Best Julia Azari Podcasts (2025)

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Who Really Controls the Map? 33:51

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13d ago33:51

33:51

In this week's episode of Politics in Question, Lee and James catch up on the state of redistricting in the U.S. They discuss Lee’s latest Substack piece, “Democracy in Pieces: Did the Texas Gerrymander Just Break the Districting Game ?” Who writes the rules? Does the Democrats’ response to redistricting in Texas affirm the idea that political acto…

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What's the Future of Casework? 47:29

27d ago47:29

47:29

In this week's episode of Politics in Question, Lee Drutman discusses with Anne Meeker how case work and constituent services would work under proportional representation. Meeker is Deputy Director of POPVox and co-author of a white paper titled How Would Constituent Services in American Multi-Member Districts Work?…

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Do We Need Conflict in American Politics? 47:18

2M ago47:18

47:18

In this week's episode of Politics in Question, Lee and James discuss the role of conflict in policy making, guided by E.E. Schattschneider's The Semisovereign People: A Realist's View of Democracy in America (1960). How can conflict drive change? How do our current views of partisanship and conflict inform decision-making? How does who controls th…

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Who Has the Power? 50:12

2M ago50:12

50:12

In this week’s special live episode of Politics In Question, James and Lee talk with Soren Dayton about cycles of electoral reform. Dayton is the Director of Governance at the Foundation for American Innovation. What are the boundaries of presidential power? How has power been centralized within the Executive Branch throughout history? What role do…

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What Happened to Our Political Parties? 50:48

3M ago50:48

50:48

In this week’s special live episode of Politics In Question, Lee and Julia talk with Didi Kuo about the evolution of political parties in America. Kuo is a Fellow at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and author of The Great Retreat: How Political Parties Should Behave and Why They Don't (Oxford University Pres…

1
Where Does Christianity Fit in American Politics? 46:02

3M ago46:02

46:02

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Lee and James talk with Jonathan Rauch about Christian nationalism and its relationship to democracy. Rauch is a senior fellow in the Governance Studies program at Brookings and the author of Cross Purposes: Christianity's Broken Bargain with Democracy (Yale University Press, 2025). How new and distin…

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Do We Need to Redefine Democracy? 50:14

6M ago50:14

50:14

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Lee and James talk with Samuel Bagg about participation and democracy. Bagg is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of South Carolina and the author of The Dispersion of Power: A Critical Realist Theory of Democracy (Oxford University Press, 2024). What are t…

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What Defines a Political Scandal? 36:39

7M ago36:39

36:39

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Lee and Julia talk with Charles Hunt and Jaclyn Kettler about political scandals. Hunt is a Professor of Political Science at Boise State University (BSU), and Kettler is a Political Science Associate Professor at BSU. They are the hosts of Scandalized , a podcast where each episode unpacks a politica…

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Have We Entered a New Constitutional Order? 1:00:18

7M ago1:00:18

1:00:18

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Lee talks with Paul Pierson and Eric Schickler about the polarization of American politics and the emergence of a new constitutional order. Pierson is the John Gross Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Berkeley, and Schickler is the Jeffrey & Ashley McDermott Professor of Political Science…

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How Did the Heartland Go Red? 40:24

7M ago40:24

40:24

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Julia and Lee talk with Stephanie Ternullo about the political shift among white working-class Americans. Ternullo is an Assistant Professor of Government at Harvard University and author of How the Heartland Went Red: Why Local Forces Matter in an Age of Nationalized Politics (Princeton University Pr…

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How Do We Fix Political Dysfunction? 30:16

8M ago30:16

30:16

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, James, Julia, and Lee discuss political dysfunction and how our perceptions of politics influence our views. They discuss Lee’s Substack piece We Need More (and Better) Parties and Julia’s Substack piece The Odds vs. The Stakes: In 2024, They Don't Seem to Be Related. How should media cover elections?…

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Is Democracy Under Threat? 52:02

9M ago52:02

52:02

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Lee and Julia talk with Zack Beauchamp about how we make sense of democratic threats. Beauchamp is a senior correspondent at Vox and author of The Reactionary Spirit: How America's Most Insidious Political Tradition Swept the World (PublicAffairs, 2024). What are the risks to American democracy? How d…

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How Do Voting Laws Affect Turnout? 48:59

9M ago48:59

48:59

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Lee talks with Kevin Morris about demographics, voting rights, and elections. Morris, a Senior Research Fellow and Voting Policy Scholar at the Brennan Center, is the co-author of the report Growing Racial Disparities in Voter Turnout, 2008–2022. How have voting rights laws, policies, and practices ev…

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Can multiparty presidentialism revitalize U.S. democracy? 46:41

9M ago46:41

46:41

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Julia talks with Scott Mainwaring about multipartism and presidentialism. Mainwaring is the Eugene and Helen Conley Professor of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame. He is the co-author, alongside Lee Drutman, of The Case for Multiparty Presidentialism in the U.S. (Protect Democracy, 202…

