The Scholars' Circle

The Scholars' Circle
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Insight into Today's Most Pressing Issues

Episodes

  1. 1 day ago

    Scholars’ Circle – Current and Future Migration Issues within US from Climate Disasters – August 2, 2026

    Climate change will lead to climate migration and there has been a renewed interest in adaptation strategies. Mitigation efforts seek to limit the amount of greenhouse gases in the environment to slow climate change but adaptation recognizes that the climate has changed and we as a society and as a planet must adapt to these rising temperatures and the changing ecosystem. We will explore some of the challenges for adaptation. We Interview Jesse M.Keenan author of the book North: Future of Post Climate America. He surveys places which are vulnerable to climate change effects and looks at state and regional implications of migration in America. [ dur: 26mins. ] Jesse M. Keenan is Favrot II Associate Professor of Sustainable Real Estate and Urban Planning at the School of Architecture and the Built Environment. His research advances the interdisciplinary fields of sustainable real estate and infrastructure finance and development. He is the author of the book North: Future of Post Climate America. In addition, we discuss how climate change is socio-economically tied to movement. When disaster strikes, who is able to move and who is forced to remain? How will climate change affect demographics? How will it affect the economy, politics, and the well-being of the country as a whole? [ dur: 32mins. ] Jesse M. Keenan is Favrot II Associate Professor of Sustainable Real Estate and Urban Planning at the School of Architecture and the Built Environment. His research advances the interdisciplinary fields of sustainable real estate and infrastructure finance and development. He is the author of the book North: Future of Post Climate America. Matt Hauer is Charles B. Nam Associate Professor, Department of Sociology – Center for Demography and Population Health at Florida State University. He is the co-author of Sea-level rise and human migration. This program was originally recorded in Nov. 2025. This program is produced by Doug Becker, Ankine Aghassian, Maria Armoudian, Sudd Dongre and Anna Lapin. Environment, Financial, Climate Change, Ecosystems, Governance / Law, United States, Urbanism

  2. 27 Jul

    Scholars’ Circle – Book Author Interview on “Cold War Football: A History in Ten Matches” and 1973 Coup D’État in Chile – July 26, 2026

    The 2026 World Cup has finished and the final two teams, Spain and Argentina, have stirred up old notions of what we call soft power. Sports play a large role in how countries display their soft power, but it can often be confused for cooperation. Indeed all power is contested and soft power is no exception, and the contest is clear when two national teams meet in a sports contest. Examples of soft power interactions in sports include the US beating the USSR in hockey in the 1980 Winter Games or the Soviets defeating the US in basketball at the 1972 Olympics during the height of the Cold War. No sport, however, garners more international interest than soccer (or what the rest of the world calls football). Our guests have written a new book that defines the Cold War rivalry through the lens of ten historic soccer matches. The book is called Cold War Football: A history in Ten matches. [ dur: 33mins. ] Tony Shaw is Professor of Contemporary History at the University of Hertfordshire. He is the co-author of The American and Soviet Struggle for Hearts and Minds and Hollywood and Israel: a History. Alan McDougall is Professor of History at the University of Guelph. He is the author of Contested Fields; A Global History of Modern Football and Dreams and Songs to Sing: A People’s History of Liverpool FC from Shankly to Klopp. We revisit the September 11th, 1973 coup in Chile that toppled democratically elected Salvador Allende and installed the dictator Augustin Pinochet. We’ll hear what happened, explore the latest revelations and how Chileans are dealing with their past now.  [ dur: 25mins. ] For a transcript of this interview, please visit: TheBigQ This interview was recorded September, 2014. John Dingus is Professor of Journalism at Columbia University. He is the author of The Condor Years: How Pinochet And His Allies Brought Terrorism To Three Continents and Our Man in Panama: How General Noriega Used the United States- And Made Millions in Drugs and Arms Peter Kornbluh directs the Cuba Documentation Project and the Chile Documentation Project at the National Security Archives. He is the author of The Pinochet File: A Declassified Dossier on Atrocity and Accountability, co-author of Back Channel to Cuba: The Hidden History of Negotiations between Washington and Havana and  The Iran-Contra Scandal: The Declassified History. This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker, Sudd Dongre, and Anna Lapin. Politics and Activism, Diplomacy, Social Sciences, Organized Sports

