Disney turned its beloved Snow White into a live action movie – and no one seems happy: some criticize the casting with a Latina star whose skin is not “white as snow,” while others take issue that the color of skin is a topic of controversy at all. And then there’s the problem of the seven dwarves who are, this time around, not dwarves at all which, again, doesn’t please anyone either. The list goes on, and it is exemplary of the way some movies get caught up in the U.S. culture wars. But is this an entirely new phenomenon? How political is Hollywood these days? And might the studios be reigned in by the Trump Administration?

We dive into these questions with Suzanne Enzerink, HSG’s Assistant Professor of American Studies. A Dutch native, she did most of her American Studies coursework at the University of Groningen, with an exchange at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, before pursuing a PhD at Brown University. Before joining HSG, she served as an Assistant Professor at American University in Beirut. Her first book, Give Me Color, is scheduled to appear later this year.

Suggestions:

• The Apprentice
• Adolescence
• 90 Day Fiancé
• "Hollywood's Embassies How Movie Theaters Projected American Power Around the World"

Many tried to predict what Donald J. Trump’s first 100 days in office would amount to. The best advice stemmed from Karl Rove, long-time Republican strategist and political legend: “Buckle up, buttercup!” And yes, a wild ride it has been, particularly since “liberation day” which brought tariffs for America’s friends and foes alike, even uninhabited islands. While some have dismissed Trump’s economic agenda as sheer madness, others claim to detect method and believe it all part of a larger plan to plunge the US into recession. But is there any truth to these claims? What to make of the economic rollercoaster we have been dragged onto by Trump?

Generations of HSG students have been introduced to international economics by Professor Simon J Evenett who will kindly give us a survey in Rollercoaster Economics. After nearly two decades at the University of St.Gallen, Simon Evenett has joined IMD as Professor of Geopolitics and Strategy. He also serves as Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Trade and Investment and he founded the St Gallen Endowment for Prosperity Through Trade (SGEPT). SGEPT currently hosts three leading independent commercial policy monitoring initiatives: the Global Trade Alert, a key resource for trade monitoring and assessing trade tensions, the New Industrial Policy Observatory, and the Digital Policy Alert. Launched in 2023, Evenett created the Crux of Capitalism initiative which provides valuable insights into the performance of firms and sectors in 21 major economies. Additionally, he has served as a World Bank official twice, on the UK Competition Commission, was a Member of the Trade and the Economy Panel at the UK Department of International Trade, and has sat on several high-profile commissions relating to the future of world trade.

“But – it can’t happen here!” many Americans asserted in light of the Nazi takeover in Germany. Novelist and muckraker Sinclair Lewis ran with this line and sentiment, outlining a scenario in It Can’t Happen Here (1935) in which it did happen: an authoritarian turn in the United States. Similarly, Philip Roth imagined The Plot against America (2004) in which Franklin Delano Roosevelt would lose the election to “America First Committee” candidate Charles Lindbergh. Scholars and journalists now claim that it has indeed happened here and the plot against America was successful. The “coup from within” succeeded in ringing in “technofascist” age. Is all hope lost?

We discuss these different diagnoses of the present political moment with the first “repeat offender” on the podcast, political theorist Lee Trepanier. Professor Trepanier joined Assumption University in July 2024 as the Dean of the D’Amour College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. Previously, he was Chair and Professor of Political Science at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, which he joined after serving in the same roles at Saginaw Valley State University in Michigan. With a PhD from Louisiana State University, he established himself as a specialist of Eric Voegelin and has published extensively on conservative thought in the USA and beyond, with books on Canadian Conservative Political Thought (co-edited with Richard Avramenko) and on political conversion in Walk Away: When the Political Left Turns Right (co-edited with Grant Havers).

Emil Frey (1838-1922) war bislang nicht nur der einzige Bundesrat aus dem Kanton Basel-Land, sondern auch – laut der NZZ – «der abenteuerlichste Bundesrat, den die Schweiz je hatte»: Ausgerechnet im amerikanischen Schicksalsjahr 1860 reiste er gemeinsam mit seinem Cousin in die USA, ursprünglich, um sich als Agronom weiterzubilden. Letztlich blieb er fünf Jahre, um im Bürgerkrieg für die Nordstaaten zu kämpfen. Bei Gettysburg geriet er als Major in Kriegsgefangenschaft. Ein Stoff, der in den USA verfilmt würde – in der Schweiz wurde er zum Roman: «Der Amerikaner im Bundesrat. Stationen im Leben des Emil Frey» von Markus Wüest, mit dem wir über diesen ungewöhnlichen Wanderer zwischen den Welten sprechen.

