Tag Archives: United States

Scholars' Circle Interviews

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

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. ]

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

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

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. ]

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. ]

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

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

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. ]

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

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

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

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

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

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Speaking & Moderating

Scholars’ Circle-Society’s-Powerful-/-History-of-Labor-Unions-in-America-May 31st, 2015

First, does power lead people to act in an unethical or immoral way? Does power breed hypocrisy and what are the social and political implications? Adam Galinsky joins us, he is the Chair of the Management Department and a Professor of Business at the Columbia Business School at Columbia University. [ dur: 10mins. ]

  • Adam Galinsky is the Chair of Management Department and Professor of Business at the Columbia Business School at Columbia University. He is the co-author of FRIEND AND FOE: When to Cooperate, When to Compete, and How to Succeed at Both​.​

Later, we examine the history of labor unions and how they have shaped America today. We are joined by Philip Dray author of There Is Power in a​ ​Union: The Epic Story of Labor in America. [ dur: 48mins. ]

  • Philip Dray​ is a writer and historian, he is a Fellow of the New York Institute for the Humanities at NYU, and he was a ​vi​siting ​scholar at the John Carter Brown Library at Brown University​. He​ is the author of There Is Power in a Union: The Epic Story of Labor in America​,​ Stealing God’s Thunder: Benjamin Franklin’s Lightning Rod and the Invention of America​, ​and At the Hands of Persons Unknown: The Lynching of Black America, which won the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award and made him a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle-New-Deal-History-/-War-In-Our-Times-Dec. 21st, 2014

First, 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: 27 mins. ]

  • Michael Hiltzik is a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and author who has covered business, technology, and public policy for the Los Angeles Times for three decades. He currently serves as the Times’s business columnist and hosts its business blog, The Economy Hub. His books include The New Deal: A Modern History, Colossus: The Turbulent, Thrilling Saga of the Building of Hoover Dam, Dealers of Lightning: Xerox PARC and the Dawn of the Computer Age and The Plot Against Social Security: How the Bush Plan Is Endangering Our Financial Future.

Then, scholars note that the world is waging fewer wars, but that the wars that are waged are more brutal and intractable. How far have we come in the science of making peace? [ dur: 31 mins. ]

  • George Lopez  Vice President and Director of international conflict management  at US Institute of Peace and co-author of Sanctions and the Search for Security: Challenges to UN Action
  • Ervin Staub, Prof. of Psychology University of Massettuces Amherst.  Author of The Psychology of Good and Evil: Why Children, Adults, and Groups Help and Harm Others
  • Norrin Ripsman, Professor of  Political Science at Concordia University. Co-author of Globalization and the National Security State

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