Do violent extremists have common characteristics and backgrounds? Can we predict who among them will become violent? Patrick James is project manager for Profiles of Individual Radicalization in the United States (PIRUS) at the University of Maryland. The PIRUS dataset contains de-identified, individual-level information on the backgrounds, attributes, and radicalisation processes of nearly 1500 violent and non-violent extremists who adhere to far-right, far-left, or single issue ideologies in the United States, covering the years 1948 to 2013. Maria Armoudian spoke to James about the project and the characteristics that lead to violent extremism.
It is one of the most volatile international rivalries in the world, the conflict in South Asia between Pakistan and India. No issue embodies this rivalry more clearly than the region of Jammu and Kashmir. Resolving this issue would ease tensions between these two nuclear powers. What’s driving the conflict in Kashmir? Would granting the region independence lead to peace? How much is this conflict driven by local actions in the region and how much is it fueled by policies in Islamabad and New Delhi? How can we resolve it?
Just how much does the US military pollute the environment? What is its role in climate change causing greenhouse gas emissions? The US military has taken some measures to reduce its impact on the environment and green gas emissions, but some researchers say these measures do little to assuage the military’s bigger effects on climate change. What are these effects and what can be done about them? Maria Armoudian speaks with Benjamin Neimark, Oliver Belcher, and Neta C. Crawford.
In 2017, the United Nations General Assembly passed a mandate to negotiate a treaty that would ban nuclear weapons. While the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons passed 122 votes to 1, no nuclear state or NATO member other than the Netherlands voted on the resolution. Seventy nations have signed the treaty and twenty-three have ratified it. When it reaches fifty ratifying parties it will be in force. However, many doubt its effectiveness without the support of any of the nine nuclear states. Doug Becker discusses the treaty and the issue of nuclear non-proliferation with Ira Helfand and Wayne Glass.
All over the world, and throughout history, music has been a vital part of effecting social and political change. At times the powers-that-be resist that change by oppressing the arts and the artists. Can music bring about social and political change? How has music shaped politics historically and today? Maria Armoudian discusses these questions with Professors Mark LeVine, Josh Kun, and Richard Flacks.
Is the age of privacy over? What is at stake when we lose our privacy? How does a lack of privacy effect security, democracy, and society? Maria Armoudian speaks with Helen Nissenbaum, Michael Patrick Lynch, Bruce Schneier, and Joshua Fairfield.
We live in an age where due to post-truth politics, alternative facts, and fake news, conspiracy theories are allowed to flourish. With every mass shooting, terrorist attack, and new political policy announcement it seems a conspiracy theory will be dreamt up somewhere both on and offline to explain the reasoning behind an event. But what exactly is a conspiracy theory, why do they flourish, and how dangerous are they? Sam Smith spoke with M Dentith and Patrick Stokes.
Why are the numbers of insects in fast decline? What does it mean for our food supply and our long term survival? Scientists say climate change is not the only reason. Maria Armoudian speaks with Andrew Dopheide about the current plight of our insect population.
Is the transmission of trauma multi-generational? Do children of survivors of mass atrocities have a higher risk of developing psychological disorders? To understand the process of multi-generational legacies of trauma, Maria Armoudian speaks with Andrei Novac and Yael Danieli about the impact of survivors’ post-trauma adaptational style in their children’s eyes.
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