The Brookings Cafeteria

The two-day, virtual Summit for Democracy convened by President Biden and that wrapped up on December 10 aimed to rally nations around the world against growing authoritarianism. The podcast’s two guests in this episode have long been involved in the work of supporting democracy and thwarting democratic backsliding, both in the U.S. and abroad, and they are co-authors of a new report on how to advance democracy. Norm Eisen is a sen...

This is a rebroadcast of the first episode of a new show from the Brookings Podcast Network—”17 Rooms,” a podcast about actions, insights, and community for the Sustainable Development Goals (or SDGs) and the people driving them. In “17 Rooms,” co-hosts John McArthur—who directs the Center for Sustainable Development at Brookings, and Zia Khan—senior vice president for innovation at The Rockefeller Foundation, talk with thought lea...

Jim Crow laws that prevented Black citizens from voting are clearly racist, as are redlining practices that excluded Black homebuyers from white neighborhoods. But what about laws and regulations that don’t rely on disparate treatment based on race? Can such policies still be racist? Bill Gale explores these questions in his new research, including in a paper titled “Public Finance and Racism.” He is the Arjay and Frances Fearing M...

Computer science education in K-12 schools matters, not because it’s about training the next generation of computer programmers, but because computer science education builds skills for life, say the guests on this episode. Emiliana Vegas, senior fellow and co-director of the Center for Universal Education at Brookings, and Michael Hansen, senior fellow in the Brown Center for Education Policy at Brookings, are co-authors, along wi...

On this episode, a discussion with experts Fiona Hill and Angela Stent on Russia’s re-emergence as a great power after the Cold War ended, under the leadership of Vladimir Putin, and also more broadly on how economic change, deindustrialization, and other forces open doors for populist leaders to rise in places like Russia, and the United States and the United Kingdom as well, as we’ve seen in recent years.

Stent is a nonresident s...

Seventy percent of people report that they have done something abusive to someone else online, and a majority report being cyberbullied themselves. Nearly 90 percent of teenagers report witnessing online bullying. In a new report published by Brookings, “Bystander intervention on social media: Examining cyberbullying and reactions to systemic racism,” researchers examine the cyberbullying phenomenon, especially its racial aspect, a...

Global leaders are gathering in Glasgow in the coming weeks as the United Kingdom hosts the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties, known as COP26. As global temperatures continue to rise, the calls for action on addressing the climate change threat rise as well. On this episode of the Brookings Cafeteria podcast, a leading expert on global climate policy and financing for climate action, Amar Bhattacharya, se...

Millions of American taxpayers itemize their deductions, one of which is for state and local taxes, or the SALT deduction. Most of these filers are at the upper end of the income distribution and live in high-income urban areas. On this episode, Senior Fellow Richard Reeves, director of the Future of the Middle Class Initiative at Brookings, says the SALT deduction mostly benefits the wealthiest taxpayers, gives little or no benefi...

This episode features an interview with an expert who calls immigration and the Latino vote a golden opportunity for Democrats in 2022. Gabriel Sanchez is a David M. Rubenstein Fellow in Governance Studies at Brookings and a professor of political science at the University of New Mexico. In the interview, he discusses a range of policy issues including why COVID-19 has had such a devastating impact on Latino families, why vaccinati...

David Wessel, a senior fellow and director of the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy at Brookings, is author of the new book “Only the Rich Can Play: How Washington Works in the New Gilded Age,” published by Public Affairs, which tells the story of how a Silicon Valley entrepreneur developed an idea intended to help poor people that will save rich people money on their taxes. Wessel relates in his book how the tax break,...

America’s white population is declining and aging, while the share of Latinos or Hispanics, Asians, and people who identify as two are more races is increasing. These are some of the findings in new analysis from Brookings Senior Fellow Bill Frey, who joins the Brookings Cafeteria to talk about America’s changing demographics and the implications.

Also on this episode, Tony Pipa, a senior fellow in the Center for Sustainable Develo...

For over 70 years, Jordan has been an important ally in the Middle East for the United States, a connection built largely on the relationships between two Jordanian monarchs of the Hashemite family—King Hussein and King Abdullah—and American presidents from Eisenhower to Biden. In his new book published by the Brookings Institution Press, “Jordan and America: An Enduring Friendship,” Brookings Senior Fellow Bruce Riedel tells the s...

Oceans are at the center of global competition, climate, and trade. In his new book, “To Rule the Waves: How Control of the World’s Oceans Shapes the fate of the Superpowers,” published by Scribner, Brookings Senior Fellow Bruce Jones takes readers on a fascinating voyage through this water world via the great ports, ships, geographies, and history of our ocean planet. And on this episode of the Brookings Cafeteria, Jones shares so...

Twenty years after the 9/11 attacks, six Brookings scholars reflect on their personal experiences of that terrible day, and offer expert insights into how 9/11 changed policy and what the anniversary suggests for policy moving forward.

Show notes and transcript: https://brook.gs/3neP83J 

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As students return to schools across the country, this episode of the Brookings Cafeteria features a rebroadcast of a recent online event from the Brown Center on Education Policy at Brookings on the present and future of early childhood education in the U.S. in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Brookings scholar Jon Valant, director of the Brown Center, moderated a panel discussion with Miriam Calderon, deputy assistant secret...

Disparities between Black workers and white workers in employment and labor force participation existed long before the coronavirus pandemic, and the economic recovery following easing of COVID-19 restrictions has been felt unevenly, especially for Black teens. On this episode, expert Kristen Broady discusses her research on this problem and shares policy ideas for a more equitable economic recovery. Broady is a fellow in the Metro...

On this episode, in the wake of the Taliban's rapid takeover of Afghanistan, a discussion of the forces and issues that have shaped Afghanistan over the last two decades and will continue to do so with Vanda Felbab-Brown, a senior fellow in Foreign Policy and the Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology at Brookings,. Her insights on what has happened in Afghanistan help make sense of an incredibly complex situation and of...

On this 400th episode of the Brookings Cafeteria podcast, Marcela Escobari, a senior fellow in Global Economy and Development at Brookings, talks about her new report on how to tackle the worker mobility crisis in the U.S. economy. In the face of rising inequality, stagnating wages, a shrinking middle class, and now a global pandemic, many American workers are finding it difficult getting ahead. And today, millions of low-wage work...

Millions of households have built financial security through pensions and retirement saving plans, but millions more remain unable to access these wealth accumulation vehicles. In a new book from the Brookings Institution Press, “Wealth After Work: Innovative Reforms to Expand Retirement Security,” editors William Gale, Mark Iwry, and David John present proposals that show how policymakers can help all Americans gain access to reti...