Stories about the ins, outs, and whathaveyous of what keeps us safe. So, grab a beer and buckle up. It gets bumpy! Hosted by Laicie Heeley.

April 29 marked President Biden’s 100th day in office. So we thought it was about time to pop back in with a special bonus episode — before we’re back officially with season 5 — to take a look at what Biden’s done so far in terms of foreign policy, and what that might signal about his priorities going forward. On this episode Things That Go Boom: A very candid conversation with Nahal Toosi. What has Biden already accomplished, what can we learn about his goals, and what are analysts watching for on the horizon?

GUESTS: Nahal Toosi, Politico

ADDITIONAL READING:

<a href="https://www.politico.com/newsletters/global-translations/2020/10/09/were-all-omnipolicy-experts-now-490560" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">We're All 'Omnipolicy' Experts Now</a>, Nahal Toosi.

<a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/03/17/bidens-foreign-policy-middle-class-revolution/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Biden’s ‘Foreign Policy for the Middle Class’ Is a Revolution</a>, James Traub.

<a href="https://www.politico.com/newsletters/global-translations/2021/04/16/7-ways-to-track-if-bidens-omnipolicy-works-492501" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">7 Ways to Track if Biden’s Omnipolicy Works</a>, Nahal Toosi.

April 29 marked President Biden’s 100th day in office. So we thought it was about time to pop back in with a special bonus episode — before we’re back officially with season 5 — to take a look at what Biden’s done so far in terms of foreign policy, and what that might signal about his priorities going forward. On this episode Things That Go Boom: A very candid conversation with Nahal Toosi. What has Biden already accomplished, what can we learn about his goals, and what are analysts watching for on the horizon?
GUESTS: Nahal Toosi, Politico
ADDITIONAL READING:
We're All 'Omnipolicy' Experts Now, Nahal Toosi.
Biden’s ‘Foreign Policy for the Middle Class’ Is a Revolution, James Traub.
7 Ways to Track if Biden’s Omnipolicy Works, Nahal Toosi.

Just one more 100 day episode, filling up your feed.

S4 Bonus - A Very Hokey 100 Days

Mexico's gotten a lot of praise for its feminist foreign policy — despite ongoing femicide in the country. But Mexican women are doing more than just pointing out the hypocrisy. They're using these new foreign policy tools to fight back at home in the war against their own bodies.

On this episode, we travel to Mexico to talk with, and march alongside, some of the women fighting for change.

GUESTS: Daniela Garcia Philipson, Ph.D. Candidate, Monash University; Martha Delgado Peralta, Former Undersecretary for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights at the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Andrea Samaniego Sánchez, UNAM; Marcela, Activist; Lidia Florencio, Activist

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

<a href="https://www.internacionalfeminista.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Internacional Feminista</a>

<a href="https://martha.org.mx/una-politica-con-causa/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Mexico%E2%80%99s-Feminist-Foreign-Policy-1.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Mexico’s Feminist Foreign Policy</a>, Martha Delgado

<a href="https://www.icrw.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/FFP-Index.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Feminist Foreign Policy Index: A Qualitative Evaluation of Feminist Commitments</a>, International Center for Research on Women

Mexico's gotten a lot of praise for its feminist foreign policy — despite ongoing femicide in the country. But Mexican women are doing more than just pointing out the hypocrisy. They're using these new foreign policy tools to fight back at home in the war against their own bodies.
On this episode, we travel to Mexico to talk with, and march alongside, some of the women fighting for change.
GUESTS: Daniela Garcia Philipson, Ph.D. Candidate, Monash University; Martha Delgado Peralta, Former Undersecretary for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights at the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Andrea Samaniego Sánchez, UNAM; Marcela, Activist; Lidia Florencio, Activist
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
Internacional Feminista
Mexico’s Feminist Foreign Policy, Martha Delgado
Feminist Foreign Policy Index: A Qualitative Evaluation of Feminist Commitments, International Center for Research on Women

A story about the women who fight.

