Impolitic is a semi-regular podcast that explores major threats to global security and stability. The podcast seeks to bring the "classroom to the living room" by featuring renowned scholars, experts, and journalists to help listeners better understand key issues facing the world today.
This special edition of Impolitic features several legal experts and scholars to help us better understand America’s electoral system. We first reflect on the 2020 election and implication for the upcoming 2024 election. Our guests explain legal processes and permissible challenges that may occur in an election. We also explore potential conspiracy theories, misinformation, and disinformation that may affect public opinion. We close by providing listeners with resources to better understand America’s election system.
Ballotpedia is a non-profit and non-partisan organization dedicated to providing unbiased information on elections, politics, and policy. We encourage all listeners to visit Ballotpedia (ballotpedia.org (http://ballotpedia.org)) for more information on local and federal elections.
15 Jul 2024TRANSCRIPT
Book Bans in America
In this episode, we speak with John Chrastka, the founder and Executive Director of EveryLibrary. He explains the recent increase in the number of book challenges and bans in America. We explore the rational and motivations behind book bans, and discuss various ways to protect libraries and intellectual thought for future generations.
EveryLibrary helps public schools and college libraries win funding at the ballot box and seeks to ensure stable funding and access to libraries for generations to come. They also support grassroot efforts across the country to defend and support local libraries against book banning, illicit political interference, and threats of closure. Please visit their website (https://www.everylibrary.org/ (https://www.everylibrary.org/)) to learn more.
23 Apr 2024TRANSCRIPT
Pollution & Politics
Dr. Patrick Hunnicutt and Dr. Geoffrey Henderson discuss their research that air pollution reduces the level of political participation in the United States. As they explain, this could have serious negative consequences for the future of American democracy — as air pollution increases, democracy will suffer. Despite their findings, Drs. Hunnicutt and Henderson offer clear policy solutions and suggestions to reverse this negative trend.
15 Feb 2024TRANSCRIPT
A Year Without Garbage?
We speak with Eve Schaub, an internationally published author and humorist. She is the author of Year of No Sugar and Year of No Clutter, and her work has been featured on the Dr. Oz Show, Fox & Friends, USA Today, and The Huffington Post among others. We discuss Eve’s latest book, Year of No Garbage, in which she describes her attempt to live an entire year without creating any trash at all! Eve explains the ubiquity of plastics which she characterizes as the 'Darth Vader’ of the environment, provides insight on why our modern recycling system is broken, and argues that it may actually be better not to recycle.
28 Nov 2023
Climate Change 101
In this episode, Dr. James Kinter of George Mason University provides a basic understanding of climate change. We cover key terms and frequently asked questions including how we define “climate” and what it means for climate to change. He helps us understand other key concepts and terms, and addresses conspiracies and commonly misunderstood facts. Dr. Kinter closes by discussing potential policy solutions, and we we should be optimistic about the future.
2 Feb 2023
Memes & Memetics
In this episode we chat with Benjamin Decker, a technology researcher and former investigative journalist at The New York Times. He is currently the CEO of Memetica, an open-source and human intelligence digital investigative firm. Ben explains the role of memetics and the importance of studying online information and social culture. We address the implications and potential dangers of online content that threaten the United States, and discuss the role of open source intelligence in the Ukraine War. Find out why Ben says online content sharing is basically a high school popularity contest!
To learn more about Memetica, check out their website: https://memetica.co/ (https://memetica.co/).
13 Dec 2022
Divided Armies & "Wokeism"
We speak with Professor Jason Lyall of Dartmouth College and discuss his new book, Divided Armies: Inequality and Battlefield Performance in Modern War. Professor Lyall explains why both diversity and inclusion are important components of an effective military force. We also address the recent critique that the US military is "woke" and discuss why incorporating broad viewpoints are essential in the military academies.
Professor Lyall's book, Divided Armies, is available from Princeton University Press: https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691192437/divided-armies (https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691192437/divided-armies).
3 Nov 2022
What is Socialism?
In this special edition of Impolitic, we ask two scholars to help us answer the question: what is socialism? Robert Wyllie of Ashland University and Barry Eidlin of McGill University offer their respective insight and opinion on how socialism is defined, and the role it plays in both the United States and around the world.
11 Oct 2022
Gun Control
We explore the history of gun control in the United States with Professor Robert Spitzer -- one of the country's leading experts on gun control. Dr Spitzer offers a broad history of gun control and discusses the many myths concerning gun control policies. The episode concludes with a brief conversation on areas for potential agreement between both sides of this contentious debate.
