The Brookings Cafeteria

Senior Fellow Jonathan Stromseth, the Lee Kuan Yew Chair in Southeast Asian Studies at Brookings, interviews Thant Myint-U, a Burmese historian, writer, and former government advisor. Thant is the author of the new book, The Hidden History of Burma: Race, Capitalism, and the Crisis of Democracy in the 21st Century. Also on this episode, Senior Fellow David Wessel talks about the most significant economic developments of the last decade, including interest rates, life expectancy, inequality, and health care. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts here or iTunes, send feedback email to [email protected], and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

Dany Bahar, fellow in Global Economy and Development at Brookings, shares his interview with Felipe Muñoz, advisor to the President of Colombia for the Colombian-Venezuelan Border. Mr. Muñoz is the Colombian government official in charge of managing his government's response to the humanitarian crisis of Venezuelan refugees. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts here or iTunes, send feedback email to [email protected], and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

In a new book from the Brookings Institution Press titled "U.S. Inspectors General: Truth Tellers in Turbulent Times," authors Charles Johnson and Kathryn Newcomer explore the strategic environment in which IGs operate and explain how these public servants do their work. On this episode, Brookings Press Director Bill Finan interviews the authors. Also on the program, Senior Fellow Molly Reynolds tells us what's happening in Congress. No surprise that it's impeachment, but she explains what could happen in the Senate should impeachment of the president be affirmed in the House. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts here or iTunes, send feedback email to [email protected], and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

In this special edition of the Brookings Cafeteria, Lindsey Ford interviews a trio of Brookings experts on new papers from the Global China Project that focus on China's engagements with neighbors in East Asia, and how it secures its periphery. The guest experts are Richard Bush, Jonathan Stromseth, and Lynn Kuok. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts here or iTunes, send feedback email to [email protected], and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

The world faces a range of challenges, including increasing numbers of refugees, income inequality, loss of fertile land leading to rising hunger, and climate change. Governments and global institutions are addressing these problems using a variety of tools. On today's show, Maysa Jalbout explains the role that universities can play in addressing these challenges. She is a nonresident fellow in Global Economy and Development at Brookings, and is a visiting scholar and special adviser on the UN Sustainable Development Goals at both Arizona State University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts here or iTunes, send feedback email to [email protected], and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

Senior Fellow Elaine Kamarck helps make sense of the impeachment inquiry around President Donald Trump's actions regarding Ukraine in the context of impeachment's history—from its inclusion in the US Constitution, to how impeachment was used in the cases of presidents Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton. Kamarck also answers the question of whether Congress should even be considering impeachment when President Trump faces re-election in less than a year. Also on the episode, Martha Ross, a fellow in the Metropolitan Policy Program, shares her new research on the low-wage workforce—including its size, how much workers earn, and who holds low-wage jobs. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts here or iTunes, send feedback email to [email protected], and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

Polls show that health care is one of the top issues American voters care about, but ideas about controlling costs and expanding coverage are divided along partisan lines. This episode features a deep dive into health care policy and what Democratic presidential candidates and Republican Party leaders are offering as their solutions. Guests are two of Brookings's top health policy experts: Christen Linke Young is a fellow in the USC-Brookings Schaeffer Initiative for Health policy and, among her many roles in public service, served in the White House as a senior policy advisor for health. Matthew Fiedler is also a fellow with the Schaeffer Initiative and was previously chief economist of the Council of Economic Advisers in the White House, where he oversaw the council's work on health care policy. Both Young and Fiedler have contributed a few explainer pieces on health policy as part of the Policy 2020 project here at Brookings. Also, meet Annelies Goger, a new David M. Rubenstein Fellow in the Metropolitan Policy program at Brookings. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts here or iTunes, send feedback email to [email protected], and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

On November 9, 1989, the government of East Germany announced that all of its citizens could visit West Germany and West Berlin. Crowds of Germans from east and west climbed onto the heavily fortified wall surrounding West Berlin and began chipping away at the concrete with hammers and other tools in a celebratory atmosphere. East German guards stood down. Thus began the fall of the Berlin Wall that had divided the city since 1961. The beginning of the end of the Cold War was at hand. On this episode, Constanze Stelzenmüller, a senior fellow at Brookings and the Kissinger Chair at the Library of Congress, discusses her new Foreign Policy Essay, "German Lessons: Thirty Years after the End of History, elements of an education," and the lessons that were in store for her, her fellow Germans, Europe, and the world. Also, Senior Fellow David Wessel, director of the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy, talks about his takeaways after watching people play the Fiscal Ship Game, an interactive game about balancing the federal budget developed by the Hutchins Center. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts here or iTunes, send feedback email to [email protected], and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

In July 1958, U.S. Marines stormed the beaches of Beirut, Lebanon, ready for combat in the midst of an escalating sectarian crisis in the country. But they were greeted by sunbathers and vendors selling shawarma. The rest of their mission went mostly peacefully, but future American interventions did not go so well. In his new book published by the Brookings Institution Press, "Beirut 1958: How America's Wars in the Middle East Began," Senior Fellow Bruce Riedel tells the story of the first U.S. combat operation in the Middle East and the lessons it continues to hold for today's policymakers. In this interview with Brookings Press Director Bill Finan, Riedel brings a personal perspective to the story as his father was a United Nations official stationed in the region when the Marines arrived. Also, Senior Fellow Molly Reynolds explains what's happening in Congress, with a focus on the new impeachment resolution in the House of Representatives. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts here or iTunes, send feedback email to [email protected], and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

Brexit—the departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union, has been scheduled to occur on October 31. But will it still happen? As events continue to evolve in Britain and in the European Union--including Prime Minister Boris Johnson's likely failed attempt to hold new elections in December--where do things stand? Amanda Sloat, the Robert Bosch Senior Fellow in the Center on the United States and Europe at Brookings, explains what's been going on, and what to expect next in Brexit. Also on this episode, Joseph Parilla, fellow in the Metropolitan Policy Program, speaks to the issue of talent development as a component of city and regional economic development. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts here or iTunes, send feedback email to [email protected], and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.