This is Democracy

This week, Jeremi meets with UT freshman Juliet Suarez and first time voter Jillian B. Smith. They discuss the importance of voting in the midterm elections, and how the right to vote could extend further to all U.S. residents in the future. Zachary sets up the interview with his poem, “Vote for Me.” Juliet Suarez is a Mexican citizen who has lived in Texas for the past 10 years. She is currently a freshman IRG and sociology major in the Liberal Arts Honors program at UT. She is passionate about political issues; thus, despite lacking the ability to vote, she seeks opportunities to participate in politics in whatever other ways she can. Jillian Smith is from Frisco, TX and is currently a freshman at the University of Texas at Austin. She is studying Government, Middle Eastern Studies, and Arabic. In her hometown, she was engaged in local politics and policy under the mentorship of a city councilwoman.

How has Congress changed in the last few decades? How can new, young leaders (hopefully elected this November) reform Congress to serve our democracy better? This week, Jeremi talks to domestic policy specialist and LBJ School professor, Ruth Ellen Wasem. They discuss how Congress could adapt to a changing political climate, and if it truly represents U.S. voters. Zachary sets up the interview with his poem, “One Man.” For more than 25 years, Ruth Ellen Wasem was a domestic policy specialist at the U.S. Library of Congress’ Congressional Research Service. She has testified before Congress about asylum policy, legal immigration trends, human rights, and the push-pull forces on unauthorized migration. Wasem earned master’s and doctoral degrees in history at the University of Michigan, largely funded by the Institute for Social Research. Wasem currently is engaged with a group of international scholars who are researching asylum and the rise of the political right, and she presented research papers focused on the U.S. context in Italy and Belgium over the summer of 2017. She is also writing a book about the legislative drive to end race- and nationality-based immigration. From this research, she has written “The Undertow of Reforming Immigration,” for “A Nation of Immigrants Reconsidered: The U.S. in an Age of Restriction, 1924-1965,” (University of Illinois Press, forthcoming 2018). Other recent publications include “The US Visa Waiver Program: Facilitating Travel and Enhancing Security,” (Chatham House, 2017), “Welfare and Public Benefits” in “American Immigration: An Encyclopedia of Political, Social, and Cultural Change,” 2nd Edition, (M.E. Sharpe, 2014), and “Tackling Unemployment: The Legislative Dynamics of the Employment Act of 1946” (Upjohn Institute Press, 2013).

How has media coverage of politics changed in the last 30 years? How can it change for better in the future? Jeremi Suri sits down with renowned film producer Paul Stekler to get an expert opinion about how drastically American media has changed over the past decades – but also in many ways how it has remained the same. Zachary Suri sets up the interview with his poem, “Seasons of Knowing.” Paul Stekler is a nationally recognized documentary filmmaker whose critically praised and award-winning work includes George Wallace: Settin’ the Woods on Fire; Last Man Standing: Politics, Texas Style; Vote for Me: Politics in America, a four-hour PBS special about grassroots electoral politics; two segments of the Eyes on the Prize II series on the history of civil rights; Last Stand at Little Big Horn (broadcast as part of PBS’s series The American Experience); Louisiana Boys: Raised on Politics (broadcast on PBS’s P.O.V. series); Getting Back to Abnormal (which aired on P.O.V. in 2014); and 2016’s Postcards from the Great Divide, a web series about politics for The Washington Post and PBS Digital. Overall, his films have won two George Foster Peabody Awards, three Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Journalism Awards, three national Emmy Awards, and a special jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival. See a brief summary of his films on American polities here. Watch a career reel of his films here. Dr. Stekler, who was RTF Chair from 2010 to 2017, has a doctorate in Government from Harvard University, where his work focused on Southern politics. He previously was a political pollster in Louisiana, while teaching at Tulane, and was the founder of Center for Politics and Governance at UT’s LBJ School of Public Affairs. His writing, on subjects like Hollywood blockbuster films, the greatest Texas documentaries, American politics and politics as depicted in documentary films has appeared in the Texas Observer, Texas Monthly, the International Documentary Association’s magazine, among other places, and in the book, “Killing Custer,” co-written with the late Native American novelist James Welch. Stekler was named film school Mentor of the Year in 2014 by Variety Magazine. Stekler’s films have all been broadcast nationally on PBS, on POV, the American Exoerience, Frontline, and as specials. He’s also been an Executive or Consulting Producer on a number of documentaries including Margaret Brown’s Be Here to Love Me, Peter Frumkin’s Woody Guthrie: Ain’t Got No Home, Karen Skloss’ Sunshine, and Keith Maitland’s The Eyes of Me. He also played in New Orleans’ only working bluegrass band, Wabash, weekly at the Maple Leaf Bar in the 1980’s.

