Best Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy Podcasts (2024)

1
Using the Tools of Tech to Hold Big Tech Accountable with Pulitzer-Winner & Proof News Founder Julia Angwin 40:11

4d ago40:11

40:11

Misinformation, rumor, psy-ops and propaganda--whatever you want to call the four horsemen of today’s media apocalypse—have been with us as long as the media itself. But you have to admit that the arrival of digital technology, led by social media, has given all of those forces outsized power. We still haven’t quite come to terms with how tech has …

1
The Original Fact Checker: How To Know What's True with The Post's Glenn Kessler 40:05

25d ago40:05

40:05

Finding your way to the truth is the informal job of the 21st-century citizen. All of us. Unless you want to be manipulated, you need some check on the claims you hear uttered by powerful people or repeated, innocently or not, by others. For a few thousand people in this era, correcting the record is a profession, even a calling, and today’s guest …

1
2 - Clerics, Monarchs, and the Ethnoreligious Cleansing of Western Europe 24:08

25d ago24:08

24:08

Guests: Şener Aktürk is Professor of International Relations at Koç University in Istanbul, Türkiye. International Security Article: Şener Aktürk, “Not So Innocent: Clerics, Monarchs, and the Ethnoreligious Cleansing of Western Europe,” International Security, Vol. 48, No. 4 (Spring 2024), pp. 87–136. Originally released on June 18, 2024.…

1
The Lost Art of Civil Discourse with Clea Conner CEO of Open to Debate 45:51

1M ago45:51

45:51

Any institution that aspires to get at the truth needs a process for testing what it believes to be true. Central to the judicial system, for example, are lawyers challenging their opponents’ arguments. In science, claims must be peer-reviewed, and experiments have to be replicated. But in politics and culture, any kind of rule-based, civil testing…

1
The Logic Behind Illogical Ideologies: Pepperdine University's Jason Blakely 31:49

2M ago31:49

31:49

The political landscape in the US has fragmented into a handful of beliefs, the adherents to which have less and less in common, other than a profound inability to comprehend others’ beliefs. This, unfortunately, is not news. In a fascinating new book, today’s guest attempts to pierce the incomprehensibility cloak. The guest is Jason Blakely, an as…

1
The populism of self-destruction: How better policies can blunt the anti-clean energy backlash threatening humanity’s future 51:01

2M ago51:01

51:01

Populism—the political term that describes a group of self-described common people who oppose elite—has turned up in what for many is an unexpected place: the push for a worldwide transition to clean energy. Even though they’re vital to preventing the most catastrophic consequences of the manmade global climate crisis, clean energy measures are enc…

1
Destroying The Internet In Order To Save It: Project Liberty's Frank McCourt 31:07

2M ago31:07

31:07

The guests who come on In Reality come prepared to talk about big issues. Truth, polarization, the information ecosystem: these are not exactly niche issues. Today’s guest though, may have the biggest embrace of anyone I’ve had on the show... You may know Frank McCourt as the billionaire real estate magnate and owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers base…

1
Public policy, values, and politics: Why so much depends on getting them right 41:03

3M ago41:03

41:03

Public policy has great power, both to improve people’s lives if it is planned and executed well and to cause significant suffering if it is not, says Harvard Kennedy School Dean Douglas Elmendorf, who will step back from his post this summer to rejoin the faculty. He joins PolicyCast host Ralph Ranalli in this episode to discuss the crucial role p…

1
How Newsrooms Decide What's True: Former Editor of the Washington Post Martin Baron 49:11

3M ago49:11

49:11

To figure out what’s true and what’s not in today’s chaotic, fragmented, contradictory information environment, all of us news consumers have to think like journalists: is that story I’m seeing backed by evidence, is the headline fair, is the coverage biased? Well, we could do worse than to think like the journalist who is today’s guest. Until his …

