This is Democracy

In this episode, Jeremi and Zachary talk with Lieutenant Colonel Christina Hopper about her military career and the history of women and minorities serving in the Air Force. Zachary sets the scene with his poem entitled, "Just a Little More Earthly" Lieutenant Colonel Christina “Thumper” Hopper graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1998 and commissioned as the Distinguished Graduate of the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps Program.  She earned Air Force pilot wings in 2000, completed F-16 training in 2001 and was one of only two Black female fighter pilots in the Air Force until 2021. During her time in the Air Force, Christina has been an advocate for women and minorities in aviation.  She has mentored hundreds of young women through programs like Lean-In, Supergirls (which she started among the pilot training bases) and Sisters of the Skies (a mentorship program for Black female pilots).  She has also contributed to strategic diversity initiatives in the Air Force and developed diversity curriculum for student pilots and her local base community. She was featured by Good Housekeeping Magazine, Ebony, and the Harry Connick Jr. Show and Family Circle Magazine named her one of the top 20 Working Moms of 2018. She currently serves as a T-38 Evaluator Pilot with more than 2500 hours in fighter, trainer and airline transport aircraft.  In addition to her Air Force service, Christina is a wife of 20 years, a mom of three, a Delta Air Lines pilot, and professional speaker.  She speaks on various topics related to her life experiences including diversity, overcoming adversity, and harnessing joy for success. To book her as a speaker for your next event visit:  https://www.athenasvoiceusa.com/christina-thumper-hopper.

Jeremi and Zachary with their guest Professor Robert Chesney discuss the threats, concerns trepidation and potential opportunities behind cybersecurity as well as how the country examines and deals with cyber issues to protect and further our democratic values. Zachary sets the scene with his poem titled "The Solution". Professor Robert “Bobby” Chesney is a leading scholar and policy adviser on issues related to national security, cybersecurity, and law. Professor Chesney holds the James Baker Chair and also serves as the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the University of Texas School of Law. He is the Director of the Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law, a university-wide research unit bridging across disciplines to improve understanding of international security issues. Professor Chesney is a co-founder and contributor to www.lawfareblog.com, the leading source for analysis, commentary, and news relating to law and national security. He co-hosts the National Security Law Podcast with colleague, Steve Vladeck: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-national-security-law-podcast/id1201314368. 

On this episode, Jeremi and Zachary, with guest Dr. Samuel Truett discuss their understanding of the controversies surrounding the US-Mexico border. Zachary sets the scene with his poem, "The Forest Next to the Trees". Samuel Truett received his Ph.D. at Yale University and is Associate Professor of History and Director of the Center for the Southwest at the University of New Mexico.  He is the author of Fugitive Landscapes: The Forgotten History of the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands (2006), the co-editor of Continental Crossroads: Remapping U.S.-Mexico Borderlands History (2004), and writes broadly on borderlands, environmental, and Native American History in North American and global perspectives.  He has been a Fulbright Fellow at the University of Tampere (Finland) and a fellow at the Huntington Library, Newberry Library, John Carter Brown Library, and Institut d’Etudes Avancées (Institute for Advanced Study) in Nantes, France.  At the University of New Mexico he has led interdisciplinary efforts with the Newberry Consortium in American Indian Studies and Ted Turner’s New Mexico ranches.  His current work on border crossings in the nineteenth-century world reaches south across the hemisphere and west to imperial and Indigenous spaces in the Pacific basin, the Indian Ocean, and the greater China Seas.  He is also interested in cross-disciplinary ways of using history to rethink planetary crossings, entanglements, and futures of humans and their non-human kin in contexts of rapid social and environmental change.

On this episode, Jeremi and Zachary, with Dr. Charles Edel, discuss the history of U.S-China foreign policy, to frame how the youth of America should have opinions on relations with China. Zachary sets the scene with his poem, "A Good Fight". Dr. Charles Edel is a Global Fellow at the Wilson Center and a Senior Fellow at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. Edel’s research and policy expertise is in the politics and security of the Indo-Pacific, U.S. strategy toward the region, American foreign policy, grand strategy, and American political history. He is the co-author (with Hal Brands) of The Lessons of Tragedy: Statecraft and World Order (2019) and author of Nation Builder: John Quincy Adams and the Grand Strategy of the Republic (2014).  Currently, he is working on a book examining America’s history of dealing with authoritarian regimes. In addition to his scholarly publications, his writings appear in The Washington Post,Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The American Interest, and various other outlets.  He also regularly offers foreign policy commentary on television and radio, including CNBC, ABC, Sky News, Australia’s RN, and NPR.   Previously, Edel was Associate Professor of Strategy and Policy at the U.S. Naval War College, and served on the U.S. Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff from 2015-2017. In that role, he advised the Secretary of State on political and security issues in the Asia-Pacific region.  He also has worked at Peking University's Center for International and Strategic Studies as a Henry Luce Scholar, was awarded the Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellowship, and taught high school history in New York City.

