Trending Globally: Politics And Policy

At a moment when it feels like there’s an endless stream of breaking news, it’s worth stepping back sometimes, and thinking about things on a longer time scale. On this episode, Sarah spoke with artist and writer Pam Petro '82 about her other-worldly photography exhibit, 'The Blink of Our Lifetimes: The Ecology of Dusk,' which is currently on view at the Watson Institute. They talk art, ecology, memory, history, and impossible-to-translate (but oh-so-useful) Welsh concept of ‘hiraeth.’ It might make you look at the next breaking headline a little differently. Pam Petro’s exhibit 'The Blink of Our Lifetimes: the Ecology of Dusk,' is open to the public and runs through December 20 at Watson, located in the lobby of 280 Brook Street, Providence. You can learn more about the exhibit here: [https://watson.brown.edu/events/2019/blink-our-lifetimes-ecology-dusk]

In 1979 a group of young rebels, calling themselves the Sandinista National Liberation Front, overthrew a brutal dictatorship in Nicaragua. 40 years later, Nicaraguans are again living under an oppressive authoritarian regime. The current leader? Sandinista Daniel Ortega. In the Spring of 2019, the Watson Institute held an unprecedented conference exploring the history and legacy of this unfinished revolution. Out of that conference came this four-part special series from Trending Globally, telling the story of the Sandinista Revolution from the people who lived it. Part II: Trouble in Paradise. In July 1979, with widespread support at home and abroad, the Sandinista-led Junta of National Reconstruction took over Nicaragua's government. Within a few short years the Junta would crumble, a Civil War would begin, and Nicaragua would find itself the newest front in the Cold War. On this episode we hear from people who led Nicaragua during this transition, as well as from a US diplomat who tried to convince Pres

In 1979 a group of young rebels, calling themselves the Sandinista National Liberation Front, overthrew a brutal dictatorship in Nicaragua. 40 years later, Nicaraguans are again living under an oppressive authoritarian regime. The current leader? Sandinista Daniel Ortega. In the Spring of 2019, the Watson Institute held an unprecedented conference exploring the history and legacy of this unfinished revolution. Out of that conference came this four-part special series from Trending Globally, telling the story of the Sandinista Revolution from the people who lived it. Part 1: Who are the Sandinistas? How did they grow from a rag-tag army to an unstoppable revolutionary force? What was their appeal? On this episode we get answers -- from former Sandinista’s themselves. For more information about the conference this podcast was based on, including recorded lectures and a short film featuring many of the voices in this podcast, visit [watson.brown.edu/nicaragua].

On this episode Sarah talks with Watson Senior fellow Deborah Gordon. Deborah’s newest paper looks at one of the ‘stealthiest’ and most destructive greenhouse gasses: methane. Specifically, the paper uncovers how methane is leaked throughout our infrastructure, from oil rigs to your kitchen stove. It’s a gas leak on a global scale, and it’s warming our planet more than anyone knew. On the bright side, plugging these leaks could make a measurable, immediate impact towards fighting climate change. You can read a transcript of this episode here: [https://watson.brown.edu/files/watson/imce/news/podcast/trending-globally/transcripts/E99_Debbie%20Gordon_Final.pdf]

On this episode, guest host Rich Snyder talks with Maria Cabrera Arus, a visiting professor at the Center for Latin American and Carribean Studies at Watson. Maria studies the sociology, politics, and history of something we all interact with every day: clothes. Specifically, at how clothes communicate power, and project values in a culture. She and Rich explore a place and time that exemplifies this relationship between politics, power, and fashion especially well: Revolutionary Cuba. You can learn more about Maria’s upcoming public lecture at Watson here: [https://watson.brown.edu/clacs/events/2019/maria-cabrera-arus-la-moda-la-revoluci-n-cubana-y-el-hombre-nuevo-fashion-cuban] For more examples and images of Revolutionary Cuba’s material culture, visit Maria’s blog ‘Cube Material’: [https://cubamaterial.com/] You can read a transcript of this episode here: [https://watson.brown.edu/files/watson/imce/news/podcast/trending-globally/transcripts/E98_Cabrera%20Arus_Final.pdf] NOTE: The Center for Latin Ame

From the industrial revolution to the rise of globalization, human society has changed profoundly since our early days as hunter-gathers. But our brains? Not so much. On this episode, Sarah talks with Watson professor Rose McDermott about this evolutionary mismatch, and the vexing problems it creates in our politics and culture. Perhaps nowhere is this more urgently felt than in the rise of anti-immigrant, far-right populism around the world, where leaders and the media have learned to play into our most primal instincts. You can read a transcript of this episode here: [https://watson.brown.edu/files/watson/imce/news/podcast/trending-globally/transcripts/E97_Rose%20McDermott_Final.pdf]

