Best Ralph Bunche Institute Podcasts (2024)

1
The Complexities of the EU Parliament Elections 46:05

23d ago46:05

46:05

In this episode of International Horizons, RBI Director John Torpey spoke with Francesco Ronchi and Udo Zolleis, two European Parliament officials and analysts. With the European Parliament elections taking place shortly after we spoke, they share their insights on the direction that politics in Europe may take in the coming months and years, espec…

1
We Should Not Take the UN For Granted: A Discussion with Abiodun Williams 33:54

1M ago33:54

33:54

In times where conflicts around the globe are an everyday topic, the place of the United Nations in resolving these conflicts is constantly being questioned. In this episode of International Horizons, RBI Director John Torpey discusses this issue with Professor Abiodun Williams, Professor of the Practice of International Politics at Tufts Universit…

1
The Social Acceptance of Inequality 32:01

1M ago32:01

32:01

On this episode of International Horizons, Francesco Duina, Charles A. Dana Professor of Sociology at Bates College and Luca Storti, Associate Professor of Economic Sociology at the University of Turin in Italy and a Research Fellow of the Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies, discuss the rise of inequalities around the globe and the di…

1
The Climate Crisis as a Problem of Collective Action: A Discussion with Dana Fisher 40:34

2M ago40:34

40:34

In this episode of International Horizons, Professor Dana Fisher, Director of the Center for Environment, Community, & Equity (CECE) and Professor in the School of International Service at American University, discusses with RBI Director John Torpey her approach to dealing with the climate crisis. Fisher explains how the climate crisis is really a …

1
What does Biden’s temporary suspension of offensive arms transfers mean for US-Israeli relations? 30:47

2M ago30:47

30:47

Charles Blaha, a former State Department expert on the vetting of U.S. weapons transfers to other countries, helps us understand this important moment in the Israel-Hamas conflict. After an extended period of tension between U.S President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden has decided to freeze some transfers of weapons …

1
The Rhetoric of Crisis in Israel-Palestine: A Discussion with Amos Goldberg 51:57

2M ago51:57

51:57

This week, RBI Director John Torpey speaks with Amos Goldberg, Professor of Holocaust History at the Department of Jewish History and Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, about the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. Among other rhetorical aspects of the conflict, Goldberg reflects on the meaning of such slogans as “From the …

1
Words of Attack: Rhetoric Against Liberal Democratic Values with James McAdams 32:56

3M ago32:56

32:56

With a presidential campaign in the US just around the corner and populist and authoritarian thinkers gaining broader platforms, University of Notre Dame political scientist A. James McAdams shines a light on the terms being used today by the Far Right to undermine liberal democracy. How successful are these thinkers in changing public views? And h…

1
Why Should We Preserve Memory of the Holocaust? 44:35

3M ago44:35

44:35

Wojtek Soczewica has led the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation since 2019, near the site of the killing fields. The Foundation aims at the preservation of the remains of the concentration and extermination camp and of all the personal items that belonged to victims and survivors. Today they serve as material witnesses of the tragic history safeguarding…

1
Citizenship Across Time and Space with David Jacobson 44:14

3M ago44:14

44:14

In this episode of International Horizons, RBI director John Torpey discusses the past and future of citizenship with David Jacobson, Professor of Sociology at the University of South Florida (Tampa). They discuss the origins of the concept of citizenship in the ancient Near East a few thousand years ago and how kinship notions shape the debate on …

1
How Can We Reach International Consensus on AI Regulation? 43:13

3M ago43:13

43:13

In this episode of International Horizons, RBI director John Torpey interviews Gabriele Mazzini, a lawyer and officer of the European Commission and expert in AI regulation. Mazzini discusses the means through which European countries have found agreement on the definition of AI and how to regulate it. Moreover, Mazzini stresses that the fears of a…

1
The Pioneering Life of Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit 46:47

4M ago46:47

46:47

Manu Bhagavan and Ellen Chesler discuss Bhagavan’s latest book on Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit (Penguin, 2023), admired sister of India’s founding Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, and a pioneering public servant, diplomat, and women's rights advocate, in her own right. They talk about the Nehru’s privileged upbringing and elite education, their conversio…

1
How Democracies Die . . . and How They May Survive with Daniel Ziblatt 42:05

4M ago42:05

42:05

In this episode of International Horizons, RBI director John Torpey interviews Daniel Ziblatt, Eaton Professor of the Science of Government at Harvard University and co-author (with Steven Levitsky) of the bestsellers How Democracies Die (Crown, 2019) and The Tyranny of the Minority (Crown, 2023). Ziblatt emphasizes the crucial role played by conse…

1
Why is Right-Wing Extremism so Widespread in Italy? 36:41

5M ago36:41

36:41

In this episode of International Horizons, RBI director John Torpey interviews Marla Stone, a historian of Italian fascism at Occidental College, on the resurgence of the far right in Italy. The conversation delves into the origins of this resurgence and how Italy, a fairly homogeneous society, became a recipient of hundreds of thousand migrants, a…

