Best Betty Liu Podcasts (2024)

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356. Dr. Rajiv Shah with Eric Liu: Charting a Course for Change 1:16:34

11d ago1:16:34

1:16:34

Ever wondered how a leader orchestrates large-scale change on a global scale? In his new book, Big Bets: How Large-Scale Change Really Happens, Rajiv J. Shah, President of the Rockefeller Foundation and former administrator of USAID unveils his model for driving large-scale change. Drawing on his experiences, from vaccinating 900 million children w…

1
355. Barbara McQuade with Jenny Durkan: In Search of Truth 1:06:51

18d ago1:06:51

1:06:51

The subject of disinformation is a well-known part of political rhetoric, but it has implications even outside of the sphere of democracy. From the electoral system to schools; from the workplace to hospitals, the consequences of it are far-reaching and dire. A legal analyst at MSNBC and former U.S. Attorney, Barbara McQuade’s decades of experience…

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354. Michael J. Gerhardt: The Law of Presidential Impeachment 57:09

21d ago57:09

57:09

Have you ever wondered how impeachment really works? As a witness and consultant in the impeachment trials of Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, legal scholar Michael J. Gerhardt has collected a lifetime of scholarly research and firsthand experience. But despite his proximity to such high-profile cases, Gerhardt doesn’t advocate for or against the imp…

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353. César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández: Redefining the Borders — How to Shape Inclusive and Just Immigration Practices 1:13:15

24d ago1:13:15

1:13:15

Is it possible to reshape immigration practices to align with the values of inclusivity, justice, and the historical promise of the United States as a welcoming haven for all? Law professor and immigration lawyer César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández presents a powerful case for divorcing immigration law from criminal law in his book, Welcome the Wretc…

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352. Boldt at 50 1:20:50

28d ago1:20:50

1:20:50

Commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Boldt Decision, a pivotal moment in civil rights history and tribal sovereignty. Centered around Charles Wilkinson’s posthumously acclaimed work, Treaty Justice, a panel will discuss the significance of the Boldt Decision and its enduring impact on the tribal sovereignty movement in the Pacific Northwest and …

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351. Ijeoma Oluo with Michele Storms: Be a Revolution 1:28:07

1M ago1:28:07

1:28:07

Ijeoma Oluo’s #1 New York Times bestseller So You Want To Talk About Race (book tour event at Town Hall in 2019), offered a vital guide for how to talk about important issues of race and racism in society. In Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America, she discussed how white male supremacy has had an impact on our systems, our culture, a…

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350. Tamara Payne with Glenn Hare: The Life and Legacy of Malcolm X 1:10:35

2M ago1:10:35

1:10:35

In 1990, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Les Payne embarked on a nearly thirty-year-long quest to interview anyone he could find who had actually known Malcolm X. His goal was ambitious: to transform what would become over a hundred hours of interviews into an unprecedented portrait of Malcolm X, one that would separate fact from fi…

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349. Tim Schwab with Ashley Fent: The Problem with Philanthropy 1:28:48

2M ago1:28:48

1:28:48

Journalist Tim Schwab is no stranger to investigative journalism that scrutinizes power structures and questions how private interests intersect with public policy. With funding from a 2019 Alicia Patterson Fellowship, Schwab pursued an investigative series specific to Bill Gates and the Gates Foundation, and his work was published by The Nation in…

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348. Ganesh Sitaraman with Paul Constant: Why is Flying so Miserable? 49:16

3M ago49:16

49:16

It is among the most classically joked about modern grievances, air travel. Between flight cancellations, delays, lost baggage, increased prices, crammed planes, and the general downtrodden gloom that accompanies flying, there is plenty left to be desired when it comes to the quality of airline service. The truth is that bankruptcies and mergers ha…

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347. Betty Houchin Winfield: Pioneering Women in Academia 53:11

3M ago53:11

53:11

Starting in 1967, when fewer than 1% of women completed any education beyond four years of college, the Washington State University (WSU) Sociology Department dared to hire three female faculty members who became lifelong friends. Lois B. DeFleur, Sandra Ball-Rokeach, and Marilyn Ihinger-Tallman were role models for many women and paved the way for…

