In this episode of 1050 Bascom, we were happy to welcome back Mary Davis Michaud, a Faculty Associate at the LaFollette School of Public Policy to talk about the Health Policy Certificate for undergraduates. Mary offered us an inside look into the health policy certificate including the fascinating menu of courses available as well as the many career pathways that are open to public policy students in general. We learned a lot and enjoyed our conversation. We hope you will too.

In this episode of 1050 Bascom, we were excited to talk to DeVon Wilson, L&S Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Dean Wilson previously directed the Center for Academic Excellence where he has been credited by leaders across the University Administration for transforming the campus experience for underrepresented students. Dean Wilson is also a sought-after expert in the national DEI space, and holds a research position in the Wisconsin Equity & Inclusion Laboratory at UW-Madison where he has focused on the academic integration of student-athletes and different learning outcomes in undergraduate education. We learned so much and thoroughly enjoyed our time with Dean Wilson.

In this episode of 1050 Bascom, we were grateful for the opportunity to talk to one of our PS alumni, Megan Arendt as part of our Career Conversations series. Megan is the Associate Director Of Communications at Action on Smoking and Health in Washington, DC. She graduated from UW-Madison in 2010 with a B.A. in Political Science and a certificate in African Studies. In 2014, Megan also received a certification in Communication and Media Studies from the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Megan currently serves as a valued alumni mentor in the University’s Wisconsin in Washington program. We asked Megan about her time at UW Madison as well as her post-grad education and career path. We also asked her for advice for current students and recent graduates navigating a challenging internship and job market. Megan also offered some great insights for students looking to pursue opportunities in Washington, DC. We thoroughly enjoyed our conversation with Megan and hope you will too.

In this episode of 1050 Bascom we were grateful for the opportunity to interview Prof. Christine Durrance, an applied microeconomist concentrating in health economics and policy. Prof. Durrance’s research focuses on maternal, infant, and reproductive health; risky behavior and substance use; and antitrust and competition policy in health care markets. Prof. Durrance is also one of the investigators for the Collaborative for Reproductive Equity (CORE) at UW-Madison. Prof. Durrance shared her insights into the inequities in vaccine distribution across the globe. We also discussed several other research projects that inform her scholarship and teaching. We thoroughly enjoyed our conversation with Prof. Durrance and hope you will too.

In this episode of 1050 Bascom, we were grateful for the opportunity to talk to Erin Barbato, Director of the Immigrant Justice Clinic at the University of Wisconsin Law School, about immigration politics and policy. We also asked Prof. Barabato about the recent grant she received to co-direct a Center for Dreamers at the University of Wisconsin that aims to assist undocumented immigrants in Wisconsin who were brought to this country as young children and remain here under the temporary, renewable protections of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). We enjoyed our conversation with Prof. Barbato and learned so much. We hope you will too.

In this episode of 1050 Bascom, we were privileged to talk again to Prof. Jon Pevehouse who teaches a variety of courses in international relations and foreign policy for the Political Science department as well as the La Follette School of Public Affairs. Prof. Pevehouse is the new Chair of the Political Science department and is also teaching his very popular American Foreign Policy course this semester. Prof. Pevehouse helped us put the US presence in Afghanistan in an historical context and offered his insights into the Taliban’s return to power last month in the aftermath of the US withdrawal. Prof. Pevehouse also walked us through some of the short- and long-term foreign policy implications of the post- 9/11 wars more generally. We learned so much and thoroughly enjoyed our conversation. We hope you will too.

In this episode of 1050 Bascom, we were grateful for the opportunity to talk to Steven Kulig, Associate Director at the La Follette School of Public Affairs. Steve earned his bachelor of science degree in Economics from UW-Madison in 2007. After graduation, he spent over six years working as a legislative assistant in the Wisconsin State Senate. While working at the capitol, he attended the La Follette School part-time, earning his master's degree in public affairs in 2014. After graduating, he joined the Wisconsin Department of Health Services as a budget and policy analyst and then joined the La Follette School as administrator and career services coordinator in April 2016 before becoming the Associate Director at La Follette in 2018. We asked Steve about his time on campus as an undergrad, his experience as a legislative assistant and as a budget analyst, his decision to pursue an MPA, and about his current leadership role at La Follette. We thoroughly enjoyed our conversation with Steve and hope you will too!

In this episode of 1050 Bascom, we were privileged to talk with Prof Reed Lei about the Chinese Politics class he is teaching in the fall and Chinese politics more generally. Prof Lei’s research and teaching interests include Autocracy, Chinese politics, local governments, political economy of development, public finance, and judicial politics. We asked Prof. Lei about the topics he plans to cover in his fall course as well as questions about some contemporary Chinese political issues and concerns in the international system more broadly. We learned a lot and enjoyed our conversation.

In this episode of 1050 Bascom, we were grateful for the opportunity to talk to , an Associate Professor for the School for Workers at UW-Madison to talk about an important and unique study he co-directed called “Voices of Wisconsin Workers - A Community Engaged Study of Essential Workers During the Pandemic.” We’ve spent some time on the podcast talking in generalities about the impact of COVID-19 on the economy generally, but we haven’t really gotten into crucial questions of how the pandemic has impacted the financial lives of many individual workers, especially those deemed essential (and never stopped going to work in places where the virus was circulating even without vaccines). We are fortunate to be able to address some of these questions in this interview with Prof. Ibarra who has been studying these issues throughout the pandemic. We enjoyed our conversation with Prof. Ibarra and learned so much. We hope you will too.

In this episode 1050 Bascom, we were privileged to have the opportunity to talk to Roger Ervin, who received his MBA from the University of Wisconsin Business School and teaches courses at the La Follette School of Public Affairs. Roger is an accomplished global operating executive with experience in the public and private sectors. Roger’s career has spanned from working as a campaign field organizer to the highest levels of presidential politics and diplomatic service to serving as the CEO of a 5,000-employee global company operating in 40 countries. Roger was a senior advisor to the Biden 2020 presidential campaign and also served in the Clinton Administration as a Senior Advisor in the Africa Bureau of the State Department where he was deeply involved in some of the most crucial foreign policy matters of the time including helping Nelson Mandela’s rise to the presidency as well as resolving America’s intervention in Somalia and ending genocide in Rwanda. In May 2021, he joined Putnam Partners as a firm partner. Next spring, he will teach a course at La Follette called Strategic Public Management.