Policy 360

Mexico taxed soda, and people drank less of them. Barry Popkin, director of the Nutrition Transition Research program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, talks about why the tax worked and what it means.

Finland used to have a diet with high saturated fat and sodium. No anymore. A conversation with Francesco Branca of the World Health Organization. Part of series on the future of food policy.

Another in our series of conversation with global food leaders. Francesco Branca, Director of the Department of Nutrition for Health and Development at the World Health Organization, says there's a need for change. "People have been talking about a food revolution," he says. "I think we should believe in it."

Series on food continues with Lisel Loy of the Bipartisan Policy Center. She proposes new training for doctors on obesity issues, and a change in the way doctors are paid.

"We can't keep on doing the thing we're doing right now with agriculture. It's like Saudi Arabia frittering away their oil." - Dr. Ricardo Salvador, Union of Concerned Scientists

The world faces problems in supplying food to its growing population. Savvy business leaders are trying to adapt. Conversation with Betsy Holden, former co-CEO of Kraft Foods and CEO of Kraft Foods North America. Holden is a consultant for McKinsey & Company. 

Are U.S. black women aging faster deep in their cells due to stress? Listen to an exploration of this novel theory. Duke Sanford Assistant Professor Jay Pearson talks with Kelly Brownell.

Remember when the online talk show "Between Two Ferns" scored a visit to the White House? Host Zach Galifianakis chatted with President Obama about health care, among other things. The episode went viral, of course. It's the type of social media effort Macon Phillips applauds. In 2008, Phillips was the Obama campaign's digital guru. Once Obama won the election, Phillips became the man behind many of the digital innovations at the White House (change.gov and WhiteHouse.gov for example). Recently, Phillips talked with Dean of the Sanford School Kelly Brownell. Phillips is now using his digital talents with the State Department to revamp America's "digital diplomacy."

Gene Dodaro leads the U.S. Government Accountability Office. Part of his job is to provide policymakers with foresight about emerging challenges. 

Gene Dodaro is the Comptroller General of the United States. His agency works to ferret out waste, duplication, and fraud in government and they’ve realized savings in the billions of dollars. How do they do it? Dodaro sits down with Sanford's dean Kelly Brownell to discuss his work. "I am amazed at the lack .. of some fundamental management principles that need to be put in place in government," he says. "As a government we do not do a very good job of planning ahead. I'm always reminded of Winston Churchill's quote about the United States where he says 'The Americans will always do the right thing, but after they've tried everything else.'"

What was accomplished in Paris? Sanford's dean Kelly Brownell talks with faculty member Billy Pizer. Pizer is a faculty fellow with the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, a nonpartisan institute at Duke that focuses on finding solutions to some of the nation's most pressing environmental challenges. He also served a three-year stint as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Environment and Energy in the Treasury Department. Pizer says the structure of the agreement is one that he's excited about, particularly because it considers how hard countries are trying to make change. "I'm optimistic that once we have the right incentives and the commitments in place, we'll actually do a lot more things that people couldn't even imagine," Pizer says.

A new report explores the challenge and promise of using community policing strategies to prevent violent extremism. The author of the report is David Schanzer, Director of the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security. As a part of the report, Schanzer's team talked with chiefs of police nationwide, including a survey, interviews and site visits. He also conducted focus groups with Muslim Americans to better understand the community's feelings about how Muslim Americans are treated by law enforcement. "I'm excited about the report because I think it's one of the first things that tries to merge the views of law enforcement and the views of the community that they are interacting with," said Schanzer. He speaks with Sanford's dean, Kelly Brownell.

There's increasing concern about violent acts from religious extremists around the world and particular concern about such acts being carried out on U.S. soil. David Schanzer, Dir. of the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security says many people see terrorists as angry individuals engaged in barbarous conduct. Schanzer argues such acts are really all about politics, not bloodlust. "If we want to solve this kind of violence, we have to understand that," he says. Schanzer speaks with Kelly Brownell.