What is an "Alderman"? What is the political machine? Who are the Daleys? In our first episode, we give listeners a glimpse into the history of Chicago Politics. 

Interested in learning more? Check out an encyclopedia of Chicago here: http://encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/ and a documentary about Richard J. Daley, Former Mayor of Chicago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKWjeTdw-0E&t=830s&ab_channel=AyooChitown. 

Want to know who YOUR alderman is? Find more information here: https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/mayor/iframe/lookup_ward_and_alderman.html

Episode 1: A Brief History of Chicago Politics

In Pencil Down’s third episode we welcome Dr. Elaine Allensworth, the Lewis-Sebring Director of the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research, to Study Hall to talk about the work and research the Consortium does with Chicago Public Schools and beyond; in School Days we speak with Jose Villalobos Gonzales about his experiences attending school while moving around Mexico; and at the Chicago Policy Review Review we talk with staff writer Adam Leader-Smith about the state of student debt in America.

Episode 3: The Consortium

Get to know the Forum in our pilot episode.

Pilot

On todays episode Matt and Zak discuss the right, left and center of COVID and energy policy.

Episode 2: Caught In The Middle: The Politics of Science

An interview with the 40th Ward's Alderman Andre Vasquez
In the episode, we mention Alderman Vasquez's article on scooters - here's the link if you'd like to read more about his plans for green transportation! https://chicago.suntimes.com/2022/2/8/22924003/chicago-e-scooter-program-equity-jobs-andre-vasquez-other-views


Interested in learning more? Check out a map of the 40th ward here: 
https://app.chicagoelections.com/documents/general/document_4017.pdf


Ward 40's official page: https://40thward.org/ 


Want to know who YOUR alderman is? Find more information here: https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/mayor/iframe/lookup_ward_and_alderman.html

ACRONYMS
 
CPAC: Civilian Police Accountability Council
CPS: Chicago Public Schools
CTU: Chicago Teachers Union
ECPS: Empowering Communities FOR Public Safety Ordinance

Episode 5: Alderman Andre Vasquez, Ward 40

In this Podcast Matt and Zak discuss the ongoing crisis in Ukraine and US foreign policy, as well as how this affects United States energy policy.

Episode 3: Caught in the Middle: How Ukraine Affects Us

Sarah and Eric interview Alderman Harry Osterman of the 48th Ward.

48th Ward website: http://48thward.org/

48th Ward webpage (city of Chicago): https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/about/wards/48.html


INFORMATION REGARDING CIVILIAN OVERSIGHT OF THE CPD:

Information on the ECPS ordinance: https://southsideweekly.com/a-step-toward-community-control-of-the-police/#:~:text=The%20ECPS%20ordinance%20will%20create,year%20terms%20beginning%20in%202023.

And https://www.injusticewatch.org/news/2021/chicago-police-civilian-oversight/

 

Original CPAC ordinance: https://www.law.uchicago.edu/files/CPAC_ordinance.pdf

GAPA recommendations: https://www.bpichicago.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/GAPA-Report-2018.pdf

 

ACRONYMS 

CPAC: Civilian Police Accountability Council
CPD: Chicago Police Department
CPS: Chicago Public Schools
ECPS: Empowering Communities
GAPA: Grassroots Alliance for Police Accountability
ECPS: Empowering Communities for Public Safety (ordinance that passed last summer which was a compromise between the GAPA and CPAC proposals)

Episode 6: Alderman Harry Osterman, Ward 48

In the fourth episode of Pencil Down we welcome Professor Anjali Adukia to Study Hall to talk about her work on how the provision of basic needs can increase school participation and improve child outcomes; at the Chicago Policy Review Review we talk with staff writer Alexia Lipman about the past, present, and future of the United States'  federal child tax credit; and in School Days we speak with Stephen Fowler about his experiences attending primary and secondary school in Ratoath, Ireland.

Episode 4 - Infrastructure Near and Far

On this episode of the Forum, our host Elliot Denis is joined by James Cadogan, Executive Director of the National Basketball Association’s Social Justice Coalition. Together, they discuss the NBA’s public policy engagement and its work around criminal justice reform, voting access, and policing. 

