Tag Archives: United States

Do High profile cases like the Teamsters, UPS workers, unionization at Starbucks and Amazon signal a new labor awakening in American politics?

Labor organizers are using a large range of issues, including women’s rights, LGBTQ representation and pride, and environmental activism to attract new members. Is this changing the conceptual divide between “culture war” issues and economic issues? [ dur: 58mins. ]

Lane Windham is Associate Director of the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor at Georgetown University. She is the author of Knocking on Labor’s Door: Union Organizing in the 1970s and the Roots of a New Economic Divide and co-author of Explaining the erosion of private-sector unions.
John Logan is Professor and Chair of Labor and Employment Studies at San Francisco State University. He is the author of Crushing Unions, by Any Means Necessary: How Amazon’s Blistering Anti-Union Campaign Won in Bessemer, Alabama, a Model for Labor’s Renewal? The Starbucks Campaign and High Octane Organizing at Starbucks.
Leon Fink is Distinguished Professor in the Department of History at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He is the editor of Workers Across the Americas: The Transnational Turn in Labor History and author of In Search of the Working Class: Essays in American Labor History and Political Culture.

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

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – History of California as a Slave State – July 16, 2023

July 16, 2023 host

We interview the author of a new book CALIFORNIA, A SLAVE STATE (Yale University Press; June 27, 2023). Professor Jean Pfaelzer shows that, since the very first colonizers crossed the border, the Golden State was and still is powered by slavery – a piece of American history that many still try to bury.

Jean Pfaelzer is a public historian, commentator, and professor of American studies at the University of Delaware. Her books include Driven Out: The Forgotten War Against Chinese Americans, (Random House; University of California Press) as well Parlor Radical: Rebecca Harding Davis and the Origins of American Social Realism and The Utopian Novel in America. She lives in Washington, DC.

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

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Making Sense of Trump Presidency with recent revelation from inside his administration – September 9, 2018

September 8, 2018 host

What can we make of the latest revelations from inside the Trump administration? We spend the hour with three top scholars of the U.S. presidency. [ dur: 58 mins. ]

George C. Edwards III is University Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Jordan Chair in Presidential Studies at Texas A&M University. His books include Predicting the Presidency, The Strategic President, Governing by Campaigning and On Deaf Ears: The Limits of the Bully Pulpit.
Jeremi Suri is Professor in the Department of History and the LBJ School of Public Affairs. He holds the Mack Brown Distinguished Chair for Leadership in Global Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin. His books include, The Impossible Presidency: The Rise and Fall of America’s Highest Office, Henry Kissinger and the American Century, and Liberty’s Surest Guardian: American Nation-Building from the Founders to Obama.
David Stebenne is Professor of History and Law at The Ohio State University. He is the author of Arthur J. Goldberg: New Deal Liberal and Modern Republican: Arthur Larson and the Eisenhower Years.

This program is produced with contributions from the following volunteers: Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Anaïs Amin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Interpreting 2nd Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America – February 24, 2018

February 24, 2018 host

With the latest 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. We speak with David Cole. His latest book is Engines of Liberty: The Power of Citizen Activists to Make Constitutional Law. [ dur: 58 mins. ]

David D. Cole is the National Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union. He is author of many books including Engines of Liberty: The Power of Citizen Activists to Make Constitutional Law.

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 – Promoting GMO to Mexico by US State Department Diplomats -/- Effects of UK and France Elections – June 18, 2017

June 17, 2017 host

Is the US State Department using its diplomatic efforts to push genetically modified foods into other countries? Our guest says yes. She traced US multi-pronged effort to persuade Mexico to allow genetically modified foods.[ dur: 23 mins. ]

Yadira Ixchel Martínez Pantoja, PhD candidate in Politics and International Relations at the University of Auckland. Her recent paper is titled, United States promotion of GM foods: the use of public diplomacy strategies and instruments to target government agencies in Mexico.

Then, what will the elections in UK and France mean for the geopolitics with the US and the world? We’ll explore what may be in the global political forecast. [ dur: 35 mins. ]

Jeroen Dewulf is Associate Professor in the Department of German, Director of the Institute of European Studies, and Director of the Dutch Studies Program at University of California at Berkeley. He is the author of The Pinkster King and the King of Kongo: The Forgotten History of America’s Dutch-Owned Slaves and Spirit of Resistance: Dutch Clandestine Literature during the Nazi Occupation.
Patrick Chamorel is Senior Resident Scholar at the Stanford University Center in Washington DC. He is the author of article Now it’s France’s Turn, Aspirations and Reality: French foreign policy and the 2012 elections, and the book chapter Anti-Europeanism and Euroskeptisicm in the United States
Mark Amsler is Director of the Europe Institute at the University of Auckland and Professor of Languages. He is the author of Affective Literacies: Writing and Multilingualism in the Later Middle Ages.