The War at Home

It took two years, after holdups from Turkey and Hungary, but Sweden has officially joined NATO. A move not everyone in Sweden is super psyched about.

But this country’s history isn’t quite so peaceful as it might seem.

So, can a peace-loving nation with a war-loving legacy keep the peace… when someone starts a war in its backyard?

And how does feminist foreign policy really play out when defense is center stage?

GUESTS:

<a href="https://www.vrak.se/en/maritime-archaeology/research-and-collaboration/the-lost-navy/wrecked-sunk-discarded-or-broken-up/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dr. Patrik Höglund</a>, historian and maritime archaeologist; <a href="https://www.brianpalmer.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dr. Brian Palmer</a>, Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor, Uppsala University; <a href="https://www.fhs.se/sc/profilsida.html?identity=400.689ea1bf167b93b23094e98f" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dr. Annick Wibben</a>, Professor of Gender, Peace &amp; Security at the Swedish Defence University; <a href="https://www.councilwomenworldleaders.org/margot-wallstroumlm.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Margot Wallström</a>, former Foreign Minister of Sweden

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

<a href="https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Gustavus_Adolphus_of_Sweden" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden</a>, New World Encyclopedia

<a href="https://www.vasamuseet.se/en" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Vasa Museum</a>

<a href="https://www.vrak.se/en/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Vrak - Museum of Wrecks</a>

<a href="https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/en/newsroom/news/feminist-foreign-policy/2551610" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Speech by Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock at the Conference on Shaping Feminist Foreign Policy</a>, Federal Foreign Office of Germany

<a href="https://fojo.se/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/handbook-swedens-feminist-foreign-policy.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Handbook on Sweden’s Feminist Foreign Policy,</a> Government of Sweden

<a href="https://apnews.com/df1c144f7b434fcc8143d0e41117f159" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sweden ends weapons deal with Saudi Arabia</a>, Associated Press

It took two years, after holdups from Turkey and Hungary, but Sweden has officially joined NATO. A move not everyone in Sweden is super psyched about.
But this country’s history isn’t quite so peaceful as it might seem.
So, can a peace-loving nation with a war-loving legacy keep the peace… when someone starts a war in its backyard?
And how does feminist foreign policy really play out when defense is center stage?
GUESTS:
Dr. Patrik Höglund, historian and maritime archaeologist; Dr. Brian Palmer, Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor, Uppsala University; Dr. Annick Wibben, Professor of Gender, Peace & Security at the Swedish Defence University; Margot Wallström, former Foreign Minister of Sweden
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, New World Encyclopedia
The Vasa Museum
Vrak - Museum of Wrecks
Speech by Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock at the Conference on Shaping Feminist Foreign Policy, Federal Foreign Office of Germany
Handbook on Sweden’s Feminist Foreign Policy, Government of Sweden
Sweden ends weapons deal with Saudi Arabia, Associated Press

Why didn’t Sweden’s feminist foreign policy work for defense?

Fika and Feminism: Part 2

This season on Things That Go Boom, we’re on a mission to figure out this new thing spreading like wildfire across the world: feminist foreign policy.

But to even begin to understand what it is and where it’s going, we had to start in the place where it failed.

We’re calling this season, “The F Word.” And on this episode and the next, we take a deep look at the chasm that caused Sweden’s feminist foreign policy to break in two.

And we ask: If this thing can’t succeed in Sweden, can it succeed at all?

GUESTS:

<a href="https://www.brianpalmer.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dr. Brian Palmer</a>, Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor, Uppsala University; <a href="https://twitter.com/elinbja?lang=en" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dr. Elin Bjarnegård</a>, Professor, Uppsala University; <a href="https://www.councilwomenworldleaders.org/margot-wallstroumlm.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Margot Wallström</a>, former Foreign Minister of Sweden

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

<a href="https://dsv.su.se/en/about/news/antigone-s-diary-becomes-a-mural-when-youth-in-the-suburb-of-husby-tell-about-their-lives-1.258126" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Antigone's Diary becomes a mural when youth in the suburb of Husby tell about their lives</a>, Stockholm University

