Best The Scholars Strategy Network Podcasts (2025)

1
Episode 273: The Four Threats to Democracy 47:48

19d ago47:48

47:48

As President Donald Trump’s second term unfolds, one big question looms: How resilient is American democracy? Professor Suzanne Mettler has spent years studying the forces that put democracy at risk and in this episode, she draws on her most recent book to share lessons from events across U.S. history that feel eerily relevant today. From Trump’s e…

1
Alexander Stoffel, "Eros and Empire: The Transnational Struggle for Sexual Freedom in the United States" (Stanford UP, 2025) 1:03:33

2d ago1:03:33

1:03:33

The history of queer politics in the United States since 1968 is commonly narrated as either a progressive campaign for state recognition or as a subcultural rejection of prevailing gender norms. But these accounts miss the true scale of queer politics in the post-war era. By centering transnational relations, practices, and infrastructures in the …

1
Brian Masaru Hayashi, "Asian American Spies: How Asian Americans Helped Win the Allied Victory" (Oxford UP, 2021) 1:11:58

4d ago1:11:58

1:11:58

Spies deep behind enemy lines; double agents; a Chinese American James Bond; black propaganda radio broadcasters; guerrilla fighters; pirates; smugglers; prostitutes and dancers as spies; and Asian Americans collaborating with Axis Powers. All these colorful individuals form the story of Asian Americans in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), th…

1
Max Hastings, “Vietnam: An Epic Tragedy, 1945-1975” (Harper, 2018) 55:18

4d ago55:18

55:18

People of various political stripes in many countries (particularly those countries where various political stripes are allowed) have been arguing about the Vietnam War for a long time. The participants in these debates were (and are) always quick to assign blame in what seems to be an endless attempt to justify “their side” and vilify “the other s…

1
Episode 274: What’s Happening With Social Security 28:11

2d ago28:11

28:11

As the Social Security Administration faces a wave of staffing cuts and administrative shakeups, what’s at stake for the millions who depend on it? Brookings Institution economist Dr. Gopi Shah Goda discusses what these behind-the-scenes changes mean—and why some of the loudest political talking points about fraud and inefficiency don’t hold up. Sh…

1
Marcus Kreuzer, "The Grammar of Time: A Toolbox for Comparative Historical Analysis" (Cambridge UP, 2023) 56:59

5d ago56:59

56:59

In The Grammar of Time: A Toolbox for Comparative Historical Analysis (Cambridge UP, 2023), political scientist Marcus Kreuzer synthesises the different strands and traditions of Comparative Historical Analysis to show how interpretive and positivist research designs might complement rather than compete with one another. Like the contents of the bo…

1
Paul M. McGarr, "Spying in South Asia: Britain, the United States, and India's Secret Cold War" (Cambridge UP, 2024) 1:05:30

7d ago1:05:30

1:05:30

Spying in South Asia: Britain, the United States, and India's Secret Cold War (Cambridge UP, 2024) is the first comprehensive history of India's secret Cold War. It examines interventions made by the intelligence and security services of Britain and the United States in post-colonial India and their strategic, political, and socio-cultural impact o…

1
China’s Trade War Strategy: How Xi Jinping Uses Autocracy, Fear, and Innovation to Compete with the West 48:00

9d ago48:00

48:00

Hosts Nina dos Santos and Owen Bennett-Jones analyze the global fallout after Donald Trump plunged America and the world into a trade war with China. David Rennie, The Economist’s geopolitics editor and former Beijing and Washington D.C. bureau chief, joins the podcast to unpack how Xi Jinping is playing the long game and playing to win. In this ep…

1
Tension Ep. 16: Is Canada Ready for the Next Climate-Driven Emergency? 27:18

10d ago27:18

27:18

Is Canada ready for the next climate-driven emergency? Behind the scenes, a critical shift is happening in how we plan, respond, and collaborate — and you’re invited into the conversation. In this powerful episode of the Tension Podcast, Donna speaks with Simon Wells and Tiffany Leung from the Canadian Journal of Emergency Management (CJEM) about t…

