P.S. You’re Interesting
63 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 2 years ago - ★★★★★ - 5 ratingsP.S. You’re Interesting is a series of conversations on political science research hosted by Jeffery A. Jenkins.
Formerly, “Our American Discourse,” we continue the series to pick up the tradition Anthony W. Orlando began. We hope to keep conversations … discourse alive. To keep thinking about the research we do in the academy, why it matters to us, and hopefully to you.
Sponsored by the USC Bedrosian Center
http://bedrosian.usc.edu/
Recorded at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy
http://priceschool.usc.edu
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Episodes
Anna Harvey
December 15, 2021 14:00 - 21 minutes - 29.7 MBJeff speaks with Anna Harvey, Professor of Politics; Affiliated Professor of Data Science and Law; Director, Public Safety Lab at NYU about research and more. Harvey’s research focuses on criminal justice, policing, judicial politics, and political economy. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @BedrosianCenter
Michael Olson
November 17, 2021 14:00 - 20 minutes - 28.9 MBJeff speaks with Michael Olson, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Washington University at St. Louis about research and more. Olson’s research focuses on political representation using historic and contemporary observational data. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @BedrosianCenter
Zhao Li
September 15, 2021 13:00 - 20 minutes - 28.5 MBJeff speaks with Zhao Li, Assistant Professor of Politics and Public Affairs at Princeton University. Li studies institutional and behavioral factors in donor decision making in contemporary American Politics. She recently gave a research talk at USC Price, looking at the connections between Fox News and GOP campaign rallies and finances. Recent work has looked at the interaction of finance and access in PACs. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @BedrosianCenter
Miguel Pereira
March 24, 2021 13:00 - 22 minutes - 31.6 MBJeffery speaks with new USC Dornsife assistant professor Miguel Pereira about research and experiments in political science. Pereira's research focuses on political representation and the behavior of political elites in established democracies, with a focus on causal inference. In addition, he shares some new research looking at responsiveness of legislators with specific policy expertise.
Rachel VanSickle-Ward and Kevin Wallsten
February 24, 2021 14:00 - 24 minutes - 34.2 MBIn this episode, Jeff speaks with Rachel VanSickle-Ward and Kevin Wallsten. In The Politics of the Pill, the two authors explore how gender has shaped contemporary debates over contraception policy in the U.S. Within historical context, they examine the impact that women and perceptions of gender roles had on media coverage, public opinion, policy formation, and legal interpretations from the deliberation of the Affordable Care Act in 2009 to the more recent Supreme Court rulings in Burwel...
Melissa Lee
November 25, 2020 14:00 - 24 minutes - 33.7 MBIn this episode of the PS You’re Interesting podcast, Jeff Jenkins speaks with Melissa Lee, Assistant Professor of Politics & International Affairs, Princeton University. They begin discussing a recent project in which Lee and co-author study the change in civic language reflecting the change in thinking about the U.S. as a collection of states to a nation. Moving from there to, they discuss possible new directions in research followed by a conversation about Lee's latest book: Crippling Lev...
Clayton Nall
October 28, 2020 17:54 - 22 minutes - 31.7 MBIn this episode of the PS You’re Interesting podcast, Jeff Jenkins speaks with Clayton Nall, Assistant Professor UCSB. Nall looks to explain how spatial policies change American politics. These discuss Nall's research on housing policy preferences and party affiliation and how building highways in the 1950s worked to build Republican suburbs (increasing the urban-suburban divide. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @BedrosianCenter
Jared Rubin
September 30, 2020 13:00 - 38 minutes - 52.9 MBIn this episode of the PS You’re Interesting podcast, Jeff Jenkins speaks with Jared Rubin, Professor in the Argyros School of Business and Economics at Chapman University. Rubin is an economic historian interested in the political and religious economies of the Middle East and Western Europe. His research focuses on historical relationships between political and religious institutions and their role in economic development. The topic at hand in this episode is political legitimacy and a h...
