Carnegie Council Podcasts

Chernobyl is considered the greatest nuclear disaster of all time. But over decades America's Hanford plant and Russia's Mayak plant each issued almost four times the amount of radiation as Chernobyl. Historian Kate Brown explains that in the closed atomic cities serving these plutonium plants, "residents gave up their civil and biological rights for consumer rights." How does today's America mirror these segregated plutopias?

In this engaging discussion, A. C. Grayling, a British philosopher and author acclaimed for his insights on humanism and politics, addresses the deterioration of representative democracy in the UK and US, driven by blackmail, bullying, and bribery. He highlights the dangers of social media manipulation and the urgent need for transparency and reduced party influence. Grayling advocates for citizen engagement and innovative governance to restore integrity and trust in democratic processes.

Half a decade after Arabs across the Middle East poured into the streets to demand change, hopes for democracy have disappeared in a maelstrom of violence and renewed state repression. How did things go so wrong so quickly across a wide range of regimes? What role can and should the United States play? Don't miss this conversation with Steven Cook, an expert on Arab and Turkish politics as well as U.S.-Middle East policy.

Hurricane Sandy was the catalyst that impelled Miranda Massie to quit her job as a civil rights lawyer and found the Climate Museum. "I think that climate change is THE equality and THE civil rights issue of the 21st century," she says. Why open this museum in New York and what does it hope to accomplish? Find out more in this interview that covers not only the multi-faceted impacts of climate change, but also what we can do about it.

Next time on Global Ethics Forum, Microsoft Research’s danah boyd discusses the ethical and political implications of big data and artificial intelligence. In this excerpt, boyd explains to journalist Stephanie Sy some of the disturbing issues that arise when machine learning and algorithms are used in the criminal justice system.

"Though most of the literature you will read on the future of war certainly talks about war as between regular armies, as proper fights, now with drones or with autonomous vehicles or robots or whatever, or even painless--cyber and so on--yet actually the reality of war is as it has always been: it is vicious, and it is nasty, and it kills the wrong people, and it does so in considerable numbers."

Carnegie Council President Joel Rosenthal and Senior Fellow Devin Stewart discuss the challenges to liberalism, in the United States and on the international stage, and explain today's debates through a historical context. Have too many forgotten why and how the liberal order was put in place? Can liberals find solidarity in the face of adversity?

Next time on Global Ethics Forum, Earth Institute executive director Steven Cohen offers hope for a sustainable future. In this excerpt, Cohen tells journalist Stephanie Sy that despite Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris agreement, the momentum is on the side of America's businesses, states, cities, and civil society.

How can we engage with Muslims around the world without really understanding what they believe? On studying the Qur'an, religious scholar Garry Wills found that many of our perceptions of Islam are false or distorted. Most surprisingly, Islam is a very inclusive religion, more so than Judaism or Christianity. What's more, the Qur'an gives women more property rights than early Christian women had. Don't miss this important talk.

Republican politician Bob Inglis used to think that climate change was nonsense; but his son--and science--changed his mind. Today he advocates letting market forces do their work. "The thing to do is to make it apparent in the marketplace what the costs of energy are, and eliminate all the subsidies, and have a level playing field and a strong competition. If you do that, we can fix climate change. That is what needs to be done."