Why can’t America build anymore housing, transmission lines, and even EV chargers without getting stuck in endless reviews and lawsuits? Marc J. Dunkelman. author of "Why Nothing Works: Who Killed Progress—and How to Bring It Back", joins Policy Punchline to trace the arc from New Deal “builders” to today’s overlapping veto points. We dig into NIMBY politics, environmental review, Loper Bright and agency power, and the paradox where progressive rules now stall progressive goals. Join hosts Maddie Feldman and Eli Padoan in asking what it takes—politically, legally, culturally—to get America building again. 

Voice Without a Veto: How to Bring Progress Back with Marc Dunkelman

In the aftermath of a shattering illness, Lonni Sue Johnson lives in a "perpetual now," where she has almost no memories of the past and a nearly complete inability to form new ones. The Perpetual Now is the moving story of this exceptional woman, and the groundbreaking revelations about memory, learning, and consciousness her unique case has uncovered. Lonni Sue Johnson was a renowned artist who regularly produced covers for The New Yorker, a gifted musician, a skilled amateur pilot, and a joyful presence to all who knew her. But in late 2007, she contracted encephalitis. The disease burned through her hippocampus like wildfire, leaving her severely amnesic, living in a present that rarely progresses beyond ten to fifteen minutes. &#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; Remarkably, she still retains much of the intellect and artistic skills from her previous life, but it's not at all clear how closely her consciousness resembles yours or mine. As such, Lonni Sue's story has become part of a much larger scientific narrative&mdash;one that is currently challenging traditional wisdom about how human memory and awareness are stored in the brain. &#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; In this probing, compassionate, and illuminating book, award-winning science journalist Michael D. Lemonick uses the unique drama of Lonni Sue Johnson's day-to-day life to give us a nuanced and intimate understanding of the science that lies at the very heart of human nature.

The Perpetual Now by Michael D. Lemonick, read by Kaleo Griffith

Economics professor Alan Krueger — former chairman of President Barack Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers — tells PAW’s Allie Wenner about his research on the economics of the music industry, including his opinions about the secondary market for concert tickets, how online streaming has reversed the downward trend in revenue for recordings, and why he thinks Taylor Swift is an “economic genius.”

PAWcast: Professor Alan Krueger on ‘Rockonomics’ (September 2018)

Two in-depth interviews every week with scholars, policy makers, and business executives on frontier ideas & urgent issues in our world.

Sponsored by the Julis-Rabinowitz Center for Public Policy and Finance and the Griswold Center for Economic Policy Studies at Princeton University. 

Hosted by Tiger Gao '21 and other undergraduate Princetonians. 

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