The Brookings Cafeteria

Deepfakes are videos that make a person appear to say or do something they did not say or do, and they are coming to an election near you. With the 2020 election contests coming up, how can we guard ourselves against deep fakes and prevent them from changing the outcome of an election? To address this problem, this episode features a conversation with , a nonresident senior fellow in Governance Studies and the Center for Technology Innovation at Brookings. He is also a professor of electrical engineering, public policy, law, and management at UCLA. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts  or , send feedback email to , and follow us and tweet us at  on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the .

The language of racism and white supremacy is all around us; people are getting hurt, and also killed. But racism also pervades our public policies. To address these issues and how to move forward, this episode features a discussion with two Brookings experts: , David M. Rubenstein Fellow in the Metropolitan Policy Program, and , senior fellow in the Governance Studies Program and also in the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts  or on , send feedback email to , and follow us and tweet us at  on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the .

In June, FBI Director Christopher Wray testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee that “the Russians are absolutely intent on trying to interfere with our elections,” and just recently the Senate Intelligence Committee issued a bipartisan report finding that governments at all levels are unprepared to combat a Russian attack on U.S. election infrastructure. Meanwhile, Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell has refused to allow a vote on House-passed election security measures, calling such efforts partisan and pointing to steps the Trump administration has taken to bolster election security. On this episode, , the vice president and director of Governance Studies and Founding Director of the  at Brookings, addresses these issues.  Subscribe to Brookings podcasts  or on , send feedback email to , and follow us and tweet us at  on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the .

Brookings Press Director Bill Finan sits down with Donald P. Green, the J.W. Burgess Professor of Political Science at Columbia University. Doctor Green is co-author, with Alan S. Gerber, of "," now in its fourth edition from the Brookings Press. In "Get out the Vote," Green and Gerber take a scientific approach to the challenge of voter mobilization, and examine new data on the efficiency of various campaign tactics, including door-to-door canvassing, email, direct mail, and telephone calls.  Also on the program, Senior Fellow David Wessel discusses whether the crisis in state and local pensions we so often hear about is really a crisis at all. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts  or on , send feedback email to , and follow us and tweet us at  on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the .

Nearly half of the pregnancies in the United States each year are unplanned, and such unwanted or mistimed pregnancies can create negative outcomes for women, children, and families. Greater access to birth control, especially long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCS) empower women to only have children if, and when, and with whom they want. As restrictions on abortion become more widespread, how can states and organizations increase the availability of family planning information and access to contraceptive methods like LARCS? In this episode, Brookings Senior Fellow leads a conversation with former Delaware Governor and , the co-founder and co-CEO of Upstream USA, a non-profit working to expand opportunity by reducing unplanned pregnancy in the US. Also on the program, in a new Metro Lens segment, Senior Fellow , director of the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Center for Transformative Placemaking, describes how the digital revolution is shifting where jobs are concentrating and why this job density matter

Jonathan Stromseth, a senior fellow and Lee Kuan Yew Chair in Southeast Asian Studies at Brookings, interviews Brookings President John R. Allen about the strategic significance of Southeast Asia, US relations with countries in the region, and the China challenge. President Allen recently returned from an extended trip to East Asia, where in June he opened and participated in a Brookings conference in Taipei on “The Risks of the Asian Peace: Avoiding Paths to Great Power War.” That conference is part of a broader Brookings project focused on Sustaining the Long Peace in East Asia. Subsequently, President Allen traveled to Singapore where Stromseth had an opportunity to join him for a series of dialogues with senior officials and regional policy experts. In this episode, President Allen reflects on his trip and considers the possible implications of his discussions and observations for U.S. Asia policy. Also on the program, what’s happening in Congress, with Senior Fellow Molly Reynolds on divisions in the Hou

The authors of a new book argue that national security “fearmongering” is causing U.S. leaders to focus more on the threats that Americans perceive—like terrorism and nuclear war—than the ones that exist at home, like gun violence and the opioid crisis. In Clear and Present Safety: The World Has Never Been Better and Why That Matters to Americans (Yale University Press), Michael Cohen and Micah Zenko argue that “The American public is being fed, by politicians and pundits alike, a steady diet of threat inflation that has made them deeply fearful of the world outside their borders.“ In this episode, Thomas Wright, director of the Center on the United States and Europe and senior fellow in the Project on International Order and Strategy at Brookings, speaks with Zenko, a columnist at Foreign Policy, about the premise of the book, the geopolitical risks that do exist, and what role foreign policy might play in the 2020 presidential election. Zenko explains why the mid-1990s were the most dangerous time to be ali

