Baker Briefing

5.0 (23)
POLITICS
UPDATED WEEKLY

Hosted by former U.S. Ambassador David Satterfield, “Baker Briefing” makes news make sense by bringing together experts from Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy and beyond to break down the most important foreign and domestic policy issues of the day. New episodes weekly.

12/16/2025

9: Iran Is Recalibrating Its National Identity

Iran is facing a cascade of domestic challenges, including a deepening currency crisis and drought so severe that President Masoud Pezeshkian has suggested residents of the capital city Tehran may need to evacuate. Meanwhile, strain is building over nuclear talks in the aftermath of the 12-day conflict with Israel and the U.S. in June 2025. Middle East fellow Mohammad Ayatollahi Tabaar joined the “Baker Briefing” podcast to discuss how the regime is managing these pressures — and redefining Iran’s national identity in the process. Featured guest: Mohammad Ayatollahi Tabaar, Ph.D., https://www.bakerinstitute.org/expert/mohammad-ayatollahi-tabaar This conversation was recorded on Dec. 8, 2025. You can follow @BakerInstitute on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Learn more about our data-driven, nonpartisan policy research and analysis at bakerinstitute.org.

30 min
12/04/2025

8: What Happens If the ACA Subsidies Expire?

Without a last-minute extension of enhanced tax credits, Americans who purchase health insurance through the Affordable Care Act will see their premiums spike in January. How did we get here, and why are health care access and affordability such persistent policy challenges? Dr. Heidi Russell and Elena M. Marks joined the “Baker Briefing” podcast to discuss what happens when the ACA subsidy enhancements expire and offer insights for moving the U.S. health system forward. Featured guests: Elena Marks, MPH, https://www.bakerinstitute.org/expert/elena-m-marks Heidi Russell, MD, Ph.D., https://www.bakerinstitute.org/expert/heidi-russell This conversation was recorded on Nov. 20, 2025. You can follow @BakerInstitute on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Learn more about our data-driven, nonpartisan policy research and analysis at bakerinstitute.org.

36 min
11/18/2025 · BONUS

Bonus: Women, War, and State Power in Russia

On Oct. 30, journalist Julia Ioffe visited the Baker Institute to discuss her new book: “Motherland: A Feminist History of Modern Russia, from Revolution to Autocracy.” This episode is a condensed version of her conversation with Alan Crain, chairman of the Houston Committee on Foreign Relations, on how women’s roles in Russia — from the Bolshevik revolution to the present — have both mirrored and shaped political power. Want to watch the full event? View it on our website: https://bit.ly/3JPVg00. Subscribe to our “Events Digest” newsletter to learn about upcoming Baker Institute events and how to join in person or via livestream: 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.

34 min
11/10/2025

7: Reimagining US-Mexico Water Cooperation

A water crisis along the U.S.-Mexico border is growing. The 1944 Water Treaty has long guided how both nations share the Rio Grande and Colorado rivers, but climate change, drought, and growing demand are testing its limits. Guest host Tony Payan speaks with Rosario Sanchez, a senior research scientist at the Texas Water Resources Institute, and Ivonne Cruz, a research scholar at the Baker Institute, about how to rethink water cooperation for an age of scarcity — and what it will take to build a more resilient future for both countries. Featured guests: Ivonne Cruz, Ph.D., https://www.bakerinstitute.org/expert/ivonne-cruz Rosario Sanchez, Ph.D., https://twri.tamu.edu/rosario-sanchez/ Mentioned in this episode: Mexico Country Outlook 2026, Rice University’s Baker Institute, https://www.bakerinstitute.org/research/mexico-country-outlook-2026 This conversation was recorded on Oct. 23, 2025. You can follow @BakerInstitute on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Learn more about our data-driven, nonpartisan policy research and analysis at bakerinstitute.org.

49 min
11/03/2025

6: America’s New Demographic Reality

For the first time in decades, the U.S. immigrant population is declining — and with it, the country's long-held assumption of steady population growth. Bill King joins the podcast to discuss how demographic trends and President Donald Trump’s sweeping immigration policies are shaping the nation’s future labor force, economy, and identity, as well the importance of rational immigration policy for dealing with the challenges of global depopulation. This conversation was recorded on Oct. 13, 2025. Featured guest: Bill King, https://www.bakerinstitute.org/expert/bill-king Mentioned in this episode: Bill King, Depopulation: Our New Demographic Reality (Stoney Creek Publishing, forthcoming). You can follow @BakerInstitute on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Learn more about our data-driven, nonpartisan policy research and analysis at bakerinstitute.org.