<a href="https://fojo.se/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/handbook-swedens-feminist-foreign-policy.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Handbook on Sweden’s Feminist Foreign Policy,</a> Government of Sweden

<a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/10/31/swedens-new-government-abandons-feminist-foreign-policy?gad_source=1&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQjwqdqvBhCPARIsANrmZhON33cb_JH6ssRYFzu08979OC6qo-IwDNWK_hNDinTaOroxEZPfBrIaAq8jEALw_wcB" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sweden’s New Government Abandons Feminist Foreign Policy</a>, Human Rights Watch

<a href="https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20191008-jantelagen-why-swedes-wont-talk-about-wealth" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Jantelagen: Why Swedes won’t talk about wealth</a>, BBC

Special thanks to all of our guests, including our anonymous panel participants and Dr. Brian Palmer who went above and beyond to help our team understand and connect with folks in and around Stockholm.

This season on Things That Go Boom, we’re on a mission to figure out this new thing spreading like wildfire across the world: feminist foreign policy.
But to even begin to understand what it is and where it’s going, we had to start in the place where it failed.
We’re calling this season, “The F Word.” And on this episode and the next, we take a deep look at the chasm that caused Sweden’s feminist foreign policy to break in two.
And we ask: If this thing can’t succeed in Sweden, can it succeed at all?
GUESTS:
Dr. Brian Palmer, Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor, Uppsala University; Dr. Elin Bjarnegård, Professor, Uppsala University; Margot Wallström, former Foreign Minister of Sweden
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
Antigone's Diary becomes a mural when youth in the suburb of Husby tell about their lives, Stockholm University
Handbook on Sweden’s Feminist Foreign Policy, Government of Sweden
Sweden’s New Government Abandons Feminist Foreign Policy, Human Rights Watch
Jantelagen: Why Swedes won’t talk about wealth, BBC
Special thanks to all of our guests, including our anonymous panel participants and Dr. Brian Palmer who went above and beyond to help our team understand and connect with folks in and around Stockholm.

The country that started a foreign policy revolution.

Fika and Feminism: Part 1

With more than 50 elections set to take place around the world, 2024 will be a battle for democracy. It will also be a battle for peace. Because after doing things the same way for, pretty much ever, countries in Europe and Latin America have been experimenting with something called “feminist foreign policy,” and feeling the backlash. After all, there’s a lot in a word. 

But that word is really just the best way folks have come up with to describe this thing that some people think could begin to break up the boys club that dictates how we wage war, and peace.

So, can it survive? That’s what we set out to find out on this season of Things That Go Boom.

With more than 50 elections set to take place around the world, 2024 will be a battle for democracy. It will also be a battle for peace. Because after doing things the same way for, pretty much ever, countries in Europe and Latin America have been experimenting with something called “feminist foreign policy,” and feeling the backlash. After all, there’s a lot in a word. 
But that word is really just the best way folks have come up with to describe this thing that some people think could begin to break up the boys club that dictates how we wage war, and peace.
So, can it survive? That’s what we set out to find out on this season of Things That Go Boom.

War, and peace, has always been a boys club. Until now.

Season 9: The F-Word

Click Here is a podcast, hosted by Dina Temple-Raston, that tells true stories about the people making and breaking our digital world.

Earlier this year, the FBI added Mikhail Pavlovich Matveev to their Most Wanted hacker list for his alleged role in a number of ransomware attacks against U.S. targets. In a rare interview shortly after the FBI announcement, he talked about being added to the list and what he plans to do as an encore.

Click Here is a podcast, hosted by Dina Temple-Raston, that tells true stories about the people making and breaking our digital world.
Earlier this year, the FBI added Mikhail Pavlovich Matveev to their Most Wanted hacker list for his alleged role in a number of ransomware attacks against U.S. targets. In a rare interview shortly after the FBI announcement, he talked about being added to the list and what he plans to do as an encore.

A special bonus episode from one of our favorite podcasts.