After three years of intensive collaboration with Brookings, public, private, and civic leaders in California’s Inland Empire have launched an ambitious strategy to expand opportunity and grow middle-class jobs in the region. In this episode, several of those leaders and Brookings experts discuss why this work is so important, how the Inland Empire reflects broader economic challenges and opportunities, and what other city-regions can learn to develop smarter approaches to building inclusive economic growth. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts  or on , send feedback email to , and follow us and tweet us at  on Twitter.  The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the .

Liah Greenfeld, professor of sociology, political science, and anthropology at Boston University, talks with Brookings Institution Press Director Bill Finan about her new book, "." She explains her broad definition of nationalism, Shakespeare's role in shaping the language of democracy and modernity, and how modern notions of "white nationalism" may not be nationalism at all. Also on the program, Senior Fellow looks at why the Federal Reserve may cut interest rates and allow inflation to rise. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts  or on , send feedback email to , and follow us and tweet us at  on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the .

This is a rebroadcast of a "Dollar & Sense: The Brookings Trade Podcast" episode. On it, former United States Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky joined host  to discuss the history of the United States’ economic engagement with China. Their conversation covered China’s entry and membership in the World Trade Organization, how domestic Chinese politics have affected the country’s trade policies, and the lasting impact of the global financial crisis on U.S.-China relations. Finally, Barshefsky outlined the prospect of the two countries reaching a trade deal in the near future. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts  or on , send feedback email to , and follow us and tweet us at  on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria and Dollar & Sense are part of the .    

From slow wage growth, to increasing numbers of men out of the labor market, to rising inequality and rising compensation for CEOs, today’s capitalism may not be working for workers. In May, the Guardian newspaper published a series of solutions to these and related problems, titled . On this episode, two of the authors in the series—Isabel Sawhill and Steven Pearlstein—join Richard Reeves to discuss their ideas for helping workers in today’s economy. During the conversation, Reeves calls four outside experts to ask them for their solution, and then the trio of experts in the studio discuss the idea.  Richard Reeves is the John C. and Nancy D. Whitehead Chair, a senior fellow in Economic studies, director of the Future of the Middle Class Initiative, and co-director of the Center on Children and Families at Brookings. He is the author of “,” published by the Brookings Institution Press. Isabel Sawhill is a senior fellow in Economic Studies at Brookings and author, most recently, of “.” Steven Pearlstein, busi

Senior Fellow , director of the at Brookings, says that global organizations project that by 2030 half of the world's young people will not have the 21st-century skills and academic competencies they will need to thrive. The pace of change is too slow, and it could take a century for the poorest children to catch up. What's needed, she said, is a way to rapidly accelerate progress by leapfrogging education. And parents have a crucial role to play in this transformation. In this episode, Winthrop talks with four education leaders, whom she met at the , about the role of parents and the power of innovative approaches like playful learning in pursuing education transformation. The four episode guests are: Ziauddin Yousafzai, co-founder and board member, Brijpal Patel, director of global program development, Jen Lexmond, founder and CEO, Eszter Salamon, director general of  and president,  Also, about the book, "" Subscribe to Brookings podcasts  or on , send feedback email to , and follow us and tweet us

In its dominance of low-carbon industries that range from solar and wind power, to electric vehicles, to more-efficient coal combustion, China is emerging as a clean-energy juggernaut. That’s according to , the author of a new paper from the titled “” Ball, argues that the West, instead of seeing this development as a threat, should see it as an opportunity both for business and for the planet. In this episode, Ball is interviewed by , the co-chair of the energy and climate initiative here at Brookings. Victor is also a professor of international relations at UC San Diego and director of its Laboratory on International Law and Regulation. In addition to his Brookings affiliation as a nonresident senior fellow, Jeffrey Ball is also a scholar in residence at Stanford University’s Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance, and a lecturer at Stanford Law School. Also on today’s show, a look at how housing and transportation trends in the Washington capital region impact commuting, the climate, and the e

When the next recession comes, and it certainly will, how will policymakers respond? In a from the and the , a group of experts propose new and updated antirecession solutions to boost the economy and save jobs. These ideas center on the concept of automatic stabilizers, which are simply policy responses that trigger when a crisis is starting, and when policymakers may be too overwhelmed by the crisis to respond. On this episode, —a senior fellow at Brookings and director of the Hamilton Project—and —executive director and chief economist of the Washington Center for Equitable Growth—address these policy proposals. Also on today’s show, Senior Fellow  discusses what steps the House of Representatives would have to take in any impeachment process, and also other business that Congress is pursuing, including a budget deal. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts  or on , send feedback email to , and follow us and tweet us at  on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the .

