Civic Lens

Jordan Russell of Push Digital Group describes the transition in political campaigning, surveys his own entry into campaigning, and, acknowledges that political campaigning isn't always as glamarous as an Aaron Sorkin production.

Rob Mickey discusses both over- and under-policing and how both shape community perceptions of police. Dr. Mickey recommends S hielded by Joanna Schwartz and Blue Power: How Police Organized to Protect and Serve Themselves by Stuart Schrader. Get more insights at marvinking1.substack.com/

Andra Gillespie is the author of The New Black PoliticianCory Booker, Newark, and Post-Racial America . Dr. Gillespie recommends the works of Drs. Byron D'Andra Orey , LaFleur Stephens-Dougan and Christopher Stout . More analysis like this straight to your inbox by subscribing to Civic Lens: marvinking1.substack.com

Corey Fields of Georgetown University and author of Black Elephants in the Room: The Unexpected Politics of African American Republicans , on what Black Republicans can teach us about the complexity of race, identity, and political behavior. Fields recommends Cathy Cohen's The Boundaries of Blackness and Jean Beaman's Citizen Outsider: Children of North African Immigrants in France .

Vanderbilt University Law Professor Jeff Bellin, author of Mass Incarceration Nation: How the United States Became Addicted to Prisons and Jails and How It Can Recover , traces the development of American mass incarceration from the crime increases of the 1960s and 1970s through the expansion of policing, prosecution, sentencing, and imprisonment that followed.

Liz Norell , Associate Director for Instructional Learning at The University of Mississippi's Center for Teaching and Learning, answers what if the biggest challenge facing higher education isn't technology—but keeping students motivated to learn? Liz recommends A Pedagogy of Kindness and 10 to 25: The Science of Motivating Young People .

American law draws the line between childhood and adulthood in very different places—with consequences that can last a lifetime. Professor Cohen recommends: When They Us , Adolescence , and The Rage of Innocenc e by Kristen Henning. In re Gault , Roper v. Simmons , Graham v. Florida , Miller v. Alabama , and Jones v. Mississippi .

Bowdoin College's Andrew Rudalevige on how the presidency become so powerful and what it means for American democracy. Rudalevige is the author of By Executive Order: Bureaucratic Management and the Limits of Presidential Power and The New Imperial Presidency: Renewing Presidential Power after Watergate . Rudalevige recommends : Presidential Power and the Modern Presidents: The Politics of Leaders...

SMU's Matthew Wilson on how religious beliefs shape politics - even for people who rarely think about religion. Wilson is the co-author of Politics and Religion in the United States and From pews to polling places : faith and politics in the American religious mosaic . Wilson recommends : America's God: From Jonathan Edwards to Abraham Lincoln ,

Chris Cooper on how the South has become more urban, diverse, and connected to the rest of America, yet its identity as Southern still matters. Cooper is the author of: Anatomy of a Purple State: A North Carolina Politics Prime r and co-author with Gibbs Knotts of The Resilience of Southern Identity: Why the South Still Matters in the Minds of Its People . Cooper recommends : Southern Politics in...

Scott Huffmon ( The Winthrop Poll⁠) of Winthrop University and Director of the Winthrop Poll discusses how migration has changed the South, evolving views on the Confederate Flag, polarization, and the Trump effect on South Carolina and Southern politics. Huffmon recommends : The Long Southern Strategy , American Experience on PBS - Civil Rights , and "Jail, No Bail"

Amy Hanauer of ITEP asks "When profitable corporations pay little or nothing in taxes, who makes up the difference?" Hanauer recommnds : Why Corporations Must Pay More , ITEP State Policy , The Price of Democracy: The Revolutionary Power of Taxation in American History , and Paper Girl: A Memoir of Home and Family in a Fractured America

Christopher Sebastian Parker asks what happens when people fight for democracy abroad but are denied its promises at home. Parker is the author of: Fighting for Democracy:  Black Veterans and the Struggle Against White Supremacy in the Postwar South and Change They Can't Believe In:  The Tea Party and Reactionary Politics in America. Parker recommends : Divisions: A New History of Racism and R...

