Prof. David Rand speaks with Wired reporter Brian Barrett about the implications of Meta’s new “community notes” system in addressing bias on social media platforms. “The motivator for all of this changing of Meta’s policies and Musk’s takeover of Twitter is this accusation of social media companies being biased against conservatives,” says Rand. “There’s just not good evidence of that.”
Prof. Daron Acemoglu speaks with Times Higher Ed’s Jack Grove about the importance of maintaining economic and political discussions in higher ed. “It is fine for academics to speak on such issues as long as you can keep that separate from your classrooms and for what constitutes high-quality research,” says Acemoglu. “There are special times when academics should speak out.”
Prof. Daron Acemoglu, one of the recipients of the 2024 Nobel Prize in economics, speaks with NPR Planet Money hosts Jeff Guo and Greg Rosalsky about the academic inspirations that led to his award-winning research studying the role of institutions in shaping economies. “In 1980, as I was in middle school, just the beginning of my seventh grade, Turkey suffered a big military coup,” explains Acemoglu. “There were soldiers everywhere, including in our school. Turkey was definitely not a democratic country at the time, and it was also suffering via a series of economic problems. I got interested in exactly these sets of issues.”
Prof. Vipin Narang speaks with New York Times reporter David E. Sanger about the “use of nuclear weapons as the ultimate bargaining chip.” Narang explains: “A nuclear threshold is not determined by words, but by the deterrence balance and stakes, and changes to declaratory doctrine do not at all change the deterrence balance between the U.S., NATO and Russia.”
Prof. Charles Stewart III speaks with USA Today reporter Chris Brennan about misinformation surrounding the integrity of the election process in the U.S. "What we're seeing now are groups that are arising specifically to keep the controversy going and to make money on it and to try to expand the view," says Stewart.
Prof. Ariel White speaks with NPR reporter Elena Moore about how voting laws for formerly incarcerated individuals vary from state to state. “The right to vote is going to vary quite a bit across different states in the U.S.,” says White. “It can be really challenging for people to get accurate information about what the law is and how it might be applied to them.”
Prof. Charles Stewart III speaks with McClatchy reporter Brendan Rascius about mail-in ballots for the 2024 election. “The USPS processes a total of 300 million pieces of mail each day,” says Stewart. “The total number of mail ballots will be something in the neighborhood of 50 million which, of course, will generate a total of 100 million pieces of mail – a volume that will be stretched out over several weeks. Therefore, this is not a major surge in volume.”
Prof. Adam Berinsky speaks with Boston Globe reporter Aidan Ryan about misinformation in the age of generative AI. “I don’t think that AI is necessarily going to make misinformation better, in the sense of making it more persuasive,” says Berinsky.“But it’s easier to create misinformation.”
Prof. Charles Stewart III speaks with The Guardian reporter Rachel Leingang and Votebeat reporter Jen Fifield about restoring faith in the U.S. election process. Of hand-counting ballots, Stewart explains: “I don’t see any evidence that something like this [hand-counting votes] would be the silver bullet that would restore confidence among the mass public.”
Writing for The Hill, Prof. Caitlin Talmadge and Michael O’Hanlon of the Brookings Institute make the case that America’s aims for the war in Ukraine should not be “strategic defeat” of Russia. “The goals, rather, should be stability in Europe and the sustainability of a strong Ukraine, both of which are best served by ending the war sooner rather than later,” they write.
Prof. Adam Berinsky speaks with MSNBC’s Morning Joe about the impact of misinformation on democracy and the upcoming 2024 election. “The larger issue is that there is this climate of distrust,” says Berinsky.
Prof. M. Taylor Fravel speaks with NPR reporter Emily Feng about a new Pentagon report highlighting China’s accelerated efforts to develop a nuclear arsenal. “It’s a complete transformation of China's approach to nuclear weapon,” says Fravel. “[The information found in the report] confirms “the rapid modernization foreshadowed several years ago is on track.”
Prof. Charles Stewart III speaks with Matter of Fact host Soledad O’Brien to explain the role and history of the Speaker of the House. “In a nation of people who are naysayers and distrusting of authority, distrusting of institutions and political parties, the American Congress remains the most capable parliamentary institution on this planet,” says Stewart.
Writing for Foreign Affairs, Prof. M. Taylor Fravel examines the suggestion that China’s economic downturn could lead to war. “Chinese leaders have rarely, if ever, started a conflict purely as a diversion, even during moments of domestic crisis,” writes Fravel. “When the Chinese economy falters, the danger is not diversionary war. It is that China’s leaders will feel weak and become more sensitive to external challenges, potentially lashing out to show strength and deter other countries from taking advantage of their insecurity.”
Politico reporter Joanne Kenen spotlights Prof. Adam Berinsky’s new book, “Political Rumors: Why We Accept Misinformation and How to Fight it.” The book “examines attitudes toward both politics and health, both of which are undermined by distrust and misinformation in ways that cause harm to both individuals and society.”