The Ballpark Podcast

In January 2024, the Phelan US Centre spoke to Dr Ashley Tellis, the Tata Chair for Strategic Affairs and a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace about how the US has engaged with China economically in recent decades.

In 2023, the Phelan US Centre spoke to spoke to William C. Wohlforth, Daniel Webster Professor in the Department of Government at Dartmouth College, about the United States’ role as the world’s unipolar power.

In 2023 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Professor Theda Skocpol, Victor S. Thomas Professor of Government and Sociology at Harvard University.

In 2023, the Phelan US Centre ran an essay competition for master’s students with the prompt, “What responsibility does the US have to the rest of the world on climate change?”. In this Extra Inning, we speak to the author of the winning essay, Oscar Parry, and the runners-up, Jibran Raja and Alia Yusuf. We discuss the essay competition, what it’s like for students to engage with a wider audience, and the opportunity they had to present their essays in the UK parliament to MPs and the British-American Parliamentary Group.

In 2023 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Dr Amanda Sahar d’Urso, Assistant Professor at Georgetown University and Dr Tabitha Bonilla, Associate Professor at Northwestern University, about their recent article Religion or Race? Using Intersectionality to Examine the Role of Muslim Identity and Evaluations on Belonging in the United States in the Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics, which they also wrote about on the US Centre’s USAPP blog. They discuss the role of religious and racial identity in America today. This Extra Inning was produced by Mohid Malik and Anderson Tan. Contributors: Amanda Sahar d’Urso (Georgetown University) and Tabitha Bonilla (Northwestern University)

In 2023 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Naveeda Khan, associate professor in the Department of Anthropology at Johns Hopkins University about her new book, In Quest of a Shared Planet: Negotiating Climate from the Global South, the role that UN Climate Change Conferences (or “COPs”) play in the global climate framework, and the relationship between the global north and south in taking responsibility for and mitigating the effects of climate change. This Extra Inning was produced by Mohid Malik and Anderson Tan. Contributors: Naveeda Khan (Johns Hopkins University)

On the 20th and 21st of October 2023, the London School of Economics' Phelan United States Centre hosted the Future of Capitalism in an Age of Insecurity Conference. Bringing together leading scholars and analysts, the conference examined the effects of geopolitical turmoil, democratic discontent, anti-globalism, and technological change on capitalist economies. On Saturday the 21st of October, the third conference panel of the day was Global Governance in an Era of Anti-Globalism. This panel featured Professor G. John Ikenberry of Princeton University, David Luke of the LSE Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa, and Professor Nita Rudra of Georgetown University. The panel was chaired by Professor Leslie Vinjamuri of Chatham House and SOAS University of London. Contributors: Professor G. John Ikenberry (Princeton University), David Luke (LSE Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa), Professor Nita Rudra (Georgetown University), Professor Leslie Vinjamuri (Chatham House and SOAS)

On the 20th and 21st of October 2023, the London School of Economics' Phelan United States Centre hosted the Future of Capitalism in an Age of Insecurity Conference. Bringing together leading scholars and analysts, the conference examined the effects of geopolitical turmoil, democratic discontent, anti-globalism, and technological change on capitalist economies. On Saturday the 21st of October, the second conference panel of the day was Populism and Democratic Capitalism. This panel featured Professor Sheri Berman of Barnard College, Professor Ian Shapiro of Yale University, and Professor Luigi Zingales of the University of Chicago. The panel was chaired by Professor Stephanie Rickard of the LSE Department of Government. Contributors: Professor Sheri Berman (Barnard College), Professor Ian Shapiro (Yale University), Professor Luigi Zingales (University of Chicago), Professor Stephanie Rickard (LSE)

On the 20th and 21st of October 2023, the London School of Economics' Phelan United States Centre hosted the Future of Capitalism in an Age of Insecurity Conference. Bringing together leading scholars and analysts, the conference examined the effects of geopolitical turmoil, democratic discontent, anti-globalism, and technological change on capitalist economies. On Saturday the 21st of October, the first conference panel of the day was globalisation and the return of geopolitics. This panel featured Professor Michael Mastanduno of Dartmouth College, C. Raja Mohan of the Asia Society, and Anne-Marie Slaughter, the CEO of New America. The panel was chaired by Professor Peter Trubowitz, Centre Director of the LSE Phelan United States Centre and Associate Fellow at Chatham House. The LSE's incoming new President and Vice Chancellor Larry Kramer also gave opening remarks before the panel. Contributors: Professor Michael Mastanduno (Dartmouth College), C. Raja Mohan (Asia Society), Anne-Marie Slaughter (New Ameri

On the 20th and 21st of October 2023, the London School of Economics' Phelan United States Centre hosted the Future of Capitalism in an Age of Insecurity Conference. Bringing together leading scholars and analysts, the conference examined the effects of geopolitical turmoil, democratic discontent, anti-globalism, and technological change on capitalist economies. On Friday the 20th of October, the conference keynote event, Rethinking Market Capitalism: Innovation and the Path to Shared Prosperity, was given by Professor Daron Acemoglu, Institute Professor at MIT. The keynote event was chaired by Professor Peter Trubowitz, Centre Director of the LSE Phelan United States Centre and Associate Fellow at Chatham House. Contributors: Professor Daron Acemoglu (MIT), Professor Peter Trubowitz (LSE)

