Remember the supply chain problems of 2020 and 2021? The story we were told was that COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the world’s ability to make and transport goods, leaving us with shortages of everything from surgical masks to infant formula (not to mention seven dollar eggs).

However, it turns out that the real story behind those shortages is more complicated, and has less to do with the pandemic than with transformations to our economy that have been taking place over decades.

On this episode (originally broadcast on the Rhodes Center Podcast), political economist Mark Blyth talks with Peter Goodman, a New York Times' global economic correspondent and author of the book, “How the World Ran Out of Everything: Inside the Global Supply Chain,” about why these shocks really occurred, and what they can tell us about the fragility of our global economy today. They also explore what these supply shortages looked like from inside individual companies, and why, unless we make some major changes to our economy, we’re at risk of running out of everything again.

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Watch Peter Goodmans’ talk at the Watson Institute

Transcript coming soon to our website

While no one knows how this November’s election is going to go in the U.S., there’s one thing most experts agree on: It’s likely going to be close. Very close. Poll after poll suggests that, especially in a few key states, support for the two candidates is evenly split in a way we haven’t seen in decades.

So, with just about four weeks to go before election day, Dan Richards spoke with two experts about the key factors shaping this race. They discuss why neither Biden’s winning coalition in 2020 nor Trump’s coalition in 2016 seem likely to re-form and what this all means for American politics beyond November 5.

Guests on this episode:

• Wendy Schiller is a political science professor and director of the Taubman Center for American Politics and Policy. She is also the interim director of the Watson Institute.
• Katherine Tate is a professor of political science at Brown University and an expert on public opinion and Black politics in the U.S.

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Transcript coming soon to our website.

Even for an election year, the last few months have seen a head-spinning amount of political news in the United States.

So, on this episode, Dan Richards spoke with someone uniquely suited to help make sense of the race as it enters the homestretch. Isaac Dovere is a senior reporter for CNN based in Washington covering Democratic politics. He’s also a senior fellow at the Watson Institute and teaches a class on political journalism. Prior to working at CNN, he was a staff writer at The Atlantic, and before that, he served as Politico’s chief Washington correspondent.

Beyond being one of America’s most insightful political reporters, he’s also a deep thinker when it comes to how political news works in America—how it’s made, how it’s consumed, and it in turn shapes our politics.

Dan and Isaac discuss how this election has been covered in the press, how political journalism has changed since Trump first ran for president, and why everyone would benefit from being a little more critical of the news they consume (and maybe, sometimes, taking a break from the news altogether).

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