1
"War is what you make of it" with Neta Crawford of Oxford University and the Costs of War Project 36:40

5M ago36:40

36:40

We begin this new season of International Horizons with an interview by RBI Director John Torpey with Neta Crawford from Oxford University and the Cost of War Project. Prof. Crawford argues that conflict is less lethal than in the past, although the overall costs of war exceed the duration of previous wars in many dimensions. The conversation delve…

1
Is Poland Back on Track? The Challenges for the New Government 46:58

7M ago46:58

46:58

In this episode of International Horizons, RBI's Director John Torpey interviews Grzegorz Ekiert, Chair of the Center for European Studies at Harvard University, a propós of the recent election in Poland that installed a centrist government led by former prime minister and president of the European Council Donald Tusk. Ekiert starts by discussing t…

1
Everyday Life Behind the Berlin Wall 34:02

7M ago34:02

34:02

In this episode of International Horizons, RBI director John Torpey interviews historian and journalist Katja Hoyer about her book Beyond the Wall: A History of East Germany (Basic Books, 2023). The conversation begins with a discussion of the personal reasons that the author, herself born in the GDR, wanted to cover the untold stories of her nativ…

1
Israel, Hamas, and American Jews in a Time of War 37:28

8M ago37:28

37:28

On today’s episode of International Horizons, RBI director John Torpey speaks with Jodi Rudoren, editor-in-chief of the Forward magazine, about the situation in Israel and Gaza. She notes that Hamas’s incursion into Israel on October 7, 2023, shattered the paradigm of how Israel and even the Arab world understood what Hamas was all about. The resul…

1
The US State Department and Ever-Changing Global Politics 32:44

8M ago32:44

32:44

In this episode of International Horizons, RBI director John Torpey interviews Assistant Secretary of State for Global Public Affairs Bill Russo. Assistant Secretary Russo commented on the role of the United States in the ever-changing dynamics of global politics and how it is perceived as a leader in conflict resolution and often called to act as …

1
Hamas, Iran and Israel: The Perils of Overreaction 34:35

8M ago34:35

34:35

In this episode of International Horizons, Colin Clarke, director of research at the Soufan Center, discusses the possible trajectories of the Israel-Palestine conflict with RBI director John Torpey. Clarke introduces the linkages of Hamas with Iran and the way in which the Iranian government backs a number of different proxy groups in the Middle E…

1
Woodrow Wilson: Patrick Weil’s "The Madman in the White House" 40:51

8M ago40:51

40:51

In this episode of International Horizons, RBI director John Torpey interviews Patrick Weil, author of The Madman in the White House: Sigmund Freud, Ambassador Bullitt, and the Lost Psychobiography of Woodrow Wilson (Harvard University Press, 2023). Weil discusses the beginnings of a book published in 1960 by Ambassador William C. Bullitt, who wrot…

1
From the Invention of the Passport to the Golden Passport 36:27

9M ago36:27

36:27

In this episode of International Horizons, RBI director John Torpey interviews Kristin Surak, professor at the London School of Economics, about her new book, The Golden Passport: Global Mobility for Millionaires (Harvard University Press, 2023). The conversation starts with the contrast of Torpey’s The Invention of the Passport (Cambridge UP, 2018…

1
AI, Post-Truth, and Cultural Transformation 41:49

9M ago41:49

41:49

In this episode of International Horizons, RBI director John Torpey talks with economists Luciana Lazzaretti and Stefania Oliva of the University of Florence about the role of artificial intelligence in contemporary cultural transformation. The authors discuss the genesis of computer culture from the garages of California hippies who dreamed of a c…

1
Resentment: The Complexity of an Emotion and its Effect on Politics 39:08

9M ago39:08

39:08

In this episode of International Horizons, RBI director John Torpey interviews Rob Schneider, Professor of History at Indiana University-Bloomington, about the political effects of resentment. Schneider begins by discussing the psychological complexity of resentment and then delves into its understanding by other authors such as Nietzsche and its r…

1
Should We Be Optimistic About Global Governance? 30:45

9M ago30:45

30:45

This week on International Horizons, RBI director John Torpey interviewed Richard Gowan, UN director of the International Crisis Group. Gowan discusses the different views of the UN on the occasion of the annual meeting of the General Assembly. The absence of a number of key figures was widely noted, but most major world leaders, such as Biden, Sch…

1
Global Inequality: Are We Really Measuring What We Should Be Measuring? 43:12

10M ago43:12

43:12

In this episode of International Horizons, RBI director John Torpey interviewed Jayati Ghosh, professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, about different debates surrounding inequality. Ghosh criticizes the flaws in some inequality indicators that are focusing only on measuring how the poor are doing and not on how the ric…

