Not Another Politics Podcast

Does Congress Actually Have Power of the Purse?

The "power of the purse"—Congress’s constitutional authority to control public spending—is often cited as the ultimate check on executive power. But how effectively does

Are Easy A’s Too Widespread in Academia?

Across universities today, raw GPAs treat an A in advanced econometrics the same as an A in introductory film studies. Standard grading systems inadvertently penalize stu

Do We Understand Members Of The Other Party?

Do Democrats and Republicans really misunderstand each other as much as we think? This week, we dive into a surprising new experiment that puts that idea to the test — l

The Economic Cost of Populism

While we take a quick summer break, we wanted to re-release an episode that felt timely, given the rise of right-wing populism around the world. More than 25 percent of c

Is Abortion Policy Out Of Step With Public Opinion?

Since the fall of Roe v. Wade, we've been told a simple story: red states are radically out of step with public opinion. But what if that's not actually the reality? On t

The Political Effects of the Opioid Crisis

In this episode, we speak with Victoria Barone, Assistant Professor at the University of Notre Dame, to discuss her recent NBER paper that examines the possible relations

Is the Median Justice Running the Supreme Court?

In debates about the Supreme Court, we tend to focus on the justice who writes the opinion. But what if that’s not where the real power lies? In this episode, we speak t

Why Does America Pay More For Infrastructure?

We're off this week for a much-needed spring break, but we wanted to re-share this episode that feels more relevant than ever. Infrastructure in the U.S. now costs dramat

What Binary Questions Get Wrong About Voters

Are Americans really polarized along party lines? Today, we discuss a new paper from our co-host Anthony Fowler, about one of the most common tools researchers use to mea

Do Dishonest People Self-Select Into Public Service?

Is academic dishonesty connected to political power in China? That question is explored in a new paper from Shaoda Wang, Assistant Professor at the University of Chicago

The Future of Empirical Research in the Age of AI

In this episode, we sit down with Stanford political scientist Andy Hall and PhD candidate Graham Straus to unpack their new paper, “How Accurately Did Claude Code Replic

Are Primary Elections Responsible for Polarization in Congress?

Do members of Congress vote differently when they are worried about winning their party’s primary election? On today's episode, Ethan and Wioletta interview Anthony about

What Do Politicians Think Motivates Voters?

Do politicians really understand what drives voters—or are they relying on flawed assumptions that could shape democracy in troubling ways? As we take some time off for

Do Professors Self-Censor On Controversial Topics?

In this episode, we speak with Cory Clark, behavioral scientist and Associate Professor of Psychology at New College of Florida. We discuss her paper, “Taboos and Self-Ce

Is Partisan Gerrymandering As Bad As You Think?

There is no political topic that can get people’s blood boiling quite like partisan gerrymandering. But what do we know about how effective it is and what the data shows

Do Donors Punish Extremist Primary Nominees?

What happens when a political party nominates a candidate in its primary who is ideologically extreme? Do donors, especially those outside the party’s base, react — and i

The Economic Cost of Populism

More than 25 percent of countries around the world are currently governed by populists, from Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey, to Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, and Donald Tr

Is Political Science Research Underpowered?

What if most political science studies are too weak to find the effects they’re looking for? In this episode, we dig into a new paper by Vincent Arel-Bundock and colleagu

Can Trade Be A Weapon Of Global Power?

For decades, free trade was treated as an unquestioned good—an engine of prosperity and cooperation. But today, leaders from Washington to Beijing are rethinking trade as

Should Unelected Judges Be Deciding National Policy?

Every week, headlines tell us that a single federal judge has blocked a presidential order—sometimes halting major policies for years. But should that be possible? Is it