Things That Go Boom Introduces: Click Here

What do swarms of autonomous drones, facial recognition, and nuclear test site monitoring have in common? They are all things we were still curious about as we wrapped up this internet and security season of Things That Go Boom. In this mailbag episode, experts weigh in to help answer some tough questions from you, our audience!

GUESTS:

<a href="https://cset.georgetown.edu/staff/lauren-kahn/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Lauren Kahn</a>, Senior Research Analyst at the Center for Security and Emerging Technology; <a href="https://www.stopspying.org/eleni-manis-bio" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dr. Eleni Manis</a>, Research Director at the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project; <a href="https://www.armscontrolwonk.com/archive/1218813/the-reason-were-all-still-here/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dr. Jeffrey Lewis</a>, Director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

<a href="https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/3518827/hicks-discusses-replicator-initiative/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Hicks Discusses Replicator Initiative</a>, US Department of Defense

<a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/world/ground-rules-age-ai-warfare" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ground Rules for the Age of AI Warfare</a>, Foreign Affairs

<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/22/nyregion/madison-square-garden-facial-recognition.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Madison Square Garden Uses Facial Recognition to Ban Its Owner’s Enemies</a>, The New York Times

<a href="https://www.armscontrolwonk.com/archive/1218750/nuclear-test-sites-are-too-damn-busy/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Nuclear Test Sites Are Too Damn Busy</a>, Arms Control Wonk

<a href="https://www.armscontrolwonk.com/archive/1218813/the-reason-were-all-still-here/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Reason We’re All Still Here</a>, Dr. Jeffrey Lewis

What do swarms of autonomous drones, facial recognition, and nuclear test site monitoring have in common? They are all things we were still curious about as we wrapped up this internet and security season of Things That Go Boom. In this mailbag episode, experts weigh in to help answer some tough questions from you, our audience!
GUESTS:
Lauren Kahn, Senior Research Analyst at the Center for Security and Emerging Technology; Dr. Eleni Manis, Research Director at the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project; Dr. Jeffrey Lewis, Director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
Hicks Discusses Replicator Initiative, US Department of Defense
Ground Rules for the Age of AI Warfare, Foreign Affairs
Madison Square Garden Uses Facial Recognition to Ban Its Owner’s Enemies, The New York Times
Nuclear Test Sites Are Too Damn Busy, Arms Control Wonk
The Reason We’re All Still Here, Dr. Jeffrey Lewis

Our mailbag episode is here!

Well, What Do You Know?

On Sunday, the people of Poland cast their votes in an election that some have called a battle for the country’s soul. When we released this episode, we were still watching for the various parties to confirm the parliamentary coalitions that would lead to the final result.

But experts tell us no matter who wins, one thing is likely to stay the same: Poland's hardline approach to refugees from its eastern border with Belarus.

So today, we head to that border, where scientists are studying the impact of rising militarization and anti-refugee activity on the region. It's not always easy — because the Polish border guard isn't always keen to hand out the answers these scientists would love to add to their analysis. But Eliot Higgins, the founder of investigative website Bellingcat, says civilians have an edge these days when states won’t answer our questions. We have an unprecedented amount of information at our fingertips — and we're using it to challenge our governments around the world in all kinds of ways.

A NOTE: We’re heartbroken by the sudden Hamas attack on Israelis and by the Israeli airstrikes and devastation in Gaza. Donate to <a href="https://donate.doctorswithoutborders.org/secure/rr-donate-web?_gl=1*bc8p0h*_ga*OTE2NDg4MC4xNjk3Mjk5OTQz*_ga_C7EW6Q0J9K*MTY5NzI5OTk0My4xLjEuMTY5NzMwMDY2MS40NC4wLjA.&amp;_ga=2.36397216.1243881355.1697299943-9164880.1697299943" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Doctors Without Borders</a> as it continues to offer impartial medical care to those most impacted by war.

