A selection of interviews:
Rich people who own newspapers can shift elections. Israel shows how. Washington Post, December 6, 2022.
The political scientists Guy Grossman, Yotam Margalit, and Tamar Mitts on how the ultrarich can shape electoral results by controlling media outlets that openly propagate their political interests.
Making it easier for Black people to vote had unexpected consequences. Washington Post, November 11, 2022.
The political scientists Nicholas Eubank and Adriane Fresh on how the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which outlawed racial discrimination in voting, led to higher Black prison admissions rates.
How can you change minds on hot-button political issues? Here’s what these scholars found. Washington Post, July 17, 2020.
The political scientist Josh Kalla on how canvassers can change people’s minds on issues like immigration and transgender rights.
Think racial segregation is over? Here’s how the police still enforce it. Washington Post, July 1, 2020
The legal scholar and sociologist Monica Bell on how the police help perpetuate residential segregation.
What happens when a police officer gets fired? Very often another police agency hires them. Washington Post, June 16, 2020
The legal scholars Ben Grunwald and John Rappaport on the phenomenon of “wandering officers,” law enforcement officers who are fired from one agency only to be rehired by another.
Junk television promoted populist politics long before Fox News and Trump. Washington Post, July 22, 2019
The political scientist Andrea Tesei explains how the introduction of entertainment television in 1980s Italy made voters much more likely to support the Italian populist Silvio Berlusconi when he entered politics a decade later.
Catholics like the European Union more than Protestants do. This is why. Washington Post, January 12, 2017
The political scientists Brent Nelsen and James Guth explore an unlikely source of support for—and opposition to—the EU: religion.
The U.S. needs a new approach to counterinsurgency. This is what it can learn from El Salvador. Washington Post, December 7, 2016
Walter C. Ladwig III, an expert at King’s College London, explains why U.S. counterinsurgency efforts so often fail—and what lessons El Salvador’s 12-year civil war offers for U.S. foreign policy today.
Read this book if you want to know what China’s citizens really think about their government. Washington Post, October 4, 2016
The political scientist Bruce Dickson argues that, contrary to popular belief, China may not be headed toward democracy.
Here’s why terrorist suicide attacks are increasing: They attract rewards from ISIS and al-Qaeda. Washington Post, August 16, 2016
Benjamin Acosta, a political scientist at Louisiana State University, on the motivations behind suicide attacks.
Europeans might be willing to take refugees—but only if they help the economy. Washington Post, May 17, 2016
Jens Hainmueller, a political scientist at Stanford, on the kinds of refugees Europeans are willing to accept.
People think that economic sanctions hurt Putin and helped undermine apartheid in South Africa. They’re wrong. Washington Post, May 6, 2016
Lee Jones, of Queen Mary University of London, on the history of sanctions and why leaders still rely on them.
Europe’s asylum system serves neither the refugees nor the countries. Here’s a new way of thinking about it. Washington Post, April 4, 2016
Oxford academics Will Jones and Alex Teytelboym on how matching markets can help solve the refugee crisis.
Foreign Affairs Podcast with Kathleen McNamara, Foreign Affairs, August 27, 2015
McNamara, author of The Politics of Everyday Europe, on Greece and the future of the EU.
Q&A: Indian-American Pulitzer Poetry Prize Winner, Wall Street Journal, April 19, 2014
Vijay Seshadri on his literary influences, his favorite poems, and his quest to turn traditional conceptions of poetry inside out.