Baker Institute

•

Channel • 5 Shows

Politics

Politics

Updated weekly
Politics

Politics

Series
Business News

Business News

Twice monthly
Politics

Politics

Monthly
Politics

Politics

Updated weekly

28/04/2025

86: Trump’s Sprawling Deportation Campaign

With its aggressive mass deportation campaign, the Trump administration is attempting to reshape long-standing U.S. immigration policy — and increasingly defying constitutional guardrails in the process. On this episode, experts examine the legal and social implications of the administration’s unconventional targeting of legal permanent and temporary residents, asylum seekers, and even foreign students, and well as the administration’s overt challenges to judicial authority and due process rights. Host David Satterfield was joined by Tony Payan, director of the Baker Institute Center for the U.S. and Mexico; Luz Maria Garcini, assistant professor of psychological sciences at Rice University and director of the Center for Community and Public Health at Rice’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research; and David Donatti, a senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Texas and lecturer at Rice. This conversation was recorded on April 21, 2025, in front of a live studio audience. Learn about future live recordings of the “Baker Briefing” podcast by subscribing to our “Events Digest” newsletter at https://www.bakerinstitute.org/newsletter. You can follow @BakerInstitute on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube, and learn more about our data-driven, nonpartisan policy research and analysis at bakerinstitute.org.

28/04/2025

•

40 min
05/05/2025

87: America’s AI Strategy Is Falling Short

We’re in a new era of discovery in the history of artificial intelligence, but rapid advances in the technology are also bringing major risks. Moshe Vardi, a leading expert in computational engineering and Baker Institute fellow, joins the podcast to discuss the ethical and strategic choices on AI facing the U.S. amid its competition with China and the unintended consequences of outsourcing our thinking to machines. Mentioned in this episode: Moshe Vardi, “Big Tech, You Need Academia. Speak Up!,” Communications of the ACM 68, no. 5 (2025): 5, https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3727870. This conversation was recorded in front of a live studio audience on April 17, 2025. Learn about future live recordings of the “Baker Briefing” podcast by subscribing to our “Events Digest” newsletter at https://www.bakerinstitute.org/newsletter. You can follow @BakerInstitute on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Learn more about our data-driven, nonpartisan policy research and analysis at bakerinstitute.org.

05/05/2025

•

41 min
08/05/2025

From ‘Baker Briefing’: Trump’s Sprawling Deportation Campaign (Guests: David Donatti, Luz Garcini & Tony Payan)

Last month, Tony Payan joined the “Baker Briefing” podcast along with Rice University professor Luz Maria Garcini and ACLU of Texas attorney David Donatti to discuss the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign. They explored the legal and social implications of the administration’s unconventional targeting of legal permanent and temporary residents, asylum seekers, and even foreign students, as well as the administration’s overt challenges to judicial authority and due process rights. This episode was recorded in front of a live studio audience on May 21, 2025. You can follow Follow @BakerInstMexico on X, LinkedIn, and Bluesky. Subscribe to the “US-Mexico Update,” delivered monthly, at bakerinstitute.org/newsletters.

08/05/2025

•

42 min
6 MAR

21: War With Iran: How Far Could It Go?

War between Iran, the United States, and Israel is entering a volatile new phase — raising urgent questions about escalation, leadership in Tehran, and the future stability of the Middle East. Ambassador David M. Satterfield and Mohammad Ayatollahi Tabaar discuss how Iran’s leadership is interpreting the conflict and the domestic and regional pressures shaping its response. They explore the sustainability of Iran’s military strategy, the implications of potential leadership change in Tehran, and what the widening confrontation could mean for the region—and the world. This conversation was recorded on Mar. 5, 2026. Listen and subscribe to “Baker Briefing” on Apple, Spotify, or your preferred podcast platform. You can follow @BakerInstitute on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Learn more about our data-driven, nonpartisan policy research and analysis at bakerinstitute.org.

6 Mar

•

32 min
26/05/2025

90: As the US Steps Back, Can China Fill the Void?

In its first months, the second Trump administration has upended the alliances, institutions, and norms that have anchored U.S. foreign policy for decades — hiking tariffs on virtually all countries, downplaying U.S. military commitments, and all but dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development. Meanwhile, as the U.S. steps back from a world order that’s largely of its own making, China is attempting to fill the void. Steven Lewis, director of the Baker Institute China Studies Program, joined “Baker Briefing” to discuss what China’s global soft power campaign looks like and how successful it’s proven thus far. Featured guest: Steven Lewis, Ph.D., https://www.bakerinstitute.org/expert/steven-w-lewis This conversation was recorded on May 13, 2025. A transcript of this episode is available here: https://bit.ly/43djVT8. You can follow @BakerInstitute on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Learn more about our data-driven, nonpartisan policy research and analysis at bakerinstitute.org.

26/05/2025

•

26 min
16/06/2025

93: Claudia Sheinbaum’s Balancing Act (Part 2)

This is the second episode in a two-part conversation on the challenges facing Mexico domestically and in its relationship with the United States. Tony Payan, director of the Center for the U.S. and Mexico, joins “Baker Briefing” to examine the host of issues facing the U.S.-Mexico relationship under Presidents Donald Trump and Claudia Sheinbaum. His conversation with David Satterfield covers tariffs and the future of the North American trade agreement, Trump’s executive order designating cartels as terrorists — which has led to U.S. visa restrictions for some Mexican politicians — and the brewing water crisis facing Sheinbaum as drought at the border persists. Featured: Tony Payan, Ph.D., https://www.bakerinstitute.org/expert/tony-payan Follow Tony on X: https://x.com/PayanTony Follow Tony on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tony-payan-373bb870/ This conversation was recorded on May 14, 2025. A transcript of this episode is available here: https://bit.ly/3ZVKOIX You can follow @BakerInstitute on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Learn more about our data-driven, nonpartisan policy research and analysis at bakerinstitute.org.