1
What is the role of parties? 47:51

9M ago47:51

47:51

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Julia and Lee talk with Sam Rosenfeld and Daniel Schlozman about the evolution of political parties in the United States. Rosenfeld is an is Associate Professor of Political Science at Colgate University and Scholzman is a Joseph and Bertha Bernstein Associate Professor of Political Science at John Ho…

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What are the politics of debt relief? 40:59

9M ago40:59

40:59

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Lee and Julia talk with Chloe Nicol Thurston and Emily Zackin about the United State’s relationship to debt and debtors. Thurston is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Northwestern University and Zackin is an Associate Professor of Political Science at John Hopkins University. They are the…

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How does memory shape democracy? 36:20

9M ago36:20

36:20

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question Lee and Julia dive into the latest from their Substack newsletters, Undercurrent Events and Good Politics/Bad Politics. They delve into how negativity bias, nostalgia bias, identity, and messaging all shape the current state of our democracy. How do we think of the present and the past? How do emotion,…

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What does changing demographics mean for parties? 42:53

9M ago42:53

42:53

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question Lee talks with Jocelyn Kiley to discuss the Pew Report, Changing Partisan Coalitions in a Politically Divided Nation. Kiley is a Senior Associate Director of Research at Pew Research Center. What are the most important demographic groups within each party? What is the correlation between age and partis…

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Has the Senate been disrupted? 47:43

10M ago47:43

47:43

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Lee and James explore the role of the Senate and the dysfunction we see today with Sean Theriault. Theriault is a Professor at the Department of Government at the University of Texas, Austin and the author of Disruption?: The Senate During the Trump Era (Oxford University Press, 2024). Do we need the …

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How do direct primaries impact American self-government? 50:10

11M ago50:10

50:10

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Lee and James explore America’s reliance on direct primaries in federal elections with Nick Troiano. Troiano is the Executive Director of Unite America and the author of The Primary Solution: Rescuing Our Democracy from the Fringes (Simon & Schuster, 2024). What are direct primaries? Why do Americans …

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Why do Americans use primary elections to select candidates for office? 44:03

1y ago44:03

44:03

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Lee discusses the history of primary elections and options for reform with Robert Boatright. Boatright is professor of political science at Clark University and the world’s leading expert on the American primary system. He is also the director of research for the National Institute of Civil Discourse …

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Who rules America? 45:36

1y ago45:36

45:36

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Ari Berman joins Julia and Lee to discuss voting rights in the United States. Berman is Mother Jones’ national voting rights correspondent. He is the author of numerous books, including Minority Rule: The Right-Wing Attack on the Will of the People (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2024). Why is American po…

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Why is it amateur hour on Capitol Hill? 36:12

1y ago36:12

36:12

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Rachel Porter joins Lee to consider the consequences of political amateurs in Congress. Porter is an Assistant Professor of Political Science. Her research interests include American political institutions and political methodology, with a particular focus on Congress, elite behavior, and methods for …

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Is American democracy in crisis? 1:06:34

1y ago1:06:34

1:06:34

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Jake Grumbach joins Lee and James to consider whether American democracy is in crisis. Grumbach is an associate professor at the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley. He studies the political economy of the United States, with interests in democratic institutions, labor, federalism, racial a…

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What is the state of American Democracy? 42:41

1+ y ago42:41

42:41

In this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Congressman John Sarbanes, D-Md., joins Lee to talk about the health of American democracy. Sarbanes has represented Maryland’s third congressional district in the House of Representatives since 2007. He serves on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and is chair of the Democracy Reform Task For…

Julia Azari Podcasts

1
Politics in Question

Julia Azari, Lee Drutman, and James Wallner

1
Milwaukee Magazine Podcast

Milwaukee Magazine

1
Who Really Controls the Map? 33:51

1
What's the Future of Casework? 47:29

1
Do We Need Conflict in American Politics? 47:18

1
Who Has the Power? 50:12

1
What Happened to Our Political Parties? 50:48

1
Where Does Christianity Fit in American Politics? 46:02

1
Do We Need to Redefine Democracy? 50:14

1
What Defines a Political Scandal? 36:39

1
Have We Entered a New Constitutional Order? 1:00:18

1
How Did the Heartland Go Red? 40:24

1
How Do We Fix Political Dysfunction? 30:16

1
Is Democracy Under Threat? 52:02

1
How Do Voting Laws Affect Turnout? 48:59

1
Can multiparty presidentialism revitalize U.S. democracy? 46:41

1
What is the role of parties? 47:51

1
What are the politics of debt relief? 40:59

1
How does memory shape democracy? 36:20

1
What does changing demographics mean for parties? 42:53

1
Has the Senate been disrupted? 47:43

1
How do direct primaries impact American self-government? 50:10

1
Why do Americans use primary elections to select candidates for office? 44:03

1
Who rules America? 45:36

1
Why is it amateur hour on Capitol Hill? 36:12

1
Is American democracy in crisis? 1:06:34

1
What is the state of American Democracy? 42:41