Christian Fong
September 16, 2020 20:22 - 28 minutes - 39.3 MBIn this episode of the PS You’re Interesting podcast, Jeff Jenkins speaks with Christian Fong, Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan. Fong's research focus is legislative politics. Recent work is on reciprocity in Congress questions the motivation for cooperation. They discuss recent research, Congressional leadership, as well as methodology - particularly machine learning. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @BedrosianCenter
Michael Hankinson
September 02, 2020 12:00 - 20 minutes - 29.2 MBIn this episode of the PS You’re Interesting podcast, Jeff Jenkins talks with Michael Hankinson, Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University. Hankinson's work focuses on how institutional spatial scale affects political behavior to undermine democratic representation. They discuss institutional scale and how institutional design can affect representation drastically. For instance the move to districts versus at large voting at the city level - what happens when...
Ryan Hübert
February 26, 2020 13:00 - 34 minutes - 47.3 MBIn this episode of the PS You’re Interesting podcast, Jeff Jenkins talks with Ryan Hübert, Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of California, Davis. Hübert's recent research has been on bias within the judicial system in the U.S. His research uses game theory, machine learning, and text analysis to study political institutions. They discuss the use of text analysis to study the judiciary and Hübert's new work using a theoretical model of behavior to...
J. Andrew Sinclair
January 29, 2020 13:30 - 26 minutes - 36.4 MBIn this episode of the PS You’re Interesting podcast, Jeff Jenkins talks with J. Andrew Sinclair, Assistant Professor of Government, Claremont McKenna College. In his research, Sinclair is interested in relationships between voters, elected politicians, and bureaucrats. They discuss the politics of the DMV, top-two primary elections (such as those in California), and accountability in public officials. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @BedrosianCenter
Seth Hill
October 30, 2019 12:00 - 29 minutes - 41.3 MBIn this episode of the PS You’re Interesting podcast, Jeff Jenkins talks with Seth Hill, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science UCSD. Hill studies how citizens motivate politician behavior. They discuss representation, elections, and some extras just for you! Email: [email protected] Twitter: @BedrosianCenter
Leah Stokes
October 16, 2019 13:00 - 31 minutes - 43.4 MBIn this episode of the PS You’re Interesting podcast, Jeff Jenkins talks with Leah Stokes. Stokes, a public scholar, is also an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science and affiliated with the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management and the Environmental Studies Department at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). They discuss the building of community on social media, being a public scholar, how politics is the barrier real work on climate change, ...
Danielle Thomsen
October 02, 2019 22:31 - 25 minutes - 35.5 MBIn this episode of the PS You’re Interesting podcast, Jeff Jenkins talks with Danielle Thomsen, Assistant Professor of Political Science at UC Irvine. Her research in American Politics primarily falls into looking at Congress, parties, and gender & politics. They discuss why pipelines to primaries (and then to elected office) matter so much in terms of representation in this highly partisan era. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @BedrosianCenter
Abby K. Wood
September 04, 2019 13:00 - 21 minutes - 30.6 MBIn this episode of the PS You’re Interesting podcast, Jeff Jenkins talks with a Bedrosian Faculty Affiliate, Abby K. Wood. Wood is Associate Professor of Law, Political Science and Public Policy. When she first started her career she noticed that program evaluation wasn't as robust as it could be, so she wanted to learn causal inference in order to find that balance. Her interest is in corruption and therefore transparency. Her current work is on campaign finance, transparency, and dark m...
Pamela Ban
May 08, 2019 13:00 - 21 minutes - 29.5 MBIn this episode of the PS You’re Interesting podcast, Jeff Jenkins talks with Pamela Ban, Assistant Professor of Political Science at UC San Diego. Ban discusses her recent research. First, she looks at how policy outcomes might change as Congress has a bit more gender representations. Then they discuss the revolving door and lobbying - how the cool off period has affected the lobbying industry. Finally, she thinks about how to use empirical data from newspapers to think about political powe...