NOTE FOR LISTENERS: Mark and Carrie will be moving to their own podcast channel after this episode. To hear new episodes of Mark and Carrie from now on, subscribe to their new feed, 'Mark and Carrie,' wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks! Mark Blyth, political economist at Brown's Watson Institute, and Carrie Nordlund, political scientist and associate director of Brown's Master of Public Affairs program, share their take on the news. Topics include: Greta Thunberg and the grown-ups failing our planet, fires and blackouts in California, Brexit: Endgame, Bernie Sanders' health and its effects on the Democratic primary, Mark's super chill visit to Hong Kong, and the US's impending constitutional crisis. You can read a transcript of this episode here: [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dop41fa1X2-go_mRM13GL4S_ztcapMU-/view]

Cristian Farias is a journalist who's written about law and the Supreme Court for New York Magazine, HuffPost, and The New York Times (among many others). For much of the last two years he’s closely followed the Trump administration’s efforts to put a citizenship question on the 2020 census. On this episode of Trending Globally, he and Sarah talk about the politics and policy of the 2020 US census, and why it's fundamentally important to our democracy to get the census right. You can watch Cristian talk from his visit to the Watson Institute here: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-wAy2jfb-4&feature=youtu.be] You can read a transcript of this episode here: [https://watson.brown.edu/files/watson/imce/news/podcast/trending-globally/transcripts/E96_Cristian%20Farias_Final.pdf]

On this episode of Trending Globally, Sarah talks with Watson sociologist Jayanti Owens about her research on racial discrimination in one of America’s most important institutions: our schools. They look at how racial discrimination affects students as young as 5 years old, how these effects ripple out into the rest of society, and how thoughtful public policy can help make an education system that works for every child. You can read a transcript of this episode here: [https://watson.brown.edu/files/watson/imce/news/podcast/trending-globally/transcripts/E95_Jayanti%20Owens_Final.pdf]

Even by our current standards for presidential news, President Trump’s inquiries into purchasing Greenland this summer were surprising. And while few people took it seriously, Watson political scientist Jeff Colgan still wants to make clear: the US’s relationship with Greenland is no joke. On this episode of Trending Globally, Sarah and Jeff talk about Greenland's role in the Cold War, the politics of nuclear waste clean-up, and the challenges of building a train line...inside of a glacier. They also look at how, with climate change, the US’s relationship to Greenland will matter more and more in the coming decades. This might have been the first time you heard about Greenland on the nightly news, but it probably won’t be the last. You can read a transcript of this episode here: [https://watson.brown.edu/files/watson/imce/news/podcast/trending-globally/transcripts/E94_Jeff%20Colgan%20Greenland.pdf]

NOTE FOR LISTENERS: Mark and Carrie will be moving to their own podcast channel in the coming weeks. To subscribe to their new feed, search for 'Mark and Carrie' wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks! Mark Blyth, political economist at Brown's Watson Institute, and Carrie Nordlund, political scientist and associate director of Brown's Master of Public Affairs program, share their take on the news. Topics include: Explaining the Brexit Extended Universe, Hurricane Dorian, protests and political Turmoil in Hong Kong, the parallels between Germany and the US's politics, the Democrat's lukewarm affair with Joe Biden, and what Mark and Carrie learned this summer. You can read a transcript of this episode here: [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QyMwWCTPl1U-OcVTRaPBSGkQtXGH7Zkl/view]

Immigration is an inherently interdisciplinary subject. On this episode, Sarah talks with three postdoctoral fellows at Watson doing work on immigration: Aileen Teague, Rawan Arar, and Almita Miranda. A historian, a sociologist, and an anthropologist, they’re the perfect guests to help connect the dots on such a pressing, multifaceted topic. You can read a transcript of this episode here: [https://watson.brown.edu/files/watson/imce/news/podcast/trending-globally/transcripts/E93_Immigartion%20PostDocs_mixdown.pdf]

Mark Blyth, political economist at Brown's Watson Institute, and Carrie Nordlund, political scientist and associate director of Brown's Master of Public Affairs program, share their take on the week's news. This week's topics: Boris Johnson's prospects as PM, Trump's newest racist tweets, Facebook's $5b privacy fine, the underpaid Women's US soccer team, and what to expect in the next ~120 Democratic debates. Mark and Carrie also invent 'Uber for Dogs'? You can read a transcript of this episode here: [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ijljqsdfRO0V0c2n5zy8L8yTNEO7EJEH/view]

July 19, 2019 marks the 40th anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution in Nicaragua. Leading up to the anniversary, the Watson Institute hosted a conference looking at the history of the Revolution and its legacy. We at Trending Globally asked many of the conference guests -- including former Sandinista fighters, diplomats, foreign correspondents, scholars, and activists -- to help us tell the story of this Revolution. Coming this Fall on Trending Globally, the story of the Sandinista Revolution from the people who lived it, and an exploration of how it brought Nicaragua to crisis today. Subscribe to Trending Globally to get the first episode when it comes out. You can find more information about Watson's conference, including links to all the lectures and panel discussions, here: https://watson.brown.edu/events/2019/conference-nicaragua-1979-2019-sandinista-revolution-after-40-years

