New Books in Public Policy

Interviews with Scholars of Public Policy about their New Books

Science
Social Sciences
1801
Ronald P. Formisano, “Plutocracy in America” (J...
Ronald P. Formisano has written Plutocracy in America: How Increasing Inequality Destroys the Middle Class and Exploits the Poor (Johns Hopkins UP, 2015). Formisano is the William T. Bryan Chair of American History and professor emeritus of history at ...
15 min
1802
Ryan Craig, "College Disrupted: The Great Unbun...
An interview with Ryan Craig
41 min
1803
Suzanna Reiss, “We Sell Drugs: The Alchemy of U...
Though the conventional history of the U.S.-led “War on Drugs” locates the origins of this conflict in a reaction to the domestic culture of excess of the 1960s, a new book argues that international drug control efforts are actually decades older,
41 min
1804
Eric Nadelstern, “Ten Lessons from New York Cit...
With 40 years of public school experience, from teacher to high-ranking official of one of the largest school systems in the US, Eric Nadelstern has a deep perspective and nuanced understanding of the current educational landscape.
32 min
1805
Justin S. Vaughn and Jose D. Villalobos, “Czars...
Justin S. Vaughn and Jose D. Villalobos have written Czars in the White House: The Rise of Policy Czars as Presidential Management Tools (University of Michigan Press, 2015). Vaughn is Associate Professor of Political Science at Boise State University;...
33 min
1806
Alec Patton, “Work That Matters: The Teacher’s ...
Every year, thousands of teachers visit San Diego to understand project-based learning and find inspiration in the work done by students at High Tech High. Their multimedia presentations have been installed in public art galleries,
50 min
1807
Natalia Molina, “How Race is Made in America: I...
“America is a nation of immigrants.” Either this common refrain, or its cousin the “melting pot” metaphor is repeated daily in conversations at various levels of U.S. society. Be it in the private or public realm,
67 min
1808
Cass Sunstein, “Choosing Not to Choose: Underst...
The political tradition of liberalism tends to associate political liberty with the individual’s freedom of choice. The thought is that political freedom is intrinsically tied to the individual’s ability to select one’s own path in life – to choose one...
58 min
1809
Thomas Holyoke, “The Ethical Lobbyist: Reformin...
Thomas Holyoke is the author of The Ethical Lobbyist: Reforming Washington’s Influence Industry (Georgetown UP, 2015). Holyoke is associate professor of political science at California State University, Fresno.
27 min
1810
William Davies, “The Happiness Industry: How th...
Are you happy? In his new book The Happiness Industry: How the Government and Big Business Sold Us Well-Being (Verso, 2015), William Davies, a senior lecturer at Goldsmiths’ College, University of London, critically investigates this question.
42 min
1811
Alexandra Minna Stern, “Telling Genes: The Stor...
Due in part to lobbying efforts on behalf of the human genome project, human genes tend to be thought of in light of the present–genetic components of human disease and differential risks associated with genetic individuals–before the future,
68 min
1812
MK Czerwiec, et al., “Graphic Medicine Manifest...
Physician/author Ian Williams coined the term “graphic medicine” to “denote the role that comics can play in the study and delivery of healthcare.” The robust emerging graphic medicine community can be witnessed in its website and annual conference,
76 min
1813
William Elliott III and Melinda Lewis, “Real Co...
Dr. William Elliott III, associate professor in the School of Social Welfare at the University of Kansas, and Melinda Lewis, associate professor of practice in the School of Social Welfare at the University of Kansas,
30 min
1814
Winnifred F. Sullivan, “A Ministry of Presence:...
As patterns of religiosity have changed in the United States, chaplains have come to occupy an increasingly important place in the nation’s public institutions, especially its prisons, hospitals and military. In her newest book,
45 min
1815
Julian E. Zelizer, “The Fierce Urgency of Now: ...
Julian E. Zelizer is the author of The Fierce Urgency of Now: Lyndon Johnson, Congress, and the Battle for the Great Society (Penguin Press, 2015). Zelizer is the Malcom Stevenson Forbes, Class of 1941 Professor of History and Public Affairs at Princet...
18 min
1816
Nicholas R. Parrillo, “Against the Profit Motiv...
In this podcast I discuss Profit Motive: The Salary Revolution in American Government, 1780-1940 (Yale University Press, 2013) with author Nicholas R. Parrillo, professor of law at Yale University. Parrillo’s book was winner of the 2014 Law and Society...
61 min
1817
Beatrix Hoffman, “Health Care for Some: Rights ...
Disputes over the definitions or legality of ‘rights’ and ‘rationing’ in their various guises have animated much of the debate around the United States Affordable Care Act. Many legislators and vocal members of their constituency have strong conviction...
54 min
1818
Jon L. Mills, “Privacy in the New Media Age” (U...
That privacy in the digital age is an important concept to be discussed is axiomatic. Cameras in mobile phones make it easy to record events and post them on the web. Consumers post an enormous amount of information on social media sites.
31 min
1819
Todd Meyers, “The Clinic and Elsewhere: Addicti...
Todd Meyers‘ The Clinic and Elsewhere: Addiction, Adolescents, and the Afterlife of Therapy (University of Washington Press, 2013) is many things, all of them compelling and fully realized. Most directly, the book is an ethnography of drug dependence a...
65 min
1820
Julian E. Zelizer, “The Fierce Urgency of Now: ...
In recent decades, as Democrats and Republicans have grown more and more polarized ideologically, and gridlock has becoming increasingly standard in Congress, there has been a noticeable pining for the good old days when bipartisanship was common,
53 min
1821
Lee Drutman, “The Business of America is Lobbyi...
Lee Drutman is the author of The Business of America is Lobbying: How Corporations Became Politicized and Politics Became More Corporate (Oxford UP 2015). Drutman is a senior fellow at New America. How do corporations seek influence in Washington?
18 min
1822
J. Bronsteen, C. Buccafusco, and J. S. Masur, “...
In their new book Happiness and the Law (University of Chicago Press 2014), John Bronsteen, Christopher Buccafusco, and Jonathan S. Masur argue through the use of hedonic psychological data that we should consider happiness when determining the best wa...
42 min
1823
Finis Dunaway, “Seeing Green: The Use and Abuse...
Oil-soaked birds in Prince William Sound. The “crying Indian” in a 1970s anti-littering ad. A lonely polar bear on an Arctic ice floe. Such environmental images have proliferated over the past half-century,
53 min
1824
Kevin Dougherty and Rebecca Natow, “The Politic...
Funding for higher education in the U.S. is an increasingly divisive issue. Some states have turned to policies that tie institutional performance to funding appropriations so to have great accountability on public expenditure.
45 min
1825
Louis DeSipio and Rodolfo de la Garza, “U.S. Im...
In this week’s podcast, we hear from an author and an editor. First, Louis DeSipio and Rodolfo de la Garza are authors of U.S. Immigration in the Twenty-First Century: Making Americans, Remaking America (Westview Press, 2015).
25 min