Contributor(s): Elizabeth Ingleson, Ashley Tellis, John Van Reenen | A shining city on a hill. America the beautiful. The United States has long been mythologised as the land of dreams and opportunity. And since the fall of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s it has been undisputedly the most powerful nation on earth. But is it a fading force? The idea of an America in decline has gained traction in recent years and has, of course, been capitalized on by President Trump. Is America’s ‘greatness’...
May 15, 2024•35 min
Contributor(s): Chris Gilson, Professor John Owen | In 2024 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Professor John Owen, Ambassador Henry J. and Mrs. Marion R. Taylor Professor of Politics, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture and the Miller Center for Public Affairs at the University of Virginia, and an Academic Visitor at Nuffield College, University of Oxford from January to June 2024. They discussed his new book, ‘The Ecology of Nations: American Democracy in a Fragile World ...
May 13, 2024•1 hr 8 min
Contributor(s): Elizabeth Ingleson, Chris Gilson | In April 2024 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Dr Elizabeth Ingleson, Assistant Professor in the Department of International History at LSE and Centre Affiliate of the Phelan US Centre. They spoke about Dr Ingleson’s new book, Made in China: When US-China Interests Converged to Transform Global Trade. They also discussed the evolution of the US-China trade relationship since the 1970s, including the role played by US policymakers and capitalist int...
May 03, 2024•43 min
Contributor(s): Professor Elizabeth Saunders, Chris Gilson | In March 2024 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Professor Elizabeth Saunders, Professor of Political Science at Columbia University about her new book, ‘The Insiders’ Game: How Elites Make War and Peace’ and the role of ‘elites’ in US foreign policymaking. This Extra Inning was produced by Chris Gilson and Anderson Tan. Contributors: Professor Elizabeth Saunders (Columbia University)
Apr 29, 2024•46 min
Contributor(s): Chris Gilson, Jennifer Carlson | In March 2024 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Professor Jennifer Carlson of Arizona State University, and 2022 MacArthur Fellow, about her new book, Merchants of the Right: Gun Sellers and the Crisis of American Democracy. They also discuss the symbolism and political value guns have in American politics and society. This Extra Inning was produced by Chris Gilson and Anderson Tan. Contributors: Professor Jennifer Carlson (Arizona State University)
Apr 15, 2024•1 hr 12 min
Contributor(s): Chris Gilson, Dr Jason Casellas | In March 2024 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Professor Jason Casellas about how the role of Latino voters in the United States and their changing voting patterns. They also discuss how Latino voters might influence the 2024 presidential election. Jason Casellas is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Houston and is the John G. Winant Visiting Professor for American Government at Oxford University for 2023-24. This Extra In...
Apr 01, 2024•35 min
Contributor(s): Chris Gilson, Mathieu Duchâtel | In February 2024 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Dr Mathieu Duchâtel, Resident Senior Fellow and Director of International Studies at Institut Montaigne about transatlantic convergence between the EU and the United States on China policy. They also discussed the fault lines between the EU and US on China policy, and how China has responded to these divergences, including on Taiwan policy. This Extra Inning was produced by Chris Gilson and Anderson T...
Mar 18, 2024•28 min
Contributor(s): Chris Gilson, Jason Casellas | On March 5th, 16 US states and territories held primary elections to decide the 2024 Republican and Democratic presidential nominees: a day known as “Super Tuesday”. The Phelan US Centre spoke to Professor Jason Casellas about the Super Tuesday results, the primary race so far, and what the trends may mean for the general election in November. Jason Casellas is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Houston and is the John G. ...
Mar 07, 2024•25 min
Contributor(s): Andrew Rudalevige, Chris Gilson | In January 2024 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Andrew Rudalevige, the Thomas Brackett Reed Professor of Government at Bowdoin College and visiting professor in the LSE’s Department of Government for the 2023-24 academic year. They spoke about the separation of powers in US government and the executive branch, and former President Trump’s potential plans to reshape the federal bureaucracy to create more political appointees if he is re-elected to t...
Mar 04, 2024•56 min
Contributor(s): Chris Gilson, Dr. Jordan Tama | In January 2024 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Dr Jordan Tama, Provost Associate Professor at American University’s School of International Service about his new book, Bipartisanship and US Foreign Policy: Cooperation in a Polarized Age. They also discussed how party control in the US government can influence foreign policy, the changing coalitions of the Democratic and Republican parties and why some foreign policy issues have bipartisan consensus ...
Feb 19, 2024•46 min
Contributor(s): Dr. Coleman Bazelon, Rohan Janakiraman, Mary Olson, Chris Gilson | In 2023 the Phelan US Centre spoke to the authors of the Brattle Group Report on Reparations for Transatlantic Chattel Slavery, which estimates reparations for the total harm from enslavement, including to those who were enslaved and to their descendants. Dr. Coleman Bazelon, Rohan Janakiraman, and Mary Olson discuss their report and how it can inform calls for reparations for enslavement. This Extra Inning was pr...