27 min
10/14/2025

5: Rebooting the Global Humanitarian Aid System

The global humanitarian aid system is facing an existential crisis. Despite more than 300 million people in need of urgent aid in 2025 — nearly four times the number from just a decade ago — countries around the world have slashed aid budgets. The U.S. alone has cut nearly $8 billion in aid funding under President Donald Trump, in addition to his administration’s far-reaching dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Now, the sector must move quickly and strategically to survive and continue to respond to humanitarian emergencies around the world. Sonali Korde, a Baker Institute visiting fellow and former head of USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, joined a live recording of the podcast to explore the current upheaval and possible avenues for systemic reform. This conversation was recorded on Oct. 9, 2025. Featured guests: Sonali Korde, https://www.bakerinstitute.org/expert/sonali-korde Mentioned in this episode: Sonali Korde, “Strengthening the Humanitarian Sector Brick by Brick,” Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, August 11, 2025. You can follow @BakerInstitute on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Learn more about our data-driven, nonpartisan policy research and analysis at bakerinstitute.org.

33 min
10/06/2025

4: Politics and Propaganda in the Digital Media Age

China Studies Program experts Steven Lewis and Brandon Zheng join guest host Michael Emerson to explore how governments and organizations around the world are leveraging digital platforms in increasingly savvy ways — from TikTok videos to anime mascots — to spread political messaging and shape public opinion. They draw on their recent research examining urban propaganda in China and the use of “cuteness” as a communication tool to illustrate how the global political landscape has transformed in the age of digital media. This conversation was recorded on Sept. 26, 2025. Featured: Steven Lewis, Ph.D., https://www.bakerinstitute.org/expert/steven-w-lewis Brandon Zheng, https://www.bakerinstitute.org/expert/steven-w-lewis Michael Emerson, Ph.D., https://www.bakerinstitute.org/expert/michael-o-emerson Mentioned in this episode: Brandon Zheng, “The Conquest of Cute: Political Communication, Public Diplomacy, and Anime,” Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, September 4, 2025. Brandon Zheng and Steven W. Lewis, “Central Versus Local Propaganda Under Xi Jinping: An Introduction to Images in the China Urban Outdoor Propaganda Image Archive, 1998 to 2019,” Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, June 3, 2025. Thomas Frank, The Conquest of Cool: Business Culture, Counterculture, and the Rise of Hip Consumerism (The University of Chicago Press, 1997). You can follow @BakerInstitute on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Learn more about our data-driven, nonpartisan policy research and analysis at bakerinstitute.org.

25 min
09/30/2025

3: Is Artificial Intelligence Reshaping Higher Education?

What does the acceleration of artificial intelligence mean for higher education, from the admissions process to students’ academic and intellectual development? How can students learn to engage responsibly with AI, and what does it mean for the early graduate labor market? Baker Institute fellow and guest host Michael Emerson sat down with Rice University Provost Amy Dittmar, University of Houston Associate Provost Jeff Morgan, and Burke Nixon, a core lecturer in Rice’s writing and communication program, to discuss the advent of AI and its implications for colleges and universities. This conversation was recorded in front of a live studio audience on September 17, 2025. Featured: Michael Emerson, Ph.D., https://www.bakerinstitute.org/expert/michael-o-emerson Amy Dittmar, Ph.D., https://profiles.rice.edu/faculty/amy-dittmar Jeffrey Morgan, Ph.D., https://www.uh.edu/provost/about/office-of-the-provost-leadership/jeff-morgan/index.php Burke Nixon, https://pwc.rice.edu/about-us/lecturers/burke-nixon Mentioned in this episode: “Opinion: No, AI chatbots haven't killed the college essay. Here's why,” www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/outlook/article/ChatGPT-AI-technology-writing-obsolete-college-17680035.php 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.

26 min

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TRAILER

Introducing Season 2

Baker Institute Director David M. Satterfield sits down with Karina Zemel, lead producer of the “Baker Briefing” podcast, to discuss the challenges of communicating policy in a politically polarized era and the conversations ahead on Season 2 of the podcast.

S2

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16 min

5

out of 5

23 Ratings

Actual subject experts. No stupid debates.

01/26/2024

Eric Staib

Thank you so much Baker Institute! I actually *learn* about new things from this podcast. Truly horizon-broadening work!
Nonpartisan Analysis & Discussions of Current Events

05/19/2023

Moe AlJuboori

So happy to finally see a podcast coming from the Baker Institute. Great production, excellent content, and just the right time for each episode.
Excellent podcast

03/22/2023

gugs76

Excellent podcast to stay up to date with today’s main issues
High Quality

02/11/2023

TJ 54321

Very interesting podcasts of the most important events affecting the world today. Well produced and high quality as one would expect from the Baker Institute. Perhaps not for everyone, but if you seek an unbiased view of the most important current events of the day, this is for you!

Hosted by former U.S. Ambassador David Satterfield, “Baker Briefing” makes news make sense by bringing together experts from Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy and beyond to break down the most important foreign and domestic policy issues of the day. New episodes weekly.