Forty-four states and the District of Columbia have adopted the Common Core State Standards in English language arts and mathematics. Despite initial enthusiasm, criticism of and outright opposition to the standards are beginning to arise. , a senior fellow in the at Brookings, explains how the Common Core came about, why some are opposed to it now, and what his research shows about its impact on student achievement. Show notes: • (Loveless)• (Loveless, in 2012 Brown Center Report)• (West and Bl...
Apr 25, 2014•31 min
The Arctic is changing. As the polar ice cap recedes, new shipping routes are opening up and access to Arctic energy resources is expanding. , a nonresident senior fellow with the at Brookings, explains what these changes mean for Arctic governance and for U.S. leadership of the Arctic Council in 2015. Show notes: • Offshore Oil and Gas Governance in the Arctic: A Leadership Role for the United States: | • • •
Apr 11, 2014•27 min
"Happiness." "Contentment." "Subjective well-being." Can we measure how happy people are and if so, what can we do with this information? In this podcast, , the Leo Pasvolsky Senior Fellow and author of , explains how happiness/well-being research works and why it matters for public policy in the U.S. and globally. In the podcast, Graham explains two dimensions of understanding well-being, the "Benthamite/hedonic" and the "Aristotelian/eudemonic." She explained them : Those of us involved focus ...
Mar 28, 2014•29 min
Pork barrel spending has traditionally been understood as the exclusive domain of Congress. Yet recent presidents are highly engaged in the practice, too, as demonstrates in his illuminating new book, (Brookings, 2014). In this podcast, , a fellow in Governance Studies, explains how presidents dole out over $100 billion per year in discretionary federal grants through scores of federal agencies, often in service of improving his electoral prospects. In one example, Hudak examined why the Nationa...
Mar 14, 2014•31 min
"More than half of Arab children are not learning," says Senior Fellow in this new podcast about learning in the Arab world. He joined , a fellow also with the at Brookings, in this discussion about their findings on and solutions for a range of education issues in the region, including number and quality of teachers, accountability, gender, curriculum, and whether Arab world children are learning the skills they need to compete in the 21st century. Show notes: • • • •
Feb 28, 2014•29 min
From East Asia to Africa, through Afghanistan to Syria and the greater Middle East, Senior Fellow guides us on a brief tour of the good, the bad, and in some cases, the ugly challenges facing our world today. Find out why he says, despite all the challenges, the global order is remarkably healthy right now and what that means for America's role in the world. Show notes: • (Big Bets & Black Swans presidential briefing memo)• (Big Bets & Black Swans memo)• • •
Feb 14, 2014•34 min
Poverty in the United States looks different now than it did when President Lyndon Johnson declared an "unconditional war on poverty" 50 years ago. With the publication of their book, , Elizabeth Kneebone and Alan Berube brought to the fore of the national conversation the experience of the 16.5 million people living in poverty in the suburbs. In a new podcast, , a fellow in the , says that the landscape of poverty is "dramatically different" than it was a half century ago. A third of the poor p...
Jan 22, 2014•29 min
"Cyber issues have been too long been left only to the 'IT' crowd, ... when it's something—whether you are working in politics, in media, in military, in law, in business, or just frankly as a good citizen or as a good parent—you need to know more about. It connects to all of these different issues and yet most of us have been operating from this position of, frankly, ignorance. And we're being taken advantage of." So says , co-author of the new book, . In this podcast, Singer, a senior fellow i...
Jan 08, 2014•34 min
"The intersection of politics and policy is a lonely place," writes Senior Fellow in her new book . In this podcast, Kamarck, founding director of the , touches on the ideas and examples in her book to explain why politics and policy have to come together for us to understand success and failure in U.S. politics. She talks about "surveying the policy battlefield" in trying to understand the complexity of change. For example, why did unpopular President Harry Truman manage to get the Marshall Pla...
Dec 20, 2013•28 min
In this podcast, congressional expert explains why the Senate filibuster is a historical mistake. She talks about her research on Congress’s relationship with the Federal Reserve and addresses whether Congress is more polarized today than it has been in the past. Binder, a senior fellow in Governance Studies, is also a professor of political science at George Washington University and contributor to the . Show notes: • (testimony by Alice Rivlin)• • • • •
Dec 06, 2013•27 min
Universal primary education by 2015 is one of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals. While great progress has been made in expanding educational access, are children learning what they need to learn to succeed? , senior fellow and director of the , talks about why access plus learning is important. In the podcast, Winthrop also describes her collaboration with the Learning Metrics Task Force, and addresses how to measure educational outcomes, the challenge of educating children in con...
Nov 22, 2013•29 min
The number of people worldwide living in extreme poverty—defined as living on $1.25 a day or less—was cut in half between 1990 and 2010. Yet more than one billion people still subsist at this level, and about three billion live at under $2.50 a day. , a fellow in the Global Economy and Development Program at Brookings, discusses the possibility that by 2030 the world might eradicate the most extreme poverty. He explains how we measure the problem, what the private sector and aid agencies can do ...
Nov 08, 2013•37 min
