Media articles, op-eds, podcasts and interviews
How politicians craft an economy to get reelected. Bonus episode of Planet Money's Political Economy Summer School (NPR). Conversation with Robert Smith. August 18, 2025.
The many ways governments influence industry: Industrial Policy. Guest professor for Episode 5 of Planet Money's Political Economy Summer School (NPR). Host: Robert Smith. August 6, 2025. [online transcript, PDF transcript]
Our National Rulemaker: Regulations. Guest professor for Episode 4 of Planet Money's Political Economy Summer School (NPR). Host: Robert Smith. July 30, 2025. [online transcript, PDF transcript]
On the economic consequences of West African countries expelling French troops. Interviewed by the BBC World Service Radio as part of the World Business Report, titled "Ukraine stops Russian gas transit to Europe" (the Report covers Ukraine, West Africa and other issues). January 1, 2025.
Las fronteras africanas: ni tan rectas ni tan inventadas como dicen. África Mundi (in Spanish). September 26, 2024.
Episode 3.7: What college dorms can teach us about culture, with Joan Ricart-Huguet. Scope Conditions. July 22, 2024.
¿Qué implicancias tendrá la Ley de Amnistía en la estabilidad política de España? Escenario Mundial (in Spanish). June 9, 2024.
Au Sénégal, la mise à l’écart de la Constitution signe un dangereux recul démocratique (in French, with Alioune Wagane Ngom). Libération. February 15, 2024. [PDF]
The History of African Development, an open-source textbook! Democracy in Africa. June 5, 2023.
Why do different cultures form and persist? The case of Makerere University. Africa at LSE blog. April 17, 2023.
What the 100-year-old Makerere University in Uganda reveals about culture. The Conversation. June 16, 2022.
Why colonial investments persist more in Francophone than Anglophone Africa. Africa at LSE blog. January 25, 2022.
State disengagement as a response to low-level conflict. The Loop, ECPR's Political Science Blog. September 6, 2021.
The study of political elites is gaining ground in HPE. Broadstreet Blog. June 18, 2021.
Colonial-era education can explain regional political inequality in Africa. Africa at LSE blog. April 16, 2021. Cross-posted at Democracy in Africa. April 27, 2021.
The Origins of Colonial Investments in Former British and French Africa Frontiers in African Economic History blog, African Economic History Network (AEHN). April 19, 2021.
Após duas guerras civis em dez anos, Costa do Marfim enfrenta nova crise com velhos personagens, Interviewed by O Globo (in Portuguese). September 17, 2020. [PDF]
Pandemics: Think twice before praising China’s authoritarian response, with Dr. Giovanna Maria Dora Dore. Medium. April 28, 2020. [PDF]
Eleição em Uganda opõe cantor popular a dirigente há 35 anos no poder, Interviewed by O Globo (in Portuguese). January 14, 2020. [PDF]
In search of evidence: an investigator's discovery of critical data. Interviewed by Princeton University, tweeted as Joan Ricart-Huguet explores the roots of political power with his research. January 1, 2018. [PDF]
Old sins cast long shadows: Repressing ballots with batons in Catalonia. The Daily Princetonian. October 12, 2017. [PDF]
Why can't Spain and Catalonia just get along? The Daily Princetonian. Translated by Dinamo de ideas (in Spanish) and in whogovernstw.org (in Chinese). September 27, 2017. [PDF]
L'empat Clinton-Trump i un descontent llunyà. Diari de Girona (in Catalan). November 11, 2016. [PDF]
Si governa el Trump de la campanya, pot ser la fi de l'imperi econòmic dels Estats Units. Interviewed by Diari de Girona (in Catalan). November 10, 2016. [PDF]
