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Rohatyn Center for Global Affairs

New Frontiers Podcast

New Frontiers 350

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.

Subscribe to New Frontiers through most podcast apps including Amazon Music and Audible, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and Google Podcasts.

  • Capitol with protests

    Season 2 Ep. 3 - After the Insurrection: Assessing American Democracy

    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. 

     

  • Holding Hands

    Season 2 Ep. 2 - INTL' NGOs: What You Need to Know

    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.
     

  • Gavel on grass

    Season 2 Ep. 1 - Why We Need Environmental Justice

    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.

  • medical workers

    Season 1 Ep. 7 - Whatever Happened To “Essential” Workers?

    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.

  • Castle

    Season 1 Ep. 6 - Understanding Slavery in Medieval China

    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.

  • Turkish Flag image

    Season 1 Ep. 5 - Why Did Turkish Democracy Collapse

    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.

  • Stars and bright clouds

    Season 1 Ep. 4 - What to Do about Cosmic Garbage

    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.

  • Palace

    Season 1 Ep. 3 - What Made Russians Skeptics about Democratic Capitalism?

    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.

  • China and US flags

    Season 1 Ep. 2 - China and the American Right

    New Frontiers - Season 1, Ep 2: China and the American Right
    Joyce Mao, associate professor of history at Middlebury College, discusses her research and book, Asia First: China and the Making of Modern American Conservatism, the first publication to look at the imprint of U.S.-China-Taiwan relations upon the American Right after World War II.

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