Trending Globally: Politics and Policy

On this episode Sarah talks with Dr. Ashish Jha, professor of global health at Harvard University and director of the Harvard Global Health Institute (and soon to be dean of the Brown School of Public Health). As the United States reels from the ongoing collision of systemic racism, coronavirus, and economic catastrophe, Sarah and Dr. Jha explore how these issues intersect. They also discuss the effects of absentee national leadership during this crisis, and how to bring science and data back into the center of our nation’s healthcare debate.You can learn more about Watson’s other podcasts here.

It's not every day that a fiction writer joins the Watson Institute as a Senior Fellow. But ZZ Packer isn’t your typical novelist. In addition to her 2003 debut short story collection 'Drinking Coffee Elsewhere,' she also contributed to The 1619 Project, a groundbreaking set of writings and podcast series from The New York Times, which reframed slavery as the central institution on which the United States was made. It’s been met with praise (including a Pulitzer), as well as criticism among some thinkers and historians. On this episode, Sarah talked with ZZ about The 1619 Project, her work as a writer, and her experience helping students to understand the role narrative plays in politics, policy, and history. *Excerpt at the beginning of the episode from '1619,' the podcast companion to The 1619 Project. You can learn more about The 1619 Project here. You can learn more about Watson’s other podcasts here.

Sumbul Siddiqui is the mayor of Cambridge, MA. Her family moved to Cambridge from Karachi, Pakistan when she was two years old. She studied public policy at Brown and law at Northwestern, before moving back to Massachusetts. She joined the Cambridge City Council, and was elected Mayor this past January -- just as the biggest crisis to ever hit American cities was making its way to the East Coast of the US. On this episode, Watson Visiting Professor and Faculty Fellow Geri Augusto talks with Mayor Siddiqui about health, housing, social justice, and the future of cities in the time of coronavirus.You can learn more about Watson’s other podcasts here.

Coronavirus has been called an ‘equal opportunity' virus. But of course... it's not. Communities of color are being disproportionately affected; instead of equalizing anything, this pandemic has thrown into relief the stark inequalities along lines of race and class that are built into American society. And unfortunately, one of the clearest examples of this can be found quite close to Watson's campus. On this episode, the third in a series we're co-producing this semester with Watson’s Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Sarah talks with three medical experts who are on the front lines of this pandemic in some of Rhode Island’s hardest hit communities. It’s a conversation about community health, local politics, and social justice, and while it’s focused on Rhode Island, it speaks to struggles playing out around the world.You can learn more about the Blackstone Valley Community Health Care here. You can read a Spanish translation here. You can learn more about Watson’s other podcasts here.

The spread of the coronavirus has highlighted how international development affects the well-being of us all. On this episode Sarah talks with someone who has been a leader for decades in rethinking how we do international development: Watson Senior Fellow Brian Atwood. Brian’s worked with multiple US Presidents, including as the head of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) during the Clinton Administration. They discuss how international development has transformed in the last few decades, the reason that some humanitarian goals were surprisingly easy to meet in the beginning of this century, and why free-flowing information is essential to global health and security.You can read a transcript of this episode here.

What does it actually mean for a state’s revenue to ‘dry up’? Who’s paying for coronavirus testing sites? How are states working together -- and how are they competing? There’s never been a more important time to understand state and local government, as states have become the political, logistical, and moral center of the US's pandemic response. On this episode Sarah talks with Rhode Island General Treasurer Seth Magaziner. In addition to being a key player in his state's response to this crisis, he’s also an incredible translator of complex legal and financial issues, and of how they affect the lives of everyday Americans. It's a crash course in state politics and finance, and it couldn't come at a better time. You can read a transcript of this episode here: [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1f18mNYo02GpdJUQOS6DdWqj0NkBaqg4M/view?usp=sharing]

This will be the first in an ongoing series of conversations with Brown students about life during the coronavirus pandemic. On this episode Dan and Sarah talk with Alina Kulman, a junior, and Babette Thomas, a senior; two friends who are experiencing this crisis in very different ways. They discuss what it’s like quarantining with classmates, studying abroad while the government wants to ban travel, and the weird feeling of worrying that your parents aren’t properly washing their hands.You can learn more about Watson’s other podcasts here.

On this episode, something you might not be getting a lot of these days: a story to raise your spirits. The second in a special series co-produced with Watson’s Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS), guest host Dr. Pablo Rodriguez talks with Mohamed Malim, founder of Epimonia. Epimonia is a Minnesota-based apparel company that’s fighting to help refugees around the world: 50% of their proceeds go to charities supporting refugees, they employ recent refugees in their factory, and their products are designed to raise awareness of refugees’ stories. It’s social entrepreneurship in every sense of the word. On this episode they discuss Mohamed's story, his vision for Epimonia, and why everybody wins when refugees are allowed to thrive.(Record in March 2020.)You can learn more about CLACS here. You can learn more about Epimonia here. You can watch Mohamed’s talk at Watson here. You can read a transcript of this episode here: [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1I3a8-AlWNGsaAeZwbxJg5XEvytmGfyJ9/view?usp=sharing]

On this episode, Watson's Director Ed Steinfeld talks with film music supervisor Randall Poster '83. Randall has worked with many of Hollywood’s most distinguished filmmakers on a wide variety of projects, including on the hit Netflix series Tiger King. On this live-streamed podcast taping, Ed and Randall talked about the craft of documentary filmmaking, and the role of music in telling stories on film. They also discuss the inspiration for the JFK Jr. Film Initiative, and what to expect from the Initiative going forward. And, of course, they talk Tiger King. This event is part of the John F. Kennedy Jr. Initiative for Documentary Film and Social Progress. You can learn more about the Initiative here. You can watch a video of Ed and Randall's Trending Globally conversation here. You can learn more about Watson’s other podcasts here.

What role do photo ops play in diplomatic negotiations? How much do changing US Presidential administrations affect US-China relations? What’s it like to have dinner with Yao Ming? On this episode, Watson’s Director Ed Steinfeld talks about all this and more with James Green, former official at the US Embassy in China and senior research fellow with the Initiative for US-China Dialogue on Global Issues at Georgetown University. James and Ed go from the big picture to the nuts and bolts of China-US diplomacy, and explore what lifelong diplomats learn that political leaders too often miss. There’s never been a more important time to understand the relationship between these two governments, and this discussion will help you do just that. (Note: this interview was recorded in February of 2020.)You can subscribe to James’s podcast ‘US-China Dialogue Podcast’ on your favorite listening app. You can also find all the episodes here. You can read a transcript of this episode here.