1
The Ghost Budget: How U.S. war spending went rogue, wasted billions, and how to fix it 45:49

4M ago45:49

45:49

HKS Senior Lecturer Linda Bilmes, an expert on public finance who has studied post-9/11 war costs for the past 20 years, says their staggering $5 trillion cost was enabled by what she calls “The Ghost Budget.” Using an unprecedented combination of borrowing, accounting tricks, and outsourcing, presidential administrations, Congress, and the Pentago…

1
The Saboteurs Within: University of Michigan's Barbara McQuade 47:15

4M ago47:15

47:15

For decades, America’s foreign adversaries have used disinformation to undermine American democracy, to sow division and create confusion about what is even true. But who needs foreign adversaries when so many Americans, for whatever reason, have embraced the same tactics and same apparent goal? Today’s guest, Barbara McQuade, is a professor at Uni…

1
1 - A ‘Nuclear Umbrella’ for Ukraine? 21:27

4M ago21:27

21:27

Guest: Matthew Evangelista is President White Professor of History and Political Science at Cornell University. International Security Article: This podcast is based on Matthew Evangelista, “A ‘Nuclear Umbrella’ for Ukraine? Precedents and Possibilities for Postwar European Security,” International Security, Vol. 48, No. 3 (Winter 2023/24), pp. 7–5…

1
The Great Creep Backward: Policy responses to China’s slowing economy 55:37

4M ago55:37

55:37

Harvard Kennedy School Professor Rana Mitter and Harvard Business School Associate Professor Meg Rithmire say that after decades of tremendous growth, an economically slowing China is the new normal. With a growing debt-to-GDP ratio, an aging population, a devastating real estate bubble, and a loss of confidence among both foreign investors and dom…

1
Why We're Losing the Misinformation War: The Information Futures Lab's Claire Wardle 37:39

4M ago37:39

37:39

It was eight years ago, when Brexit and the US Presidential election showed how misinformation enables real-world damage. Since then, researchers, content managers, regulators, journalists and others sprang into action to counter misinformation and now misinformation pollutions is even worse. Why? Claire Wardle has some ideas. She’s been in the fig…

1
Two peoples. Two states. Why U.S. diplomacy in Israel and Palestine needs vision, partners, and a backbone 38:39

5M ago38:39

38:39

Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Ed Djerejian says Israeli Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin once told him “There is no military solution to this conflict, only a political one.” Rabin was assassinated a few years later and today bullets are flying, bombs are falling, and 1,200 Israelis are dead after the Hamas terrorist attacks of October 7 and nearly 3…

1
Stopping Misinformation At The Gate: News Literacy Project's Peter Adams 39:36

5M ago39:36

39:36

Welcome to In Reality, the podcast about truth, disinformation and the media with Eric Schurenberg, a long time journalist and media executive, now the founder of the Alliance for Trust in Media. There are two ways to fight misinformation: One is to debunk falsehoods after they have surfaced. The other is to help create media literate news audience…

1
We can productively discuss even the toughest topics—here’s how 46:14

5M ago46:14

46:14

As our discourse and our politics have become both more polarized and paralyzed, Harvard Kennedy School faculty members Erica Chenoweth and Julia Minson say we need to refocus on listening to understand, instead of talking to win. In mid-2022, the School launched the Candid and Constructive Conversations initiative, based on the idea that frank yet…

1
Is News Negativity Driving Audiences Away? The Solutions Journalism Network's David Bornstein 49:54

5M ago49:54

49:54

Journalism’s problems today are legion: Collapsing business models, attacks from political partisans, divisions in the profession over basic questions like objectivity. But none of these is solvable until newsrooms address their troubled relationship with audiences: Too many people don’t believe journalists work in their interest. Many avoid news b…

1
Who Killed Trust? And What Can We Do About It? The Center for Media Engagement at UT Austin's Talia Stroud 39:27

6M ago39:27

39:27

A lot of people, Eric included, are working to figure out what exactly happened to facts, trust in institutions like science and the news, and to the shared reality we used to enjoy in this country. There is no shortage of research about the depth of the problem but very little about what really might reverse it. Which is where today’s guest comes …

