Caleb Watney (Institute for Progress) and Max Bodach (Foundation for American Innovation) on what the new breed of DC think tanks does differently and why the old model is broken.
We discuss:
- Why "counterfactual policy impact" matters more than white papers and what's wrong with project-based funding
- Cross-partisanship vs. picking sides: IFP pulls the rope sideways, FAI builds a big tent on the right
- Vertical integration over specialization — the person who wrote the brief should be the one selling it on the Hill
- Whether AI eats the think tank or just the parts that weren't working anyway
Timestamps
00:38 — Applied think tank vs. white paper mill
16:56 — Partisanship: FAI's conservative tent vs. IFP's cross-partisan design
37:09 — Why researchers should do their own comms and outreach
50:26 — Betting on young talent as policy entrepreneurs
57:56 — Will AI eat the think tank?
song: https://suno.com/s/I244K1rIpPdB6lO9
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