Markus Wüest ist Mitglied der Chefredaktion der Basler Zeitung, pendelte mehr als drei Jahrzehnte lang zwischen Basel und Maine, und arbeitet mittlerweile an seinem vierten Roman. Die ersten drei sind allesamt beim Verlag Zytglogge erschienen, darunter jener zu Emil Freys Leben.

Diese Episode wurde live am OPEN SQUARE der Universitität St.Gallen am 22. März 2025 aufgenommen.

"Si vis pacem, para bellum" – "If you want peace, prepare for war." This could become the new motto of Europe under the second Trump Administration: it had been well-known that President Trump asks European states to strengthen their armies and expand their defense budgets. But it has only been in the wake of Vice President JD Vance’s talk at the 61st Munich Security Conference and the disastrous press conference with President Zelenskyi that all European states are starting to take Trump seriously. Poland is decidedly ahead of the curve: in 2024, it spent 4.12% of its GDP on defense.

How quickly has Poland been able to outpace its European peers? And how does it perceive the second Trump Administration – and the EU’s response to it? We dive into these questions with Małgorzata Bonikowska, professor at Vistula University and a member of the St.Gallen Symposium community.

Prof. Małgorzata Bonikowska has been the Co-Founder and President of THINKTANK since 2009, a platform which serves to foster collaboration between business and public administration leaders, facilitate knowledge exchange, and conduct research on topics ranging from management to public policy. In addition to her role at THINKTANK, Prof. Bonikowska has served as the President of the Centre for International Relations Foundation (CIR) since 2013. CIR is a non-governmental think tank dedicated to addressing issues related to Polish foreign, European, and international policy. Alumna of two Ph.D. programs, one in Poland (Polish Academy of Sciences) and one abroad (SSSS, Italy), Prof. Bonikowska completed a specialization program at the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at the Columbia University in New York (Fulbright Scholarship).

Some of Prof. Małgorzata Bonikowska recommendations:

• the Film "A Real Pain"
• the book "God's Playground. A History of Poland"

Scientific freedom under assault? The headlines and numbers are worrisome: amidst federal funding cuts, even the wealthiest research universities have been forced to cut PhD positions and research projects, putting careers and scientific progress in jeopardy. Researchers abroad are likewise affected if and when they collaborate with US colleagues in federally funded projects. What is the significance of these federal funds for public and private institutions of higher educations? Why have some colleges opted out of federal funding in the first place? And what is the aim of the Trump Administration’s attack against science? Is it simply backlash against what it considers a “woke” research agenda – or is it profoundly anti-science?

To better understand the US research landscape and the current upheavals, we are joined by Professors Michele Lemons and Lee Trepanier of Assumption University in Worcester, Massachusetts. They can shed light on the situation from both the perspective of a principal investigator (PI) in federally funded projects as well as a Dean with experience at different Universities across the US, public and private.

Michele Lemons holds a PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Florida and serves as a Professor of Biology at Assumption University and as a Visiting Associate Professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, both in Worcester, Massachusetts. Earlier, her research career took her to the University of Utah and to Hamilton College (New York). She has won several grants as Principal Investigator and Co-Principal Investigator from the National Science Foundation.

Lee Trepanier joined Assumption University in July 2024 as the Dean of the D’Amour College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. Previously, he was Chair and Professor of Political Science at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, which he joined after serving in the same roles at Saginaw Valley State University in Michigan. With an earlier career stop at Southern Utah University, graduate training (PhD and MA) at Louisiana State University, and undergraduate studies at Marquette University in Wisconsin, he has experienced America’s diversity first-hand. A prolific political theorist, he has dedicated several publications to teaching and higher education, including Why the Humanities Matter Today and The College Lecture Today.

