The Sexual Exploitation of Children: A Big Business
Reading Time: 14 minutes The leader of an LA-based nonprofit talks about the trafficking of children — a growing scourge.
Truth Decay Part 2: News in a Digital Age
Reading Time: 14 minutes A conversation with the author of RAND’s new follow-up report on the diminishing role of facts and data in the news.
We’ve Just Doubled Down On Revolutionary War Mythology
Reading Time: 13 minutes A look at what we don’t understand about the Revolutionary War, and why that’s so important today.
Why Election Integrity Is the Whole Ballgame
Reading Time: 13 minutes A look at why a dysfunctional world needs American democracy to work.
The Frightening Rise of Algorithms
Reading Time: 13 minutes Why and how algorithms are taking over our lives, why we should care, and what we can do about it.
Who Should Censor Online Speech?
Reading Time: 18 minutes David Kaye, UN special rapporteur on freedom of expression, distils the global challenges of our most consequential free-speech issue.
Facing Human Extinction, Activist Wants to ‘Go Down Swinging’
Reading Time: 18 minutes Randy Hayes had hoped for an “elegant transition” away from fossil fuels, but now there isn’t time for even a “semi-elegant transition.”
Why Trade Matters
Reading Time: 24 minutes RAND senior economist Dr. Howard Shatz gives us a primer on trade and globalization.
Powerful Democrat Lives Large on Corporate Cash
Reading Time: 16 minutes Since becoming chairman of the influential Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA) has raised and spent tons of campaign cash. Journalist David Daley shares the facts.
The End of Guns
Reading Time: 20 minutes Can tasers and electric pulse technology replace the need for traditional guns?
The Solution to Democracy Is Less Democracy, Author Says
Reading Time: 16 minutes Yale Professor Ian Shapiro argues that strong political parties, not grassroots citizen efforts, are what’s needed to restore our democracy.
Trying to Understand Trump’s Finances Is Taxing
Reading Time: 19 minutes Martin Sheil, a former IRS investigator, walks us through what we know about Trump’s taxes.
It’s All About the Benjamins: The Trouble With Philanthropy Today
Reading Time: 15 minutes A look at why the personal agendas of wealthy philanthropists do not always serve the public good.
Green Shoots in the Future of Voting
Reading Time: 18 minutes Some stories and blueprints for success in the voting-rights battle.
What’s It Like to Work at Walmart?
Reading Time: 17 minutes An interview with a reporter who went undercover to work at Walmart.
Democracies Are Not Forever… Is the US Headed Down the Same Path As Rome?
Reading Time: 14 minutes A preeminent scholar of Rome examines the parallels to what we are experiencing today.
The Mueller Report: Further Proof That a Savior Isn’t Coming
Reading Time: 13 minutes A conversation with author and activist Sarah Kendzior about just how bad things are.
After Legalization of Gangs, Ecuador’s Murder Rate Dropped Sharply
Reading Time: 20 minutes Starting in 2007, Ecuador reformed its police and decriminalized gang membership. A study in 2017 showed the murder rate dropped by over 400 percent.
The Life, Captivity, and Trial of Bowe Bergdahl: A Symbol of America’s Failure in Afghanistan?
Reading Time: 15 minutes Bowe Bergdahl’s story exemplifies government dysfunction, political posturing, and a failed American policy.
Could Everything You Know About Global Population Growth Be Wrong?
Reading Time: 15 minutes Contrary to popular and long held assumptions, global population is declining. The environmental consequences are good, the economic consequences are bad, says this podcast guest.