Pepper Culpepper is Blavatnik Professor of Government and Public Policy, and Vice Dean for Academic Affairs at the Blavatnik School of Government, and a Professorial Fellow at Nuffield College at the University of Oxford. His research explores the intersection of capitalism and democracy.

His recent book, co-written with Harvard Professor Taeku Lee, BILLIONAIRE BACKLASH: THE AGE OF CORPORATE SCANDAL AND HOW IT COULD SAVE DEMOCRACY, argues for the positive, and politically popular, role of government regulatory action against large corporations in an era of populism. The work builds on some of the scholarly insights from his five-year Advanced Grant Project funded by the European Research Council, which sought to understand how big banks and the rules that govern them became objects of political contestation after the Great Financial Crisis of 2008.

His earlier books include the award winning, Quiet Politics and Business Power: Corporate Control in Europe and Japan; and Creating Cooperation. His public commentary has appeared in the Conversation, the International Herald Tribune, Le Monde, The New Republic, Times Higher Education, and The Washington Post.

We spoke with Pepper Culpepper on July 7, 2026 via Zoom.

In the Metaverse, Politicians Can Hear You Scream: Corporate Scandals, Big Tech Regulation, and the Microfoundations of Focusing Events https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-politics/article/in-the-metaverse-politicians-can-hear-you-scream-corporate-scandals-big-tech-regulation-and-the-microfoundations-of-focusing-events/48096E895DC18ADE623601E7F465EF6A

Media effects revisited: corporate scandals, partisan narratives, and attitudes toward cryptocurrency regulation https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/political-science-research-and-methods/article/media-effects-revisited-corporate-scandals-partisan-narratives-and-attitudes-toward-cryptocurrency-regulation/3E115E475EBCD127849D4B01C0CE24BA

‘The Economy is Rigged’: Inequality Narratives, Fairness, and Support for Redistribution in Six Countries https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00104140241252072

Bipartisan bill fails to protect US consumers from datacenters’ true costs, critics warn https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/05/ratepayer-protection-act-datacenters

US residents angry at datacenters ‘being shoved down our throats’ are recalling officials https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/03/datacenter-recall-elections

‘Forgive Me, I’m Gonna Use The F-Word’: A Century-Old Veteran Just Delivered The Most Brutally Honest Take On Donald Trump, And He Did NOT Mince Words https://www.huffpost.com/entry/101-year-old-veteran-blasts-trump_n_6a442e9ce4b039eff60646f5?origin=home-whats-happening-unit

Air Force Major Demands Trump’s Impeachment https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rf7M29U-xSg

Air Force Detains Officer Who Called for Trump’s Impeachment at Capitol https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/03/us/politics/air-force-officer-arrested-trump-impeachment.html

Pepper Culpepper in Conversation with Taeku Lee: Billionaire Backlash https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uxuGgThS-A