at Georgetown University Center for law. He was Assistant Secretary for Bill Clinton’s Department of Health and Human Services, and resigned (as Assistant Secretary of Department of Health and Human Services) in protest of Clinton’s 1996 welfare reform. He was former legislative aide to Robert F. Kennedy. Professor Edelman is the author of numerous books including, “So Rich, So Poor: Why It’s So Hard To End Poverty in America,” and co-author of, “Reducing Poverty and Economic Distress After ARRA: Next Steps for Short-Term Recovery and Long-Term Economic Security.”
  • Randy Albelda is Professor of Economics and Senior Research fellow at the Center for Social Policy at University of Massachusetts, Boston. She is the author of numerous books including, “Unlevel Playing Fields Understanding Wage Inequality and Discrimination,” and “Glass Ceilings and Bottomless Pits: Women’s Work/Women’s Poverty.”
  • Professor Frances Fox Piven is American professor of political science and sociology at  City University of New York. She is the author  Among them are REGULATING THE POOR (winner of the C. Wright Mills Award ub 1972, and updated in 1993); POOR PEOPLE’S MOVEMENTS (1977); THE NEW CLASS WAR (1982; UPDATED 1985); WHY AMERICANS DON’T VOTE (1988); THE MEAN SEASON (1987); LABOR PARTIES IN POSTINDUSTRIAL SOCIETIES (1992); THE BREAKING OF THE AMERICAN SOCIAL COMPACT (1997); WHY AMERICANS STILL DON’T VOTE (2000); and THE WAR AT HOME (2004); Challenging Authority: How Ordinary People Change America (2006).

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Insighters & Scholars’ Circle – Sept. 2nd, 2012

1) A retrospective on the Republican Convention–What does it tell us about the future of republican politics & policy & what does it mean for the future of the US? [ dur: 9 mins. ]

  • Alan Minsky, Interim Program Director, KPFK;
  • Mitch Jesserich, KPFA;

2) The humanitarian crisis in Syria keeps getting worse with more than 1.5 million people displaced. [ dur: 16 mins. ]

3) The Scholars’ Circle — Syria, the region, the international community and possible solutions to the crisis there. [ dur: 29 mins. ]

  • Mark LeVine, University of California,Irvine; Prof. of History.
    Author of Why They Don’t Hate Us: Lifting the Veil on the Axis of Evil.
  • Nader Hashemi, Univ. of Denver; Prof. Middle East and Islamic Politics.
    Author of Islam, Secularism, and Liberal Democracy: Toward a Democratic Theory for Muslim Societies.
  • Rochelle Davis, Georgetown University. Prof. of Culture Anthropology:
    Author of Palestinian Village History

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Insighters & Scholars’ Circle – Aug. 26th, 2012

First, we look at the effects of Wikileaks on Latin America with Latin American specialist, Peter Kornbluh. Peter Kornbluh is  Senior Analyst, National Security Archives and an author of  The Pinochet File: A Declassified Dossier on Atrocity and Accountabilility. [ dur. 29 mins. ]
Then on the Scholars’ Circle, what factors determine the outcome of presidential elections? We look at money, vice presidents, voter turnout and much more.

  • Prof. Samuel Popkin, UC San Diego. Author of  The Candidate: what it Takes to Win – and Hold – the White House;
  • Prof. Allan Lichtman, American University, WA. Author of  Predicting the Next President: The Keys to the White House;
  • Prof. Baumgartner, East Carolina Univ. . Author of  Conventional Wisdom and American Elections: Exploding Myths, Exploring Misconceptions.

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Insighters – Aug. 19th, 2012

Seg. 1: Michael Hiltzik author of, “The New Deal: A Modern History,” discusses the politics of the new deal, and what can we learn from the program that reshaped the country. [ dur. 29 mins. ]
Seg. 2: Why do the super-rich continue to make gains while other Americans are losing ground in the “winner-take-all” politics?
Paul Pierson and Jacob Hacke are the authors of, WInner Take All Politics: How Washington Made the Rich Richer and Turned its Back on the Middle Class.

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Insighters & Scholars’ Circle – Aug. 12th, 2012

Seg. 1: How Google affects our knowledge, politics, privacy, and public projects. Joining us is Siva Vaidhyanathan, Professor of Media Studies and Law at the University of Virginia, and author of, “The Googlization of Everything (And Why We Should Worry).”

Seg. 2: We explore eliminationalism and genocide in the 20th and 21st century with author and former Professor of Political Science and Social Studies at Harvard University, Daniel Jonah Goldhagen. Goldhagen authored, “Worse than War: Genocide, Eliminationalism and the Ongoing Assault on Humanity.”

Seg. 3: On The Scholars Circle we look at Presidential power, and its restrictions and constraints. Blame Obama or blame the system? Joining us are three experts:

  • Julian E. Zelizer is Professor of History and Public Affairs at Princeton University. Author:  Governing America: The Revival of Political History.
  • Eric Schickler is Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. Author:  Disjointed Pluralism: Institutional Innovation and the Development of the U.S. Congress.
  • Allan Lichtman is Professor of History at America University. Author:  White Protestant Nation: The Rise of the American Conservative Movement

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Insighters & Scholars’ Circle – Aug. 5th, 2012

This week, in honor of the late Gore Vidal, we bring a 2008 interview we did at his Hollywood Hills home where he reflected on the state of politics and education.