1
Stolen Fragments: Black Markets, Bad Faith, and the Illicit Trade in Ancient Artefacts 58:33

9d ago58:33

58:33

In 2012, Steve Green, billionaire and president of the Hobby Lobby chain of craft stores, announced a recent purchase of a Biblical artefact—a fragment of papyrus, just discovered, carrying lines from Paul's letter to the Romans, and dated to the second century CE. Noted scholar Roberta Mazza was stunned. When was this piece discovered, and how cou…

1
Tension Ep. 15: Climate Security: Impacts, Geopolitics & the Future 57:11

12d ago57:11

57:11

What happens to global security when the climate itself becomes the battlefield? Spoiler: it’s not science fiction — it’s already happening. In this must-listen conversation, Professor Bruno Charbonneau at the Royal Military College Saint-Jean, Canada — unpacks why climate change is now one of the biggest wildcards for military readiness, internati…

1
Eric Min, "Words of War: Negotiation as a Tool of Conflict" (Cornell UP, 2025) 1:02:52

18d ago1:02:52

1:02:52

Of all interstate conflicts across the last two centuries, two-thirds have ended through negotiated agreement. Wartime diplomacy is thus commonly seen as a costless and mechanical process solely designed to end fighting. But as Dr. Eric Min argues in Words of War: Negotiation as a Tool of Conflict (Cornell University Press, 2025), that wartime nego…

1
Frances Yaping Wang, "The Art of State Persuasion: China's Strategic Use of Media in Interstate Disputes" (Oxford UP, 2024) 24:38

19d ago24:38

24:38

Why do nations actively publicize previously overlooked disputes? And why does this domestic mobilization sometimes fail to result in aggressive policy measures? The Art of State Persuasion (Oxford UP, 2024) delves into China's strategic use of state propaganda during crucial crisis events, particularly focusing on border disputes. Frances Wang aim…

1
Matthew D'Auria et al., "The Cambridge History of Nationhood and Nationalism" (Cambridge UP, 2024) 1:41:07

20d ago1:41:07

1:41:07

The origins and nature of nationhood and nationalism continue to be topics of heated scholarly debate. This major new reference work with contributions from an international team of scholars provides a comprehensive account of ideas and practices of nationhood and nationalism from antiquity to the present. It considers both continuities and discont…

1
Anna Maria Busse Berger and Henry Spiller, "Missionaries, Anthropologists, and Music in the Indonesian Archipelago" (U California Press, 2025) 1:09:04

20d ago1:09:04

1:09:04

Although the history of Indonesian music has received much attention from ethnomusicologists and Western composers alike, almost nothing has been written on the interaction of missionaries with local culture. Missionaries, Anthropologists, and Music in the Indonesian Archipelago (U California Press, 2025) represents the first attempt to concentrate…

1
Paddy Walker, "War Without Oversight: Why We Need Humans on the Battlefield" (Howgate, 2025) 1:36:29

20d ago1:36:29

1:36:29

Amid the fanfare around AI and autonomous weapons, decision-makers - both military and political - are imagining an augmented future for warfare that minimises human influence and connection. But in their rush for speed and lethality, leaders have failed to understand the behavioural and technical challenges that accompany these new weapon types, a…

1
Lavanya Vemsani, "Reframing India in World History" (Lexington Books, 2024) 39:17

21d ago39:17

39:17

Reframing India in World History breaks the stereotypical portrayal of India based on misconstrued historical theories. Prevalent constructions of Indian history are tinged with colonial historical frameworks and presentation. It is important to understand India for what it is in the past based on self-determined frameworks derived from Indian hist…