GUESTS: Katarzyna Nowak, University of Warsaw; Michał Żmihorski, Mammal Research Institute; Maciej Kisilowski, Central European University; Eliot Higgins, Bellingcat

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.14193" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Threats to Conservation From National Security Interests</a>, Katarzyna Nowak, Dinah Bear, Anwesha Dutta, Myles Traphagen, Michał Żmihorski, and Bogdan Jaroszewicz, Conservation Biology

<a href="https://inkstickmedia.com/recognizing-opposition-movements-is-riskier-than-it-seems/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Recognizing Opposition Movements is Riskier Than It Seems</a>, John Reid Wilcox, Inkstick Media

<a href="https://inkstickmedia.com/monitoring-the-environmental-consequences-of-the-war-in-ukraine/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Monitoring the Environmental Consequences of the War in Ukraine</a>, Jon Letman, Inkstick Media

<a href="https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/national-reconciliation-needed-to-defeat-populism-slovakia-poland-hungary-by-maciej-kisilowski-and-anna-wojciuk-2023-10" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Can National Reconciliation Defeat Populism?</a> Maciej Kisilowski, Anna Wojciuk. Project Syndicate.

Thanks to Sławomir Makaruk for additional field production.

On Sunday, the people of Poland cast their votes in an election that some have called a battle for the country’s soul. When we released this episode, we were still watching for the various parties to confirm the parliamentary coalitions that would lead to the final result.
But experts tell us no matter who wins, one thing is likely to stay the same: Poland's hardline approach to refugees from its eastern border with Belarus.
So today, we head to that border, where scientists are studying the impact of rising militarization and anti-refugee activity on the region. It's not always easy — because the Polish border guard isn't always keen to hand out the answers these scientists would love to add to their analysis. But Eliot Higgins, the founder of investigative website Bellingcat, says civilians have an edge these days when states won’t answer our questions. We have an unprecedented amount of information at our fingertips — and we're using it to challenge our governments around the world in all kinds of ways.
A NOTE: We’re heartbroken by the sudden Hamas attack on Israelis and by the Israeli airstrikes and devastation in Gaza. Donate to Doctors Without Borders as it continues to offer impartial medical care to those most impacted by war.
GUESTS: Katarzyna Nowak, University of Warsaw; Michał Żmihorski, Mammal Research Institute; Maciej Kisilowski, Central European University; Eliot Higgins, Bellingcat
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
Threats to Conservation From National Security Interests, Katarzyna Nowak, Dinah Bear, Anwesha Dutta, Myles Traphagen, Michał Żmihorski, and Bogdan Jaroszewicz, Conservation Biology
Recognizing Opposition Movements is Riskier Than It Seems, John Reid Wilcox, Inkstick Media
Monitoring the Environmental Consequences of the War in Ukraine, Jon Letman, Inkstick Media
Can National Reconciliation Defeat Populism? Maciej Kisilowski, Anna Wojciuk. Project Syndicate.
Thanks to Sławomir Makaruk for additional field production.

As citizens demand more transparency from their governments, they’re also finding new ways to dig up the information on their own.

Least Cost Paths

We’re about a year out from a presidential election, and former President Donald Trump is leading the Republican pack in spite of his supporters’ attack on the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The attack reflected the anger and violence that can be stoked by misinformation. But the issue of misinformation has become heavily politicized since the 2016 election and Cambridge Analytica’s use of Facebook data to target divisive messages at segments of the American population. As a result, researchers like Boston University’s Joan Donovan have found themselves subject to intense political and funding pressures. In this episode, we talk with Dr. Donovan about the parallels between Big Tobacco and Big Tech, and what the online misinformation landscape looks like heading into the 2024 elections.