Jeremi and Zachary, with Eric Rauchway, discuss the legacy of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, and how modern policies in today's government echo it. Zachary sets the scene with his poem titled "In the Radio Static." Eric Rauchway is Distinguished Professor of History at the University of California, Davis, and the author of seven books on U.S. history including, most recently, Why the New Deal Matters (2021). He is the author also of Winter War (2018), on the conflict between Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt over the New Deal in 1932-1933.

Jeremi and Zachary along with their guest, Aaron O'Connell discuss America's longest war, the Afghanistan War, and the implications within our proposed withdrawal on the 20th anniversary of the September 11th attacks. Zachary sets the scene with his poem titled "When a War Lasts 20 Years". Dr. Aaron O’Connell is an Associate Professor of History at UT Austin and Director of Research at the Clements Center for National Security. He is a military historian who focuses on military strategy and culture. His first book was entitled, Underdogs: The Making of the Modern Marine Corps. His second book was a collection of essays entitled Our Latest Longest War: Losing Hearts & Minds in Afghanistan. Dr. O’Connell served for 26 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, with the current rank of colonel. He served as a Special Advisor to General David Petraeus in Afghanistan. Later, he served as a Special Advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, where he wrote on issues of terrorism and strategy. Dr. O’Connell also served in the Obama Administration as Director of Defense Policy & Strategy on the National Security Council Staff.

Jeremi and Zachary turn to expert Dr. Daina Ramey Berry to discuss the history and legacy of slave revolts and maroon societies in the United States, and lack of education on these subjects today. Zachary sets the scene with his poem, "One You Have Not Heard". Daina Ramey Berry is the Oliver H. Radkey Regents Professor of History and Chairperson of the History Department at the University of Texas at Austin. She is a Fellow of the Walter Prescott Webb Chair in History and the George W. Littlefield Professorship in American History, and the former Associate Dean of The Graduate School. Professor Berry is a scholar of the enslaved and a specialist on gender and slavery as well as Black women’s history in the United States. Professor Berry's books include: Swing the Sickle for the Harvest is Ripe: Gender and Slavery in Antebellum Georgia; The Price for Their Pound of Flesh: The Value of the Enslaved from Womb to Grave in the Building of a Nation; and A Black Women’s History of the United States, with co-author Kali Nicole Gross.

Jeremi and Zachary turn to expert Dr. Jason Scott Smith to discuss the history of America's investment in public works, the Biden administration's proposed 2 trillion dollar infrastructure bill, and where the people of America think their taxes should go. Zachary sets the scene with his poem, "What Else?" Jason Scott Smith is a professor of history at the University of New Mexico. He is a specialist in the history of capitalism and political economy. Professor Smith’s research and teaching range from the nineteenth century through the global financial crisis of 2008. He is the author of:  Building New Deal Liberalism: The Political Economy of Public Works, 1933-1956  and  A Concise History of the New Deal.  

Jeremi, Zachary, and Dr. Richard Reddick discuss the racist past, and current controversy, of UT's most popular song, "The Eyes of Texas". The lyrics to "The Eyes of Texas" are as follows: The Eyes of Texas are upon you, All the livelong day. The Eyes of Texas are upon you, You cannot get away. Do not think you can escape them At night or early in the morn -- The Eyes of Texas are upon you Til Gabriel blows his horn. Zachary sets the scene with his poem, "The Spirit Lives" Richard J. Reddick is the inaugural associate dean for equity, community engagement, and outreach for the College of Education at The University of Texas at Austin. He is a professor in the Program in Higher Education Leadership in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy (ELP) at The University of Texas at Austin, where he has served as a faculty member since 2007. Additionally, Dr. Reddick serves as the Assistant Director of the Plan II Honors Program in the College of Liberal Arts. Dr. Reddick is a faculty member by courtesy in the Department for African and African Diaspora Studies, the John L. Warfield Center for African and African American Studies, and a fellow at the Institute for Urban Policy Research and Analysis. Dr. Reddick co-chairs the Council for Racial and Ethnic Equity and Diversity (CREED), serves on the Signature Course Advisory Committee (SCAC), and was named to the inaugural cohort of the Provost’s Distinguished Service Academy.  Most recently, he served as Chair of the Eyes of Texas History Committee. The committee's report is available at: https://utexas.app.box.com/s/5o2a1klri1htyhq3mziyxdjgxvegprjj. 

This week, after the racially-motivated attacks in Atlanta, Georgia, Jeremi and Zachary talk with Professor Madeline Hsu about Asian American History and exclusion in the United States. Zachary reads his poem, "Like a Bullet." Yesterday, UT's Department of History issued a statement in support of UT's Asian & Asian American community. Read the full statement at http://bit.ly/3tGGQBA. Colleagues at the department website, NOT EVEN PAST, have compiled and are still currently collecting resources & information on the mass shootings in Atlanta: http://bit.ly/3f8yJK7.