Foreign aid money from governments is getting scarcer, and in the U.S., private philanthropy exceeds US government funds in the foreign assistance realm. But, what about the role of business and private capital in development, reducing poverty, and alleviating hunger? So called "impact investing" is now one of the most important trends in addressing some of the world’s most pressing problems. In this episode, , the interim vice president and director of the Global Economy and Development Program, speaks with , the CEO of the International Finance Corporation, about the IFC’s . Also, Senior Fellow asks, and answers, three key questions about tariffs and U.S.-China trade issues. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts  or on , send feedback email to , and follow us and tweet us at  on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the .

In the East China sea, in waters bounded by Japan, China, and Taiwan, lies a small archipelago of uninhabited islands known in Japan as the Senkaku Islands, and in China as Diaoyu Islands. Both countries claim them, but they are covered by the US-Japan security treaty. What would be the U.S. response if China landed military forces on them? Similarly, what would happen if “little green men” from Russia occupied a Russian-speaking village in Estonia, a NATO member country? In his new book, "," Brookings Senior Fellow explores these and similar scenarios in which a local crisis could erupt into a major war between the United States and China or Russia. In this episode, Brookings Fellow talks with O’Hanlon about his book and his argument for a better range of options to deal with these risks. Also on the program, , a fellow in the Metropolitan Policy Program, shares her recent research on unemployed youth. While the current national unemployment rate is below four percent, joblessness among American workers ag

In our constitutional system, congressional oversight of the executive branch is an important tool. As a co-equal branch of government, and the one that passes legislation and appropriates funds to carry out public policy, Congress has an obligation to the Constitution, and to citizens, to hold the executive branch accountable. In this episode, Senior Fellow introduces the new , explains why oversight is so important, and shares her views on recent news about some of the Trump administration’s responses to oversight requests. Also on today’s episode, meet new scholar , who joined the Metropolitan Policy Program after serving in the White House as the nation’s first special assistant to the president for infrastructure. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts  or on , send feedback email to , and follow us and tweet us at  on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the .

A discussion about a new volume from the Brookings Institution Press on the increasing role of offensive cyber operations in U.S. national security. Herbert Lin and Amy Zegart are co-editors of “.” Lin and Zegart are scholars at the Hoover Institution and co-directors of the Stanford Cyber Policy Program. Bill Finan, director of the Brookings Press, conducts the interview. Also, Brookings Senior Fellow Molly Reynolds examines congressional oversight of the Trump administration, from subpoenas to impeachment Subscribe to Brookings podcasts  or on , send feedback email to , and follow us and tweet us at  on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the .

, senior fellow in the  at Brookings, interviews , author of the new book from the Brookings Institution Press, “.” Elgindy is a nonresident fellow in the Center for Middle East Policy and previously served as an advisor to the Palestinian Leadership in Ramallah on permanent status negotiations with Israel from 2004 to 2009, and was a key participant in the Annapolis negotiations throughout 2008.  Also, Wessel’s Economic Update in which Senior Fellow David Wessel offers three reasons why we don’t necessarily have to address the rising U.S. budget deficit through increased taxes and cutting spending right now. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts  or on , send feedback email to , and follow us and tweet us at  on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the .

India has started its multi-phase, weeks long general elections that will determine the composition of the Lok Sabha, India’s lower house of parliament, and also the next prime minister. Results will be announced May 23. To make sense of the world’s largest exercise of democracy, today’s episode features a discussion led by Brookings Fellow , director of the , with three scholars, one each from the American Enterprise Institute, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and Brookings India. The participants in the conversation are: , resident fellow, American Enterprise Institute , director and senior fellow, South Asia Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace , fellow, Brookings India Subscribe to Brookings podcasts  or on , send feedback email to , and follow us and tweet us at  on Twitter. The Brookings Cafeteria is part of the .