The War between Israel and the US on one side and Iran and Lebanon on the other is in its fourth month. Despite claims from the White House that a deal is imminent, the war and the destruction have continued. Indeed the concept of a cease fire is undermined with every attack. The global economy is struggling with the increased energy costs due to the closing of the Straits of Hormuz. And people continue to die. So on today’s show we update the news on the war, explore any potential pathways to end the war and examine the impact of the war particularly on both Iran and Lebanon. [ dur: 58mins. ]

Yeghia Tashjian is the Regional and International Affairs Cluster Coordinator of Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy & International Affairs (IFI) and a part time Instructor at American University of Beirut. He is the author “The International North-South Transport Corridor and the Belt and Road Initiative in the South Caucasus,” published in the edited volume of Routledge Handbook of China’s Belt and Road Initiative in Eurasia (2025).
Ervand Abrahamian is Professor Emeritus at City University of New York. He is the author of A History of Modern Iran and Inventing the Axis of Evil: The Truth About North Korea, Iran and Syria.
Stephen Zunes is a Professor of Politics at the University of San Francisco. He is the author of numerous publications including Tinderbox: U.S. Middle East Policy and the Roots of Terrorism, Western Sahara: War, Nationalism and Conflict Irresolution co-authored with Jacob Mundy.

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker and Sudd Dongre.

Politics and Activism, War / Weapons, Middle East, Iran, Israel, Lebanon , US

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Ebola Outbreak, WHO and US CDC Policies on Infectious Diseases – June 7, 2026

June 6, 2026 host

Africa once again has an Ebola outbreak. At this point, it is centered in the so-called Greak Lakes region, with the largest number of cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Uganda has also seen several cases. Sadly this is not new news. But it takes place in the context of a weakened World Health Organization, with the US withdrawal, and a stark memory of the Covid outbreaks. It also is exacerbated by the shuttering of USAID and severe cuts in health funding from the Trump Administration. The United States is insisting that any American that tests positive for the virus would be treated outside of the country, provoking protests in East Africa such as in Kenya. So is the Ebola outbreak a potential pandemic? What has been the most effective means to treat these kinds of outbreaks. And how does it influence the current intense discourses about health care delivery and wellness in the United States. [ dur: 58mins. ]

Heather Wipfli is Professor and Clark Leadership Chair in Global Health at the University of Maryland. She is the co-author of Investigating global mental health: Contributions from political science and Network influences on policy implementation: Evidence from a global health treaty. And she has extensive experience in Uganda.
Lawrence Gostin is Faculty Director of the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law and is the Founding O’Neill Chair in Global Health Law at Georgetown Law. He is the co-editor of Global Health Security: A Blueprint for the Future and Global Health Law & Policy: Ensuring Justice for a Healthier World (2023). And he is working with the WHO and the Intergovernmental Negotiation Body (INB) to draft a Pandemic Treaty. His opinion posted in Washington Post titled – “Don’t tell Trump, but the U.S. is still a WHO member” and in The Hill where he co-authored “America’s wrong and unlawful response to Ebola must pivot“.
Amesha Adalja, Senior Scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He is the author of Recognition and Management of Infectious Bio-threats and Emerging Pathogens and AI and the Future of Medical Countermeasures to Protect Against Biological Threats. He has served on US government panels tasked with developing guidelines for the treatment of plague, botulism, and anthrax in mass casualty settings, the system of care for infectious disease

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker and Sudd Dongre.

Health, Infectious Diseases, Public Health and Safety, Uganda, Democratic Republic of the Congo

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Issues and Candidates for California Governor and Los Angeles Mayoral Elections – May 31, 2026

June 2, 2026 host

California has a state GDP of $4.25 trillion dollars. This is over $1 trillion more than the second largest state, Texas, with $2.9 trillion. If it were its own country, it would be the 4th largest GDP in the world (just past Japan and behind only Germany, China, and the US). It is the largest state by population, with just over 39 million. It’s over 12% of the total population. And it is holding a primary for state offices. Governor Gavin Newsom is term limited out and the field for Governor is vast. And California has a primary system where the top 2 in votes proceed to the general election regardless of party. On today’s show we will explore the Gubernatorial primary and the issues this state faces. [ dur: 28mins. ]

Christian Grose is Professor of Political Science and Public Policy at the University of Southern California. He is the Academic Director of the USC Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy. He is the co-author of Independent Redistricting Commissions Increase Voter Perceptions of Fairness and Local Election Administrators in the United States: The Frontline of Democracy.

