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Civic Lens

Marvin King

A podcast about our democracy.

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  • 20 episodes
  • weekly
  • Avg 26 min
  • English

Episodes 20

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  • S1 · E25
    September 7 · 36 min

    The Limits of Presidential Power & Executive Orders | Prof. Andrew Rudalevige - Bowdoin (Ep. 25)

    Bowdoin College's Andrew Rudalevige on how the presidency become so powerful and what it means for American democracy. Rudalevige is the author of By Executive Order: Bureaucratic Management and the Limits of Presidential Power and The New Imperial Presidency: Renewing Presidential Power after Watergate. Rudalevige recommends: Presidential Power and the Modern Presidents: The Politics of Leadership from Roosevelt to Reagan, The Hardest Job in the World: The American Presidency, The Development of the American Presidency, and the podcasts Presidential and Can He Do That? (now known as Sidebar).

  • S1 · E24
    August 31 · 25 min

    Civil Religion and the Rise of Southern Politics | Prof. Matthew Wilson - SMU (Ep. 24)

    SMU's Matthew Wilson on how religious beliefs shape politics - even for people who rarely think about religion. Wilson is the co-author of Politics and Religion in the United States and From pews to polling places : faith and politics in the American religious mosaic. Wilson recommends: America's God: From Jonathan Edwards to Abraham Lincoln,

  • S1 · E24
    August 26 · 27 min

    Southern Identity, Political Change & Why the South Still Matters | Chris Cooper – Western Carolina University (Ep. 24)

    Chris Cooper on how the South has become more urban, diverse, and connected to the rest of America, yet its identity as Southern still matters. Cooper is the author of: Anatomy of a Purple State: A North Carolina Politics Primer and co-author with Gibbs Knotts of The Resilience of Southern Identity: Why the South Still Matters in the Minds of Its People. Cooper recommends: Southern Politics in State and Nation (Key), Movers and Stayers: The Partisan Transformation of 21st Century Southern Politics (Irwin), Insecure Majorities: Congress and the Perpetual Campaign (Lee), Rural Republican Realignment in the Modern South: The Untold Story (Hood and McKee), and An American Problem: How the Country Built—and the Supreme Court Broke—the Voting Rights Act (Miller and Morris)

  • S1 · E23
    August 24 · 31 min

    Political Polarization & The Changing American South | Dr. Scott Huffmon - Winthrop (Ep. 23)

    Scott Huffmon (The Winthrop Poll⁠) of Winthrop University and Director of the Winthrop Poll discusses how migration has changed the South, evolving views on the Confederate Flag, polarization, and the Trump effect on South Carolina and Southern politics. Huffmon recommends: The Long Southern Strategy, American Experience on PBS - Civil Rights, and "Jail, No Bail"

  • S1 · E21
    August 10 · 29 min

    Black Veterans & The Struggle for Equal Citizenship | Prof. Christopher Sebastian Parker - UC Santa Barbara (Ep. 21)

    Christopher Sebastian Parker asks what happens when people fight for democracy abroad but are denied its promises at home. Parker is the author of: Fighting for Democracy: Black Veterans and the Struggle Against White Supremacy in the Postwar South and Change They Can't Believe In: The Tea Party and Reactionary Politics in America. Parker recommends: Divisions: A New History of Racism and Resistance in America's World War II Military, Freedom Struggles: African Americans and World War I, Strength for the Fight: A History of Black Americans in the Military "Close Ranks",

  • S1 · E20
    August 3 · 27 min

    Capitalism, Consumer Activism & Free Enterprise History | Prof. Larry Glickman - Cornell (Ep. 20)

    Cornell historian, Larry Glickman, explains that capitalism isn't a fixed system, but an idea that Americans have continually reinvented. Glickman is the author of Free Enterprise: An American History and Buying Power: A History of Consumer Activism in America. Glickman recommends: The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism by Edward Baptist, The Incorporation of America, by Alan Trachtenberg, The Submerged State: How Invisible Government Policies Undermine American Democracy, by Suzanne Mettler, "Why I Am Not a Conservative" by F.A. Hayek, The Marketplace of RevolutionHow Consumer Politics Shaped American Independence by T.H. Breen, and Plantation Goods: A Material History of American Slavery by Seth Rockman.

