The MIT Press Podcast

The Meaning of the Cyber Revolution: Perils to Theory and Statecraft

As Lucas Kello reveals, it is far easier to attack than to defend when it comes to cyber war. Listen as Kello and Sean Lynn-Jones discuss the dangers of cyber war, review recent cases of cyber attack, and offer security advice for policymakers. This conversation is based on Kello’s article “The Meaning of the Cyber Revolution: Perils to Theory and Statecraft,” which appears in the Fall 2013 issue of International Security (38:2). This episode was recorded on October 2, 2013.

Art and Atoms

Our contributors discuss the connections between science, specifically chemistry, and art, and talk about how materials traditionally identified with science can be used to create art. This conversation was recorded on January 24, 2013.
Contributors:
 Tami Spector, Professor of Chemistry at the University of San Francisco. 
 Philip Ball, freelance science writer, lecturer, and author of several popular science books.
 Kathryn de Ridder-Vignone, Post-Doctoral Research Analyst at the Center for Nanotechnology in Society at Arizona State University. 
Julian Voss-Andreae, sculptor and physicist based in Portland, Oregon. 
Roger Malina, physicist, astronomer, editor-in-chief of Leonardo, and distinguished professor at the University of Texas, Dallas.

China's Fear of Contagion: Tiananmen Square and the Power of the European Example

As Mary Sarotte reveals in her Fall 2012 article in International Security, the actions of the Chinese government during the Tiananmen Square protests nearly split the Communist Party of China. Listen as Sarotte and International Security Editor Sean Lynn-Jones discuss internal party reactions to the event, how it affected relations between the US and China, and lessons the CCP may have learned from other Cold War-era governments. This conversation was recorded on November 20, 2012.

Science and the Sublime

Listen as our contributors discuss the connections between science and the arts, especially where the sublime—the unknowable, the incomprehensible—fits within these fields. This conversation was inspired by Leonardo Reviews Quarterly 2.01: With Essays on the Sublime in Art and Science. This episode was recorded on August 22, 2012.
Contributors:
Michael Punt, Professor of Art and Technology at the University of Plymouth and Editor-in-Chief of Leonardo Reviews Quarterly. 
Sundar Sarukkai, Director of the Manipal Centre for Philosophy and Humanities at Manipal University. 
Martyn Woodward, doctoral researcher in the visual arts at the University of Plymouth. 
Roger Malina, physicist, astronomer, editor-in-chief of Leonardo, and distinguished professor at the University of Texas, Dallas.

Arts, Humanities, and Complex Networks

Maximilian Schich, Isabel Meirelles, and Roger Malina discuss the contents and creation of the new article collection, Arts, Humanities, and Complex Networks, which explores the application of the science of complex networks to art history, archeology, visual arts, the art market, and other areas of cultural importance. This conversation was recorded on April 26, 2012.
Contributors:
Maximilian Schich, DFG fellow at László Barabási's Center for Complex Network Research in Boston.
Isabel Meirelles, information designer and associate professor of graphic design at Northeastern University, Boston.
Roger Malina, physicist, astronomer, editor-in-chief of Leonardo, distinguished professor at the University of Texas, Dallas.

The Revolutionary Worlds of Lexington and Concord Compared

Bill Fowler, member of the editorial board of The New England Quarterly, Mary Babson Fuhrer, and Robert A. Gross discuss Fuhrer's recent NEQ article, “The Revolutionary Worlds of Lexington and Concord Compared” and Gross's 1976 book, The Minutemen and Their World. Our panelists discuss the two colonial towns, their similarities and differences, and key factors that led to the famous battles between the English and the colonists on April 19, 1775. This conversation was recorded on March 22, 2012.

Present at the Creation: Edward Mead Earle and the Depression-Era Origins of Security Studies

Edward Mead Earle was a historian, scholar, professor, and international relations expert; he was also a founding father of the field we know as Security Studies. Listen as David Ekbladh and International Security Editor Sean Lynn-Jones discuss Earle's contributions to the field, his views on what Security Studies should be, his seminar at the Institute for Advanced Study, and what he might think of Security Studies today. This conversation was recorded on January 4, 2012.

Celebrating PAJ 100

Contributing artists to PAJ 100 recorded podcasts based on their pieces for the issue, responding to PAJ editor Bonnie Marranca's four statements on major themes Belief, Being Contemporary, Performance and Science, and Writing and Performance.
Read about the contributors and themes here.

China's Century? Why America's Edge Will Endure

Much has been made of the rise of China's economy, and some fear that China will surpass the United States as the world's largest economy in the coming years. Michael Beckley goes against the grain in his article  "China's Century? Why America's Edge Will Endure" (International Security, Winter 2011/12), arguing that the size of a nation's economy doesn't necessarily dictate its global power, and that the United States is not in great danger because of China's economic developments. Beckley and Sean Lynn-Jones discuss this and the state of the Chinese economy as a whole when compared to the United States'. This conversation was recorded on December 14, 2011.

Governor Michael Dukakis and Professor Dick Brown on Anti-Irish Prejudice in the Trial of Dominic Daley and James Halligan (Northampton, Massachusetts, 1806)

Bill Fowler, member of the editorial board of The New England Quarterly, Professor Dick Brown, and Governor Michael Dukakis discuss Brown's recent NEQ article, “'Tried, Convicted, and Condemned, in Almost Every Bar-room and Barber's Shop': Anti-Irish Prejudice in the Trial of Dominic Daley and James Halligan, Northampton, Massachusetts, 1806". Our panel touches on the evolution of our judicial system, the responsibility of the policy maker in correcting errors of our past, and the role of the historian in presenting and explaining these errors to the public. This conversation was recorded on June 22, 2011.