Trending Globally: Politics and Policy

Remember when talking about the weather was boring? Not so anymore. Extreme weather events are becoming more common, and more extreme, with no sign of letting up. On this episode Sarah Baldwin ’87 talks with homeland security expert Juliette Kayyem about what these changes mean for humans: Where should we live? How should we live? How should we think about our place on this planet? Juliette Kayyem served under President Obama as an Assistant Secretary at the Department of Homeland Security and is currently a senior lecturer at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, where she teaches crisis management and homeland security. Her upcoming book, The Devil Never Sleeps, reframes how to think about crisis management in an age of disasters, from the level of the individual up through the federal government. And if a conversation with an expert like this sounds too depressing, don’t worry: talking with Juliette is anything but. Learn more about Juliette’s upcoming book The Devil Never Sleeps: Managing Disasters in an Age of Catastrophes. Learn more about the Watson Institute’s other podcasts.

The past 18 months have been a strange time for art lovers. Museums and galleries have sat empty. Artistic communities have, like all of us, learned to live in isolation. At the same time, though, there’s been a revolution in how we think of public space in our cities and towns. Streets, parks, and even alleyways have turned into our storefronts, our classrooms, and our museums. What do these changes mean for the art world, and for arts’ relationship to the rest of the world?On this episode, Trending Globally partnered with ‘Providence Curates’ to explore this question. Providence Curates is a nonprofit made up of artists, writers, and curators, dedicated to expanding and diversifying artistic communities in the region and to reimagining how art can enter the public realm. This conversation was put together for PVDFest Ideas 2021, an Arts and Ideas festival in Providence, Rhode Island. Guests on this week’s show: Jonny Skye is a gallerist based in Providence, RI, and a board member of Providence Curates. Spencer Evans is an artist, a professor of drawing at RISD, and a board member of Providence Curates. Melaine Ferdinand King is a 4th-year doctoral candidate in Africana Studies at Brown UniversityJudith Tolnick Champa is an artist, curator, and founder of Providence Curates and the Providence Biennale. ‘Providence Curates: Cultivating a Transformative Experiment,’ is an offshoot of the Providence Biennale. You can learn more on their website, and contact them directly at providencebiennial@gmail.com. Special thanks to Stephanie Fortunato, Director, and Dr. Micah Salkind, Special Projects Manager of the City of Providence Department of Art, Culture + Tourism (ACT) PVDFest Ideas 2021, for making this collaboration possible. You can find a list of all of this year’s PVDFest Ideas events (both live and virtual) on their website.

This fall marks the 20th year of American military engagement abroad following the events of 9/11. This year Trending Globally is teaming up with scholars at the Costs of War project to explore the effects of two decades of war. The Costs of War project is an interdisciplinary group of scholars who have stepped in where the government has often failed, working to measure the true financial, human, political, and environmental costs of America’s post-9/11 wars. On this episode Sarah Baldwin ’87 talks with Stephanie Savell, one of the project’s directors, about how the organization started and why its work is more necessary than ever. Dan Richards talks with David Vine about one of the most heartbreaking costs of these wars: the more than 38 million people who have been displaced from their homes in countries including Afghanistan and Iraq.Learn more about the Costs of War Project. Learn more about and purchase David Vine’s book ​​The United States of WarA Global History of America's Endless Conflicts, from Columbus to the Islamic State.Learn more about the Watson Institute’s other podcasts.  

It’s been a summer of crisis in some of the world’s most fragile states. At Trending Globally, we’ve found ourselves asking the same questions over and over lately -- are the world’s rich countries simply not doing enough to help fragile states around the world? Or are they helping, but in the wrong way? On this episode guest host Dan Richards talks with Brian Atwood, a visiting fellow at the Watson Institute, about the unique challenges of providing aid to fragile states. Brian led the U.S. Agency for International Development - known as USAID - under President Clinton. He was also dean of the Humphrey School for Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota from 2002 until 2010. Brian explains what the international community is getting wrong when it comes to helping the world’s fragile states, and what we might change to make it right. You can get more information about this and every other Trending Globally episode, including transcripts, by visiting our website here. You can learn more about the Watson Institute’s other podcasts here. 

