Former NH Secretary of State (1976 - 2022) Bill Gardner have a discussion about rigged elections and New Hampshire electoral processes. Gardner has many stories to share from his long tenure as the Secretary of State of New Hampshire.

Interview by Dartmouth student Kyle Mullins '22. Edited by Laura Hemlock. Music: Debussy Arabesque no 1. Composer: Claude Debussy

This episode's guest is Morgan C. Williams, Jr., Assistant Professor of Economics at Barnard College, Columbia University

Morgan C. Williams, Jr. discusses the first empirical estimate of the race-specific effects of larger police forces in the United States. Each additional police officer abates approximately 0.1 homicides. In per capita terms, effects are twice as large for Black versus white victims. At the same time, larger police forces make more arrests for low-level “quality-of-life” offenses, with effects that imply a disproportionate burden for Black Americans. Notably, cities with large Black populations do not share equally in the benefits of investments in police manpower. Our results provide novel empirical support for the popular narrative that Black communities are simultaneously over and under-policed.

Interview by Dartmouth student Shawdi Mehrvarzan '22. Edited by Laura Hemlock. Music: Debussy Arabesque no 1. Composer: Claude Debussy

This episode's guests are Simon Perkins, President of Orvis and Bill McLaughlin D'78, T’81, Former President of Orvis.

They discuss the past, present, and the future of a purpose-led brand and how to make the bottom line while making the world a better place.

Interview by Dartmouth student Ben Vagle '22. Edited by Laura Hemlock. Music: Debussy Arabesque no 1. Composer: Claude Debussy

This episode's guest is Bill Barrow, a national politics reporter for The Associated Press.

Democracy is not a game with a scoreboard or a red carpet to critique celebrity fashion. Yet in this red vs. blue era of American politics, journalism too often advances shallow, oversimplified narratives – sometimes to the point of error. At best, this is lazy and reductive. At worst, this “SportsCenter” brand of journalism exacerbates cultural divisions that are fraying American institutions, including the fourth estate. There’s a better way, even in a marketplace of ideas dominated by cable news and social media. We must reclaim our ability, our responsibility to think in nuance and complexity. Then our journalism—all of it—must follow suit, so that our readers, listeners, and viewers can better understand themselves and the world around them.

Interview by Dartmouth student Kavya Nivarthy ’25. Edited by Laura Hemlock. Music: Debussy Arabesque no 1. Composer: Claude Debussy

This episode's guest is Beth Robinson ’86, Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

If Americans lose faith in our independent Judiciary, the foundation of our liberty will weaken. One threat to public confidence in the courts is a misunderstanding of how judges do our jobs. Using actual cases, the presentation will explore the practice and challenge of interpreting the law, in an effort to move beyond common myths about judging to more nuanced understanding.

Interview by Dartmouth student Blake McGill ’22. Edited by Laura Hemlock. Music: Debussy Arabesque no 1. Composer: Claude Debussy

This episode's guest is Sonali Chakravarti, Professor of Government at Wesleyan University.

For three weeks in March and April of 2021, the process of jury selection for the trial of Derek Chauvin was live-streamed on CourtTV. We heard hesitations, nervousness, and expressions of feeling in response to questions about the viral video depicting George Floyd’s death under the knee of Derek Chauvin. The open exploration of critiques of law enforcement and systemic racism during voir dire, jury selection, at the Chauvin trial is a sharp departure from previous cases where judges have been either hostile to critiques of the law or law enforcement or unsure about how to assess juror biases when they speak candidly about their perceptions of racial discrimination. In normalizing the language of the critique of law enforcement during jury selection, three important changes occurred: (1) the first was that Black jurors were less likely to be dismissed for opinions they have long voiced, but which had been seen as the basis for legitimate dismissal, (2) the second was that it clarified what the standard of impartiality should mean for the court in the current era given widespread scrutiny of the racial discrimination within and outside of the law. Lastly, (3) the topics covered during voir dire served to underscore the range of life experiences that are valuable for the jury’s task of phronesis, Aristotle’s term for practical wisdom, that must precede the verdict.

Interview by Dartmouth student Kavya Nivarthy ’25. Edited by Laura Hemlock. Music: Debussy Arabesque no 1. Composer: Claude Debussy

This episode's guest is John T. Broderick, Jr. the Senior Director of External Affairs, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health (D-HH) and former Chief Justice, New Hampshire Supreme Court (2003 - 2010).

For years, John Broderick’s eldest son struggled with alcohol problems, which had masked a severe underlying mental health issue. One evening, that struggle resulted in an assault that sent John to the hospital and his son to prison.

As a family they survived and healed, and now use their experience to help educate others that mental illness is not something to be ashamed of. Rather, it is something to be recognized and to be addressed just as any physical illness would be.

Interview by Dartmouth student Shawdi Mehrvarzan '22. Edited by Laura Hemlock. Music: Debussy Arabesque no 1. Composer: Claude Debussy

This episode's guest is Alex Azar ’88, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (2018-2021).

Secretary Azar led the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from 2018 to 2021 during the Trump Administration and was the architect of Operation Warp Speed; he combined his experience in the pharmaceutical industry with his understanding of government programs—having previously served as general counsel and subsequently Deputy Secretary of HHS in the George W. Bush Administration—to lead the largest biomedical development program in history. Under his direction, the United States developed two remarkably safe and effective vaccines within months, embarked on the production of tens of millions of doses, and authorized therapeutics to treat COVID. As a result of his leadership, the Warp Speed team developed a public-private partnership with the biopharmaceutical industry through which hundreds of millions of Americans were vaccinated within one year of the inception of the program. While the policy lessons remain relevant for pandemic response programs, the model can also help guide future public-private partnerships.

Interview by Dartmouth student Ben Vagle '22. Edited by Laura Hemlock. Music: Debussy Arabesque no 1. Composer: Claude Debussy

This episode's guest is Jamila Michener, Associate Professor at Cornell University. She studies poverty, racism, and public policy, with a particular focus on health and housing. She is author of the award-winning book, Fragmented Democracy: Medicaid, Federalism, and Unequal Politics. She is Associate Dean for Public Engagement at the Brooks School of Public Policy, co-director of the Cornell Center for Health Equity, co-director of the Politics of Race, Immigration, Class and Ethnicity (PRICE) research initiative, and board chair of the Cornell Prison Education Program.

Civil law is the channel through which many people adjudicate the (non-criminal) legal challenges that emerge in everyday life. Core functions of civil law involve arbitrating outcomes that are especially vital to people living in or near poverty (e.g., evictions, loss of public assistance, disputes between lenders and borrowers, and much more). Moreover, civil legal protections are especially critical to low-income women of color. This talk will highlight the repercussions of civil legal inequality. Professor Michener will show how civil legal institutions affect economic and political dynamics in race-class subjugated communities. and consider the implications of civil legal institutions for U.S. democracy.

Interview by Dartmouth student Shawdi Mehrvarzan '22. Edited by Laura Hemlock. Music: Debussy Arabesque no 1. Composer: Claude Debussy

This episode's guest is James Wright, President Emeritus and Eleazar Wheelock Professor of History, Emeritus at Dartmouth College.

The nature and scale of America’s wars have changed dramatically in the last 60 years. The American public has not always had a good understanding of the experience of those fighting in those recent wars. This discussion will describe some of these changes and their consequences for veterans and for American society.

Interview by Dartmouth student Shawdi Mehrvarzan '22. Edited by Laura Hemlock. Music: Debussy Arabesque no 1. Composer: Claude Debussy