SMU Political Science Professors Cal Jillson and Matt Wilson routinely field journalist queries from all over the world. So we thought President Donald Trump's First 100 Days in his second term was an excellent time to pause and reflect upon the Trump 47 Administration to date. This SMU Perspectives Podcast delivers sharp commentary amid the context of Jillson's and Wilson's observations of The President's political career ever since his decent from the 'Golden Escalator' at Trump Tower nearly a decade ago.

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After the architects of the U.S. Constitution framed the role of Congress in Article I, they set about to define the executive branch in Article II and a job description for the U.S. President — whom they envisioned to be a cheerleader for Congress. SMU Professor Jeffrey Engel — director of the Center for Presidential History — notes that vision was relatively short-lived. Professor Engel explains an escalation of presidential powers over time as Congress ceded control to a series of presidents navigating crises. Beginning with Abraham Lincoln and continuing with McKinley, Teddy Roosevelt and on through the world war administrations to the present, the office of the President has morphed into a more authoritarian and albeit imperial role.

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We waited to release our latest episode of SMU Perspectives Podcast until October because it’s the month of Halloween and pumpkins and things that go bump in the night. Our guest, SMU English Professor/Poet Greg Brownderville, hails from Pumpkin Bend, Ark., where folklore holds court like a poet-in-residence. It wafts through the Mississippi Delta breeze and lifts up mystical ideas like “marked” babies. That’s a situation where a tractor injury to a relative, like Greg’s father, might magically leave “marks” upon his sons. It did. Greg’s fascination with the “imagination of spirituality and the spirituality of imagination” conjures a feisty muse in his award-winning poetry collections. He reads from “Gust,” and the mysterious ways of God in scripture and life are examined. Inquire about Greg to an SMU Dean or fellow professors and they classify him as “genius” and “renaissance figure.” Though Greg will allow his creative bursts may cause loss of sleep at times, he will rise and devote his days to teaching poetry and creating writing, editing the iconic SMU literary quarterly magazine Southwest Review, producing “Go-Shows,” podcasts, and musical albums. Even if it is undetectable, all the while Greg Brownderville is influenced by Welsh Bards and Fairies and the pursuit of art. Thus, October.

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In this polarized world it's easy to imagine civility is dead — or at least has one foot in the grave. Dare we try to have an impromptu conversation about presidential politics, religion, guns, abortion or Israel-Gaza, many of us might fall prey to our emotions and the physical hackles rippling through our bodies. But it doesn't have to be that way, says SMU Professor Jill DeTemple. She's an expert at teaching students and members of the community how to get along by simply breathing, listening and swapping stories that diffuse what we think divides us. It's not about getting us to change our beliefs — but rather honestly sharing with our conversation partners how we arrived at our world views.

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The passage of the Inflation Reduction Act in August 2022 seemed like a green light for long-awaited clean energy initiatives. But as James Coleman — an energy law professor at SMU Dallas points out — then reality set in. The $400 Billion to $1.2 Trillion set aside for our green energy dreams was stalled by cumbersome permitting processes to build power line infrastructure. It may take 10 to 15 years to get things up and running. Professor Coleman supplies sobering insights on the frustrations EVs face, and other energy enigmas: like how will we ever develop electrical power storage lasting more than 30 minutes? There's reason for optimism because of energy efforts in Texas and elsewhere in the country.

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One of the tragic ironies that domestic violence victims face is that they sometimes get arrested and even jailed during the very episode wherein they were abused. Case in point is a Texas woman who was date raped, abandoned in the driveway of a DFW home where she was later arrested for DWI and incarcerated. Law students of the Judge Elmo B. Hunter Legal Center for Victims of Crimes Against Women Clinic were assigned to her case by Dedman Law School professors. The students came to her rescue, produced evidence to law enforcement that their client was the real victim and thus a 'criminalized survivor.' The law students' efforts resulted in the the defendant's record being expunged.

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SMU Dallas law professor Christina Sautter is an expert on the type of youthful "retail investors" depicted in the hit film, "Dumb Money," a comedic but serious look at what happened during the GameStop stock episode of 2021. The cast (including Pete Davidson, Paul Dano, America Ferrara , Nick Offerman and Seth Rogen) carries out a David vs. Goliath storyline "about everyday people who flipped the script on Wall Street and got rich by turning GameStop (the video game store) into the world's hottest company." Podcast guest Sautter, a business law professor at SMU's Dedman School of Law, translates the retail investor world and sheds light on how these mostly Millennial and GenZ traders can can earn cash and wield corporate influence by exercising their "superpower" by simply voting their stock.

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• email us a behlert@smu.edu or sfasoro@smu.edu