Von amerikanischen Krimi- und Gerichtsserien bis zu True Crime-Podcasts und Dokumentationen: Viele von uns tauchen immer wieder einmal in die US-(Verbrechens)Welt ein. Obschon sie uns durch Film und Audio bekannt ist, bleibt vieles fremd: die Rolle von Staatsanwälten, die teils absurd anmutenden Strafmasse oder das Festhalten an der Todesstrafe. Im Gespräch mit Prof. Nora Markwalder gehen wir dem, was uns so befremdet, auf den Grund. 

Prof. Nora Markwalder ist Ordinaria für Strafrecht an der Universität St.Gallen, hat in Lausanne studiert und in Zürich promoviert. Zudem führten sie zwei längere Studien- respektive Forschungsaufenthalte an die Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas. 

Diese Episode wurde live am OPEN SQUARE der Universitität St.Gallen am 22. März 2025 aufgenommen.

53% of Americans are "very bothered" by the complexity of the US tax system – rightly so, explains Prof. Peter Hongler in this episode of "Views from the Sister Republic". While it bears some similarities to the Swiss one, it differs in many important aspects, such as the lack of a value-added tax (VAT). What are the reasons for these differences? What should we make of Donald J. Trump’s ideas? And what changes would an expert prioritize?

Prof. Peter Hongler dives into these questions and shows that taxes can be quite fun to discuss! Peter joined the University of St.Gallen in 2019 as chaired professor of tax law. He serves as the director of the Institute of Law and Economics (ILE-HSG).

Book recommendation: The Myth of Ownership: Taxes and Justice : Murphy, Liam B., Nagel, Thomas

Seit Donald J. Trump wieder im Amt ist scheinen die USA und die Welt in fieberhafter Erregung. Nie wurde so minutiös über jede Amtshandlung eines Präsidenten berichtet, wie dies bei Trump der Fall ist. Dabei überbieten sich die Medien in dystopischen Zukunftsszenarien. Doch wie viel ist auf die Prognosen jener zu geben, die einen Wahlsieg Kamala Harris’ vorausgesagt haben? Auch deutschsprachige Medien tun sich schwer damit, Amerika den Puls zu nehmen und der Öffentlichkeit zu vermitteln, wie (unterschiedlich) das Land tickt. Warum das so ist, diskutieren wir in dieser Folge mit Peter Hossli. 

Mit 29 Jahren zog Peter Hossli nach New York, um als freischaffender Journalist Fuss zu fassen. Seither hat er aus 48 Staaten berichtet, 9/11 hautnah erlebt und immer wieder neue Zugänge zu diesem Land ergründet, das ihn nicht mehr loslässt. Seit seiner Rückkehr in die Schweiz hat er zwei Bücher geschrieben: Die erste Miete ging an die Mafia (2018) über sein Leben als Reporter und Revolverchuchi: Mordfall Stadelmann (2022) über eines der grausamsten Verbrechen der Schweizer Geschichte. Neben der eigenen journalistischen Tätigkeit lehrt er als Direktor der Ringier Journalistenschule sein Handwerk und produziert mit Nicoletta Cimmino den Podcast «1776» über die USA. 

Diese Episode wurde live am OPEN SQUARE der Universitität St.Gallen am 22. März 2025 aufgenommen. Fotograf Episode Image: Ingo Hoehn

Already in his first run for the presidency, Donald J. Trump promised voters to "drain the swamp" and reign in the administrative state. To this end, the new administration created the temporary Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) which – under the controversial guidance of Elon Musk – intends to save the federal state one to two trillion US Dollars. For the past few weeks, various measures by DOGE have led some to claim that we are currently witnessing an "administrative coup" or a "coup from within". But is that indeed the case? And how revolutionary are the measures pursued by DOGE?

Professor Hiroshi Okayama joins us to discuss these questions and to explain what is actually meant by "the administrative state". He is a sought-after expert on US politics in Japan where he holds a professorship at Keio University’s Law School. He spent several years in the United States as a visiting researcher, twice at Cornell University and once at the University of Virginia. His most recent monograph is the result of his long-time interest in the history of the administrative state: Judicializing the Administrative State: The Rise of the Independent Regulatory Commissions in the United States, 1883-1937.

His book recommendation:

Ungoverning: The Attack on the Administrative State and the Politics of Chaos by Nancy L. Rosenblum and Russell Muirhead