The Brookings Cafeteria

Richard Bush, whose experience with Taiwan spans decades, discusses his new book, "Difficult Choices: Taiwan's quest for security and the good life," just published by the Brookings Institution Press. Also, David Wessel offers his thoughts on the Federal Reserve's approach to inflation, calling it a "big deal." Show notes and transcript: https://brook.gs/32DtgmT Follow Brookings podcasts on Apple or Google podcasts, or on Spotify. 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.

Infrastructure is front and center in the Washington DC policy debate, and with President Biden's 2.3 trillion dollar proposal on the table, this won't be another so-called infrastructure week that comes and goes with a chuckle but no action. On this episode of the Brookings Cafeteria, Adie Tomer, the co-author of a deeply important report on how to address America's infrastructure challenges and opportunities, talks about what it means to not just rebuild infrastructure, but to REIMAGINE it. Adie Tomer is a fellow in the Metropolitan Policy Program and, along with Joseph Kane and Caroline George a co-author of "Rebuild with purpose: An affirmative vision for 21st century American infrastructure." Also on this episode, Global Economy and Development Senior Fellow Homi Kharas presents a new Sustainable Development Spotlight, in which he discusses the problem of debt crises in developing countries. Show notes and transcript: https://www.brookings.edu/podcast-episode/the-infrastructure-episode/ Follow Brookings podcasts on Apple or Google podcasts, or on Spotify. 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.

How does an online community, dominated by privileged parents, discuss its local school system? In a new report titled "We all want what's best for our kids: Discussions of D.C. public school options in an online forum," Brookings researchers examined thousands of messages on the D.C. Urban Moms school discussion forum to find out what they were talking about and how their conversations reflect continued racial segregation in the public schools of the nation's capital. The report is co-authored by Vanessa Williamson, Jackson Gode, and Hao Sun. Williamson, a senior fellow in Governance Studies at Brookings, joins the Cafeteria to discuss the report. Show notes and transcript: https://www.brookings.edu/podcast-episode/what-online-forum-discussions-reveal-about-segregation-in-dc-public-schools/ Follow Brookings podcasts on Apple or Google podcasts, or on Spotify. 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.

Teacher diversity is teacher quality, and students of color especially benefit by having teachers who look like them, says Michael Hansen, co-author with Seth Gershenson and Constance A. Lindsay of "Teacher Diversity and Student Success: Why Racial Representation Matters in the Classroom," published in March by Harvard Education Press. Hansen, who is the Herman and George R. Brown Chair and director of the Brown Center on Education Policy at Brookings, and also a senior fellow in Governance Studies, explains why promoting racial diversity among the teacher workforce disproportionately benefits students of color and helps narrow longstanding achievement gaps. Also on this episode, Senior Fellow Molly Reynolds explains what's happening in Congress, specifically the challenge to the Democratic majority in the Senate to make changes to the filibuster to advance their agenda, and also how House Democrats are dealing with obstruction tactics from Republicans in the minority. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts here or on 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 "Assignment Russia: Becoming a Foreign Correspondent in the Crucible of the Cold War," award winning journalist Marvin Kalb tells the story of how as a young reporter and student of Russia he was present not only at the creation of a new way of bringing news immediately to the public, but also doing so in the midst of Cold War tensions between Eisenhower's America and Khrushchev's Soviet Union. In this episode, Brookings Institution Press Director Bill Finan interviews Kalb about his new book, the second volume of his memoirs published by Brookings. Also on this episode, David Wessel, senior fellow and director of the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy at Brookings, discusses what a post-pandemic economic recovery could look like in terms of GDP growth and job gains. "This is not going to be another jobless recovery," he says.

March is typically a time to celebrate women's contributions in history, but the past year of COVID-19 has had a disproportionate impact on women – especially women of color. On this episode, in honor of Women's History Month, we asked women at the Brookings Institution to share their thoughts on what top policy considerations they have for the Biden administration to help address the needs of women – both in the US and around the world. Also on this episode, Marcela Escobari offers another edition of our of Sustainable Development Spotlight series, with a focus on her new policy brief on how federal infrastructure investment can put America to work. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts here or on 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 this sixth and final episode from the Blueprints for American Renewal and Prosperity project, two Brookings experts discuss their blueprints for climate and resilience. Nathan Hultman is a nonresident senior fellow in Global Economy and Development at Brookings and also the director of the Center for Global Sustainability and associate professor at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy. He is the co-author with Samantha Gross of "How the United States can return to credible climate leadership." Joseph Kane is a senior research associate and associate fellow in the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings, and is co-author with Jenny Schuetz, Shalini Vajjhala, and Adie Tomer of "How a federal Climate Planning Unit can manage built environment risks and costs." Also on this episode, Alan Berube, senior fellow and deputy director of the Metropolitan Policy Program, shares some insights from the new Metro Monitor, an annual assessment of growth, prosperity, and inclusion in nearly 200 metro areas around the country. In this Metro Lens segment, Berube highlights the progress some places have made in shrinking significant racial economic gaps over the last decade, but also says that despite some progress, the path to racial equity in America will long and complicated. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts here or on 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.

March 2021 marks ten years since an earthquake off Japan's Pacific Coast and the tsunami it caused led to reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to melt down, releasing radiation and forcing the government to evacuate over 100,000 residents in surrounding areas. As the author of a new book from the Brookings Institution Press writes, failures at all levels of Japan's government and private sector worsened the human and economic impact of the disaster and ensured that its consequences would endure for years to come. On this episode of the Brookings Cafeteria, Brookings Press Director Bill Finan interviews Yoichi Funabashi, author of "Meltdown: Inside the Fukushima Nuclear Crisis." Funabashi, an award-winning Japanese journalist, columnist, and author, and now chairman of Asia Pacific Initiative, interviewed more than 300 government officials, power plant operators, and military personnel to provide a meticulous recounting and analysis of the struggle at all levels to contain the disaster. Also on this episode, Senior Fellow Sarah Binder explains what's been happening in Congress in the eight weeks since the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. She examines how Congress is working so fast, what unified party control means for Democrats, and asks, will it last? Subscribe to Brookings podcasts here or on 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 this fifth episode from the Blueprints for American Renewal and Prosperity project, two Brookings experts discuss their blueprints for strengthening governance to meet key international challenges in the technology arena. Senior Fellow Landry Signé is co-author with Stephan Almond of "A blueprint for technology governance in the post-pandemic world," and Senior Fellow Joshua Meltzer is co-author with Cameron Kerry of "Strengthening international cooperation on artificial intelligence." Also on this episode, Senior Fellow David Wessel, director of the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy at Brookings, looks at the politics and the economics around raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. Listen to this segment on Soundcloud. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts here or on 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 this fourth episode from the Blueprints for American Renewal and Prosperity project, Senior Fellow Molly Reynolds talks about how to make Congress a better place to work, and Senior Fellow Elaine Kamarck discusses how to build an agile government for an era of megachange. Also on this episode, Amar Bhattacharya, senior fellow in Global Economy and Development and the Center for Sustainable Development at Brookings, says this is a decisive decade for the planet as we face the two crises of COVID-19 and climate change. In this Sustainable Development Spotlight, Bhattacharya calls for strong and coordinated action across the world on four interrelated priorities. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts here or on 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.