1
Kornel Chang, "A Fractured Liberation: Korea Under U.S. Occupation" (Harvard UP, 2025) 55:15

22d ago55:15

55:15

Four decades of Japanese colonialism in Korea ended abruptly in August 1945. It took three weeks for U.S. troops to arrive, which started almost three years of U.S. military occupation. By the end of the occupation, Korea was permanently divided into North and South, with Seoul set on an authoritarian path that would persist for decades. Kornel Cha…

1
Atiya Husain, "No God But Man: On Race, Knowledge, and Terrorism" (Duke UP, 2025) 1:09:08

23d ago1:09:08

1:09:08

Atiya Husain’s No God but Man: On Race, Knowledge and Terrorism (Duke University Press, 2025) uses the FBI Most Wanted lists to rethink theoretical relationships between race and Islam in the United States. Husain traces the genealogy of wanted posters and how theories of the “average man” informs the use of photographs and its accompanying descrip…

1
Sam Klug, "The Internal Colony: Race and the American Politics of Global Decolonization" (U Chicago Press, 2025) 1:11:44

23d ago1:11:44

1:11:44

In The Internal Colony: Race and the American Politics of Global Decolonization (University of Chicago Press, 2025), Dr. Sam Klug reveals the central but underappreciated importance of global decolonization to the divergence between mainstream liberalism and the Black freedom movement in postwar America. Dr. Klug reconsiders what has long been seen…

1
Populism, Power, and the Crisis of Globalism: A Conversation with Wolfgang Streeck 39:28

24d ago39:28

39:28

What explains the growing divide between elites and the broader public in democracies across Europe and the United States? In this episode of International Horizons, sociologist Wolfgang Streeck joins RBI director John Torpey to discuss the rise of populism, the limits of globalism, and the tensions between democracy and capitalism. Drawing from hi…

1
Colonial Origins of Democracy and Dictatorship: A Discussion with Alexander Lee and Jack Paine 34:42

25d ago34:42

34:42

The debate about the impact of colonialism on the prospects for democracy and development continues to rage. Was the legacy of colonialism equally destructive everywhere? Or were some forms of colonial rule more likely to give rise to stable and effective democracies? Join Nic Cheeseman as he talks to Alexander Lee and Jack Paine about their import…

1
Alexander Hill, "The Routledge Handbook of Soviet and Russian Military Studies" (Routledge, 2025) 1:19:27

26d ago1:19:27

1:19:27

The Routledge Handbook of Soviet and Russian Military Studies (Routledge, 2025) edited by Alexander Hill brings together historical and contemporary essays about Soviet and Russian military studies, to offer a comprehensive volume on the topic. Comprising essays written by acknowledged specialists, the handbook examines the development of the Russi…

1
Walls, Warnings, and the War on Fentanyl: Peter Andreas on Trump’s Border Politics 35:01

27d ago35:01

35:01

In this episode of International Horizons, Peter Andreas, John Hay Professor of International Studies at Brown University and author of Border Games: The Politics of Policing the U.S.-Mexico Divide, 3rd edition (Cornell UP, 2022) and The Illicit Global Economy (Oxford UP, 2025), joins RBI Director John Torpey to unpack the myths and realities of bo…

1
Peder Anker, "For The Love of Bombs: The Trail of Nuclear Suffering" (Anthem Press, 2025) 44:31

28d ago44:31

44:31

The truism that history is written by its winners reflects the literature about how the bomb came about, with apologetic books most often written by U.S. scholars. The physicist Robert Oppenheimer, the nuke’s ‘father’, is repeatedly centre stage, as in the case of the recent film about him. These are elitist stories that more often than not ignore …

1
Peder Anker, "For The Love of Bombs: The Trail of Nuclear Suffering" (Anthem Press, 2025) 44:31

28d ago44:31

44:31

The truism that history is written by its winners reflects the literature about how the bomb came about, with apologetic books most often written by U.S. scholars. The physicist Robert Oppenheimer, the nuke’s ‘father’, is repeatedly centre stage, as in the case of the recent film about him. These are elitist stories that more often than not ignore …

