The University of California’s recent announcement to drop standardized tests from its undergraduate admissions process has raised questions about the racial bias associated with standardized tests. Do the ACT and SAT put minority students at an unfair disadvantage when applying to elite institutions? Will excluding these tests from the college admissions process increase or decrease the success of minority students in the University of California system?

In this episode, Naomi and Ian are joined by Jason Riley, a Wall Street Journal columnist and senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, to discuss these questions and more. Later, they discuss the recent protests that erupted after the tragic death of George Floyd. Jason Riley argues that effective policing is essential to supporting the health and safety of minority communities. 

Show Notes: 00:45 | Is the SAT useful in determining college success for minority students? 08:35 | Parenting in the age of protests 12:30 | Are Black Americans at higher risk of police-violence due to systemic racism? 16:25 | Does removing the presence of police from black communities help or hurt them?

Resources: – The Power of Personal Agency | Wall Street Journal | June 21 – Scrapping the SAT Won’t Help Black and Latino Students | Wall Street Journal | May 26 – Good Policing Saves Black Lives | Wall Street Journal | June 1

We hope you enjoyed this episode of Are You Kidding Me?, part of the AEI Podcast Network. For more episodes, subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Play, or your favorite podcast app. This episode was first released on June 24, 2020.

In Episode 2, John Lettieri sits down with Dr. Adam Ozimek, chief economist at the online talent platform Upwork.

They discuss how the COVID-19 crisis could permanently influence the future of remote work, and how being an economist and small business owner in Lancaster, PA, influences Adam’s perspective on the challenges facing the U.S. in the midst of an unprecedented crisis. 

What are semiconductors and why are they so important in our digital age? Does it matter if they’re made in the United States?

On this episode, Shane speaks with John Neuffer, president and CEO of the Semiconductor Industry Association, about this crucial industry. They discuss the outsized importance of this tiny piece of hardware, the state of the industry today, and the challenges it faces moving forward.

Download this episode’s transcript here.

In the inaugural episode of The Deep Dive, host John Lettieri sits down for a wide-ranging discussion with Scott Winship, one of the country’s leading experts on economic mobility and inequality, who serves as Executive Director of the Congressional Joint Economic Committee. Scott and John discuss the latest research on social capital in the United States, the persistence of the “opportunity gap” between black and white children, and how place exerts a profound influence over a child’s life outcomes.  

Scott Winship, Ph.D., is Executive Director of the United States Congress Joint Economic Committee. At JEC, he leads the Social Capital Project for Senator Mike Lee (R-UT). Winship is widely published and has worked previously at the Manhattan Institute, the Brookings Institution, and the Pew Charitable Trusts. Follow him on Twitter @swinshi.

How has the rise of China affected global telecommunications policy? And what is America doing to ensure free communications around the world?

On the second half of this two-part discussion, Shane Tews, Grace Koh, and Tricia Paoletta continue their discussion on international telecom politics, covering the challenges and points of contention the US faces as it seeks to shape the global telecom landscape. You can listen to Part 1 of the discussion here.

Download this episode’s transcript here.

The past few months have brought an onslaught of new policies attempting to curb the spread of COVID-19, but were they the right decisions based upon the data we have about the virus?  And what comes next?

Brent talks to Lyman Stone, an adjunct fellow at AEI and a research fellow at the Institute for Family Studies, about his agreements and critiques on the way the United States handled the management of the pandemic. He also offers advice about how to handle future such outbreaks while avoiding widespread lockdowns.

We hope you enjoyed this episode of Hardly Working, part of the AEI Podcast Network. This episode was first released on June 17, 2020. For more episodes of Hardly Working, find us on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or wherever you find your podcasts.

Welcome to The Deep Dive, a podcast with host John Lettieri, co-founder of the Economic Innovation Group. Each Thursday, we feature long-form conversations with some of the country’s most influential experts, economists, journalists, and business leaders about the issues shaping our economy and society today — with a special focus on how better public policy can help us build a more dynamic economy in which more people and places have a chance to truly thrive.

Make sure to subscribe to The AEI Podcast Channel, and look forward to future episodes of The Deep Dive and other AEI podcasts!

Lockdowns don’t work, argues Lyman Stone in a recent piece. Instead, to really crush the curve of coronavirus infections (rather than just flattening it), we need to follow the model of successful Asian nations and implement a robust system of contact tracing. Lyman called in from Hong Kong to discuss what this would look like, as well as China’s recent efforts to crack down on the city.

Lyman Stone is an adjunct fellow at AEI, a research fellow at the Institute for Family Studies, and a former international economist at the US Department of Agriculture. He blogs about migration, population dynamics, and regional economics at In a State of Migration. His work has been covered in the The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and numerous local outlets.

We hope you enjoyed this episode of “Banter: An AEI Podcast.” You can subscribe to “Banter” on iTunes, Stitcher, or Spotify, and archived episodes can be found at www.aei.org/tag/aei-banter. This is “Banter” episode #410.

What rules govern how telecommunications standards work across countries? How do governments manage the process to ensure national standards are compatible?

On this episode, Shane Tews speaks with Grace Koh, the US Ambassador to the International Telecommunications Unions’ World Telecommunications Conference, and Tricia Paoletta, a telecommunications lawyer and spectrum policy expert, on the international politics of telecommunications. In the first half of a two-part discussion, they cover the structure and purpose of major international telecommunications bodies. You can listen to Part 2 here.

Download this episode’s transcript here.

Is American innovation plateauing? How can we encourage more

of it, both through public policy and culture? Should we be concerned that

China’s innovative capacities will overtake us? And what really motivates

innovators to innovate, anyway? Matt Ridley recently joined me for an AEI webinar

to discuss these questions, and I’m happy to present our conversation to you

all in podcast form.

Matt is the award-winning and bestselling author of numerous books, including “The Evolution of Everything” and “The Rational Optimist”. Since 2013, Matt has also been a member of the House of Lords. His new book is “How Innovation Works: And Why It Flourishes in Freedom”.

We hope you enjoyed this episode of Political Economy with James Pethokoukis, part of the AEI Podcast Network. For more episodes, find Political Economy on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Play, and everywhere else you find podcasts. This episode was first released on June 3, 2020.