JAM II

JAM (D)

Chance!

President Trump has made his feelings about US competition with China plain; one of the early acts of his second presidential term has been to place tariffs on Chinese imports. China has since responded with its own tariffs on certain US goods and restrictions on the import of important minerals.

To talk about US-China relations with the return of Donald Trump, in February 2025 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Professor Minxin Pei, the Tom and Margot Pritzker '72 Professor of Government and George R. Roberts Fellow at Claremont McKenna College. They also spoke about China’s surveillance state and the concept of preventative repression, and how China might respond to US escalation on trade.

This episode was produced by Chris Gilson and Luke Digweed.

LSE: The Ballpark | US-China relations under the new Trump administration with Professor Minxin Pei

With the cost-of-living crisis leading to the closure of community spaces around the UK, and the pressures on urban development projects, this episode of LSE iQ asks, are we in danger of losing our communities?  

Speakers: Professor Shani Orgad, Dr Divya Srivastava , Dr Julia King, Dr Olivia Theocharides-Feldman 

Research links: 

“Listening in times of crisis: The value and limits of radio phone-in shows” by Shani Orgad, Divya Srivastava, and Diana Olaleye 
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/01634437241308729?af=R  

Making Space for Girls project, with Dr Julia King and Olivia Theocharides-Feldman 
https://www.lse.ac.uk/Cities/research/cities-space-and-society/Making-Space-For-Girls  

We’re keen to find out more about our audience so we can better tailor our content to suit your interests. With this in mind, we would be grateful if you could please take the time to fill out this short survey and share your feedback.

LSE iQ is a university podcast by the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Are we in danger of losing our communities?

Donald Trump’s links to the right, including the far right and the alt-right date back to least to his 2016 presidential campaign and continued through his first term and then into his 2024 election campaign where Trump faced accusations of being an authoritarian populist.  

To discuss Donald Trump’s links to the far right, in February 2025 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Dr Rachel Blum of the University of Oklahoma. They also discussed Dr Blum’s research on party factions and their impact on contemporary US politics, and the 22nd Amendment to the US Constitution, which limits the number of times someone can be elected as President of the United States to two terms. 

This episode was produced by Chris Gilson and Luke Digweed.


Further reading and resources 

 

How the Tea Party Captured the GOP: Insurgent Factions in American Politics by Rachel M. Blum (The University of Chicago Press, 2020) - https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/H/bo48408420.html 

Cooperating Factions: A Network Analysis of Party Divisions in U.S. Presidential Nominations by Rachel M. Blum and Hans C. Noel (Cambridge University Press, 2024) - https://www.cambridge.org/gb/universitypress/subjects/politics-international-relations/american-government-politics-and-policy/cooperating-factions-network-analysis-party-divisions-us-presidential-nominations?format=PB  

The MAGA Coup: Trump’s Takeover of the GOP (w/ Dr. Rachel Blum) – Deep Dive with Shawn C. Fettig - https://deepdivepodcast.buzzsprout.com/1983649/episodes/16215700-the-maga-coup-trump-s-takeover-of-the-gop-w-dr-rachel-blum

LSE: The Ballpark | Donald Trump and the far-right with Dr Rachel Blum

The ongoing conflict in Ukraine has brought the spectre of potential nuclear conflict back into the public consciousness for the first time in decades. But what’s behind the potential for nuclear conflict and what issues are at stake for nuclear powers other than the US and Russia, like China?

To discuss these and other questions on the current state of global nuclear tensions and development, in March 2025 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Dr Nicola Leveringhaus of King's College London. 

This episode was produced by Chris Gilson and Luke Digweed.  
Further reading and resources
•	Under the Nuclear Shadow: China’s Information-Age Weapons in International Security by Fiona S. Cunningham (Princeton University Press, 2025) - https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691261027/under-the-nuclear-shadow 
•	The New Nuclear Age: At the Precipice of Armageddon by Ankit Panda (Wiley, 2025) - https://www.wiley.com/en-gb/The+New+Nuclear+Age%3A+At+the+Precipice+of+Armageddon-p-9781509557462 


LSE: The Ballpark | US-China strategic stability with Dr Nicola Leveringhaus

What type of person falls for an online scam?  Who are the fraudsters and how does colonialism motivate them? And what’s the connection between criminality and pop music? 

This episode of LSE iQ looks at how we can avoid falling for online scams. We think it couldn’t happen to us, but incidents of online fraud are escalating at an alarming rate, affecting all areas of our day-to-day lives, from social media and dating apps to banking and business. 

As AI deepfakes and impersonation tactics become more advanced, scammers are finding new ways to exploit us, leaving victims emotionally and financially devastated. 

In this episode Oliver Johnson talks to a victim of a devastating romance scam, he hears about what motivates some of the fraudsters and what legal protections we have in the battle against the scammers.

Contributors: Dr Suleman Lazarus, Professor Andrew Murray, Lisa Mills, Nikki MacLeod

Research:
Fraud as Legitimate Retribution for Colonial Injustice, Dr Suleman Lazarus et al

Examining fifty cases of convicted online romance fraud offenders Dr Suleman Lazarus et al
Information Technology Law Professor Andrew Murray

Rethinking the Jurisprudence of Cyberspace Professor Andrew Murray et al

LSE iQ is a university podcast by the London School of Economics and Political Science. We’re keen to find out more about our audience so we can better tailor our content to suit your interests. With this in mind, we would be grateful if you could please take the time to fill out this short survey and share your feedback.

