Professor Daniel Aldrich sits down with us to discuss his most recent book, Black Wave: How Networks and Governance Shaped Japan’s 3/11 Disasters.

(Table of contents below.)

-Important References-

Check out Black Wave

-Usual Links-

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-Table of Contents-

00:00 — Getting started

01:08 — Summarizing the entire triple disaster, as it played out on 3/11/11

05:42 — Why doesn't Aldrich say "natural disaster" & what do "Networks and Governance" have to do with all this?

10:15 — Does Japan's one-party(-ish) democracy have a "clientelism" problem?

18:10 — Is liberal democracy too individualistic to develop the strong communities necessary for disaster resilience?

28:45 — Do democracy's strengths still apply to Covid? Have authoritarian regimes managed the pandemic better?

38:40 — Nuclear energy: is it a matter of bad regulation or just bad technology?

45:45 — Wrapping up