The Forum is developed and presented by the University of Chicago Public Policy Podcasts (UC3P).

A Political Sport: a Conversation with James Cadogan

In the Season 1 finale of Pencil Down we welcome Umama Zillur to Study Hall to talk about Kotha at Schools, a school-based program that aims to mobilize young people to change societal mindsets and dismantle the culture of gender based violence in Bangladesh; at the Chicago Policy Review Review we talk with staff writer Allison Swimmer about a new proposed change to the California state K-12 math curriculum; and in School Days your trust host, Sam Zuckert, takes a trip down memory lane and shares his own educational journey.

Episode 5 - Kotha in Schools

Sarah and Eric interview the 25th Ward's Alderman, Byron Sigcho-Lopez


LINKS

 

25th Ward Website: https://www.25thward.org/ 

 

25th Ward Webpage (City of Chicago): https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/about/wards/25.html 

 

Information about “The 78”: 

https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/dcd/supp_info/the-78.html

 

Information about the new ward maps: https://blockclubchicago.org/2022/05/16/chicagos-controversial-new-ward-map-approved-with-16-black-14-latino-wards/ 

 

Layout of the new ward maps: https://app.mydistricting.com/legdistricting/comments/plan/225/26 

 

Information about Mayor Lightfoot’s recent casino pick: https://blockclubchicago.org/2022/05/05/chicago-casino-will-be-ballys-in-river-west-at-former-tribune-publishing-plant-lightfoot-announces/ 

 

Want to know who YOUR alderman is? Find more information here:  

https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/mayor/iframe/lookup_ward_and_alderman.html 

 


ACRONYMS: 

 
CAC: Community Advisory Council

CBA: Community Benefits Agreement 

TIF: Tax Increment Financing. A special funding tool used by the City of Chicago to promote improvements in specific sections of the city. 



More info here:  https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/dcd/provdrs/tif.html

Episode 7: Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez, Ward 25

In this piece, Alex Sarabia (MPP '17) and University of Chicago Political Science and Harris Public Policy Professor William Howell conversed with Professor Sen about her new research and book, which covers a new analysis of data on voting and race in America.

We want to thank the Becker Friedman Institute, Minorities in Public Policy Studies, and Professors Howell and Sen. Also, special thanks to Michael Harvey (MPP '17) who produced the interview and Alex Sarabia for moderating. David Raban engineered and edited.

Maya Sen On Race, Southern Slavery, and Political Attitudes in America

Ben Zalisko (Postdoctoral Scholar in Biochemistry) and UnJin Lee (third-year Ph.D. in the Committee on Genetics, Genomics and Systems Biology) debate graduate student unionization at the University of Chicago. 

Discussing specifically from the vantage point of students in the graduate sciences, Ben takes the pro-union position and UnJin takes the anti-union position. 

The following links were referenced in the podcast and add context to this debate:

Graduate Students in STEM Departments Affirm Their Support for Student Unionization (https://www.chicagomaroon.com/article/2017/5/30/graduate-students-stem-departments-affirm-support/)

STEM Departments Should Think Twice Before Voting In Favor of Unionization (https://www.chicagomaroon.com/article/2017/6/1/stem-departments-think-twice-voting-favor-unioniza/)

Effects of Unionization on Graduate Student Employees: Faculty-Student Relations, Academic Freedom, and Pay (http://scholarship.sha.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1731&context=articles)

To comment on this debate or to submit ideas for a follow up debate on unionization, email publisher David Raban at draban@uchicago.edu

Meghana Chandra (MPP '18) engineered and edited this piece.

The Pink Flying Elephant - Debating Graduate Student Unionization at UChicago

Part 1: Puerto Rico

This three-part series explores issues of underrepresentation, censorship, and, political suppression at home and abroad. With analysis from University of Chicago students providing their first-hand experience on each subject, we hope you will gain new insights from the voices that go unheard at home and around the world.

