This is Democracy

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.

Jeremi and Zachary, with guest Julian Zelizer discuss what is at the forefront of our news and draw on the history of economic stimulus packages and how that history will help inform our collective experience with the most recent economic stimulus package. Julian E. Zelizer is one of the leading experts on modern American political history. He is the Malcolm Stevenson Forbes, Class of 1941 Professor of History and Public Affairs at Princeton University. Professor Zelizer is the author and editor of 19 books on American political history, including: Taxing America: Wilbur D. Mills, Congress, and the State, 1945-1975; The Fierce Urgency of Now: Lyndon Johnson, Congress, and the Battle for the Great Society; and Fault Lines: A History of the United States Since 1974, co-authored with Kevin Kruse. Most recently, Zelizer published Burning Down the House: Newt Gingrich, The Fall of a Speaker, and the Rise of the New Republican Party.

Jeremi and Zachary, with Dr. Sean Theriault discuss congressional politics and question whether the U.S. Senate should continue to have a rule for a Filibuster. Dr. Sean Theriault is a professor in the Department of Government at the University of Texas at Austin. He is a leading scholar of American political institutions, and the U.S. Congress in particular. Sean has published five books: Congress: The First Branch (with Mickey Edwards; Oxford University Press, 2020), The Great Broadening (with Bryan Jones and Michelle Whyman; University of Chicago Press, 2019), The Gingrich Senators (Oxford University Press, 2013), Party Polarization in Congress (Cambridge University Press, 2008), and The Power of the People (Ohio State University Press, 2005). He has also published numerous articles in a variety of journals on subjects ranging from presidential rhetoric to congressional careers and the Louisiana Purchase to the Pendleton Act of 1883.

Jeremi and Zachary, with Dr. Varun Rai, discuss the role of state and national government in energy management, as well as what improvements could be made to Texas's approach to climate crises, and its unregulated, disconnected electrical power grid. Zachary sets the scene with his poem, "Do Not Be Alone When The Lights Come Back On." Dr. Varun Rai is the Walt and Elspeth Rostow Professor in the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the director of the UT Energy Institute and the Associate Dean for Research in the LBJ School. Through his interdisciplinary research, delving with issues at the interface of energy systems, complex systems, decision science, and public policy, he is developing effective policy approaches to help accelerate the deployment of sustainable energy technologies globally. He has presented at several important forums, including the United States Senate Briefings, Global Intelligent Utility Network Coalition, Climate One at Commonwealth Club, and Global Economic Symposium, and his research group’s work has been discussed in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and Bloomberg News, among other venues. He was a Global Economic Fellow in 2009. During 2013-2015 he was a Commissioner for the vertically-integrated electric utility Austin Energy. In 2016 the Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management (APPAM) awarded him the David N. Kershaw Award and Prize, which “was established to honor persons who, at under the age of 40, have made a distinguished contribution to the field of public policy analysis and management.” He received his Ph.D. and MS in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University and a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur.

Jeremi and Zachary, with Prof. Jonathan Marks, discuss the approach of liberal education through a conservative lens, and how the status quo can hinder thoughtful discussions instead of promoting critical thought. Zachary sets the scene with his poem, "That Man Believes Astrology". Jonathan Marks is a professor of politics at Ursinus College and a blogger for Commentary magazine. He is the author of Perfection and Disharmony in the Thought of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and, most recently, Let’s Be Reasonable: A Conservative Case for Liberal Education. Marks writes frequently on higher education for the Chronicle of Higher Education and the Wall Street Journal.

