Roland Paris, Professor of International Affairs at University of Ottawa and former Senior Advisor on Global Affairs and Defense to the Prime Minister of Canada, joins us to discuss U.S. global leadership, the state of democracy, the rise of China, and the difference between the academic and policy world. 

On this week’s episode, Bill and Phil discuss immigration and the contrast between George W. Bush’s call for tolerance and the far-right America First Caucus’s call for a revival of Anglo-Saxon political traditions. We then examine Russia’s military buildup on the Ukrainian border and close with a look at the data from this year’s World Happiness Report.

This week, we discuss a recently released intelligence forecast predicting a post-pandemic world that is upended by climate chance and splintering societies, reflect on what to make of Tucker Carlson’s unapologetic embrace of the racist “replacement theory” and whether there might be any connection to new data on domestic extremism in the U.S., and wrap up with a look at foreign policy, highlighting new developments in Northern Ireland, Israel and Afghanistan

This week, Bill and Phil are joined by Dr. Brandon Sheridan who is an Assistant Professor of Economics at Elon University to discuss President Biden’s ambitious economic agenda and whether it signals a fundamental rethinking of the role of government in the economy. Then we talk about the impact of politics on professional sports. and new data on the Jan. 6 attacks released by the Chicago Project on Security and Threats.

This week, Bill and Phil discuss recent revelations that the Trump administration’s coronavirus response was even worse than previously known, some recent data on religious identity in America, new voting rules in Georgia, and the big boat that got stuck in the Suez.

Bill and Phil discuss the recent mass shootings in Atlanta and Boulder, the tense diplomatic exchange between China and the United States, Biden’s emerging immigration problem, and what to make of former president Trump starting his own social media platform.

Congressman Sean Casten, U.S. Representative for Illinois's 6th congressional district, joins Bill and Phil to discuss the American Rescue Plan, infrastructure and clean energy, and the state of American democracy.

On this week’s episode, Bill and Phil are joined by constitutional law expert, Professor Tom Cavenagh, to get an update on the Supreme Court and to discuss the legal implications of voting rights legislation, the death penalty, and what former President Trump’s legal future looks like.

On this week’s episode, Bill and Phil break down the US intel report on the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, the Equality Act passing in the House, George Kennan’s Long Telegram turning 75, the Senate parliamentarian nixing the $15 minimum wage, and Biden overturning Trump’s architecture order.

Bill and Phil break down Biden’s speech on democracy, the significance of Mario Draghi becoming Prime Minister of Italy, what Joe Biden’s stimulus plan tells us about his approach moving forward, and Ted Cruz’s infamous trip to Cancun.

On this week’s episode Bill and Phil reflect on the Senate’s acquittal of Donald Trump, the intersection of politics and sports at the Olympics and the NBA, and what the widespread power outages in Texas teach us about the future of climate change.

We examine the impeachment hearing as part of a broader conversation about accountability for the former president, and we take a look at the foreign policy agenda that Joe Biden outlined this week.

The threat of mass violence is on the rise in the United States, as demonstrated by the January 6 attack on the Capitol. Dr. James Waller, noted expert on mass violence and genocide, joins us this week to talk about the risk factors that contribute to widespread political and ethnic violence and to wrestle with the warning signs present in the United States today.

Bill and Phil are joined by Dr. Suzanne Chod to break down the results of the Georgia Senate races, whether Biden has a chance to get his agenda through a split Senate, the upcoming 2nd impeachment of Donald Trump, and what the future may hold for the Republican Party.

On this week’s episode, Bill and Phil devote the entire episode to the presidential inauguration and what the future may hold for President Joe Biden.

On this week’s episode, Bill and Phil discuss the historic second impeachment of Donald Trump, how the last 4 years of Trump led to the attack on the U.S. Capital, and we end the episode with an interview of Michael Blight, Assistant Professor of Communication, to discuss Trump’s social media ban and the practice of deplatforming.

On this week’s episode, Bill and Phil devote the entire episode to an extended conversation focused on breaking down and reacting to the pro-Trump extremists who attacked the Capital building yesterday. 

Bill and Phil reflect on the wild and awful political year that was 2020; including what COVID revealed about our common humanity, competing conceptions of social justice, attacks on law and order, the shaky state of US democracy, and we close with things that happened in 2020 that you already forgot about.

Happy Holidays! Bill and Phil are taking the week off. But we want to thank all of our listeners for your support this year. We’ll be back next week with a full episode. For now, please enjoy a brief message from The Politics Lab, plus some bonus content from this week’s YouTube session. Thank you!

On this week’s episode, Bill and Phil reflect on the departure and legacy of Attorney General Bill Barr, ponder the significance of the election case brought to the Supreme Court by Texas, and look at recent international developments in Russia and Morocco.