Los Angeles is the second largest city in America. It has a $14.8 billion budget. As an entertainment capital, its developments are often national news. It is an incredibly diverse city with a history of a disconnection between the power of City Hall and the needs of its population. And it has a primary election coming up to elect a mayor. Karen Bass, the current mayor, is running for re-election. She is leading in polls but has high disapproval ratings. A leftist critic of her administration is running. And a former reality show personality is also running. So today we examine the LA mayor race, and the history of the office as one of limited power. [ dur: 30mins. ]

Matthew Barreto is Professor of Political Science and Chicana/o Studies at UCLA and the faculty director of the UCLA Voting Rights Project. He is the author of Ethnic Cues: The role of shared ethnicity in Latino political behavior and co-author of Race, Class, and Precinct Quality in American Cities with David Leal.
Isaac Hale is Assistant Professor of Politics at Occidental College. He is co-author of “Interest Group Influence on Preferences for New Voting Rights Legislation in a Polarized Environment” and “Resentment & Democratic Politics: The Role of Racial Resentment in Motivating Electoral Participation.”

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker and Sudd Dongre.

Economics, Politics and Activism, Homelessness, Elections, Califiornia, Los Angeles

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Trauma Experienced by Children from School Shootings – May 24, 2026

May 24, 2026 host

Mass shootings in the Unites States are unprecedented in advanced industrial democracies. We explore the psychological impact of these shootings on the survivors and witnesses, with a particular attention to the children who experience this trauma. What are effective actions to confront the traumas experienced by the children who survive school shootings? Overwhelming the response of mass shootings is to “do something.” But what should we as a society and as an electorate do in response to these mass shootings? [ dur: 58mins. ]

Karla Vermeulen is the Deputy Director of the Institute for Disaster Mental Health and an Associate Professor of Psychology at SUNY New Paltz.She is the author of Generation Disaster: Coming of Age Post-9/11 and co-editor of Disaster Mental Health Case Studies: Lessons Learned from Counseling in Chaos.
Robin Gurwitch is a Professor in the Duke University Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and is Senior Advisor for the Terrorism and Disaster Program of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network. She is the co-author of Children in Disasters and Trauma-Directed Interaction (TDI): An Adaptation to Parent-Child Interaction Therapy for Families with a History of Trauma. Resource – National Child Traumatic Stress Network – Talking to children about shooting.
Heather Littleton is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Colorado, at Colorado Springs, and Research Director at the Lyda Hill Institute for Human Resilience. She is the co-author of “PTSD near and far: Symptom networks from two to 12 months after the Virginia Tech campus shootings.” And “Can people benefit from acute stress? Social support, psychological improvement, and resilience after the Virginia Tech campus shootings” as well as numerous publications on sexual violence and the trauma of the LGBTQI+ community.

More resources are available at:

https://www.newpaltz.edu/idmh/

https://www.nctsn.org/resources/talking-children-about-shooting

This panel was recorded on June, 2022.

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker, Melissa Chiprin and Sudd Dongre.

Health, Society and Culture, Mental Health, Childhood, Schools

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – SCOTUS Allows Access to Medication Abortion Pill Delivery by Mail – May 17, 2026

May 17, 2026 host

In 2022, the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, which guaranteed a constitutional right to an abortion. But previously the Court had allowed restrictions on abortions, making access quite challenging in a large part of the country. In response to these restrictions, women had gained access through prescription drugs, or what is called medication abortion. This involves two prescription drugs, mifepristone and misoprostol. Last week, a federal court issued an order disallowing mifepristone to be prescribed via telehealth and then distributed by mail. As we record today, the Supreme Court is expected to rule on this federal court order. So on today’s show, we take account to the status of access to medication abortion and what it means both for reproductive rights and health and for the law on this issue. [ dur: 58mins. ]

