The Cornell Policy Review Podcast

Episode 34: Feeding the Flame: Discussing America’s Need for Civic Education

Join Norie Wright (MPA '24) as she sits down with Alejandro Ramos (MPA '25) to further discuss his Cornell Policy Review publication “Igniting Democracy: America’s Burning Need for Civic Education” and the obstacles facing citizen participation in American democracy today.

Episode 34: Using Game Theory and Economics to Examine Corruption with Dr. Kaushik Basu

Join James Paterek (MPA '25) and Savannah Jolie Whitehead (MPA '25) as they talk with Basim Ali (MPA '25) and Yiming Zhong (MPA '24) about Dr. Kaushik Basu, Carl Marks Professor of International Studies at the Department of Economics at Cornell. Yiming and Basim spoke with Dr. Basu about his career path and how game theory can be used to better understand economics and corruption

Episode 33: Handling the Switch from Public Sector to Twitch: Q&A with Lauren Nunes

Join James Paterek (MPA '25) and Savannah Jolie Whitehead (MPA '25) talk with Lauren Nunes (MPA '97), exploring her journey in the MPA program and her career shift from the public sector to a private role at Twitch. This episode is also the official relaunch of the Cornell Policy Review podcast, with new episode formats and series coming to you from the Cornell MPA program

Episode 32: Delivering Humanitarian Aid in War Zones

Jasmin Higo (MPA '23) interviews Daniel Arukwe Johansen (MPA '15) on his work with the United Nation World Food Programme (WFP) in the Yemen country office. Their conversation spans how to effectively contextualize data, the challenges and opportunities working in high-stake environments like war zones, and the remarkable resilience of both humanitarian workers and [especially] the residents of a region experiencing violent conflict. This episode additionally includes a short teaser for developments underway to improve our podcast offerings at the Cornell Policy Review. Daniel Arukwe Johansen serves as the Head of Operational Information Management and Performance Reporting at the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) Yemen Country Office. He has previously worked with WFP in emergency settings in Ethiopia, Bangladesh, and Syria, as well as at WFP headquarters in Rome, Italy. Daniel is a Cornell University class of 2015 Master of Public Administration (MPA) graduate (with a Government, Politics, and Policy Studies concentration), and a class of 2012 BA Development Studies graduate of the University of Oslo. Daniel is a Norwegian national, and calls Oslo, Norway home. Jasmin Higo works as a Senior Health Financing Associate at the Nairobi-based organization Financing for Health. There, she works with governments and regional institutions to design, develop and implement financing solutions to address health sector investment gaps in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Episode 31: Leadership for Contemporary Democracy with Dr. Balu

MPA Fellow and CPR Podcast Manager Mahwish Khan sits down with Dr. Ramaswami Balasubramaniam to discuss how to exercise leadership to render more effective democracies in the contemporary world. They dive into a hopeful conversation about the true definition of leadership, the relationship between government leaders and grassroots citizen power, and the challenges democratic leaders face in a world of pandemics, polarization, and economic inequality. Music by Oleksandr Stepanov from Pixabay