Feb 05, 2024•39 min
Contributor(s): Chris Gilson, Dr. Ashley Tellis | In January 2024, the Phelan US Centre spoke to Dr Ashley Tellis, the Tata Chair for Strategic Affairs and a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace about how the US has engaged with China economically in recent decades. They discuss how the US’ strategy towards China has shifted across recent presidencies, the effectiveness of ‘friendshoring’ policies, and decoupling and de-risking relationships between China, the United S...
Jan 22, 2024•28 min
Contributor(s): Chris Gilson, Professor William Wohlforth | In 2023, the Phelan US Centre spoke to spoke to William C. Wohlforth, Daniel Webster Professor in the Department of Government at Dartmouth College, about the United States’ role as the world’s unipolar power. They also discuss the rise of China and what this means for the international role of the United States, and his upcoming book, with Jill Kastner, on great power subversion. This Extra Inning was produced by Chris Gilson and Ander...
Jan 17, 2024•42 min
Contributor(s): Professor Theda Skocpol, Chris Gilson | In 2023 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Professor Theda Skocpol, Victor S. Thomas Professor of Government and Sociology at Harvard University about her new book, with Lainey Newman, Rust Belt Union Blues Why Working-Class Voters Are Turning Away from the Democratic Party. Using Western Pennsylvania as a case study, their book examines the decline of labor unions and the shift of working-class voters away from the Democratic Party. We also dis...
Jan 04, 2024•44 min
Contributor(s): Chris Gilson | In 2023, the Phelan US Centre ran an essay competition for master’s students with the prompt, “What responsibility does the US have to the rest of the world on climate change?”. In this Extra Inning, we speak to the author of the winning essay, Oscar Parry, and the runners-up, Jibran Raja and Alia Yusuf. We discuss the essay competition, what it’s like for students to engage with a wider audience, and the opportunity they had to present their essays in the UK parli...
Dec 11, 2023•39 min
Contributor(s): Mohid Rehman Malik, Amanda Sahar d’Urso, Tabitha Bonilla | In 2023 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Dr Amanda Sahar d’Urso, Assistant Professor at Georgetown University and Dr Tabitha Bonilla, Associate Professor at Northwestern University, about their recent article Religion or Race? Using Intersectionality to Examine the Role of Muslim Identity and Evaluations on Belonging in the United States in the Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics, which they also wrote about on the US C...
Nov 29, 2023•41 min
Contributor(s): Mohid Rehman Malik, Dr Naveeda Khan | In 2023 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Naveeda Khan, associate professor in the Department of Anthropology at Johns Hopkins University about her new book, In Quest of a Shared Planet: Negotiating Climate from the Global South, the role that UN Climate Change Conferences (or “COPs”) play in the global climate framework, and the relationship between the global north and south in taking responsibility for and mitigating the effects of climate cha...
Nov 13, 2023•54 min
Contributor(s): Professor G. John Ikenberry, Professor David Luke, Professor Nita Rudra | On the 20th and 21st of October 2023, the London School of Economics' Phelan United States Centre hosted the Future of Capitalism in an Age of Insecurity Conference. Bringing together leading scholars and analysts, the conference examined the effects of geopolitical turmoil, democratic discontent, anti-globalism, and technological change on capitalist economies. On Saturday the 21st of October, the third co...
Oct 27, 2023•1 hr 35 min
Contributor(s): Dr C Raja Mohan, Professor Anne-Marie Slaughter, Professor Michael Mastanduno | On the 20th and 21st of October 2023, the London School of Economics' Phelan United States Centre hosted the Future of Capitalism in an Age of Insecurity Conference. Bringing together leading scholars and analysts, the conference examined the effects of geopolitical turmoil, democratic discontent, anti-globalism, and technological change on capitalist economies. On Saturday the 21st of October, the fi...
Oct 27, 2023•1 hr 44 min
Contributor(s): Professor Daron Acemoglu | On the 20th and 21st of October 2023, the London School of Economics' Phelan United States Centre hosted the Future of Capitalism in an Age of Insecurity Conference. Bringing together leading scholars and analysts, the conference examined the effects of geopolitical turmoil, democratic discontent, anti-globalism, and technological change on capitalist economies. On Friday the 20th of October, the conference keynote event, Rethinking Market Capitalism: I...