  3. 21 Jul

    Scholars’ Circle – Protesting for the Disappeared in Mexico and US Guns Supply Mexican Gangs – July 19, 2026

    At games played for the World Cup in Mexico, protesters have lined the stadium on behalf of Mexico’s disappeared. It is estimated that 135,000 people have disappeared in Mexico and there has been no accounting of them. Desapardcidos protests by families of the missing during World Cup in Mexico City. Photo by D. Mora. Their families and loved ones want to know where they are or what happened. So we will explore this issue. Why has the number of disappeared surged in recent years in Mexico? Who are the disappeared? And what has the protest at games meant for a global public whose attention is on the country and are just learning of these disappeared. [ dur: 31mins. ] David Mora is Senior Analyst for Mexico with the International Crisis Group. He researches organised crime, violence, corruption and conflict. He has worked for VICE News, NBC News, ProPublica and The Atlantic. He has won prestigious awards for his coverage of migration, criminal violence and corruption in Mexico. He is the author of Mexico Struggles for Security under White House Duress and Killing of Mexican Cartel Boss Brings Diplomatic Victory and Domestic Mayhem Beyond asylum seekers heading north, the problems of US/Mexico Border are also about the flow of guns and drugs. How can we understand the totality of problems related to the US southern border? What are the solutions? [ dur: 27mins. ] We speak with Ieva Jusionyte, author of a new book Exit Wounds: How America’s Guns Fuel Violence Across the Border. [ dur: 26mins. ]. Note: This is an excerpt from the interview made in May, 2024. You can hear the full interview here. Ieva Jusionyte is a legal and medical anthropologist and associate professor at Brown University. She is also the author of award-winning ethnography Threshold: Emergency Responders on the US-Mexico Border. She has been studying borders, violence, and security in Latin America and the United States for over fifteen years. This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker and Sudd Dongre. Politics and Activism, Human Rights, Gun Lobby, Militarism, Mexico, Borders

  4. 12 Jul

    Scholars’ Circle – Author Interview on “AMERICA’S WRONG TURN: US Health Care in the Neo-liberal Era” – July 12, 2026

    It didn’t always cost this much and deliver this little. Something broke in the early 1980s—and in AMERICA’S WRONG TURN: US Health Care in the Neoliberal Era (Johns Hopkins University Press, August 11, 2026. You can use Promo-Code of HTWN at checkout to get 30% discount), John E. McDonough explains exactly what it was. The failings of the American healthcare system didn’t happen by accident. They happened because its already sprawling, fragmented structure—Medicare, Medicaid, employer-sponsored insurance, the VA, and more—left it uniquely exposed to a de-regulatory wave that moved fast and largely out of public view. A bedrock faith in free markets was let into the hen house, and the results are stark: the U.S. now spends more and delivers worse outcomes than any other wealthy nation on earth. John McDonough watched neo-liberal economic agenda reshape American political thinking—often without recognizing the seismic nature of the shift in the moment. Its narrow focus on economic and business interests altered government’s role, drove consolidation across industries, deregulated the healthcare sector, and shifted corporate priorities away from consumer benefit and toward shareholder returns. [ dur: 36 mins. ] John McDonough is a professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a former Massachusetts state legislator who served thirteen years in the 1980s and 1990s as neo-liberalism was overtaking American political life. He has also co-authored Overcoming the Digital Divide in Health Care AI. Then, many observers argue, that the economic forces are corrupting medical care and eroding the trust between patients and their doctors. The problems in health care delivery have wide implications related to how health care should function particularly when there are limited resources. We examine the ethics of medicine and healthcare, and the modern day issues that complicate them. [ dur: 22 mins. ] Note: this segment is an excerpt from interview recorded on January 16, 2015. The complete version can be found here. Thomas Pogge is the Director of the Global Justice Program and Professor of Philosophy and International Affairs at Yale University. His books include World Poverty and Human Rights and Freedom from Poverty: Who Owes What to the Very Poor?. Martin Wilkinson is Professor of Politics and International Relations at the University of Auckland. His books include Freedom, Efficiency and Equality and Ethics and the Acquisition of Organs. Richard Cookson is Professor at the Centre for Health Economics, and Co-Director of the Equity in Health Policy (Equipol) research group at the University of York. His books include The Humble Economist: Tony Culyer on Health, Health Care and Social Decision Making and Jonathan Bradshaw on Social Policy: Selected Writings 1972-2011. This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker and Sudd Dongre. Health, Politics and Activism, Healthcare Industry, Medicine, neo-liberal economics

