Tag Archives: United States

Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Justice Scalia / US Supreme Court – June 29th, 2014

First, we continue our conversation about why no one predicted that Justice Scalia would become one of the most polarizing Supreme Court justices in US history. Bruce Allen Murphy is the author of Scalia: A Court of One. [ dur: 29 mins. ]

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

Then on the Scholars’ Circle panel, we review the latest US Supreme Court term. [ dur: 29 mins.  ]

  • John R. Vile is Dean and Professor of Political Science at Middle Tennessee State University. He is the author of, The Writing and Ratification of the U.S. Constitution: Practical Virtue in Action, Encyclopedia of Constitutional Amendments, Proposed Amendments, and Amending Issues, 1789-1995, and soon to be released ReFramers: 170 Eccentric, Visionary, and Patriotic Proposals to Rewrite the U.S. Constitution.
  • Stephen M. Griffin is Professor in Constitutional Law at Tulane Law School. He is the author of, Long Wars and the Constitution and American Constitutionalism: From Theory to Politics.
  • Sanford Levinson is Professor in the Department of Government and Chair in Law at the University of Texas Law School. His numerous publications include, Constitutional Faith, Our Undemocratic Constitution: Where the Constitution Goes Wrong (and How We the People Can Correct It) and, most recently, Framed: America’s 51 Constitutions and the Crisis of Governance.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

The Scholars’ Circle Radio- June 1st, 2014

First, sanitation and antibiotics have saved the lives of many, but are they also the culprits behind some of our modern diseases? We might have gone overboard in killing our microbes. And that may be causing some of today’s epidemics. With Martin  Blaser.[ dur: 22 mins. ]

  • Martin J. Blaser is Professor of Translational Medicine and Director of Human Microbiome Program at New York University. He is the author of Missing Microbes : How the Overuse of Antibiotics Is Fueling Our Modern Plagues.

Then, on the Scholars’ Circle panel, in light of the shootings in Santa Barbara, we look at how the meaning of the second amendment has changed since its introduction and what it may mean for today’s debate about gun laws. Our guests have traced the historical meaning of the second amendment from the very first days when it was drafted and proposed. [ dur: 36 mins. ]

  • Michael Waldman is President of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law. His is the author of POTUS Speaks: Finding the Words That Defined the Clinton Presidency, A Return to Common Sense: Seven Bold Ways to Revitalize Democracy, and his latest, The Second Amendment: A Biography.
  • Adam Winkler is Professor of Law at UCLA School of Law. He is the author of Gunfight: The Battle Over the Right to Bear Arms in America and the co-editor of Encyclopedia of the American Constitution.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

The Scholars’ Circle & Insighters Radio- Feb. 23rd, 2014

First, we look at a little known international bank that influences the world’s economy with Adam LeBor [ dur: 29 mins. ]

  • Adam LeBor is author and journalist. His is the author of, The Tower of Basil: The Shadowy History of the Secret Bank that Runs the World and The Believers: How America Fell for Bernie Madoff ‘s 65 Billion Investment Scam.

Then, on the Scholars’ Circle panel, we look at the fast changing world of journalism and media, and what it means for governance and democracy. [ dur: 29 mins. ]

  • Victor Pickard is an Assistant Professor at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the co-editor of, Will the Last Reporter Please Turn out the Lights: The Collapse of Journalism and What Can Be Done To Fix It, and was the lead author of the first comprehensive report on the American journalism crisis, Saving the News: Toward a National Journalism Strategy.
  • Benjamin Compaine is Director, Fellows Program at the Columbia University Institute for Tele-Information (CITI) and Lecturer, D’Amore-McKim School of Business, Northeastern University. He is the author of, The Digital Divide: Facing a Crisis or Creating a Myth?, Who Owns the Media?: Competition and Concentration in the Mass Media industry and editor of The Internet Upheaval: Raising Questions, Seeking Answers in Communications Policy.
  • James T. Hamilton is Hearst Professor of Communication and the Director of the Journalism Program at Stanford University. Prior to joining the Stanford faculty, Hamilton taught at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy, where he directed the De Witt Wallace Center for Media and Democracy. He is the author of, All the News That’s Fit to Sell: How the Market Transforms Information into News, and Channeling Violence: The Economic Market for Violent Television Programming.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

The Scholars’ Circle & Insighters Radio- Feb. 16th, 2014

First, we’ll revisit the 1926 founding of Black History Month. [ dur: 15 mins. ]

  • VP Franklin, Distinguished Prof. History at UC Riverside; Author of Living Our Stories, Telling Our Truths: Autobiography and the Making of the African-American Intellectual Tradition editor of Journal of African American History.

