1050 Bascom

In this episode of 1050 Bascom, we were grateful for the opportunity to talk to one of our PS alumni, Megan Arendt as part of our Career Conversations series. Megan is the Associate Director Of Communications at Action on Smoking and Health in Washington, DC. She graduated from UW-Madison in 2010 with a B.A. in Political Science and a certificate in African Studies. In 2014, Megan also received a certification in Communication and Media Studies from the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Megan currently serves as a valued alumni mentor in the University’s Wisconsin in Washington program. We asked Megan about her time at UW Madison as well as her post-grad education and career path. We also asked her for advice for current students and recent graduates navigating a challenging internship and job market. Megan also offered some great insights for students looking to pursue opportunities in Washington, DC. We thoroughly enjoyed our conversation with Megan and hope you will too.

In this episode of 1050 Bascom we were grateful for the opportunity to interview Prof. Christine Durrance, an applied microeconomist concentrating in health economics and policy. Prof. Durrance’s research focuses on maternal, infant, and reproductive health; risky behavior and substance use; and antitrust and competition policy in health care markets. Prof. Durrance is also one of the investigators for the Collaborative for Reproductive Equity (CORE) at UW-Madison.

Prof. Durrance shared her insights into the inequities in vaccine distribution across the globe. We also discussed several other research projects that inform her scholarship and teaching. We thoroughly enjoyed our conversation with Prof. Durrance and hope you will too.

In this episode of 1050 Bascom, we were grateful for the opportunity to talk to Erin Barbato, Director of the Immigrant Justice Clinic at the University of Wisconsin Law School, about immigration politics and policy. We also asked Prof. Barabato about the recent grant she received to co-direct a Center for Dreamers at the University of Wisconsin that aims to assist undocumented immigrants in Wisconsin who were brought to this country as young children and remain here under the temporary, renewable protections of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). We enjoyed our conversation with Prof. Barbato and learned so much. We hope you will too.

In this episode of 1050 Bascom, we were privileged to talk again to Prof. Jon Pevehouse who teaches a variety of courses in international relations and foreign policy for the Political Science department as well as the La Follette School of Public Affairs. Prof. Pevehouse is the new Chair of the Political Science department and is also teaching his very popular American Foreign Policy course this semester. Prof. Pevehouse helped us put the US presence in Afghanistan in an historical context and offered his insights into the Taliban’s return to power last month in the aftermath of the US withdrawal. Prof. Pevehouse also walked us through some of the short- and long-term foreign policy implications of the post- 9/11 wars more generally. We learned so much and thoroughly enjoyed our conversation. We hope you will too.

In this episode of 1050 Bascom, we were grateful for the opportunity to talk to Steven Kulig, Associate Director at the La Follette School of Public Affairs. Steve earned his bachelor of science degree in Economics from UW-Madison in 2007. After graduation, he spent over six years working as a legislative assistant in the Wisconsin State Senate. While working at the capitol, he attended the La Follette School part-time, earning his master's degree in public affairs in 2014. After graduating, he joined the Wisconsin Department of Health Services as a budget and policy analyst and then joined the La Follette School as administrator and career services coordinator in April 2016 before becoming the Associate Director at La Follette in 2018.

We asked Steve about his time on campus as an undergrad, his experience as a legislative assistant and as a budget analyst, his decision to pursue an MPA, and about his current leadership role at La Follette. We thoroughly enjoyed our conversation with Steve and hope you will too!

In this episode of 1050 Bascom, we were privileged to talk with Prof Reed Lei about the Chinese Politics class he is teaching in the fall and Chinese politics more generally. Prof Lei’s research and teaching interests include Autocracy, Chinese politics, local governments, political economy of development, public finance, and judicial politics. We asked Prof. Lei about the topics he plans to cover in his fall course as well as questions about some contemporary Chinese political issues and concerns in the international system more broadly. We learned a lot and enjoyed our conversation.

In this episode of 1050 Bascom, we were grateful for the opportunity to talk to , an Associate Professor for the School for Workers at UW-Madison to talk about an important and unique study he co-directed called “Voices of Wisconsin Workers - A Community Engaged Study of Essential Workers During the Pandemic.” We’ve spent some time on the podcast talking in generalities about the impact of COVID-19 on the economy generally, but we haven’t really gotten into crucial questions of how the pandemic has impacted the financial lives of many individual workers, especially those deemed essential (and never stopped going to work in places where the virus was circulating even without vaccines). We are fortunate to be able to address some of these questions in this interview with Prof. Ibarra who has been studying these issues throughout the pandemic. We enjoyed our conversation with Prof. Ibarra and learned so much. We hope you will too.

In this episode 1050 Bascom, we were privileged to have the opportunity to talk to Roger Ervin, who received his MBA from the University of Wisconsin Business School and teaches courses at the La Follette School of Public Affairs. Roger is an accomplished global operating executive with experience in the public and private sectors. Roger’s career has spanned from working as a campaign field organizer to the highest levels of presidential politics and diplomatic service to serving as the CEO of a 5,000-employee global company operating in 40 countries. Roger was a senior advisor to the Biden 2020 presidential campaign and also served in the Clinton Administration as a Senior Advisor in the Africa Bureau of the State Department where he was deeply involved in some of the most crucial foreign policy matters of the time including helping Nelson Mandela’s rise to the presidency as well as resolving America’s intervention in Somalia and ending genocide in Rwanda. In May 2021, he joined Putnam Partners as a firm partner. Next spring, he will teach a course at La Follette called Strategic Public Management.

In this episode of 1050 Bascom, we were privileged to have the opportunity to talk to Emilio Giuliani. Emilio graduated from UW-Madison in 2013 with majors in Political Science, History, and International Studies. He also earned certificates in European Studies and Global Cultures. After graduating, Emilio worked with the Embassy of Iraq in DC at the Middle East Institute, and then spent five years in Dubai working in education management. Currently, he is pursuing his JD at Arizona State where he is focusing on international law. He is working with an NGO in South Africa called Corruption Watch for the summer. We asked Emilio about his time on campus and his fascinating work experience in the Middle East. We also sought his advice for students who might want to follow a similar career path. We enjoyed our conversation with Emilio and hope you will too.

In this episode of 1050 Bascom, we were delighted to talk to Jordan Ellenberg, Professor of Mathematics at UW-Madison to talk through some of the many varied and interesting topics he engages in his new book, Shape: The Hidden Geometry of Information, Biology, Strategy, Democracy and Everything Else. The book, published in May, has received rave reviews nationally and internationally. Prof. Ellenberg offered his insights into the strengths of the rank choice voting process used in the recent NYC mayoral race. He also talked us through his research on gerrymandering and why he thinks it confronts us with the fact that “who sits in the legislature” is not a great formal proxy for “what the people want.” Prof. Ellenberg also made a convincing case for why geometry (and high level math learning more generally) is important for people participating in a democratic society. We thoroughly enjoyed our fun and wide-ranging discussion with Prof. Ellenberg and hope you will too.