The Scholars' Circle

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

Episodes

  1. 5d ago

    Scholars’ Circle – We Explore the Future of Warfare – October 4, 2026

    Ever since Russia attacked Ukraine, there have been predictions that the normative order against aggressive war was under threat. Then the US and Israel attacked Iran. Numerous scholars have predicted this would encourage China to attack Taiwan. The normative restrictions on war are loosening and the US is distracted and hence not able to help defend Taiwan. But two clear developments challenge this prediction. Russia, after 4 full years of war, is not likely to win this war anytime soon. And the US, despite the President’s continual assertions that it has won the war, clearly has not. Technology such as drone warfare might be a reason. Defensive tactics could be another. So on today’s show, we will explore the future of warfare in light of the Russian and American wars and their current lack of success. [ dur: 1h18m ] Yvonne Chiu is a Jeane Kirkpatrick Visiting Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and serves on the board of directors for the International Society for Military Ethics. She is the author of “Strategic Ambiguity Out of Balance: Updating an Outdated Taiwan Policy” in The Strategy Bridge. David McCourt, Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Davis. He is the author of The Dragon Defined: How Washington, Canberra, and London Reimagined China. Ricardo A. Crespo is Associate Professor of Political Science and the chair of the Political Economy Department at Grossmont College. He is the author of “Currency Warfare and Cyberwarfare” in Comparative Politics, and “Currency Warfare and Just War” in the Journal of Military Ethics. Robert Williams Professor of Political Science at Pepperdine University. He is the author of Seeking Security in an Insecure World, with Dan Caldwell. We recorded live in front of an audience at the International Studies Association’s West Regional meetings in Pasadena, California. This program is produced by Doug Becker, Maria Armoudian, Ankine Aghassian, Anna Lapin and Sudd Dongre. Politics and Activism, Governance / Law, War / Weapons, Diplomacy, Militarism, Russia, Ukraine, United States, China, Iran

  2. Sep 29

    Scholars’ Circle – Exploring Privacy as it Affects Security, Society and Democracy – September 27, 2026

    Is the age of privacy over? We spend the hour on technology, spying and privacy, exploring how privacy, and the lack of it, affects security, democracy and society. What exactly is at stake when we lose our privacy? [ dur: 58 mins. ] For a transcript of this interview, please visit: TheBigQ Helen Nissenbaum is Professor of Information Science at Cornell Tech. She is the author of Privacy in Context: Technology, Policy, and the Integrity of Social Life, and co-author of Obfuscation: A User’s Guide for Privacy and Protest and Values at Play in Digital Games. Michael Patrick Lynch is Professor of Philosophy & Director of the Humanities Institute at the University of Connecticut. He is the author of The Internet of Us: Knowing More and Understanding Less in the Age of Big Data, True to LIfe: Why Truth Matters and In Praise of Reason. Bruce Schneier is Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School. He is the author of 14 books including the New York Times best-seller Data and Goliath: The Hidden Battles to Collect Your Data and Control Your World, Click Here to Kill Everybody: Security and Survival in a Hyper-connected World, and The Electronic Privacy Papers: Documents on the Battle for Privacy in the Age of Surveillance. His blog is “Schneier on Security.” Joshua A.T. Fairfield is William Donald Bain Family Professor of Law at Washington and Lee School of Law. He is the author of Owned: Property, Privacy and the New Digital Serfdom, Privacy as a Public Good , and Smart Contracts, Bitcoin Bots, and Consumer Protection. Produced by the Scholars’ Circle team: Ankine Aghassian, Melissa Chiprin, Anaïs Amin, Tim Page, Mike Hurst and Sudd Dongre. Politics and Activism, Science / Technology, Privacy, Social Sciences

  3. Sep 21

    Scholars’ Circle – Author Interview on “Data Are Made, Not Found: A Story of Politics, Power, and the Civil Servants Who Saved the US Census” – September 20, 2026

    Data drives politics. But politics drive data. That is to say, we make political decisions based on data, often selected from mountains of available information. How we gather data is an inherently political process and nowhere is this more clear than when the US collects information about its population, which is mandated by the Constitution every ten years. Today, we will interview Danah Boyd on her new book, Data Are Made, Not Found: A Story of Politics, Power and the Civil Servants Who Saved the US Census. and delve into the politics of the census. [ dur:58mins. ] Danah Boyd is the Geri Gay Professor of Communication at Cornell University, where she works on topics at the intersection of technology and society. She is also the founder of the research institute Data & Society and the author of It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens. This program is produced by Doug Becker, Maria Armoudian, Ankine Aghassian, Anna Lapin and Sudd Dongre. Politics and Activism, Democracy, Civil Servants, Policy making, US

