Beyond Your News Feed: Understanding Contemporary Politics

Host William Hudson discusses the 2024 election with PC political science professors Adam Myers and Joe Cammarano.  Our conversation reviews that factors that led to Donald Trump's victory and the Republican gains in the Senate and House.  We consider what to expect from a Trump presidency.

Host William Hudson discusses the 2024 election with PC political science professors Adam Myers and Joe Cammarano. They review the astonishing events of this election season since last June, consider the strategies of both the Trump and Harris campaigns, and analyze why the election is so close and what it tells us about the overall state of American politics.

Host William Hudson is joined by Professor Andrea McDonnell, Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of PC's Communication Program to discuss her new research. Dr. McDonnell has been a guest on this podcast previously to discuss the decline of local news and her 2023 book A Gossip Politic. In today's podcast she discusses her more recent work on what she calls "discursive self-cleaving," a rhetorical strategy celebrities employ to counter accusations of sexual misconduct. In a forthcoming book, she takes an in depth look at the way three celebrities have deployed this strategy to protect themselves from such accusations. Among the three is former president Donald Trump, a master of discursive self-cleaving, who will be the focus of our conversation. Our conversation shows how various developments in communications in the 21st century, a post-truth information eco-system, bullshitting, and public gaslighting, have enabled this strategy. We conclude with comments on how Trump has expanded discursive self-cleaving from being a response to allegations of sexual misconduct to a routine tool in campaign image making.

Although most of us associate the People's Republic of China (the PRC) with its officially sanctioned atheism, the government tolerates a variety of religious practice within the country. Regulating and controlling religious practice to assure that it does not pose a threat to the dominance of either the Chinese state or the ruling Chinese Communist Party is an on-going challenge to both party and state. Professor Susan McCarthy, the PC political science department's China expert and a leading authority on ethnic and religious minorities in China, has returned to Beyond Your News Feed to discuss recent developments in the PRC's efforts to regulate religious practice. Our discussion centers around two of Dr. McCarthy's recent papers on the topic: “Liberating Party Animals: Cultural Governance and ‘Life Release' Rituals in China” published in July 2022 in The China Journal and a yet unpublished paper: “Sinicizing China's World Muslim City: Spatial Politics, National Narratives, and Ethno-Religious Assimilation in the PRC”.

This episode features, Zachariah Wheeler, Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science at Providence College. We discuss his research on the evolution in coalitions within the Democratic Party, how elite discourse about class, race, climate change, and other issues have shaped those coalitions, and the way these changes reflect the impact neo-liberal ideology and globalization has had on American politics and culture. A main focus of our conversation is his recent paper entitled “The ‘Emerging Democratic Majority', New Class Divisions, and the Meritocratic Left.”

This episode features Gizem Zencirci, Associate Professor of Political Science and her new book: The Muslim Social: Neoliberalism, Charity, and Poverty in Turkey published by Syracuse University Press. In this book, she explains how Turkey's ruling party and other Turkish actors have melded modern neo-liberal reforms and traditional understandings of Islamic charity to create a form of public welfare provision that she calls the “Muslim social.” We discuss her new book and its intriguing argument.

Professors Joe Cammarano and Adam Myers join Beyond Your News Feed host William Hudson for a wide-ranging conversation about the 2024 presidential election campaigns. We examine the challenges both the Biden and Trump campaigns will face in earning the votes of Americans. Our analysis includes an assessment of what is at stake for the future of American democracy in this election.

Host William Hudson discusses the current Israeli-Palestinian crisis with two political science colleagues who are experts on Israel and its long conflict with the Palestinians.  We focus on how Americans have reacted to the conflict, particularly the American Jewish community.

Professor Adam Myers joins host William Hudson to discuss federalism's impact on American democracy. Jacob M. Grumbach's recent book: Laboratories against Democracy: How National Parties Transformed State Politics offers the touchstone for this discussion. Grumbach addresses a perennial issue in the analysis of American politics – whether the federal system advances or undermines democratic values. Our discussion examines and critiques Grumbach's thesis as well as looking at recent arguments claiming federalism can advance progressive values.