Oct 27, 2023•1 hr 32 min
Contributor(s): Professor Ian Shapiro, Professor Luigi Zingales, Professor Sheri Berman | On the 20th and 21st of October 2023, the London School of Economics' Phelan United States Centre hosted the Future of Capitalism in an Age of Insecurity Conference. Bringing together leading scholars and analysts, the conference examined the effects of geopolitical turmoil, democratic discontent, anti-globalism, and technological change on capitalist economies. On Saturday the 21st of October, the second c...
Oct 27, 2023•1 hr 45 min
Contributor(s): Professor Robert Sampson, Chris Gilson | In June 2023, the Phelan US Centre spoke with Robert J. Sampson the Woodford L. and Ann A. Flowers University Professor at Harvard University about his new study, The Birth Lottery of History. This study followed over 1,000 Americans over 23 years and looks at the effects on different age cohorts of the social transformation of crime, punishment, and inequality over the last three decades. This Extra Inning was produced by Chris Gilson, Mo...
Oct 09, 2023•51 min
Contributor(s): Chris Gilson, Mohid Rehman Malik, Marc Selverstone | In December 2022, the Phelan US Centre’s Chris Gilson and Mohid Malik spoke to Marc Selverstone, Associate Professor in Presidential Studies at the University of Virginia's Miller Centre of Public Affairs, and chair of the Miller Center's Presidential Recordings programme, about his new book, The Kennedy Withdrawal Camelot and the American Commitment to Vietnam. They discussed the factors that shaped President Kennedy’s views o...
Aug 28, 2023•1 hr
Contributor(s): Professor Pranab Bardhan, Mohid Rehman Malik | In May 2023, the Phelan US Centre’s Mohid Malik spoke to Pranab Bardhan, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of California, Berkeley. In this Extra Inning podcast, they discussed the argument put forward in Professor Bardhan’s 2022 book, A World of Insecurity: Democratic Disenchantment in Rich and Poor Countries. Their conversation explored the future of democratic governance as it confronts majoritarian p...
Aug 21, 2023•48 min
Contributor(s): Professor Rebecca Bromley-Trujillo, Mohid Rehman Malik, Beth Gardiner | This episode examines current trends in American politics in implementing policies to address climate change. Dr Bromley-Trujillo (Christopher Newport University) and environmental journalist Beth Gardiner (author of Choked Life and Breath in the Age of Air Pollution) discuss the impacts of President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act and whether a Green New-Deal could be possible in the future. This episode fin...
Aug 14, 2023•55 min
Contributor(s): Professor Peter Trubowitz, Professor Brian Burgoon, Chris Gilson | In May 2023, the Phelan US Centre’s Chris Gilson spoke to Brian Burgoon, Professor of International and Comparative Political Economy in the Department of Political Science at the University of Amsterdam, and Peter Trubowitz, Professor of International Relations, and Director of the Phelan US Centre at LSE and Associate Fellow at Chatham House, about their new book Geopolitics and Democracy, which will be publishe...
Jul 25, 2023•1 hr 6 min
Contributor(s): Mohid Rehman Malik, Dr Swenja Surminski, Dr Rebecca Elliott | This episode gives an overview of how climate change intersects with class in the United States and the rest of the world. Professor Rebecca Elliot (LSE Sociology) and Professor in Practice Swenja Surminski (LSE Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change) discuss how climate change and climate related hazards disproportionately affect those from low-income backgrounds in the US and globally. This episode was produce...
Jul 21, 2023•51 min
Contributor(s): Mohid Rehman Malik, Professor Laura Pulido, Jeremy Williams | In this episode we look at the different experiences of climate change in the United States from a racial perspective. We are joined by Centennial Professor Laura Pulido (LSE Department of Geography and Environment and Phelan US Centre) and Jeremy Williams (The Earthbound Report) to discuss how environmental racism manifests and how urban development has contributed to this problem. By discussing historical development...
Jun 30, 2023•52 min
Contributor(s): Chris Gilson, Professor Peter Trubowitz, Professor Wu Xinbo, Professor Eghosa Emmanuel Osaghae, Dr Selina Ho, Professor Charles Kupchan, Professor Cornelia Woll, Professor Bahgat Korany, Dr C Raja Mohan, Dr Monica Herz | We live in turbulent times. Globalized challenges like climate change, pandemics, migration, and supply chain disruptions are rising in urgency. With these and other challenges in mind, in June 2023, Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and the LSE P...
Jun 26, 2023•30 min
Contributor(s): Samuel Bazzi, Mohid Rehman Malik, Chris Gilson | In March 2023, the Phelan US Centre’s Chris Gilson and Mohid Malik spoke to Samuel Bazzi, Associate Professor in the School of Global Policy and Strategy and the Department of Economics at the University of California, San Diego about his new research on The Confederate Diaspora. They discussed how white migration from the early American South soon after the Civil War helped to diffuse and entrench Confederate culture across the Un...
Jun 12, 2023•24 min
