Theda Skocpol on how political scientists think differently about politics

The Gray Area with Sean Illing

Vox Media Podcast Network

Politics, News, News Commentary, Philosophy, Society & Culture

4.5 • 11.1K Ratings

🗓️ 1 March 2016

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Political science is a misunderstood discipline. It's often laughed off by people who think it's ridiculous that something as human and contingent and unpredictable as politics can be called a science. Chemistry is a science. Politics is a hobby. Politics isn't chemistry. But it is something that can be studied rigorously, and understood using models, evidence and testable theories. In this episode, Theda Skocpol, a political scientist at Harvard (and a former chair of the American Political Science Association!) explains how political scientists learn about politics, what makes their work different both from pundits and from each other, and how it's helped her understand this insane election. She also talks through some of her research on what really drives the tea party and the ways in which the Koch Brothers are setting up an organization that's almost become a shadow political party of its own. Don't miss it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	The following podcast contains explicit language.
0:06.8	Hello and welcome to another episode of the Ezra Client Show.
0:10.6	I am the guy who hosts that show and talks to people on it,
0:13.5	and I'm happy to hear her listening to it.
0:16.2	I'm really excited about today's guest.
0:18.5	Theta Scotchpole is, I think it's for to say a legendary
0:21.3	political scientist at this point.
0:22.8	She's at Harvard.
0:24.1	She's been the head of the American Political Science Association.
0:27.4	She has won, I think, pretty much every prize.
0:29.7	You can win political sciences, written.
0:31.1	She has written tremendous books on the Tea Party, on States,
0:34.7	on the wide variety of topics.
0:37.8	And it was really helpful for me.
0:41.1	It has been, at times, when I've interviewed her before,
0:43.0	and really here, it's trying to help me think about,
0:45.7	how does a political scientist look at politics?
0:48.0	How does a political scientist figure out what to read,
0:51.0	what to pay attention to?
0:52.6	How do you approach everyday politics,
0:56.1	kind of the news of the day, an election, a scandal,
0:59.0	with the tools of political science?
	...

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