Contributor(s): Chris Gilson, Yeling Tan | In October 2024 the LSE Phelan US Centre spoke to Yeling Tan, Professor of Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford. They spoke about how China understands economic security and its evolving economic strategy, and how public attitudes in China towards international trade influence the country’s trade policy. This episode was produced by Chris Gilson and Anderson Tan. Further reading• Global economic influence...

Contributor(s): Chris Gilson, Professor Lawrence Lessig | In October 2024 the Phelan US Centre spoke to spoke to Lawrence Lessig, the Roy L. Furman Professor of Law and Leadership at Harvard Law School. Cited by The New Yorker as “the most important thinker on intellectual property in the internet era”, Professor Lessig now focuses on “institutional corruption”, especially as that affects democracy. He is the author of many books, including They Don’t Represent Us: Reclaiming Our Democracy,...

Contributor(s): Professor Fawaz Gerges, Chris Gilson | In October 2024 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Fawaz Gerges, Professor of International Relations in the Department of International Relations at LSE, and holder of the Emirates Professorship in Contemporary Middle East Studies. They spoke about his new book, “What Really Went Wrong: The West and the failure of democracy in the Middle East”. We also discussed the history of US involvement in the region, and the ongoing conflict in the...

Contributor(s): Chris Gilson, Nick Lewis | In September 2024 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Nick Lewis, a PhD student in LSE’s Department of Government and a recipient of a Phelan US Centre PhD Summer Research Grant in 2022. Nick’s research looks at how social media creates bias in democratic deliberation. They spoke about how Facebook discourages people from taking part in discussions via what’s called the “spiral of silence”. They also discussed the importance of social media in the 2024...

Contributor(s): Chris Gilson, Dr. Peter Harris | In September 2024 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Peter Harris, Associate Professor of Political Science at Colorado State University about his new book, Why America Can’t Retrench (And How It Might) which looks at the US’ dominant role in the world, how it got there and the factors preventing global restraint. They discuss the idea of America’s ‘primacist’ approach to international affairs and the role of domestic politics and systems in...

Contributor(s): Evelyn Ong, Callum Cleasby | In August 2024 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Evelyne Ong, an undergraduate research assistant with the Phelan US Centre for the 2023-24 academic year.   They discuss her work with Visiting Professor Jeffrey Legro, on the project, ‘The Nuclear Revolution and Great Power Competition’. They also talked about her experience taking part in the Phelan US Centre’s undergraduate research assistantship programme.   This episode was produced by Chris Gilson...

Contributor(s): Chris Gilson | In 2024, the Phelan US Centre ran an essay competition for master’s students with the prompt, ““How should the United States work to shape the future of capitalism in this age of insecurity?”. We speak to the author of the winning essay, David Millman, and the runners-up, Yazmin Baptiste and Manickam Valliappan. We discuss their essays, the competition, what it’s like for students to engage with a wider audience, and the opportunity they had to present their...

Contributor(s): Chris Gilson, Nathan Lane | In July 2024 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Nathan Lane, Associate Professor in Economics at Oxford University, about industrial policy in the United States and its history, including recent policies from the Biden administration like the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS Act. They also discussed how US industrial policy might change depending on who wins the 2024 presidential election. This episode was produced by Chris Gilson and Anderson Tan.

Contributor(s): Chris Gilson, Professor Patriann Smith | In 2024 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Patriann Smith, professor in the College of Education at the University of South Florida. Dr. Smith's transdisciplinary research examines how differences in languages, Englishes, and English language ideologies affect Black Caribbean students’ immigrant literacy practices as they cross cultures and languages between their home countries and the United States. In this episode, they spoke about her...

Contributor(s): Chris Gilson, Adia Wingfield | In June 2024 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Adia Harvey Wingfield, the Mary Tileston Hemenway Professor of Arts & Sciences and Vice Dean for Faculty Development and Diversity at Washington University in St. Louis. They spoke about Professor Wingfield’s new book, Gray Areas: How the Way We Work Perpetuates Racism and What We Can Do to Fix It. The discussion also covered US labor activism, and the role US federal and state governments have in...

Contributor(s): Chris Gilson, Professor Maxwell Stearns | In May 2024 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Maxwell Stearns, the Venable, Baetjer & Howard Professor of Law at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law about his new book, Parliamentary America: The Least Radical Means of Radically Repairing Our Broken Democracy. The book argues that the solution to many of America’s democratic challenges is to amend the Constitution to reform the US government to become a...

Contributor(s): Chris Gilson, Dr Lauren Sukin, Debak Das, Matthew Fuhrmann, J. Luis Rodriguez | In June 2024, the LSE Phelan US Centre held the conference, US Nuclear Strategy in a Changing Indo-Pacific. The conference brought together scholars and analysts with a strong record of policy-relevant research on nuclear strategy and expertise in the security dynamics of the Indo-Pacific. The conference was convened by Phelan US Centre Affiliates, Rohan Mukherjee and Lauren Sukin, both Assistant...

