Struggle to Understand

Today, in the first of three episodes, I speak with Dr. Damir Kovačević who is a professor of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire and with Dr. Martin Claar who is a lecturer of Political Science at Loyola University – Chicago. We speak about the various theories of international relations, the uses and norms surrounding chemical weapons, and the stability of the international norm structure. Having both Drs. Kovačević and Claar on together creates a unique dynamic to this conversation, with both scholars adding to one another’s knowledge, while also providing complementary explanations through their own specializations. This provided me with another opportunity to learn more about international relations and its dynamic nature and I hope you find it rewarding as well.

Introductory music was written by Alex Yoder. Find him here

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Welcome back. Today, in the third of three episodes, I speak with Dr. Nicole Loring. Dr. Loring is an assistant professor of political science at Rivier University. We continue our discussion of Aung Sang Syu Ki and the controversies surrounding her support of human rights, on why we should care about international relations even given the domestic concerns in every political system, and the way that we can evaluate the way in which the world is democratizing or not and the significance it has in how we live today.

Introductory music was written by Alex Yoder. Find him here

Please consider supporting the podcast here and following it on Twitter. Thank you for your support!

Welcome back. Today, in the second of three episodes, I speak with Dr. Nicole Loring. Dr. Loring is an assistant professor of political science at Rivier University. We discuss who is Aung Sang Syu Ki and her importance to Myanmar, the legacy of colonialism and the growth of human rights, and the contradictions that are raised by applying principles of universal rights into particular regimes. This conversation raises controversial and intractable problems and we certainly do not provide any answer to them. But exploring the questions themselves is valuable particularly because they ask us, as individuals, how much our values are valuable to us. Exploring these kinds of first principles are essential for worthwhile discussion, but they are also particularly salient in our time because we are having disagreements about first principles. 

Introductory music was written by Alex Yoder. Find him here

Please consider supporting the podcast here and following it on Twitter. Thank you for your support!

This is the first of three episodes where I speak with Dr. Nicole Loring. Dr. Loring is an assistant professor of political science at Rivier University. This conversation lays out broad themes taken up by political scientists who study international relations including things like what is international relations, what is the distinction between authoritarian and democratic regimes, and then we begin our exploration of Burma/Myanmar and its complicated political history which we then continue in our subsequent conversation. These conversations are a fascinating exploration of Southeast Asian politics and the difficulties that surround studying international relations.

Introductory music was written by Alex Yoder. Find him here

Please consider supporting the podcast here and following it on Twitter. Thank you for your support!

Part two of my discussion with YouTube content creator Benjamin Boyce. Our conversation, again, was very broad and we cover a lot of ground but some of the highlights include comedy and conventions, the rational and the irrational, and the relationship between the truth, the sacred, and storytelling. Benjamin's channel can be found here.

Introductory music was written by Alex Yoder. Find him here

Please consider supporting the podcast here and following it on Twitter. Thank you for your support!

In this episode, I speak with YouTube content creator Benjamin Boyce. This is a wide-ranging conversation moving from what things fundamentally shaped our minds to musing on the quest for beauty and then shifting to the importance of narratives. Benjamin, ever the interviewer, was a great interlocutor for this conversation, even turning the tables on me at one point. Benjamin's channel can be found here.

Introductory music was written by Alex Yoder. Find him here

Please consider supporting the podcast here and following it on Twitter. Thank you for your support!

My discussion today with Dr. Stewart builds on our prior one but shifts focus away from just the Civil War by expanding into questions of the Second Amendment, the cost of citizenship, and then, even more broadly, to the importance of learning history. This does not mean learning from history but to learn history; to learn about people in the past for the sake of learning about people in the past.

Introductory music was written by Alex Yoder. Find him here

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In today's episode, I speak with Dr. Stewart about conscription, specifically about conscription during the Civil War and the way it can help us better understand the nature of that conflict. We also discuss the ways in which conscription was resisted during the Civil War, which can help us better understand why the draft has been historically unpopular in America. 

Introductory music was written by Alex Yoder. Find him here

Please consider supporting the podcast here and following it on Twitter. Thank you for your support!

This is the second part of my conversation with Oliver Traldi, a graduate student at Notre Dame, about this piece discussing how an specific kind of elite education may be best understood as a kind of guild. In this part of the discussion, we explore potential historical lines for this kind of education, what is the purpose of a college education, as well as how we should understand who are the elite and what is their function.

Introductory music was written by Alex Yoder. Find him here

Please consider supporting the podcast here and following it on Twitter. Thank you for your support!

I speak with Oliver Traldi, a graduate student at Notre Dame, about this piece discussing how an specific kind of elite education may be best understood as a kind of guild. We explore what this new kind of education is, how it is working in the marketplace, and speculate on why it is functioning this way. 

Introductory music was written by Alex Yoder. Find him here

Please consider supporting the podcast here and following it on Twitter. Thank you for your support!