16/06/2025

•

24 min
18/08/2025

88: Chocolate Cars’: Illegal Vehicle Imports to Mexico From the US (Guests: Guillermo Rosales Zárate & Juan Vega Gómez)

Each year, hundreds of thousands of cars are imported illegally into Mexico from the United States. These unregistered “chocolate cars” — a play on the word “chueco,” which means “crooked” in Spanish — not only crowd out the national light vehicle market, but often fail to meet pollution and safety standards and can be used in serious crimes. The used car industry in the U.S. is partially responsible for allowing the vehicles to enter Mexico at extremely low prices. But the Mexican government also contributes to the influx by occasionally legalizing their circulation. A regularization program for used imported vehicles was recently extended to 2026 in the final days of the Andrés Manuel López Obrador administration. Guillermo Rosales Zárate, executive director of the Mexican Association of Dealerships (AMDA) and Juan Vega Gómez, a senior researcher at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), joined Tony Payan on “México Centered” to explore the chocolate car phenomenon and the black and gray markets that emerge along the U.S.-Mexico border in the absence of critical binational coordination. This conversation was recorded on July 22, 2025. Featured guests: Guillermo Rosales Zárate, https://www.linkedin.com/in/guillermo-rosales-zárate-20258b19a/ Juan Vega Gómez, https://www.juanvegagomez.com/ More about Tony Payan, Ph.D.: https://www.bakerinstitute.org/expert/tony-payan Follow Tony Payan on X (@PayanTony) and LinkedIn. You can follow @BakerInstitute and @BakerInstMexico on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Learn more about our data-driven, nonpartisan policy research and analysis at bakerinstitute.org.

18/08/2025

•

40 min
17/03/2025

80: Rethinking Climate Migration: Agency and Adaptability

The climate crisis is driving more and more people around the world to leave their homes and communities, often permanently. This isn’t an issue for the distant future: 26.4 million displacements related to natural disasters and slow-onset events like drought and sea-level rise were recorded around the world in 2023 alone. Julia Blocher, a project lead at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and a visiting scholar at the Baker Institute this spring, joined the “Baker Briefing” podcast to discuss the phenomenon of climate migration around the world and in the United States. Together, Blocher and David M. Satterfield explore the relationship between climate change and migration, the disproportionate impacts for disadvantaged people and marginalized groups, and why it’s important to understand migration as a possible adaptation to the climate crisis. This conversation was recorded on Feb. 18, 2025.

17/03/2025

•

17 min
02/06/2025

91: Putting Safety First in the Firearm Policy Debate

Drs. Sandra McKay and Eric Fleegler, both experts in the Baker Institute Firearm Injury Prevention and Safety Program, joined “Baker Briefing” to discuss the worsening gun injury epidemic ahead of our fourth annual firearm injury prevention conference on June 6. They discussed areas of consensus among firearm-owners and non-owners alike, including child access prevention laws and age purchasing regulations, and prospects for commonsense gun legislation at the Texas and national levels. Featured guests: Sandra McKay, M.D., FAAP, https://www.bakerinstitute.org/expert/sandra-mckay Eric Fleegler, M.D., MPH, https://www.bakerinstitute.org/expert/eric-fleegler Mentioned in this episode: Christopher F. Kulesza et al., “The State of Student Mental Health in Houston Schools,” Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, May 13, 2025, https://doi.org/10.25613/6823-6W19. This conversation was recorded on May 20, 2025. A transcript of this episode is available here: https://bit.ly/3SnjEXs You can follow @BakerInstitute on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Learn more about our data-driven, nonpartisan policy research and analysis at bakerinstitute.org.

02/06/2025

•

32 min
07/08/2025

99: Texas’ Redistricting Fight Goes National

Texas Republicans are moving to redraw the state’s congressional district map and flip five House seats for the GOP — an unusual mid-decade redistricting effort that comes at the urging of President Donald Trump ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. To block the map’s passage, Texas Democrats have fled the state, denying Republican state leaders the quorum needed to hold a vote. Political science fellow Mark P. Jones joined “Baker Briefing” to break down the political standoff and what’s at stake for electoral politics in Texas and nationwide. Featured: Mark P. Jones, Ph.D., https://www.bakerinstitute.org/expert/mark-p-jones This conversation was recorded on Aug. 5, 2025. A transcript of this episode is available here: http://bit.ly/47jPYD6 You can follow @BakerInstitute on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Learn more about our data-driven, nonpartisan policy research and analysis at bakerinstitute.org.

07/08/2025

•

33 min

High-quality discussions with policy experts on the most critical issues facing the U.S., Texas, and the world. Brought to you by Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy in Houston, Texas.

Website

Baker Institute

Top Shows

86: Trump’s Sprawling Deportation Campaign

87: America’s AI Strategy Is Falling Short

From ‘Baker Briefing’: Trump’s Sprawling Deportation Campaign (Guests: David Donatti, Luz Garcini & Tony Payan)

21: War With Iran: How Far Could It Go?

90: As the US Steps Back, Can China Fill the Void?

93: Claudia Sheinbaum’s Balancing Act (Part 2)

88: Chocolate Cars’: Illegal Vehicle Imports to Mexico From the US (Guests: Guillermo Rosales Zárate & Juan Vega Gómez)

80: Rethinking Climate Migration: Agency and Adaptability

91: Putting Safety First in the Firearm Policy Debate

99: Texas’ Redistricting Fight Goes National

About

Baker Institute

Top Shows

Top Episodes

About