Elisabeth R. Gerber
April 10, 2019 13:00 - 33 minutes - 46.2 MBIn this episode of the PS You’re Interesting podcast, Jeff Jenkins's guest is Elisabeth R. Gerber, Associate Dean for Research and Policy Engagement; Jack L. Walker, Jr. Collegiate Professor of Public Policy (UMich). They discuss the move from Political Science departments to public policy departments - how the focus has moved from theory development to theory application, and how engagement with community stakeholders outside of the university can help solve real world problems. Plus they l...
Philip Potter
February 13, 2019 14:00 - 23 minutes - 32.6 MBWhen do leaders pay penalties for backing down on promises? In this episode of the PS You’re Interesting podcast, Jeff Jenkins's guest is Philip Potter, Associate Professor of Politics (UVA), and the Founding Director of the National Security Policy Center. Potter's work looks at how public opinion effects foreign policy, when do policymakers have leeway, and when does public opinion constrain policy? Email: [email protected] Twitter: @BedrosianCenter
Boris Heersink
January 30, 2019 14:00 - 24 minutes - 34.1 MBNational Party Committees and Political Power In this episode of the PS You’re Interesting podcast, Jeff Jenkins and political Boris Heersink, Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Fordham University, look at the national party committees. What kind of power do the national committees have? What is the role of the committees, outside of the conventions? What role does the President play? Email: [email protected] Twitter: @BedrosianCenter @jaj7d @Boris_...
Martin Gilens
December 19, 2018 14:00 - 24 minutes - 33.8 MBDemocracy & Inequality of Political Influence In this episode of the PS You’re Interesting podcast, Jeff Jenkins talks economic and political inequality in democracies with Martin Gilens, Professor of Public Policy at UCLA Luskin. The degree of political influence is dramatically unequal for people within the United States, public policy can help increase democratic representation and Gilens walks us through a some history as he expresses policy options to get us to more democracy, rather...
Gregory DeAngelo
December 05, 2018 14:00 - 27 minutes - 37.6 MBPS You’re Busted: How bridging silos in research & practice can impact human trafficking irl In this episode of the PS You’re Interesting podcast, Jeff Jenkins talks about human trafficking with Greg DeAngelo, Associate Professor of Economic Studies at Claremont Graduate University. How does an economist get data on human trafficking, and other black market enterprises? What are the pressing questions law enforcement have that academics could help? What are the larger impacts of black mark...
D. Roderick (Rod) Kiewiet
November 20, 2018 23:15 - 22 minutes - 31.4 MBAmerica, Heck Yeah! Public Schools & Baseball In this episode of the PS You’re Interesting podcast, Jeff Jenkins and D. Roderick (Rod) Kiewiet, Professor of Political Science at Caltech, break down the long standing myth of the equalizing force of public education. We hold the idea that public schools present Americans with equal opportunity. Kiewiet gets to the reality through public school funding in California compared to the nation. In a related pivot, they turn to the great America...
Benjamin A. T. Graham
October 24, 2018 22:15 - 32 minutes - 45 MBSocial Network Roles in Foreign Capital and Research In this episode of the PS You’re Interesting podcast, Jeff Jenkins and Benjamin A. T. Graham, assistant professor in the School of International Relations at USC, discuss the role that migrants can play in bringing foreign capital into countries. He uses case studies from the Philippines and Georgia to get at what kinds of social networks evolve in developing countries. Migrant affiliated firms have capabilities that other foreign fo...
LaGina Gause
October 10, 2018 13:00 - 25 minutes - 36.2 MBPolitical Influence of Public Protest In this episode of the PS You’re Interesting podcast, Jeff Jenkins and LaGina Gause, Assistant Professor of Political Science at UC San Diego, discuss the pro-democracy (small d) results of her study on legislative responsiveness to collective action by marginalized groups. Her findings seem counterintuitive, in that the relationship between the costs faced by protesters and legislative action. "Evaluating contemporary collective action data, I find that...
Benjamin Newman
September 26, 2018 16:55 - 38 minutes - 53.2 MBCreativity, Energy, and Experimentation In this episode of the P.S. You're Interesting podcast, Jeff Jenkins and Benjamin Newman, Associate Professor of Public Policy and Political Science at the UC Riverside, discuss creativity and experimentation in political science. As a young scholar, Ben was interested in figuring out why people have the opinions they have, why they vote the way they do. To answer these questions, and integrate the questions he has about the people and circumstances...