GUESTS:

Dr. Joan Donovan, Assistant Professor, Boston University College of Communication, Division of Emerging Media Studies

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

<a href="https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2023/2/2/donovan-forced-leave-hks/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Harvard Misinformation Expert Joan Donovan Forced to Leave by Kennedy School Dean, Sources Say</a>, The Harvard Crimson

<a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/10/05/1043377310/facebook-whistleblower-frances-haugen-congress" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Here Are 4 Key Points From the Facebook Whistleblower’s Testimony on Capitol Hill</a>, National Public Radio

<a href="https://www.unhcr.org/innovation/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Factsheet-4.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Factsheet 4: Types of Misinformation and Disinformation</a>, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

<a href="https://www.stimson.org/2022/social-media-misinformation-and-the-prevention-of-political-instability-and-mass-atrocities/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Social Media Misinformation and the Prevention of Political Instability and Mass Atrocities</a>, The Stimson Center

We’re about a year out from a presidential election, and former President Donald Trump is leading the Republican pack in spite of his supporters’ attack on the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The attack reflected the anger and violence that can be stoked by misinformation. But the issue of misinformation has become heavily politicized since the 2016 election and Cambridge Analytica’s use of Facebook data to target divisive messages at segments of the American population. As a result, researchers like Boston University’s Joan Donovan have found themselves subject to intense political and funding pressures. In this episode, we talk with Dr. Donovan about the parallels between Big Tobacco and Big Tech, and what the online misinformation landscape looks like heading into the 2024 elections.
GUESTS:
Dr. Joan Donovan, Assistant Professor, Boston University College of Communication, Division of Emerging Media Studies
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
Harvard Misinformation Expert Joan Donovan Forced to Leave by Kennedy School Dean, Sources Say, The Harvard Crimson
Here Are 4 Key Points From the Facebook Whistleblower’s Testimony on Capitol Hill, National Public Radio
Factsheet 4: Types of Misinformation and Disinformation, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Social Media Misinformation and the Prevention of Political Instability and Mass Atrocities, The Stimson Center

We talk to Dr. Joan Donovan about what we can expect from the internet in the lead-up to 2024.

Tobacco, Trust, and the Artist Formerly Known as Twitter

When we say that we’re going to store something “in the cloud” it sounds like an ethereal place somewhere in the atmosphere. But the online cloud is generated by computer servers in data centers all over the world. Thousands of them. And AI is likely to ramp up demand.

These data centers don’t employ a lot of people, and each one can hoover up the resources of a small town. So what happens when our need for more, better, faster cyber capability collides with our need for land, water, and power?

GUESTS:

<a href="https://www.trentu.ca/culturalstudies/faculty-research/undergraduate-faculty/anne-pasek" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dr. Anne Pasek</a>, Canada Research Chair in Media, Culture and the Environment, Trent University, Canada; <a href="https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/profile/todd-murren/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Todd Murren</a>, General Manager, <a href="https://bluebirdnetwork.com/data-center/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bluebird Network Data Centers</a>; Kelly Gallaher, activist, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/login/?next=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fabettermtpleasant" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">A Better Mount Pleasant</a>, WI; Mike Gitter, <a href="https://www.cityofracine.org/Water/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Water Utility</a> Director, Racine, WI

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

<a href="https://www.marketplace.org/shows/marketplace-tech/the-clouds-heavy-toll-on-natural-resources/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Cloud’s Heavy Toll on Natural Resources</a>, Marketplace Tech

<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/04/25/data-centers-drought-water-use/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">A New Front in the Water Wars:  Your Internet Use</a>, The Washington Post

<a href="https://revealnews.org/podcast/its-not-easy-going-green/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">It’s Not Easy Going Green</a>, Reveal

<a href="https://www.datacenterknowledge.com/business/data-center-site-selection-why-midwestern-us-so-attractive-hyperscalers" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Data Center Site Selection:  Why Midwestern US Is So Attractive to Hyperscalers</a>, Data Center Knowledge

<a href="https://local.microsoft.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/2023_0602_MKE_CommunityInfoSessionBoards_FinalWeb.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Presentation on Microsoft’s Data Center Plan for Mount Pleasant, WI</a>, Microsoft.