1
Digital Disruption and the Myth of Mainstream Media: CEO of Fortune Media Alan Murray 59:04

6M ago59:04

59:04

In talking about the news today, it’s tempting to focus on the bad actors, the amplifiers of nonsense and the peddlers of outrage. It’s worth remembering, though, they’re not the only players. There are journalists who adhere to standards and have managed to thrive despite the seismic disruption of the industry. Today’s guest is one of those. Alan …

1
The document that redefined humanity: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights at 75 43:10

7M ago43:10

43:10

Harvard Kennedy School Professor Kathryn Sikkink and former longtime Human Rights Watch executive director Kenneth Roth have spent years both studying the transformational effects of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and have worked on the ground to make its vision of a more just, equal world a reality. On December 10th, the world celebrate…

1
Can You Make A Profit Fighting Misinfo? NewsGuard's Gordon Crovitz 44:50

7M ago44:50

44:50

Disinformation is good business. Spreading lies and outrage tends to be profitable, thanks to programmatic advertising, which cares only about traffic, not truth, and funding by state actors like Russia, which pour money into narratives that undermine democracies. Supporting truth is a tougher commercial prospect, but today’s guest is giving it a c…

1
Polarization's Ground Zero: Author of 'Network of Lies' Brian Stelter 44:18

7M ago44:18

44:18

According to a Pew Research survey in 2021, almost three quarters of Americans consider Fox News to be part of the mainstream media, along with familiar brands like ABC News and the Wall Street Journal. That’s interesting because Fox is different in many ways. It’s not only easily the most profitable cable news network and the only one trusted by m…

1
Legacy of privilege: David Deming and Raj Chetty on how elite college admissions policies affect who gains power and prestige 41:26

8M ago41:26

41:26

Legacy admissions, particularly at elite colleges and universities, were thrust into the spotlight this summer when the U.S. Supreme Court effectively ended affirmative action in admissions. The ruling raised many questions, and fortunately, Harvard Kennedy School professor David Deming and Harvard Economics Professor Raj Chetty were there with som…

1
How To Know If You Can Trust That Story: The Trust Project's Sally Lehrman 47:20

8M ago47:20

47:20

The information environment today has two broad problems: a supply side problem and a demand side problem. On the supply side, it is ridiculously easy for anyone to spread propaganda or outrage or lies online, and on the demand side, it is hard for audiences to distinguish manipulation from fact-based news. Today’s guest, Sally Lehrman, aims to tac…

1
Need to solve an intractable problem? Try collaborative governing 42:21

8M ago42:21

42:21

Harvard Kennedy School faculty member Jorrit de Jong and Harvard Business School Professor Amy Edmondson say the big, intractable problems challenges facing city leaders today are too complex to be addressed by any one agency or government department. Complex challenges like the shortage of economic opportunity and affordable housing, homelessness,…

1
How Fake History Ignites the Fake Present: Britain's Author of 'Fake History' and 'Fake Heroes' Otto English 35:29

8M ago35:29

35:29

Welcome to In Reality, the podcast about truth, disinformation and the media. I’m Eric Schurenberg, a long time journalist and media executive, now the executive director of the Alliance for Trust in Media. An awful lot of the heat in today’s polarized political landscape arises from vastly different interpretations of history. In the US, we fight …

1
Why Don't The Advocates of Truth Work Together? 42:53

9M ago42:53

42:53

A lot of academic researchers, journalists, NGOs, even a few tech firms--are working on the issue of disinformation. Some people are opposed to this work, especially on the political right, and have given this disparate group the ominous collective nickname of disinformation industrial complex, as if it were a monolith devoted single-mindedly to ce…