Update from Our Producers
September 14, 2018 18:17 - 1 minute - 4.24 MBA quick update from our Producers: We will use this feed, for the Our American Discourse podcast, to bring you a new series of conversations. We will change the title to PS You’re Interesting. PS will be a series of conversations on new and novel research in political science. We’re conceiving this as a way to keep Anthony’s amazing work alive, and continue on in his tradition. The Our American Discourse podcast will still live on his website and ours. So the archive of episodes will rema...
The End: Death, Cemeteries, and Remembering
July 10, 2018 13:00 - 1 hour - 91 MBThough we are sad to bid farewell to “Our American Discourse,” we welcome the opportunity to talk about farewells—indeed, the hardest farewells of all: those that happen after death. How do we say goodbye to the past? And what does our farewell mean for the lives gone before us and for the future that will come after them? It is time to break the “death taboo” and have one last real conversation about the one last real experience we all must confront. In this episode, David Charles Sloane ...
It’s Not Just Where You’re Going, It’s Also How You Get There
June 26, 2018 16:43 - 42 minutes - 58.4 MBIf the old saying is true that “life is a journey, not a destination,” then it stands to reason that the way we travel matters a great deal. In fact, that’s what the latest evidence has shown: Transportation choices and systems play a crucial role in our economy and our environment. You may think that your car or bike or walk or train ride is only about you, but it’s really one piece of a giant moving puzzle, in which we’re all trying to access the American dream in the same urban landscape ...
The Eternal Struggle for Power on Capitol Hill
June 12, 2018 13:00 - 55 minutes - 76.4 MBPower is up for grabs in Washington. A controversial President, an unpopular Congress, and a midterm election all make 2018 a battleground for political control. Who will win? How will they do it? And what role do you play? This is story of the most consequential game ever played, and it’s told by one of the leading Congressional experts of our time. In this episode, Jeffery A. Jenkins teaches us the strategy of legislative power: who has it, how they get it, what they do with it, and why ...
How to Take Risks, Make the World a Better Place, and Get Paid
May 29, 2018 18:28 - 42 minutes - 98.8 MBThink of all the public policy problems that the government hasn’t been able to solve. Now imagine that you had a solution for one of them. The government should be interested, right? If your solution really works, they should want to invest in it. They should want to encourage you to make it happen, perhaps monetarily if possible. Well, until recently, they didn’t have many avenues to do so. Enter…“social impact bonds,” and the new system of “payment by results.” In this episode, Gary Pai...
Who Has the Ear of Your Legislators and Why They Can’t Seem to Get Anything Done
May 15, 2018 13:00 - 25 minutes - 36.1 MBWe’re six months away from one of the most consequential midterm elections in modern history, and Americans are fed up with Congress. Politicians have gotten a bad rap throughout history, but today’s legislators are setting record lows in approval ratings and public trust. What gives? Why do they disappoint us so often? Are they really ignoring our needs and demands, or are we misunderstanding the challenges they face? In this episode, Sarah Anderson shows that it’s a little of both: polit...
Millennials Knocking on the Door of the American Dream
May 03, 2018 16:08 - 40 minutes - 55.8 MBAt long last, Millennials have begun buying homes. Will they ever catch up to previous generations? Or will the market continue to hold them back with high rents, lingering student debt, and opposing pressure from Baby Boomers? Believe it or not, these forces are neither inevitable nor insurmountable. There is a third way, a bridge between the generations, a new social contract that’s mutually beneficial for all…if we choose to see with enlightened eyes. In this episode, Dowell Myers ques...
How Do the Rich Spend Their Money and Why Has It Changed?
April 17, 2018 18:55 - 32 minutes - 44.6 MBIt used to be that big mansions and fancy jewelry were the consummate signs of wealth, but new research shows that people are increasingly spending their wealth on less “conspicuous” forms of consumption. In today’s world, it pays more to signal your status with things like health care and education and nutrition. How did this change come about? And what does effect does it have on the rest of the population who can’t afford these new status symbols? In this episode, Elizabeth Currid-Halk...