Contributor(s): Chris Gilson, Professor Jeff Legro | In May 2024 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Jeff Legro, University Professor at the University of Richmond, and Visiting Professor at the Phelan US Centre for 2023-24. They spoke about the US’ role as a “unipolar” country in the world, conceptions of sovereignty, both in the US and abroad, the potential future of US foreign policy, and the relationship between nuclear weapons and globalization.   They also discussed Professor Legro’s work...

Contributor(s): Brooke Gladstone, Chris Gilson | In 2024 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Brooke Gladstone, host and Managing Editor of WNYC’s On the Media about the US’ changing media landscape, the meaning of truth and facts in the age of Donald Trump, and how we can teach the next generation to be better media consumers. This Extra Inning was produced by Chris Gilson and Anderson Tan.

Contributor(s): Dr Fred Kaplan, Chris Gilson | In May 2024 the Phelan US Centre spoke to author and journalist for Slate magazine and Phelan US Centre Visiting Senior Fellow, Fred Kaplan about his 2020 book, The Bomb: Presidents, Generals, and the Secret History of Nuclear War and the changing attitudes of US politicians and policymakers to nuclear weapons and nuclear war. This Extra Inning was produced by Chris Gilson and Anderson Tan. Listen to the podcast of the LSE Event ‘Is the risk of...

Contributor(s): Elizabeth Ingleson | How did China—the world’s largest communist nation—converge with global capitalism? And when did this occur? In this event, held on 7 May 2024, Dr Elizabeth Ingleson of the LSE Department of International History and Phelan US Centre Affiliate argued that this convergence began in the early 1970s, when the United States and China re-opened trade and the interests of US capitalists and the Chinese state gradually aligned: at the expense of US labor and...

Contributor(s): Elizabeth Ingleson, Ashley Tellis, John Van Reenen | A shining city on a hill. America the beautiful. The United States has long been mythologised as the land of dreams and opportunity. And since the fall of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s it has been undisputedly the most powerful nation on earth. But is it a fading force? The idea of an America in decline has gained traction in recent years and has, of course, been capitalized on by President Trump. Is America’s...

Contributor(s): Chris Gilson, Professor John Owen | In 2024 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Professor John Owen, Ambassador Henry J. and Mrs. Marion R. Taylor Professor of Politics, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture and the Miller Center for Public Affairs at the University of Virginia, and an Academic Visitor at Nuffield College, University of Oxford from January to June 2024. They discussed his new book, ‘The Ecology of Nations: American Democracy in a Fragile...

Contributor(s): Elizabeth Ingleson, Chris Gilson | In April 2024 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Dr Elizabeth Ingleson, Assistant Professor in the Department of International History at LSE and Centre Affiliate of the Phelan US Centre. They spoke about Dr Ingleson’s new book, Made in China: When US-China Interests Converged to Transform Global Trade. They also discussed the evolution of the US-China trade relationship since the 1970s, including the role played by US policymakers and capitalist...

Contributor(s): Professor Elizabeth Saunders, Chris Gilson | In March 2024 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Professor Elizabeth Saunders, Professor of Political Science at Columbia University about her new book, ‘The Insiders’ Game: How Elites Make War and Peace’ and the role of ‘elites’ in US foreign policymaking. This Extra Inning was produced by Chris Gilson and Anderson Tan. Contributors: Professor Elizabeth Saunders (Columbia University)

Contributor(s): Chris Gilson, Jennifer Carlson | In March 2024 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Professor Jennifer Carlson of Arizona State University, and 2022 MacArthur Fellow, about her new book, Merchants of the Right: Gun Sellers and the Crisis of American Democracy. They also discuss the symbolism and political value guns have in American politics and society. This Extra Inning was produced by Chris Gilson and Anderson Tan. Contributors: Professor Jennifer Carlson (Arizona State University)

Contributor(s): Chris Gilson, Dr Jason Casellas | In March 2024 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Professor Jason Casellas about how the role of Latino voters in the United States and their changing voting patterns. They also discuss how Latino voters might influence the 2024 presidential election. Jason Casellas is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Houston and is the John G. Winant Visiting Professor for American Government at Oxford University for 2023-24. This Extra...

Contributor(s): Chris Gilson, Mathieu Duchâtel | In February 2024 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Dr Mathieu Duchâtel, Resident Senior Fellow and Director of International Studies at Institut Montaigne about transatlantic convergence between the EU and the United States on China policy. They also discussed the fault lines between the EU and US on China policy, and how China has responded to these divergences, including on Taiwan policy. This Extra Inning was produced by Chris Gilson and...

Contributor(s): Chris Gilson, Jason Casellas | On March 5th, 16 US states and territories held primary elections to decide the 2024 Republican and Democratic presidential nominees: a day known as “Super Tuesday”. The Phelan US Centre spoke to Professor Jason Casellas about the Super Tuesday results, the primary race so far, and what the trends may mean for the general election in November. Jason Casellas is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Houston and is the John...