Policy Currents

How tapping into Facebook data can help host countries help refugees; a survey of people experiencing homelessness in L.A.; understanding burnout among military health care providers; leveraging technology to help incarcerated people reenter the community; and how the U.S. should respond to cyberattacks. For more information on this week’s episode, visit rand.org/podcast .

Why now may be the time for a U.N.- or NATO-led peacekeeping mission in Ukraine; the geostrategic consequences of Russia’s war; a new way to address the synthetic opioid crisis; improving long-term outcomes for veterans with traumatic brain injury; and how raising the minimum wage affects divorce rates among poor Americans. For more information on this week’s episode, visit rand.org/podcast .

Why Russian mercenaries may be a weak link; the threat of Russian cyberattacks; the bleak future of Russia’s economy; why Indo-Pacific countries tiptoe around Russia; and rebuilding Ukraine after the war. For more information on this week’s episode, visit rand.org/podcast .

The potential value of an insurgent campaign in Ukraine; Russian disinformation; factors that could ultimately end the war; addressing L.A.’s housing crisis; lessons from the 2017 battle for Raqqa; a look at U.S. hospital prices; Americans’ options for reaching the middle class; and how to help single mothers get out of poverty. For more information on this week’s episode, visit rand.org/podcast .

How to help Ukrainian refugees; negotiating with Russia to end the war; how shortwave radio can help fight disinformation; the link between Russia’s war and the Arctic; how U.S. security assistance has helped Ukraine; why Russia would likely struggle to retain vast swaths territory; how reasoning and cognitive biases affect resistance to Truth Decay; using data to understand environmental racism;...

Insights from RAND experts on flaws in Russia’s military personnel system; the importance of Ukrainian continuity of government; how Western leaders could prepare for the possibility of regime change in Russia; why host countries should view the refugee crisis as an economic opportunity as well as a humanitarian challenge; long-standing assumptions upended by the invasion; and why U.S. leaders sho...

How the West can help give Russians access to accurate information about the war in Ukraine; why it could be a strategic mistake to rule out a no-fly zone policy; assessing pain care in the Military Health System; questions about the quality of audio-only telehealth; and what’s ahead for South Korea’s new president. For more information on this week’s episode, visit rand.org/podcast .

Deterring potentially irrational opponents; why NATO may be looking better to Finland and Sweden; exploring disagreement about gun policy in America; what workers need for the jobs of the future; and how to build a more diverse teaching workforce. For more information on this week’s episode, visit rand.org/podcast .

Mitigating potential risks of a Western response to Russia; insights from RAND on President Biden’s first State of the Union address; and the not-so-distant-future of outer space. For more information on this week’s episode, visit rand.org/podcast .

Insights from RAND experts on the Russian invasion of Ukraine; why it may be time for a new approach to helping unemployed Americans; how substance use disorder complicates sex trafficking cases; teachers’ views on anti-bias education; and the economic benefits of investing in foreign-language education. For more information on this week’s episode, visit rand.org/podcast .

A Russian invasion of Ukraine could lead to a massive refugee crisis; the benefits of investing in women’s health research; how to end all U.S. roadway deaths; pandemic-related staffing challenges in America’s schools; and programs available to support incarcerated parents and their children. For more information on this week’s episode, visit rand.org/podcast .

School district leaders’ concerns about mental health and political polarization; how to bring stability to Russia’s backyard; what satellite images reveal about China's treatment of the Uyghur people; the final report from the Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking; and how expanding the child tax credit helped tackle child poverty. For more information on this week’s episode, visit...

The dangers of NATO’s open-ended process of expansion; U.S. strategic competition with Russia; how U.S. health care systems emphasize volume over value; the need for a common definition of “climate migrants;” and how the military can prepare for the next pandemic. For more information on this week’s episode, visit rand.org/podcast .

What the Pentagon can do better to prevent civilian casualties; how secondary school principals were doing one year into the pandemic; examining Americans’ drinking habits in the COVID-19 era; strategies to promote vaccination equity; and how a deeply divided American public could affect U.S. deterrence. For more information on this week’s episode, visit rand.org/podcast .

Considering U.S.-Russia diplomacy in the context of the Ukraine crisis; how citizen science can help communities become safer and stronger; protecting the U.S. blood supply from future shocks; and new “visual essays” that show why people might join—and later leave—extremist groups. For more information on this week’s episode, visit rand.org/podcast .

The geopolitical risks of tinkering with the climate; how NATO could help ease the Ukraine-Russia impasse; debating workers' compensation in the COVID-19 era; potentially huge cost savings from biosimilar drugs; and what the evidence says about education benefits for veterans. For more information on this week’s episode, visit rand.org/podcast .

Why extremism and addiction may be similar; a better way to assess the risk of recidivism; how the United States could deliver on global vaccine diplomacy; modernizing America’s nuclear Triad; and how collaboration technologies could change demographic trends. For more information on this week’s episode, visit rand.org/podcast .

Our top 10 list of RAND research projects covers a wide range of topics, including how stress is affecting America’s teachers; reforming the U.S. mental health care system; addressing the threat of violent extremism; China’s disappeared Uyghurs; and the high prices of prescription drugs in the United States. For more information on this week’s episode, visit rand.org/podcast .

Women doctors make $2 million less over the course of their careers than their male counterparts; what to do about the weird U.S. job market; implementing social and emotional learning programs; assessing the trade-offs of decisions about U.S. military intervention; and RAND’s virtual hackathon. For more information on this week’s episode, visit rand.org/podcast .

What could happen if Russia decides to invade Ukraine, the counter-intuitive sensibility of Taiwan’s new defense strategy, policy responses to climate migration, and new data on how Americans feel about sharing vaccines with other countries. For more information on this week’s episode, visit rand.org/podcast .

Brandon Baker, vice president of development at RAND, joins Deanna Lee for this special episode of Policy Currents. We discuss Tomorrow Demands Today, the most ambitious fundraising campaign that RAND has ever undertaken. Brandon updates us on the status of the campaign, how funds are being used to tackle difficult policy problems, and goals for the future. For more information, visit campaign.ran...

What’s behind the recent wave of anti-Asian racism—and how to address it; stabilizing U.S. rivalries with Russia and China; lessons from nuclear strategists about the debt-ceiling fight; understanding the extremist online ecosystem; and polarization on U.S. gun policy issues. For more information on this week’s episode, visit rand.org/podcast .

How Russia and China manipulated news about COVID-19; the risks of America’s increasingly uncivil behavior; measures to help stabilize the health care marketplace; attracting diverse talent to the public sector; and how the West could help Ukraine. For more information on this week’s episode, visit rand.org/podcast .

How to help veterans experiencing homelessness; better care for veterans with “invisible wounds”; data showing that veterans need more support when transitioning into civilian jobs; and a sneak peek at a Q&A with two RAND researchers who have served. For more information on this week’s episode, visit rand.org/podcast .

A new strategy to manage a nuclear-armed North Korea; what RAND research has revealed about sexual violence in the military; understanding the U.S. labor shortage; RAND’s Benjamin Preston at the U.N. climate summit; and what schools need to support the sudden arrival of immigrant children. For more information on this week’s episode, visit rand.org/podcast .