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346. Shaun Scott with Jesse Hagopian: A Look at Urban History through Seattle Sports 1:10:25

3M ago1:10:25

1:10:25

For many people in the Emerald City, sports may be seen solely as entertainment. We watch the Kraken on the ice, climb the stands for the Seahawks and Sounders, and hold out hands out for a soaring Mariners ball. But what if something came along to challenge the idea of athletics as mere leisure? In his new book Heartbreak City: Seattle Sports and …

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345. Schuyler Bailar: He/She/They: How We Talk About Gender and Why It Matters 1:14:07

4M ago1:14:07

1:14:07

Schuyler Bailar didn’t set out to be an activist, his very public transition to the Harvard men’s swim team put him in the spotlight. His choice to be open about his transition and share his experience has touched people around the world. As Anti-transgender legislation is being introduced in state governments around the United States in record-bre…

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344. Fei-Fei Li with Todd Bishop: Using AI to Empower Humans 1:09:43

4M ago1:09:43

1:09:43

Depending on who you overhear, conversations surrounding the controversial AI Chat Bot, Chat GPT, may be punctuated with terms like, “groundbreaking!” “paradigm-shifting!” “innovative!” or conversely might be filled with calls of “terrifying!” “mistake!” or “too far!” But peering through either lens, it is hard not to imagine that AI will diminish …

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343. Paola Cecchi-Dimeglio with Oriona Spaulding: Investing in Inclusion 1:11:10

4M ago1:11:10

1:11:10

Can leaders strive for more inclusivity in the workplace and improve outcomes in the process? Employers invest in and manage their key asset — talent — to be as high-performing as possible. Like a winning stock, it can be argued that successful diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) actions likewise pay back over time: that dividend is paid to the …

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342. Washington’s Leadership in the Global Climate Movement: Setting Examples for Progressive Climate Policies 56:03

5M ago56:03

56:03

Washington is leading the nation as a model for the transition to a climate-safe future. People, movements, and politicians across the state have been able to pass landmark policies that benefit local communities, as well as inspire other regions to follow suit. From Seattle’s commercial energy codes, to Whatcom County’s first-ever ban on new fossi…

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341. Amanda Montei and Kristi Coulter with Gemma Hartley: Ambition, Women, and Work 1:03:28

5M ago1:03:28

1:03:28

Many parents struggle with the physicality of caring for children, but even more with the growing lack of autonomy new moms may feel in their personal and professional lives. Join us for an evening with Amanda Montei, author of Touched Out: Motherhood, Misogyny, Consent, and Control, and Kristi Coulter, author of Exit Interview: The Life and Death …

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340. Heather Cox Richardson with Marcus Harrison Green: Notes on the State of America 1:01:41

5M ago1:01:41

1:01:41

Although social media may not be a typical source of enlightenment, historian Heather Cox Richardson decided to become an exception to the rule. It all started during the 2019 impeachment when Richardson launched a daily Facebook essay providing historical background for the daily torrent of news. It soon morphed into a popular Substack newsletter,…

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339. Michael Harriot with Marcus Harrison Green: America Unredacted 1:15:43

6M ago1:15:43

1:15:43

Have you ever wondered if there was another version of this country besides the one that was taught in schools? For many Americans, especially Black Americans, the answer is yes. The backstory that most of us were taught has been whitewashed and sugarcoated, its truths buried and untold, with many delivered halfway — if at all. Reality rewritten. I…

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338. Rebecca Clarren with Rena Priest: The Cost of Free Land 1:06:00

6M ago1:06:00

1:06:00

Growing up, Rebecca Clarren only knew the major plot points of her tenacious immigrant family’s origins. Her great-great-grandparents, the Sinykins, and their six children fled antisemitism in Russia and arrived in the United States at the turn of the 20th century, ultimately settling on a 160-acre homestead in South Dakota. Over the next few decad…

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337. Martin Baron with Frank Blethen A Marriage of Press and Politics 1:15:16

6M ago1:15:16

1:15:16

If you’ve felt like the news cycle has been out of control in the past few years, imagine being the editor of one of the most prominent papers in the US. Martin Baron had over a decade of newsroom experience before he took charge of The Washington Post in 2013. But just seven months into his new job, Baron received unexpected news: Amazon founder J…