Then, they may have been some of the world’s greatest thinkers but they were also great failures at love. [ dur: 15 mins. ]

  • Andrew Shaffer is the author of, Great Philosophers Who Failed at Love, and Literary Rogues: A Scandalous History of Wayward Authors.

Finally, on the Scholars’ Circle panel, what is love? Is it emotional? Biological? Can it be summarized by rational decision? How does it play out in society? [ dur: 28 mins. ]

  • Simon May is a Visiting Professor of Philosophy at Kings College, London. His books include, Love: A History and Nietzsche’s Ethics and his War on “Morality”
  • Bennett W. Helm is a Professor of Philosophy at Franklin & Marshall College. His books include, Love, Friendship, and the Self: Intimacy, Identification, and the Social Nature of Persons and Emotional Reason: Deliberation, Motivation, and the Nature of Value.
  • Dr. Robert Epstein is Senior Research Psychologist at the American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology. He is currently working on a book called Making Love: How People Learn To Love, and How You Can Too, which is based on his research on how love emerges over time in arranged marriages. He is also the author of, Cognition, Creativity, and Behavior: Selected Essays.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

The Scholars’ Circle & Insighters Radio- Nov. 24th, 2013

First, we continue to trace the birth of free speech in the US, a country that for decades prosecuted dissenters. What caused the radical turn around by the Supreme Court to support free speech?  With Thomas Healy.  [ dur: 29 mins. ]

  • Thomas Healy is professor of law at Seton Hall Law School. He is the author of, The Great Dissent: How Oliver Wendell Holmes Changed His Mind — and Changed the History of Free Speech in America. And the law review publications, Brandenburg in a Time of Terror, and The Rise of Unnecessary Constitutional Rulings.

Then, in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s assassination, we revisit a discussion with Kennedy’s special counsel, closest adviser and speech writer. President Kennedy referred to him as his intellectual blood bank. We spoke with Sorensen in 2008. He passed away in 2010. [ dur: 29 mins. ]

  • Ted Sorensen has authored nine books including, Counselor: Life at the Edge of History. He co-authored Kennedy’s Pulizer Prize winning book, Profiles in Courage.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

The Scholars’ Circle & Insighters Radio- Nov. 17th, 2013

First, after years of allowing censorship and criminal prosecution of dissent, what caused the radical turnaround by the Supreme Court to then support free speech and dissent? Part one of a two part discussion with Thomas Healy author of, The Great Dissent: How Oliver Wendell Holmes Changed His Mind ” and Changed the History. [ dur:  27 mins. ]

  • Thomas Healy is professor of law at Seton Hall Law School. He is the author of, The Great Dissent: How Oliver Wendell Holmes Changed His Mind — and Changed the History of Free Speech in America. And the law review publications, Brandenburg in a Time of Terror, and The Rise of Unnecessary Constitutional Rulings

Then, we know that the wealthy have more influence than other americans, but just how unrepresentative is the American Congress and the state legislatures? [ dur: 31 mins. ]

  • Thomas Hayes is Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Connecticut. His publications include, Responsiveness in an Era of Inequality: The Case of the U.S. Senate, and Do Citizens Link Attitudes with Preferences? Economic Inequality and Government Spending in the New Gilded Age
  • Martin Gilens is Professor of Politics at Princeton University. He is the author of Affluence & Influence: Economic Inequality and Political Power in America, and Why Americans Hate Welfare: Race, Media and the Politics of Antipoverty Policy.
  • Patrick Flavin is professor of political science at Baylor University. His publications include, Income Inequality and Policy Representation in the American States, Does Higher Voter Turnout Among the Poor Lead to More Equal Policy Representation? and How Citizens and Legislators Prioritize Spheres of Representation.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

The Scholars’ Circle & Insighters Radio- Nov. 10th, 2013

First, thousands of migrants leave their countries in search of safety or a better life, but many are abducted, enslaved or disappeared never to be seen again. We ll talk w/ an award-winning journalist who documented the lives of Central American migrants and the life-threatening dangers they faced.  [ dur: 25 mins. ]

  • Oscar Martinez, author, journalist. Author of The Beast: Riding the Rails and Dodging the Narcos on the Migrant Trail.

