Best Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy Podcasts (2025)

1
The Arctic faces historic pressures from competition, climate change, and Trump 50:08

16d ago50:08

50:08

John Holdren is the Teresa and John Heinz Research Professor for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and co-director of the Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program at the School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. He is a former Professor of Environmental Science and Polic…

1
Moments that matter: How to bake fairness into the workplace 43:21

26d ago43:21

43:21

Iris Bohnet is the Albert Pratt Professor of Business and Government and the co-director of the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard Kennedy School. She is a behavioral economist, combining insights from economics and psychology to improve decision-making in organizations and society, often with a gender or cross-cultural perspective. Her mos…

1
Crypto is merging with mainstream finance. Regulators aren’t ready 55:30

1M ago55:30

55:30

Timothy Massad is currently a Senior Fellow at the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, an Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown Law School and a consultant on financial regulatory and fintech issues. Massad served as Chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission fro…

1
Professor Joe Nye coined the term “soft power.” He says America’s is in decline under Trump 31:17

2M ago31:17

31:17

Joseph S. Nye Jr. is a Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor, Emeritus, and former Dean of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. He has served as assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, as chairman of the National Intelligence Council, and as deputy undersecretary of state for security assistance, science a…

1
America’s geopolitical realignments, authoritarianism, and Trump’s endgame 39:17

2M ago39:17

39:17

Ambassador Wendy Sherman, the 21st U.S. Deputy Secretary of State and the first woman in that position, has been a diplomat, businesswoman, professor, political strategist, author, and social worker. She served under three presidents and five secretaries of state, becoming known as a diplomat for hard conversations in hard places. As Deputy Secreta…

1
6 – Putin’s Preventive War 37:53

2M ago37:53

37:53

Guests: Barry R. Posen is Ford International Professor of Political Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a member of the MIT Security Studies Program, which he directed from 2006 to 2019. International Security Article: Barry R. Posen, “Putin's Preventive War: The 2022 Invasion of Ukraine,” International Security, Vol. 49, No. 3…

1
If the U.S. courts can’t defend the rule of law, who can? 46:57

2M ago46:57

46:57

With a Republican Congress apparently unwilling to check Trump’s power, many Americans fear a looming constitutional crisis and are looking to the federal courts to ride to the rescue. But political scientist and Harvard Kennedy School Professor Maya Sen, who studies the federal judiciary, says the cavalry probably isn’t coming. The Trump administr…

1
AI can make governing better instead of worse. Yes, you heard that right. 41:36

3M ago41:36

41:36

Danielle Allen and Mark Fagan say that when tested, thoughtfully deployed, and regulated AI actually can help governments serve citizens better. Sure, there is no shortage of horror stories these days about the intersection of AI and government—from a municipal chatbot that told restaurant owners it was OK to serve food that had been gnawed by rode…

1
Ricardo Hausmann on the rise of industrial policy, green growth, and Trump’s tariffs 58:39

3M ago58:39

58:39

For market purists, any mention of the term industrial policy used to evoke visions of heavy-handed Soviet-style central planning, or the stifling state-centric protectionism employed by Latin American countries in the late 20th century. But that conversation turned dramatically over the last several years, as President Joe Biden’s signature legisl…

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5 – Competing Visions of Restraint 38:31

3M ago38:31

38:31

Guests: Miranda Priebe is a senior political scientist and director of the Center for Analysis of U.S. Grand Strategy at RAND. John Schuessler is Associate Professor of International Affairs and Co-Director of the Albritton Center for Grand Strategy at the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University. International Security …

1
Oligarchy in the open: What happens now as the U.S. confronts its plutocracy problem? 46:42

4M ago46:42

46:42

Ten years ago, political scientists Martin Gilens of Princeton and Benjamin Page of Northwestern took an extraordinary data set compiled by Gilens and a small army of researchers and set out to determine whether America could still credibly call itself a democracy. They used case studies 1,800 policy proposals over 30 years, tracking how they made …

1
What the EU must do to compete—and become the leader the world needs 35:31

4M ago35:31

35:31

Alexander De Croo became Belgium’s prime minister in October of 2020. It’s a relatively small country, with about 12 million inhabitants—slightly less than the city of Los Angeles—but it’s very much the face of Europe with the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, and NATO all calling Brussels home. Prime Minister De Croo, who saw…

1
The policy changes needed now to avoid a climate-driven global food crisis 39:23

4M ago39:23

39:23

The warning lights are blinking for the world’s food supply. At least that’s what 150 Nobel Prize and World Food Prize laureates said in a recently-published open letter calling for a “moonshot” urgency effort to start the immediate ramping up of food production to meet the global demands of 9.7 billion people by 2050. Harvard Kennedy School econom…

1
From insight to impact: Dean Jeremy Weinstein wants the Kennedy School to embrace and solve complex public problems 56:29

5M ago56:29

56:29

Jeremy Weinstein became the newest dean in the 88-year history of the Harvard Kennedy School this past June, arriving from Stanford University, where he was an award-winning scholar and the founding faculty director of the Stanford Impact Labs. The pursuit of deep scholarly curiosity and roll-up-your-sleeves impact has been a theme in his life and …