1
Rhys Machold, "Fabricating Homeland Security: Police Entanglements Across India and Palestine/Israel" (Stanford UP, 2024) 40:47

29d ago40:47

40:47

Homeland security is rarely just a matter of the homeland; it involves the circulation and multiplication of policing practices across borders. Though the term "homeland security" is closely associated with the United States, Israel is credited with first developing this all-encompassing approach to domestic surveillance and territorial control. To…

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1
Episode 273: The Four Threats to Democracy 47:48

1
Alexander Stoffel, "Eros and Empire: The Transnational Struggle for Sexual Freedom in the United States" (Stanford UP, 2025) 1:03:33

1
Brian Masaru Hayashi, "Asian American Spies: How Asian Americans Helped Win the Allied Victory" (Oxford UP, 2021) 1:11:58

1
Max Hastings, “Vietnam: An Epic Tragedy, 1945-1975” (Harper, 2018) 55:18

1
Episode 274: What’s Happening With Social Security 28:11

1
Marcus Kreuzer, "The Grammar of Time: A Toolbox for Comparative Historical Analysis" (Cambridge UP, 2023) 56:59

1
Paul M. McGarr, "Spying in South Asia: Britain, the United States, and India's Secret Cold War" (Cambridge UP, 2024) 1:05:30

1
China’s Trade War Strategy: How Xi Jinping Uses Autocracy, Fear, and Innovation to Compete with the West 48:00

1
Tension Ep. 16: Is Canada Ready for the Next Climate-Driven Emergency? 27:18

1
Stolen Fragments: Black Markets, Bad Faith, and the Illicit Trade in Ancient Artefacts 58:33

1
Tension Ep. 15: Climate Security: Impacts, Geopolitics & the Future 57:11

1
Eric Min, "Words of War: Negotiation as a Tool of Conflict" (Cornell UP, 2025) 1:02:52

1
Frances Yaping Wang, "The Art of State Persuasion: China's Strategic Use of Media in Interstate Disputes" (Oxford UP, 2024) 24:38

1
Matthew D'Auria et al., "The Cambridge History of Nationhood and Nationalism" (Cambridge UP, 2024) 1:41:07

1
Anna Maria Busse Berger and Henry Spiller, "Missionaries, Anthropologists, and Music in the Indonesian Archipelago" (U California Press, 2025) 1:09:04

1
Paddy Walker, "War Without Oversight: Why We Need Humans on the Battlefield" (Howgate, 2025) 1:36:29

1
Lavanya Vemsani, "Reframing India in World History" (Lexington Books, 2024) 39:17

1
Kornel Chang, "A Fractured Liberation: Korea Under U.S. Occupation" (Harvard UP, 2025) 55:15

1
Atiya Husain, "No God But Man: On Race, Knowledge, and Terrorism" (Duke UP, 2025) 1:09:08

1
Sam Klug, "The Internal Colony: Race and the American Politics of Global Decolonization" (U Chicago Press, 2025) 1:11:44

1
Populism, Power, and the Crisis of Globalism: A Conversation with Wolfgang Streeck 39:28

1
Colonial Origins of Democracy and Dictatorship: A Discussion with Alexander Lee and Jack Paine 34:42

1
Alexander Hill, "The Routledge Handbook of Soviet and Russian Military Studies" (Routledge, 2025) 1:19:27

1
Walls, Warnings, and the War on Fentanyl: Peter Andreas on Trump’s Border Politics 35:01

1
Peder Anker, "For The Love of Bombs: The Trail of Nuclear Suffering" (Anthem Press, 2025) 44:31

1
Peder Anker, "For The Love of Bombs: The Trail of Nuclear Suffering" (Anthem Press, 2025) 44:31

1
Rhys Machold, "Fabricating Homeland Security: Police Entanglements Across India and Palestine/Israel" (Stanford UP, 2024) 40:47