Then on the Scholars’ Circle, with one of the most negative presidential campaigns upon us, and with the Swiftboat Veterans and Willie Horton ads in our rearview mirror, we talk with three top political communication scholars about “going negative,” and what it might mean, especially in this post-Citizens United world.

  • Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Univ. of Penn. – Dir. Annenberg Public Policy Center, Flackcheck.org & FactCheck.org . Author: Packaging the Presidency.
  • Michael Franz, Bowdoin College – Prof. Government Studies & Legal Studies. Author: Interest Groups in American Campaigns.
  • John Geer, Vanderbilt Univ. – Prof. / Chair of Political Science. Author: From Tea Leaves to Opinion Polls.

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Insighters & Scholars’ Circle July 22nd, 2012

An hour-long special on music and politics.
First, we speak with Serj Tankian, multiplatinum selling musician and lead singer of System of A Down. Latest Album Harakiri. [dur. 15 mins.]

Then, we find out about the banned, censored, oppressed, and jailed musicians all over the world. [ dur. 15 mins. ]

With:

  • Ole Reitov is the Programme Manager for Freemuse.
  • Michael O’Rielly is Senior Campaign Director for Individuals at Risk program at Amnesty International

Finally, on the Scholars’ Circle we discuss at how music effects political change, and how politics effects music. [ dur. 28 mins. ]

With:

  • Josh Kun is Associate Professor of communication and journalism, and  director of The Popular Music Project at USC Annenberg’s The Norman Lear Center. He is the author of Audiotopia: Music, Race and America, and co-editor of the book series, Refiguring American Music.
  • Mark Levine is professor of Middle Eastern history at the University of California, Irvine, and distinguished visiting professor at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Lund University in Sweden. He writes a weekly column for al-Jazeera International and, has published numerous books including, “Why They Don’t Hate Us: Lifting the Veil on the Axis of Evil,” and “Heavy Metal Islam: Rock, Resistance and the Story of Islam’s Generation-X.” His forthcoming book is about the revolutions in the Arab world, “The Five Year Old Who Toppled a Pharaoh.”
  • Dick Flacks is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at University of California–Santa Barabara. He is the author of Making History: The American Left and the American Mind, and Playing for Change: Music and Musicians in the Service of Social Movements. He also produces a music show.

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Insighters & Scholars’ Circle – Nature of organizing societies and hate speech politics – July 15th, 2012

What does nature teach us about organizing societies, governments and businesses? [dur: 28mins. ]

  • Rafe Sagarin (1971-2015) was a research scientist with the Institute of the Environment at the University of Arizona in Tucson, AZ and the Program Manager for Oceans at Biosphere 2, where he was working to transform Biosphere 2’s ocean biome into a living model of the Gulf of California. He is the author of, Learning from the Octopus: How Secrets From Nature Can Help Us Fight Terrorism Attacks, Natural Disasters and Disease.

What are the effects of incivility, vilification and hate speech? What are the effects of political incivility and vilification on pubic policy and political participation? On democracy? How do they compare to hate speech? Where are the legal lines drawn? [ dur: 29mins. ]

For a transcript of this interview, please visit: TheBigQ

Insighters & Scholars’ Circle July 8th, 2012

From the ashes of the harsh recession new sustainable ownership models are emerging with groups, unions, and entire communities coming together to co-own their workplaces, homes, and sources of credit. With us to look into the possibilities is Marjorie Kelly, a fellow at the Tellus Institute think tank and author of, “The Divine Right of Capital,” her latest book is, “Owning Our Future: The Emerging Ownership Revolution,” and she cofounded “Business Ethics” magazine. [ dur. 27 mins. ]

And, on the Scholars’ Circle; Earlier this week a high level memorandum was leaked which revealed some of the inner workings of the supreme court. What was said in that memo? What does drive judicial decision making and what constrains it? And, how do these votes effect American society? We are joined by three experts:

  • Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean and Professor of Law at University of California, Irvine. He has authored several books including his latest, “The Conservative Assault on the Constitution.”
  • Adam Winkler, Professor of Law at UCLA and the author of, “Gunfight: The Battle over the Right to Bear Arms in America.”
  • Lawrence Baum, Professor of Political Science at Ohio State University his books include, “The Puzzle of Judicial Behavior,” “Judges and Their Audiences,” and “Specializing the Courts.”

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Insighters & Scholars’ Circle July 1st, 2012

First Segment,  Untangling the science and politics of climate change with renowned climate scientist, James Hansen, author – Storms of my Grandchildren. ( dur: 27mins. ]

For a transcript of this interview, please visit: TheBigQ

On Scholars’ Circle. Politics of Emotions. How do emotions drive political outcomes like violence, war and genocide? [ dur. 25 mins. ]

  • Roger Peterson, MIT: author of: Understanding Ethnic Conflict.
  • David Altheide, AZ State Univ.: author of: Terror Post 9-11 and the Media
  • Jeff Berkenstein, St. Martin’s Univ.: author of: Re-framing 9-11

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