1
How to keep "TLDR" syndrome from killing your policy proposal 45:12

9M ago45:12

45:12

Harvard Kennedy School Professor Todd Rogers and Lecturer in Public Policy Lauren Brodsky say trying too hard to sound intelligent—even when communicating complex or nuanced ideas—isn't a smart strategy. Because today’s overburdened information consumers are as much skimmers as readers, Rogers and Brodsky teach people how to put readers first and u…

1
How To Make Advertising An Ally For Truth 47:34

9M ago47:34

47:34

One reason that falsehoods flourish online is that major advertisers fund them—but usually unwittingly. The opaque nature of automated online ad delivery means that advertisers don’t actually know where most of their digital ads appear. On a high-quality news site? Maybe. On a trashy clickbait farm? The ad-tech doesn’t care. Today’s In Reality gues…

1
Dr. Rochelle Walensky on making health care policy under fire 41:29

9M ago41:29

41:29

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, who served as CDC director from 2021 to 2023, calls the job “probably the hardest thing I will ever do.” But she also calls it “the honor of a lifetime.” When she was appointed by President Biden as the CDC’s 19th director, she was already used to politicized health care issues, having spent her formative years as a physician…

1
Tech Led Us Into The Misinfo Mess. Can It Lead Us Out? 34:22

10M ago34:22

34:22

You can blame today’s chaotic information environment on many factors: digital inequality and the rise of populism, attention hijacking by social media, and the collapse of mainstream media business models. Wherever you point the finger, digital technology was either the root cause or an accelerant. Which is why today’s guest is particularly worth …

1
AI can be democracy’s ally—but not if it works for Big Tech 43:53

10M ago43:53

43:53

Kennedy School Lecturer in Public Policy Bruce Schneier says Artificial Intelligence has the potential to transform the democratic process in ways that could be good, bad, and potentially mind-boggling. The important thing, he says, will be to use regulation and other tools to make sure that AIs are working for us, and just not for Big Tech compani…

1
What We Really Look For When We Say We're Looking For Truth 42:42

10M ago42:42

42:42

Welcome to In Reality, the podcast about truth, disinformation and the media. I’m Eric Schurenberg, a longtime journalist, now executive director of the Alliance for Trust in Media. One of my long-held assumptions is that everyone seeks the truth. They may be derailed in that quest by false information, but the ultimate goal is factuality. Today’s …

1
Atlantic CEO Nick Thompson: What To Believe (or not) in the News 49:20

11M ago49:20

49:20

When I talk to people about the mission of In Reality, I frequently am told, “Media is so corrupt. Why do you bother.” In some circles, it seems that hating professional media is just a reflex, like saying “Bless you” when someone sneezes. Nothing personal. Today’s guest is one of the best living rebuttals I can think of to this kind of blanket con…

1
How to Get People to Believe in Science Again 36:44

11M ago36:44

36:44

In politics, you can understand why some voters align themselves with claims that don’t bear up under scrutiny. In politics, there are other forces at work than factuality, like tribal identity and moral narratives. But science is different—or ought to be. And yet trust in science has stumbled, along with media and government. So… why? And what’s t…

1
How to Build Immunity to Viral Misinformation 1:00:26

12M ago1:00:26

1:00:26

We in the media tend to be pretty good at admiring the problem of disinformation, not so good at countering it. So a plan for countering falsehoods in the public sphere is one of the things that makes today’s guest, Sander van der Linden, so intriguing. Van der Linden is a professor of Social Psychology in Society at the University of Cambridge and…

1
Dublin Tech Summit 2023 | What Does Generative AI Mean For The Information Landscape? 38:16

1y ago38:16

38:16

In this special episode, recorded at this years Dublin Tech Summit, Eric is joined by Sean O hEigeartaigh, acting director of the Centre for the study of Existential Risk at Cambridge University. For a dozen years, his research has focused on AI and other emerging technologies. Sean and Eric discuss what generative AI means for the information land…

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