Utterly Moderate Podcast

Connors Institute
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  • POLITICS
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Utterly Moderate Podcast

The Utterly Moderate Podcast is the official podcast of Connors Institute for Nonpartisan Research and Civic Engagement at Shippensburg University. The core mission of the Connors Institute is to disseminate high-quality nonpartisan information to the public. Utterly Moderate is hosted by Lawrence Eppard, a researcher, university professor, and director of the Connors Institute. On each episode, Eppard is joined by a guest (or two or three!) who helps listeners understand important topics by focusing on just the weight of the empirical evidence and none of the unneeded opinions or political agendas. We are aggressively nonpartisan in our approach. Be sure to visit us at ConnorsInstitute.org to learn more about all that we do!

  1. OCT 4

    Donald Trump, Hunter Biden, Jan. 6, and More. . . How the Pardon Power Is Used (and Abused!) (w/Kimberly Wehle)

    Before we begin, don't forget to check out Lawrence Eppard's new book, The Poisoning of the American Mind, and to read the newest piece in the Connors Journal on single parenthood in the U.S. Now on to the podcast. . .  Kimberly Wehle, a constitutional law expert at the University of Baltimore's School of Law, joins the Utterly Moderate Podcast to discuss her new book,  Pardon Power: How the Pardon Power System Works—and Why. Wehle and host Lawrence Eppard discuss a variety of topics, including: How the pardon power looms large in the current presidential election. Why Wehle believes the pardon power is necessary to retain. The constitutional limits of and possible reforms to the pardon. Both good and bad historical examples of the pardon's use. Whether it might be used (appropriately or inappropriately) to help the Jan. 6 rioters, Hunter Biden, or to self-pardon Donald Trump (and whether a self-pardon is even constitutional). Enjoy the conversation and please consider JOINING OUR MAILING LIST! ------------- ------------- Episode Audio: "Air Background Corporate" by REDCVT (Free Music Archive) "Please Listen Carefully" by Jahzzar (Free Music Archive) "Last Dance" by Jahzzar (Free Music Archive) “Happy Trails (To You)” by the Riders in the Sky (used with artist’s permission)

    28 min

  2. SEP 13

    Single Parenthood and Its Consequences for Children (w/Kay Hymowitz)

    Single parenthood has risen dramatically in the United States over time. Today, 34% of all children live in a single parent household, up from 9% in 1960. There are regrettable negative consequences of these statistics, as The Bulwark’s Mona Charen notes: “[C]hildren in mother-only homes are five times more likely to live in poverty than children with two parents. And children in father-only homes were twice as likely to be poor as those in married-couple homes. Poverty is not conducive to thriving, but even for kids who are not poor, those who grow up with only one parent fare worse than others on everything from school to work to trouble with the law. And the consequences of fatherlessness are more dire for boys than girls. Boys raised without fathers and/or without good adult male influences in their lives are less likely to attend college, be employed as adults, or remain drug-free.” And as the Manhattan Institute’s Kay Hymowitz writes: “Kids in single-parent homes have lower educational achievement, commit more crime, and suffer more emotional problems, even when controlling for parental income and education. Not only do young men and women from intact families (regardless of race and ethnicity) get more education and earn higher earnings than those raised with single mothers; they also do better than children who have a stepparent at home. Children growing up in an area where single-parent families are the norm have less of a chance of upward mobility than a child who lives where married-couple families dominate (regardless of whether that child lives with a single parent or with married parents). The evidence that the prevalence of single-parent households poses risks to individual children and communities goes on and on.” There are large variations in single parenthood rates by race/ethnicity, with 63% of Black children, 50% of Indigenous children, 42% of Latino children, 24% of non-Hispanic White children, and 16% of Asian American children living in single parent households. University of Maryland economist Melissa Kearney has published important research on how family structure impacts American children, including her new book, The Two Parent Privilege: How Americans Stopped Getting Married and Started Falling Behind: “The most recent research, much of which incorporates advanced statistical techniques, continues to show that children who are raised in single-mother households tend to have lower levels of completed education and lower levels of income as adults, even after statistically accounting for observable demographic characteristics (for example, where the family lives or the mother’s level of education)” (p. 52). In Table 1, Kearney shows how children of single parents differ in their life chances compared with children of married parents. For children of college-educated mothers, for instance, 57.0% have a college degree by age 25 if their mother was married, but only 28.6% of those raised with a college educated single mother.   In Figure 1 you can see, as Mona Charen alluded to, the strong correlation between the dominant family structure in a neighborhood and the upward mobility rate of children raised there. Even for children who themselves are raised in married parent households, they are statistically more likely to struggle in adulthood if they are raised in a community where there is widespread single parenthood. If you want to dive deeper into this subject, this paper from the Connors Institute has got you covered. Table 2 shows the large variations in poverty rates between American families with different structures. Taken together, all of these data strongly suggest that parents really matter. We discuss rising single parenthood and its consequences for children on the most recent episode of the Utterly Moderate Podcast. Joining us in this discussion is Kay Hymowitz, a research fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a contributing editor of City Journal.