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336. Franklin Foer with Katy Sewall: Reflecting on the First Two Years of the Biden Presidency 1:02:54

6M ago1:02:54

1:02:54

Upon taking the oath, every president is met both with endemic issues that persist over time, as well as a unique set of challenges of the day. Many presidents step into historically difficult and divisive times, and our current era is no different. When Joe Biden took office in 2021, his economists were already warning him of an imminent financial…

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335. Ken Grossinger with Dr. Carmen Rojas: Beyond Aesthetic: Art as a Catalyst for Change 58:45

7M ago58:45

58:45

Throughout history, art has been a vehicle for social change. Consider the artist’s mural of George Floyd that become an emblem for the fight towards racial equality. The documentary film that helped oust a Central American dictator. The echo of freedom songs that rang throughout the Civil Rights Movement. When artists and organizers join together,…

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334. Michael Waldman with Prof. Liz Porter: Courting Controversy 1:03:40

7M ago1:03:40

1:03:40

What do we do when the Supreme Court challenges the entire nation? The 2021-2022 term of the Supreme Court was arguably one of the most tumultuous in U.S. history. Over three days in June of 2022, the conservative supermajority overturned the constitutional right to abortion, possibly opening the door to reconsidering other major privacy rights. Th…

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333. Sonali Kolhatkar with Sunnivie Brydum: Media in Color 1:22:09

7M ago1:22:09

1:22:09

While people of color have been more widely represented in media in recent years, most of that media is neither created nor consumed by them — white Americans still comprise the majority of content creators and storytellers. But media makers of color are working to amplify long-silenced voices in order to advance a set of different narratives, offe…

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332. Naomi Klein with Mike Davis: A Trip into the Mirror World 53:27

7M ago53:27

53:27

What if you woke up one morning and found you’d acquired another self—a double who was almost you and yet not you at all? Not long ago, activist and public intellectual Naomi Klein had an unsettling experience—she was confronted with an online doppelganger whose views she found abhorrent but whose name and public persona were sufficiently similar t…

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331. Jocelyn Simonson with Emily Thuma: The Power of the People 1:06:05

7M ago1:06:05

1:06:05

How can we fix the problems in our criminal justice system? In a feat that can seem insurmountable, a common approach is to leave the solution to experts and technocrats. But what if, instead of deferring solely to their knowledge, some of this much-needed change was carried out by the people? In her new book Radical Acts of Justice: How Ordinary P…

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330. James Brosnahan: A Lawyer’s Career Through Groundbreaking Cases 47:48

7M ago47:48

47:48

To study history, we often look at court cases as representations of the societal issues and debates of their day. With landmark cases like Plessy v. Ferguson, Roe v. Wade, Brown v. The Board of Education, we see how the trajectory of society’s ethical and legal foundation shifts over time. You might say that major disputes serve as a mirror of sor…

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329. Jennifer Pahlka with Tarah Wheeler: Outdated Policymaking in the Digital Age 1:09:18

8M ago1:09:18

1:09:18

These days, it feels like customer service has been nearly all digitized. While confusion over ticket orders and lost packages can be frustrating, one space where it feels necessary for technology to hit the mark is health and wellness care. While online services and rapidly evolving technology should be making this process more fluid, moments like…

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328. Chris Guillebeau: Finding New Pathways to Prosperity 55:41

8M ago55:41

55:41

If you consider yourself a Millennial or part of Generation Z, chances are you’ve felt a little jaded by the usual dusty office job. According to bestselling author and Town Hall veteran Chris Guillebeau, you’re not alone. Many of the post-Baby Boomer generations are choosing to rewrite the rules of capitalism. In his latest book, Gonzo Capitalism:…

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327. Barry Long and David Tatro with Rebecca Crichton: Disability and Aging: New Perspectives 1:14:14

10M ago1:14:14

1:14:14

Long-time disability advocate Barry Long and Dave Tatro from Sound Generations share their lives and learning with Rebecca Crichton, ED of Northwest Center for Creative Ageing. They will discuss how we can all learn how to interact with and support people with both visible and invisible disabilities. Barry Long has faced life-altering challenges th…

