Policy 360

“The tragic Parkland, Fla., shooting on February 14th is yet another dreadful reminder that schools are no sanctuary against mass violence. Americans are surely united in wanting reforms … But the reform that is getting the most attention in this bizarro era we live in — arming teachers with concealed handguns — would likely make things worse.” – excerpt from an op-ed by one of this country’s preeminent researchers on gun violence in America, Philip J. Cook.

Cook talks with Kelly Brownell about other, more promising strategies for dealing with gun violence in classrooms than arming teachers.

It's March Madness, but instead of basketball, we’re pitting U.S. presidents from throughout the ages against each other. Who will be crowned the best president?  Will it be Washington or Honest Abe?  Maybe FDR?  What criteria should we be using to determine what makes a great president? Guests include Frederick "Fritz" Mayer and BJ Rudell from POLIS, the Duke Center for Political Leadership, Innovation & Service. Music: Blue Dot Sessions

James Clapper served as director of national intelligence and Obama’s top security adviser from 2010-2017. He oversaw 200,000 intelligence employees, a $52 billion budget and top security organizations including the CIA, NSA and FBI. In this episode of Policy 360, he discusses threats to the U.S., his decision to speak out against the country's current leadership and his hopes for future leaders.

Music: Blue Dot Sessions/Creative Commons

It’s estimated that 1.2 billion people around the world live without electricity. Another billion have only limited access to electricity. And billions more lack access to clean fuel and technology for cooking. There's an exciting new project designed to address the energy needs of the world’s poor. The Energy Access Project aims to bring an interdisciplinary approach to one of the world's most vexing issues.

In recent years, oil and gas production in the U.S. has increased dramatically, in part because of new technology like hydraulic fracturing or “fracking." Proponents say fracking is helping the country be energy independent. Opponents cite environmental concerns. Daniel Raimi traveled to every major U.S. oil and gas- producing region in the U.S. His book is called The Fracking Debate.

Recently, Jonathan Mattingly has been a detective of sorts, delving into partisan gerrymandering in North Carolina. (Gerrymandering is when one party manipulates voting districts for their own gain.) Mattingly is chair of the math department at Duke and his mathematical analysis of the state’s 13 Congressional districts was used in a court ruling that declared the state's maps unconstitutional. He says what he uncovered in his research could be used to address gerrymandering in other states.

A panel of federal judges recently declared North Carolina's Congressional maps unconstitutional. (Congressional maps divide the state into voting districts.) The maps had been drawn by Republicans and tilted heavily in their favor. The ruling required lawmakers to redraw the maps by the end of January 2018, but the U.S. Supreme Court has put that ruling on hold.

Recently Tom Ross ran a bipartisan simulation which demonstrated how independent redistricting in the state might work. Lessons learned in North Carolina could be applied to other states who are grappling with these issues.

Tom Ross is president of the Volcker Alliance, which is working to rebuild public trust in government. He is the first Terry Sanford Distinguished Fellow at the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University.

The algorithms that determine what we see on social media platforms wield a lot of power, especially when it comes to the news that people see. Facebook made big news recently when the company tweaked its algorithm. And did you know some real news stories are not written by humans, but by smart algorithm?

Kelly Brownell discusses the promise and peril of algorithms with Phil Napoli. Napoli was recently awarded a fellowship by the Carnegie Corporation of New York to explore this topic more closely.

Phil Napoli's upcoming book is titled "Media Technocracy: The Rise of Algorithmic News and the Future of the Marketplace of Ideas."

Recently, the Charlotte Observer ran a powerful five-part series that revealed shocking practices inside the state’s prison system. The investigation exposed correctional officers running contraband rings and collaborating with gang members. As a result of that series, the state commissioned a study to see whether best practices from other state prison systems could be implemented in North Carolina. The authors of the study, Caitlin Saunders and Joel Rosch, discuss their findings.

A student-led initiative on college campuses  in North Carolina is tackling one of the most important issue of our time - political polarization. The project, called Leaders for Political Dialogue, convenes students from Duke, N.C. State, UNC and N.C. Central. Students spend a weekend learning how to communicate better with those whose political opinions may differ from their own. Kelly Brownell talks with the founder of the project, as well as three participants.