Credits: 
Julian Lake for interviewing
Subraminiyam Enkata Vishwanath for engineering and editing

Special Thanks:
Edoardo Ortiz and Nancy Tan for sharing their experiences with UC3P

Music: 
“Almost like Praying" by Artists for Puerto Rico
“Donde Estebas” by Songo 21
“Borinquen Bella” by Tommy Torres

Speechless: Puerto Rico

Jessica Breznick (BA' 20), Gregory Wong (BA' 21), and Coco Yim (MPP'19) discuss China-Russia relations, touching upon the two countries' joint military exercise and complex economic partnership, including on oil and China's One-Belt-One-Road initiative. U-Chicago Professor Bruce Cumings, American historian of East Asia, also makes an appearance.

Credits:
Jessica Breznick and Gregory Wong for producing, hosting, and editing
Gregory Wong for engineering, hosting, and editing
Coco Yim for hosting

Special thanks to Professor Cumings!

China & Russian - Friends Or Foes?

In this episode, we look into issues both domestic and international, with stories on the National Development and Reform Commission’s hard regulation of cryptocurrency mining, Shanghai’s car trade-in program, and the sweeping tax reforms enacted, as well as Italy’s landmark signing onto the Belt and Road Initiative.

Have a story you’d like to hear about? Let us know at TheU3CP@gmail.com and we’ll get back to you!

Focused on delivering updates occurring in and about China, new episodes of the Just China News Pulse will come out every three weeks.

Credits:
Producer and host: Gregory Wong
Correspondents: Yuanjin Xia, Bing Ge, Shiyun Wen Editors: Bing Ge, Gregory Wong

News Pulse Ep. 3: Crypto Mining, Green Cars, & Money Matters

David Axelrod, the longtime political consultant and commentator now serving as director of the UChicago Institute of Politics, has a unique perspective on civil-military relations. In 2004, Mr. Axelrod joined the U.S. Senate campaign of a young Illinois state senator named Barack Obama. Just four years later, he and his team of strategists orchestrated Mr. Obama’s historic campaign for the presidency. Then during the first two years of the administration, Mr. Axelrod served as a White House Senior Adviser, coordinating policy and communications -- where, among many other things, he observed the U.S. military and its role in a complex government.

Mr. Axelrod joined Thomas and Nick for a special live episode before an audience of professors and graduate students at the Harris School of Public Policy. They discussed the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, political considerations in the national security process, the sometimes-tense relationship between the Pentagon and the White House, and Mr. Axelrod’s role as a political adviser. Also discussed: the USS JOHN McCAIN controversy, President Obama’s Nobel Prize, and the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

This podcast is in no way intended to reflect the official positions of the Department of Defense or any other military entity.

Podcast Production Credit:

Thomas Krasnican, host
Nick Paraiso, host
Haz Yano, producer
Julian Lake, engineer and producer
Aishwarya Kumar, producer
Mary Martha Maclay, producer

Special thanks to ret. Admiral Mike Mullen, Lieutenant Colonel Jim Golby, Captain Mike Robinson, Samantha Neal, the University of Chicago Institute of Politics, and to everyone at Harris who came out and supported this live taping!

David Axelrod

From his hard-hitting interviews with prominent politicians to his work reporting from the Middle East, Jake Tapper has been a forceful presence in political journalism for the last 20 years. He is currently CNN’s Chief Washington Correspondent and the anchor of The Lead with Jake Tapper, as well as the host of CNN’s Sunday political show, State of the Union.

In 2012, Mr. Tapper published a book, The Outpost, which covers the history of Combat Outpost Keating in Nuristan Province, Afghanistan leading up to a deadly battle that claimed the lives of eight American service members. The book has been widely praised for its realism, detail, and accuracy. It is now in development as a major motion picture.

Jake Tapper joins Thomas and Nick for the final episode of TYFYS’s first season to discuss The Outpost, the relationship between journalism and the military, and how to bridge the civil-military divide. 

Notes:
-FOIA = Freedom of Information Act request
-“3-61 CAV” and “3-71 CAV” refer to U.S. Army regiments that were stationed at Combat Outpost Keating

This podcast is in no way intended to reflect the official positions of the Department of Defense or any other military entity.

