A Gentlemen’s Disagreement

Episode 91 - Academic freedom in higher education with Dr. Bertha Madras

We are joined this week by Dr. Bertha Madras who is a Professor of Psychobiology at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Madras is one of the founders of the new "Council on Academic Freedom" at Harvard University, which is a faculty-led organization that is devoted to free inquiry, intellectual diversity, and civil discourse. Dr. Madras discusses why she felt like this Council was necessary at Harvard, in particular, and why she thinks protecting academic freedom and freedom of expression at institutions of higher education is so critical, in general.

 

 

 

Episode 90 - Social media & mental health with Wendy-Myrbell Napoleon

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and, in that spirit, we were joined by graduate student Wendy-Myrbell Napoleon who has been researching the intersection of social media and mental health among adolescents and young adults (5:10-43:05). We used her research as a foundation to have a larger conversation about mental health issues in our society, and she provided some policy recommendations our elected officials should consider to address the growing mental health crisis in our particularly vulnerable populations.

Episode 89 - A draft of Republican presidential candidates

We are joined this week by Nicaela Chinnaswamy and Maureen McInerney for a draft of sixteen potential Republican presidential candidates. We run through the true favorites, the outside contenders, the dark horses and the longshots for the nomination. Fun conversation and a great primer of the 2024 Republican presidential field.

Episode 88 - Six in Sixty: Fox, SCOTUS, Debt Ceiling, First Republic, Biden, & Guns

We hit six topics (plus a bonus topic!) that have been in the news lately in (roughly) ten minute segments. We begin by talking about all of the goings-on at Fox News (8:05-22:26), the ethics of the Supreme Court (22:30-32:00), JPMorgan buying First Republic Bank (32:04-43:35), the impending debt ceiling (43:39-55:53), President Biden's re-election campaign (55:58-1:03:10), and recent incidents of gun violence (1:03:14-1:13:05), plus a bonus topic for those of you who stick with us.

Episode 87 - Fiscal conservatism and the current Republican Party with Jennifer Nassour

We are joined this week by Jennifer Nassour, former chairperson of the Massachusetts Republican Party, founder of The Pocketbook Project, and host of the Political Contessa podcast (4:16-39:28). We talk to Jenn about her crusades to get more women into politics and to bring fiscal conservatism back to government, as well as the importance of having a legitimate opposition party for the sake of democracy, among many other topics.

Episode 86 - A pulse check on democracy: India, Israel, Tennessee, and Wisconsin

On the heels of President Biden's "Democracy Summit," we discussed the state of democracy globally, specifically in India, Israel, and in the U.S.

Episode 85 - Beyond a reasonable doubt?

Ricky spent the last two weeks serving on a jury for a murder trial. He had a lot of thoughts on the process, so we talked about it. A bit of a different episode, but one we think is both interesting and valuable.

Episode 84 - Reflections on the media, Carter, Trump, and much more with Dan Rea

We are joined this week by legendary tv reporter and radio host Dan Rea (3:00-53:10). We talked to Dan about how media has evolved over the course of his half-century in the business, his reflections on the time he spent with President Carter, his thoughts on President Trump's tenure, his current candidacy, and possible indictment, and many other stories, including an incredible story about Dan fighting for and, ultimately, helping to free a wrongly convicted man.

 

Episode 83 - 20 year anniversary of Iraq War, Trump arrest, Xi in Russia

A fairly momentous week, as we discussed the 20 year anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq (9:59-44:09), the historic impending arrest of former President Trump (44:17-55:03), and Xi Jinping's visit to Russia (55:04-1:04:00).

Episode 82 - The first domino?

This episode is all about the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank--the second largest bank collapse in U.S. history--and the federal government's response to it. We begin by talking about what we know about the collapse, and then spend much of the episode talking about what we want to know: namely, whether this is an isolated incident brought on by a specific set of circumstances or the sign of something much greater, and much worse, to come.