Trending Globally: Politics and Policy

How do our individual experiences shape our political views? What role do our own stories and memories play in how we think about the world around us? How can we use our memories — even our most painful ones — to help build a more peaceful politics? These are complicated questions, and not of the variety we often ask on this show. But historian Omer Bartov thinks that trying to answer them is essential to finding political solutions to our most vexing problems. And in his new book “Genocide, the Holocaust and Israel-Palestine: First-Person History in Times of Crisis,” Bartov powerfully makes the case.  On this episode of Trending Globally, Dan Richards talks with Bartov about the book — which weaves together personal stories, historical analyses and a moral critique of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians — and how individual stories and personal memories are inextricably linked to the politics we create. Although this podcast was scheduled before the current Israeli-Palestinian crisis, the interview took place in the wake of the events of October 7 and therefore those events are a big part of the conversation. But as this conversation hopefully makes clear, Bartov’s book and analysis are even more important and relevant in our current moment.Learn more about an purchase “Genocide, the Holocuast, and Israel-Palestine: First-Person History in Times of Crisis”Reading recommendations from Omer Bartov:“Gate of the Sun” and “Children of the Ghetto” by Elias Khoury“Khirbet Khizeh” by S. Yizhar“Facing the Forests” A. B. Yehoshua“Return to Haifa” by  Ghassan KanafanlLearn more about the Watson Institute’s other podcasts

Last year, President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law. Considered by many to be the biggest climate and energy bill ever passed, the IRA included roughly $370 billion to help shift the U.S. to cleaner forms of power. And it was just one of three laws passed by the administration that will play into the United States’ move away from fossil fuels. The impact of these policies, however, will go far beyond our climate. Indeed, they form the core of “Bidenomics,” and they’re going to reshape our economy and our politics for decades to come. They will do so in ways we can predict, and in ways we can’t. On this episode, Dan Richards speaks with two experts on the politics of climate change about this unprecedented collection of legislation and how it will transform our economy, change our planet and possibly realign our politics. Guests on this episode:Jeff Colgan is a political scientist, and ​​director of the Climate Solutions Lab at the Watson Institute. Robinson Meyer is a contributing opinion writer at The New York Times and the founding executive editor of Heatmap, a new media company focused on climate change. Hear from Robinson Meyer and many others about all things climate change at Heatmap NewsGet 50% off your first year subscription to Heatmap using the code BROWN50 Read Jeff Colgan’s October 2023 Op-Ed in the New York TimesWatch Robinson’s talk in October at the Watson Institute’s Climate Solutions LabLearn more about the Climate Solutions LabLearn more about the Watson Institute’s other podcasts

In 1982, Mumia Abu-Jamal was sentenced to death for the murder of a Philadelphia police officer. An ex-Black Panther, he had no prior criminal record. Amnesty International investigated his case and found in many ways that it "failed to meet minimum international standards.” He’s been incarcerated for more than 40 years.Over those decades, Abu-Jamal has become a leader of the anti-death penalty movement and an influential critic of mass incarceration. He’s written multiple books, and appeared on countless radio programs and documentaries — all while serving what is now a life sentence. This fall, scholars and activists met at Brown to mark a new chapter in Abu-Jamal’s story. The John Hay Library at Brown University, in partnership with Brown’s Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women, and the Simmons Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice, acquired Abu-Jamal’s writings — 97 boxes — and opened them to the public. On this episode: Dan Richards talks with two Brown archivists about this new collection, and what it’s like preserving the work of one of the most famous incarcerated people in America. Dan also speaks with a scholar at Brown who is working to collect the histories of incarcerated people about the importance of filling this gap in our nation's historical record. Watch the opening remarks of the "Voices of Mass Incarceration" symposium’ Read more about the collection of Mumia Abu-Jamal’s archivesLearn about the Watson Institute’s other podcastsGuests on this episode:Amanda Strauss – Associate University Librarian for Special Collections and Director of the John Hay LibraryChristopher West – Curator of the Black Diaspora, Brown UniversityNicole Gonzalez Van Cleve – Associate Professor of Sociology, Brown University

