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Jen Patja Howell

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Jen Patja Howell is the editor and producer of The Lawfare Podcast and Rational Security. She currently serves as the Co-Executive Director of Virginia Civics, a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering the next generation of leaders in Virginia by promoting constitutional literacy, critical thinking, and civic engagement. She is the former Deputy Director of the Robert H. Smith Center for the Constitution at James Madison's Montpelier, and has been a freelance editor for 15 years. Jen has her B.A. in English from the University of California, Berkeley, and M.A. in Sociology from the University of Virginia.

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Podcasts

The Lawfare Podcast: Coronavirus Around the World

Jen Patja Howell   Sat, Mar 28, 2020, 10:06 AM

As the coronavirus pandemic spreads across the globe, it can be difficult to keep track of how the virus has spread and how different countries have responded. So, this week we are doing something a little bit different. We are bringing you dispatches about how nine different countries are handling the COVID-19 outbreak. Jacob Schulz spoke with experts about the situations in Poland, Spain, South Korea, Italy, Russia, South Africa, Iran, China, and Great Britain. You will hear from journalists, Brookings experts, a former CIA officer, and a Member of European Parliament, among others.

Podcasts

The Lawfare Podcast Bonus Edition: How the State Department and the Defense Department are Responding to the Covid-19 Pandemic

Jen Patja Howell   Fri, Mar 27, 2020, 5:33 PM

On this bonus edition of the Lawfare Podcast, we have combined two conversations about about how the Department of State and the Department of Defense are responding to the Covid-19 pandemic, including the impact on the workforce of these agencies, their efforts to assist and protect Americans abroad and domestically, and the broader national security and foreign policy consequences for the United States. Margaret Taylor sat down virtually with Robbie Gramer, the diplomacy and national security reporter at Foreign Policy magazine covering the State Department.

Podcasts

The Lawfare Podcast: Baybars Örsek on Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Fact-Checking

Jen Patja Howell   Thu, Mar 26, 2020, 5:32 PM

On this episode of Lawfare's Arbiters of Truth series on disinformation, Evelyn Douek and Quinta Jurecic spoke with Baybars Örsek, the Director of the International Fact-Checking Network at the Poynter Institute. Fact-checking has become newly prominent in recent years, as fact-checkers work to counter surges of online disinformation and misinformation. And it’s more important than ever right now in the middle of a pandemic, when incorrect information circulating online has immediate consequences for people’s health.

Podcasts

Rational Security: The 'Flatten the Curve' Edition

Jen Patja Howell   Wed, Mar 25, 2020, 8:32 PM

It took weeks for administration officials to persuade Donald Trump that the coronavirus posed a significant threat to the United States. Did those delays hinder the fight against the virus? The coronavirus may pose a threat to democratic values, as governments deploy aggressive surveillance to combat the pandemic. And there are shakeups in the senior ranks of U.S. counterterrorism.

Podcasts

The Lawfare Podcast Shorts: How Do You Spy When the World is Shut Down?

Jen Patja Howell   Wed, Mar 25, 2020, 1:00 PM

Like a marriage, a healthy relationship between an intelligence officer and an asset usually features ample attention and extensive energy. And of course, a lot of time spent with one another. But how do intelligence officers have the necessary face-to face-meetings when going outside is all but forbidden? What about conducting surveillance detection or servicing dead drops on empty streets in the coronavirus era?

Podcasts

The Lawfare Podcast: Freedom House on 'Freedom in the World'

Jen Patja Howell   Tue, Mar 24, 2020, 6:57 PM

As we witness democratic backsliding around the world, Lawfare is releasing a two-part podcast series on the state of global democracy. In the first segment, Benjamin Wittes interviewed Alina Polyakova and Torrey Taussig about “The Democracy Playbook” and strategies for fighting illiberal political movements.

Podcasts

The Lawfare Podcast: Alina Polyakova and Torrey Taussig on 'The Democracy Playbook'

Jen Patja Howell   Sat, Mar 21, 2020, 9:30 AM

Democracies around the world are under assault, with their norms and institutions undermined by authoritarian actors. From Hungary to India and beyond, illiberal or populist governments are weakening the rule of law, the separation of powers, and the integrity of elections.