  5. 7 Jul

    Scholars’ Circle – SCOTUS Decisions: Birthright Citizenship and Refugee Rights – July 5, 2026

    The 14th Amendment of the US Constitution, Section 1 reads as follows: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.” So all persons born in the US are citizens. We call this Birthright Citizenship. In Trump v Barbara, the US Supreme Court agreed. But only 5 of the 9 justices agreed. So what was the decision of the Court in this case, and what is the status of citizenship in the US? And how does it relate to the two asylum cases the Supreme Court decided, on temporary protective status or TPS and on where a person can claim asylum. On today’s show, we discuss the US and immigration and asylum. [ dur: 58mins. ] Naomi Paik is Associate Professor of Global Asian Studies and Criminology, Law and Justice at University of Illinois, Chicago. She is the author of Bans, Walls, Raids, Sanctuary: Understanding U.S. Immigration for the 21st Century and Rightlessness: Testimony and Redress in U.S. Prison Camps since World War II, winner, Best Book in History. Gabriel “Jack” Chin is Distinguished Professor of Law and Director of Clinical Legal Education at UC Davies School of Law. The U.S. Supreme Court has cited his work in two cases: Chaidez v. United States and Padilla v. Kentucky. And Justice Sotomyer has cited his law article in Utah v. Strieff. He is the co-author of Birthright Citizenship, Slave Trade Legislation, and the Origins of Federal Immigration Regulation and  author of A Nation of White Immigrants: State and Federal Racial Preferences for White Noncitizens. Hiroshi Motomura is the Susan Westerberg Prager Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is the author of Americans in Waiting: The Lost Story of Immigration and Citizenship in the United States and his latest book Borders and Belonging: Toward a Fair Immigration Policy. Anna Law holds the Herbert Kurz Chair in Constitutional Rights at Brooklyn College, City University of New York. She is the author of The Immigration Battle in American Courts and Migration and the Origins of American Citizenship: African Americans, Native Americans, and Immigrants. This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker and Sudd Dongre. Politics and Activism, Governance / Law, Courts, Refugees, asylum seekers, birthright, Jurisdiction

  6. 29 Jun

    Scholars’ Circle – SCOTUS Decisions: Gun Rights and Pushing Colorblind Justice – June 28, 2026

    If its June, its time for Supreme Court decisions. On today’s show we will explore recent rulings on two large topics. The first is the extent of the second amendment. That’s the gun rights Amendment and the right to bear arms. Then we will turn to the broad question, is the Constitution colorblind? What role does and should race play in Supreme Court decisions? [ dur: 58mins ] Robert J. Spitzer is Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Political Science Department at SUNY Cortland, New York. He is the author of Guns Across America: Reconciling Gun Rules And Rights, The Politics of Gun Control, and The Gun Dilemma. Eric J. Segall, Ashe Family Chair Professor of Law and the Executive Director of Emmet J. Bondurant Center for Constitutional Law, Practice and Democracy at Georgia State University. He is the author of Originalism as Faith and Supreme Myths: Why the Supreme Court Is Not a Court and Its Justices Are Not Judges. Carlton Larson is Martin Luther King Jr. Professor of Law at the University of California at Davis. He is the author of The Origins of Adversary Criminal Trial in America and One Nation Under Law: The Meaning of the Declaration of Independence. This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker and Sudd Dongre. Politics and Activism, Governance / Law, Courts, Gun Lobby, Gun Violence

  • 6 Episodes

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Insight into Today's Most Pressing Issues

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  • Creator
    The Scholars' Circle
  • Years Active
    2015 - 2026
  • Episodes
    6
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © copyright 2023- The Scholars' Circle
  • Show Website
    The Scholars' Circle

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