Post Archives

This week, Kelly and Tristen break down President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu’s 20-point Gaza peace plan and what it signals for U.S.-Israel relations, as well as the ongoing ceasefire negotiations. They then look at the Gen-Z-led protests spreading across Morocco and Madagascar — echoing Nepal’s youth uprising weeks ago — and close with Europe’s […]

This week, Kelly talks with Stanford University professor and author Dan Edelstein about his new book, The Revolution to Come: A History of an Idea from Thucydides to Lenin, (Princeton University Press, 2025). The book looks at how political thinkers from Plato to John Adams saw revolutions as a grave threat to society and advocated […]

This week, Kelly talks with Reuters reporter and author Ernest Scheyder about critical minerals and his new book: “The War Below: Lithium, Copper, and the Global Battle to Power Our Lives.” Guest speaker Ernest Scheyder is a senior correspondent with Reuters covering critical minerals and the global energy transition. “The War Below: Lithium, Copper, and […]

This week, Kelly talks with Reuters reporter and author Ernest Scheyder about critical minerals and his new book: “The War Below: Lithium, Copper, and the Global Battle to Power Our Lives.” Guest speaker Ernest Scheyder is a senior correspondent with Reuters covering critical minerals and the global energy transition. “The War Below: Lithium, Copper, and […]

This week, Kelly and Tristen talk through Trump’s speech at the UN General Assembly, his visit last week to the UK, and the administration’s recent strikes on suspected Venezuelan cartels. They also provide some brief updates since the last episode: on Jair Bolsonaro’s conviction in Brazil and the new Saudi-Pakistan defense agreement. Kelly then talks […]

Kelly talks with Emma Ashford about her new book, First Among Equals: U.S. Foreign Policy in a Multipolar World (Yale University Press, 2025), where she proposes a return to a more pragmatic, realist set of strategic principles, ones better suited for the emerging multipolar world, that would pursue narrower U.S. interests, cultivate the capabilities of […]

This week, Kelly and Tristan cover Israel’s unprecedented strike on Hamas leaders in Doha and the diplomatic fallout for Qatar and the Gaza ceasefire talks, the historic trial of Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro and what it means for democratic resilience, and Beijing’s memory-politics summit—complete with a military parade and a guest list signaling China’s […]

This week, Kelly talks with former assistant administrator of USAID, Erin McKee, in light of the department’s gutting in recent months. She is now serving as the CEO of Nova Ukraina, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing humanitarian aid to the people of Ukraine and raising awareness about Ukraine in the United States and throughout […]

This week, Kelly and Tristan cover the recent rounds of summit diplomacy between Presidents Trump and Putin and subsequent meetings with European leaders, the recent moves in Somaliland’s quest for recognition, and the new settlements in the West Bank approved by Israel’s finance minister. Kelly is then joined by Liam Karr of the Critical Threats […]

This week, Kelly and Tristan examine the backsliding of democracy in El Salvador and analyze the regional implications for President Bukele’s political crackdown. They then explore Trump’s escalating tariff war with India, which threatens to undermine the partnership between the world’s two largest democracies. Next, they explore Japan’s landmark $6.5 billion naval deal with Australia […]