1
India, a Non-Aligned Member of the International System? 33:42

10M ago33:42

33:42

We kick off our Fall 2023 season of International Horizons with Upendra Choudhury from Aligarh Muslim University discussing the role of India in the contemporary international system. Prof. Choudhury argues that India’s vision of a multipolar world order consists of acting as a balancing mediator between the traditional West and a rising China. In …

1
Negotiating Decolonization: The Limits of a Fairy Tale 34:26

1y ago34:26

34:26

In this episode of International Horizons, Valerie Rosoux, Research Director at the Belgian Fund for Scientific Research (FNRS) discusses the disagreements in the historiography of Belgium's human rights violations during its colonial activities in Congo, and how Belgium's case differs from those of Netherlands and France in coming to terms with th…

1
The Whys and Wherefores of Migration 42:09

1y ago42:09

42:09

This week on International Horizons, James Hollifield, Professor of Political Science and Director of the Tower Center for Political Studies, Southern Methodist University (SMU), discusses the epistemology of migration studies and delves into some of its foundational works. Hollifield addresses how modern migration regulation is related to the inve…

1
Algeria and France: Grievances and the Effects of Decolonialism 41:30

1y ago41:30

41:30

In this episode of International Horizons, RBI's director, John Torpey interviewed Laetitia Bucaille about the factors that explain variation in resentment and grievances in former colonies drawing from the cases of Algeria and South Africa. Bucaille delves deeper into the case of Algeria and the affected populations whose identities were crossed c…

1
The Everyday Feminist with Latanya Mapp Frett 46:05

1y ago46:05

46:05

Equality between the sexes has long been recognized as a fundamental moral and legal objective of the UN, and more recently of many governments and international financial and development institutions. Women's empowerment has long been recognized as essential to the larger development objectives of the UN and the international community. Extensive …

1
What Can China's Identity Politics Tell Us About Affirmative Action? 39:49

1y ago39:49

39:49

In this episode of International Horizons, RBI director John Torpey interviews Yan Sun, Professor of Chinese politics at Queens College and the Graduate Center, to discuss the origins of the ethnic divisions in China and their contemporary effects. Yan addresses the imperial administrative system and the historical incorporation of non-core peoples…

1
Why do Transatlantic Relations Matter? 41:45

1y ago41:45

41:45

This week on International Horizons, we present RBI's director John Torpey's interview with David Gill, General Consul of Germany, in New York to celebrate the 2023 Otto and Frank Walter Memorial Lecture. The conversation goes explaining the term “Zeitenwende” and what that entails for Germans, its history and how the military approach of Germany c…

1
Solving Public Problems with Beth Noveck 45:30

1+ y ago45:30

45:30

In this episode of International Horizons, we present the recording of a book talk by John Torpey, Ralph Bunche Institute director, with Beth Noveck, author of Solving Public Problems: How to Fix our Government and Change our World (Yale University Press, 2021). Noveck begins by underlining that we humans are doing better than ever materially, but …

1
Two Wrongs Don't Make a Right but... US Lies and Media Reporting in the 2003 Iraq War 37:20

1+ y ago37:20

37:20

In this episode of International Horizons, journalist and UN director of Human Rights Watch Louis Charbonneau describes the US's government misinformation campaign to justify its invasion of Iraq in 2003 and its aftermath. Charbonneau also discusses the role of media in the lack of questioning of the information they were spreading and contrasts it…

1
The Role of Global South Women in Shaping Global Governance 49:00

1+ y ago49:00

49:00

This week on International Horizons, Ellen Chesler interviews Rebecca Adami and Fatima Sator, editor and co-author of Women and the UN: A New History of Women's International Human Rights (Routledge, 2022) that debunks the myth that the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights were Western male-dominated inventions. Moreover, the au…

1
Birth Rates and the Future of Social Movements: A Discussion with Jack Goldstone 34:22

1+ y ago34:22

34:22

"The world's future will depend on Africa having a good future." This week on International Horizons, Jack Goldstone, Virginia E. and John T. Hazel, Jr. Chair Professor of Public Policy at George Mason University and a Global Fellow of the Woodrow Wilson International Center, discusses the role of age and demographics of social movements in the twe…

1
Bauman, Virtuosos, Liquid Love and the Refugee Crisis in Eastern Europe 45:32

1+ y ago45:32

45:32

In this episode of International Horizons, we are joined by Izabela Wagner of the Institute of Sociology at the Collegium Civitas in Warsaw and Fellow at The French Collaborative Institute on Migration in Paris. She discusses the sociological factors behind the success of virtuoso musicians and on the social pre-conditions of professional excellenc…