Find book authored by our guest scholars on this Book Shelf .

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 – National Psychology in Age of Excess -/- Treatment of Misdeeds among Leaders in our Society – August 7, 2016

August 6, 2016 host

America has entered an age of excess, according to our guest. Driven by a maddening quest for perfection, technology, deregulation, and a superficial and often inaccurate mass media, our national psychology has become narcissistic. That is leading to a culture of cheating, lying, and reckless behavior that crashed the economy and continues to wreck lives and the national fabric. We examine our national psychology with J.R. Slosar author of, “Culture of Excess: How America Lost Self Control and Why We Need to Redefine Success.” [ dur: 18 mins. ]

For a transcript of this interview, please visit: TheBigQ

Dr. Jay Slosar (JR Slosar) is a lecturer at Chapman Univeristy. He is the author of “Culture of Excess: How America Lost Self Control and Why We Need to Redefine Success.“

Then, on the Scholars’ Circle panel, why some misdeeds become scandals and others don’t? Why is it that the same type of transgressions are treated differently at different times, and might this differential treatment affect our politics, policies and society? [ dur: 41 mins. ]

Robert Entman is Professor of Media and Public Affairs and Professor of International Affairs at George Washington University and the author of Scandal & Silence: Media Responses to Presidential Misconduct, Projections of Power: Framing News, Public Opinion and US Foreign Policy, and The Black Image in the White Mind: Media and Race in America.
Brendan Nyhan is Professor of Government at Dartmouth College and co-author of All the President’s Spin: George W. Bush, the Media, and the Truth.
Sigurd Allern is a Professor at the Department of Media and Communication at the University of Oslo. He is the author of Scandalous!: The Mediated Construction of Political Scandals in Four Nordic Countries.

Find books authored by our guest scholars on this Book Shelf .

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-History Of Food As Weapon-/-South China Sea Territorial Claims-November 8th, 2015

November 8, 2015 host

First we discuss with Tom Standage, the role of food in history- as a weapon of war, of empire and of building societies.[ dur: 21 mins. ]

For a transcript of this interview, please visit: TheBigQ

Tom Standage is a journalist and author of The Edible History of Humanity.

Then, on the Scholar’s circle panel, China’s territorial claims and its development of the South China Sea has raised the concerns of other countries that also claim territories in the same region – the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunie. The situation was complicated further when US naval ships began patrolling the region around one of China’s man made islands. China’s naval chief warned that a minor incident could result in war. What exactly is brewing in the South China Sea? What does it mean for the region and for China US relations? [ dur: 37 mins. ]

Pradeep Taneja is a lecturer at the University of Melbourne. He is the co-editor of The European Union and China: Interests and Dilemmas.
Stephen Noakes is a lecturer of Chinese Politics, jointly appointed to Politics and International Relations and Asian Studies at the University of Auckland. He is coauthor of Support for Civil Society in China in Creating Democratic Value: Evaluating Efforts to Promote Democracy Abroad.
Daniel Lynch is a Professor of International Relations at the University of Southern California. He is the author of After the Propaganda State: Media, Politics, and Thought in Reformed China and Rising China and Asian Democratization: Socialization to “Global Culture” in the Political Transformations of Thailand, China, and Taiwan
Professor Leszek Buszynski is a lecturer at Australia National University. He is the author of Asia Pacific Security – Values and Identity. He co-edited The South China Sea Maritime Dispute: Political, Legal and Regional Perspectives and his latest publication Negotiating with North Korea: The Six Party Talks and the Nuclear Issue.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle-Case Against US Supreme Court-/-School to Prison Pipeline in US-October 11th, 2015

October 11, 2015 host

First, one of the country’s preeminent law scholars makes his case against the supreme court. We are joined by Erwin Chemerinsky author of, The Case Against the Supreme Court. [ dur: 24 mins. ]

Erwin Chemerinsky, UC Irvine Dean School of Law. Author of The Case Against the Supreme Court

