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PODCAST

The Andrea Mitchell Center Podcast

The ANDREA MITCHELL CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF DEMOCRACY aims not just to promote, but to understand, democracy. Global in its outlook, multifaceted in its purposes, the Mitchell Center seeks to contribute to the ongoing quest for democratic values, ideas, and institutions throughout the world. In THE ANDREA MITCHELL CENTER PODCAST, we interview scholars, journalists, and public thinkers grappling with the challenges facing our democracy. Many of the episodes are linked to our other programming, such

science social sciences

All Episodes

01:27:00

Episode 8.7: Green Capitalism and the New Politics of...

The Andrea Mitchell Center Podcast ·

2026/10/01

Interviewer: RAFAEL KHACHATURIAN. Political scientist THEA RIOFRANOS discusses her book, Extraction: The Frontiers of Green Capitalism, which looks at the mining behind the clean energy transition. Drawing on her fieldwork in Chile, Nevada, and Portugal, she explores the global scramble for lithium and makes the case for a greener future that needs far less extraction.

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01:08:49

Episode 8.6: Susan Stryker on Gender, History, and...

The Andrea Mitchell Center Podcast ·

2026/08/31

Interviewer: MIRANDA EDITH SKLAROFF. Historian and theorist SUSAN STRYKER joins the Andrea Mitchell Center to discuss her new book, Changing Gender: The History and Future of a Concept, and the histories and politics that shape how gender is understood. The conversation explores the contemporary politics of trans rights, the relationship between trans liberation and feminism, and Stryker's account of gender as a system of social and linguistic classification. Drawing on histories of anthropology,

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49:01

Episode 8.5: Elite Power and the Meaning of Democracy

The Andrea Mitchell Center Podcast ·

2026/07/31

Interviewer: JOSHUA ROSE. In this episode, host Joshua Rose speaks with DR. NATASHA PIANO, Assistant Professor of Political Theory at UCLA, about her book Democratic Elitism: The Founding Myth of American Political Science. Together, they revisit early twentieth-century political theorists who challenged conventional understandings of democracy, elections, and elite power. Their conversation explores how concerns about plutocracy, political accountability, and democratic legitimacy shaped

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49:46

Episode 8.4: Faith After Revolution: Religion,...

The Andrea Mitchell Center Podcast ·

2026/07/10

Interviewer: JOSHUA ROSE. In this episode, host Joshua Rose speaks with DR. NAREMAN AMIN about her new book, Is God for Revolution? Affect, Youth, and Islam in Post-2011 Egypt. Drawing on interviews with young Egyptians who lived through the 2011 revolution and its aftermath, Dr. Amin explores how political upheaval transformed not only civic participation but also religious identity, authority, and spirituality. The conversation examines the complex relationship between Islam and political

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47:13

Episode 8.3: The Perils of the American Dream: A...

The Andrea Mitchell Center Podcast ·

2026/06/12

Interviewer: MATTHEW ROTH. The acts of the current administration, as well as the OBBBA legislation passed by Congress, point to an economic vision that rejects sharing resources to relieve economic inequality, arguing that money diverted from rewarding success in the private sector is generally money wasted. Journalist ALISSA QUART, in her work as Executive Director of the non-profit Economic Hardship Reporting Project (founded with Barbara Ehrenreich) and as the author of several books, has worked

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01:14:06

Episode 8.2: Race, Democracy, and the Making of "the...

The Andrea Mitchell Center Podcast ·

2026/05/18

Interviewer: RAFAEL KHACHATURIAN. Political theorist MICHAEL GORUP joins the podcast to discuss the intertwined histories of race, democracy, and popular sovereignty in the United States. Drawing on themes from Gorup's book The Counterrevolutionary Shadow: Race, Democracy, and the Making of the American People, the conversation ranges from Jefferson and Reconstruction to Black Power and the contemporary crises of neoliberalism, examining how democratic ideals and racial domination have evolved

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55:20

Episode 8.1: The Cruel Double Standard of American...

