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Kristen de Groot
News Officer
krisde@upenn.edu
Political Science
Lessons from Hiroshima, 75 years later
Lessons from Hiroshima, 75 years later
Penn Today asks scholars and experts to share their thoughts on the 75th anniversary of America’s atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
Russia, bounties, and the U.S. elections
Russia, bounties, and the U.S. elections
Amid allegations of Russian bounties on U.S. soldiers and of hackers trying to steal vaccine research, Penn Today spoke to two experts to get their take and how the developments play into the U.S. presidential election cycle.
Partisanship and the pandemic
Partisanship and the pandemic
Partisanship, not health concerns, is the main driver of whether Americans are social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new study.
Understanding infrastructure
Understanding infrastructure
In the second episode of Penn Today’s “Understand This ...” podcast series, emphasizing interdisciplinary perspectives, a Wharton and Weitzman School discuss the past, present, and future of infrastructure.
Brazil’s coronavirus crisis
Brazil’s coronavirus crisis
Brazil has become one of the world’s deadliest hotspots for the novel coronavirus, second only to the United States in deaths and infections. Melissa Teixeira, a historian of modern Brazil, shares her thoughts on the nation’s response and challenges it faces in battling the virus.
Do long waiting times for voting put democracy on the line?
Do long waiting times for voting put democracy on the line?
Gerard Cachon’s research looks at whether the length of voting time affects the effective exercise of democratic rights, and if the relationship between resource disparity and voting behavior depends on the racial composition of voters or party affiliation.
Coding for a cause
Coding for a cause
As the viral pandemic shuttered campus and disrupted routines, The Borders and Boundaries Project turned the challenging situation into a chance to give back and get work done.
SP2 graduate is now a policy fellow for Philly’s LGBTQ population
SP2 graduate is now a policy fellow for Philly’s LGBTQ population
Sayeeda Rashid, who identifies as a queer South Asian woman, advocates for social justice in the Philadelphia Mayor’s office of LGBTQ Affairs.
Five takeaways from the DACA ruling
Five takeaways from the DACA ruling
What does this decision mean for the nearly 700,000 DACA recipients in America? Political scientist Michael Jones Correa shares five key takeaways from the ruling
Can widespread protests bring lasting change?
Can widespread protests bring lasting change?
Amidst the current protests decrying the killings of Black people by police and demand for reforms, Penn Today speaks to political scientist Daniel Gillion about his new book, “The Loud Minority: Why Protests Matter in American Democracy.”
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The Washington Post
Facebook’s fact-checkers have ruled claims in Trump ads are false—but no one is telling Facebook’s users
Facebook employed fact checkers, including the Annenberg Public Policy Center’s FactCheck.org, to assess political ads on the platform but has not shared the results with the ads’ viewers. “The policy should be that you provide Facebook users with as much information as you can to make good decisions. That’s why we’re here,” said Eugene Kiely of FactCheck.org. “I don’t see how you can argue against giving Facebook users more information.”
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Associated Press
Biden on cognitive test: ‘Why the hell would I take a test?’
Kathleen Hall Jamieson of the Annenberg Public Policy Center said verbal slips are not enough to conclude that a presidential candidate is unqualified for the job. “If you can’t focus, that’s a problem. If you can’t provide a coherent answer, that’s a problem. (But) sometimes what you’re seeing, it may be annoying, but it doesn’t speak to a person’s capacity to govern,” she said.
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The New York Times
Elizabeth Warren’s evolution on race brought her here
Stephen Burbank of the Law School spoke about Elizabeth Warren’s research on systemic inequality. “I believe that finding out what was happening to people, including minorities, was very, very influential in the development of all sorts of her views and policy positions,” he said.
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NBC Philadelphia
‘Reassurance that future is better’: What Americans want from leaders
Ian Lustick of the School of Arts & Sciences was interviewed about U.S. politics and economics. Americans are looking to political leaders for “reassurance that the future will be better than the present,” he said.
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Marketplace (NPR)
If the Fed’s nominees were confirmed, could they change monetary policy?
Peter Conti-Brown of the Wharton School said every appointment to the Federal Reserve is significant. “Each governor and each reserve bank president gets, with the appointment, a bully pulpit,” he said. “And what that governor or president does with that pulpit can matter significantly.”
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The New York Times
In era of sickness, doctors prescribe unusual cure: Voting
Aliza Narva, director of ethics at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, commented on efforts to help hospital patients register to vote. “I would guess that people really saw the implication that policy can have on the actual care that we are able to deliver,” she said.
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