In the News

Economist Emily Oster comments on the rule to not drink while pregnant, saying "...doctors who have expressed the view that whatever the literature says, since we know that drinking a lot of alcohol is bad, we should tell people not to drink at all. They worry that people will overdo it."

Senior Fellow Deborah Gordon on reducing climate impacts with oil innovation, "Reducing the climate impacts of the most emissions-intensive oils is possible with technologies that already exist. Even greater reductions are possible with innovations undergoing development."

Senior Fellow Chas Freeman participated in the "The New Geopolitics – Trump, Populism and Nationalism" during the Oil & Money 2017 conference.

John Friedman, associate professor of economics, comments on an article about the recent trend of selective public universities shutting out low-income students.

Economist John Friedman joined the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundations' podcast, To a Degree, to discuss the relationship between higher education institutions and low-income students.

A book review of "Unhealthy Politics: The Battle over Evidence-Based Medicine" that draws on public opinion surveys, physician surveys, case studies, and political science models to explain how political incentives, polarization, and the misuse of professional authority have undermined efforts to tackle the medical evidence problem and curb wasteful spending.

Anthropology and international studies professor Cathy Lutz comments on Okinawa women and Guam activists who oppose further militarization.

Public Policy Fellow Marc Dunkelman and sociology professor Michael Kennedy are mentioned in an article about a panel they participated in at the inaugural Greater Good Gathering, a conference "aimed to look 'deeply and cross-disciplinarily at how the means for addressing and promoting the Greater Good may be changing in today's world.'"

Watson Institute's Costs of War Project is cited in a blog post from the Niskanen Center, "...the Costs of War project at Brown University's Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs estimated last year that the total cost of the wars was $4.79 trillion."

Political Science professor Wendy Schiller joined Molly Wood of Marketplace Tech to discuss the history of political propaganda and how social media has impacted it.

Ashutosh Varshney, Director of the Center for Contemporary South Asia, in The Indian Express, "Modi might still be very popular, but for him, ideology triumphs over governance, civil liberties are less important than political conformity, and enforcement of a Hindu majoritarian politics is more significant than India's economic ascendancy."

Senior Fellow Timothy Edgar in The Next Web, "Americans shouldn't wait for another damaging leak of classified surveillance programs to force the next round of surveillance reform. Reforming surveillance has never been more urgent."

Senior Fellow Chas Freeman discusses the future of the United States-led order at the Oil & Monday Conference hosted by The New York Times and Energy Intelligence.

Although a leader in climate policies, many experts say California's oil producing methods need reforming.

Senior Fellow Stephen Kinzer in The Boston Globe, "Today the most visible secessionist movements are in Kurdistan and Catalonia. If their demands are met, others will follow."

On Tuesday, October 10th, Political economist Mark Blyth participated in "Why People Vote for Those Who Work Against Their Best Interests," an event at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Findings from the Costs of War project are cited in an opinion piece written by a West Point graduate and longtime journalist.

Eric Patashnik is mentioned in a post about a panel discussion he participated in at the Brookings Institute entitled "What Does 21st Century Medicine Look Like?"

Mark Blyth and Matthias Matthijs examine the "impossible task" British Prime Minister Theresa May has ahead of her.

In a wide ranging conversation hosted by Brown University's Watson Institute, Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo spoke on several topics ranging from the 2016 election to the possibility of passing legislation on recreational marijuana use.

In an interview with Henry Farrell of The Washington Post, political scientist Eric Patashnik discusses his new book Unhealthy Politics: The Battle over Evidence-Based Medicine, and its findings.

Postdoctoral Fellow Narges Bajoghli in Al Monitor, "If it becomes indefinite — which could very much be the case given the absence of diplomatic relations between Iran and the United States — Travel Ban 3.0 will have severe consequences for the Iranian American community."

Wendy Schiller, professor of political science, said Republican candidates for governor in Rhode Island will have some challenges ahead of them if they want to unseat Gov. Gina Raimondo.