    33 min

  3. AUG 13

    "The Poisoning" Is Here! (w/Jacob Mackey)

    On this episode of the Utterly Moderate Podcast, the authors of the brand new book, The Poisoning of the American Mind, talk about the book and its implications for America.  So what is their argument? A significant amount of research suggests that most people seek out news and information sources that mirror their worldviews, avoid ones that don’t, and interpret information using cognitive filters that force an alignment with what they already believe. As social psychologist David Dunning writes, “Each of us possesses certain foundational beliefs—narratives about the self, ideas about the social order—that essentially cannot be violated. . . And any information that we glean from the world is amended, distorted, diminished, or forgotten in order to make sure that these sacrosanct beliefs remain whole and unharmed.”  As they document in their brand new book and their free online documentary of the same name, the evidence suggests that this problem afflicts both conservative and liberal Americans. Conservative Americans tend to place their trust in very few sources of news and information, and those sources tend to be low-quality, like the openly partisan Fox News. Conservatives also tend to cocoon themselves within a partisan media ecosystem of like-minded low-quality outlets, an “internally coherent, relatively insulated knowledge community, reinforcing the shared worldview of readers and shielding them from journalism that challenge[s] it.”  Liberal Americans are more likely than conservatives to trust legitimate journalistic outlets, but those sources often unknowingly spread misleading claims that they truly believe are backed by “the science.” Why do they believe this? Sometimes it’s because the outlet doesn’t fully grasp the preponderance of the evidence on the issue at hand. But too often it is because irresponsible experts, who news outlets should be able to trust, said “the science” backed their claims when it didn’t. Consider the following statements that many on the left assume are backed by “the science”: Discrimination is a primary cause of the gender pay gap (this is more than likely not true in America today). Gender affirming care reduces suicide risk for gender dysphoric individuals (the weight of the empirical evidence does not support this claim at the moment). Police officers kill a disproportionate number of African Americans due to racial bias on the part of officers (this is a claim being vigorously debated and without a clear answer at the moment). We can reliably identify microaggressions, whether they are motivated by racial bias, and whether they cause harm (the evidence for this claim is extraordinarily weak). None of these claims are backed by strong evidence. At best, the research is mixed, not clearly pointing in one direction or the other. At worst, the evidence supports the opposite conclusion. But many on the left believe these statements are backed by “the science” because prominent academics have made big, irresponsible claims that go far beyond what the preponderance of the evidence supports.  In Poisoning, the authors give equal attention to epistemic failings on both sides. They believe the evidence shows that Americans across the political spectrum fall for questionable assertions from sources that they believe to be trustworthy and authoritative, sources which often present the information in a manner that appeals to the sacred beliefs of consumers’ in-groups.  They make no assertions about which side’s epistemic failings are “worse” due to their honest inability to quantify such a thing—and they are not sure it matters as much as some may think. Both red and blue America face epistemic crises that act like serious illnesses that sicken American society—even if you could measure which one makes us feel “worse” as a nation, the reality is that either one would make our country seriously ill, and experiencing t

    46 min

  4. JUL 18

    Celebrating America by Talking About George Washington (w/Denver Brunsman)

