
LSE: The Ballpark
The Ballpark is the LSE Phelan US Centre's regular podcast on the politics and policy of the United States. Through features and interviews with academics from the LSE and elsewhere, The Ballpark looks more closely into what's going on behind the headlines.
Latest episodes

Feb 28, 2023 • 32min
LSE: The Ballpark | Professor Glenn Loury on Identity Politics and Race in America
Contributor(s): Professor Glenn Loury, Mohid Rehman Malik | In May 2022, The Phelan US Centre’s Mohid Malik spoke to Professor Glenn Loury, Merton P. Stoltz Professor of the Social Sciences and Professor of Economics at Brown University, on the role of identity politics in the United States. In their discussion, they situated Black American experience within the context of identity politics, and how this has done little to correct existing racial inequalities in the United States. This Extra Inning was produced by Chris Gilson, Mohid Malik, and Anderson Tan.

Feb 20, 2023 • 14min
LSE: The Ballpark | Professor Jessica Chen Weiss on China and the International Order
Contributor(s): | In November 2022, The Phelan US Centre’s Chris Gilson and Mohid Malik spoke to Professor Jessica Chen Weiss, professor of government at Cornell University, about China and the future of the international order. They also discussed President Biden’s approach to China, and the future of US-China relations. This Extra Inning was produced by Chris Gilson, Mohid Malik, and Anderson Tan.

Feb 13, 2023 • 25min
LSE: The Ballpark | China’s Belt and Road with Professor Taylor Fravel
Contributor(s): Professor Taylor Fravel | In November 2022, The Phelan US Centre’s Chris Gilson and Mohid Malik spoke to Professor Taylor Fravel of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology about China’s Belt and Road Initiative. They discussed the history and recent developments of the Belt and Road Initiative, the political implications of this project, and the US’ responses to it.
This Extra Inning was produced by Chris Gilson, Mohid Malik, and Anderson Tan. Take me out to the Ball game’ by Ranger and the “Re-Arrangers” used with permission.

Feb 6, 2023 • 28min
LSE: The Ballpark | Professor Rana Mitter on historical analogy in US-China relations
Contributor(s): Professor Rana Mitter | On 27 September 2022, The Phelan US Centre’s Chris Gilson and Mohid Malik spoke to Professor Rana Mitter of the University of Oxford about China’s changing national narrative. They also discussed nationalism in China and the ways China has engaged in revisionist history with regards to its conception of the current international order.
This Extra Inning was produced by Anderson Tan. Take me out to the Ball game’ by Ranger and the “Re-Arrangers” used with permission.

Jan 30, 2023 • 30min
LSE: The Ballpark | Lessons from the Edge with Marie Yovanovitch
Contributor(s): Marie Yovanovitch | On 25 January 2023, the Phelan US Centre’s Chris Gilson spoke with Marie Yovanovitch, who was the United States’ Ambassador to Ukraine from 2016 to 2019. She has also held posts as US Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan and Armenia, and from 2001 to 2004 she was Deputy Chief of Mission of the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine. She is the author of the new book, Lessons from the Edge: A Memoir. They discussed US-Ukraine relations, the role of diplomacy in resolving the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and European security.
This Extra Inning was produced by Anderson Tan. ‘Take me out to the Ball game’ by Ranger and the “Re-Arrangers” used with permission.

Jan 23, 2023 • 23min
LSE: The Ballpark | England's Cross of Gold with Professor James Morrison
Contributor(s): Dr James Morrison | In June 2022, the Phelan US Centre’s Chris Gilson spoke to Centre Affiliate Professor James Morrison about his new book, England's Cross of Gold Keynes, Churchill, and the Governance of Economic Beliefs (Cornell University Press, 2021). They also discussed the history of the gold standard in the UK, and what research on economic and monetary history can tell us about the current moment.
This Extra Inning was produced by Anderson Tan. Take me out to the Ball game’ by Ranger and the “Re-Arrangers” used with permission.

Jan 16, 2023 • 22min
LSE: The Ballpark | Professor Mary Kaldor on Long-term Solutions to the War in Ukraine
Contributor(s): Professor Mary Kaldor | On 9 June 2022, The Phelan US Centre’s Chris Gilson and Mohid Malik spoke to Professor Mary Kaldor of the LSE about ways to reimagine a future European security framework. They also discussed the importance of empowering the local civil society groups in Russia and Ukraine that oppose Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This Extra Inning was produced by Chris Gilson, Mohid Malik, and Emmanuel Olugbenga.

Sep 26, 2022 • 25min
LSE: The Ballpark | Finding Success as a Phelan US Centre Undergraduate Research Assistant, with Karen Torres
Contributor(s): Karen Torres, Joss Harrison | They also discuss her co-authored article with Dr Collins in the Journal of Illicit Economies and Development, which focuses on Colombia’s place in the global drug wars. This Extra Inning was produced by Anderson Tan, Elina Ganatra and Joss Harrison.

Sep 23, 2022 • 12min
LSE: The Ballpark | Everyone wins: Student-faculty collaborations in the Phelan US Centre's Undergraduate Research Assistant programme, with Professor James Morrison
Contributor(s): James Morrison | Professor Morrison, who has worked with an UGRA each year since the programme’s inception in 2017, discussed the contribution that these undergraduate students have made to his research over the years. He also spoke about the mutual benefits that academics and students enjoy from these collaborations. This Extra Inning was produced by Anderson Tan.

Sep 19, 2022 • 19min
LSE: The Ballpark | Professor Ayse Zarakol on the future of Liberal Internationalism and the War in Ukraine
Contributor(s): Professor Ayse Zarakol, Chris Gilson, Mohid Rehman Malik | They also discuss what the rise of non-Western powers that have not fully adhered to Liberal Internationalism suggests about the future of this American-led system. This Extra Inning was produced by Chris Gilson, Mohid Malik, and Emmanuel Olugbenga.