In this Episode Jeremi and Zachary along with - discuss how large quantities of data are used in surveillance and how they may be used to heighten inequalities for certain communities. Sarah Brayne is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at The University of Texas at Austin. In her research, Brayne uses qualitative and quantitative methods to examine the social consequences of data-intensive surveillance practices. Her book, Predict and Surveil: Data, Discretion, and the Future of Policing (Oxford University Press), draws on ethnographic research with the Los Angeles Police Department to understand how law enforcement uses predictive analytics and new surveillance technologies. In previous research, she analyzed the relationship between criminal justice contact and involvement in medical, financial, labor market, and educational institutions. Brayne's research has appeared in the American Sociological Review, Social Problems, Law and Social Inquiry, and the Annual Review of Law and Social Science and has received awards from the American Sociological Association, the Law and Society Association, and the American Society of Criminology. Brayne has volunteer-taught college-credit sociology classes in prisons since 2012. In 2017, she founded the Texas Prison Education Initiative.

Jeremi and Zachary, with Dr. Brent Iverson, discuss the role of science in government and society, as well as how education and scientific literacy will help in the development and protection of democracy. Zachary sets the scene with his poem, "What No One Ever Told Me." Dr. Brent Iverson is a distinguished professor of chemistry and dean of the School of Undergraduate Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. He is an award-winning chemistry teacher and he maintains a distinguished research laboratory. Iverson is an inventor on 24 issued U.S. patents. Working with George Georgiou and Jennifer Maynard of the UT Department of Biomedical Engineering, Iverson helped develop an FDA-approved late-stage cure for exposure to anthrax.

Jeremi and Zachary discuss the ongoing political protests in Russia, and Biden's response to Putin, with Dr. Michael Kimmage. Dr. Michael Kimmage is a professor of history at the Catholic University of America in Washington DC. He is also a fellow at the German Marshall Fund, and chair of the Advisory Council for the Kennan Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington DC. From 2014 to 2017, Kimmage served on the Secretary's Policy Planning Staff at the U.S. Department of State, where he held the Russia/Ukraine portfolio. He publishes widely on international affairs, U.S.-Russian relations and American diplomatic history. Kimmage is the author of: The Conservative Turn: Lionel Trilling, Whittaker Chambers and the Lessons of Anti-Communism (2009); In History’s Grip: Philip Roth's Newark Trilogy (2012); The Abandonment of the West: The History of an Idea in American Foreign Policy (2020). His published a recent article on Russia and US policy in the New Republic, “How Biden Can Achieve a Russian Restoration:” https://newrepublic.com/article/161044/biden-putin-navalny-russia-protests.

Today Jeremi and Zachary discuss President-Elect Joe Biden's inauguration and the effects his speech may have on the current divisions in the United States with special guest Dr. David Greenberg. Zachary sets the scene with his poem "For President Biden Upon His Inauguration." David Greenberg is a professor of History and of Journalism & Media Studies at Rutgers University. He is a leading expert on presidential history and rhetoric. Prof. Greenberg is the author of: Nixon’s Shadow: The History of an Image (W.W. Norton, 2003), Calvin Coolidge (Henry Holt, 2006), and Republic of Spin: An Inside History of the American Presidency (W.W. Norton, 2016). He writes frequently for the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Atlantic, Foreign Affairs, Daedalus, Dissent, Raritan, and many other scholarly and popular publications.

Today Jeremi and Zachary reflect on the recent events leading up to the U.S. Capitol riots and discuss its impact amidst a democracy in crisis with special guest, Dr. Nicole Hemmer. Nicole Hemmer is an associate research scholar with the Obama Presidency Oral History project. A political historian specializing in media, conservatism, and the far-right, Hemmer is author of Messengers of the Right: Conservative Media and the Transformation of American Politics. She is co-founder and co-editor of Made by History, the historical analysis section of the Washington Post. She is also a columnist for Vox and The Age in Melbourne. She co-hosts Past Present, a weekly podcast where three historians discuss the latest news in American politics and culture, and is the producer and host of A12: The Story of Charlottesville, a six-part podcast series on the white-power terrorism in Charlottesville in 2017. Hemmer’s historical analysis has appeared in a number of national and international news outlets, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Atlantic, Politico, U.S. News & World Report, New Republic, PBS NewsHour, CNN, NPR, and NBC News.