Speaking Your Truth
April 03, 2018 13:00 - 38 minutes - 53.8 MBHow It’s Possible to Talk About and Improve Diversity and Inclusion Diversity and inclusion sound like universally accepted ideas, but when we try to talk about how we fall short of them and how we can improve, they become two of the most controversial political sparks in the fire that rages around our American discourse. Many people believe they can’t speak the truth in their hearts, and so they see no path forward. At the USC Price School, we have been challenging this assumption and lif...
Who Do Politicians Really Represent & Do We Notice?
March 20, 2018 13:00 - 33 minutes - 46.6 MBWith Donald Trump’s approval ratings at record lows, it’s worth asking how much this one number matters…and whether the people who approve really are better represented by him than the people who don’t. If our politicians really do represent some Americans better than others, it calls into question the very foundational ideals of our representative democracy. In this episode, Brian Newman uncovers who’s represented, who’s not, and how it affects their view of government. Prof. Newman is ...
Why the Federal Reserve Is More Politically Constrained Than You Think
March 06, 2018 15:30 - 34 minutes - 48 MBWe’ve been having a mistaken debate, or so it would seem based on the new book The Myth of Independence. The Federal Reserve, the nation’s central bank and most influential economic regulator, isn’t as independent as critics like Rand Paul and Bernie Sanders suggest. Congress created it, and Congress continues to shape it to the people’s will. This new perspective might just change your expectations about Fed policy and your appreciation for their delicate strategic work. In this episode, ...
The Risky, Rocky Ride of Today’s Economy . . . and the Central Bankers Who Keep Watch
February 21, 2018 00:11 - 1 hour - 86.8 MBJust when you thought the economy was the only good news you could count on, the stock market took a dive on the heels of Janet Yellen’s exit from the Federal Reserve. Suddenly, Americans everywhere wondered whether the volatility and uncertainty in Washington had finally caught up with the long, steady recovery stretching from those dark days in 2009. Should we be worried? Who’s looking out for the economy? And do they have a plan for the risks that await us in 2018 and beyond? In this ep...
In Defense of Our Political Party System (Sort Of)
January 24, 2018 01:58 - 37 minutes - 52.4 MBA government shutdown doesn’t inspire confidence. Politicians, their parties, and the leaders of those parties all get a hefty amount of blame from the American people. But you know that Winston Churchill quote about democracy being the best system except for all the others? It turns out there’s some truth to that. With today’s guest, we ask where all this gridlock comes from, what we can really do about it, and whether politics really deserves all the blame it gets. In this episode, Thad...
Can You Hear Us Shouting in the Void? Here’s How We Do It…and Why
January 09, 2018 15:00 - 44 minutes - 61.4 MBYou have a choice. Will you listen to this podcast? Or will you choose one of the other millions of glittering objects clamoring for your attention? You want to know how & why we compete for your time? Let’s peak behind the curtain at the wizard and all the machinations there. In this episode, Jonathan Schwartz explains how we do what we do every time we broadcast over your smartphone—and how we fight the growing distractions and distortions that loom in the media landscape.
Let Every Voice Be Heard: How to Elevate the Public Debate in 2018
December 26, 2017 13:00 - 57 minutes - 79.2 MBOur American Discourse is a small piece of a big effort. We’re not the only ones trying to raise the level of public debate in this country. Take a walk through the Price School, and you’ll see room after room of scholars who genuinely care about the public interest. Stop at the Bedrosian Center, and you’ll find the people who have taken it upon themselves to engage directly with the public. That’s where I spend most of my days on campus, and it’s where I want to take you today to meet the l...
While the World Burns, a More Sustainable Future Is in the Making
December 13, 2017 20:15 - 39 minutes - 54.9 MBAt this very moment, wildfires rage across Southern California. These blazes are only the latest in the increasingly volatile and destructive evidence of change in our climate. There is hope. Even as the U.S. withdraws from the Paris Agreement - cities, states, and private companies are all rushing to fill the void. Sustainability is becoming a win-win-win: environmentally, socially, and financially. The question is, are we too late? In this episode, Christine Harada gives us an optimism t...