    We want to express our deepest sympathies and condolences to the family of Corey Comperatore. He was killed during the attempted assassination of former President Trump.  According to NBC Philadelphia, Comperatore raised two daughters with his high school sweetheart and spent his final moments shielding his family that he loved so much from the gunfire. May he rest in peace. His family is in our prayers. We also want to wish a quick recovery to those who were injured in the assassination attempt, including former president Donald Trump and rally attendees David Dutch and James Copenhaver. And lastly our condolences to all others impacted by this political violence. Violence has absolutely no place in a civilized society. Given how much our democracy and country have been through, we thought on this episode of the Utterly Moderate Podcast we would lighten things up a bit and talk about something that perhaps we all might have some positive feelings about: one of our founding fathers.  It is July after all, America’s month of celebrating our independence. In the spirit of July and America and trying to find some positivity right now, on this episode we bring you a replay of our conversation with George Washington University historian Denver Brunsman. He previously joined the show to share his insights on the life and career of George Washington, as well as his general reflections on the study of history and its place in the modern university.  Enjoy the conversation and don’t forget to sign up for our free email newsletter in one click! ------------- ------------- Episode Audio: "Air Background Corporate" by REDCVT (Free Music Archive) "Please Listen Carefully" by Jahzzar (Free Music Archive) "Last Dance" by Jahzzar (Free Music Archive) “Happy Trails (To You)” by the Riders in the Sky (used with artist’s permission) "Washington Post March" by the U.S. Marine Band (publicly available on YouTube)

    37 min

  5. JUN 28

    Spotting Real Expertise & Examining Your Own Knowledge (w/Jacob Mackey)

    On this episode of the Utterly Moderate Podcast, host Lawrence Eppard and Connors Institute co-director Jacob Mackey discuss techniques and shortcuts that you can use to spot real expertise in a world where people with expert credentials are sometimes frauds and where people without expert credentials are often very knowledgeable. They also discuss crucial techniques for examining your personal biases and the limits of your own knowledge. This conversation is based on two really good readings, and we hope you will not only listen to this episode but go to these websites and read these short but very illuminating pieces: “Spotting Real Expertise” by Spencer Greenberg in the Connors Newsletter (click HERE to read). “Strategies for Consuming News” by the Connors Institute (click HERE to read). Enjoy the episode! And PLEASE subscribe to our newsletter in just one click! ------------- ------------- Episode Audio: "Air Background Corporate" by REDCVT (Free Music Archive) "Please Listen Carefully" by Jahzzar (Free Music Archive) "Last Dance" by Jahzzar (Free Music Archive) “Happy Trails (To You)” by the Riders in the Sky (used with artist’s permission)

    56 min

  6. MAY 31

    Misleading Claims in American Educational Curricula (w/Wilfred Reilly)

    Before we talk about this episode, we hope you didn’t miss the latest research from the Connors Institute on the gender pay gap. Check it out now! We talk quite a bit on this podcast about some of the things that many liberal and conservative Americans believe that just ain’t so. In fact, we just released a free online documentary about this titled The Poisoning of the American Mind.  On this episode of the Utterly Moderate Podcast we are joined by Wilfred Reilly, political scientist at Kentucky State University, to talk about misleading claims that have made their way into educational curricula in the U.S. Friend of the show Jacob Mackey joins the conversation as a special guest cohost. Our guest, Dr. Reilly, is the author of several books, two of which are particularly informative in this discussion: Taboo: 10 Facts You Can't Talk About (2020), which addresses such things as: The fact that, contrary to many current claims, men and women are different. There is no epidemic of police murdering unarmed Black Americans. “Pay gaps" between big groups, when several important variables are controlled for, are very small. Lies My Liberal Teacher Told Me: Debunking the False Narratives Defining America’s School Curricula (June 2024—preorder now!), which includes the following chapters:  Lie #1: “Brutal ‘True’ Slavery Was Virtually Unique to America and the West”  Lie #2: “The ‘Red Scare’ Was a Moral Panic That Caught No Commies”  Lie #3: “Native Americans Were ‘Peaceful People Who Spent All Day Dancing’”  Lie #4: “Hippies Were the Good Guys, the Sexual Revolution Was Great for Women, and the Vietnam War Was Unpopular and Pointless”  Lie #5: “The Founders Counted Slaves as Three-Fifths of a Person and the Only Victims of Lynchings Were Black” Lie #6: “European Colonialism Was—Empirically—a No-Good, Terrible, Very Bad Thing” Lie #7: “American Use of Nukes to End World War Two Was ‘Evil’ and ‘Unjustified’” Lie #8: “Unprovoked ‘White Flight,’ Caused by Pure Racism, Ruined America’s Cities”  Lie #9: “‘Southern Strategy’ Racism Turned the Solid South Republican” #10 Bonus Lie: The Continuing Oppression Narrative   Enjoy the conversation, and don’t forget to subscribe in just one click to our FREE EMAIL NEWSLETTER!   ------------------- ------------------- Episode Audio: "Air Background Corporate" by REDCVT (Free Music Archive) "Please Listen Carefully" by Jahzzar (Free Music Archive) "Last Dance" by Jahzzar (Free Music Archive) “Happy Trails (To You)” by the Riders in the Sky (used with artist’s permission)