One day in the year 2000, in the midst of the Second Congo War, Honoria* fled her home in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and never returned. After 16 years in a refugee camp in Uganda, she relocated to Philadelphia, where she became one of the roughly 80,000 refugees who entered the U.S. that year. Honoria’s family was one of the dozens that Blair Sackett, a sociologist and postdoctoral fellow at the Watson Institute, followed as they navigated life in the U.S. Sackett, whose work focuses on the experience of refugees in the U.S. and abroad, wanted to understand why some refugees thrived in the U.S. while others faltered. The result of Sackett’s research is a new book, co-authored with sociologist Annette  Lareau, called “We Thought It Would Be Heaven: Refugees in an Unequal America.” On this episode, Dan Richards talks with Sackett about the book, and about the under-explored factors that play a surprisingly large role in the wellbeing and success of refugees in the U.S. Learn more about and purchase “We Thought It Would be Heaven”Learn more about the Watson Institute's other podcasts*All names of displaced persons in this episode, and in "We Thought It Would Be Heaven," are pseudonyms.

Imagine if, when you were in middle school, an Ivy League professor came to your school and told you that you were going to be part of an experiment. You were going to get to decide how the money in your school was spent. What would you want to spend it on? How would you convince your classmates that your idea was best? Furthermore, would you even believe what this professor was telling you? Jonathan Collins is a professor of political science at the Watson Institute, and has recently been turning this hypothetical into a reality for students in the Providence area. He's been helping to design and evaluate what are known as participatory budgeting projects, and they're not just for students. In towns and cities around the world, everyday people are being let into the budgeting process of their communities. The effects have been profound, both on the local budgets, and on communities that have long felt marginalized and disempowered. "There's just something magical that can happen when there's skin in [the] game…the moment that you give them an opportunity to feel that they are a part of the stakes? I think the possibilities are endless," explained Collins. On this episode Dan Richards talks with Jonathan about participatory budgeting — where it came from, what it looks like on the ground, and how it might help strengthen our democracy, one community at a time. Learn more about the Watson Institute's other podcastsLearn more about participatory budgeting in Rhode IslandLearned about PAVED, Browns democratic innovation research initiativePhoto credit: Nick Dentamaro

This summer, military forces in the West African country of Niger pushed the country’s president, Mohamed Bazoum, out of power.This was not the first coup in Niger’s history, or in the recent history of the Sahel region of Africa. In the last few years there have been coups in multiple countries in the region, including Burkina Faso and Mali. But this one has put the West especially on edge. Why?Listening to U.S. officials or much of the reporting on the topic, you’d think this coup has huge ramifications for the fight against Islamist militant groups in West Africa, and for the U.S. and Russia’s race to gain influence across Africa. But as Stephanie Savell, an expert on U.S.-Niger relations and a co-director of the Costs of War Project at the Watson Institute, explains, those framings of the coup largely miss what’s really going on in the region. And worse still — they might actually make it more difficult to bring peace and stability to this part of the world. Read more from Stephanie Savell on the coup in NigerLearn more about the Costs of War projectLearn more about the Watson Institute’s other podcasts

On August 23, at least 5 GOP hopefuls for the party’s presidential nomination will take to the stage in Milwaukee for their first primary debate. In other words, the 2024 election is about to get real.In this episode, Dan Richards talks with Wendy Schiller, professor of political science at Brown University and director of the Watson Institute’s Taubman Center for American Politics and Policy, about where the race stands now, and what to expect in the coming months. They discuss why efforts to unseat Trump as the Republican frontrunner seem destined to backfire, and what it means for our country that a historically high percentage of American voters want neither Trump nor Biden to be president in 2024. In the second half of the show, Dan speaks with Othniel Harris, program manager of the Taubman Center, about a disturbing trend in U.S. politics that could have major implications for 2024 and beyond: the rash of restrictive voting laws passed in recent years in swing states around the country. Learn more about the Taubman Center research project “Democracy’s Price Tag”Learn more about other podcasts from the Watson Institute

