This is Democracy

Jeremi talks with Sheena Greitens about US and China relations in regards to how China’s surveillance technologies, open market, and patriotic nationalism influence foreign policy today. Zachary sets the scene with his poem, “A Superpower Scorned.” Sheena Chestnut Greitens will join the LBJ School of Public Affairs and the Clements Center for National Security at the University of Texas at Austin in August 2020. She is also a non-resident senior fellow at Brookings Institution, an affiliate with the Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and a member of the Digital Freedom Forum at the Center for a New American Security. Prior to joining UT, she was an assistant professor of political science at the University of Missouri. Her work focuses on American national security, East Asia, and authoritarian politics and foreign policy, with special emphasis on China and the Korean peninsula.

Jeremi talks with Samuel J. Abrams about his new article, and how his research is pointing to a camaraderie across multiple generations of Americans against the pandemic. Zachary sets the scene with his poem, “Noticing Each Other.” Samuel J. Abrams is a professor of politics at Sarah Lawrence College and a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. Most recently, he is the author of a widely-read article: “Americans Are Not as Divided About the Pandemic as It Seems” in THE DISPATCH: https://thedispatch.com/p/americans-are-not-as-divided-about.

Jeremi meets with Lawrence Wright to discuss the parallels between the pandemic and his new book. They also find an inspired, positive perspective on how the youth can see this situation as a moment for monumental change. Zachary sets the scene with his poem, “Where did the books go?” Lawrence Wright is one of the leading writers in America today, and the author of a major new novel about a pandemic, THE END OF OCTOBER. He is a staff writer for The New Yorker, a playwright, a screenwriter, a musician, and the author of ten books of nonfiction, including The Looming Tower, Going Clear, and God Save Texas, and one previous novel, God’s Favorite. His books have received many honors, including a Pulitzer Prize for The Looming Tower. He and his wife are longtime residents of Austin, Texas, where Lawrence plays in a local band, WhoDo.

Jeremi sits down with Dr. Stephen M. Sonnenberg to discuss how to deal with and maintain mental health in unprecedented times. Zachary sets the scene with his poem, “For the Healers.” Dr. Stephen M. Sonnenberg is a Professor of Psychiatry at the Dell Medical School and a Professor of Instruction at the Steve Hicks School of Social Work and the School of Undergraduate Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. He is director of the Humanities, Health Care, and Advocacy Track and Fellow of the Frank M. and Dorothy H. Conklin Endowment for Medical Ethics in the Plan II Honors Program within the UT College of Liberal Arts.

Jeremi sits down with Abraham Newman and Henry Farrell to talk about the effects of COVID-19 on our global world and how it will potentially change our democracy. Zachary sets the scene with his poem, “Linked.” Abraham Newman is Professor of Government in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.  He is the Director of the Mortara Center for International Studies. His research focuses on the politics generated by globalization. Abraham Newman co-authored, most recently: Of Privacy and Power: The Transatlantic Struggle over Freedom and Security (with Henry Farrell) and Voluntary Disruptions: International Soft Law, Finance and Power (with Elliot Posner.) Henry Farrell is professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University, and Editor in Chief of the Monkey Cage blog at the Washington Post. He works on a variety of topics, including democracy, the politics of the Internet and international and comparative political economy. He has written two books, The Political Economy of Trust: Interests, Institutions and Inter-Firm Cooperation and Of Privacy and Power: The Transatlantic Fight over Freedom and Security (with Abraham Newman.)

Jeremi and Lieutenant Richard Mack discuss what it’s like for those who work in the front lines responding to and helping citizens in dealing with this current pandemic Zachary sets the scene with his poem, “Silence and Sound.” Richard Mack is a lieutenant in the New York Police Department, where he has served for almost twenty-five years. He is currently a Platoon Commander in the Strategic Response Group for the New York Police Department. Richard is also an adjunct professor at John Jay College in New York.