How the Senate Can Beat Gridlock—and Why That’s Not Always a Good Thing
November 28, 2017 18:05 - 37 minutes - 52.3 MBAmericans are fed up with gridlock. Congress is one of the least popular institutions in the country. So you might think the solution is for legislators to pass major legislation. But what if the solution is even more controversial than the problem? If you’ve heard of “budget reconciliation,” you probably didn’t hear unanimously good things. That’s because it’s a risky game…a fascinating, strategic game deep in the trenches of our democratic tug-of-war. In this episode, Molly E. Reynolds, ...
When Politicians Get Rich and Voters Pay the Price
November 15, 2017 23:53 - 36 minutes - 50.8 MBVoters have long suspected that politicians are corrupt, so much so that they’ve demanded a long list of ethics rules and anti-bribery regulations over the years. But it turns out there are still plenty of tricks left up their sleeves. The question is, do they use those tricks? Do they really have the power to enrich themselves at our expense? Today, we have a wealth of new evidence that finally answers those questions… In this episode, Jordan Carr Peterson unveils the concerning conclusio...
Imagining a Future That’s Better Than the Past
October 31, 2017 20:46 - 25 minutes - 36.1 MBIn this episode, philanthropist Nicolas Berggruen shares his vision of a progressive, cooperative future where people and technology work together to build an inclusive, intelligent society. With “populists” speaking openly about returning to the past, we found someone who’s investing real money to look forward to make a better future. For links and more details, check out the showpage.
The Very First OAD Mixtape
October 18, 2017 17:05 - 35 minutes - 49.5 MBCheck out this compilation of some of the best moments in Our American Discourse history. And even if you’ve heard them all, it helps to be reminded just how much we’ve learned and how entertained we’ve been by the guests we’ve been fortunate to interview. With the holiday season just around the corner, think of this mixtape as our gift to you. https://bedrosian.usc.edu/discourse/mixtape
What’s Lost in the Transition from Refugee to American Citizen
October 03, 2017 16:55 - 37 minutes - 52.2 MBWhat becomes of a refugee when they’re no longer a refugee? We spend so much time talking about migration caps and vetting that we seem to ignore all the Americans living amongst us, trying to acclimate to their new country after the harrowing journey from their former homeland. Would it surprise you to learn that they start their new life in substantial debt? Or that they don’t have many of the basic items they need to live, let alone feel like a human being? Wouldn’t you like to know how y...
Sports, Racism, and the First Amendment
September 19, 2017 16:19 - 1 hour - 85.8 MBTo some, it represents the highest ideals of our society. To others, it is a symbol of unfulfilled potential at best, outright oppression at worst. Are we referring to the American flag? Or to American sports? This debate is about more than one athlete or one gesture. It is about an institution, a system of competition, dominance, and deeply ingrained beliefs. In this episode, we examine this balance of power—and the protestors who are trying to change it. In front of a live audience at US...
Why So Many Women Can’t Access Health Care
September 05, 2017 23:06 - 54 minutes - 76.1 MBIn Imperial County, just outside San Diego, 5.5 percent of teenage girls become pregnant every year. Twice the rate in the rest of California. Why is teen pregnancy so rampant here, when it’s been declining to record lows statewide? And why has it received so little attention? My guest solved both of these mysteries. What she found will make you rethink everything you thought you knew about women’s health care—and the politics that determine whether it’s accessible for all. In this episode...
How to Stop Feeling Marginalized and Start Engaging in Politics
August 22, 2017 20:13 - 46 minutes - 64.4 MBDo you think politics is only for the elites? It’s for the rich and powerful. It isn’t for people who look like you or talk like you or live like you. Well, that may be the world we’ve constructed, but it’s not inevitable. You deserve better. Still not convinced? Good, then this episode is for you. In this episode, inspirational speaker and social work professor Melissa Bird knocks down the misconceptions that marginalize us and shows us how to develop the attitude to take on t...