97: Israel and a Changed Middle East
Baker Briefing
The Middle East has undergone major shifts over the past 18 months, not least the Israel-Iran war that lasted for 12 days earlier this month and saw Israeli and U.S. attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities. A conversation with former diplomats and this past May illustrates the political dynamics shaping the future of power in the region, Israel’s war in Gaza, and the evolving U.S.-Israel relationship. This conversation was recorded at a Baker Institute on May 15, 2025. Featured guests: Former Ambassador Daniel Kurtzer, S. Daniel Abraham Professor of Middle East...
info_outline
96: Global Sports and Soft Power Diplomacy
Baker Briefing
The U.S. is currently hosting the FIFA Men’s Club World Cup, an international competition between soccer club teams and the prelude to the larger and more widely anticipated FIFA Men’s World Cup hosted next summer across 16 North American cities. (The latter tournament is played between countries, instead of clubs.) Fellow explains why these competitions and other global sports tournaments aren’t just entertainment, but a space where politics, economics, and diplomacy increasingly intersect, with a look in particular at the case of Saudi Arabia and its Crown Prince Mohammad...
info_outline
95: Claudia Sheinbaum’s Balancing Act (Part 2)
Baker Briefing
This is the second episode in a two-part conversation on the challenges facing Mexico domestically and in its relationship with the United States. , director of the Center for the U.S. and Mexico, joins “Baker Briefing” to examine the host of issues facing the U.S.-Mexico relationship under Presidents Donald Trump and Claudia Sheinbaum. His conversation with covers tariffs and the future of the North American trade agreement, Trump’s executive order designating cartels as terrorists — which has led to U.S. visa restrictions for some Mexican politicians — and the brewing...
info_outline
94: Claudia Sheinbaum’s Balancing Act (Part 1)
Baker Briefing
This is the first episode in a two-part conversation on the challenges facing Mexico domestically and in its relationship with the United States. Mexico held its first judicial elections on June 1, following last year’s sweeping overhaul of the judiciary. Center for the U.S. and Mexico director joins “Baker Briefing” to discuss the implications of the reforms and other domestic challenges facing President Claudia Sheinbaum as she carries forward the political project of former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador — including Mexico’s complex public safety landscape...
info_outline
Introducing the ‘Texas Briefing’ Podcast
Baker Briefing
Introducing “,” a new podcast that brings expert insights into the challenges shaping life in the Lone Star State. Institute scholars and their guests will untangle issues in health, the economy, climate resilience, and more to understand how policy matters are impacting communities, from the Panhandle to the Gulf Coast. In our first series, senior health policy fellow explores issues in reproductive health — including new abortion legislation, teen access to contraception, and the impact of the abortion ban on the state’s OB-GYN workforce pipeline — with guests Eleanor...
info_outline
93: Putting Safety First in the Firearm Policy Debate
Baker Briefing
Drs. Sandra McKay and Eric Fleegler, both experts in the Baker Institute , joined “Baker Briefing” to discuss the worsening gun injury epidemic ahead of our on June 6. They discussed areas of consensus among firearm-owners and non-owners alike, including child access prevention laws and age purchasing regulations, and prospects for commonsense gun legislation at the Texas and national levels. Featured guests: Sandra McKay, M.D., FAAP, Eric Fleegler, M.D., MPH, Mentioned in this episode: Christopher F. Kulesza et al., “The...
info_outline
92: As the US Steps Back, Can China Fill the Void?
Baker Briefing
In its first months, the second Trump administration has upended the alliances, institutions, and norms that have anchored U.S. foreign policy for decades — hiking tariffs on virtually all countries, downplaying U.S. military commitments, and all but dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development. Meanwhile, as the U.S. steps back from a world order that’s largely of its own making, China is attempting to fill the void. , director of the Baker Institute , joined “Baker Briefing” to discuss what China’s global soft power campaign looks like and how successful...
info_outline
91: What Lies Ahead for Syria?
Baker Briefing
Syria’s 13-year civil war came to a stunning end on Dec. 8, 2024, when rebel fighters led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham succeeded in toppling the brutal dictatorship of Bashar Assad. With the country now deeply fragmented and impoverished, what will the future of governance be under the transitional government of Ahmad al-Sharaa? , an assistant professor of political science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, joined “Baker Briefing” to discuss the regional reaction to Dec. 8, the structural challenges...
info_outline
90: Hospital Price Transparency Rules Still Aren’t Working
Baker Briefing
Federal hospital price transparency rules went into effect in 2021. Four years later, hospitals across the country — including the four largest hospitals in the Texas Medical Center, as assessed in a new Baker Institute — still aren’t complying. On this episode of “Baker Briefing,” explains why opacity in pricing is a key driver of rising health care costs and what policymakers can do to tackle the problem. Mentioned in this episode: Derek Jenkins, Sasathorn Tapaneeyakul, and Vivian Ho, “,” Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, September 6, 2024....
info_outline
89: America’s AI Strategy Is Falling Short
Baker Briefing
We’re in a new era of discovery in the history of artificial intelligence, but rapid advances in the technology are also bringing major risks. , a leading expert in computational engineering and Baker Institute fellow, joins the podcast to discuss the ethical and strategic choices on AI facing the U.S. amid its competition with China and the unintended consequences of outsourcing our thinking to machines. Mentioned in this episode: Moshe Vardi, “Big Tech, You Need Academia. Speak Up!,” Communications of the ACM 68, no. 5 (2025): 5, . This conversation was...
info_outlineLike other urban districts around the country, Houston Independent School District (HISD) has seen enrollment drop significantly over the past decade. But while the district’s schools are under capacity overall, with an average campus utilization rate of 77%, some of its campuses are meanwhile facing a paradoxical challenge: overcrowding.
Bill King, co-author of a recent Center for Tax and Budget Policy report on disparities in HISD campus utilization, and Erin Baumgartner, director of the Houston Education Research Consortium at Rice’s Kinder Institute for Urban Policy, joined the “Baker Briefing” podcast to explore what’s causing the imbalance, how the state’s proposed school voucher legislation could factor in, and paths forward for HISD.
This conversation was recorded on March 18, 2025. Read the report from King and co-authors Joyce Beebe and John Diamond:
https://www.bakerinstitute.org/research/disparities-houston-school-campus-utilization