17 Aug 2022
Critical Race Theory (CRT) Explained
We speak with Dr. Nolan Cabrera of the University of Arizona to help us understand critical race theory (CRT). He provides a broad explanation and historical overview of the academic theory. We also discuss the various criticisms CRT has faced -- both in academia and in public discourse.
27 Jul 2022
Forgetting Conspiracies & Leaving Cults
We speak with Diane Benscoter, the founder of Antidote -- a non-profit organization that seeks to address psychological manipulation. Diane shares her own personal story as a former cult member and explains how other individuals may also be 'deprogrammed' to leave cults and reject unfounded conspiracy theories. Diane also emphasizes the public health dimension of Antidote's efforts to better educate the wider public and inform public policymaking.
If you or someone you love is involved in a group or organization that might be using psychological manipulation, please visit Antidote (https://antidote.ngo/ (https://antidote.ngo/)) for more information on how they can help.
13 Jul 2022
Hate, Racism, & Antisemitism
In this episode we speak with Rabbi Ron Fish, the Northeast Division Director of Antisemitism Advocacy and Education at the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). Rabbi Fish describes the prevalence of white supremacy and racism in the United States today. We also discuss the various trends, world views, and manifestos of right-wing terrorists. Rabbi Fish concludes by offering thoughts on how local communities and faith-based religious organizations can come together to combat hate and extremism.
Be sure to check out the Anti-Defamation League (https://www.adl.org/ (https://www.adl.org/)) to learn more about antisemitism and racism, and the various ways the ADL seeks to combat hate and protect democracy.
10 Jun 2022
QAnon Today
In this episode we ask Stephanie Hegarty, an award winning journalist for the BBC, to provide an update on how QAnon has evolved over the years. She has covered QAnon extensively and released several mini-documentaries that attempt to understand the perspective of QAnon believers. We ask about the current status of QAnon today and whether individuals continue support the controversial "Q" movement.
24 May 2022
Understanding the January 6 Insurrection: The Control Variable
In this special edition of Impolitic we speak with Kimberly Cutter, writer and host of The Control Variable - an investigative podcast about American propaganda and understanding the causes of the January 6 insurrection. For more information on The Control Variable podcast, please visit their website (https://atomicwhalestudios.com/thecontrolvariable/ (https://atomicwhalestudios.com/thecontrolvariable/)).
9 May 2022
ANTIFA: Social Justice or Terrorism?
We explore ANTIFA and attempt to determine if it is an organization or simply an ideology, and assess whether it is a movement for social justice or terrorism. In this episode we are joined by Professor Anna Meier of the University of Nottingham to help us better understand ANTIFA.
22 Apr 2022
Understanding Conspiracy Theories
In this episode we interview Professor Joseph Uscinski, an American political scientist who is considered one of the leading experts on conspiracy theories. We cover the basics of how individuals come to believe in conspiracy theories, the role of social media and whether conspiracies are expanding, and discuss whether to be optimistic or pessimistic about the future.
21 Mar 2022
Oil Prices Amidst Crisis
We interview Professor Thane Gustafson of Georgetown University who is widely regarded as one of the world's foremost experts on oil. Professor Gustafson provides a broad overview of how oil supply and prices are established, discusses the impact of the Ukrainian war on global oil markets, and offers his thoughts on the future of hydrocarbons as an energy resource.
1 Mar 2022
Ukrainian Refugees in Poland
We examine how refugees are being received in Poland as a humanitarian crisis now unfolds in Europe as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. We also discuss the current status of the Russian military and its ongoing operations.
24 Feb 2022
Crisis in Ukraine
We speak with journalists on the front lines in Kiev and get their perspective on the looming threat of a Russian invasion.
Inside a recent episode
2024 American Election: Legal Fact vs. Fiction
Published 1 Oct 2024 · Transcript excerpt
[…] A lower court in Pennsylvania had said these had to be counted under the state constitution to protect people's right to vote because we know they are eligible voters who voted on time, which has made an immaterial mistake. The state Supreme Court chucked that on a technicality in terms of which counties were joined in the lawsuit. If that lawsuit had come out the other way, then the US Supreme Court would have had to address whether the state court went too far in terms of changing the rules for the state legislature. It's a very complicated issue, called the independent state legislature theory. […]
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