New Frontiers Podcast

New Frontiersis the Rohatyn Center for Global Affairs’ podcast series. Hosted by Mark Williams, RCGA director and Russell J. Leng ’60 Professor of International Politics and Economics, it offers a deeper view into global areas through one-on-one discussions with Middlebury College faculty and others.

New Frontiers topics—from big tech, environmental conservation, global security, and political economy, to culture, literature, religion, and changing work patterns—have global or international dimensions.

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Season 2 Ep. 4 - Race, Empire, and Policing in Paris

January 5, 2024

In June 2023, French police killed 17-year-old Nahal Marzouk during a traffic stop outside of Paris. The killing led to days of street protests, widespread condemnation of racialized police practices, and over 1,300 arrests. This was particularly significant in a country like France, where discussions about race are often avoided or rejected. To gain a deeper understanding of French police practices, Mark Williams sits down with historian Amit Prakash, whose new book—Empire of the Seine—explores how France’s colonial history helped shaped how French law enforcement policed North Africans living in Paris from 1925 to 1975.
Season 2 Ep. 3 - After the Insurrection: Assessing American Democracy

October 30, 2023

After losing the 2020 presidential election, President Donald Trump summoned supporters to Washington where—after listening to him speak of a “stolen election” at the Ellipse—they launched a violent attack on the US capital to stop the peaceful transfer of power to Joe Biden. What does the January 6 insurrection tell us about the state of American democracy?

In this episode, political scientist Bert Johnson reflects on the state of American democracy, the dangers it faces, and some of the ways Americans might preserve their democratic political system.
Season 2 Ep. 2 - INTL' NGOs: What You Need to Know

September 8, 2023

What do Amnesty International, Care International, Doctors Without Borders, Oxfam International, or World Vision all have in common? They all are international nongovernmental organizations which operate around the world — independently of governments — which in broad terms, aim to provide services or influence governments with respect to specific goals. But what do we really know about such organizations or their operations, credibility, efficacy, and constraints? In this episode political scientist Sarah Stroup examines INGOs and explains what we need to know to understand their operations and limitations.
Season 2 Ep. 1 - Why We Need Environmental Justice

March 23, 2023

What is meant by such terms as environmental injustice or environmental racism? What is the environmental justice movement and how is it manifest—in the United States and beyond? In this episode of New Frontiers, political scientist Kemi Fuentes-George discusses these topics and what achieving environmental justice for marginalized populations might actually entail.
Season 1 Ep. 7 - Whatever Happened To “Essential” Workers?

February 15, 2023

How did the COVID pandemic affect America’s workers—especially those deemed “essential” who often were poorly paid, nonunionized, lacked meaningful benefits, and were required to continue working while most other workers stayed home? How did these workers respond to the health risks they encountered on the job, and how did their struggle for labor justice transform—at least for a while—political discourse and consciousness in America? Jamie McCallum and Mark Williams explore these and other issues in this episode of New Frontiers.
Season 1 Ep. 6 - Understanding Slavery in Medieval China

November 29, 2022

Slavery lasted for centuries in China, and yet its particulars are not well known. In this episode of New Frontiers, historian Don Wyatt takes us back to help us understand how the institution thrived during imperial times and the roles it played in Chinese culture.
Season 1 Ep. 5 - Why Did Turkish Democracy Collapse

November 2, 2022

After decades of democratic governance, Turkish democracy has not just declined, but collapsed. How? Why? In this episode, Sebnem Gumuscu traces the rise and decline of Turkey’s democratic system and provides insights into the forces by which Turkey has slid ever deeper into autocracy.
Season 1 Ep. 4 - What to Do about Cosmic Garbage

May 2, 2022

Only 2,000 of the 22,000 man-made objects that currently circle the Earth are fully operational, functioning satellites. The rest—roughly 90 percent—is space junk, or cosmic garbage. In this episode of New Frontiers, economist Akhil Rao explains how it got there, why it accumulates, and why economic tools could be the best way to address this problem.
Season 1 Ep. 3 - What Made Russians Skeptics about Democratic Capitalism?

March 13, 2022

Did the collapse of the Soviet Union—and the tumultuous years which followed—help shape Russians’ attitudes toward capitalism and democracy in the Putin era? If so, how; and why would the effects of the Soviet collapse still be felt and manifest thirty years later? In this episode, economist Will Pyle joins RCGA director Mark Williams to unravel this puzzle.