Policy-makers and the media have a problem when it comes to talking about gender in many Muslim-majority nations: too often it’s discussed only in the context of religion or culture, and politics is left out of the equation. On this episode, Sarah Baldwin talks with Nadje Al-Ali [watson.brown.edu/people/faculty/Al-Ali], an anthropologist at Watson's Center for Middle East Studies [https://watson.brown.edu/cmes/], working to change that. They discuss the various ways gender and politics intersect in Muslim-majority countries, at scales both local and global. They also talk about Al-Ali’s forthcoming book Gender, Islam & Governance [https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-gender-governance-and-islam-hb.html], which she co-edited with Deniz Kandiyoti and Kathryn Spellman Poots. You can read a transcript of this episode here: [https://watson.brown.edu/files/watson/imce/news/podcast/trending-globally/transcripts/E92_Nadje%20Al-Ali_mixdown.pdf]

On this episode Sarah Baldwin talks with Charlotte Silverman, Sarah Campbell Tucker, and Carly Paul, three students at Brown who are doing fascinating work on gender and development. They discuss their work and research, explore how to better frame issues of gender equality and public health, and hear from Charlotte about what it’s like having your social justice work...win an Oscar [https://www.brown.edu/research/pembroke-center/news/2019-02/gnss-concentrator-charlotte-silverman-wins-oscar]. The film Charlotte co-produced, 'Period. End of Sentence.' is available streaming on Netflix. You can see the trailer here: [https://www.netflix.com/title/81074663] You can read a transcript of this episode here: [https://watson.brown.edu/files/watson/imce/news/podcast/trending-globally/transcripts/E91_Documentary_DS%20Students_REV_1.pdf]

On this episode of Trending Globally, Sarah Baldwin talks with Emily Oster, an economist at The Watson Institute and author of 'Cribsheet: A Data-Driven Guide to Better, More Relaxed Parenting, from Birth to Preschool' [https://www.amazon.com/Cribsheet-Data-Driven-Relaxed-Parenting-Preschool/dp/0525559256]. In the book, Oster uses the tools of an economist to challenge the conventional wisdom of early childhood parenting. Sarah and Emily discuss some of the most surprising findings from her research, and explore why the book has become such a hit among young parents today. You can read a transcript of this episode here: [https://watson.brown.edu/files/watson/imce/news/podcast/trending-globally/transcripts/E90_Emily%20Oster_mixdown.pdf]

How has globalization changed the way that borders operate? And how have these changes affected the US's already strained immigration system? On this episode, Sarah Baldwin talks with former U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Alan Bersin and Watson Professor Peter Andreas, both experts on the Mexico-US border. They discuss the current state of the border, the cynical genius of Trump’s chant to ‘build a wall,’ and how to fix our patchwork immigration system going forward. To see Alan Bersin's April presentation at Watson, follow this link: [https://watson.brown.edu/events/2019/alan-bersin-lines-and-flows-future-border-security-not-what-it-used-be] You can read a transcript of this episode here: [https://watson.brown.edu/files/watson/imce/news/podcast/trending-globally/transcripts/E89_Alan%20Bersin_Rev_2.pdf]

This episode of Trending Globally is the third in our 2019 Commencement-Student Spotlight series. As spring semester came to a close, host Sarah Baldwin spoke with a few of Watson’s graduating seniors about their research and work as undergrads. Be prepared to be inspired! Luna Floyd is a public policy concentrator at Watson. Sarah spoke with Luna about her work and research, which has focused on LGBTQ rights, homelessness, and fixing our country’s broken foster care system. It’s heavy stuff, but Luna approaches it with a clarity, intelligence, and passion that might actually give you hope. You can read a transcript of this episode here: [https://watson.brown.edu/files/watson/imce/news/podcast/trending-globally/transcripts/E87_3_Student%20Ep%201c_Luna_EDIT_1.pdf]

This episode of Trending Globally is the fourth and final part of our 2019 Commencement Student Spotlight series. As spring semester came to a close, host Sarah Baldwin spoke with a few of Watson’s graduating seniors about their research and work as undergrads. Sebastián Otero Oliveras concentrated in ethnomusicology and Latin American and Caribbean Studies. A musician and music lover, his passion and studies have taken him from Providence to Cuba to his home of Puerto Rico. Sarah and Sebastián talked about how he combined his musical and academic interests at Brown, and how he plans to continue this fusion of interests after graduating. To find Sebastián's music: On streaming services: search 'Sebastián .Oteros' Soundcloud: [https://soundcloud.com/sebadelmundo] Youtube: [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCycEQzz9nZrLXmedjuI8KpA] You can read a transcript of this episode here: [https://watson.brown.edu/files/watson/imce/news/podcast/trending-globally/transcripts/E87_4Student%20Ep%201d_Sebastian_FINAL.pdf]