The Andrea Mitchell Center Podcast ·

2026/05/14

Interviewer: MATTHEW ROTH. At a moment when tough-on-crime rhetoric, as voiced by Donald Trump and others in the Republican Party, has again become a politically polarizing issue, it is perhaps an opportune time to take stock of the U.S.'s uniquely punitive treatment of certain sorts of crime. Penn political scientist MARIE GOTTSCHALK has long pointed out that, under both Republican and Democratic administrations, the carceral state has expanded and become entrenched amid moral panics – variously

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48:15

Episode 7.17: The Forgotten Civil Rights Legacy of...

The Andrea Mitchell Center Podcast ·

2026/04/10

Interviewer: MATTHEW ROTH. The ways in which the Civil Rights Movement translated passion and protest into durable political change were complex, involving a wide range of actors beyond those most prominently enshrined in the popular imagination. In his new book, political scientist MARION ORR argues for the critical importance of a figure now widely forgotten: Michigan Congressman Charles C. Diggs, Jr., who during his tenure from 1955-1980 was a persistent and effective voice for desegregation and

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48:15

Episode 7.16: Fortress Power: How Design Shapes...

The Andrea Mitchell Center Podcast ·

2026/04/03

Interviewer: RAFAEL KHACHATURIAN. In this episode, DEREK DENMAN explores the concept of "fortress power," a form of governance rooted in the design and control of space. Tracing its origins from early modern fortresses to contemporary borders, cities, and infrastructure, Denman reveals how architecture and planning shape surveillance, movement, and political authority. The conversation examines how promises of security often intensify control and inequality, highlighting the enduring and evolving

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45:29

Episode 7.15: Presidential Words Matter: A...

The Andrea Mitchell Center Podcast ·

2026/03/13

Interviewer: MATTHEW ROTH. Speech was central to the political success of both Barack Obama and Donald Trump, who each emerged through insurgent campaigns bolstered by the energy generated at mass rallies. CODY KEENAN, Director of Speechwriting for the Obama White House, argues that this is where the similarity ends, however. While Obama chose his words carefully in order to navigate the divisions in society and craft a hopeful story of America that foregrounded its ability to change in the face of

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45:01

Episode 7.14: Politics Can Still Be Local: A...

The Andrea Mitchell Center Podcast ·

2026/02/06

Interviewer: MATTHEW ROTH. If today's politicians, even and the state and local level, often seem more interested in scoring off ideological opponents to gain clicks than in working across party lines to solve problems, LEO SOLGA aspires to follow a different path. Solga is a recent Penn graduate in Political Science and a candidate in the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania House District 148. In his discussion with historian Matthew Roth, he describes his journey into politics and his positions on

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38:21

Episode 7.13: Democracy as a Public Health Intervention

The Andrea Mitchell Center Podcast ·

2026/01/09

Interviewer: JOSHUA ROSE. In this episode of the Andrea Mitchell Center podcast, Joshua Rose speaks with Penn Political Science Professor JULIA LYNCH about her book Getting Better: The Policy and Politics of Reducing Health Inequalities and the politics of public health. Drawing on case studies from the United States, Brazil, Germany, and the UK, the conversation explores how social inequality, democratic participation, and political will shape health outcomes - and why expanding political voice may

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47:14

Episode 7.12: A Philadelphia Church and the West...

The Andrea Mitchell Center Podcast ·

2025/12/18

Interviewer: JOSHUA ROSE. Host JOSHUA ROSE speaks with Dr. ADAM MOHR, Senior Lecturer in Penn's Critical Writing Program, about his 2023 book The West African Revival: Faith Tabernacle Congregation on the Guinea Coast, 1918–1929. Mohr traces how a Philadelphia-based divine-healing church became an unlikely catalyst for a mass revival across West Africa in the aftermath of the 1918 influenza pandemic—when medical systems faltered and religious healing practices took on new urgency. Mohr follows the

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45:08

Episode 7.11: Marriage, the Welfare State, and the...