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326. Saving Journalism, Saving Our Democracy With Florangela Davila, Jelani Cobb, Michael McPhearson, and Frank Blethen 1:25:52

10M ago1:25:52

1:25:52

If journalism is the lifeblood of our democracy, then why does it feel like its chronically on life support? Nationally, thousands of news outlets have been crushed under the weight of financial distress. The few that survive are driven by profit motives, rather than seeking to educate and inform. Locally, we’ve witnessed the closures of the Seattl…

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325. Simon Johnson: Can AI Power Up Progress? 57:24

10M ago57:24

57:24

With today’s emerging technologies, including things like artificial intelligence, are quickly becoming mainstream. AIs like ChatGPT, the chatbot that can produce answers to questions and write essays and poems, have become sensational hits in our culture. What’s the cost of all of these so-called advances? If you ask economist Simon Johnson, the c…

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325. Raja Shehadeh: A Portrait of a Palestinian Father and Son 52:47

11M ago52:47

52:47

In his life, Aziz Shehadeh was many things — among them a lawyer, a political detainee, and the father of activist and author, Raja Shehadeh. Raja’s latest book, We Could Have Been Friends, My Father and I, is a subtle psychological portrait of a complicated father-son relationship. Set against the backdrop of continuing political unrest, Raja desc…

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324. Simon Sebag Montefiore: Family Matters: Famous Families Throughout History 1:10:37

11M ago1:10:37

1:10:37

950,000 years ago a family of five walked along the beach and left their prints behind. Now, we can view that poignant portrait etched in time — fossils of footprints on the beach — and think of our own families and what memory we might leave in our wake. For award-winning historian Simon Sebag Montefiore, these familiar footprints serve as an insp…

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323. S. C. Gwynne: The Tragic Tale of British Airship R101 52:27

11M ago52:27

52:27

Airships, those airborne leviathans that occupied center stage in the world in the first half of the twentieth century, were a symbol of the future. The British airship R101 was not just the largest aircraft ever to have flown and the product of the world’s most advanced engineering — it was also the linchpin of an imperial British scheme to link b…

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322. Josephine Ensign with Anna Patrick: Health and Houselessness in Seattle 57:54

11M ago57:54

57:54

Home to over 730,000 people, with close to four million people living in the metropolitan area, Seattle has the third-highest homeless population in the United States. In 2018, an estimated 8,600 homeless people lived in the city, a figure that does not include the significant number of “hidden” homeless people doubled up with friends or living in …

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321. Andrea Ritchie and Angélica Chazaro: A Primer on Police Abolition 59:55

12M ago59:55

59:55

A primer on police abolition from veteran organizers. What could it look like to live in a world where, instead of relying on policing and prison to put halt to harm, violence is stopped before it even has a chance to begin? In No More Police, organizer and attorney Andrea J. Ritchie and New York Times bestselling author Mariame Kaba detail why pol…

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320. Gregory Smithers with Hailey Tayathy: Decolonizing Gender 1:02:09

12M ago1:02:09

1:02:09

Before 1492, hundreds of Indigenous communities across North America included people who identified as neither male nor female, but both. They went by aakíí’skassi, miati, okitcitakwe, or one of the hundreds of other tribal-specific identities. After European colonizers invaded Indian Country, centuries of violence and systematic persecution follow…

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319. Nate G. Hilger with George Durham: The Parent Trap 1:00:13

12M ago1:00:13

1:00:13

Few people realize that raising children is the single largest industry in the United States. Parents are expected not only to care for their children but to help them develop the skills they will need to thrive in today’s socioeconomic reality — but most parents, including even the most caring parents on the planet, are not trained in skill develo…

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318. Nate Gowdy: The Insurrection in Photos 1:08:19

12M ago1:08:19

1:08:19

Nate Gowdy had previously photographed 30 Donald Trump rallies. He thought he was fully prepared for what should have been the grand finale, but the events that unfolded on January 6th, 2021, were more than anyone could have expected. As the event transformed from protest to outright insurrection, Gowdy never stopped photographing. The result is hi…

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317. Timothy Egan: The Revolutionary Woman Who Revealed the Cruelty of the KKK 1:00:56