1
Legalized gambling is exploding globally. What policies can limit its harms? 42:36

6M ago42:36

42:36

Turbocharged by the internet and mobile technology, legalized gambling has exploded across the globe, leaving behind ruined lives, broken families and financial hardships, and should now be classified as a major public health concern. A four-year study by a public health commission on gambling convened by The Lancet, the respected British journal o…

1
4 – Do Autocrats Need a Foreign Enemy? 24:00

7M ago24:00

24:00

Guests: Henry Hale is Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at George Washington University. Adam Lenton is Assistant Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Wake Forest University. International Security Article: Henry E. Hale and Adam C. Lenton, “Do Autocrats Need a Foreign Enemy? Evidence from Fortress Russia,” Inte…

1
How emotion science could help solve the leading cause of preventable death 43:09

7M ago43:09

43:09

The World Health Organization says smoking is the leading cause of global preventable death, killing up to 8 million people prematurely every year—far more than die in wars and conflicts. Yet the emotions evoked by national and international anti-smoking campaigns and the impact of those emotions has never been fully studied until now. HKS Professo…

1
Policies—and a new global program—to fight anti-LGBTQI+ discrimination 53:57

7M ago53:57

53:57

Anti-LGBTQI+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex) discrimination is on the rise, both in the United States, where hate crime statistics are climbing, and globally, with the increase in right-wing populist governments weaponizing public sentiment against marginalized people. But there are also rights advocates around the world p…

1
3 – Fatalism and War 27:34

8M ago27:34

27:34

Guests: Dominic Tierney is Claude Smith Professor of Political Science at Swarthmore College. International Security Article: Dominic Tierney “The Iron Dice: Fatalism and War,” International Security, Vol. 49, No. 1 (Summer 2024), pp. 51–90. Originally released on October 10, 2024By Dominic Tierney, Jeff Friedman

1
The essential reforms needed to fix the housing crisis 47:01

8M ago47:01

47:01

America is in the grip of a severe housing crisis. Tenants have seen rents rise 26 percent while home prices have soared by 47 percent since early 2020. Before the pandemic, there were 20 US states considered affordable for housing. Now there are none. And 21 million households—including half of all renters—pay more than one-third of their income o…

1
How to change the narrative on women as leaders 40:18

8M ago40:18

40:18

As Vice President Kamala Harris making a strong bid for the U.S. presidency, HKS Women and Public Policy Program Co-Director Hannah Riley Bowles says Harris is just one of many “path breakers” who have dramatically increased leadership opportunities for women. But she also says the reaction to Harris’ campaign in the media and the public conversati…

1
How to turn back a rising tide of political threats and violence 52:12

10M ago52:12

52:12

The attempted assassination of former President and candidate Donald Trump has catalyzed an important discussion about both actual violence and threats of violence against political candidates, office-holders, policymakers, election officials, and others whose efforts help make our democracy work. Harvard Kennedy School professors Erica Chenoweth a…

1
2 - Clerics, Monarchs, and the Ethnoreligious Cleansing of Western Europe 24:08

12M ago24:08

24:08

Guests: Şener Aktürk is Professor of International Relations at Koç University in Istanbul, Türkiye. International Security Article: Şener Aktürk, “Not So Innocent: Clerics, Monarchs, and the Ethnoreligious Cleansing of Western Europe,” International Security, Vol. 48, No. 4 (Spring 2024), pp. 87–136. Originally released on June 18, 2024.…

1
Self-destructive populism: How better policy can reverse the anti-clean energy backlash 51:01

1y ago51:01

51:01

Populism—the political term that describes a group of self-described common people who oppose elite—has turned up in what for many is an unexpected place: the push for a worldwide transition to clean energy. Even though they’re vital to preventing the most catastrophic consequences of the manmade global climate crisis, clean energy measures are enc…

1
Public policy, values, and politics: Why so much depends on getting them right 41:03

1y ago41:03

41:03

Public policy has great power, both to improve people’s lives if it is planned and executed well and to cause significant suffering if it is not, says Harvard Kennedy School Dean Douglas Elmendorf, who will step back from his post this summer to rejoin the faculty. He joins PolicyCast host Ralph Ranalli in this episode to discuss the crucial role p…

1
The Ghost Budget: How U.S. war spending went rogue, wasted billions, and how to fix it 45:49

1y ago45:49

45:49

HKS Senior Lecturer Linda Bilmes, an expert on public finance who has studied post-9/11 war costs for the past 20 years, says their staggering $5 trillion cost was enabled by what she calls “The Ghost Budget.” Using an unprecedented combination of borrowing, accounting tricks, and outsourcing, presidential administrations, Congress, and the Pentago…

1
1 - A ‘Nuclear Umbrella’ for Ukraine? 21:27

1y ago21:27

21:27

Guest: Matthew Evangelista is President White Professor of History and Political Science at Cornell University. International Security Article: This podcast is based on Matthew Evangelista, “A ‘Nuclear Umbrella’ for Ukraine? Precedents and Possibilities for Postwar European Security,” International Security, Vol. 48, No. 3 (Winter 2023/24), pp. 7–5…

1
The Great Creep Backward: Policy responses to China’s slowing economy 55:37

1y ago55:37

55:37

Harvard Kennedy School Professor Rana Mitter and Harvard Business School Associate Professor Meg Rithmire say that after decades of tremendous growth, an economically slowing China is the new normal. With a growing debt-to-GDP ratio, an aging population, a devastating real estate bubble, and a loss of confidence among both foreign investors and dom…

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