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.

Admiral James Stavridis. CREDIT: Amanda Ghanooni

JUN 12, 2017 Podcast

Sea Power: The History and Geopolitics of the World's Oceans

"Oceans dominate the world," says Admiral Stavridis. After all, 70 percent of the globe is covered by water. In this masterly overview of the seven seas, ...

JUN 5, 2017 Podcast

The Soul of the First Amendment

In this timely event, Floyd Abrams, a noted lawyer and award-winning legal scholar specializing in First Amendment issues, examines the degree to which American law ...

MAY 12, 2017 Podcast

Terror in France: The Rise of Jihad in the West

From January 2015 to July 2016, 239 people in France died in terrorist attacks. In this gripping talk, leading French scholar Gilles Kepel explains the causes behind this ...

MAY 9, 2017 Podcast

#Republic: Divided Democracy in the Age of Social Media

How is today's Internet driving political fragmentation, polarization, and even extremism—and what can be done about it? Legal scholar Cass Sunstein shares the results ...

APR 18, 2017 Podcast

Easternization: Asia's Rise and America's Decline from Obama to Trump and Beyond

"Financial Times" chief foreign affairs commentator Gideon Rachman says, "We've reached the point where the West's grip on world affairs begins to loosen." China's economic ...

APR 17, 2017 Podcast

Megatech: Technology in 2050

In this insightful interview, "Economist" executive editor Daniel Franklin discusses driverless cars, gene-editing, artificial intelligence, and much more. Are we entering an "accelerando" stage of ...

Detail from book cover of "Toward Democracy"

APR 12, 2017 Podcast

Toward Democracy: The Struggle for Self-Rule in European and American Thought

"Democracy begins in bloodshed and it comes to life only through conflict," says Harvard's James T. Kloppenberg in this masterful talk. How have the French ...

APR 7, 2017 Podcast

Protestants: The Faith that Made the Modern World

Understanding Protestantism is fundamental to understanding the modern world, says Professor Alec Ryrie. It has shaped democratic liberalism, capitalism, limited government, the notion of free ...

Detail from book cover

APR 5, 2017 Podcast

A Question of Order: India, Turkey, and the Return of Strongmen

Journalist Basharat Peer recounts the rise of two strongmen: Erdogan in Turkey and Modi in India. What they have in common "is a lack of ...

MAR 23, 2017 Podcast

The Gene Machine: How Genetic Technologies are Changing the Way We Have Kids—and the Kids We Have

Scientists already have the ability to edit genes to treat hereditary diseases, and to screen in vitro embyros for such diseases. Where will these evolving ...