The Andrea Mitchell Center Podcast ·

2025/12/15

Interviewer: JOSHUA ROSE. In this episode of the Andrea Mitchell Center for the Study of Democracy podcast, host JOSHUA ROSE speaks with Penn Law and History Professor SERENA MAYERI about her book Marital Privilege: Marriage, Inequality, and the Transformation of American Law. Mayeri unpacks how Supreme Court decision-making around family and privacy can defy ideological expectations, why challenges to marriage's legal primacy were often fragmented rather than movement-coordinated, and how today's

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01:06:34

Episode 7.10: Democracy as Dispersion of Power: A...

The Andrea Mitchell Center Podcast ·

2025/12/03

Interviewer: RAFAEL KHACHATURIAN. Over the past decade we have witnessed an unfolding global crisis of democracy, in its liberal-democratic, representative, capitalist form. As elite power has continued to grow without constraints, classical democratic theory has struggled to keep pace with these momentous changes. In this episode, political theorist SAMUEL BAGG sat down with RAFAEL KHACHATURIAN to discuss how elites gain systematic advantages in modern society, and why resisting this state capture

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58:48

Episode 7.9: Unlimited Money, Limited Oversight:...

The Andrea Mitchell Center Podcast ·

2025/10/31

Interviewer: MATT BERKMAN. Journalist and anti-corruption investigator JOSH STANFIELD joins host MATT BERKMAN to unpack Virginia's feverish election season, discussing campaign cash, a runaway data-center boom, and ethics enforcement. Drawing on his FOIA work, Stanfield details lawsuits over nondisclosure by statewide officials, ICE activity, and government surveillance, reflecting on what all of this means for democracy in Virginia today.

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57:13

Episode 7.8: Socialism, Logically: Scott Sehon on...

The Andrea Mitchell Center Podcast ·

2025/10/21

Interviewer: RAFAEL KHACHATURIAN. Philosopher SCOTT SEHON joins the podcast to discuss his book Socialism: A Logical Introduction (Oxford University Press). Sehon presents a “master argument” for socialism and defines socialism along two axes: collective economic control and egalitarian distribution. He addresses common critiques of socialism based on rights, the sanctity of private property, and concerns about exploitation. The discussion spans Hayek and Friedman, climate change as the clearest

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45:16

Episode 7.7: Stemming the Tide of Vaccine Refusal:...

The Andrea Mitchell Center Podcast ·

2025/10/10

Interviewer: MATTHEW ROTH. Anti-vaccine rhetoric is on the rise in the U.S., encouraged now by MAHA-dominated health policies emerging from Washington. It is tempting to paint this as a top-down process, but neonatologist and immunologist BENJAMIN A. FENSTERHEIM argues that the problem runs deeper and is rooted in the institutional arrangements of our healthcare system. In his conversation with historian Matthew Roth, he describes his work caring for newborns, the increasing pushback by parents

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22:44

Episode 7.6: Credibility in Prisons

The Andrea Mitchell Center Podcast ·

2025/09/18

Interviewer: CARRIE WELSH. Why does the American criminal justice system produce unreliable knowers? In this episode, host CARRIE WELSH is joined by philosopher and prison education director JOHN FANTUZZO and re-entry consultant and executive director RAYMOND POWELL for a conversation about the epistemological foundations of mass incarceration. Drawing on a forthcoming paper and lived experience, they unpack how the prison’s economy of credibility systematically undermines the efforts and

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46:45

Episode 7.5: Trump and the Era of Ungoverning: A...

The Andrea Mitchell Center Podcast ·

2025/08/26

Interviewer: MATTHEW ROTH. In their 2024 book Ungoverning: The Attack on the Administrative State and the Politics of Chaos, Professors RUSSELL MUIRHEAD (Dartmouth) and NANCY ROSENBLUM (Harvard) analyze the emergence of “ungoverning,” a political trend aimed at limiting or dismantling key functions of the administrative state. They situate this development within broader shifts in American politics, tracing its roots to earlier debates over the role of government and examining how it has been

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