Cal Newport's books, with titles like Deep Work, Digital Minimalism, and A World Without Email, have sold over two million copies worldwide. He’s a contributing writer for the New Yorker, weighing in on hot button tech issues of the day. He is also a professor and a founding member of Georgetown University’s Center for Digital Ethics. He joins host Judith Kelley, Dean of the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University, to talk productivity and focus in the face of communication overload.

Cal Newport was on Duke’s campus to give the fall 2023 Crown Lecture in Ethics.

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In this episode: how a program that supports kids outside of the school hours is driving student educational outcomes. New research shows that programs like Student U, which provides extra academics to participants after the school day and on summer breaks, along with field trips, social workers for families and more, should be considered closely as models by policymakers. The results indicate “comprehensive services outside of time spent in school can yield valuable benefits for disadvantaged students.”

Guests: Alexandra Zagbayou is a professor of the practice at Duke Sanford. She previously was part of the founding team of Student U. Sarah Komisarow is an assistant professor at the Sanford School.

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Richard Burr retired recently from public service after serving five terms in the U.S. House of Representatives (1995-2005) and three in the U.S. Senate (2005-2023). He came to Duke’s campus to speak to students in Professor Jon Rosenwasser’s Master of National Security Policy course, PubPol 890: Promise and Peril of US Intelligence. While on campus, he spoke with Duke Sanford School of Public Policy Dean Judith Kelley about bipartisanship, political polarization, and the importance of passing down to children and grandchildren the tradition of service.

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Stephen J. Hadley served as deputy national security advisor, and then national security advisor to President George W. Bush. He recently edited a new book, along with Duke professor Peter Feaver and others, Hand-Off: The Foreign Policy George W. Bush Passed to Barack Obama.

The book is a collection of the national security and foreign policy memos that were prepared for the transition between the Bush and Obama administrations. The memos are now declassified and are made public in this book for the very first time, along with detailed post scripts from the original memo writers.

Stephen Hadley was on Duke’s campus for the Duke Program in American Grand Strategy Ambassador Dave and Kay Phillips Family International Lecture Series and he spoke with guest host David Schanzer. Schanzer is a professor in the Duke Sanford School of Public Policy. He also leads the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security.

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The Marvel Cinematic ​Universe (MCU) features compelling characters and intertwined storylines. Think Captain America, Iron Man, X-Men, Thor, the Hulk, The Fantastic Four, Ant-Man, Wolverine, Black Panther, the Avengers and more.

Today's guests argue that in addition to being exciting stories to watch, the MCU features lots of messages about government, public policy, and society — and they’ve collaborated with more than two dozen leading scholars to explore these themes in a new book.

Guests: Lilly Goren is professor of political science at Carroll University, and Nicholas Carnes is professor of public policy at Duke. Their book is The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (Kansas University Press, 2022).

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It's no secret that the United States has major issues with gun violence and police brutality, but with a growing distrust between communities facing high rates of gun violence and law enforcement, how can we prevent future crimes and make our communities safer? Judith Kelly, Dean of the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University considers this question and more with Professor in the School of Public Policy and author of Policing Gun Violence Philip Cook.

Guest: Philip Cook, emeritus Professor in the Sanford School of Public Policy and author of Policing Gun Violence which came out in February 2023.

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Plastics are a huge part of our everyday life, and most people know that plastics contribute to litter, but did you know that plastics also add to climate change? Host Dean of the Sanford School of Public Policy, Judith Kelley discusses this issue and potential policy solutions with Duke Ph.D. candidate Zoie Diana. 

Guest: Zoie Diana, Ph.D. candidate in Marine Science & Conservation at Duke University, speaks about her research of the harmful effects of plastics and the connections to public policy.

This is the fourth in a series of conversations about climate change.

• Transcript & Resources
• Find out more about the Duke Climate Commitment.

CO2 emissions play a major role in climate change. Guest host and J.D./UPEP doctoral candidate Gabriela Nagle Alverio speaks with Sanford Professor and Interim Director of the Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment, and Sustainability Brian Murray about different carbon tax approaches and their pros and cons for curbing emissions.

Guest:

• Brian Murray: Interim Director of the Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability, Research Professor at the Sanford School of Public Policy, and at the Nicholas School of the Environment

This is the third in a series of conversations about climate change.

• Read the conversation transcript.
• Find out more about the Duke Climate Commitment.

Climate change is forcing many people to move due to environmental stressors like heat, hurricane, and drought. Duke Sanford School of Public Policy Dean Judith Kelley speaks with Kerilyn Schewel and Sarah Bermeo of the Duke Center for International Development about emerging climate migration patterns and how research might better inform policy.

Guests:

• Sarah Bermeo: Director of Graduate Studies of the Master of International Development Policy in the Sanford School; Author of Targeted Development: Industrialized Country Strategy in a Globalizing World
• Kerilyn Schewel: Lecturing Fellow at Duke’s Center for International Development at Duke University; Leader of Rural Development and the Capability to Stay

This is the second in a series of conversations about climate change.

• Get show notes, transcript & credits
• Find out more about the Duke Climate Commitment.

When it comes to climate change, it’s important for all of us to think in new ways. For example, can we use artificial worlds to improve access to energy data? Are there ways to track climate change with satellites and AI?

Guests:

• Marc Jeuland, faculty member at the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University
• Kyle Bradbury, Managing Director of the Energy Data Analytics Lab at the Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment, and Sustainability

This is the first in.a series of conversations about climate change.