Beyond the Lecture

Political philosopher Michael Sandel was at the American Academy in spring 2018 to deliver a lecture entitled “Populism, Trump, and the Future of Democracy.” We sat down with him to gauge his thoughts on where democracy was headed, what he thought was missing from public discourse, and what he believes gave rise to populist nationalism. Host: R. Jay Magill Producer: William Glucroft Photo: Ralph K...

Linda Greenhouse reported on the Supreme Court for the New York Times for the past thirty years. Currently a journalist in residence at the Yale Law School, and president of the American Philosophical Society, Greenhouse was at the Academy in May 2018 to deliver the Lloyd Cutler Lecture, entitled “Can the Supreme Court Save the United States.” We sat down with her to ask a few questions about case...

Tricia Rose is a professor of Africana Studies and director of the Center of the Study of Race and Ethnicity at Brown University, and a frequent commentator in American media and on college campuses about the state of race in America. A few hours before her April 24, 2018 Marcus Bierich lecture at the American Academy, we sat down with Rose to ask her what is going on with race in America now, abo...

Adam Tooze is professor of history and director of the European Institute at Columbia University. A specialist in twentieth-century German economic history, he was at the Academy on March 13, 2018, to deliver this semester’s Marcus Bierich Lecture, “The 2008 Global Crisis: Approaches to a Future History.” This is also the subject of his forthcoming book, Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises C...

Keith David Watenpaugh is Professor and Director of Human Rights Studies at the University of California, Davis. Since 2013, he has directed a multi-disciplinary international research program to assist refugee university students and scholars fleeing the war in Syria. He’s leading an effort to expand refugee access to higher education through something called the Article 26 Backpack project, supp...

David Miliband, a former British foreign minister, has been the president and CEO of the International Rescue Committee since 2013. He's the author of a new book about the global migration crisis, Rescue: Refugees and the Political Crisis of Our Time (Simon & Schuster/TED Books). On February 19, 2018, Miliband gave a lecture on this topic as an American Academy in Berlin, as an Airbus Distinguishe...

Before joining the German Marshall Fund, as executive vice president and senior advisor for security and defense policy, Derek Chollet held senior positions in the Obama administration—in the White House, State Department, and the Pentagon. He most recently served as US assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, and most recently authored the book The Long Game: How Obama D...

Beyond the Lecture: Earl Lewis on Meeting Global Challenges by American Academy in Berlin

Political scientist Nicholas Eberstadt (American Enterprise Institute) was a Distinguished Visitor at the American Academy in Berlin in November 2017. An expert on North Korea, Eberstadt has been following the country's economic and political development for the past thirty years. In this interview, he discusses the country's reclusive regime, its supporting agents, and its recent relations with t...

On November 16, the renowned Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor was at the American Academy to deliver the 2017 Fritz Stern lecture, “Democratic Degeneration: Three Easy Paths to Regression.” Taylor’s talk addressed a concern held by increasing numbers of thoughtful people in recent years: that democracy is sliding backwards—losing ground internationally to authoritarian rule, voter apathy, and t...

On this episode of "Beyond the Lecture," we sat down with political scientist Nicholas Eberstadt to discuss the origins and causes of the decline of work for American men. "Men without Work" is the title Eberstadt’s latest book. It’s about the radical decline in employment of working age American men over the past half-century. This worrying trend is not about a lack of available jobs, however. It...

On this edition of "Beyond the Lecture," we sat down with New York Times columnist Roger Cohen. On the evening of September 28, 2017, Cohen spoke at the American Academy -- as a John W. Kluge Distinguished Visitor -- about the fate of the postwar order in the age of Donald Trump. We sat down with Cohen to discuss the topic more personally, and to hear his thoughts on a few related topics. Host: R....

On this edition of Beyond the Lecture, we sit down with artists Kerry James Marshall and Trenton Doyle Hancock for an extended discussion about painting, collage, and comics. Host: R. Jay Magill

At a time when public trust in the news media is at a historic low, when fake news proliferates social media, and voters are highly polarized, how can quality journalism survive? Jill Abramson, former executive editor of the New York Times, sits down with the Academy's Beyond the Lecture series to discuss protecting accurate and reliable news. Host: R. Jay Magill Photo: Annette Hornischer

At a time when Russia is alleged to have manipulated the recent US Presidential elections, Kati Marton returned to the American Academy to present her latest book, True Believer (Simon & Schuster, 2016), which reveals the life of Noel Field, an Ivy League-educated State Department employee, who was deeply rooted in the culture and history of the United States yet spied for Joseph Stalin. With a re...

This episode of the American Academy in Berlin's “Beyond the Lecture” features an interview with University of California Berkeley economist Barry Eichengreen. A distinguished academic expert on the international monetary and financial systems, Eichengreen is also a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and a research fellow of the Centre for E...

On this edition of the American Academy in Berlin's “Beyond the Lecture” series, Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz discussed his most recent book, The Euro: How a Common Currency Threatens the Future of Europe. It was published this fall in Germany by Siedler Verlag, as Europa Sparr Sich Kaputt. We spoke with him talk about the future of the euro, free trade, and economic inequality in Amer...

Douglas Rivers, chief scientist at YouGov and professor of political science at Stanford University, talks to the American Academy in Berlin about polling, the media, and the angry voter in the 2016 US Presidential election. Host: R. Jay Magill

On February 4th, Soheil Nasseri performed Beethoven's Fifth Symphony at the American Academy in Berlin. For more information about Nasseri's upcoming performances, you can visit his website: http://soheilnasseri.com/en/

On the occasion of her visit to the American Academy in Berlin, Stanford University historian Marilyn Yalom sat down with Academy fellow Brenda Stevenson, herself a historian from UCLA. Their topic was one of shared interest: women. From Abigail Adams to Hillary Clinton, Yalom and Stevenson discuss the historical role of women and the current challenges facing women in America and throughout the w...

24 years ago, the deadliest race riots in US history were raging in Los Angeles. Current American Academy fellow Brenda E. Stevenson shares her perspective on why the violence erupted and how the American criminal justice system must still be improved to make all citizens truly equal under the law. Hear more from Brenda at her Axel Springer Lecture "Performing Social Status in Slavery and Freedom....

"When Strangers Become Friends" brought remarkable musicians from the US, Syria, and Germany to the Academy. Listen to a beautiful testament to the unifying power of music by Yo-Yo Ma (cello) and Kinan Azmeh (clarinet). This concert took place on March 23, 2016 at the American Academy in Berlin.

Can advice from ancient Rome redeem the current political scene in the United States? Dirk Ippen fellow Michèle Lowrie discusses this anomalous, yet timely question in a review of Philip Freeman’s translations of the works of the brothers Cicero.

On March 31, the Trustees of the American Academy in Berlin announced the selection of a new president, Brown University Professor Michael P. Steinberg, who will assume his duties at the Hans Arnhold Center on August 15, 2016. The following are excerpts from a press conference with Professor Steinberg and current Academy president, Professor Gerhard Casper.

Based on his research of today's sharing economy, our fellow Steven Hill sees facets of the German system as a potential model for the US.