Public Affairs

Overview

Public Affairs hosted speakers who are prominent people in the world of international affairs, from acclaimed authors, to Nobel laureates, to high-ranking UN officials.

What Is Happening to News: The Information Explosion and the Crisis in Journalism

JUN 16, 2011 Podcast

What Is Happening to News: The Information Explosion and the Crisis in Journalism

Drawing on neuroscience, Jack Fuller explains why the information overload of contemporary life makes us dramatically more receptive to sensational news, while rendering the objective ...

JUN 10, 2011 Podcast

John Brademas and Mickey Edwards: Civility in Politics

Two distinguished former politicians, one Democrat and one Republican, agree on concrete proposals for improving U.S. politics. They include campaign finance reform; abolishing gerrymandering; ...

Image from book cover WAR

JUN 3, 2011 Podcast

WAR

In this thoughtful and very personal talk, Junger ponders what attracts young men to war, the difference between friendship and brotherhood, the question of when ...

They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children: The Global Quest to Eradicate the Use of Child Soldiers

JUN 3, 2011 Podcast

They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children: The Global Quest to Eradicate the Use of Child Soldiers

Child soldiers are a weapons system that is effective, cheap, and complete. How do we counter that? How do we make the use of children ...

Awakening Islam: Religious Dissent in Contemporary Saudi Arabia

JUN 2, 2011 Transcript

Awakening Islam: Religious Dissent in Contemporary Saudi Arabia

Stephane Lacroix gives a penetrating account of the political and religious dynamics of Saudi Arabia, one of the most opaque of Muslim countries and the ...

MAY 31, 2011 Podcast

Philip Howard on Civility in Everyday Life

Philip Howard argues that an excess of government regulations and the law has corroded the institutions of authority in our society, with many deleterious effects, ...

MAY 20, 2011 Podcast

The Next Convergence: The Future of Economic Growth in a Multispeed World

In the next 20 years, 75 to 80 percent of the world's population will have the same standard of living as today's advanced countries. What will this extraordinary ...

Book "The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution" by Francis Fukuyama

MAY 12, 2011 Podcast

The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution

How did human beings succeed in creating the ideal of strong, accountable governments that adhere to the rule of law? Francis Fukuyama provides a sweeping ...

The Fear: Robert Mugabe and the Martyrdom of Zimbabwe

MAY 6, 2011 Podcast

The Fear: Robert Mugabe and the Martyrdom of Zimbabwe

Author and journalist Peter Godwin was born and raised in Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia). In this gripping talk he untangles his country's complex and tragic history, ...

MAY 5, 2011 Podcast

Higher Education in the Middle East: America's Legacy

For generations, American universities have been educating students in the Middle East. President of Lebanese American University Joseph Jabbra makes an impassioned case for the ...