Experts in the News | Miller Center

On the take: Corruption in America

With allegations of corruption flying on both sides of the aisle in Washington, Brian, Joanne, and Nathan return to our episode on how Americans have wrestled with political corruption.

Brian Balogh

Trump, in Twitter rant, revisits grievances against sports figures

"President Trump appears to have a peculiar overfascination with African-American athletes and a negative fascination," said Douglas A. Blackmon, the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book "Slavery by Another Name" and the host of "American Forum," a weekly show produced by the University of Virginia's Miller Center.

Douglas Blackmon

America is facing a reckoning that rewrites the rules of politics and culture

A reckoning is happening in America, one that is breathtaking to watch because of the speed at which it is rewriting the rules of American politics and culture.
In media, entertainment, politics and academia, prominent men are facing real consequences for sexual misconduct. Actor Kevin Spacey and comedian Louis C.K. have had forthcoming projects cancelled. Producer Harvey Weinstein was fired from the company that carries his name. Senator Al Franken faces calls for his resignation, while Republican Senate hopeful Roy Moore is slipping in the polls, making it possible that deep-red Alabama could send a Democrat to the Senate.

Nicole Hemmer

Weinstein case fallout: Why now? Why never before?

A recent Wall Street Journal poll found that almost half of women had experienced "unwelcome sexual advances or verbal or physical harassment at work." But last year, a federal report concluded that 75% of employees with such complaints didn’t voice them, especially if sex was involved. Instead they avoided the harasser, denied or downplayed the gravity of the harassment, or tried to “ignore, forget or endure’’ it. They were afraid. But why that fear has eased, and the problem been called out so suddenly, frequently and publicly, is a tougher question. “I can’t explain how these things get started,’’ says Brian Balogh, a historian at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center on Public Affairs. “But this is a real moment.’’

Brian Balogh

Americans think Trump is really bad at being president

Nothing degraded Trump’s ability to bring the country together more than his own words and actions as president, which have been designed to unify his base of supporters in opposition to his critics.

Michael Nelson

Analysis: Trump mocks Franken, reticent on Moore, despite his own history

Nicole Hemmer, an assistant professor with the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia, described the Trump tapes as another example of the president's tendency to project his own behavior onto others. "He regularly goes after people for things that he himself is guilty (or accused) of," Hemmer said, noting that he brought accusers of former President Bill Clinton to a debate that took place the weekend the Access Hollywood tape became public. "It's both about deflection and diminishment: look over there, not over here," Hemmer said. "And also, how bad can it be if other people are doing it?"

Nicole Hemmer