Before the pandemic, Watson economist Emily Oster was best known for her books Expecting Better and Cribsheet. They offered data-driven advice about pregnancy and raising young children, and they’ve become required reading for many young parents. Her knack for synthesizing data into plain-language advice made her a natural fit for her next role: as one of the unofficial guiding voices behind school reopening plans in America this past year.The pandemic -- and Emily’s role in it -- have added special valence to her newest book, The Family Firm: A Data-Driven Guide to Better Decision Making in the Early School Years. Unlike her previous two books, this one is focused less on crunching data than on teaching readers how to make complex decisions when they don’t have all the data. As such, it’s probably her most universal book to date. On this episode Sarah ’87 talks with Emily about The Family Firm, her experience in the spotlight during recent debates over school reopening, and how to make decisions that you can feel good about no matter the outcome. You can purchase The Family Firm here. You can learn more about Watson’s other podcasts here.

Audrey Truschke is a scholar who has gotten in some very hot water lately. She’s regularly harassed on Twitter, she’s facing a lawsuit, and she’s received death threats. ‘What’s she an expert in?’ you might ask. Public health? Election law? Critical Race Theory? Nope.Ancient Sanskrit. On this episode we’re sharing part of a new podcast from Watson. It’s called ‘Sensing the Sacred’ and it’s hosted by Finnian Gerety, a visiting assistant professor of religious studies and contemplative studies at Watson’s Center for Contemporary South Asia.Finnian and Sarah talk about the motivation behind the show, which explores spirituality in South Asia from angles as diverse as the origins of yoga to the rise of Hindu nationalism. Finnian also shares some of his recent conversation with Audrey Truschke, where they talk about the role of Sanskrit in Hindu nationalist propaganda, and more broadly about how to contest the ‘fascist blueprint’ we see being enacted around the world today. You can learn more about and subscribe to ‘Sensing the Sacred’ here. You can buy Audrey’s book here.You can learn more about Trending Globally by subscribing to our podcast newsletter here.You can learn more about Watson’s other podcasts here.

School is about more than just the subjects kids are supposed to learn, it’s an essential part of their social and emotional growth. This is something we all know, but sometimes take for granted. Or at least we did -- until last year. The Covid-19 pandemic made all too clear that educational success, mental health, and our environments are inextricably linked. And nowhere is this connection more apparent than in conversations around ADHD, or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.On this episode, Sarah Baldwin ’87 talks with Jayanti Owens, assistant professor of sociology and international and public affairs at Watson, about how this highly common, often misunderstood condition is diagnosed and treated. Jayanti's 2020 paper, "Social Class, Diagnosis of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, and Child Well-Being" which we discuss, recently won the 2021 Outstanding Publication Award from the American Sociological Association's Section on Disability and Society. We’ll also look at what these issues can teach us about the complex relationship between kids’ mental health and their success in school -- a topic which, after this past school year, is sorely in need of a rethink. You can learn more about Watson’s other podcasts here.

This is the epilogue in a special series from Trending Globally exploring the housing crisis in the United States, and in Rhode Island in particular. The crisis has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, but as we showed in this series, it’s a problem that has been with us for much, much longer.On this episode, we introduce you to the Brown students and alumni who made this podcast possible through their research, experience, and expertise. We explore why they became interested in housing in the first place, what they learned from making the podcast, and what issues they still wrestle with when it comes to the problem of housing in America.Contributors to this podcast include students from Brown University and the media collective Signs of Providence. You can learn more about their organization here.Listen to Parts 1, 2, 3, and 4 of Less to Lean On. You can learn more about the Watson Institute's other podcasts here.

Between Covid-19 and America’s racial reckoning over that past 12 months, there’s never been a more important time to understand how race and racism affect both the reporting and the consumption of news in America. In the lead-up to Juneteenth, Watson held an event exploring these issues with some of the leading voices covering race today: New York Times reporter John Eligon and CNN Senior Correspondent Sara Sidner. They were interviewed by former President of CNN Jon Klein ’80. It was a fascinating event that we thought our listeners at Trending Globally would love, so on this episode we’re broadcasting an edited version of their conversation. You can watch a video recording of their full conversation here.You can learn more about Watson’s other podcasts here.

On this episode, we’re sharing one of our favorite conversations from another podcast produced by the Watson Institute: ‘The Rhodes Center Podcast,’ hosted by political economist Mark Blyth. Mark recently talked with economist and Brown professor John Friedman about 'Bidenomics': what it is, what it isn't, and what it can tell us about our precarious economic recovery.You can watch the video of John and Mark's full conversation here.You can subscribe to the Rhodes Center Podcast here.You can learn more about Watson’s other podcasts here.