12M ago1:00:56

1:00:56

The Roaring Twenties – the Jazz Age – has been characterized as a time of Gatsby frivolity. But it was also the height of the uniquely American hate group, the Ku Klux Klan. Their domain was not the old Confederacy, but the Heartland and the West. They hated Blacks, Jews, Catholics, and immigrants in equal measure, and took radical steps to keep th…

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316. Kathleen McLaughlin with Shaun Scott: Selling Blood to Make Ends Meet 53:38

1y ago53:38

53:38

Journalist Kathleen McLaughlin knew she’d found a treatment that worked on her rare autoimmune disorder. She had no idea it had been drawn from the veins of America’s most vulnerable. Blood Money shares McLaughlin’s decade-long mission to learn the full story of where her medicine comes from. She travels the United States in search of the truth abo…

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315. Afterglow - Envisioning a Radically Different Climate Future 51:37

1y ago51:37

51:37

Could the power of story-telling help create a better reality? Afterglow is a stunning collection of original short stories in which writers from many different backgrounds envision a radically different climate future. Published in collaboration with Grist, a nonprofit media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions, these sti…

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314. Krista R. Pérez with Jasmine M. Pulido - Deracinating Racism 53:18

1y ago53:18

53:18

No matter how we identify, we all have a lot to unpack. While there is a multitude of texts with universal application, community organizer Krista R. Pérez has written a book specifically with a BIPOC audience in mind. In Unearthing Our Roots, Pérez encourages advocates, activists, and leaders from historically marginalized groups to implement tran…

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313. Erik M. Conway with David Roberts - The Big Myth of Free Markets 1:08:28

1y ago1:08:28

1:08:28

Why do Americans believe in the “magic of the marketplace”? The answer, as Erik M. Conway contends in The Big Myth (with coauthor Naomi Oreskes), is a propaganda blitz. Until the early 1900s, the U.S. government’s guiding role in economic life was largely accepted. But then business elites, trade associations, wealthy powerbrokers, and media allies…

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312. Claudia Chwalisz with Marcus Harrison Green and Brandi Kruse - The Future of Democracy 1:09:44

1y ago1:09:44

1:09:44

What would the world look like if we shifted political and legislative power to everyday people — on the premise that everyone is worthy and capable of being involved in collective decision-making? Claudia Chwalisz seeks to answer that question. She believes another democratic future is possible and strives to create a more just, joyful, and collab…

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311. Labor and Literature - An Evening of Songs, Poetry, and Witness 1:04:47

1y ago1:04:47

1:04:47

Join local writers, musicians, and activists for an evening of songs, poetry, and witness. Alex Gallo-Brown has worked as a barista, a server, a cook, an organic farmer, a caregiver for people with disabilities, an educator, and a union organizer, among other professions. He has also published two books, The Language of Grief (2012) and Variations …

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310. Dr. Emma Belcher with Gael Tarleton - Confronting the Threat of Nuclear Weapons 1:02:40

1y ago1:02:40

1:02:40

As President Vladimir Putin flung threats of nuclear retaliation during Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, we were given an important reminder of the dangers posed by nuclear weapons. This terrifying wake-up call has dominated headlines for a year. President of Ploughshares Fund Dr. Emma Belcher knows the threat looms beyond the physical borders…

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309. Kenji Yoshino and David Glasgow with Jane Park - Say the Right Thing 1:08:54

1y ago1:08:54

1:08:54

Do you ever wish you had a manual for what to say in certain situations? Cultural Awareness powerhouses Kenji Yoshino and David Glasgow’s Say the Right Thing: How to Talk About Identity, Diversity, and Justice describes itself as “a practical, shame-free guide for navigating conversations across our differences at a time of rapid social change.” Wh…

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308. Jeff Guinn - David Koresh, the Branch Davidians, and a Legacy of Rage 1:24:56

1y ago1:24:56

1:24:56

On February 28, 1993, agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) raided the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas. Acting on reports that the group and their leader, David Koresh, were stockpiling illegal weapons, the AFT raid led to a disastrous siege that ended with a lethal fire and the deaths of 76 people, including…

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Betty Liu Podcasts

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