America Trends Podcast

EP 934 A College President’s Reflections on the Crisis in Higher Education

 A series of threats have landed on the doorstep of leaders in higher education. These include a demographic cliff which jeopardizes the very existence of some institutions, the advent of AI and the uncertainties it presents for faculty and students prospects going forward, attacks on academic freedom from the Trump Administration, along with threats to cut off funding for research.  All of this in the wake of a ruling striking down affirmative action by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2023 and the turmoil on campus over treatment of both Jewish students and those demonstrating support for the Palestinian cause.  It’s no wonder the average college president occupies a chair some would ask ‘why would anyone want this job?’  Our guest, Beverly Daniel Tatum, Ph.D, was very successful in serving as the ninth president of Spelman College in Atlanta from 2002-2015.  In her latest book, “Peril and Promise”, she describes her innovative approach to leading a Historically Black College and University (HBCU), single sex institution for that length of time, as well as providing her insightful take on the challenges described above.

EP 933 Our National Security Strategy Has Changed: No Longer the World’s Policeman on the Beat

 The post-World War II world has seen America defending and trying to export democracy and free markets through its military might and the development of international organizations having the same purpose.  Under the Trump Administration II, and its recently released National Security Strategy the new approach can best be described as an ‘America First’ national security regime.  It is in their words more ‘realistic’ given our fiscal challenges and offshore balance security concerns are to be left to allies closer to where the hotspots are.  It shows growing concern for American business interests around the world, regardless of the political dynamics of the potential customer, and less about promoting more liberal, democratic governments.  There are mixed signals toward our greatest competitor, China, though it clearly disavows the notion of past Administrations that trade and engagement with this country can lead to democratic reforms there.  Some call this policy document a gift to the Russians.  It remains to be seen.  In many cases this document, updated by every Administration is put forward in theory but not in practice. However, we have just seen in the Venezuelan Maduro capture the re-emphasis of dominance in the Western Hemisphere.  To discuss this changing international focus with us is Todd Sheets, author of the Substack newsletter ‘On Wealth and Progress’ and author of the book, “2008: What Really Happened.”

EP 932 Once, Plastics was the Future: Now Some Say It Should be a Thing of the Past

There is a growing awareness about the increasing dangers of plastic.  We see it everywhere, yet some of the invisible plastics contamination, called microplastics or nano-plastics, may be as insidious as what can see. It can be found everywhere in our environment–even our bodies–as a persistent, accumulating toxin, with carcinogens and other hazards.  Our guest, Dr. Jason White, director of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, along with colleagues from Rutgers University and the New Jersey Institute of Technology, with a grant from the USDA, has been studying how plastics are getting into the food that we eat. Plastics are routinely found in agricultural soils and irrigation water.  Tiny shards can slip through water treatment plants into the public water supply and end up in fertilizers, as well.  Agricultural products not only absorb the plastic particles but also increase the accumulation of heavy metals, lead and cadmium, as well as PFAS, or ‘forever chemicals.’ Increasing health risks to humans include heart attack, stroke and colon and lunge cancer.  It’s a distressing picture. Dr. White describes what his research is finding and ways to remediate the problem.

EP 931 Is the Supreme Court Going to Gut the Voting Rights Act and Affect the 2026 Mid-Terms?

There is a crucially significant case now before the U.S. Supreme Court which may be decided within days or months.  The timing will determine whether its impact is felt in this Congressional cycle (2026) or 2028.  It deals with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, a landmark civil rights statute that was re-authorized by Congress nearly by acclamation in 2006.  Even Chief Justice John Roberts, no friend of the law, said at the time that while the Court struck down Section 5 of the Act in 2013 (a provision that required states to get approval from the federal Department of Justice in order for certain states and local jurisdictions with a history of racial discrimination to redistrict) that Section 2, prohibiting racial gerrymandering, would still be on the books to protect the rights of those populations.  If Section 2 protections are gone, the Voting Rights Act is, in effect, gutted and unworkable as envisioned and has operated over the last sixty years.  Between 12-19 Congressional seats in the Deep South, now represented by Black legislators, could be absorbed into White conservative districts.  To discuss this possibility is David Daley, America’s leading expert on gerrymandering, a Senior Fellow at FairVote (fairvote.org) and author of a number of books on the subject, including his latest “Antidemocratic:  Inside the Right’s 50-Year Plot to Control American Elections.”

EP 930 Primary Care Needs to Be Foundation of Health Care Reform

If more Americans regularly saw primary care doctors, many lives–and billions of dollars–could be saved.  The preventative care they provide is crucial as a foundation to the entire health care system.  Yet, the fee-for-service model is an inefficient one and should be replaced by a value-based approach, according to Dr. Troyen Brennan and adjunct professor of health policy and management at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health and the author of “Wonderful and Broken: The Complex Reality of Primary Care in the United States.”  He goes on to explain the value-based model in our podcast and forecasts a movement in that direction in the coming years.  And he pays great homage to primary care physicians in the book while recognizing that they are underpaid, overworked, and often incentivized to move into higher-paying specialties while patients face provider shortages and many live in ever-growing primary-care deserts.