<a href="https://view.lists.wnyc.org/?qs=6266bf5d698dc221c3382bbaedd2f480b3815eafb3a6e2a6818acbca3d9b58f91dfc1f31f81bfb1e928d5d2deee080fa22f4178992e53ee2a288acb0f19487c93e59f4bfeb9f032ad9926951ddb78388" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Risk of AI Power Grids</a>, Radiolab

<a href="https://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2013/10/09/the-pros-and-cons-of-underground-data-centers/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Pros and Cons of Underground Data Centers</a>, Data Center Knowledge

When we say that we’re going to store something “in the cloud” it sounds like an ethereal place somewhere in the atmosphere. But the online cloud is generated by computer servers in data centers all over the world. Thousands of them. And AI is likely to ramp up demand.
These data centers don’t employ a lot of people, and each one can hoover up the resources of a small town. So what happens when our need for more, better, faster cyber capability collides with our need for land, water, and power?
GUESTS:
Dr. Anne Pasek, Canada Research Chair in Media, Culture and the Environment, Trent University, Canada; Todd Murren, General Manager, Bluebird Network Data Centers; Kelly Gallaher, activist, A Better Mount Pleasant, WI; Mike Gitter, Water Utility Director, Racine, WI
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
The Cloud’s Heavy Toll on Natural Resources, Marketplace Tech
A New Front in the Water Wars:  Your Internet Use, The Washington Post
It’s Not Easy Going Green, Reveal
Data Center Site Selection:  Why Midwestern US Is So Attractive to Hyperscalers, Data Center Knowledge
Presentation on Microsoft’s Data Center Plan for Mount Pleasant, WI, Microsoft.
The Risk of AI Power Grids, Radiolab
The Pros and Cons of Underground Data Centers, Data Center Knowledge

Data centers tend to land in places with abundant water, power, and taxpayer subsidies.

Will the Internet Suck Us Dry?

Internet blackouts — when internet service is shut down in a country or region — have become much more common over the last decade. But who gets to decide when these disruptions are necessary? From thwarting political protests to preventing cheating on school exams, we’re diving into the who, what, and why of internet blackouts around the world. And we’re asking… what exactly are the rules here in the US?

GUESTS:

<a href="https://www.instagram.com/mazinriyadh/?utm_source=qr&amp;igshid=MzNlNGNkZWQ4Mg%3D%3D" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Mazin Riyadh</a>, student at the University of Mosul;<a href="https://twitter.com/patriciaavl" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Dr. Patricia </a><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/patricia-vargas-leon/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Vargas</a>, Fellow for the Information Society Project and Fellow for the Internet Society; <a href="https://zuhasiddiqui.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Zuha Siddiqui</a>, Journalist

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

<a href="https://www.accessnow.org/mena-internet-shutdowns-during-exams/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Internet Shutdowns During Exams</a>, Access Now

<a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3753076#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Political Factors that Enable an Internet Kill Switch in Democratic and Non-Democratic Regimes</a>, Yale Information Society Project

<a href="https://restofworld.org/2023/pakistan-internet-outage-tech-workers/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Pakistan’s 4-day internet shutdown was the final straw for its tech workers</a>, Rest of World

Internet blackouts — when internet service is shut down in a country or region — have become much more common over the last decade. But who gets to decide when these disruptions are necessary? From thwarting political protests to preventing cheating on school exams, we’re diving into the who, what, and why of internet blackouts around the world. And we’re asking… what exactly are the rules here in the US?
GUESTS:
Mazin Riyadh, student at the University of Mosul; Dr. Patricia Vargas, Fellow for the Information Society Project and Fellow for the Internet Society; Zuha Siddiqui, Journalist
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
Internet Shutdowns During Exams, Access Now
Political Factors that Enable an Internet Kill Switch in Democratic and Non-Democratic Regimes, Yale Information Society Project
Pakistan’s 4-day internet shutdown was the final straw for its tech workers, Rest of World

The internet in the age of blackouts.

Who Gets To Shut It All Down?

It’s one of our biggest problems in 2023, and it can feel distinctly human. But it's not. All sorts of animals deal with all sorts of misinformation every day, including some of our oldest ancestors — like the humble fish.

This week on Things That Go Boom, we exit the human world entirely to see what we can learn.