This episode features a conversation with the Providence College Political Science Department's Chinese politics expert, Professor Susan McCarthy. For several months, now, China has been in the news a lot whether in reports on the Chinese regime's response to COVID, authoritarian crackdowns on political dissidents and ethnic minorities, the recent Party Congress that extended President Xi's term in office, worsening tension, both diplomatic and military, between the US and China, and, finally, the infamous Chinese balloon caper. Our conversation brings Professor McCarthy expertise to bear on media coverage of these issues.

For this episode, we were pleased to welcome to Beyond Your News Feed the newest member of the PC Political Science faculty Assistant Professor Sara Hassani. Dr. Hassani joined the faculty last fall after completing her PH.D. at the New School for Social Research. She as a joint appointment in Political Science and Women's Studies. In our conversation we talked about the courses she has taught so far and her experience so far at PC. We delved deeply into her fascinating research on female self-immolation as a form of political protest in the “Persian Belt”. We also discuss her insights into the current on-going protests in Iran.

Podcast host, William Hudson, invites back to the podcast the Providence College Political Science Departments expert on all this Israeli, Professor Ruth Ben-Artzi, to discuss recent events in Israel and Palestine. Our wide ranging conversation covers the electoral turmoil of the past four years that produced four elections, the reemergence of Benyamin Netanyahu as Prime Minister after last November's election, the extreme right-wing character of the government he heads, and the impact of all of this on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

This episode takes a deep dive into the results of the 2022 midterm elections. Professors Matt Guardino and Adam Myers join host, William Hudson, to discuss key national and state races. They focus particularly on why the expected "Red Wave"- overwhelming victories for the Republican Party- did not happen. The conversation does beyond the usual journalistic analysis of the election to offer insights based on political science research on American elections.

In September, Iran's morality police arrested a 22-year-old Iranian woman, Masha Amini, for violating rules regarding proper wearing of the hijab, a hair covering required of all women in public. A few days later, her family was informed that Ms. Amini had died in police custody, supposedly from a heart attack, although her family claimed she had died from blows to her head. In the weeks since, protests have erupted across Iran protesting Ms. Amini's death but also challenging the legitimacy of the Iranian regime. The protests have involved thousands of women, including high school and university students, and have expanded to include oil industry workers, medical workers, and lawyers. The Iranian regime seems to be under pressure greater than it has experienced since it came to power in 1979This episode features a conversation with Providence College political science department's Middle East expert, Professor Gizem Zencirci, to help us understand what is going on in Iran and its wider significance for the Middle East. 

This episode features our knowledgeable and insightful team of American politics experts, Professor Adam Myers and Professor Matt Guardino to discuss the state of American politics this summer of 2022.  The last few weeks have produced a variety of interesting topics for us to talk about – all with implications for the upcoming midterm national elections this fall.  Most directly, states across the nation have been holding primaries to select candidates for the fall elections, including candidates for Congress and for state offices.  In recent weeks, the House Select Committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol has held several news making and fascinating public hearings.  And if that were not enough, as its term ended, the US Supreme Court released several blockbuster decisions on guns, abortion, environmental regulation, and public prayer reflecting the muscle and ambition of the Courts solid conservative majority.  Matt, Adam and podcast host, Bill Hudson, ruminate about these topics and their implications for American democracy. 

America has often prided itself as a nation of immigrants.  Apart from indigenous peoples, Americans generally are descended from someone who came to this country from somewhere else.  Despite this history, in recent years, many Americans have shown growing hostility toward immigrants.  Politicians like Donald Trump have fueled and capitalized on this hostility in their anti-immigrant rhetoric.  Immigrants who engage in political action of some type or hold elective office are particular targets of hostile reactions. The guests on today's episode are the principal investigators for a in a major national study: The Immigrant Visibility and Political Activism Research Collaborative a joint initiative of Providence College and the University of Massachusetts Boston funded by the Russell Sage Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation of New York.  Their study seeks to understand xenophobic reactions to immigrants – in particular reactions toward those immigrants who engage in political action.  They are with me today to provide an early look at their findings so far.Our guests are Jeff Pugh, associate professor of conflict resolution at the McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston, and Matt Guardino associate professor of political science at Providence College.  