Senior Fellow Stephen Kinzer in The Boston Globe, "Using the CIA to run wars is wrong. The larger mistake is believing that any amount of American firepower, directed by anyone, can stabilize the Muslim world or make the United States safer."

Most millennials believe that neither the Democratic or Republican party care about them, according to the Pew Research Center.

The Costs of War project is cited in an article about newly released documents that breakdown how much taxpayers have contributed to America's wars.

Senior Fellow Deborah Gordon in The National Interest, "More than fifty years later, the field of climate engineering remains largely unknown, especially to policymakers and the public. There are real risks to opting into—or out of—climate engineering."

Wendy Schiller, professor of political science, comments on when the style of "permanent" political campaigning emerged.

Political economist Mark Blyth in an interview with Liberal Culture, "Poland will be fine. It's not like the investments are going to stop going into countries outside the eurozone. You just have to convert it from one currency to another."

Senior Fellow Stephen Kinzer presents his book, The True Flag: Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain and the Birth of American Empire, to WBUR.

The emergence of a military junta — the three generals Trump said he would defer to for foreign policy choices — should be a cause for concern because they may not be best equipped to make decisions on America's long term interests, according to Senior Fellow Stephen Kinzer.

The Watson Institute recently published a paper that found military related spending generated fewer direct positions and supply-chain jobs per $1 million in government money than clean energy, health care, education or infrastructure.

Professor Eric Patashnik spoke with WBUR about his new book, Unhealthy Politics: The Battle over Evidence-Based Medicine.

An idea by Economist John Friedman is mentioned in this article that examines why the retirement system in America might be in the crosshairs of politicians working on tax reform.

Patsy Lewis, Director of the Development Studies undergrad program, in Fortune, "The U.S., given its close proximity and long history of engagement with the region, is well-placed to take the lead.

The Costs of War project is cited in a listicle about whether America is safer 16 years after 9/11.

Jessaca Leinaweaver, Director of the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, in US News "Baby box programs purport to protect children by allowing them to be safely abandoned to the care of the government."

Political scientist Susan Moffitt has been named the director of the Taubman Center for American Politics and Policy.

Vazira Zamindar in The Wire, "The question is not simply whether Partition should or should not have happened."

Research by Professor Margaret Weir was mentioned in an article about what the U.S. would look like if everyone who didn't have a job and wanted one, got one.

Tom Perez, chairman of the Democratic National Committee and former U.S. labor secretary under President Barack Obama, will join the Watson Institute as a senior fellow.

As Texans worry about the potential health effects from the flooded plant that led to a massive fire, political scientist Jeff Colgan wrote in his most recent op-ed that this type of incident is called a 'knock-on' effect of climate change and that political fights are likely to ensue over whose responsible for other 'knock-on' effects as the climate continues to warm.

Postdoc Fellow Narges Bajoghli in Al Monitor, "During both the February 2016 parliamentary elections as well as the city and village council elections of May 2017, women won an unprecedented number of seats.

Senior Fellow Tim Edgar wrote an op-ed about the implications of Edward Snowden's decision to disclose National Security Agency practices and why any reforms of the NSA's surveillance programs must protect the privacy of all people around the world, not just those of American nationality.

In an op-ed published Thursday, political scientist Rose McDermott reassured that the skills students learn in the social sciences and the humanities will be even more essential as we head into a technological world.

If you're looking to expand your linguistic horizons while simultaneously setting yourself up for professional success, there's one language that vastly outpaces the rest in terms of its utility according to Brown economist Emily Oster.

This piece cites an article by Marc J. Dunkelman, a fellow in international and public affairs, where he explained why New Jersey didn't become the "metropolis of the world" in the way that New York eventually did.

In wake of recent events, The Choices Program introduced a new Teaching with the News lesson entitled "History in Dispute: Charlottesville and Confederate Monuments."