Cornell historian, Larry Glickman , explains that capitalism isn't a fixed system, but an idea that Americans have continually reinvented. Glickman is the author of Free Enterprise: An American History   and Buying Power: A History of Consumer Activism in America . Glickman recommends : The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism by Edward Baptist, The Incorpora...

John Dinan ( The American State Constitutional Tradition⁠ ) of Wake Forest University, explains why so many of the decisions that shape our daily lives happen in state capitals instead of Washington.

Boris Heersink ( ⁠Republican Party Politics and the American South, 1865–1968⁠ and ⁠National Party Organizations and Party Brands in American Politics: The Democratic and Republican National Committees, 1912-2016⁠ )tells us why party brands are so useful to voters and how Trump's hold on the GOP has shaped that party's brand. Heersink recommends: Learning from Loss: The Democrats, 2016–202...

Michael Kang of Northwestern University's Pritzker School of Law, and co-author of Free to Judge: The Power of Campaign Money in Judicial Elections discusses the changing role of money in legislative and judicial elections. Kang recommends: Brennan Center for Justice and The Brave New World of Judicial Election by Charles Geyh.

Arin Dube , of UMass Amherst, and author of The Wage Standard: What's Wrong in the Labor Market and How to Fix It , speaks on the minimum wage, labor markets, and economic inequality. He was featured in The New Yorker, An Economist’s Quest to Solve America’s Wage Problem , and maintains a Substack .

Teri Incampo from the University of Mississippi on the value of theater as an artistic medium, her latest research, and how we can all become more thoughtful consumers of film and theater. Mentioned in the podcast: Is God Is? , Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner, Keke Palmer , Darkology : Blackface and the American Way of Entertainment by Rhae Lynn Barnes, Bodies in DissentSpectacular Performan...

University of Michigan sociologist Elizabeth Armstrong discusses emerging research on workplace experiences, where many college-educated women continue to encounter barriers to advancement even in professional careers. Paying for the Party: How College Maintains Inequality by Elizabeth Armstrong and Laura T. Hamilton . Gender Flashpoints: The Power of Dialogue by Abigail C. Saguy

Chris Berry, William J. and Alicia Townsend Friedman Professor at the Harris School of Public Policy, University of Chicago, explains how property values are determined, but also how this widely used system suffers from a perpetual bias against lower-valued properties. Also mentioned: Property Tax Fairness Imperfect Union: Representation and Taxation in Multilevel Governments by Chris Berry Plunde...

Matt Mitten , Professor of Law and Executive Director, National Sports Law Institute; WADA Prohibited List ; USADA ; World Anti-Doping Code

Fordham Professor Christina Greer , author of How to Build a Democracy: From Fannie Lou Hamer and Barbara Jordan to Stacey Abrams , and Black Ethnics: Race, Immigration, and the Pursuit of the American Dream , joins Civic Lens host Marvin King to discuss city politics, Black voters' relationship with the Republican Party, and why so many New Yorkers register for the Democratic Party primary. A...

S⁠ ⁠eth Masket⁠⁠ , University of Denver Professor of Political Science is on Substack at the @smotus report . He has also written several books on political parties and factions, including The Elephants in the Room: How Trump Voters Seized the Party from Republican Leaders , Learning from Loss: The Democrats, 2016-2020, and The Inevitable Party: Why Attempts to Kill the Party System Fail and How t...

David S. Meye r, Professor of Sociology, Political Science, and Urban Planning and Policy at the University of California, Irvine is the author or co-author of The Politics of Protest , The Resistance: The Dawn of the Anti-Trump Opposition Movement , and How Social Movements (Sometimes) Matter . Also, mentioned: David Halberstam's The Children and https://filmfreeway.com/OccupyLosAngles https:...