On this episode of Beyond Your News Feed, Dr. Bill Hudson is joined by Associate Professor of Communication and Director of PC's new Communication Program Professor Andrea McDonnell. She and Dr. Hudson Talk about the dissolution of the line between “celebrity” and “politician,” the prevalence of gossip as opposed to substantive information, and the role that the internet—particularly social media platforms—have in exacerbating these phenomenon.

Today's guest on Beyond Your News Feed, Professor Casey Stevens, sits down with Dr. Bill Hudson to discuss the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) conducted on April 1st. Stevens, whose expertise lies in environmental politics, discusses the report's contents, its implications for combatting climate change, and the current political conditions as well as scientific findings that illuminate the likeliness of its success.

On this week's episode of Beyond Your News Feed, three Political Science seniors were asked to share their experiences with their capstone research seminars. Two of the seniors in attendance, Malik Alwani and Addison Wakelin, completed their respective seminars—Globalization and Economic Development and Climate Change—last semester. The third student (and podcast co-producer), Sienna Strickland, is currently in the process of completing her seminar on Black and Latinx Politics. We discuss the structure of these capstones, the students' research processes and findings, and the challenges and rewards of taking such an advanced class—as well as share some words of advice for incoming capstone students.

This year Providence College is celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the first class of women students at the college.  Since 1971 when the college became coed, the Political Science department has had many terrific women students and our women graduates have gone on to distinguished careers in a wide variety of professions.  Some have even pleased their political science professors immensely by going on to become political scientists themselves.  This episode, in recognition of PC's Year of the Women, is a conversation with two of our relatively recent graduates who have garnered PH.D. s in Political Science and are now political science teachers and researchers.  We discuss their paths from the Political Science Department at PC to become professional political scientists. Our guests are:  Professor Laura Bucci, PC class of 2010 and Professor Kelly Branham Smith, PC class of 2012.   

Can political philosophy help us understand what ails American Democracy? Host Professor William Hudson explores this question with guest Assistant Professor of Political Science Justin Brophy. We examine the question with special attention to the ancient Greek philosopher Plato and the contemporary American political theorist the late Carey McWilliams – two thinkers who have greatly influenced Fr. Brophy's ideas about democracy.

This episode explores the tension within American conservative thought between Traditional Burkean conservatism and classical liberalism.  Host William Hudson discusses this tension with Providence College Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science Savannah Johnston.  Her recent scholarly work suggests that the “fusion” between these theoretical tendencies worked out in the National Review in the early 1960s may be unraveling.  She argues that the fundamental contradictions between how each theoretical tradition views human nature, the purpose of government, the role of the individual – particularly as a source of morality, and the role of reason in organizing society make an on-going fusion untenable.  Many contemporary conservatives seem to be shedding the classical liberal strand and turning to the more traditional “illiberal” conservatism.

We apologize for the technical problem with the recent upload of this episode. Episode is now ready for your listening enjoyment. It is a good one!Host William Hudson and his guests, Professors Adam Myers and Matt Guardino, take a comprehensive look at American politics about one year after the 2020 election. The discussion encompasses the results of the recent “off-year elections” in Virginia and New Jersey, the Biden agenda in Congress, continued political polarization, and much more.

This episode of Beyond Your News Feed explores the fate of local news. Professors Andrea McDonnell and Matt Guardino of the Providence College Political Science Department join host William Hudson for a conversation about the dire straits of local newspapers and the impact on American democracy.Over the past couple of decades, local newspapers across the country have begun to disappear. Battered by huge revenue losses from declining advertising and circulation, newspaper owners have sought to reduce costs in a variety of ways, including selling newspaper buildings, outsourcing printing and other tasks, but mostly by firing reporters – depriving the paper of the very journalism that makes the paper valuable. This strategy, obviously, has meant newspapers that are thinner, with less news for their readers, and less able to monitor what is happening in the local community. The obvious result is even more declines in circulation and revenues. This decline in local news has affected every city in America and some of its most venerable, prize-winning papers such as the Chicago Tribune, the Philadelphia Enquirer, the Baltimore Sun, and the Providence Journal. Professors McDonnell and Guardino explain why local newspapers are in trouble, what effect this has on democracy and local citizens, and what might be done to restore vibrant local newspapers.