Rachel Rebouché is Professor of Law at the University of Texas at Austin. She is the author of Abortion Rights as Human Rights and co-author of The New Abortion Battleground and Abortion Pills (with David S. Cohen and Greer Donley).
Carole Joffe is Professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco. She is the author of Doctors of Conscience: The Struggle to Provide Abortion before and after Roe v. Wade and the co-author of After Dobbs: How the Supreme Court ended Roe but not Abortion with David Cohen.
Natalie Fixmer-Oriaz, F Wendell Miller Associate Professor of Communication Studies and Gender, Woman’s the Sexuality Studies at the University of Iowa. She is author of Homeland Maternity: US Security Culture and the New Reproductive Regime (2019) and Doing Gender Justice: Queering Reproduction, Kin, and Care (2025; with Shui-yin Sharon Yam).

This program is produced by Doug Becker, Ankine Aghassian, Maria Armoudian, Anna Lapin and Sudd Dongre.

Health, Medicine, Reproductive Health, Courts, Feminism, Mothers

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Why SCOTUS Ruined the Voting Rights Act of 1965 – May 10, 2026

May 11, 2026 host

The Voting Rights Act, or VRA, is viewed as the most important piece of legislation advancing civil rights in the 1960s. Passed in 1965, it was intended to redress the dis-empowerment of African Americans whose voting rights had been restricted due to several states legislation, ranging from poll taxes to literacy tests and other restrictions on voting. Throughout the Roberts Court, the VRA has been restricted and its protections stripped away. In 2026, perhaps the last of these provisions have been overturned, in a decision in the case Louisiana v Callais. On todays show, we will explore this decision and the impact it has on drawing Congressional districts, in an era of particularly aggressive gerrymandering. [ dur: 58mins. ]

Eric J. Segall, Ashe Family Chair Professor of Law and the Executive Director of Emmet J. Bondurant Center for Constitutional Law, Practice and Democracy at Georgia State University. He is the author of Originalism as Faith and Supreme Myths: Why the Supreme Court Is Not a Court and Its Justices Are Not Judges.
Seth C. McKee is a Professor of Political Science at Oklahoma State University. He is the author of The Dynamics of Southern Politics: Causes and Consequences and coauthor of Rural Republican Realignment in the Modern South: The Untold Story with MV Hood.
Christian Grose is a Professor of Political Science & Public Policy and the Academic Director of the USC Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy at the University of Southern California. He is the author of Independent Redistricting Commissions Increase Voter Perceptions of Fairness and co-author of Local Election Administrators in the United States: The Frontline of Democracy.

This program is produced by Doug Becker, Ankine Aghassian, Maria Armoudian, Anna Lapin and Sudd Dongre.

Politics and Activism, Elections, Redistricting, Voting Rights, Congress, Courts, Democrats, Republicans

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Prosecuting War Crimes – May 3, 2026

May 3, 2026 host

The last few years have been a particularly challenging time for the international law framework outlines at Nuremberg. The trial of the German leadership at the end of the Second World War, coupled with the creation of the UN and the UN Charter, codified a series of legal obligations for state leaders. It outlawed waging war or even threatening war. It held individual leaders as criminally liable for violating the rules of war. And it promised prosecutions as a result of these violations. While it had never realized its promise, the past few years, from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, to terrorist attacks against Israel and Israel’s waging of war in Gaza and Lebanon, to the Israeli and American war against Iran, have been a particular challenge to the so-called Nuremberg principles. So on today’s show, we explore what these principles are whether international actors can return to their promise. [ dur: 58mins. ]