1
Why Should Cultural Heritage Be Protected? 30:52

1+ y ago30:52

30:52

Where people are killed and abused in warfare and violent conflict, artifacts of cultural heritage are often destroyed and mistreated as well. Indeed, in the World War II-era efforts to promote the then-novel idea of genocide, the Polish lawyer and activist Raphael Lemkin sought to codify the notion that genocide was both personal and cultural. Wha…

1
Where is the Left? The Rise and Decline of Social Democratic Movements 43:41

1+ y ago43:41

43:41

This week on International Horizons, David Abraham from the University of Miami discusses the origins of social democratic parties in Europe and the parallels with similar movements in the US. Following his teacher Adam Przeworski, Abraham argues that Keynesianism boosted social democracy by convincing people that the state could manage economic gr…

1
A Left Turn? The Politics of Latin America Today 47:29

1+ y ago47:29

47:29

This week, RBI director John Torpey interviews Prof. Enrique Desmond Arias, a professor of political science at Baruch College and the Graduate Center, about recent developments in Latin American politics. Arias delves into Peru's recent political unrest and how it resembles the times of Fujimori's authoritarianism and discusses the origins of pola…

1
Contextualizing the Iranian Protests: The Role of Women in Leading the Change 47:15

1+ y ago47:15

47:15

Western sanctions have slowed Iran's economy, causing protests against the absence of freedom and opportunities -- teachers their lack of pay; farmers their lack of water; retirees their fear of economic insecurity. But at the heart of this powerful new movement has been Iran's women, whose frustration with Iran’s misogynist theocracy had been moun…

1
How Did the Pandemic Transform Workers and Work? 37:50

1+ y ago37:50

37:50

The pandemic brought to the fore a group of workers deemed “essential” – frontline healthcare workers, restaurant employees, slaughterhouse workers, and the like – who often faced a difficult choice between risking their health to work or forgoing income that they couldn’t afford to do without. Often, they had to work even though they couldn’t affo…

1
Involution and Negative Equilibrium: Explaining the Ongoing Conflict in the Congo 39:23

1+ y ago39:23

39:23

This week on International Horizons, RBI director John Torpey is joined by Jason Stearns, assistant professor of international studies at Simon Fraser University, who discusses how the Congolese government is invested in conflict on its territory. Stearns traces the current conflict back to the Belgian colonial heritage that created an ethnic disba…

1
Is China's Communist Party Threatened by the Protests? 42:23

1+ y ago42:23

42:23

This week, RBI Director John Torpey talked with William Hurst, Professor of Political Science at Cambridge University, about the origins of the protests in China, how they differ from those in 1989, and the possibilities of regime change. Hurst delves into the mobilization and contentious politics of China and its local-central interplay, where pro…

1
Protests in Iran: Maybe not the Tocqueville Paradox 36:30

1+ y ago36:30

36:30

In mid-September of this year, a young Iranian woman named Mahsa Amini died under suspicious circumstances after her arrest by the morality police for improperly covering her hair. Her death set off a huge wave of protests across Iran – the biggest in many years. The protesters’ rallying cry was “Women, Life, Freedom,” and women have indeed taken a…

1
What will be the Role of Europe in the Changing World Order? 35:30

1+ y ago35:30

35:30

The transatlantic relationship, arguably the bedrock of the world’s post-World War II international security architecture, came under significant threat during Donald Trump’s tenure in office, as Trump complained about European untrustworthiness and talked about pulling the United States out of NATO. Yet in the aftermath of the Russian invasion of …

1
What is the Future of Populism? 51:45

1+ y ago51:45

51:45

The world's wealthier countries have in recent years faced challenges from right-wing populist parties and movements that may rejuvenate origins from relatively far in the past, such as in the case of Italy, or they may constitute new formations disturbingly reminiscent of earlier movements of their kinds. So, for example, the Alternative for Germa…

1
Can We Square the Circle? Universalism Versus Communitarianism 48:04

1+ y ago48:04

48:04

The political Left has long faced tension regarding its universalistic commitments and those to the nation it inhabits. The dilemma is captured succinctly in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen that articulated leftist or progressive devotion to both man in the historic collective sense of human beings, as well as to the fellow members…

1
Observations about the Hard-Won Wisdom of Old Age 41:49

1+ y ago41:49

41:49

The world's population has just passed the 8 billion mark and an increasing proportion of those people are old, including increasingly the so-called "old old" in their 90s and beyond. Indeed, never before have so many older people inhabited the planet. Are we prepared for them? Given the inevitable medical and health challenges that accompany old a…

1
A Most Similar Comparison: The Authoritarianism of Poland and Hungary with Edit Zgut-Przybylska 38:07

1+ y ago38:07

38:07

The leadership of Hungary and Poland seemingly shared the same playbook when it came to undermining judicial independence, consolidating electoral power, regulating media ownership and enacting laws against LGBTQ rights and abortion. They also work together to push back against the European Union's efforts to sanction member states pursuing illiber…

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