For this episode, the tables are turned on Beyond Your News Feed's normal host, Professor William Hudson.  Guest host Professor Adam Myers interviews Hudson about federal budgetary politics.  Budget issues are very much in the news these days with Democrats internally divided over President Biden's proposals for increased spending on physical and social infrastructure and Republicans, once again, seeking to derail these proposals through refusal to help raise the debt ceiling.  In this conversation, Adams and Hudson try to place the current controversies in the context of conflict over the federal budget going back decades.  They explore how the current moment is informed by the budgetary politics during the Obama administration.  What is different about current budgetary politics and what happened then? 

This episode takes up the topic of Utopia.  What value do dreams of a better world have for understanding politics in the real world?  What impact has utopian thinking had on the evolution of the political world over the past few centuries?   Can imagining utopias provide a way to solve political challenges in our contemporary world?   These and other questions our guest, Professor Mark Jendrysik, addresses in his marvelous new book entitled Utopia.     Mark Jendrysik is Professor of Political Science and Public Administration at the University of North Dakota.  Mark is Providence College political science alum of the class of 1986.    Professor Jendrysik earned his Ph.D. in political theory at the University of North Carolina in 1996.  He has been on the faculty of the University of North Dakota since 1999 and has served as department chair and won numerous awards for his research, teaching, student advising, and service to his university.  He has  published numerous scholarly article in political theory and several books.  His latest, Utopia, was published late last year by Polity Press.  Links to Professor Jendrysik's books:  Utopia: https://politybooks.com/bookdetail/?isbn=9781509534920&subject_id=2    Modern Jeremiahs: Contemporary Visions of American Decline: https://www.amazon.com/Modern-Jeremiahs-Contemporary-Visions-American/dp/0739121928   Explaining the English Revolution: Hobbes and His Contemporaries: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0739121812/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i2  

Providence College Associate Professor of Political Science Ruth Ben-Artzi joins host William Hudson to discuss the formation of a new Israeli government formed last spring.  We discuss the March election (the fourth Israeli election in two years) and how its outcome led the long and complicated process that produced the new coalition government.  This government, under Prime Minister Natali Bennett, consists of eight parties representing diverse ideological points of view and interests.  Professor Ben-Artzi analyzes the challenges facing the new government and discusses the changes for this diverse party coalition to hold together.  We discuss, as well, the fate of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his legal troubles, and the possibility of his return to power.  In addition, we look at other developments in the Middle East, including the return to power of the Taliban in Afghanistan. 

Last week, after twenty years of conflict, the Afghanistan Taliban took effective control of the country.  The rapid collapse of Afghan government forces clearly surprised American officials and has led to the continuing chaotic removal of Afghan refugees, American citizens, citizens of allied Nato countries, and NGO workers.  This episode of Beyond Your News Feed offers some perspective and context for these remarkable developments.  The PC Political Science Department's comparative politics of the Middle East expert and Associate Professor of Political Science Gizem Zencirci joins host William Hudson to provide perspective and expert analysis of the situation in Afghanistan.      

This special edition of Beyond Your News Feed analyzes last week' report from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.  Professor Casey Stevens, PC Political Science Department's environmental politics specialist, joins host William Hudson to discuss the report.  Casey offers his insights into the significance of the report, its implications for the on-going global political dynamics around the warming climate, the Biden administration climate agenda, and the prospects for the planet in light of the reports findings. 

