All Episodes

New research into how solar mini-grids could change lives for farmers in Ethiopia, and why that matters for the climate as a whole.

Climate Change Solutions Series 4: How upgrading stoves for people in the developing world could improve lives and fight climate change.

Climate Change Solutions Series 3: Can we find a better way to raise animals as food and help the planet at the same time?

Climate Change Solutions Series 2: how to get the best bang for our buck when it comes to solar incentives.

Climate Change Solutions Series 1: Research from Colombia, Africa and China illustrates how economics can help slow deforestation and combat the climate crisis.

Big Tech Series 3: Large technology companies are so powerful they now threaten democracy. They are too big to sue, and current regulations are not holding them responsible for their actions or outcomes. What can be done when a large tech company is doing something that is harmful to society? How can the technology companies that want to differentiate themselves demonstrate they are behaving responsibly?

Big Tech Series 2: Very large technology companies fit into a special technology category called “platforms.” They are so big that even fines don’t seem to scare them. In this episode: we’ll explore what’s been tried to hold tech companies accountable.

This episode is the first of a three-part series, Defending Democracy (and Us!) from Big Tech. The series is produced by the Debugger podcast.

New season of the Ways & Means podcast features a three-part series, Defending Democracy (and Us!) from Big Tech. Series is guest-produced by the Debugger podcast in partnership with Duke Cyber Policy program.

Arc of Justice series finale. The U.S. government and governments of other countries have paid reparations to a wide range of people and groups, for a variety of wrongs, throughout history. But reparations to Black Americans have not been paid to date. In this episode: listen in on a live conversation about reparations with some of today’s top advocates for a federal rollout. How would the debt be calculated? Who would qualify? What methods might work? Would reparations fix racial inequality?

Arc of Justice series episode 5: Throughout the nation’s history, promising signs of Black American progress have been shattered by acts of violence serving the interests of white supremacy. The extent of that violence is widespread and ongoing. From lynchings to the decimation of entire communities by white mob savagery with deadly and far-reaching consequences. Examples of this American brand of white violence affected Black wealth and Black lives in Colfax (1873) and Coushatta, Louisiana (1874), Wilmington, North Carolina (1898), Atlanta (1906), Elaine, Arkansas and Chicago (1919), in Ocoee, Florida (1920) and the Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma (1921), to name only a few.

Arc of Justice series episode 4: Time and again, the route to upward mobility in American society has been blocked for Black people. Consider the G.I. Bill, which provided college education and housing benefits for veterans after World War II. The G.I. Bill was a conveyor belt into the middle class for millions of white WWII veterans, but many Black veterans were excluded and subsequent generations continue to feel the effects.

Arc of Justice series episode 3: Home ownership played an important role in how many Americans built wealth in the 20th century. Yet, Black Americans faced significant obstacles on the path to owning a home in the same time period. In this episode, how U.S. government policies promoted residential segregation and destroyed African-American neighborhoods in the process.

Arc of Justice series episode 2: A tale of two promises made by the government — one kept, one broken — that helps explain the existing wealth gap between Black and white Americans.

Arc of Justice series episode 1: It hasn’t been very long at all since we were one nation under slavery. The effects still linger. One example: Today, white households in Boston have a median net worth of about $247,000. The median net worth of a Black household in Boston is a mere $8. You read that right. What could have been done, and what could still be done, to start to close the wealth gap between white and Black Americans? Welcome to The ARC of Justice.

The ARC of Justice: From Here to Equality The Ways & Means podcast series ARC of Justice responds to the need for Acknowledgement, Redress and…

The Ways & Means podcast​ team hosted the live Climate Whistleblowers event as a part of Duke Energy Week 2020. Featured guests include environmental justice…

The question of whether and how to compensate descendants of people formerly enslaved in the United States has hung over the country since the end of the Civil War. It’s getting new traction in the 2020 election, and now a Duke researcher has assembled a team to determine how such a program could be enacted.

What makes a great leader during a deeply divided time? And what can we learn from one of the most striking examples of leadership in history? We look at the story of Nelson Mandela and some of the surprising strategies that made his leadership work.

A look at why local news is struggling, why that matters for democracy and what can be done about it.

On this episode of Ways and Means we ask – how did the gun control movement become a force in American politics — after being overshadowed for so long by the NRA? In a word: money.

There’s a big gap between young Americans’ intention to vote and the chance that they will actually do it. In this episode: why so few young people in the U.S. vote and what can be done about it.

Research into how government-funded afterschool programs for poor families are empowering politically motivated parents. Features Chicago and Durham, NC programs.

Season 5 of Ways & Means is dedicated to issues in U.S. politics, civic life and hot topics in the 2020 election. The season is made possible by Polis: Center for Politics at Duke’s Sanford School of Public Policy.

New research into how to best help children control themselves in the classroom.

We go inside an innovative, free public program that helps new moms and dads adjust to life with a newborn.

Who will take the hardest hit financially as the world heats up, and can anything be done about it?

A research team from Duke University treks into the Himalayas to investigate why a promising way to deliver electricity to those who need it, the micro-hydro minigrid, sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t.

Using behavioral economics to nudge commuters into leaving their cars behind.

Explore new research into how to overcome partisanship when it comes to belief about climate change.

Season 4 launches with a miniseries featuring policy ideas for understanding and dealing with our changing climate.

Ways & Means wins CASE Award for the second year in a row.

A research team is testing a novel new approach to helping orphans in Kenya get mental healthcare.

New research on how providing incentives for doctors in the developing world might help more women survive childbirth. (Malur, India.)

How the authors of the National Defense Education Act turned politics of crisis into a law that opened the door to college for millions of American women.

Learning about how criminals actually get their guns could lead to a change in how law enforcement does its job.

There’s evidence that diplomacy and public shaming are helping shine a light on a problem that depends on secrecy to survive: human trafficking.

How researchers are using Google Earth to find the undocumented slums of India.

How hyper-vigilance about the possible threat of Muslim-American violence might be making all Americans less safe.

Why fraud has been a key feature of American business from the beginning.

New research on the difficulties some people face to gain wealth, even when they do everything right.

Are the major concerns parents have about teens and their mobile devices justified?

What reformers across the nation are doing to combat gerrymandering and restore the power of your vote.

“Whiteness” in America – how it’s changed, what it means, and how it may be changing still.

What gets in the way of change in government, and what we need to know about ourselves to make something new work.

Exploring the vexing issue of how to get more ordinary people to run for office.

How yesterday’s war on tobacco is shaping today’s war on sugar.

How women gained a political voice in the U.S. and then – in some ways – lost it.

Why asking seniors what they really want when they’re dying could lead – surprisingly – to cost-savings for big government systems.

A new movement of reporters is going to great lengths to ensure we the people know the truth, especially when it comes to politics.