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Diplomatic Immunity Podcast

Diplomatic Immunity Podcast brings you frank and candid conversations with experts on the issues facing diplomats and national security decision makers around the world.

Hosted and produced by ISD’s Director of Programs and Research, Kelly McFarland, Diplomatic Immunity features current and former officials, scholars and analysts for conversations on the most pressing international issues.

Diplomatic Immunity is the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy’s (ISD) podcast. It is supported by funding from the Carnegie Corporation of New York’s Bridging the Gap Initiative. Requests for episode transcripts should be sent to diplomacy@georgetown.edu.

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Historian Stephen Kinzer on the Empire, Roosevelt, and Mark Twain

In this episode of Diplomatic Immunity, Kelly is joined by historian and journalist Stephen Kinzer to discuss his book The True Flag: Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, and the Birth of…

Historian Beau Cleland on How the Confederacy almost Survived, King Cotton and Queen Victoria

What if the Civil War’s most consequential diplomacy didn’t happen in London or Washington — but in the back offices of Bahamian merchants, the shipyards of Liverpool, and the harbors…

Historian Amy Greenberg on The Mexican-American War: America's Forgotten Conflict

In this episode of Diplomatic Immunity, our host Kelly McFarland sits down with Dr. Amy Greenberg, professor at Penn State and author of A Wicked War: Polk, Clay, Lincoln, and…

Historian Lindsay Chervinsky on the Monroe Doctrine & John Quincy Adams

In this episode of Diplomatic Immunity, host Kelly McFarland sits down with presidential historian Lindsay Chervinsky, executive director of the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon, to explore one…

Iran Talks, Hungary's Election Surprise & the Shifting Global Order 

In this episode, Kelly and Tristan break down two major stories shaping the world right now – Iran and Hungary. Topics covered: The opinions expressed in this conversation are strictly…

Historian Tyson Reeder on James Madison and the War of 1812

In this episode of Diplomatic Immunity, host Kelly McFarland sits down with Dr. Tyson Reeder, assistant professor of history at Brigham Young University and author of Serpent in Eden: Foreign…

Historian Frank Cogliano on the Jeffersonian Legacies

In this episode of the Road to 250 series, our host Kelly McFarland sits down with Professor Frank Cogliano of the University of Edinburgh to explore Thomas Jefferson’s foreign policy…

Operation Epic Fury and the War in Iran

Two weeks into Operation Epic Fury, we break down what’s happening, what went wrong, and where this is all heading. In this conversation: The opinions expressed in this conversation are…

Three-time Pulitzer finalist Anand Gopal on his new book, Days of Love and Rage

What happens when ordinary people try to build a democracy from scratch in the middle of a civil war — and what happens when it falls apart? In this episode,…

Munich Security Conference 2026: Rubio, Europe's Future & Iran Strike Coming?

In this episode, we break down the major takeaways from the Munich Security Conference, where Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered a notably softer speech than last year’s JD Vance…