This episode is a conversation with Professor Keith Morton of the Public and Community Service Department about his recent book “Getting Out: Youth Gangs, Violence, and Positive Change” published in 2019 by University of Massachusetts Press.  The book recounts Dr. Morton's experience with an innovative youth program in the Smith Hill neighborhood of Providence Rhode Island aimed at reducing so called “gang violence” in the community.  Morton co-lead the program between 2007 and 2015 along with staff of Providence's Institute for the Study and Practice of Nonviolence.  The book not only recounts Keith's experiences but offers a profound reflection on how we conceptualize the violence of urban youth, the nature of youth gangs, and how a “youth positive” approach can support youth survival and growth despite contact with gang violence.   Professor Morton has been Associate Director and Director of the Feinstein Institute for Public Service at Providence College.  He currently chairs the department of Public and Community Service Studies.  Morton is largely responsible for development of the Feinstein Institute's ties with the Smith Hill neighborhood which adjoins the Providence College campus forging a unique and productive campus- community collaboration that continues to today.  Along with his recent book, Keith has published extensively on service-learning pedagogy, campus-community relations, and non-violence.  He has been recognized with many awards over the course of his career including the National Society for Experiential Education Distinguished Scholar Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016and, quite relevant to today's conversation, the Smith Hill MVP Award of the Smith Hill Community Development Corporation in 2017. 

Listeners will find this a different kind of Beyond Your News Feed episode.  Rather than analyze political events in the news as we usually do, this episode takes a deep dive into the history of the Providence College Political Science Department.  Joining Professor Hudson for this discussion are two retired members of the department: Professors Emeriti Mark Hyde and Robert Trudeau.  Our conversation traces the nearly fifty years we worked together, among a devoted group of colleagues, to teach our students about politics.  Current PC students, our many alums, parents, and our colleagues should be interested in learning how teaching and studying political science evolved over the past several decades.  We had a good time making this podcast and hope listeners will enjoy it too. 

Donald Trump's defeat in last November's election spawned an eruption of press analyzes about the impact of the defeat on the Republican Party.  Pundits have opined endlessly on questions like: What will be the long-term impact of the Trump presidency on the Party? Has Trump completely taken over the Party or will his influence fade with time?  Can the Republican Party bring back the moderate voters who fled because of Trump?  Will “Never Trumpers” reconcile with the party or desert to the Democrats? How will the Party cope with conflicts between the “business” and the “populist” wings of the parties? While Beyond Your News Feed thinks these are good and interesting questions, because we go beyond the dominant press narratives and look at a different question than the one that seems to pre-occupy the main stream press:  What has been and will be the impact of the Trump presidency on the Democratic Party?  Although not as much attention has been paid to this question than those about the Republican Party, it deserves a careful look.  The Trump presidency was both a consequence of and a catalyst for long term shifts in the coalitions of both political parties.  Trump's impact has been and will be felt within the Democratic Party as much of the Republican.   Professors Matt Guardino and Adam Myers of the PC political science department join host William Hudson to examine how the Democratic Party has changed in the era of Trump Articles referred to in conversation: Matt Karp. “The Politics of a Second Gilded Age” https://www.jacobinmag.com/2021/02/the-politics-of-a-second-gilded-age    Dustin Guastella.  “Everyone Hates the Democrats”  https://jacobinmag.com/2021/02/everyone-hates-the-democrats 

In this episode, Providence College Professor of Political Science Ruth Ben-Artzi talks with podcast host Professor William Hudson about the recent Israeli elections and other developments in Middle East politics.  With the fourth election in four years last Tuesday producing little change in the distribution of votes from the previous three, Israel seems looked into a “Groundhog Day” like repetitive electoral cycle.  Professor Ben-Arzi does point out some differences this time, particularly in the centrality of Prime Netanyahu's continuation in office as an election issue for the opposition.  She reviews some possibilities of a coalition forming solely for removing him from office and the prospects for a return to more normal politics.  The fundamental political divisions in Israeli politics, however, could get in the way of that outcome.  We also discuss the impact of the Trump administration on politics in the region, including the “Abraham Accords” and relations with Iran. 

