1050 Bascom

In this episode of 1050 Bascom, we were delighted to talk to Garrett Jones, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Political Science. Garrett is currently teaching our department’s The American Constitution: Powers and Structures of Government course. We talked to Garret about the development of the US constitutional framework historically and with respect to the challenges of constitutionalism in contemporary U.S. politics and government. We thoroughly enjoyed our conversation with Garrett and learned so much. We hope you will too.

On this episode of 1050 Bascom, we were excited to sit down with David Olson, a lecturer in the Department of Political Science, to discuss not only his spring course, The Supreme Court as a Political Institution, but also his broader work in civic education. We talked to David about the history and evolution of judicial decision-making and its connection to contemporary political issues. We also asked him about his work at Retro Report – an independent nonprofit news organization - as well as his thoughts on the evolving role of civic education in today’s society. We thoroughly enjoyed our conversation with David, and hope you will too.

On this episode of 1050 Bascom, we were delighted to talk to Noah Stengl about his spring course, Native American Political Theory. We talked with Noah about some of the course themes and concepts and how they connect to broader issues of governance, sovereignty, freedom and land. We learned so much and thoroughly enjoyed our conversation. We hope you will too

In this episode of 1050 Bascom, Honor Durham, Allison Keeley, and Nama Paney revisit favorite clips from three podcasts we especially enjoyed hosting this semester. The first is a conversation with Kai Prins on commodity activism in polarized politics. The second revisits a conversation we had with Professor Allison Prasch on the different rhetorical styles used by Donald Trump and Kamala Harris during their respective presidential campaigns. This last clip comes from our episode with Dr. Kathy Cramer, in which we discuss reimagining our democracy.

On this episode of 1050 Bascom, we were excited to talk to Soeren Henn, a new Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science. Prof. Henn’s research lies at the intersection of comparative politics, political economy and development economics. He studies the politics of development with a focus on fragile state settings, informal institutions, and conflict in Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly the Great Lakes region, and Latin America. In this episode, we asked Prof. Henn about his academic and professional pathway as well as his teaching and research interests, particularly with respect to political economy and development in Africa. We enjoyed our conversation with Prof. Henn and hope you will too.

In this episode of 1050 Bascom, we had the pleasure to speak with Manu Meel, the CEO of BridgeUSA, and the leaders of BridgeMadison, Miranda Garcia-Dove and Abby Grabowski. BridgeMadison is a newly formed campus chapter dedicated to bridging political divides. In this episode, Manu, Abbby and Miranda discuss the campus climate following the 2024 election, and share their efforts to reduce polarization and foster meaningful conversations among students.

On this episode of 1050 Bascom, we were pleased to welcome back Erin Barbato, Director of the Immigrant Justice Clinic at the University of Wisconsin Law School to talk about what many political observers have described as a crisis at the border. In an interview recorded one week prior to the 2024 presidential election, we asked Prof. Barbato about why the immigration issue was front and center for both the Trump and Harris campaigns. We also asked Prof. Barbato about potential changes in immigration policy under a second Trump presidency. We learned a lot from our conversation, and hope you will too.

In this episode of 1050 Bascom, we were excited to talk with Terrence Roehrig, a Professor at the US Naval War College. Professor Roehrig will be teaching a new course for the political science department next spring entitled "Asia-Pacific Security and Foreign Relations". Prof. Roehrig has been a research fellow at the Kennedy School at Harvard University in the International Security Program and the Project on Managing the Atom. He is also a non-resident expert at the Center for Korean Legal Studies at Columbia University. In this episode we wanted to ask Prof. Roehrig about his Spring political science course and his research and work more generally. We enjoyed our conversation with Prof. Roehrig, and hope you will too.

In this episode of 1050 Bascom, we were excited to welcome Professor David Parker, a lecturer in the Department of Political Science at UW-Madison to talk about contemporary British Politics. He received his doctorate here in 2004, and this is his first year back after teaching political science at Montana State University for sixteen years, including five years as Department Head. We asked Prof. Parker about the Labour Party’s landslide victory in the elections this past summer, and how the Conservative Party is responding. We also discussed political polarization in Britain compared to that in the United States as well as how Brexit and devolution has impacted British politics. We thoroughly enjoyed our conversation and hope you will too.

On this episode of 1050 Bascom, we were delighted to welcome Kai Prins who is a candidate studying Rhetoric, Politics, and Culture in the Department of Communication Arts and is minoring in Women’s and Gender Studies here at UW-Madison. Kai studies the influence of neoliberalism on the formation and performance of social identity across a range of case studies in digital and consumer culture, including the advertising and branding of social justice issues; the convergence of wellness, social media, and conspiracy; and the commoditization of drag performance. In this fun and engaging episode we asked Kai about their work on commodity activism, in particular a chapter of their dissertation they wrote called “Friends Don’t Let Friends Shave with Woke Razors”: Commodity Activism and Economic Speech in the Age of Conservative Backlash.” We thoroughly enjoyed our conversation and hope you will too.