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=_epnVXfnpUKRu5RA_UO4k9i3ygPzxbNDuStfrFFNRBNUMzYxS1BITDlHTkdYMVhaVE9LRDhNQkxaVC4u

How do we avoid falling for online scams?

In March 2025 the Phelan US Centre spoke to John Minnich, Assistant Professor in the Department of International Relations at LSE about why semiconductors are so important in the global economy, and why the US is willing to go to what Dr Minnich terms, economic war, over them. They also discussed how the semiconductor trade is framed as a national security issue in the US and China, and how President Trump may approach the ‘chip-war’ in coming months. 

This episode was produced by Chris Gilson and Luke Digweed.   

Further reading and resources 

Ling S. Chen and Miles M. Evers, "'Wars without Gun Smoke': Global Supply Chains, Power Transitions, and Economic Statecraft," International Security 48, no. 2 (Fall 2023): 164–204. 

Cornell University Press. (2024). Disaggregating China, Inc. by Yeling Tan | Hardcover | Cornell University Press. [online] Available at: https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501759635/disaggregating-china-inc/ [Accessed 14 Apr. 2025]. 

Cornell University Press. (2024). Disaggregating China, Inc. by Yeling Tan | Hardcover | Cornell University Press. [online] Available at: https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501759635/disaggregating-china-inc/ [Accessed 14 Apr. 2025]. 

Paragraph locked by Gilson,CH
11 November 2024 - China’s evolving approach to economic security with Professor Yeling Tan | The Ballpark podcast - https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/2024/11/11/chinas-evolving-approach-to-economic-security-with-professor-yeling-tan-the-ballpark-podcast/  

13 February 2023 - China’s Belt and Road with Professor Taylor Fravel | The Ballpark podcast - https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/2023/02/13/the-ballpark-podcast-extra-innings-chinas-belt-and-road-with-professor-taylor-fravel/  

 

 

LSE: The Ballpark | The Origins of the US-China Chip War with Dr John Minnich

in February 2025 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Michael Latner, Professor of Political Science at California Polytechnic State University and Director of Research on Democratic Reform at the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard Law School.   

They discussed the recent history of voting rights and the state of democracy in America in 2025.  

This episode was produced by Chris Gilson and Luke Digweed.   

Further reading and resources 

Keena, A., Latner, M., McGann, A.J.M. and Smith, C.A. (2021). Gerrymandering the States. doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108995849  

The Guinier Project at the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute - https://charleshamiltonhouston.org/events/a-convening-race-reform-and-multiracial-democracy/  

LSE: The Ballpark | The state of American Democracy with Professor Michael Latner

Artificial intelligence is transforming the world around us, offering increased productivity and promising to help tackle difficult problems like global warming.  
But behind the scenes, its environmental costs are mounting. From massive energy use to vast quantities of water required to cool data centres, AI’s footprint is growing fast. So, in an age of water scarcity and climate crisis, can we justify this technological boom?
In this episode of LSE iQ, Anna Bevan asks: Is AI destroying the planet?
She travels to a data centre in Slough to find out exactly how data centres work, and speaks to Nick Couldry, Professor of Media, Communications and Social Theory at LSE; Eugenie Dugoua, Assistant Professor in Environmental Economics at LSE; and Ceara Carney, an actor and climate activist. 

This episode explores the AI sustainability paradox: can AI be both a climate solution and a climate problem? And discusses surprising ways AI is being used for good, such as catching poachers in the Serengeti. 

Research
Data Grab: The New Colonialism of Big Tech and How to Fight it, Nick Couldry and Ulises Mejias https://lnk.to/DataGrabBook

The Space of the World: can Human Solidarity Survive Social Media and What if it Can't? Nick Couldry https://linktr.ee/SpaceOfTheWorldBook

Induced innovation, inventors and the energy transition, Eugenie Dugoua and Todd D. Gerarden
https://eprints.lse.ac.uk/121309/1/dp1951.pdf

Directed technological change and general purpose technologies: can AI accelerate clean energy innovation? Pia Andres, Eugenie Dugoua and Marion Dumas
https://www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminstitute/publication/directed-technological-change-and-general-purpose-technologies-can-ai-accelerate-clean-energy-innovation/

Could artificial intelligence deliver a green transition? Marion Dumas
https://www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminstitute/news/could-artificial-intelligence-deliver-a-green-transition/

LSE iQ is a university podcast by the London School of Economics and Political Science. We’re keen to find out more about our audience so we can better tailor our content to suit your interests. With this in mind, we would be grateful if you could please take the time to fill out this short survey and share your feedback.

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=_epnVXfnpUKRu5RA_UO4k9i3ygPzxbNDuStfrFFNRBNUMzYxS1BITDlHTkdYMVhaVE9LRDhNQkxaVC4u

Is AI destroying the planet?

Head over to the Science Museum's blog to get in touch with electronic music's roots and learn how to make a tape loop! Here are some example loops we made using little more than some stationery, a few old cassettes and a stuffed cat!
http://sciencemuseumdiscovery.com/blogs/insight/make-your-own-tape-loop/

How to Make Your Own Tape Loop - Example Three

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