Today Bill Hudson, host of Beyond Your News Feed, interviewed six PC students: Megan Labbe, Sienna Strickland, Cole Dougherty, Carson Giles, Sofia Belen Carrillo, and Dean Williams, about their experiences as first time voters in the 2020 election.  Our conversation probed how they went about making their voting choice, what characteristics of the candidates and issues were most important in their decision, what campaign events – such as the political conventions, debates, rallies, and campaign advertising mattered in the decision, and what media sources they found most valuable as they made up their minds.   We also discussed their conversations and inter-actions with their peers about the election and whether it was possible to have civil discussions across partisan and political differences.  Finally, I asked the students to describe their hopes and fears for the future of American democracy and society.  Listeners will find this podcast full of insight into how a group of thoughtful young people think about our contemporary political situtation.

Professors Adam Myers, Matt Guardino, and Joe Cammarano, all of the PC political science department join host, William Hudson for a post-election analysis of the 2020 election.  The focus of our discussion is the larger meaning of this election for the future of American politics.  What is the significance and long-term implications of the high level of mobilization, shown by the high election turnout, combined with the sharp divide among voters - a nearly equal portion supporting the opposing candidates? What impact will the election make on the ability of our government to address critical problems like the COVID crisis, racial division, growing economic inequality, climate change, and deteriorating infrastructure?  How will the parties react to shifts in voting among key constituencies and new cleavages between groups?  What are the implications of the divided media environment and the explosion of misinformation?  What will be the long-term effects of attempts to de-legitimize the outcome and electoral institutuions?

Professors Adam Myers, Matt Guardino, and Joe Cammarano, all of the PC political science department join host, William Hudson to look at the state of the presidential race seven days out from election day.  We cover a wide  variety of topics including the race in key battleground states, the impact of early voting, potential surprises, and potential for election disruption.  We also look at key Senate races and the prospects for the Democrats to gain a majority.  

In this episode, Professors Abigail Brooks, Director of PCs Women's Studies Program, and Paul Herron, the PC Political Science Department's Supreme Court expert, join Beyond Your News Feed host, William Hudson, to discuss the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's contributions to constitutional law.   The discussion reviews Ginsburg's historic contributions to expanding women's rights in her career as a litigator beginning in the 1970s.  We link these efforts on behalf of women's equality to her own confrontation with the professional barriers women faced in her generation.  These efforts continued after her appointments first to the DC Circuit Appeals Court and then the Supreme Court.  Our conversation reviews her major contributions on the Court in her majority opinions but also in several significant dissenting opinions in cases involving women's employment rights, voting rights, and affirmative action. Ginsburg also became a popular celebrity in her later years, a phenomenon that we also explore. 

On today's episode, I was joined by Professor Adam Myers to discuss the 2020 races for the US Senate.  With more Republican Senate seats at stake in this election, Democrats have a good opportunity to take enough seats from Republican incumbents to gain a Senate majority.  If Joe Biden wins the presidency and, as expected the Democrats maintain their majority in the House of Representatives, we could see unified Democratic government in January.  For this to happen, however, the election has to go the Democrat's way in a number of key Senate races.  In this episode, Myers takes through all the close races and gives his views on how things are likely to go on November 3rd.  We also take some time to discuss the first presidential debate and today's startling news about President Trump's positive COVID-19 test and its implications for the campaign. 

In this episode, Professor Tony Affigne, Professor of Political Science at Providence College takes a deep dive into survey data of Latinos

This summer the United States has experienced a number of severe weather events that seem related to climate warming.  In the West, weeks of drought and high temperatures have created a tinder box for an unprecedented explosion of wildfires.  The hurricane season is heating up and we already have had hurricanes and tropical storms wreaking havoc along the Gulf coast and in Eastern states.  Summer temperatures have been high everywhere combined with unusually high humidity along the East coast.  Even while we continue to cope with the on-going coronavirus pandemic, Beyond Your News Feed examines, in this episode, the other global crisis of our warming planet.  To help us understand how climate change is affecting our planet – ecologically, socially, and politically, Professor Casey Stevens, Providence College Assistant Professor of Political Science joins us for a wide-ranging conversation on these issues.  Professor Stevens is an expert on the international politics of environmental sustainability and gives an international perspective of how the world is coping with this crisis. 