Elizabeth Borgwardt is former Pozen Professor of Human Rights at the University of Chicago. She is the author of A New Deal for the World: America’s Vision for Human Rights and the upcoming The Nuremberg Idea: Thinking Humanity in History, Law and Politics.
Jennifer Trahan is a Clinical Professor and Director of the Concentration in International Law and Human Rights at NYU’s Center for Global Affairs. She is also Convenor of the Global Institute for the Prevention of Aggression, and is the author of Existing Legal Limits to the Use of the Veto in the Face of Atrocity Crimes. And the forthcoming The Crime of Aggression and Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine.
Mark Drumbl is Professor at Washington and Lee University, School of Law, and Director of the University’s Transnational Law Institute. He is the author of Atrocity, Punishment, and International Law and is the co-editor of Sights, Sounds and Sensibilities of Atrocity Prosecution with Caroline Fournet.
Hurst Hannum is Professor Emeritus of International Law at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He is the author of Autonomy, Sovereignty, and Self-Determination: The Accommodation of Conflicting Rights, Rethinking self-determination and Rescuing Human Rights: A Radically Moderate Approach.

This program is produced by Doug Becker, Ankine Aghassian, Maria Armoudian, Anna Lapin and Sudd Dongre.

Politics and Activism, Human Rights, Peace / Nonviolence, War / Weapons, War Crimes, Justice

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Birthright Citizenship, its Historic Roots in Immigration, Slavery, & Indigenous Peoples – April 26, 2026

April 26, 2026 host

As the US Supreme Court deliberates over the future of birthright citizenship, we explore its historic roots in light of immigration, slavery, and indigenous peoples. How do contemporary ideas of birthright citizenship fit with those of the past? How might these ideas influence the Supreme Court’s upcoming decision? [ dur: 58mins. ]

Book cover - Migration and the Origins of American Citizenship by author Anna Law.

Anna Law holds the Herbert Kurz Chair in Constitutional Rights at Brooklyn College, City University of New York. She is the author of The Immigration Battle in American Courts and Migration and the Origins of American Citizenship: African Americans, Native Americans, and Immigrants.
Julie Novkov is the Dean of the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy and Professor of Political Science and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the University at Albany. She is the author of Donald Trump, Constitutional Failure, and the Guardrails of Democracy and co-author of American by Birth: Wong Kim Ark and the Battle for Citizenship.
Gabriel “Jack” Chin is Distinguished Professor of Law and Director of Clinical Legal Education at UC Davies School of Law. The U.S. Supreme Court has cited his work in two cases: Chaidez v. United States and Padilla v. Kentucky. And Justice Sotomyer has cited his law article in Utah v. Strieff. He is the co-author of Birthright Citizenship, Slave Trade Legislation, and the Origins of Federal Immigration Regulation and author of A Nation of White Immigrants: State and Federal Racial Preferences for White Noncitizens.

This program is produced by Doug Becker, Ankine Aghassian, Maria Armoudian, Anna Lapin and Sudd Dongre.

Politics and Activism, Governance / Law, Courts, Immigration, Birthright

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – US Attorney General Pam Bondi Legacy; Prosecuting Presidents for Crimes – April 19, 2026

April 20, 2026 host

The Department of Justice has historically been largely independent from the White House, despite the fact that the Attorney General is appointed by the President and approved by the Senate. However, Donald Trump’s DOJ has been different. Recently fired AG Pam Bondi sought to prosecute the President’s political opponents and the Department has gone to great lengths to protect the President amid the revelations of the Epstein Files. On today’s show, we will discuss the legacy of Pam Bondi as Attorney General and what this means for the future of the Justice Department. [ dur: 28mins. ]

Austin Sarat is William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science at Amherst College. He is the editor of Is Democracy Doomed? and Lethal Injection and the False Promise of Humane Execution and Pam Bondi’s extreme political loyalty to Trump wasn’t enough to save her job, in The Conversation.

The criminal indictments of President Trump have created an unprecedented political crisis. Historically, U.S. presidents have not faced criminal charges—even in cases where guilt appeared likely—due in part to longstanding institutional norms surrounding the presidency. Gerald Ford’s pardon of Richard Nixon embodies this norm.

What can the U.S. learn from other countries that have prosecuted former presidents? What can we learn from past prosecutions of political figures in American history? Is the prosecution of former heads of state simply the weaponization of justice mechanisms? How common is this political charge? [ dur: 30mins. ]. This is a portion of our hour long discussion originally posted in August, 2023. Link to full interview.