In the last year, programs like ChatGPT, Dall-E and Bard have shown the world just how powerful artificial intelligence can be. AI programs can write hit pop songs, pass the bar exam and even appear to develop meaningful relationships with humans. This apparent revolution in AI tech has provoked widespread awe, amazement — and for some, terror. But as Brown Professor of Data Science and Computer Science Suresh Venkatasubramanian explains on this episode of Trending Globally, artificial intelligence has been with us for a while, and a serious, nuanced conversation about its role in our society is long overdue. Suresh Venkatasubramanian is the Deputy Director of Brown’s Data Science Institute. This past year, he served in the Biden Administration’s Office of Science and Technology Policy, where he helped craft the administration’s blueprint for an “AI Bill Rights.” In this episode of Trending Globally, Dan Richards talks with Suresh about what an AI Bill of Rights should look like and how to build a future where artificial intelligence isn’t just safe and effective, but actively contributes to social justice. Read the blueprint for the AI Bill of RightsLearn more about Brown’s Data Science InstituteLearn more about the Watson Institute’s other podcasts

In May, Nigerian political veteran Bola Tinubu was sworn in as president of the country. The outcome was predictable, but that doesn’t mean there were no surprises in this year’s election. The biggest, perhaps, was the national rise of progressive politician Peter Obi. Obi galvanized young people around issues of government accountability, transparency, and generational change. In the process, he came closer to winning the presidency than any third-party candidate has in Nigeria’s modern history.What to make of Obi’s unexpected performance in this year’s election? And what does it mean for the future of Nigeria, a country of some 220 million people that, by many estimates, will surpass the US as the world’s third most populous country in the coming decades? Daniel Jordan Smith is the director of the Watson Institute’s Africa Initiative, and as he explains, there’s one realm where many of the issues Obi ran on come to a head, and that can teach us a lot about the country’s future: its infrastructure. Smith’s newest book, “Every Household Its Own Government: Improvised Infrastructure, Entrepreneurial Citizens, and the State in Nigeria” explores why Africa’s most populous, economically powerful country fails so many of its citizens when it comes to providing basic services like water and electricity. He also explores the creative ways that citizens work around these shortcomings and how the government still makes itself, as Smith puts it, “present in its absence.”Learn more about and purchase “Every Household Its Own Government”Learn more about the Watson Institute’s other podcasts

On May 14, 2023, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan faced the most challenging test of his political career from a multi-party coalition led by social democrat and reformer Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. The diverse coalition Kılıçdaroğlu represents, known as the Table of Six, is united by one cause: removing Erdogan from power and ending the country’s authoritarian turn. The challengers were optimistic, given the multiple crises facing Turkey that Erdogan has struggled to manage: rampant inflation, mass migration of refugees from the Syrian Civil War, and last February’s devastating earthquake.  Despite these challenges, Erdogan did better than many expected and pushed the election to a runoff, which is set to be held on May 28. At stake, according to Kılıçdaroğlu and his supporters, is nothing less than democracy itself in Turkey. On this episode, Dan Richards and Center for Middle East Studies postdoctoral scholar Fulya Pinar speak with experts on the ground in Turkey about the stakes of this election and why the race is so incredibly close. They also explore how anti-immigrant politics is driving many Turkish voters in a way it never before has, with ramifications that will extend far beyond this election. Learn more about Fulya Pinar’s research on the experience of undocumented immigrants in Turkey Guests on this episode: Mert Moral, assistant professor of political science at Sabanci University.Ali Fisunoglu, assistant professor of political science at St. Luis UniversityDeniz Sert, professor of political science at Ozyegin University.Learn more about other podcasts from the Watson Institute