William Hudson, host of Beyond Your News Feed, has invited back PC Professors Matt Guardino and Adam Myers, as promised at the end of the last episode, to bring us up to date on where the 2020 race for the presidency stands after completion of both political conventions.  In this episode, we discuss what happened at both conventions, what issues were emphasized, and the contrasting arguments that were made for their standard bearers' candidacy. We then turn to the incidents of civil unrest and political violence that has dominated much of the news since the conventions and analyze their significance for the presidential race as well as their larger implications for American democracy. 

Host William Hudson is joined by political scientists Adam Myers and Matt Guardino to analyze the shape of the presidential race as of August 18th.  Our conversation took place after the first day of the Democrats virtual convention.  We reflect for a few minutes on how we think the Democrats did in making their case for electing Joe Biden on this first day.  We then discuss Democratic nominee Joe Biden's lead in the current polls and what that suggests about the likely election outcome.  We identify several factors that might produce a  Trump victory despite Biden's current lead, including the Electoral College - how Trump might benefit from shifts in some of the key battleground states he won in 2016 and the impact of what might be a chaotic election process in the midst of the Covid pandemic.  We dissect Biden's pick of Kamala Harris as his running mate and what impact that may have on the election.  Finally, we describe what appears to be the campaign strategies of the Biden and Trump camps and how effective they are likely to be. 

In this episode of Beyond Your News Feed, host Bill Hudson sits down with one of the newly graduated seniors from Providence College, Emily Ascherl, to discuss her honors thesis entitled: From Authoritarian Rule to Democratic Accountability: The Negotiation for Human Rights Trials Following the Proceso Regime. Professor Thea Riofrancos, Emily's thesis advisor, also joins us in this episode to give her thoughts about the process and Emily's contributions to this field of academic study. Emily offers our listeners specific insights into the research process and the conclusions she asserts in her thesis. We are all very excited to have brought a student to Beyond Your News Feed and hope you enjoy listening to her achievements!

In this second installment of Beyond Your News Feed: Virtual Edition, Professor Susan McCarthy joins us to unpack the origins of the virus, COVID-19. Professor McCarthy helps us to trace back the discovery of the virus in Wuhan, China and analyze how the Chinese regime reacted initially. Furthermore, we delve into the details of the regime's response to the virus, the impact of the pandemic on Chinese foreign relations and on Chinese economic projects including the Belt and Road Initiative, and where China stands now on the global stage. From all of us here at Beyond Your News Feed, we hope that you continue to stay healthy during this time. Thank you for your continued support!

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Welcome to Beyond Your News Feed. We regret that the episode you are about to hear has distorted sound quality. Technical issues during recording produced echoes in voices for most of the episode. Despite these sound distortions, we decided to make the episode available because of the quality of the discussion. We have found that raising the listening volume does reduce the distortions somewhat so recommend that you try that to improve what you hear. We are sorry for the poor sound quality but believe that you will find the content of the discussion quite enlightening. Professors Myers and Guardino provide a fascinating analysis of the race for the Democratic nomination. 

In this episode of Beyond Your News Feed, Professor Gizem Zencirci and Professor Ruth Ben-Artzi discuss the details of the killing of top Iranian General Qasem Soleimani that occurred earlier in January. We also discuss the implications of this attack on future U.S. foreign policy and on other nations within the Middle East.

Link to purchase "A Planet to Win: Why We Need a Green New Deal" by Kate Aronoff, Alyssa Battistoni, Daniel Aldana Cohen, and Thea Riofrancoshttps://www.versobooks.com/books/3107-a-planet-to-win

In this episode, we are joined by PC political science professors, Dr. Joseph Cammarano and Dr. Adam Myers, to discuss the process of impeachment. We explore what impeachment means, what the U.S. Constitution says about impeachment, and what the current impeachment process of President Donald Trump means for the nation.