  • S1 · E18
    July 20 · 21 min

    Party Brands, MAGA & The Future of the GOP | Prof. Boris Heersink - Fordham (Ep. 18)

    Boris Heersink (⁠Republican Party Politics and the American South, 1865–1968⁠ and ⁠National Party Organizations and Party Brands in American Politics: The Democratic and Republican National Committees, 1912-2016⁠)tells us why party brands are so useful to voters and how Trump's hold on the GOP has shaped that party's brand. Heersink recommends: Learning from Loss: The Democrats, 2016–2020 and The Elephants in the Room: How Trump Voters Seized the Party from Republican Leaders, both by Seth Masket, and The Nationalization of American Political Parties, 1880–1896 by Daniel Klinghard and Presidential Party Building: Dwight D. Eisenhower to George W. Bush by Daniel J. Galvin

  • S1 · E15
    June 29 · 29 min

    Theater, Storytelling & The Politics of Performance | Dr. Teri Incampo - University of Mississippi (Ep. 15)

    Teri Incampo from the University of Mississippi on the value of theater as an artistic medium, her latest research, and how we can all become more thoughtful consumers of film and theater. Incampo recommends: Is God Is?, Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner, Keke Palmer, Darkology: Blackface and the American Way of Entertainment by Rhae Lynn Barnes, Bodies in DissentSpectacular Performances of Race and Freedom, 1850–1910 by Daphne A. Brooks, and Cracking Up: Black Feminist Comedy in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Century United States by Katelyn Hale Wood.

  • S1 · E14
    June 22 · 22 min

    Gender Inequality in Higher Education & The Future of Work | Prof. Elizabeth Armstrong - University of Michigan (Ep. 14)

    University of Michigan sociologist Elizabeth Armstrong, author of Paying for the Party: How College Maintains Inequality discusses emerging research on workplace experiences, where many college-educated women continue to encounter barriers to advancement even in professional careers. Armstrong recommends: Gender Flashpoints: The Power of Dialogue by Abigail C. Saguy

  • S1 · E13
    June 15 · 22 min

    Property Taxes, Assessment Values & Tax Fairness | Prof. Chris Berry - University of Chicago (Ep. 12)

    Chris Berry (Property Tax Fairness⁠), William J. and Alicia Townsend Friedman Professor at the Harris School of Public Policy, University of Chicago, and author of ⁠Imperfect Union: Representation and Taxation in Multilevel Governments⁠, explains how property values are determined, but also how this widely used system suffers from a perpetual bias against lower-valued properties. Berry recommends: Plundered: How Racist Policies Undermine Black Homeownership in America by Bernadette Atuahene

  • S1 · E11
    June 2 · 25 min

    NYC Politics, Black Voters & Republican Factions | Dr. Christina Greer - Fordham (Ep. 11)

    Fordham Professor Christina Greer, author of How to Build a Democracy: From Fannie Lou Hamer and Barbara Jordan to Stacey Abrams, and Black Ethnics: Race, Immigration, and the Pursuit of the American Dream,. Greer recommends: Racial and Ethnic Politics in American Suburbs, Deed Theft, and Jesse Jackson's 1969 interview in Playboy and The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson.

  • S1 · E10
    May 26 · 22 min

    Factions & The Future of the Republican Party | Prof. Seth Masket - University of Denver (Ep. 10)

    S⁠⁠eth Masket⁠⁠, University of Denver Professor of Political Science is on Substack at the @smotus report, and is the author of The Elephants in the Room: How Trump Voters Seized the Party from Republican Leaders⁠, Learning from Loss: The Democrats, 2016-2020,⁠ and ⁠The Inevitable Party: Why Attempts to Kill the Party System Fail and How they Weaken Democracy⁠. Masket recommends: Furious Minds: The Making of the MAGA New Right and How the Tea Party Captured the GOP: Insurgent Factions in American Politics.

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