In June 2023, the Phelan US Centre spoke with Robert J. Sampson the Woodford L. and Ann A. Flowers University Professor at Harvard University about his new study, The Birth Lottery of History. This study followed over 1,000 Americans over 23 years and looks at the effects on different age cohorts of the social transformation of crime, punishment, and inequality over the last three decades. This Extra Inning was produced by Chris Gilson, Mohid Malik, and Anderson Tan. Contributors: Robert J. Sampson (Harvard University)

In December 2022, the Phelan US Centre’s Chris Gilson and Mohid Malik spoke to Marc Selverstone, Associate Professor in Presidential Studies at the University of Virginia's Miller Centre of Public Affairs, and chair of the Miller Center's Presidential Recordings programme, about his new book, The Kennedy Withdrawal Camelot and the American Commitment to Vietnam. They discussed the factors that shaped President Kennedy’s views on Vietnam, the relationship between Kennedy and his Secretary of Defense, Robert S. McNamara, and their views on a potential withdrawal from Vietnam, and the usefulness of White House recordings to academics and historians. This Extra Inning was produced by Chris Gilson, Mohid Malik, and Anderson Tan. Contributors: Professor Marc Selverstone (University of Virginia), Chris Gilson (Phelan US Centre), Mohid Rehman Malik (Phelan US Centre)

In May 2023, the Phelan US Centre’s Mohid Malik spoke to Pranab Bardhan, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of California, Berkeley. In this Extra Inning podcast, they discussed the argument put forward in Professor Bardhan’s 2022 book, A World of Insecurity: Democratic Disenchantment in Rich and Poor Countries. Their conversation explored the future of democratic governance as it confronts majoritarian politics throughout the world. This Extra Inning was produced by Mohid Malik and Anderson Tan. Contributors: Professor Pranab Bardhan (University of California), Mohid Rehman Malik (LSE Phelan US Centre)

This episode examines current trends in American politics in implementing policies to address climate change. Dr Bromley-Trujillo (Christopher Newport University) and environmental journalist Beth Gardiner (author of Choked Life and Breath in the Age of Air Pollution) discuss the impacts of President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act and whether a Green New-Deal could be possible in the future. This episode finishes off the 6-part climate change series, Climate Change: America and the World by looking at ways we can protect our planet from environmental decay. This episode was produced by Mohid Malik, Anderson Tan, and Chris Gilson. Contributors: Dr Rebecca Bromley-Trujillo (Christopher Newport University), Beth Gardiner (Environmental Journalist), and Mohid Rehman Malik (Phelan US Centre)

In May 2023, the Phelan US Centre’s Chris Gilson spoke to Brian Burgoon, Professor of International and Comparative Political Economy in the Department of Political Science at the University of Amsterdam, and Peter Trubowitz, Professor of International Relations, and Director of the Phelan US Centre at LSE and Associate Fellow at Chatham House, about their new book Geopolitics and Democracy, which will be published in July 2023 by Oxford University Press. In this Extra Inning podcast, they discuss the rise of anti-globalist forces which are against international cooperation and multilateralism, and how this connects to the decline of the welfare state and citizens’ perceptions about threats from abroad. This Extra Inning was produced by Chris Gilson, and Anderson Tan. Contributors: Professor Peter Trubowitz (LSE Phelan US Centre), Professor Brian Burgoon (University of Amsterdam)

Professor Rebecca Elliot (LSE) and Professor in Practice Swenja Surminski (LSE Grantham) discuss how climate change and climate related hazards disproportionately affect those from low-income backgrounds in the US and globally.

In this episode we look at the different experiences of climate change in the United States from a racial perspective. We are joined by Centennial Professor Laura Pulido (LSE Department of Geography and Environment and Phelan US Centre) and Jeremy Williams (The Earthbound Report) to discuss how environmental racism manifests and how urban development has contributed to this problem. By discussing historical developments and contemporary policies, this episode looks to clarify the intersection between climate change and race. This episode was produced by Mohid Malik, Anderson Tan, and Chris Gilson. Contributors: Professor Laura Pulido (University of Oregon, LSE Department of Geography and Environment, LSE Phelan US Centre), Jeremy Williams, Mohid Rehman Malik (Phelan US Centre)

We live in turbulent times. Globalized challenges like climate change, pandemics, migration, and supply chain disruptions are rising in urgency. With these and other challenges in mind, in June 2023, Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and the LSE Phelan US Centre convened the Lloyd George Study Group on Global Governance. For this episode of the Ballpark, we asked each of the ten members of the Lloyd George Study Group on Global Governance one question: What do you take to be the defining global challenges of the coming decades? Their answers tell us a great deal about what global challenges we face, and how we might begin to tackle them. This Extra Inning was produced by Chris Gilson and Anderson Tan. Contributors: Wu Xinbo (Fudan University), Eghosa Emmanuel Osaghae (University of Ibadan, Nigerian Institute of International Affairs), Selina Ho (National University of Singapore), Peter Trubowitz (LSE Phelan US Centre), Charles Kupchan (Georgetown University), Cornelia Woll (Hertie School),

In March 2023, the Phelan US Centre’s Chris Gilson and Mohid Malik spoke to Samuel Bazzi, of the University of California, San Diego, about his new research on The Confederate Diaspora.

In March 2023, the Phelan US Centre’s Chris Gilson and Mohid Malik spoke to Professor Yasheng Huang, Epoch Foundation professor of global economics and management at MIT’s Sloan School of Management about his new book, The Rise and Fall of the EAST.