This week’s topic covers the Supreme Court and Democracy. How has the the Supreme Court contributed to and detracted from American democracy? What are the prospects for the coming years? Zachary begins with a scene-setting poem, “Closing the Tab.” Sanford Levinson, who holds the W. St. John Garwood and W. St. John Garwood, Jr. Centennial Chair in Law, joined the University of Texas Law School in 1980. Previously a member of the Department of Politics at Princeton University, he is also a Professor in the Department of Government at the University of Texas. Levinson is the author of approximately 400 articles, book reviews, or commentaries in professional and popular journals–and a regular contributor to the popular blog Balkinization. He has also written six books: Constitutional Faith (1988, winner of the Scribes Award, 2d edition 2011); Written in Stone: Public Monuments in Changing Societies (1998); Wrestling With Diversity (2003); Our Undemocratic Constitution: Where the Constitution Goes Wrong (and How We the People Can Correct It)(2006); Framed: America’s 51 Constitutions and the Crisis of Governance (2012); An Argument Open to All: Reading the Federalist in the 21st Century (2015); and, with Cynthia Levinson, Fault Lines in the Constitution: The Framers, Their Fights, and teh Flaws that Affect Us Today (forthcoming, September 2017). Edited or co-edited books include a leading constitutional law casebook, Processes of Constitutional Decisionmaking (6th ed. 2015, with Paul Brest, Jack Balkin, Akhil Amar, and Reva Siegel); Nullification and Secession in Modern Constitutional Thought (2016); Reading Law and Literature: A Hermeneutic Reader (1988, with Steven Mallioux); Responding to Imperfection: The Theory and Practice of Constitutional Amendment (1995); Constitutional Stupidities, Constitutional Tragedies (1998, with William Eskridge); Legal Canons (2000, with Jack Balkin); The Louisiana Purchase and American Expansion (2005, with Batholomew Sparrow); Torture: A Collection (2004, revised paperback edition, 2006); and The Oxford Handbook on the United States Constitution (with Mark Tushnet and Mark Graber, 2015). He received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Law and Courts Section of the American Political Science Association in 2010. He has been a visiting faculty member of the Boston University, Georgetown, Harvard, New York University, and Yale law schools in the United States and has taught abroad in programs of law in London; Paris; Jerusalem; Auckland, New Zealand; and Melbourne, Australia. He was a Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton in 1985-86 and a Member of the Ethics in the Professions Program at Harvard in 1991-92. He is also affiliated with the Shalom Hartman Institute of Jewish Philosophy in Jerusalem. A member of the American Law Institute, Levinson was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2001. He is married to Cynthia Y. Levinson, a writer of children’s literature, and has two daughters and four grandchildren.

Dr. Suri spends today’s episode with Sean Hassan and Alison Tate discussing Catholicism, Islam, and how to represent communities of minority faiths – particularly in Texas, where leadership roles are usually held by people of the majority holding traditional Christian beliefs. Zachary Suri recites his poem “An American Jew.” Alison Tate serves the Catholic Church in twenty-five counties in Central Texas as the secretariat director of formation and spirituality and the director of youth, young adult and campus ministry at the Diocese of Austin, as well as the coordinator of Region 10 Catholic Youth Ministry which encompasses Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. She received a B.A. in history from Loyola University New Orleans, an M.A. in theology from St. Mary’s University of San Antonio and a Master of Public Affairs from the University of Texas at Austin. Having grown up in Austin, Alison stays busy with her husband, sons and extended family in her free time. Sean Hassan was elected to the Austin Community College Board of Trustees in 2016, the first Muslim American elected in Austin, Travis County, and potentially all of Central Texas. Last month, the Board approved the opening of a Childcare Facility at the ACC Highland campus, so that ACC students who have young children and no childcare can drop their children off for a couple of hours, on campus, while they study, get tutoring, or take an exam. This was one of Sean’s key campaign issues, though he is the first to say that this is only a start to addressing the needs of parents who are attending ACC to improve their future. Sean spent much of his professional life in the non-profit sector including as a Vice-President with the Boys & Girls Clubs.

