UCSB scholars join podcast recap of national headlines from 2025

While the flood and ebb of the daily news cycle can be difficult to track, this time of year can mark a respite of sorts, as news outlets - independent and mainstream alike - pause to reflect on headlines from the previous 12 months.

Joining the conversation, the "Talking Policy" podcast, produced by the UC Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC), has released its annual news lookback on the previous calendar year. Featuring insight from five UC scholars, the 48-minute episode, "The Trump Revolution - One Year Later," is bookended by interviews with a pair of political scientists from UC Santa Barbara.

Opening the show, which was recorded a few days after U.S. special forces captured Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in Caracas, UCSB associate professor Neil Narang, discussed foreign relations and national security, particularly in the Western Hemisphere.

"President Trump doesn't just allude to the Monroe Doctrine, he basically says we're back to enforcing it," said Narang, who serves as IGCC co-director.

Rounding out the episode, associate professor Matto Mildenberger talks about the administration in the context of climate change and clean energy. "We live in a really challenging time to analyze progress on climate change."

Also in the episode, UC San Diego professor and IGCC co-director Tai Ming Cheung discusses the state of affairs between the U.S. and China. Caroline Freud, dean of the UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy, covers economics. And UCSD political scientist Laren Prather offers insight on the administration's impact on democracy.

A full transcript of the episode is available here.

IGCC is a policy thinktank based at UC San Diego and the UC Washington Center in Washington, D.C.

About UC Santa Barbara

The University of California, Santa Barbara is a leading research institution that also provides a comprehensive liberal arts learning experience. Our academic community of faculty, students, and staff is characterized by a culture of interdisciplinary collaboration that is responsive to the needs of our multicultural and global society. All of this takes place within a living and learning environment like no other, as we draw inspiration from the beauty and resources of our extraordinary location at the edge of the Pacific Ocean.