John Shaw
Paul Simon Institute DirectorJohn T. Shaw joined the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute as director in January 2018. He established the Institute’s “Better Politics, Smarter Government” agenda with its Restoring American Statesmanship, Renewing Illinois, and Understanding Our New World programs.
Shaw was born and raised in Peoria, Illinois. He received his bachelor's degree in Political Science from Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois and his master's in History from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. He began his career as a Governors Fellow in Springfield, Illinois, worked in state government, and later participated in a training program with the European Union in Brussels before moving into journalism with a position at the Wall Street Journal Europe.
Shaw worked as a reporter in Washington, DC for more than twenty-five years, covering Congress for Market News International, a global financial wire service, and the diplomatic community for the Washington Diplomat, a monthly magazine.
Shaw is the author of five books: Rising Star, Setting Sun: Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, and the Presidential Transition that Changed America (2018); JFK in the Senate: Pathway to the Presidency (2013); Richard G. Lugar, Statesman of the Senate (2012); The Ambassador: Inside the Life of a Working Diplomat (2006); and Washington Diplomacy: Profiles of People of World Influence (2002).
Shaw has been a guest on the PBS NewsHour and C-SPAN, contributed to a weekly segment on Congress for KPCC public radio in Los Angeles for many years, and was a media fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. He has published articles in the Wall Street Journal, Christian Science Monitor, Boston Globe, The American Interest, and other publications.
He serves on the Board of Directors of Forefront, an association representing Illinois grantmakers and nonprofits, and is a member of Hall of Fame of Historic Illinoisans Committee of the Lincoln Academy of Illinois. He has taught classes at SIU on the U.S. Congress and American Statesmanship.
Shaw and his wife, Mindy, live in Carbondale, Illinois.
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Chicago Tribune investigative reporter Ray Long talks about his book "The House That Madigan Built," which covers the long and powerful career of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and serves as an unofficial primer on Illinois politics.
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Journalist Melinda Henneberger talks about her work at the Kansas City Star, including a series of columns about a retired police officer who was accused of rape, for which she won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for commentary.
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East St. Louis, Illinois Mayor Robert Eastern III talks about his philosophy for economic development in the city he leads, which he describes as "intentional." He also talks about the impact of COVID-19 on his Mississippi River city.
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Illinois State Senator Dale Fowler, a Republican from Harrisburg, talks about advocating for economic development in Southern Illinois, working to keep young people in the region, and how his relationships across the aisle help him do both.
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Illinois State Senator Jason Barickman, a Republican from Bloomington, talks about his path from the county board to the state Senate, his work on education funding and redistricting reform, and more.
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April Kornfield, director of debates for Braver Angels, explains her organization's unique style of debate, which Kornfield describes as a "collective search for truth" rather than a fight to be won or lost.
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Danielle Allen, Harvard University professor and director of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, talks about how the United States' COVID-19 response got caught in our political polarization, how we can rebuild trust in our civic institutitons, and the power and magnificence of the Declaration of Independence.
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Journalist and author Tom Zoellner talks about his book "The National Road: Dispatches from a Changing America."
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Congressman Adam Schiff talks about how the Intelligence Committee oversees the work of the United States' intelligence agencies, including the CIA and NSA, and the role U.S. intelligence agencies play in our nation's response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
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Julian Zelizer, CNN political analyst, author, and public affairs and history professor at Princeton University, traces the history of political polarization in the United States