LSE: The Ballpark

Contributor(s): Marisa Lago | In this Extra Inning of the Ballpark, we are joined by Marisa Lago, the Director of the New York City Department of City Planning and Chair of the City Planning Commission. Alongside LSE Cities and LSE’s School of Public Policy, the LSE US Centre hosted Marisa Lago on the 5th of November 2019 for the event, Planning New York. Chris Gilson of the LSE US Centre spoke with Marisa Lago ahead of the event about what it’s like to work across three New York mayoral administrations, the big planning issues facing the city right now, and how city planning can help address inequality. They also spoke about the big challenges that New York City will be facing in the next few decades and how it plans to cope with climate change, increased automation, and an aging population. Marisa Lago is the Director of the New York City Department of City Planning and Chair of the City Planning Commission.

Contributor(s): Professor Theda Skocpol | In this Extra Inning of the Ballpark, your host Chris Gilson of the LSE US Centre talks with Professor Theda Skocpol about her recent research on the Republican Party. Professor Skocpol outlines the shift that the Republican Party has undergone in the last decade, driven by two distinct currents of right-wing extremism: ethno-nationalist resentment, and ultra-free-market fundamentalism. They also discuss her upcoming book, which traces the growing grassroots movement of suburban white women in left-wing politics. Professor Theda Skocpol is the Victor S. Thomas Professor of Government and Sociology at Harvard University. Her ongoing research focuses on U.S. conservatives and the Republican Party, the politics of health care policy, and citizen reactions to the Obama and Trump presidencies. Skocpol is also the Director of the Scholars Strategy Network, a nationwide U.S. organization with more than a thousand members and forty chapters that makes the work of university researchers understandable to civic groups, policymakers, and the media.

Contributor(s): Chris Murphy, US Senator for Connecticut | On March 20th 2019, the US Centre hosted Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut for his talk, "The Dangers of Brexit for the Special Relationship". Senator Murphy, who is a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, spoke on the future of the US’s relationship with one of its oldest allies in the context of the UK's looming exit from the European Union. Senator Chris Murphy, is United States Senator for Connecticut. A member of the Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Murphy has been an outspoken proponent of diplomacy, international human rights and the need for clear-eyed, forward-thinking American leadership abroad. He is currently the Ranking Member on the Subcommittee on the Near East, South Asia, Central Asia and Counterterrorism, and previously served as Chairman of the European Subcommittee.

Contributor(s): Ashley Koning, Joe Miller, Scott Thompson | For this episode of the Ballpark, we head to New Jersey and take an in-depth look at the state’s recent politics and controversial former Governor, Chris Christie. We also discuss the state of policing in New Jersey with the chief of the Camden County Police Department, and we find out just why New Jersey is known as the Garden State.

Contributor(s): Amy Goldstein, Wendy Scattergood | On this episode of the Ballpark, we take a look at the state of Wisconsin through the lens of deindustrialization. Together with our contributors, we examine how the Badger state’s politics have become more polarized in the past decade and what happened to its people when the factories began to close.

Contributor(s): Stephan Haggard, Susan Strange | For this Extra Inning from the US Centre’s Ballpark podcast, host Chris Gilson speaks to North Korea expert Professor Stephan Haggard about the just announced upcoming summit between the US and North Korea. We explore what’s at stake and what the summit may be able to achieve. Stephan Haggard is the Krause Distinguished Professor at the School of Global Policy and Strategy at the University of California San Diego. In 2019, he is the Susan Strange Professor in the Department of International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science. His work on North Korea with Marcus Noland includes Famine in North Korea (Columbia University Press, 2007), Witness to Transformation: Refugee Insights into North Korea (Peterson Institute for International Economics, 2011) and Hard Target: Sanctions, Inducements and the Case of North Korea (Stanford University Press, 2017)

Contributor(s): Jeff Frieden, Doug Irwin | This Extra Inning of the Ballpark features a conversation with Jeff Frieden and Doug Irwin as they discuss one of the most important parts of the economy: international trade. They talk about the changing consensus on trade in the US under Trump, what the growth of populism across the world means for trade and the international economy, Brexit, the growing trade war between the US and China, and give their policy recommendations for Donald Trump. Jeff Frieden is a professor at the University of Harvard’s Department of Government and the author of Currency Politics: The Political Economy of the Exchange Rate Policy and Global Capitalism: Its Fall and Rise in the 20th Century. Doug Irwin is the John French Professor of Economics at Dartmouth College, as well as the author of Clashing over Commerce: A History of US Trade Policy, and Trade Policy Disaster: Lessons from the 1930s.

Contributor(s): Robynn Kuhlmann, Samantha Pettey | In this episode of the Ballpark, we head to Missouri to investigate the state’s political landscape and why its Senate race was so heated in this midterm cycle. We also talk to experts about 2018 as the Year of the Woman, explore some fascinating research on political ideology, and talk about what we can expect from this record-setting number of women in Congress.

Contributor(s): Joe Uscinski, Ros Taylor | This Extra Inning of the Ballpark features audio from the US Centre’s event “Conspiracy Theories in the Age of Trump,” which took place on 25 July 2018. Joseph Uscinski, associate professor of political science at University of Miami, speaks about his book American Conspiracy Theories and why President Trump might be America’s first conspiratorial president. Using an analysis of more than a hundred years of data taken from newspapers, surveys, and the internet, Professor Uscinski demonstrates that conspiracy theories follow a strategic logic: they are tools used by the powerless to attack and defend against the powerful. Our chair for this event, Ros Taylor, is Research Manager for the LSE Truth, Trust & Technology Commission, based in the Media Policy Project within the Department of Media and Communications at LSE.

Contributor(s): Dr. Kori Schake | In this Extra Inning of the Ballpark, your host Chris Gilson talks with Dr. Kori Schake, the Deputy Director-General of the Institute of Strategic Studies, about her book Safe Passage. Dr. Schake discusses how and when power can peacefully shift from one hegemon to another, the impact of Trump’s foreign policy on America’s standing in the world, and the future of the Republican party.