Talking Policy

The United States, like few other advanced democracies, has a deeply entrenched two-party system. In recent years, as the two parties have drifted further and further apart, gridlock has intensified in Washington, with the divide punctuated by the most recent federal government shutdown.

In this episode of Talking Policy, host Lindsay Shingler is joined by Georgia Kernell, an associate professor at UC Los Angeles, who offers a comparative look at how the U.S. political system operates, how its design solidifies the duopoly of the Democratic and Republican Parties, and how it differs from other systems. Kernell also discusses how the internal machinations of the two parties impact political participation and policy positions, as well as how outsiders have challenged party establishments.

This episode was recorded on October 15, 2025. The conversation was edited for length and clarity.

Since the end of the Cold War, the United States has maintained sole superpower status by underwriting the international security order. But in recent years, the United States has begun to question whether the costs of providing international security outweigh the benefits it receives. At the same time, China has unveiled its own global security initiatives, possibly stepping in to fill in the gap left by a retreating United States.

In this episode of Talking Policy, host Lindsay Shingler is joined by Sheena (Chestnut) Greitens, associate professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, about China’s global aims and whether the country might challenge the United States as global security superpower. Greitens explores whether we are moving from a U.S.-led global order to a Chinese one—or are instead heading toward a more fragmented, leaderless world.

This episode was recorded on September 15, 2025. The conversation was edited for length and clarity.

Misinformation is impacting society at all levels, from politics to health. But what makes us believe untrue things? And why is misinformation on the rise today? In this episode of Talking Policy, host Lindsay Shingler is joined by Cailin O'Connor, a Chancellor’s Professor in the Department of Logic and Philosophy of Science at UC Irvine, and author of The Misinformation Age: How False Beliefs Spread with James Weatherall. Together, they discuss how false beliefs originate, how technology contributes to their spread, and how misinformation can be combated.

This episode was recorded on August 27, 2025. The conversation was edited for length and clarity.

The U.S. National Laboratory system, an extension of the federal Department of Energy, has been directly involved in some of the most important science and technology breakthroughs of the modern era. Every day, their experts are directly involved in the research needed to sustain U.S. economic growth and keep the nation’s scientific enterprise ahead of its adversaries.

In this fourth and final episode of Talking Policy’s Technology and Global Security in the 21st Century miniseries, guest host Nicolas Wittstock speaks with Dr. Patricia Falcone, the deputy director for science and technology at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Together, they discuss the history and purpose of the national labs, and the critical role they play in American innovation and global leadership.

This episode was recorded on July 17, 2025. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Waves of economic growth are often fueled by the development and diffusion of new general-purpose technologies. But other factors—industrial and corporate organization, legal frameworks, and, of course, geopolitics—can determine whether countries take full advantage of growth waves. At the same time, growth waves often reshape these factors, including the relative power of countries.

In the third episode of Talking Policy’s Technology and Global Security in the 21st Century miniseries, guest host Nicolas Wittstock speaks with Mark Schwartz, professor emeritus at the University of Virginia, about whether current global conditions are right to catalyze a new tech-fueled growth wave, as new technologies like artificial intelligence and clean energy take root and great powers like China and the United States compete to set the global standards of the industries.

This episode was recorded on May 30, 2025. The conversation was edited for length and clarity.

Should we engage in politics even if it makes us despair? Can we fully participate in democracy if reading the news is depressing? In the latest on Talking Policy, host Lindsay Shingler sits down with political scientist Christopher Ojeda of UC Merced to discuss his new book, The Sad Citizen: How Politics Is Depressing and Why It Matters. Together, they explore why politics has such a big impact on how we feel, our personal relationships, and even our behavior. They explore “suppression by depression” as a political strategy, and answer the question: “What do we do when what's good for democracy is bad for our mental wellbeing?”

This episode was recorded on April 23, 2025. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

On April 22, a terror attack in disputed Kashmir ignited the most serious fighting between India and Pakistan in more than 50 years, raising serious concerns over the potential for escalation between the two nuclear-armed rivals. Despite a U.S.-brokered ceasefire announced on May 10, the situation remains tense, as domestic political pressures and a changing regional landscape contribute to growing risks along one of the world’s most dangerous geopolitical flashpoints. In this episode of Talking Policy, Amit Ahuja, an associate professor at UC Santa Barbara, and Josh White, a professor of practice at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, speak with host Lindsay Shingler to help unpack what is at stake and what might happen next.

This interview was conducted on May 14, 2025. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

The world needs energy—and lots of it—to raise living standards and unlock economic growth. Clean technologies, which can provide power with minimal contribution to climate change, are taking hold around the world, and the United States, China, and the European Union are vying for global leadership in deploying them at scale. But economic and political changes have introduced uncertainty about the future of clean energy. In the second episode of Talking Policy’s Technology and Global Security in the 21st Century miniseries, guest host Nicolas Wittstock speaks with David Hart, a senior fellow in climate and energy at the Council of Foreign Relations, about why clean energy technologies are important not only to combat climate change, but to ensure future economic growth and energy security.

This episode was recorded on March 24, 2025. The conversation was edited for length and clarity.

Tensions between the United States and China are intensifying, with a trade war being the latest sign of friction following President Trump’s imposition of tariffs, which were themselves followed by Chinese retaliatory levies and export restrictions. But Trump’s tariffs have hit America’s partners as well as its adversaries, and they come alongside an historic retreat from global leadership, as the new administration withdraws from treaties, distances itself from alliances, and backs away from longtime commitments to leadership in development and humanitarian assistance.

In this episode of Talking Policy, host Lindsay Shingler is joined by Rachel Hulvey, a postdoctoral fellow at the Columbia-Harvard China and the World Program and the Harvard Belfer International Security Program, who studies China's rise and influence on the international order. Together, they discuss how China is taking advantage of the Trump administration’s withdrawal from the global stage to position itself as a responsible global leader.

This interview was conducted on April 16, 2025 and has been edited for length and clarity.

American technological advances have fueled economic growth and created life-saving technologies—and the U.S. government has been a key catalyst of these giant success stories. But its role is under-appreciated and changing, with potential implications for the future of American leadership in science, technology, and innovation.

In the first episode of Talking Policy’s new miniseries on Technology and Global Security in the 21st Century, guest host Nicolas Wittstock, a postdoctoral fellow at IGCC, speaks with William Bonvillian, a lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, about the U.S. government’s role in driving domestic innovation, and the challenges and potentials for American science and technology leadership in in the future.

This episode was recorded on March 21, 2025. The conversation was edited for length and clarity.