 

We then dig deeper into the world of migration, and the systems and policies that perpetuate many of the inhumane conditions. [ dur: 30 mins. ]

  • Kevin Johnson is Dean and  Professor of Public Interest Law at UC Davis School of Law. He has co-authored., Opening the Floodgates: Why America Needs to Rethink Its Borders and Immigration Laws, and authored Immigration Law and the US-Mexico Border.
  • David Shirk is Associate  Professor of Political Science and International, and Director of the Justice in Mexico Project, at University of San Diego. He has co-authored, Drug Violence in Mexico: Data and Analysis Through 2013, Armed with Impunity: Curbing Military Human Rights Abuses in Mexico, and Contemporary Mexican Politics.
  • David Kyle is professor of Sociology at University of California, Davis. His publications include, Global Human Smuggling: Comparative Perspectives, and Transnational Peasants: Migrations, Networks and Ethnicity in Andean Ecuador.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

The Scholars’ Circle & Insighters Radio- Oct. 20th, 2013

First, 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 S. Hacker are the authors of, Winner-Take-All Politics: How Washington Made the Rich Richer–and Turned Its Back on the Middle Class. [ dur: 25 mins. ]

  • Paul Pierson, Professor of Political Science, UC Berkeley.
  • Jacob S. Hacker, Professor of Political Science, Yale.

Then, on the Scholars’ Cirle panel, we examine the politics of the US Constitution, its effect on political institutions and the political process, and ask whether it should be revised or amended. Also, includes comparative analysis with other constitutions. [ dur:  32 mins. ]

  • David S. Law, Professor of Law and Political Science. Washington Univ., St. Louis.
  • Sanford Levinson, Professor of Political Science and Law at Univ. of Texas School of Law. Author of Framed: America’s 51 Constitutions and the Crisis of Governance
  • Louis Michael Seidman, Professor of Constitutional Law at Georgetown University. Author of On Constitutional Disobedience (Inalienable Rights)

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

The Scholars’ Circle & Insighters Radio- Oct. 13th, 2013

First, has democracy become like fast food? Our first guest says that democracy needs to slow down. [ dur: 18 mins. ]

  • Susan Clark, author; Co-Author of Slow Democracy: Rediscovering Community, Bringing Decision Making Back Home

Finally, on the Scholars’ Circle panel, once upon a time, corporations were required to have a public purpose and once they fulfilled it, they were dissolved. How did we get to where we are today & what does it mean for democracy? [ dur: 40 mins. ]

  • Richard Abrams, professor of History, UC Berkeley; Author of America Transformed: Sixty Years of Revolutionary Change, 1941-2001
  • Paul Pierson, professor of Political Science, UC Berkeley; Co-Author of Winner-Take-All Politics: How Washington Made the Rich Richer–and Turned Its Back on the Middle Class
  • Professor Scott Bowman, Chair of Political Science department,  California State University, Los Angeles (CSU-LA). Author of The Modern Corporation and American Political Thought: Law, Power, and Ideology

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

The Scholars’ Circle & Insighters Radio- Sept. 15th, 2013

First, we look at the relationships and regional dynamics that can help resolve the conflict in Syria. [ dur: 27 mins. ]

  • Chris Mahony, Deputy director of the Centre for Human Rights at the University of Auckland. Author of The Justice Sector Afterthought: Witness Protection in Africa
  • Eric Bordenkircher, Doctoral Candidate Islamic Studies, UCLA.

Then, on the Scholars’ Circle panel, when should the US and international community intervene on atrocities? What does international law say about intervention? [ dur: 29 mins. ]

  • Karima Bennoune, Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law. Author of Your Fatwa Does Not Apply Here: Untold Stories from the Fight Against Muslim Fundamentalism
  • Ryan C. Hendrickson, Professor of Political Science, Eastern Illinois University. Author of The Clinton Wars: The Constitution, Congress, and War Powers
  • Frank Chalk, Professor of History, Concordia University. Author of The History and Sociology of Genocide: Analyses and Case Studies

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