Jeremi sits down with Professor Aaron O’Connell to discuss the evolving identity of America’s military from 1776 to the present day. Zachary Suri reads an original poem, “America.” Aaron O’Connell joined the faculty of UT Austin from Washington D.C., where he served in the Obama Administration as Director for Defense Policy & Strategy on the National Security Council. Prior to working in the White House, Dr. O’Connell taught military history at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, where he was named the Admiral Jay Johnson Professor in Leadership in Ethics in 2015. In addition to his academic career, Dr. O’Connell is also a Colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve, and in that capacity, he has served as a Special Advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a Special Advisor to the Commander of U.S. Pacific Command, and a Special Assistant to General David Petraeus in Afghanistan. Dr. O’Connell holds a B.A. from Trinity College in Hartford Connecticut, an M.A. in American Literature from Indiana University, an M.A. in American Studies from Yale University, and a Ph.D. in American History from Yale University in 2009. When not reading or writing, he spends far too much time practicing the guitar. Scholarly Interests: Dr. O’Connell’s scholarly interests span four inter-related fields: 20th-century military history, U.S. foreign affairs, cultural history, and American politics. His scholarly publications focus on understanding the effects of U.S. military influence and infrastructure inside and outside the United States. His public history pieces mostly concern how the U.S. military affects contemporary domestic and political culture. He teaches courses in military history, U.S. foreign policy, U.S. military culture, and the U.S.’s role in the world since 1898. Publications and Appearances: Dr. O’Connell is the author of Underdogs: The Making of the Modern Marine Corps, which explores how the Marine Corps rose from relative unpopularity to become the most prestigious armed service in the United States. He is also the editor of Our Latest Longest War: Losing Hearts and Minds in Afghanistan, which is a critical account of U.S. efforts in Afghanistan since 2001. He has also authored a number of articles and book chapters on military affairs and U.S. military culture. He has appeared on NPR’s Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and PBS’s NewsHour Weekend and his commentary has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Foreign Affairs, Slate, The Daily Beast, and The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Dr. Jeremi Suri speaks with Augusta Dell’Omo and Chris Rose of the University of Texas at Austin about gender. As always, Zachary Suri reads an original poem, “A Rochester Summer.” Augusta Dell’Omo is a doctoral student in History at the University of Texas at Austin. She specializes in U.S. foreign policy during the late Cold War, with a particular focus on U.S.-South African relations and race in American foreign policy. Her dissertation focuses on the intersections between the Reagan administration, televangelism, and the anti-apartheid movement during an ending Cold War. Interested in public history, Augusta contributes to UT’s public history forum, Not Even Past, and acts as an interview and technical director for 15 Minute History, UT’s podcast for students, educators and history buffs. A passionate teacher, Augusta serves as a Supplemental Instruction Supervisor, developing pedagogical techniques for graduate students. Currently, Augusta possesses reading proficiency in German and Italian, and is learning Afrikaans. She graduated with highest distinction and highest honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (BA 2016) and received an MA in history from UT in May 2018. She tweets @Augusta_Caesar. Christopher S. Rose is a doctoral candidate (ABD) in Middle Eastern History at the University of Texas at Austin, and an adjunct instructor in Global Studies at St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas. He is a founding co-host of the podcast 15 Minute History, and is currently (2014-18) president of the Middle East Outreach Council. His dissertation, “Disease, Depravity and Revolution: The Breakdown of Public Health in Egypt, 1914-1919” is a social history of Egypt during the First World War through the lens of public health. Prior to pursuing his PhD, Chris was Assistant Director of UT’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies.

Dr. Suri has an extended conversation this week with Dr. Peniel Jospeh about race, Black Lives Matter, the post-Civil Rights era, and how to remain optimistic. Zachary Suri reads an original poem, “Vicksburg to Montgomery to Chapel Hill.” Peniel Joseph holds a joint professorship appointment at the LBJ School of Public Affairs and the History Department in the College of Liberal Arts at The University of Texas at Austin. He is also the founding director of the LBJ School’s Center for the Study of Race and Democracy. His career focus has been on “Black Power Studies,” which encompasses interdisciplinary fields such as Africana studies, law and society, women’s and ethnic studies, and political science. Prior to joining the UT faculty, Joseph was a professor at Tufts University, where he founded the school’s Center for the Study of Race and Democracy to promote engaged research and scholarship focused on the ways issues of race and democracy affect people’s lives. In addition to being a frequent commentator on issues of race, democracy and civil rights, Joseph wrote the award-winning books “Waiting ‘Til the Midnight Hour: A Narrative History of Black Power in America” and “Dark Days, Bright Nights: From Black Power to Barack Obama.” His most recent book, “Stokely: A Life,” has been called the definitive biography of Stokely Carmichael, the man who popularized the phrase “black power.” Included among Joseph’s other book credits is the editing of “The Black Power Movement: Rethinking the Civil Rights-Black Power Era” and “Neighborhood Rebels: Black Power at the Local Level.”

Natalie Suri joins Jeremi in the studio today to discuss the role of athletes, sports and competition in the realm of democracy. In the wake of Kaepernick’s Nike advertising deal, Naomi Osaka’s victory over Serena Williams at the US Open, and Lebron James’ criticism of the Trump Administration, a national conversation has opened up about the role of sports in politics. The two also take a look back at the history of outspoken athletes throughout American history, in particular Muhammad Ali’s famous objection to the War in Vietnam. Natalie Suri attends McCallum High School in Austin Texas, where she participates in the Fine Arts Academy and plays basketball. Natalie also dances and plays violin. She loves sports, travel, and even history (sometimes).

This week Dr. Suri speaks Sophie Wysocki and Meena Anderson to discuss the importance for young citizens to be politically aware and engage in democratic resolution. Zachary Suri reads an original poem, “If I’m Lost.” Sophie Wysocki is a senior at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy in Austin, Texas. She’s been involved in a variety of different activities throughout her life, from dance to lacrosse to volunteering, and works with girls aged 7-14 at an overnight summer camp called Rocky River Ranch. Growing up in an accepting family and community has taught her to respect all types of people she might meet through her life and to care about and to fight for those who who face discrimination or hardship. Meena Anderson is a first year journalism student at UT Austin. She grew up in Los Angeles, CA, London, England, and Austin, TX. She likes going to protests, memes, and keeps a quote wall.