Mark Blyth, political economist at Brown University's Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, and Carrie Nordlund, political scientist and Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Programs at Brown University, share their take on the news.

On this episode:

• What Trump’s indictment says about the state of American politics 
• DeSantis’ cruel (and also a slightly boring) strategy for countering Trump
• Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping’s recent bro-out in Russia, and how it fits into China’s larger geopolitical machinations
• Congress's poorly informed and slightly xenophobic attempt to grill the CEO of Tik Tok
• The underlying forces behind the protests in France, and why politicians can’t bear to tax the rich. 
• The real story behind Scotland’s recent change of leadership. 
• Gwyneth Paltrow, and the redemption of America’s judicial system

Learn more about the Watson Institute's other podcasts.

Mark Blyth, political economist at Brown University's Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, and Carrie Nordlund, political scientist and Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Programs at Brown University, share their take on the news.

On this episode:

• Dominion Voting Machine’s lawsuit against Fox shows off the network’s underside, which we all knew was there anyway. 
• Ron DeSantis continues to fight “woke” values like freedom of speech
• Mark and Carrie come up with a terrible political science dissertation topic. 
• Brexit is solved! Or maybe it was repealed?
• The future of the war in Ukraine. 
• Pharma giant Eli Lilly generously ‘caps’ the price of insulin; Mark and Carrie are not impressed. 
• Carrie actually read Spare, and Mark is upset. 

Learn more about the Watson Institute's other podcasts.

Mark Blyth, political economist at Brown University's Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, and Carrie Nordlund, political scientist and Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Programs at Brown University, share their take on the news.

On this episode:

• Is there any way to reduce mass shootings in the US?
• ‘Atmospheric rivers’ and California’s weather woes
• The debt ceiling showdown in Congress, Kevin McCarthy’s shameful job hunt: life with a divided Congress is back. 
• Mark’s invite to Davos was clearly lost in the mail. 
• Can the UK’s political leadership go a week without a bone-headed scandal? (No.) 
• Understanding Germany’s reluctance to send tanks to Ukraine. 
• New currencies: the ‘bike lanes’ of international economic policy. 
• The Royal Family is weird. 

Learn more about the Watson Institute's other podcasts.

Mark Blyth, political economist at Brown University's Watson Institute, and Carrie Nordlund, political scientist and Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Programs at Brown University, share their take on the news.

On this episode:

• Unpacking the World Cup Finals on and off the field 
• Elon’s rough few weeks at the helm of Twitter
• SBF gets arrested in the Bahamas, and we all learn too much about his crimes and lifestyle. 
• Can Trump stay in the spotlight much longer?
• China, Russia, Iran -- a tough year for authoritarians!
• The effects of raising interest rates on the global economy
• Mark and Carrie make their predictions for the world in 2023

Learn more about the Watson Institute's other podcasts.

Mark Blyth, political economist at Brown University's Watson Institute, and Carrie Nordlund, political scientist and Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Programs at Brown University, share their take on the news.

On this episode:

• The geopolitics of the World Cup, and why we’re all implicated in the spectacle's dark underbelly 
• Midterm elections come and go, yet paralysis and polarization remains in Washington 
• Trump is back, eating dinner with a Nazi, hoping the Murdochs don’t care. 
• Biden contemplates a second term in office, and the US contemplates a Biden/Trump rematch
• FTX’s collapse in the context of history’s great frauds
• Protests in Beijing and the limits of ‘Zero Covid’

Learn more about the Watson Institute's other podcasts.

Mark Blyth, political economist at Brown University's Watson Institute, and Carrie Nordlund, political scientist and Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Programs at Brown University, share their take on the news.

On this episode:

• Elon Musk buys Twitter. Will anything on the platform change?
• Musical chairs in UK politics; will Rishi Sunak’s term as MP outlast a head of lettuce?
• Xi Jinping further consolidates power in China. Can the US and China afford to lose each other?
• The most fabulously terrible races in the US midterm elections.
• Fighting in Ukraine continues on with no end in sight, and the US doesn’t know what to do about it. 
• Artist and media mogul Ye is banned from participating in…the media.  
• Prince Harry – the ‘Spare’ – tells all. 

Mark Blyth, political economist at Brown University's Watson Institute, and Carrie Nordlund, political scientist and Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Programs at Brown University, share their take on the news.

On this episode:

• Queen Elizabeth is dead, and the UK press can’t stop mourning
• Britain’s economic dumpster fire
• Biden and the Democrats doing surprisingly well (but not well enough to keep Congress)
• Elections in Italy and upcoming in Brazil don’t portend well for democracy
• Ukraine’s tripwire strategy, and Putin’s increasing desperation
• Floods in Florida
• Where is Trump?

Learn more about the Watson Institute's other podcasts.

Mark Blyth, political economist at Brown University's Watson Institute, and Carrie Nordlund, political scientist and Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Programs at Brown University, share their take on the news.

On this episode:

• Unpacking the Inflation Reduction Act
• What this summer's good news for Democrats means for the midterms
• Liz Cheney's political future, and what it could mean for Democrats and Republicans
• Trump's Mar-a-Lago drama. What matters, what doesn't, and why it feels like we've been here before...
• Multiple US Congresspeople head to Taiwan. Grand strategy, or ego-trip?
• Mega droughts in Europe and California

Listen and subscribe to Trending Globally, another podcast from the Watson Institute.

Mark Blyth, political economist at Brown University's Watson Institute, and Carrie Nordlund, political scientist and Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Programs at Brown University, share their take on the news.

On this episode:

• Finding nuance in the inflation/recession panic
• Could climate legislation actually be passed in the US Congress?!
• Heat waves in…well, everywhere
• A long goodbye for Boris Johnson
• Russia, Germany, the US, and the politics of natural gas
• January 6 hearings: rave reviews, renewed for a second season 

Transcript coming soon.

Listen and subscribe to Trending Globally, another podcast from the Watson Institute.

Mark Blyth, political economist at Brown University's Watson Institute, and Carrie Nordlund, political scientist and Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Programs at Brown University, share their take on the news.

On this episode:

• The mass shooting in Uvalde, TX, and America’s mourning rituals around gun violence
• What the potential end of Roe v. Wade means for the US, and what it says about the Supreme Court
• Transitioning from an old inflation myth to our current inflation reality
• 100 Days of grinding war in Ukraine
• Harry and Megan attend the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, and Mark doesn’t care
• Johnny Depp and Amber Heard: where toxic social media meets toxic masculinity
• An ode to the summer blockbusters of yore

Learn more about the Watson Institute's other podcasts.