Then we spend the rest of the hour discussing a disturbing trend of increasing numbers of school children being conditioned for the criminal justice system, often referred to, as the school to prison-pipeline. What might it mean for society? And how should this situation be addressed? [ dur: 34 mins. ]

Dr. Kim Socha, Regional Dir., Save the Kids;
Jon Vang , mentor , community activist.
Anthony Nocella, is a Professor of Education and Sr. Fellow in Dispute Resolution at Hamline University, Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Daniel Losen, Director of the Center for Civil Rights Remedies in Civil Rights Project at UCLA;
Damien Schnyder, is a Professor of African studies at Scripps College

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle-Western-Dominance-of-the-World-/-How-ideas-shape-international-power-structures-September 12th, 2015

September 12, 2015 host

First, what were the factors that led to Western dominance of the world and how are they changing the world. We discuss the book, Why the West Rules For Now: The Patterns of History and What They Reveal About the Future with Professor Ian Morris. [ dur: 28 mins. ]

Ian Morris is Professor of Classics Faculty at the Stanford Archaeology Center. He is a historian and archaeologist. He has excavated in Britain, Greece, and Italy, most recently as director of Stanford’s dig at Monte Polizzo, a native Sicilian site from the age of Greek colonization. His publications include “Why the West Rules–For Now: The Patterns of History, and What They Reveal About the Future“, and “The Measure of Civilization: How Social Development Decides the Fate of Nations“.

Then, on the Scholars’ Circle, how might the power of ideas shape countries and international power structures [ dur: 28 mins. ]

Elizabeth Borgwardt is an Associate Professor of History and is an acclaimed international law and human rights historian whose research focuses on human rights ideas and institutions. Her publications include, “A New Deal for the World: America’s Vision for Human Rights“.
Christopher McKnight Nichols is professor of History at Oregon State University. Nichols specializes in the history of the United States and its relationship to the rest of the world, particularly in the areas of isolationism, internationalism, and globalization. His publications include, “Promise and Peril: America at the Dawn of a Global Age“.
Tim Lynch is Professor and Director of the Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Melbourne.His books include “Turf War: the Clinton Administration and Northern Ireland” and he co-authored “After Bush: the Case for Continuity in American Foreign Policy“.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle-Antonin-Scalia-/-How-Music-affects-Social-and-Political-Change-August 2nd, 2015

August 1, 2015 host

In this hour, the man some call the most polarizing and controversial supreme court justice in American history — The story of Antonin Scalia and why no one predicted who he would become. We speak with Prof. Bruce Allen Murphy author of Scalia: A Court of One. This is part one of a two part interview. We will air part two next week. [ dur: 27 mins. ]

Bruce Allen Murphy is a judicial biographer and Professor of law at Lafayette College. His latest book is Scalia: A Court of One.

Finally, on the Scholars’ Circle we discuss how music effects social and political change. How do governments/states oppress music and the arts? How has music shaped politics historically and today? [ dur: 31 mins. ]

Mark LeVine, Professor of Middle Eastern History, University of California Irvine. He is the author of Heavy Metal Islam: Rock, Resistance, and the Struggle for the Soul of Islam
Josh Kun, Professor of Communication and Journalism, USC; He is the author of Audiotopia: Music, Race, and America
Richard Flacks, Professor of Sociology, UC Santa Barbara. He is co-author of the book Playing for Change: Music and Musicians in the Service of Social Movements

Visit our Store [ lists books written by each on this panel ]

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Tag Archives: United States

Scholars’ Circle – Organizing contemporary Labor unions in the US – August 6, 2023

Scholars’ Circle – History of California as a Slave State – July 16, 2023

Scholars’ Circle – Making Sense of Trump Presidency with recent revelation from inside his administration – September 9, 2018

Scholars’ Circle – Interpreting 2nd Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America – February 24, 2018

Scholars’ Circle – Promoting GMO to Mexico by US State Department Diplomats -/- Effects of UK and France Elections – June 18, 2017

Scholars’ Circle – National Psychology in Age of Excess -/- Treatment of Misdeeds among Leaders in our Society – August 7, 2016

Scholars’ Circle-History Of Food As Weapon-/-South China Sea Territorial Claims-November 8th, 2015

Scholars’ Circle-Western-Dominance-of-the-World-/-How-ideas-shape-international-power-structures-September 12th, 2015

Scholars’ Circle-Antonin-Scalia-/-How-Music-affects-Social-and-Political-Change-August 2nd, 2015

By Maria Armoudian