    46 min

  7. MAY 10

    Space is Littered With Junk (w/Varoujan Gorjian)

    Before we talk about this week’s podcast episode, don’t forget to check out the Connors Institute’s new documentary, The Poisoning of the American Mind, an illuminating film about how conservatives and liberals in America regularly fall for misinformation and disinformation. On this week’s episode of the Utterly Moderate Podcast, we are joined by everyone’s favorite astrophysicist, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Dr. Varoujan Gorjian, to discuss a number of science-related topics, including: The looming problem of space junk, man-made objects littering low-Earth orbit that are bound to cause problems in the future—like when one piece of space junk fell to Earth recently and smashed through the roof of a home in Florida. How freaked out Utterly Moderate host Lawrence Eppard was by an asteroid that recently came too close to Earth for Eppard’s liking. Whether Dr. Gorjian has seen any famous scientists get embarrassingly drunk at academic conferences (will he name names?). The ongoing search for Earth-like planets. The recent solar eclipse that swept the nation and whether an esteemed astrophysicist like Dr. Gorjian gets excited by them anymore (spoiler: he really does!). The awesome discoveries of the James Webb Space Telescope. The interesting scientific puzzle of the Hubble Tension. And of course, Barbenheimer. Enjoy, and thanks for listening!   ------------------- ------------------- Episode Audio: "Air Background Corporate" by REDCVT (Free Music Archive) "Please Listen Carefully" by Jahzzar (Free Music Archive) "Last Dance" by Jahzzar (Free Music Archive) “Happy Trails (To You)” by the Riders in the Sky (used with artist’s permission)

    38 min

  8. APR 19

    Saving the Social Sciences (w/Michael Jindra)

    We’ve talked a lot on the Utterly Moderate Podcast about how both liberals and conservatives in America are bombarded with misleading information on a regular basis. On the left, unfortunately, a lot of this bad info comes from an academic research community which is overwhelmingly liberal. A recent study found the least imbalanced discipline to be engineering, which was still 62% liberal professors. Political science was 89%, psychology 94%, and sociology 98%, while some disciplines had no political conservatives at all.  This significant one-sidedness means that the people doing the research as well as the people checking to make sure that research is high quality before it is published all have similar ideological blind spots, and this is allowing too much misleading information to make it into the public discourse, where it is often perceived by average citizens as being backed by solid evidence when that just isn’t so.   On this episode host Lawrence Eppard is joined by anthropologist Michael Jindra from Boston University’s Institute on Culture, Religion, and World Affairs to talk about this problem and hopefully offer some ways to save the social sciences from themselves. Check out just some of the great insights Jindra has to offer in his article in the Chronicle of Higher Education titled, “When Ideology Drives Social Science.” And don’t forget to sign up for our CONNORS NEWSLETTER! It’s just one click and it’s FREE! ------------------- Episode Audio: "Air Background Corporate" by REDCVT (Free Music Archive) "Please Listen Carefully" by Jahzzar (Free Music Archive) "Last Dance" by Jahzzar (Free Music Archive) “Happy Trails (To You)” by the Riders in the Sky (used with artist’s permission)

    41 min
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4.8
out of 5
45 Ratings

About

The Utterly Moderate Podcast is the official podcast of Connors Institute for Nonpartisan Research and Civic Engagement at Shippensburg University. The core mission of the Connors Institute is to disseminate high-quality nonpartisan information to the public. Utterly Moderate is hosted by Lawrence Eppard, a researcher, university professor, and director of the Connors Institute. On each episode, Eppard is joined by a guest (or two or three!) who helps listeners understand important topics by focusing on just the weight of the empirical evidence and none of the unneeded opinions or political agendas. We are aggressively nonpartisan in our approach. Be sure to visit us at ConnorsInstitute.org to learn more about all that we do!

Information

  • Creator
    Connors Institute
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2024
  • Episodes
    112
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2024 Utterly Moderate Network
  • Show Website
    Utterly Moderate Podcast

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