Jeremi sits down with Dr. Paul von Hippel to talk about education equality in the strange online reality we currently live in. Zachary sets the scene with his poem, “Hologram Semester.” Dr. Paul von Hippel is an associate professor of public policy, sociology, statistics and data science at the University of Texas at Austin, best known for his work on summer learning, summer weight gain, research design, and missing data. He works on evidence-based policy, education and inequality, and the obesity epidemic. Before his academic career, he worked as both a church music director and a data scientist, using predictive analytics to help banks prevent fraud. Currently, he is trying to pick up jazz piano. Paul recently published an important article in Education Next:  https://www.educationnext.org/how-will-coronavirus-crisis-affect-childrens-learning-unequally-covid-19/

Jeremi and Zachary have a chat on the web with Neta Crawford and Catherine Lutz about the government’s response to Covid-19 pandemic. What are the effects and repercussions of treating the coronavirus like a war enemy to generate awareness, collect responsibility and resources to fight the ongoing pandemic? Zachary sets the scene with his poem, “Carpet Bombing Disease.” Neta C. Crawford is Professor and Chair of Political Science, Boston University. She is the author of numerous books, including: Accountability for Killing: Moral Responsibility for Collateral Damage in America’s Post-9/11 Wars (Oxford University Press, 2013) and Argument and Change in World Politics (2002). Neta has written more than two dozen peer reviewed articles on issues of war and peace.2. Catherine Lutz is the Thomas J. Watson, Jr. Family Professor of Anthropology and International Studies at the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University. Lutz is the author of numerous books, including: War and Health: The Medical Consequences of the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (ed. with A. Mazzarino, 2019), The Bases of Empire (ed., 2009), and Homefront: A Military City and the American 20th Century (2001). Catherine and Neta are co-directors of the “Costs of War” project at Brown University. They recently published: “Fighting a Virus with the Wrong Tool,” The Hill, 28 March 2020.

Jeremi and Zachary have a chat on the web with Dr. Miha Vindis and Lance McNeill about crowdsourcing. What are the positives and negatives of the power to raise funds through social media at lightning speed? Zachary sets the scene with his poem, “The Pockets of the People.” Miha Vindis is a professor at the University of Texas at Austin where he teaches graduate and undergraduate courses on leadership and entrepreneurship. When not teaching, Miha works as a consultant helping organizations create and implement strategic planning processes and train their next generation of leaders. He also serves as a board member for Habitat for Humanity Texas. Prior to moving to Texas, Miha worked for Shell Oil in The Netherlands and also worked with entrepreneurs in Europe, a passion which he has continued in Texas. He is originally from Slovenia and has lived in Thailand, Germany, Poland, and The Netherlands. Miha earned his master’s degree in Global Policy Studies and a Ph.D. in Public Policy from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. Lance McNeill is a Program Manager with the City of Austin’s Small Business Program. In this role, he coaches and teaches small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs. He also oversees the City of Austin’s Challenge Studio Program, which incubates social entrepreneurs working toward solutions to local and regional challenges. Lance was born and raised in Austin, Texas. After graduating from Texas State with a MBA, he joined the Peace Corps and worked as a small business adviser in Namibia where he taught entrepreneurship at a rural secondary school and consulted small businesses in the community. After coming back to the U.S, he attended the LBJ School of Public Affairs.

Jeremi sits down with Adam Tooze to discuss the affects of Coronavirus on the global and U.S. economy. Zachary sets the scene with his poem, “Fallen.” Adam Tooze is the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Professor of History at Columbia University. He is a leading economic historian and expert on the contemporary global economy. He is the author of numerous prize-winning book: Statistics and the German State 1900-1945: The Making of Modern Economic Knowledge (2001), Wages of Destruction: The Making and Breaking of the Nazi Economy (2006), The Deluge: The Great War and the Remaking of the Global Order, 1916-1931  (2014), and Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World (2018). Tooze frequently comments on current affairs for the Guardian, the New York Times, and the Washington Post, among other publications. You can follow him on Twitter: @adam_tooze.