Dialectica Radio

This week on Dialectica: Producer/Host Josh Haney takes you inside today's biggest debate in education politics: value-added teacher evaluations. Guests include education policy expert Cynthia Dunbar, an Associate Professor at the University of Texas at Austin, and Ms. Lesa Haney, a classroom evaluator, former teacher, and yes, Josh's mom.Download the show by right-clicking here (and select Save Link/Target As...) or use the player below:

Producer/Host C.P. Smith and Co-Host David Smith explore the present case and future possibilities for health care reform.Download the show by right-clicking here (and select Save Link/Target As...) or use the player below:

This week on Dialectica: Producer/Host Sachin Shah examines the role of state water policy in managing droughts and other water needs of Texans. Guests include Bob Joseph, Director of the U.S. Geological Survey Texas Water Science Center, Dr. Bill Hutchison, Director of the Groundwater Resources Division of the Texas Water Development Board.Download the show by right-clicking here (and select Save Link/Target As...) or use the player below:

This week on Dialectica: Producer/Host Margarita Jimenez examines the effect of the economic downturn on those living in poverty in the Austin area. Interview subjects include: Karen Ranus, Director of Outreach Services at St. Austin Catholic Parish; Sharon Bieser, Executive Director of Vincare Services of Austin; and Lacey Strake, from the Austin chapter of Brake the Cycle of Poverty.Download the show by right-clicking here (and select Save Link/Target As...) or use the player below:

This week on Dialectica: Producer C. P. Smith and host Selina Smith present the second in a two-part series on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Part II reviews the changes in NATO since the demise of the Soviet Union as well as the challenges NATO must manage to remain a relevant international defense organization.Special guests:Colonel Ron Sullivan, USAF (Ret), Business Manager for SAICProfessor Thomas Johnson, Research Professor, Naval Postgraduate School and Director of Culture and Conflict Studies, Department of National Security Affairs.Download the show by right-clicking here (and select Save Link/Target As...) or use the player below:

This week on Dialectica: Producer C. P. Smith and host Selina Smith present the first in a two-part series on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Part I reviews NATO's historical context as well as the challenges NATO is facing.Download the show by right-clicking here (and select Save Link/Target As...) or use the player below:

This week on Dialectica: Producer/Host James Tanner presents the second in a two-part series on the history and relevance of quantitative finance. Part II explores how attempts by quantitative experts to address key financial problems – random price movement and risk correlation – eventually led to the widespread adoption of the Gaussian Copula Formula in finance, which in turn contributed to the current economic crisis.Download the show by right-clicking here (and select Save Link/Target As...) or use the player below:

This week on Dialectica: Producer/Host James Tanner presents the first in a two-part series on the history and relevance of quantitative finance. Part I explores how statistical methods found their way from the halls of government to the casino and finally to Wall Street, culminating in the rise and fall of the massive hedge fund Long Term Capital Management.Download the show by right-clicking here (and select Save Link/Target As...) or use the player below:

Tonight on Dialectica: Members of Citizens for Local and State Service (or C.L.A.S.S.) discuss the upcoming mayoral debate, organized by C.L.A.S.S. and televised on KXAN on April 22, 2009. Producer Rebecca Takahashi and co-hosts Kate Mason and Erin Boeke Burke are joined by David Kobeirowski, an Austin community activist, host of "Truth Austin" and the weekly forum "Dave Has Issues", as well as KOOP Radio programs "Neighborly Conversations" and "Texas Politics Today." C.L.A.S.S. is a student-run organization at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, whose mission is to promote and engage policy students in local politics and governance. Download the show by right-clicking here (and select Save Link/Target As...) or use the player below:

Host/Co-Producer Axel Gerdau introduces the work of the Energy Technology Transition Project through interviews with project co-instructor, LBJ professor, and Interim Dean of the Jackson School of Geosciences Dr. Charles G. Groat, and fellow project and LBJ colleagues James Ovelmen, Melissa Lott and Kymberlie Koch, outlining their report and its recommendations.Download the show by right-clicking here (and select Save Link/Target As...) or use the player below:

Host/Producer Jon Rogers examines the intersection between steroids and public policy in the wake of the Alex Rodriguez scandal. Interview subjects include: Chris Yianilos, former Deputy Chief of Staff, Legislative Director, and Legislative Counsel to U. S. Senator John Warner; and Gilbert Garza, the Executive Director of Athletics for the San Antonio Independent School District and President-Elect of the Texas High School Athletic Directors Association.Download the show by right-clicking here (and select Save Link/Target As...) or use the player below:

This week on Dialectica: Host/Co-Producer Jason Fialkoff provides updates on Austin's bicycling issues aided by a round table representing the City, industry, local nonprofits, and academia. Does the Yellow Bike Project have a new home? Will the City build a new bicycle boulevard? What's UT planning for Speedway? Tune in this week as City Engineer and local volunteer Nathan Wilkes, former Kittelson Associates Planner Erin Ferguson, and UT Engineer Matt Jordan (formerly of Portland) chime in on Austin's bicycling issues.Download the show by right-clicking here (and select Save Link/Target As...) or use the player below:

This week on Dialectica: Host/Co-Producer Nadia Bobb and Co-Producer Desiree Ledet reflect on the life and legacy of Barbara Jordan and preview the upcoming 13th Annual Barbara Jordan Forum on Public Policy. Some of Prof. Jordan's finest and most powerful oratorical moments are presented, including portions of her famous keynote speeches at the 1976 and 1992 Democratic National Conventions, as well as her statements at the Nixon impeachment and Robert Bork Supreme Court nomination hearings.Download the show by right-clicking here (and select Save Link/Target As...) or use the player below:

This week on Dialectica: Host/Producer James Tanner investigates the clash of economic theories underlying the politics of the fiscal stimulus package in Washington. Excerpts of audio commentary from Milton Friedman, Paul Krugman, and Peter Schiff are featured. Download the show by right-clicking here (and select Save Link/Target As...) or use the player below:

This week on Dialectica: Host/Co-Producer Sanjeet Deka and Co-Producer C. P. Smith examine the ramifications of the closing of the detention facilities at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay. Interview subjects include Prof. Bobby Chesney, expert in national security law and a visiting professor at the University of Texas at Austin, and the show also features audio clips of several other expert views.Download the show by right-clicking here (and select Save Link/Target As...) or use the player below:

This week on Dialectica: Ed McGaa (aka Eagle Man) answers questions from his son and LBJ student Kyle McGaa about the history and spirituality of the Oglala Lakota tribe of the Sioux. Mr. McGaa is a prolific author (including Mother Earth Spirituality, now in its 41st printing with HarperCollins) and has been a renown environmental and religious freedom activist since the early 1970’s.Download the show by right-clicking here (and select Save Link/Target As...) or use the player below:

Host Sean Reyna interviews members of a class project to create maps and other datasets describing "informal settlements" in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.Download the show by right-clicking here (and select Save Link/Target As...) or use the player below:

This week on Dialectica: Sustainable Food Systems. Karen Banks and the Sustainability Work Group discuss sustainable food systems and sustainable agriculture. Joy Casnovsky from the Sustainable Food Center is our guest.Download the show by right-clicking here (and select Save Link/Target As...) or use the player below: