Podcast appearances and mentions of fred dews

The economy is one of the quadrennial top issues for American voters, and related to economic performance are concerns about the national debt, taxes, and government spending, especially on popular entitlements like Social Security and Medicare. On this episode, Ben Harris, vice president and director of Economic Studies at Brookings, talks with host Fred Dews about how these issues are seen by American voters during election season and beyond. Show notes and transcript: https://www.brookings.edu/articles/government-spending-debt-and-taxes-in-the-2024-election/ Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple or Google podcasts, or on Spotify. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu.

Story: “After the Fact” fan favorites continue in August with our second selection. This week, Fred Dews, host of “Brookings Cafeteria,” chose our episode on the plight of endangered sharks and some of their unlikely champions (Episode 32). South African Paralympian Achmat Hassiem and Pew’s Debbie Salamone were attacked by sharks but now are advocates for their conservation.

In this episode, Brahima Sangafowa Coulibaly, senior fellow and director of the Africa Growth Initiative at Brookings, and Lemma Senbet, William E. Mayer chair professor of finance at the University of Maryland, explain why national debts in sub-Saharan Africa have risen in recent years, the challenges of sustainably financing economic development, and the role of multilateral development banks in solving Africa's massive infrastructure gap.  Full show notes: https://brook.gs/2UozLU9 This is the final episode of the Intersections podcast. Thanks to audio producer Gaston Reboredo, Chris McKenna, Brennan Hoban, Fred Dews, and Camilo Ramirez for all their support. Send feedback email to intersections@brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. Intersections is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

In this episode, Brookings Vice President Darrell West and Senior Fellow Camille Busette discuss themes from West's new book, "Divided Politics, Divided Nation: Hyperconflict in the Trump era," including the economic, geographic, racial, and technological factors that have exacerbated U.S. political polarization to its current breaking point, and what's needed to build a healthier democracy. West and Busette also speculated how these pressures may affect the 2020 presidential race. Full show notes: https://brook.gs/2YNXP67  With thanks to audio producer Gaston Reboredo, Chris McKenna, Brennan Hoban, Fred Dews, and Camilo Ramirez for additional support. Send feedback email to intersections@brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. Intersections is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

In this episode, Angela Stent and Keir Giles, authors of “Putin’s World: Russia Against the West and with the Rest” and “Moscow Rules: What Drives Russia to Confront the West” examine the history of Russia's national identity and how the U.S. fundamentally misunderstands Russia's view of itself in conflict with the West. Full show notes: https://brook.gs/2Jsi99B With thanks to audio producer Gaston Reboredo, Chris McKenna, Brennan Hoban, Fred Dews, Camilo Ramirez, and intern Quinn Lukas for additional support. Send feedback email to intersections@brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. Intersections is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.  

The Task Force on Extremism in Fragile States recently released its recommendations, calling for a new strategy to prevent violent extremism from developing in fragile states. Brookings Senior Fellow George Ingram and President of the U.S. Institute of Peace Nancy Lindborg explain why the U.S. needs to change its priorities from defeating terrorists militarily and focus on addressing the economic, social, and political weaknesses in fragile states which lead to the rise of extremist groups. Full show notes: https://brook.gs/2TgxOxk  With thanks to audio producer Gaston Reboredo, Chris McKenna, Brennan Hoban, Fred Dews, Camilo Ramirez, and intern Quinn Lukas for additional support. Send feedback email to intersections@brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. Intersections is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

In this episode, David M. Rubenstein Fellows Andre Perry and Jenny Schuetz examine past policies and current attitudes that have devalued homes and business in majority-black neighborhoods and the opportunities to be gained by building on the assets in majority-black places. Full show notes: https://brook.gs/2IRBHnQ  With thanks to audio producer Gaston Reboredo, Chris McKenna, Brennan Hoban, Fred Dews, Camilo Ramirez, and intern Quinn Lukas for additional support. Send feedback email to intersections@brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter.

In this episode, former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, founder of the Global Institute for Women's Leadership and distinguished fellow with the Center for Universal Education (CUE), and CUE Fellow Christina Kwauk discuss the current state of gender equality in leadership roles, the pipeline from quality education for girls to increased opportunities for women in leadership, and the expanding the evidence on what works to challenge gender stereotypes.  Full show notes available here: https://brook.gs/2EMcxDf  With thanks to audio producer Gaston Reboredo, Chris McKenna, Brennan Hoban, Fred Dews, Camilo Ramirez, and intern Tim Madden for additional support. Send feedback email to intersections@brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. Intersections is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

In this episode, Todd Stern, senior fellow and former special envoy for climate change in the Obama administration, and David Victor, co-chair of the Cross-Brookings Initiative on Energy and Climate, discuss the key issues at stake at the COP 24 negotiations in Poland, the absence of U.S. federal leadership on climate, and the state of U.S.-China cooperation on climate and energy priorities. Show notes: https://brook.gs/2Euizt5  With thanks to audio producer Gaston Reboredo, Chris McKenna, Brennan Hoban, Fred Dews, and Camilo Ramirez for additional support. Send feedback email to intersections@brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. Intersections is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

In between spikes of violence, the people of the Gaza Strip live in a state of perpetual crisis—a man-made humanitarian disaster of severe urban crowding, staggering unemployment, and a dire scarcity of basic services, including electricity, water, and sewage treatment. In this episode, CNAS Middle East Security Program Director Ilan Goldenberg, Brookings Center for Middle East Peace Director Natan Sachs, and Brookings Visiting Fellow Hady Amr lay out the recommendations of high-level task force for changing U.S. policy toward Gaza to help bring an end to Gaza's continued state of crisis. Show notes: https://brook.gs/2FJowUo  With thanks to audio producer Gaston Reboredo, Chris McKenna, Brennan Hoban, Fred Dews, Camilo Ramirez, and interns Churon Bernier and Tim Madden for additional support. Send feedback email to intersections@brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. Intersections is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

Brookings Fellows Martha Ross and Elizabeth Mann Levesque discuss the important role that community colleges play in putting young adults on a pathway to higher-quality jobs and other strategies for improving economic outcomes for youth from lower-income and disadvantaged backgrounds. Full show notes available here: https://brook.gs/2Dm3AQn  With thanks to audio producer Gaston Reboredo, Chris McKenna, Brennan Hoban, Fred Dews, Camilo Ramirez, and interns Churon Bernier and Tim Madden for additional support. Send feedback email to intersections@brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. Intersections is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.  

In a conversation with Natan Sachs, fellow and director of the Center on Middle East Policy, Distinguished Fellow Salam Fayyad, former prime minister and finance minister of the Palestinian Authority, and Visiting Fellow Jeffrey Feltman, former U.N. under-secretary-general for political affairs, assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, and career foreign service officer throughout the Middle East and North Africa, reflect on their days working together in Israel and Palestine in the 1990s and early 2000s. In addition to looking back, Fayyad and Feltman examine the current political environments inside the US, Palestine, and Israel, and prospects for the future of peace. Full show notes available here: https://brook.gs/2AqiNOh  With thanks to audio producer Gaston Reboredo, Chris McKenna, Brennan Hoban, Fred Dews and Camilo Ramirez for additional support. Send feedback email to intersections@brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. Intersections is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

In this episode, Bradley Hardy, associate professor in the Department of Public Administration and Policy at American University and nonresident senior fellow in Economic Studies at Brookings, and Frederick Wherry, professor of sociology at Princeton University, explain how some economic policies have disproportionate impacts on black communities, and how that has to be understood to design better policies to combat regional economic inequality. Full show notes available here: https://brook.gs/2NzIqzH  With thanks to audio producer Gaston Reboredo, Chris McKenna, Brennan Hoban, Fred Dews and Camilo Ramirez for additional support. Send feedback email to intersections@brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. Intersections is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

In this episode, Dhruva Jaishankar, fellow in Foreign Policy at Brookings India, and Rush Doshi, post-doctoral fellow in Foreign Policy at Brookings, discuss the balance of power across the Indo-Pacific as China's influence grows and India seeks to increase economic connectivity and strengthen security relationships. Full show notes available here: https://brook.gs/2OVQP25  With thanks to audio producer Gaston Reboredo, Chris McKenna, Brennan Hoban, Fred Dews and Camilo Ramirez for additional support. Send feedback email to intersections@brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. Intersections is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

In this episode, Isabel Sawhill, Brookings senior fellow and author of  "The Forgotten Americans: An Economic Agenda for a Divided Nation," and Andrew Yarrow, senior fellow at the Progressive Policy Institute and author of "Man Out: Men on The Sidelines of American Life" look at two different groups of Americans forgotten by policymakers or sidelined from the U.S. economy and society.  Sawhill and Yarrow examine the repercussions of growing disenfranchisement and skepticism among significant segments of the voting public, and offer policies to meet the needs of the working class and reengage men who find themselves on the margins of society. Full show notes here: https://brook.gs/2NJgbms  With thanks to audio producer Gaston Reboredo, Chris McKenna, Brennan Hoban, Fred Dews and Camilo Ramirez for additional support. Send feedback email to intersections@brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. Intersections is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

In this episode, Brookings experts David Dollar, senior fellow with the John L. Thornton China Center, and Joseph Parilla, fellow in the Metropolitan Policy Program, examine what effect the trade war has had on the U.S. and Chinese economies–and workers–so far. They explain why trade wars don’t actually reduce the trade deficit, which other countries might benefit, and what the prospects are for resolution between the U.S. and China. Full show notes available here: https://brook.gs/2PgOE8N  With thanks to audio producer Gaston Reboredo, Chris McKenna, Brennan Hoban, Fred Dews and Camilo Ramirez for additional support. Send feedback email to intersections@brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. Intersections is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

In this episode, Nonresident Fellow Witney Schneidman and David M. Rubinstein Fellow Landry Signé discuss how Africa's Continental Free Trade Agreement will transform trade across the continent, accelerate industrialization and economic development, and what it means for future commercial relations with the U.S., EU, and other trading partners. Full show notes available here: https://brook.gs/2ODyaav  With thanks to audio producer Gaston Reboredo, Chris McKenna, Brennan Hoban, Fred Dews and Camilo Ramirez for additional support. Send feedback email to intersections@brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. Intersections is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

In this episode, Robert Kagan, author of the forthcoming "The Jungle Grows Back: America and Our Imperiled World," and Thomas Wright, author of "All Measure Short of War: The Contest for the 21st Century and the Future of American Power," discuss with guest host Will Moreland how the success of the post-World War II international order left it vulnerable to internal complacency and external pressure from authoritarian regimes. They explain how at the same time, Trump's longstanding disdain for global commitments finally found audience with an American public who have forgotten why the U.S. originally engaged in the system of international alliances and institutions designed to defuse the great power conflicts that led to two world wars.  Full show notes: https://brook.gs/2O3eIUe  With thanks to audio producer Gaston Reboredo, Chris McKenna, Brennan Hoban, and Fred Dews for additional support. Send feedback email to intersections@brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. Intersections is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

In this episode of Intersections, Vanessa Williamson and Elizabeth Mann Levesque review the Supreme Court's ruling on Janus v. AFSCME, which bars public-sector unions from collecting "fair share" or "agency" fees from non-union members to offset collective bargaining costs. Levesque and Williamson put the Janus case in the context of "right-to-work" legislation, the decline of private-sector unions, and the recent wave of teachers' strikes to assess how the decision will affect public-sector unions in the short term and future of unions' economic and political power more broadly.  Full show notes: https://brook.gs/2Jz61OQ  With thanks to audio producer Gaston Reboredo, Chris McKenna, Brennan Hoban, and Fred Dews for additional support. Send feedback email to intersections@brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. Intersections is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

In this episode, Brookings Fellow Adie Tomer, CityLab's Tanvi Misra, and Route Fifty's Mitch Herckis revisit the themes of Infrastructure Week with an examination of historical patterns of urban and suburban planning that separated communities and discuss infrastructure as system for stitching communities together and creating access to opportunity.  Show notes: https://www.brookings.edu/podcast-episode/how-to-make-infrastructure-work-for-people  With thanks to audio producer Gaston Reboredo, Chris McKenna, Brennan Hoban, and Fred Dews for additional support. Send feedback email to intersections@brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. Intersections is part of the Brookings Podcast Network

In this episode, Tamara Cofman Wittes, senior fellow with the Center for Middle East Policy at Brookings, and Steven Heydemann, nonresident senior fellow at Brookings and Janet Wright Ketcham ’53 Chair of Middle East Studies at Smith College, break down the difficult questions of how and when external actors should engage in reconstruction efforts in Syria without legitimizing the repressive regime of Bashar al-Assad. Show notes: https://www.brookings.edu/podcast-episode/the-politics-of-reconstruction-in-syria/  With thanks to audio producer Gaston Reboredo, Chris McKenna, Brennan Hoban, and Fred Dews for additional support. Send feedback email to intersections@brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. Intersections is part of the Brookings Podcast Network

In this episode, Lauren Bauer, post-doctoral fellow in Economic Studies and the Hamilton Project at Brookings, and Anne Wicks, director of education reform at the George W. Bush Institute, explain how states are developing new measures of school quality and student success as required under the Every Student Succeeds Act. Bauer and Wicks also detail how using two specific measures - chronic absenteeism and college and career readiness - help teachers and administrators understand and improve students' education.  Full show notes available here: https://brook.gs/2J2AKaN  With thanks to audio producer Gaston Reboredo, Chris McKenna, Brennan Hoban, and Fred Dews for additional support. Send feedback email to intersections@brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. Intersections is part of the Brookings Podcast Network

On May 8, President Trump announced that the United States will reimpose sanctions on Iran, withdrawing the country from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). In this episode of Intersections, Suzanne Maloney, senior fellow and deputy director of Foreign Policy, and Robert Einhorn, senior fellow in the Arms Control and Non-Proliferation Initiative, explain what this means for the continuation of the Iran deal, how sanctions will affect Iran's economy, and domestic political currents within Iran. Full show notes: https://brook.gs/2KPVpx8  Intersections is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.  With thanks to audio producer Gaston Reboredo, Chris McKenna, Brennan Hoban, and Fred Dews for additional support. Send feedback email to intersections@brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter.

Witney Schneidman and Yun Sun examine the shape of U.S. and Chinese trade and investment in Africa, Africa's growing regional economic power, and how both China and the U.S. weigh in on political as well as economic development in African countries.  Full show notes available here: https://brook.gs/2v3TL7h  With thanks to audio producer Gaston Reboredo, Chris McKenna, Brennan Hoban, and Fred Dews for additional support. Send feedback to intersections@brookings.edu. Follow us on Twitter @policypodcasts. 

In this episode, Tanvi Madan, fellow and director of the India Project, guest-hosted a conversation between Distinguished Fellow Shivshankar Menon and Nonresident Fellow Joshua White on how China's deepening economic investments across South and Southeast Asia and India's own expanding presence are affecting the regional balance of economic and political cooperation and competition.  Full show notes available here: https://brook.gs/2pL8IWO With thanks to audio producer Gaston Reboredo, Chris McKenna, Brennan Hoban, and Fred Dews for additional support. Send feedback to intersections@brookings.edu. Follow us on Twitter @policypodcasts. 

In this episode, Jay Shambaugh and Jared Bernstein discuss the decades-long trend of real wage stagnation and policy solutions for increasing productivity, strengthening wage growth, and ensuring that national economic growth is reflected in the living standards of all American workers. Full show notes available here: https://www.brookings.edu/podcast-episode/raising-wages-and-strengthening-economic-progress-for-american-workers  With thanks to audio producer Gaston Reboredo, Chris McKenna, Brennan Hoban, and Fred Dews for additional support.  Intersections is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Send feedback email to intersections@brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter.

For International Women’s Day, we’re showcasing the work of the Echidna Global Scholars – leaders from NGOs and academia who work to improve learning opportunities and outcomes for girls in the developing world. In this episode, Dasmine Kennedy, Armene Modi, Maria Cristina Osorio, and Damaris Parsitau talk about empowering some of the most marginalized girls in Jamaica, India, Mexico, and Kenya, and engaging their communities to invest in girls for wider social and systemic change. Full show notes are available here: https://www.brookings.edu/podcast-episode/the-women-working-to-improve-girls-education  Some of the transition music heard in this episode was composed by Steven Lee and Gastón Reboredo III. With thanks to audio producer Gaston Reboredo, Chris McKenna, Brennan Hoban, and Fred Dews for additional support.  Intersections is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Send feedback email to intersections@brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter.

In this episode, Camille Busette, senior fellow and director of the Race, Prosperity and Inclusion Initiative at Brookings, and Richard Reeves, senior fellow and co-director of the Center on Children and Families at Brookings, discuss the changing racial demographics of the U.S. middle class, political and cultural assumptions about the middle class, and what effect the increasing racial pluralism of the middle class may have on economic policy.   With thanks to audio producer Gaston Reboredo, Chris McKenna, Brennan Hoban, and Fred Dews for additional support.  Intersections is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Send feedback email to intersections@brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter.

In this episode, Stanford Professor Raj Chetty explains his new research that examines who becomes an inventor in America and who gets left behind, and discusses with Brookings expert Richard Reeves how innovation isn't a zero-sum game, and how inequality stifles American innovation. Full show notes: https://www.brookings.edu/podcast-episode/americas-lost-einsteins-the-importance-of-exposing-children-to-innovation   With thanks to audio producer Gaston Reboredo, Chris McKenna, Brennan Hoban, and Fred Dews for additional support. Intersections is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Follow us on Twitter @policypodcasts

Shadi Hamid, senior fellow in the Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World in the Center for Middle East Policy, discusses his new co-authored paper "Islamism After the Arab Spring: Between the Islamic State and the Nation State." He explains what "Islamism" means and how it has evolved over the past few years. Also in this episode, Dany Bahar, a fellow in the Global Economy and Development program, explains how immigrants strengthen our country.  Finally, Fred Dews reviews the highlights of what experts have said in the previous week regarding the Trump administration in our new “First 100 Days” segment. This week:a possible rise in terrorism due to the "Muslim ban," repealing or repairing the ACA, and a shift in the U.S.-Mexico relationship.  Thanks to audio producer Gaston Reboredo and producer Vanessa Sauter, and also thanks for additional support from Eric Abalahin, Jessica Pavone, Nawal Atallah, Kelly Russo, and Rebecca Viser. Follow us and tweet us at  on Twitter. BCP is part of the .

John Hudak, deputy director of the Center for Effective Public Management and senior fellow in Governance Studies, discusses why marijuana is an important public policy issue and how its image is changing, which is the focus of his new book, "Marijuana: A Short History." Also in this episode, David Wessel, senior fellow in Economic Studies and director of the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy, provides his regular economic update. Finally, Fred Dews reviews the highlights of what Brookings experts have said in the previous week regarding the Trump administration in our new “First 100 Days” segment. This week: the "Muslim ban," Trump's trade stance, moving the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and the attack on sanctuary cities.  Thanks to audio producer Gaston Reboredo and producer Vanessa Sauter, and also thanks for additional support from Eric Abalahin, Jessica Pavone, Nawal Atallah, Kelly Russo, and Rebecca Viser. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts  or on , send feedback email to , and follow us and tweet us at  on Twitter. BCP is part of the .

Amadou Sy, senior fellow and director of the Africa Growth Initiative, and Witney Schneidman, nonresident senior fellow at Brookings and senior international advisor for Africa at Covington & Burling LLP, examine the top priorities for Africa in 2017 set forth by the Africa Growth Initiative’s annual Foresight Report. Full show notes available here: http://brook.gs/2jUHiIS With thanks to audio producer Gaston Reboredo and producer Vanessa Sauter, and also thanks for additional support from Kelly Russo, Fred Dews, and Richard Fawal. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts here or on iTunes, send feedback email to intersections@brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. Intersections is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

Ted Gayer, vice president and director of Economic Studies and the Joseph A. Pechman Senior Fellow, looks at the top economic issues in the upcoming year. Tune in to hear his views on the performance of the U.S. economy and job markets, as well as the trends he sees with the new administration. Also in this podcast: Joseph Kane, senior research analyst and associate fellow at the Metropolitan Policy Program, discusses the increasing water infrastructure challenges we face today, and what action cities need to take to tackle their water challenges in our regular "Metro Lens" segment. Finally, Fred Dews reviews the highlights of what experts have said in the previous week regarding the Trump administration in our new "First 100 Days" segment. This week: withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, security relations with China, and our possible transition into a new world order. Thanks to audio producer Gaston Reboredo and producer Vanessa Sauter, and also thanks for additional support from Eric Abalahin, Jessica Pavone, Nawal Atallah, Kelly Russo, and Rebecca Viser. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts  or on , send feedback email to , and follow us and tweet us at  on Twitter. BCP is part of the .

In this episode of Intersections, Molly Reynolds, a fellow with Governance Studies, and Thomas Wright, a fellow and director of the Project on International Order and Strategy, talk about President Obama’s successes and failures in public policy, and what legacy he leaves behind. With thanks to audio producer Gaston Reboredo and producer Vanessa Sauter, and also thanks for additional support from Kelly Russo, Fred Dews, and Richard Fawal. Questions? Comments? Send feedback to intersections@brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. Intersections is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

Brookings experts Bruce Jones and David Victor forecast the future of U.S. energy and climate policies under the Trump administration, the role of state-level actors and energy markets, and what happens if the U.S. walks away from the Paris agreement. With thanks to audio producer Gaston Reboredo, Vanessa Sauter, Fred Dews, and Richard Fawal.  Full show notes are available here: http://brook.gs/2ja53A6  Questions? Comments? Contact us at intersections@brookings.edu, or follow and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. Intersections is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

Shibley Telhami, the Anwar Sadat chair for peace and development at the University of Maryland and nonresident senior fellow at Brookings, discusses with Sarah Yerkes the increasing polarization of American views toward Israel and Palestine and the future of U.S. policy in the broader Middle East. With thanks to audio producer Gaston Reboredo, Vanessa Sauter, Basseem Maleki, Fred Dews, and Richard Fawal. Full show notes are available here:  https://www.brookings.edu/podcast-episode/us-politics-and-the-middle-east/ Questions? Comments? Contact us at intersections@brookings.edu, or follow and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. Intersections is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

Richard Feinberg, nonresident senior fellow with the Brookings Latin America Initiative, and Ted Piccone, senior fellow in the Latin America Initiative, discuss the passing of Fidel Castro, U.S.-Cuba relations under a Trump presidency, and how tourism can be the driver of a new Cuban economy. Full show notes available here: http://brook.gs/2gKXKw4 Thanks to audio producer Gaston Reboredo, Vanessa Sauter, Basseem Maleki, Fred Dews, and Richard Fawal. Questions? Comments? Send feedback to intersections@brookings.edu.  Intersections is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

Amy Liu, vice president and director of the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings, talks with the former mayors of Philadelphia and Mesa, Arizona, Michael Nutter and Scott Smith, now both nonresident senior fellows at Brookings, about what motivated voters in their former constituencies and how a Trump presidency will affect issues of trade, immigration, and economic opportunity. Full show notes available here: http://brook.gs/2fLDTZX  Thanks to audio producer Gaston Reboredo, Vanessa Sauter, Basseem Maleki, Fred Dews, and Richard Fawal. Questions? Comments? Send feedback to intersections@brookings.edu.  Intersections is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.  

Kemal Derviş, vice president and director of the Global Economy and Development program, and Bruce Katz, inaugural Centennial Scholar, examine the multidisciplinary, adaptive approach cities take to tackling public policy challenges, and other lessons for governance in the 21st century. With thanks to audio producer Gaston Reboredo, Vanessa Sauter, Basseem Maleki, Fred Dews, and Richard Fawal. Full show notes available here: http://brook.gs/2fyfMiY Questions? Comments? Email us at intersections@brookings.edu and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. Intersections is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Please note: Intersections will be taking a break for the Thanksgiving holiday but will return on November 30.

Diane Schanzenbach, senior fellow in Economic Studies and director of The Hamilton Project, and Grover “Russ” Whitehurst, senior fellow with the Center on Children and Families, discuss the importance of soft skills and the best policies and practices for teaching noncognitive skills to children. With thanks to audio producer Gaston Reboredo, Vanessa Sauter, Basseem Maleki, Fred Dews, and Richard Fawal. Full show notes available here: http://brook.gs/2dWG27I Questions? Comments? Email us at intersections@brookings.edu Intersections is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

Guest interviewer Tanvi Madan, fellow and director of the India Project in Foreign Policy, Ambassador Shivshankar Menon, distinguished fellow in Foreign Policy, and Dhruva Jaishankar, fellow in Foreign Policy at Brookings India, examine India's foreign policy, particularly toward the U.S. and China, as well as its counter-terrorism approach in the wake of a cross-border attack on an Indian military position in Kashmir. With thanks to audio producer Gaston Reboredo, Vanessa Sauter, Basseem Maleki, Fred Dews, and Richard Fawal. Find the full show notes here: http://brook.gs/2dLmoL1 Questions? Comments? Email us at intersections@brookings.edu.

Alice Rivlin, senior fellow in Economic Studies and the Center for Health Policy, and William Galston, senior fellow in Governance Studies, discuss the importance of bipartisanship in the United States and how current party divisions are detrimental to the economy. With thanks to audio producer Gaston Reboredo, Vanessa Sauter, Basseem Maleki, Fred Dews, and Richard Fawal. Full show notes available here: http://brook.gs/2cCAOyD  Questions? Comments? Email us at intersections@brookings.edu.  

In this episode of "Intersections," Richard Bush, senior fellow in Foreign Policy and the John L. Thornton China Center and director of the Center for East Asia Policy Studies (CEAP), and Cheng Li, senior fellow in Foreign Policy and director of the John L. Thornton China Center, discuss the recent elections in Hong Kong, the independence movement, and China’s one country, two systems governance policy. With thanks to audio engineer Mark Hoelscher, Vanessa Sauter, Basseem Maleki, Fred Dews, and Richard Fawal. Questions? Comments? Email us at intersections@brookings.edu.  

Adie Tomer, fellow in the Metropolitan Policy Program, and Jeff Gutman, senior fellow in Global Economy and Development, discuss how to transform transportation policy with a focus on accessibility and how cities around the world are grappling with improving infrastructure and increasing access for people of all incomes.  Full show notes: https://www.brookings.edu/podcast-episode/inclusive-cities-transportation-and-accessibility/ Thanks to audio engineer Mark Hoelscher, Vanessa Sauter, Fred Dews, and Richard Fawal. Questions? Comments? Email us at intersections@brookings.edu.

In this episode of “Intersections,” Kemal Kirişci, TÜSİAD senior fellow and director of the Center on the United States and Europe's Turkey Project, and Ted Piccone, senior fellow in the Project on International Order and Strategy in the Foreign Policy program, examine Turkey’s history of democracy and military coups, its relationship with the Middle East and the European Union, and the Gülenist movement’s relationship with the Turkish government. They also discuss the future development of the country’s governance under Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. For the full show notes, visit: https://www.brookings.edu/podcast-episode/democracy-in-turkey-before-and-after-the-coup/ With thanks to audio engineer Mark Hoelscher, Carisa Nietsche, Sara Abdel-Rahim, Fred Dews and Richard Fawal. Questions? Comments? Email us at intersections@brookings.edu 

In this episode of “Intersections,” Harold Trinkunas, senior fellow and director of the Latin America Initiative, and Dany Bahar, fellow in Global Economy and Development, discuss Venezuela’s political and economic crisis, and how it is the result not just of dropping oil prices, but of years of economic mismanagement.    For our full show notes, go to: http://www.brookings.edu/podcasts/2016/07/venezuela With thanks to audio engineer and producer Zack Kulzer, Mark Hoelscher, Carisa Nietsche, Sara Abdel-Rahim, Jacob Saliba, Fred Dews and Richard Fawal. Questions? Comments? Email us at intersections@brookings.edu 

"At the end of the day, we need to remember that Daesh is more a product of the civil wars than it is a cause of them. And the way that we’re behaving is we’re treating it as the cause.  And the problem is that in places like Syria, in Iraq, potentially in Libya, we are mounting these military campaigns to destroy Daesh and we’re not doing anything about the underlying civil wars.  And the real danger there is—we have a brilliant military and they may very well succeed in destroying Daesh—but if we haven’t dealt with the underlying civil wars, we’ll have Son of Daesh a year later." – Ken Pollack “Part of the problem is how we want the U.S. to be more engaged and more involved and what that requires in practice. We have to be honest about a different kind of American role in the Middle East. It means committing considerable economic and political resources to this region of the world that a lot of Americans are quite frankly sick of… There is this aspect of nation-building that is in part what we have to do in the Middle East, help these countries rebuild, but we can’t do that on the cheap. We can’t do that with this relatively hands off approach.” – Shadi Hamid In this episode of “Intersections,” Kenneth Pollack, senior fellow in the Center for Middle East Policy and Shadi Hamid, senior fellow in the Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World in the Center for Middle East Policy discuss the current state of upheaval in the Middle East, the Arab Spring, and the political durability of Islamist movements in the region. They also explain their ideas on how and why the United States should change its approach to the Middle East and areas of potential improvement for U.S. foreign policy in the region.  Show Notes Islamic Exceptionalism: How the Struggle Over Islam Is Reshaping the World Fight or flight: America’s choice in the Middle East Security and public order Islamists on Islamism today Temptations of Power: Islamists & Illiberal Democracy in a New Middle East Ending the Middle East’s civil wars A Rage for Order: The Middle East in turmoil, from Tahrir Square to ISIS Building a better Syrian opposition army: How and why With thanks to audio engineer and producer Zack Kulzer, Mark Hoelscher, Carisa Nietsche, Sara Abdel-Rahim, Eric Abalahin, Fred Dews and Richard Fawal. Subscribe to the Intersections on iTunes, and send feedback email to intersections@brookings.edu. 

“…A lot of the conversation around college education is that tuition is increasing very rapidly, debt is increasing very rapidly and what does that mean for everyone? If we take a bigger step back we want to reframe the discussion around higher education as the potential investment available to people in our economy to help them be more productive in the labor market and to help them have better financial lives themselves.  So when we think about higher education, rather than focusing all on the costs like we have been doing with the focus on the narrative about tuition and debt, I think it is important that we kind of refocus and talk about what students are getting from their college degrees. Basically encouraging people to think about this as cost-benefit analysis as they would with any other financial activity in their life. -- Beth Akers “People who have higher levels of education are far more likely to start or own a business, create jobs in that way; they are far more likely to file a patent, and do other things that are immeasurable contributions to intellectual thought and scientific thought and advancing living standards in important ways. Now quantifying those would be impossible. One that is easy to quantify, that I did in a piece a few of months ago for Brookings, is looking at not just what college graduates pay in taxes but their actual consumption as a direct benefit to local communities and the entire country.” -- Jonathan Rothwell In this episode of “Intersections,” Beth Akers, fellow at the Brown Center on Education Policy at Brookings, and Jonathan Rothwell, former fellow at the Metropolitan Policy Program and senior economist at Gallup, examine the current state of higher education by looking at student debt and its correlation to the value added for individuals with a college education. Show Notes Using earnings data to rank colleges: A value-added approach updated with College Scorecard data What colleges do for local economies: A direct measure based on consumption? Making college less risky to boost social mobility More data can make college less risky The game of loans: rhetoric and reality of student debt With thanks to audio engineer and producer Zack Kulzer, Mark Hoelscher, Carisa Nietsche, Sara Abdel-Rahim,  Eric Abalahin, Fred Dews and Richard Fawal. Subscribe to the Intersections on iTunes, and send feedback email to intersections@brookings.edu.  

“When I go to meetings today, I see more women, and I see many more younger women coming into the field.  But what’s really struck me, as I’ve been thinking about this issue of women in foreign policy in the last couple years, is the difference between presence and voice.  There are many more women working in foreign policy today, but you don’t see the same proportion of women prominent in foreign policy speaking in the media, in senior positions, or even when you’re all in the room together sitting at the table and speaking as the lead speaker at a conference.  It’s that distinction between presence and voice and what accounts for that gap.  That’s what I find both fascinating and frustrating.”—Tamara Wittes  “I think it is getting better. I think women are starting to see examples of other women who are  at the table, who are speaking up, who are volunteering, who are being more confident and starting to learn that just because you might not think you are the greatest expert on something, doesn’t mean you don’t have the right to give your opinion and start speaking up.”—Sarah Yerkes In this week’s episode of “Intersections,” Tamara Wittes, senior fellow and the director of the Center for Middle East Policy, and Sarah Yerkes, a visiting fellow in the Center for Middle East Policy, discuss their experiences as women working in foreign policy, both in and out of government. They also shed light on progress regarding the active participation of women in foreign policy, while looking forward to potential improvements in order to promote more equality for women’s representation in government.  Show Notes The Absence of Women from Middle East Policy Debates: An Update Women still overlooked in vital peacekeeping process, study finds An All-Women Symposium: The Missing XX-Factor Foreign Policy Interrupted Women Are Underrepresented In Cable News Segments On Foreign Affairs, National Security  With thanks to audio engineer and producer Zack Kulzer, Mark Hoelscher, Carisa Nietsche, Sara Abdel-Rahim, Eric Abalahin, Fred Dews and Richard Fawal. Subscribe to the Intersections on iTunes, and send feedback email to intersections@brookings.edu.

“If we think about the progress of getting people out of extreme poverty, it is really impressive. But it is actually a much slower trend then what we have seen in the spread of digital technology. The speed with which mobile phone ownership has spread around the world, access to bank accounts, biometric identification cards, people getting online – these trends are happening even faster. We are seeing 100-300 million people each year getting access to a phone or biometric ID for the first time. These trends in getting people digitally connected. . .are progressing at such speed that they’re starting to reach some of the poorest people in the world. Digital technology is changing what it means to be poor because it’s bringing poor people out of the margins.”- Laurence Chandy “The role of governments will continue to be central in improving education. At the end of the day, they’re the only ones who have the duty and the mandate to care about the poorest of the poor. But they will more and more have to partner with organizations from the private sector, the philanthropic community and the non-profit community to try to reach the most marginalized kids for education.  Governments can set an enabling environment that lets these sets of actors bring their creativity, their new way of approaching intractable problems into a space where they’re given the ability to scale up their work.” -Rebecca Winthrop In this week’s episode of “Intersections,” Laurence Chandy, fellow in the Global Economy and Development program, and Rebecca Winthrop, senior fellow and director of the Center for Universal Education, discuss progress toward meeting the Sustainable Development Goals of ending poverty and achieving education for all, and how digital technologies can be harnessed in that pursuit. Also, Winthrop and Chandy addressed the tools needed to reach the last 10% - those most marginalized.   Show Notes What Works in Girls' Education: Evidence for the World's Best Investment Millions learning: Scaling up quality education in developing countries Connecting the poor is the best hope for ending poverty Disrupting development with digital technologies With thanks to audio engineer and producer Zack Kulzer, Carisa Nietsche, Sara Abdel-Rahim,  Brionne Smith, Eric Abalahin, Fred Dews and Richard Fawal. Subscribe to the Intersections on iTunes, and send feedback email to intersections@brookings.edu.  

“We set out to make this game because we think that the national debt is an important issue that budget experts talk about all the time but it is very hard for the general public to really understand, so we thought to do it in a way that is more entertaining and more fun.” — Louise Sheiner “One of the goals of the game is to give people a big picture in their mind, so when some person runs for president or Congress they can say, ‘Hey this person’s numbers don’t add up.’” — David Wessel In this episode of “Intersections,” Brookings experts Louise Sheiner, senior fellow and policy director for the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy, and David Wessel, senior fellow and director of the Hutchins Center, discuss their new interactive game “The Fiscal Ship.” This computer game allows players to pick from a menu of tax and spending options to reduce the debt from projected levels over the next 25 years. Sheiner and Wessel also discuss the long-term changes in policy that could potentially boost the economy and reduce the debt in the future. Show Notes Why we made a computer game about the federal budget How we picked the debt goal for "The Fiscal Ship" How important is lowering the national debt? With thanks to audio engineer and producer Zack Kulzer, Carisa Nietsche, Sara Abdel-Rahim, Brionne Smith, Eric Abalahin, Fred Dews and Richard Fawal. Subscribe to Intersections on iTunes, and send feedback email to intersections@brookings.edu.   

“People think poverty as a measure of income, but as a lived experience for what it means to be poor, it tends to involve a lot of other things as well. We have taken some other dimensions such as low education, lack of health insurance, being in an unemployed household, and being in an area with concentrated poverty, where 1 in 5 of your neighbors in below the poverty line. One of the interesting questions becomes, how do those different dimensions of disadvantage go together? Is it the same people experiencing all of those different kinds of disadvantage, or different people in different places experiencing different things?”—Richard Reeves “Policies need to be better integrated to work. To alleviate poverty, rarely is just increasing income going to be enough if you’re facing things like deep health disparities and concentrations of poverty that carry so many other barriers that make it much harder for people to move out of poverty. This sort of a lens just gives you that multidimensional look beyond income.”—Elizabeth Kneebone In this episode of “Intersections,” Brookings experts Elizabeth Kneebone, fellow in Metropolitan Policy Program, and Richard Reeves, senior fellow in Economic Studies, discuss their recent research on the multiple barriers and challenges that complicate the path out of poverty, and how different dimensions of poverty affect different people across the country. Show notes The intersection of race, place, and multidimensional poverty With thanks to audio engineer and producer Zack Kulzer, Carisa Nietsche, Sara Abdel-Rahim, Eric Abalahin, Fred Dews and Richard Fawal. Subscribe to the Intersections on iTunes, and send feedback email to intersections@brookings.edu.

“I locate the common roots of the rise of right-wing populism in globalization and technological change. You have a lot of people in Europe and the United States displaced, in the sense that they had decent standards of living and could count on that happening for their children...but that is in danger now” --  E.J. Dionne, Jr.   “In my own country, Germany, the increasing amount of aggression and hate related to refugees, coming particularly from Eastern Germany, suggests that we underestimate the degree to which some people were taken along with reunification and globalization and some have felt stranded, not receiving some of the benefits of the last twenty or thirty years.” – Constanze Stelzenmüller In this episode of “Intersections,” scholars Constanze Stelzenmüller, the Robert Bosch senior fellow in the Center on the United States and Europe and E.J. Dionne, Jr., a senior fellow in Governance Studies discuss how economic grievances and political fragmentation are fueling the rise of right-wing political movements in the United States and Europe. Show Notes Why the right went wrong: Conservatism from Goldwater to the Tea Party and beyond. A Donald for all of us—how right-wing populism is upending politics on both sides of the Atlantic With thanks to audio engineer and producer Zack Kulzer, Carisa Nietsche, Sara Abdel-Rahim, Eric Abalahin, Fred Dews and Richard Fawal. Subscribe to Intersections on iTunes, and send feedback email to intersections@brookings.edu.   

“We have to tackle a lot of problems to get Americans the jobs and standard of living that they want to get,” Elaine Kamarck says. In this inaugural episode of our new podcast series, “Intersections,” join scholars Elaine Kamarck, director of the Center for Effective Public Management and Michael O’ Hanlon, co-director of Center for 21st Century Security and Intelligence as they sit down to discuss the real issues that the presidential candidates are and aren’t talking about during this election cycle. “All of us need the promise of growth and a better economic future, therefore we have to allocate our government resources and our government reforms towards servicing that central objective.” O’Hanlon and Kamarck address what presidential candidates should be focusing on in order to ensure they are responding to voters’ top concerns.  Show Notes Primary Politics: Everything You Need to Know about How America Nominates Its Presidential Candidates The Future of Land Warfare With thanks to audio engineer and producer Zack Kulzer, Carisa Nietsche, Sara Abdel-Rahim, Fred Dews and Richard Fawal. Subscribe to the Brookings Cafeteria on iTunes, and send feedback email to intersections@brookings.edu. 

The Brookings Cafeteria podcast features in-depth conversations with experts about their ideas and research. The bi-weekly show debuted in August 2013 and won Best News & Politics podcast from the Academy of Podcasters Awards at the Podcast Movement conference in 2015. Its Host is Fred Dews, who is also Managing Editor of New Digital Products at the Brookings Institution, a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, DC. Apart from the Brookings Cafeteria podcast, for the past two years, Fred has been chief writer and editor of the Brookings Now blog. Prior to that, for 14 years, he managed the Brookings website as editor. He has participated in five website redesigns while at Brookings and has been a member of the Communications staff since 1999. In his first three years at Brookings, Fred was a senior research assistant and center manager in the Governance Studies program. Fred is a graduate of Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service (Diplomacy & International Security; Soviet & Russian studies); an honor graduate of the U.S. Army Field Artillery School (earned Master Gunner award); and holds masters' degrees in public policy and U.S. history from Georgetown University and George Mason University, respectively. He listens to punk rock (particularly The Clash), watches the Tour de France intensely every summer, and loves family history/genealogy. On his blog, publichistorian.com, he writes about his ancestors and stories of history that are of interest. You can follow him on Twitter @publichistory. In all of his spare time, Fred continues to work on a novel, a piece of historical fiction. Fred, who was born in Texas and grew up in Dallas, lives in Northern Virginia with his family.

(originally aired on 8/30/13) In this inaugural edition of the Brookings Cafeteria podcast, , senior fellow in Governance Studies, talks with host Fred Dews about a range of issues at the junction of liberty and security, privacy and government surveillance. Wittes explains how liberty and security are not always in tension; how we might think about the government's surveillance activities; and why technology makes this moment in the history of the world both exciting and terrifying. Wittes is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of , which is devoted to sober and serious discussion of hard national security choices, and where you can  when he wrote, “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”

(originally published 9/13/13) What is the state of health care in America? Can costs be reduced and outcomes improved? Will the Affordable Care Act (aka “Obamacare”) implementation be successful? Which aspects of ACA are already having a positive impact? What to expect on October 1 when state health exchanges go online? , a fellow in the  at Brookings and also a practicing internal medicine physician with Johns Hopkins Medicine, speaks with host Fred Dews about these and other questions related to one of the most important aspects of our lives. Patel says that one thing that worries her about health care is that “nobody feels as if it is their responsibility to tackle that cost [of health care].” She also says that she is worried about "active resistance" to implementation of the Affordable Care Act despite the benefits that are already apparent. Show notes: , testimony by Kavita Patel to the U.S. Senate Budget Committee , testimony by Kavita Patel to the U.S. Senate Finance Committee , Brookings book by William Haseltine , TIME magazine article by Steven Brill , Journal of the American Medical Association