Jeremi Suri is Professor in the Department of History and the LBJ School of Public Affairs and the Mack Brown Distinguished Chair for Leadership in Global Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin. He is the author of The Impossible Presidency: The Rise and Fall of America’s Highest Office and his latest book Civil War by Other Means: America’s Long and Unfinished Fight For Democracy. He hosts the podcast This is Democracy.
Tom Ginsburg is Leo Spitz Professor of International Law and Ludwig and Hilde Wolf Research Scholar at the University of Chicago Law School. He is the author of the books The Endurance of National Constitutions, Constitutions in Authoritarian Regimes, and co-author of the paper The Comparative Constitutional Law of Presidential Impeachment.
Ezequiel González Ocantos is Associate Professor in the Department of Politics and International Relations and a Professorial Fellow of Nuffield College at the University of Oxford. He is the author of Shifting Legal Visions: Judicial Change and Human Rights Trials in Latin America, The Politics of Transitional Justice in Latin America: Power, Norms and Capability Building, and co-author of Prosecutors, Voters, and the Criminalisation of Corruption in Latin America (w/ Paula Muñoz, Nara Pavao & Viviana Baraybar).

This program is produced by Doug Becker, Ankine Aghassian, Maria Armoudian, Anna Lapin and Sudd Dongre.

Politics and Activism, Governance / Law, Congress, Courts

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – US Policy of Policing Immigrants; Author Interview of Borders, Politics and Belonging – April 12, 2026

April 13, 2026 host

Kristi Noem, the controversial Secretary of Homeland Security, was fired from her position in March of 2026. Her short tenure as secretary was marked by numerous accusations of overreach of power, violations of due process particularly with regard to immigrants without proper documentation, and killing of protesters, notably in Minnesota, at the hands of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. On today’s show we will review Secretary Noem’s tenure at the Department and the future of ICE and the immigration raids she instituted. [ dur: 35mins. ]

Naomi Paik is Associate Professor of Global Asian Studies and Criminology, Law and Justice at University of Illinois, Chicago. She is the author of Bans, Walls, Raids, Sanctuary: Understanding U.S. Immigration for the 21st Century and Rightlessness: Testimony and Redress in U.S. Prison Camps since World War II, winner, Best Book in History.
Luke William Hunt is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Alabama. He is the author of The Police Identity Crisis — Hero, Warrior, Guardian, Algorithm and Police Deception and Dishonesty – The Logic of Lying .

How does immigration and the border define identity and belonging? We revisit a book on borders and their impact on immigration, identity, and belonging. [ dur: 23mins. ]

Hiroshi Motomura is the Susan Westerberg Prager Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is the author of Americans in Waiting: The Lost Story of Immigration and Citizenship in the United States and his latest book Borders and Belonging: Toward a Fair Immigration Policy.

This program is produced by Doug Becker, Ankine Aghassian, Maria Armoudian, Anna Lapin and Sudd Dongre.

Politics and Activism, Human Rights, police, Refugees

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The Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Pathways to End the War on Lebanon and Iran – June 14, 2026

Scholars’ Circle – Ebola Outbreak, WHO and US CDC Policies on Infectious Diseases – June 7, 2026

Scholars’ Circle – Issues and Candidates for California Governor and Los Angeles Mayoral Elections – May 31, 2026

Scholars’ Circle – Trauma Experienced by Children from School Shootings – May 24, 2026

Scholars’ Circle – SCOTUS Allows Access to Medication Abortion Pill Delivery by Mail – May 17, 2026

Scholars’ Circle – Why SCOTUS Ruined the Voting Rights Act of 1965 – May 10, 2026

Scholars’ Circle – Prosecuting War Crimes – May 3, 2026

Scholars’ Circle – Birthright Citizenship, its Historic Roots in Immigration, Slavery, & Indigenous Peoples – April 26, 2026

Scholars’ Circle – US Attorney General Pam Bondi Legacy; Prosecuting Presidents for Crimes – April 19, 2026

Scholars’ Circle – US Policy of Policing Immigrants; Author Interview of Borders, Politics and Belonging – April 12, 2026

By Maria Armoudian