What are the politics of protest?

Omar Wasow joins Julia, Lee, and James on this week’s episode of Politics In Question to to discuss the politics of protest.

Wasow is an assistant professor in the Department of Politics at Princeton University and a co-founder of the social networking site BlackPlanet.com. His research focuses on race and politics, protest movements and statistical methods. Wasow is the author of “Agenda Seeding: How 1960s Black Protest Movements Moved Elites, Public Opinion and Voting” (American Political Science Review, May 2020).

How can people in marginalized communities use protest to affect positive change in politics? Are non-violent protests more effective than violent protests in achieving that change? What role does the media play in the politics of protest? Is it even possible to have a productive conversation about controversial issues in moments when ordinary and extraordinary politics collide? These are some of the questions Omar, Julia, Lee, and James discuss on this week’s episode.


Politics In Question is a podcast about how our political institutions are failing us and ideas for fixing them. It is a joint venture of New America and the R Street Institute. The show is produced by Elena Souris and engineered by Shannon Lynch. It is recorded in the studios at New America in Washington, D.C.

Episodes are available on Apple, Spotify, and Stitcher.