  4. Sep 13

    Scholars’ Circle – Canada-US Relations and the Trade War – September 13, 2026

    The United States and Canada share the longest undefended border in the world. We record this show on September 11 and we are reminded of Canada’s strong alliance with the US, allowing American flights to land as the skies closed and showing remarkable generosity to the passengers that day. But recently, the US has shown antagonism and even animosity to its ally to the North. Ranging from presidential threats of annexation (and making it the 51st state) to enacting significant tariffs on many Canadian goods, the relationship between the two nations has strained. On today’s show, we will explore the history, the current state, and the potential future relationship between Canada and the US. We will also focus the discussion on the view from north of the border. [ dur: 58mins. ] Mark Paradis is Professor of Political Science at Champlain College Saint-Lambert. He is coauthor of “Thawing Rivalries and Fading Friendships: An Experimental Approach to Rapprochement and Alienation.” and, with another of our guests, co-editor of  Game Changer – The Impact of 9/11 on North American Security. Marc O’Reilly is Professor of Political Science at Heidelberg University. He is the author of Unexceptional: America’s Empire in the Persian Gulf, 1941-2007 and co-editor of the Handbook on Canadian Foreign Policy, along with our last guest, Patrick James. Patrick James is Professor Emeritus of Political Science and International Relations at USC. Alongside the publications with Mark Paradis and Marc O’Reilly, he is the author of Canada and Conflict and co-editor of Canadian Studies in the New Millenium. This program is produced by Doug Becker, Maria Armoudian, Ankine Aghassian, Anna Lapin and Sudd Dongre. Economics, Politics and Activism, Diplomacy, Canada, United States, Trade Wars

  5. Sep 7

    Scholars’ Circle – Glacier Collapse, Flooding, and Climate Change – September 7, 2026

    On August 26, 2026, massive floods swept through Nepal and Tibet. As of today, September 3, over 1,200 people are recorded dead and as many as 4,200 are still missing. A landslide reported to be an equivalent 5.2 earthquake hit the Nepal/China border in the Himalayan Mountains, triggering a massive glacial collapse that led to severe flooding. So, on today’s show, we will explore glacial collapse and their causes as well as the extent to which this disaster functions as a harbinger of escalating environmental risk.  [ dur: 58mins. ] Umesh Haritashya is Director of the Sustainability Program and Professor of Earth, Environment and Sustainability at the University of Dayton, Ohio. He is the co-author of “Modeling lake outburst and downstream hazard assessment of the Lower Barun glacial lake, Nepal Himalaya”. Mathias Vuille is Distinguished Professor in the Department of Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, University at Albany, SUNY. He is the co-author of “Rapid decline of snow and ice in the tropical Andes-Impacts, uncertainties and challenges ahead.” Bethan Davies is Professor of Glaciology in the Department of Geography at Newcastle University. She is the co-author of “Glacier changes in Langtang Catchment, Central Nepalese Himalaya from the Little Ice Age (∼1815 CE) to 2023 CE.” This program is produced by Doug Becker, Maria Armoudian, Ankine Aghassian, Anna Lapin and Sudd Dongre. Environment, Politics and Activism, Science / Technology, Climate Change, Nepal, China, Himalaya Mountains

  6. Sep 1

    Scholars’ Circle – Drone Warfare and Author Interview on “The Crime of Aggression and Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine” – August 30, 2026

    The 21st century has seen a significant increase in the use of drones in warfare. Unmanned weapons, often cheaper than many of the more complicated and advanced weapons used by major powers like the US and Russia, seem to be aiding defenders and creating a more level playing field. What can these drones do? Do they make wars more likely to break out? Or, do they serve as a cautionary tale against aggression? How do drones change the battlefield? [ dur: 30mins. ] Ori Swed is Associate Professor of Sociology at Texas Tech University. He is Director of the Peace, War & Social Conflict Laboratory. He is the co-author of “Emulating underdogs: Tactical drones in the Russia-Ukraine war” And “The Empirical Determinants of Violent Nonstate Actor Drone Adoption“ Roberto J. González is Professor of Anthropology at San Jose State University. He is the author of The Quest to Automate Conflict, Militarize Data, and Predict the Future (2022) Hugh Gusterson is Professor of Anthropology and Public Policy at the University of British Colombia. He is the author of Drone: Remote Control Warfare and, with Professor Gonzalez, the co-editor of Militarization: A Reader. In response to the devastation of World War I, world leaders lead by France and the US negotiated the Kellogg-Briand Pact. This outlawed aggressive war and outlined the crime of aggression. It was the legal foundation for one of the crimes prosecuted at Nuremberg and Tokyo following World War II. In addition, the UN Charter, specifically Article 2 (4), not only outlaws aggressive war itself but also includes the threat of aggressive war in its definition. However, the exact parameters of what aggressive war is has been a legal and political challenge for the last 100 years. Perhaps no current scholar has been more committed, more influential, and more productive on this specific issue than our current guest. [ dur: 28mins. ] Jennifer Trahan has a new book on this precise issue. In The Crime of Aggression and Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine, she uses this very current and incredibly important case to demonstrate the historical development of this crime and the need to harmonize its definition and to prosecute its violation. Jennifer Trahan is Clinical Professor and Director of the Concentration in International Law and Human Rights at NYU’s Center for Global Affairs. This program is produced by Doug Becker, Maria Armoudian, Ankine Aghassian, Anna Lapin and Sudd Dongre. Politics and Activism, War / Weapons, drones, warfare, laws on war

  • 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
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    © copyright 2023- The Scholars' Circle
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