Baker Briefing

What does the acceleration of artificial intelligence mean for higher education, from the admissions process to students’ academic and intellectual development? How can students learn to engage responsibly with AI, and what does it mean for the early graduate labor market?

Baker Institute fellow and guest host Michael Emerson sat down with Rice University Provost Amy Dittmar, University of Houston Associate Provost Jeff Morgan, and Burke Nixon, a core lecturer in Rice’s writing and communication program, to discuss the advent of AI and its implications for colleges and universities.

This conversation was recorded in front of a live studio audience on September 17, 2025. 

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You can follow @BakerInstitute on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Learn more about our data-driven, nonpartisan policy research and analysis at bakerinstitute.org.

The Baker Institute’s Kirstin Matthews and Rekha Lakshmanan join the podcast to discuss recent policy developments under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his Make America Healthy Again commission, plus the persistent — and dangerous — misinformation linking autism with vaccines.

This conversation was recorded on Sept. 15, 2025. 

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You can follow @BakerInstitute on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Learn more about our data-driven, nonpartisan policy research and analysis at bakerinstitute.org.

Fellow for the Middle East Mohammad Ayatollahi Tabaar joins the podcast to discuss the geopolitical and diplomatic fallout from the 12-day Israel-Iran war. He explores Iran’s internal politics in the aftermath of the conflict, the future of its nuclear program, and the regional balance of power.

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This conversation was recorded on Sept. 5, 2025.

You can follow @BakerInstitute on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Learn more about our data-driven, nonpartisan policy research and analysis at bakerinstitute.org.

Baker Institute Director David M. Satterfield sits down with Karina Zemel, lead producer of the “Baker Briefing” podcast, to discuss the challenges of communicating policy in a politically polarized era and the conversations ahead on Season 2 of the podcast.

We’re taking a short break as we gear up to launch Season 2 of the podcast next week. But we’re excited to share the latest episode of “The Two-Handed Economist,” a podcast from our Center for Tax and Budget Policy.

On this episode, John Diamond explores three major economic developments from the past week, including a federal appeals ruling that struck down President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs and new jobs numbers that show an increasingly fragile labor market. John breaks down what all this means and how a reversal of Trump’s tariffs could help the Fed save the economy.

This conversation was recorded on Sept. 3, 2025. 

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Follow John Diamond on X (@jw_diamond) and LinkedIn.

You can follow @BakerInstitute on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Learn more about our data-driven, nonpartisan policy research and analysis at bakerinstitute.org.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the major budget bill signed into law by President Donald Trump last month, includes important changes to federal energy policy — among them, an earlier end to wind and solar tax credits than outlined in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act and expanded support for nuclear and geothermal energy, as well as fossil fuels.

Center for Energy Studies Senior Director Ken Medlock joined the podcast to discuss the bill’s implications for the clean energy landscape and the key role of energy markets in dictating the future success of decarbonization and broader efforts to tackle climate change.

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This conversation was recorded on Aug. 6, 2025. 

You can follow @BakerInstitute on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Learn more about our data-driven, nonpartisan policy research and analysis at bakerinstitute.org.

Texas Republicans are moving to redraw the state’s congressional district map and flip five House seats for the GOP — an unusual mid-decade redistricting effort that comes at the urging of President Donald Trump ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. To block the map’s passage, Texas Democrats have fled the state, denying Republican state leaders the quorum needed to hold a vote.

Political science fellow Mark P. Jones joined “Baker Briefing” to break down the political standoff and what’s at stake for electoral politics in Texas and nationwide.

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This conversation was recorded on Aug. 5, 2025. 

A transcript of this episode is available here: http://bit.ly/47jPYD6 

You can follow @BakerInstitute on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Learn more about our data-driven, nonpartisan policy research and analysis at bakerinstitute.org.

One of the striking trends in American religion and politics over the past decade has been the extent to which Christians have rallied around President Donald Trump. Their support has been most pronounced among white evangelicals, but the president has gained electoral ground with nearly all Christian denominations since his first term.

Trump hasn’t just appealed to Christian voters through rhetoric. He’s also courted them through policy. Recent examples include a new task force to “eradicate anti-Christian bias” in the federal government and a provision in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the vast budget package signed into law earlier this month, that strips Medicaid funding from Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider. (The Hyde Amendment already prohibits federal funds from being used to cover abortions in nearly all cases.)

Seven months into Trump’s second term, how do his policies measure up for his Christian base? Michael Emerson, director of the Baker Institute Religion and Public Program, joined the podcast to help unpack how Christian support affects Trump’s policy agenda — and vice versa.

Mentioned in this episode:

• The Godless Crusade: Religion, Populism, and Right-Wing Identity Politics in the West by Tobias Cremer

This conversation was recorded on July 24, 2025.

Access a transcript of this episode.

You can follow @BakerInstitute on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Learn more about our data-driven, nonpartisan policy research and analysis at bakerinstitute.org.

As Harris County judge, Ed Emmett led the emergency response to weather disasters in the Houston region for nearly 12 years. Bill King is the former mayor of Kemah, Texas, and served on two Texas commissions studying the aftermath of deadly Hurricanes Rita and Ike.

They draw on their experience in disaster mitigation and response and offer reflections on the devastating Texas Hill Country floods, the second deadliest flood event in state history, as a special legislative session begins in Austin and lawmakers put forth proposals for strengthening weather communications and warning systems.

Featured guests:

• Ed Emmett, https://www.bakerinstitute.org/expert/edward-m-emmett

This conversation was recorded on July 17, 2025.

A transcript of this episode is available here: https://bit.ly/4o2pNqx 

You can follow @BakerInstitute on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Learn more about our data-driven, nonpartisan policy research and analysis at bakerinstitute.org.

What is Christian nationalism, and why is it having a moment in U.S. politics? And what does it mean for democracy in our increasingly diverse and pluralistic society?

The ideology’s influence hasn’t faded with the dawn of the second Donald Trump administration, and it’s worth returning to this episode, originally released in October 2024, in which our Religion and Public Policy Program experts Michael Emerson and David Brockman explain what Christian nationalism is (and isn’t), what its proponents want to accomplish, and what makes the current iteration of the movement different from what we’ve previously seen in U.S. history.

The conversation is a primer for understanding related developments in U.S. and state-level politics today (which we'll explore in future episodes), including recent policy actions by the Trump administration and new public education measures in Texas.

Among these: the state’s adoption of a controversial “Bible-infused” reading and language arts curriculum for K-5 students, which Brockman reviews in a new report out today from the Baker Institute.

Featured guests:

• David Brockman, Ph.D., https://www.bakerinstitute.org/expert/david-r-brockman 

Mentioned:

• David Brockman, “Texas’ ‘Bible-Infused’ Public School Curriculum Raises Church–State Questions”

A transcript of this episode is available here: https://bit.ly/46GyWig

You can follow @BakerInstitute on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Learn more about our data-driven, nonpartisan policy research and analysis at bakerinstitute.org.