The Nature of Freedom: On the Republican Tradition with Philip Pettit
What is freedom? Benjamin Constant and Isaiah Berlin divided the answers to that question into two categories: the positive conception of the ancients (freedom to participate in political life) and th...
23 Sep 57min
The American Right in Ferment: A Conversation with Writer Matthew Continetti
Even as Donald J. Trump keeps his tight grip on the Republican Party, conservative ranks are rife with sharpening tensions on both domestic and foreign-policy matters. I discuss this subject with Matt...
21 Sep 55min
Stefano Recchia, "Strategies for Approval: Building Support for Military Intervention at the UN Security Council" (Yale UP, 2025)
When powerful states go to war, why do they bother asking permission? In Strategies for Approval: Building Support for Military Intervention at the UN Security Council (Yale University Press, 2025), S...
20 Sep 51min
Brian L. Porto, "Twin States, Different Paths: The Politics of New Hampshire and Vermont" (U Mass Press, 2026)
At first glance, New Hampshire and Vermont seem like mirror images. Separated only by the Connecticut River, the oft-termed "Twin States" share a common history, relatively small populations, and heav...
19 Sep 35min
Lily Geismer on the Democratic Party in the 1990s
In this episode, hosts Lee Vinsel and Ben Waterhouse, along with producer Joe Forte, chat with historian Lily Geismer. Their conversation covers the evolution of the Democratic party, what it means to...
16 Sep 1h 23min
Why Voters Support Politicians Who Undermine Democracy
Why do so many citizens continue to support politicians who undermine democracy? And why have nationalist appeals become such a powerful tool for democratic backsliding? In this episode of the People,...
14 Sep 34min
Nora Fisher-Onar, "Contesting Pluralism(s): Islamism, Liberalism and Nationalism in Turkey and Beyond" (Cambridge UP, 2024)
Contesting Pluralism(s): Islamism, Liberalism and Nationalism in Turkey and Beyond (Cambridge UP, 2024) challenges a widespread tendency to limit studies of Turkish - and Muslim - politics to 'Isla...
14 Sep 1h 8min
William G. Howell and Terry M. Moe, "Trajectory of Power: The Rise of the Strongman Presidency" (Princeton UP, 2025)
Political Scientists William Howell and Terry Moe have a new book out that explores how the United States constitutional system has given way to the establishment of a kind of strongman presidency, di...
10 Sep 49min
