If Banning Bots Won't Stop Disinformation, What Will?

How we got here and what needs to happen next with Russia and Ukraine.

In the years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, a cohort of young Westerners flocked to Moscow, including many idealists who were eager to support the evolution of a democratic Russia. 

Today, Russia is on the other side of the looking-glass, nearing the one-year anniversary of the unprovoked invasion of its neighbor, Ukraine. Russian citizens now find themselves conscripted into a military accused of human rights crimes on the warfront. And at home, the Kremlin's propaganda, brutality, and corruption abound. 

If there is a bright, shining light of democracy, Russia is a chilling place far from it.  

Today on the show: How did this happen? And what additional policy response is needed as Russia and Ukraine enter their second year of this waking nightmare?

Our guest is Sarah Mendelson, a former UN Ambassador, an expert in global development, human rights, and foreign policy, and the head of Carnegie Mellon’s Heinz College in Washington, DC. She was also once one of those up-and-comers who moved to Moscow in the early 90s. 

Mendelson reminds us that while the world is rightfully focused on protecting Ukrainians, Vladimir Putin's war has also made victims of Russians, and those who advocate on their behalf.

This episode featured recordings from the documentary film, "Putin Forever?," courtesy Kirill Nenashev.

To learn more about our guest and see the sources we referenced for this episode, visit: https://hnz.cm/consequential 

In June, President Biden signed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act into law. While full of good news for gun-reform advocates, this law—which was inspired by mass shootings—has been criticized for not actually doing much to address them. In this episode, a closer look at gun-death statistics suggests that’s not exactly the case. Importantly, the new law does at least begin to close gaps in protections against domestic homicides, which are the lion’s share of mass killings in this country. 

Still, we have a long way to go.

With this crucial first step behind us, what comes next for gun reform? The University of Michigan’s April Zeoli, an expert in domestic violence and gun laws, and Carnegie Mellon’s Dan Nagin, a criminologist and professor of public policy and statistics, share their wish lists.

UPDATE: As we prepared to publish this episode, on February 2nd, the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the restraining-order gun restriction is unconstitutional. While Texas and Louisiana have their own state laws on this that are still valid, it is now legal in Mississippi for domestic abusers under restraining orders to own a gun. Zeoli warns the ruling will put families in danger. Zeoli warns the ruling will put families in danger.

For more information—including a recent op-ed coauthored by Zeoli, a 2020 TedTalk about her research, and videos of Dan Nagin addressing Congress with the NSF-funded workshop’s recommendations, visit our website. 

There’s been a lot of anxiety lately about AI replacing workers. But what many economists are really worried about is not mass unemployment, but polarization. Emerging technology, they say, isn’t coming for all our jobs—it’s shrinking the middle class, specifically. Experts warn that we’ve seen this movie before with globalization a generation ago. Without a smart policy response, the coming shifts in the labor market could not only heighten economic hardship, but also sow even more division in our increasingly polarized society. In this episode, we ask: Could the robots come between us? And what can we do about it? MIT’s Frank Levy and David Autor, Stanford’s Erik Brynjolfsson, and CMU’s Lee Branstetter suggest ways we can work together to ensure the Fourth Industrial Revolution is an economic reboot for the better.

Gee wiz, ever wonder why the 1950s were so swell for the economy? Technological advancements in things like telecommunications, transportation, and consumer electronics helped ignite the most expansive period of growth and productivity we’ve ever seen.

For some time, economists have been watching AI and other tech-industry wonders of the present, and wondering: Could a new boom be on the horizon? What policies could help usher in a new era of economic prosperity? CMU’s Lee Branstetter and MIT’s David Autor have some ideas.

This season on Consequential, we’ll ask experts about a range of pressing issues that are top of mind as policymakers get down to business: How to reboot our economy for the better; workforce polarization in the age of AI; next steps for gun reform; and how to think about Russia policy as Putin’s invasion of Ukraine nears its first anniversary. Season 5 premiers Tuesday, January 24. For more info or to subscribe, visit https://hnz.cm/consequential.

After a bill as significant as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is signed into law, both regulators and the general public have important roles to play. In our season finale, we're discussing regulatory policymaking and the future of infrastructure investment, with guests Ramayya Krishnan and Susan Webb Yackee.

Care is one of the most integral aspects of our society, and one of the most contentious aspects of infrastructure legislation. This week's episode looks at the role the care sector plays our workforce and economy, as well as the long-term effects of investing in care as infrastructure, with guests Maria Cancian, Brigid Schulte, and Jodi Sandfort.

Public transportation is one of the most critical aspects of our infrastructure, but it is also one of the most imperiled and underfunded. This week's episode looks at how the Bipartisan Infrastructure Plan's historic investment in public transit and other targeted policymaking can build the transportation systems of the future, with guests Stan Caldwell, Eric Goldwyn, Anthony Foxx, and Corey Harper.