Podcast Production Credit:

Thomas Krasnican, host
Nick Paraiso, host
Haz Yano, producer & publisher
Aishwarya Kumar, producer
Mary Martha Maclay, producer

Special thanks to Brianna Keilar.

Jake Tapper

Maggie Feldman-Piltch is the founder of #NatSecGirlSquad, a professional development community committed to promoting competent diversity in national security and defense. She joins the podcast to discuss her experiences as an organizer and strategist, what motivates her to work towards putting more women at the table for national security discussions, and to share her vision for the future of #NatSecGirlSquad. We also discussed her perspective on the brand-new Leadership Council for Women in National Security (LC-WINS), where she sits on the Steering Committee, as well as our favorite West Wing characters and Maggie’s future presidential cabinet. 

Notes:
You can find #NatSecGirlSquad at www.natsecgirlsquad.com and LC-WINS at www.lcwins.org. If you were unfamiliar with the names of some of the experts Maggie named in this episode, you can find most of their bios on the LC-WINS Steering Committee page.

This podcast is in no way intended to reflect the official positions of the Department of Defense or any other military entity.

Podcast Production Credit:

Thomas Krasnican, host
Nick Paraiso, host
Aishwarya Kumar, producer

#NatSecGirlSquad: Building Competent Diversity in National Security

Today, we speak with Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison. We spoke with him about impeachment, the health of Senator Bernie Sanders, the vaping crisis, and the No Ban Act. His new podcast is "Affording Your Life with Keith Ellison."

Credits:
David Raban, for producing, interviewing, and editing
Haz Yano, for engineering

Haz Yano is our publisher
David Raban is our production manager
Thomas Krasnican is our Communications Director

Special thanks to Attorney General Ellison, and to his team, who put in a lot of work to help make this episode happen. Also, special thanks to the Harris School of Public Policy for helping us create our new studio. That includes Billy Morgan, Andrew Dawson, Jodi Daily, Eric Thomas, Jeff Zoline, Fay Booker, and so many others.

Keith Ellison on the No Ban Act

Ever since Samuel Huntington wrote The Soldier and the State in 1957, his theory on objective civilian control of the military has had a profound influence on American civil-military relations.  Over the course of this podcast series, we’ve explored that theory’s substance and applications to real-world events. But does Huntington’s theory need an overhaul?

Dr. Risa Brooks is a professor of political science at Marquette University. She is one of the leading experts in academic civil-military relations, having written extensively about both American and international issues. Dr. Brooks joins the podcast to discuss her article in the Spring 2020 issue of International Security titled “Paradoxes of Professionalism: Rethinking Civil-Military Relations in the United States.”

In that article and in this interview, Dr. Brooks argues that Huntington’s theory of objective control contains several paradoxes and deficiencies that are becoming increasingly important in today’s political and military landscape. We also talked about why students and citizens, civilian and military alike, should learn and think about civil-military relations. 

“Thank You For Your Service” is a production of the University of Chicago Public Policy Podcasts and does not necessarily represent the official positions of the Department of Defense or the U.S. government.

Podcast Production Credit:

Thomas Krasnican, host
Nick Paraiso, host

Tom Lattanzio, producer
Aishwarya Kumar, production manager
Yi Ning Wong, publisher

Special thanks to Dr. Risa Brooks.

Dr. Risa Brooks on the Theory and Paradoxes of Civil-Military Relations

The Citizenship Amendment Act and Article 370 was passed late in 2019 in the Kashmir, which further restricted autonomy in the region and increased unrest in the state. In this episode, we speak to Salwa Shameem, who is a film maker and strategy consultant, and Rohool, a local activist in Kashmir, about the conflict and its broader implications.

Autonomy and Kashmir: Salwa Shameem & Rohool

Today we talk with David Boronstein, PhD, about his work in expanding the IRS-990 dataset and what we can learn from it. We also speak about how to use data to inform giving, the limitations of measuring impact, and advice for those looking to get involved.

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