Policy 360

Jacob Bachmeier serves in Montana's House of Representatives. He was just 18 when he was elected. A classmate was his campaign manager. At the time of his election, he was the youngest state lawmaker in the country.

Guest host: Gunther Peck of Duke University's Hart Leadership Program

Note:

Policy 360 will return to our regular biweekly schedule in September.

• Music: The Zeppelin by Blue Dot Sessions / Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution freemusicarchive.org/music/Blue_Dot_Sessions/

China is investing heavily in coal around the world, even going so far as to build the coal sector from scratch, in a variety of developing countries. Coal plants are either being planned or constructed in 14 countries that currently have no coal power to speak of. Plants are also being planned for 19 other countries, and those new coal plants would more than double each country's existing coal-fired capacity. Guest, Jackson Ewing, of Duke University's Nicholas Institute of Environmental Policy Solutions, explains.

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• Read the op-ed Jackson Ewing wrote for The Hill
• Artwork: Melissa Carrico
• Music: Vittoro by Blue Dot Sessions / Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution

In a new intergovernmental report, scientists say a million species of plants and animals could go extinct due to climate change, many within our lifetimes. Duke University Professor Alexander Pfaff contributed to the report. He's here to talk about history, and the five hurdles that have tripped policymakers and advocates up in the past when it comes to reversing environmental loss.

Show Notes:

Read the op-ed Alexander Pfaff wrote for The Hill

Music: Open Flames by Blue Dot Sessions / Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution

A Duke University interdisciplinary student team has spent the past academic year trying to get a better understanding of the barriers to energy investment in rural Zambia.

The team looked at policy issues, assessed customers' willingness to pay, and even created a geospatial application so potential investors can easily look at variables in each region before deciding to invest.

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• Find out more about the Energy Access Project at Duke University
• Find out more about Bass Connections at Duke University
• Music: Open Flames by Blue Dot Sessions / Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution

Research shows that working-class people almost never become politicians, but Carmen Castillo is both a hotel housekeeper and a three-term Providence Rhode Island City Council member. Yet when Carmen first began to work as a housekeeper, the only English words she knew were "yes" and "no." How did she do it?

Carmen Castillo is featured in the documentary film Councilwoman.

Professor Nick Carnes' book is The Cash Ceiling: Why Only the Rich Run for Office.

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Image: Melissa Carrico

Music: The Zeppelin by Blue Dot Sessions / Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution.

The massacre in Christchurch, New Zealand was announced online and streamed live on Facebook. Afterwards, copies of the video were uploaded to YouTube at a rate of one per second.

Phil Napoli is an expert in media regulation and policy. He has provided expert testimony to the U.S. Senate, the Federal Communications Commission, and the Federal Trade Commission among other government entities. He joins host Judith Kelley to discuss potential government regulation of social media platforms.

Subscribe to the Policy 360 podcast: www.policy360.org/ Read a transcript: sites.duke.edu/policy360/2019/04…ate-social-media/ Music: Vittoro by Blue Dot Sessions freemusicarchive.org/music/Blue_Dot_Sessions/ Licensed under Creative Commons: creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/

Political satire isn't new, it's been with us throughout history, even Shakespeare's works were packed with political commentary. Lately Political News itself seems more like entertainment television. So how do you make fun of something that already seems like a joke?Our next guest says, it's a blessing and a curse to be a Trump era comedian. Zhubin Parang is a producer for the Daily Show with Trevor Noah having previously served as the head writer for three years. He even majored in political science and sociology at Vanderbilt University. He attended Georgetown law school, he was a corporate lawyer before he was hired by the Daily Show.

Zhubin has won multiple primetime Emmy awards for his work on the Daily Show. His trip to Duke was sponsored by POLIS, the center for Political Leadership, Innovation and Service, as well as the Dewitt Wallace Center for Media andDemocracy, the Sanford School and the Graduate Student Association of Iranians at Duke.

Subscribe to the Policy 360 podcast: www.policy360.org/ Read the transcript here: sites.duke.edu/policy360/files/2…bin-Parang-1.docx Image: Melissa Carrico Music: The Zeppelin by Blue Dot Sessions freemusicarchive.org/music/Blue_Dot_Sessions/ Licensed under Creative Commons: creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/

We came across a great podcast produced by the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University. It's called Trending Globally [watson.brown.edu/news/trending-globally]. The weekly podcast features insight on today's critical global challenges. So today on Policy 360: a special episode from Trending Globally.

The episode features Sam Wilkin, an economist, political risk consultant, and fellow at the Watson Institute [watson.brown.edu/people/visiting/wilkin]. In 2015 Sam started to work on a book about the history of populist movements around the world. At the time people weren't too interested in what he was saying. Then Donald Trump was elected President, and people became very interested. His book History Repeating: Why Populists Rise and Government's Fall [profilebooks.com/history-repeating.html], came out in March of 2018.

Madeleine Albright served as the 64th U.S. Secretary of State under President Bill Clinton. In this episode of the Policy 360 podcast, she joins Sanford School of Public Policy Dean Judith Kelley to discuss the rise of fascism around the world, concerns about President Trump, the fragility of democracy and the messages hidden in her jewelry.

Transcript: https://sites.duke.edu/policy360/2019/03/04/ep-87-madeleine-albright/

Music: Vittoro by Blue Dot Sessions freemusicarchive.org/music/Blue_Dot_Sessions/ Creative Commons License: creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/

In 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced the One Belt, One Road Initiative. The massive infrastructure project aims to link countries along the old Silk Road routes with Europe. China has spent close to $150 billion a year in the 68 countries that are taking part.

Such a large undertaking has immense implications for the environment. Duke University faculty member Alexander Pfaff has been detailing the potential environmental risks of the BRI and considering alternatives that would avoid environmental damage while still allowing for improved infrastructure.

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Read a transcript: sites.duke.edu/policy360/2019/02…-road-initiative/

Image: Duke University

Music: Open Flames by Blue Dot Sessions freemusicarchive.org/music/Blue_Dot_Sessions/ (Creative Commons License: creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/ )