Special thanks this week to Christina Stella for pinch-hitting for our engineer, Robin Wise!

GUESTS: Ashkaan Fahimipour, Florida Atlantic University; Jimmy Liao, The University of Florida

ADDITIONAL READING:

<a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2215428120" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Wild Animals Suppress the Spread of Socially Transmitted Misinformation</a>, Ashkaan K. Fahimipour, Michael A. Gil, Maria Rosa Celis, and Andrew M. Hein, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

<a href="https://thisibelieve.org/essay/24321/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Navigating Turbulent Waters</a>, Jimmy Liao, This I Believe

It’s one of our biggest problems in 2023, and it can feel distinctly human. But it's not. All sorts of animals deal with all sorts of misinformation every day, including some of our oldest ancestors — like the humble fish.
This week on Things That Go Boom, we exit the human world entirely to see what we can learn.
Special thanks this week to Christina Stella for pinch-hitting for our engineer, Robin Wise!
GUESTS: Ashkaan Fahimipour, Florida Atlantic University; Jimmy Liao, The University of Florida
ADDITIONAL READING:
Wild Animals Suppress the Spread of Socially Transmitted Misinformation, Ashkaan K. Fahimipour, Michael A. Gil, Maria Rosa Celis, and Andrew M. Hein, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Navigating Turbulent Waters, Jimmy Liao, This I Believe

In the wild west of the Internet, misinformation creeps around every corner.

How to Break a Fish

Greg is an artist whose clients include Magic the Gathering and Dungeons and Dragons. And much like a lot of the folks striking in Hollywood right now, he’s ticked off about AI.

It’s a story we hear a lot these days: AI is having an impact on everything in our lives, and it’s killing creators’ livelihoods.

What we don’t hear, though, is what that story has to do with the people seeking asylum in the United States every day.

In this episode, we’ll show you how their lives can be forever changed by similar large language models to the ones used to copy Greg’s art.

GUESTS: Greg Rutkowski, visual artist; Ariel Koren, founder and CEO, Respond Crisis Translation; Uma Mirkhail, Afghan languages team lead, Respond Crisis Translation; Andrew Deck, reporter, Rest of World

THANKS ALSO TO: Leila Lorenzo, policy director, Respond Crisis Translation

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

<a href="https://restofworld.org/2023/ai-translation-errors-afghan-refugees-asylum/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">AI Translation Is Jeopardizing Afghan Asylum Claims</a>, Andrew Deck, Rest of World

<a href="https://restofworld.org/2023/migrant-languages-challenge-cbp-one-app-haitian-creole/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Seeking Asylum at the u.s.-Mexico Border? You’d Better Speak English or Spanish</a>, Andrew Deck, Rest of World

Learn about <a href="https://respondcrisistranslation.org/en/donate" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Respond Crisis Translation</a> here.

See more of Greg Rutkowski’s <a href="https://www.artstation.com/rutkowski" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">art here</a>.

Greg is an artist whose clients include Magic the Gathering and Dungeons and Dragons. And much like a lot of the folks striking in Hollywood right now, he’s ticked off about AI.
It’s a story we hear a lot these days: AI is having an impact on everything in our lives, and it’s killing creators’ livelihoods.
What we don’t hear, though, is what that story has to do with the people seeking asylum in the United States every day.
In this episode, we’ll show you how their lives can be forever changed by similar large language models to the ones used to copy Greg’s art.
GUESTS: Greg Rutkowski, visual artist; Ariel Koren, founder and CEO, Respond Crisis Translation; Uma Mirkhail, Afghan languages team lead, Respond Crisis Translation; Andrew Deck, reporter, Rest of World
THANKS ALSO TO: Leila Lorenzo, policy director, Respond Crisis Translation
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
AI Translation Is Jeopardizing Afghan Asylum Claims, Andrew Deck, Rest of World
Seeking Asylum at the u.s.-Mexico Border? You’d Better Speak English or Spanish, Andrew Deck, Rest of World
Learn about Respond Crisis Translation here.
See more of Greg Rutkowski’s art here.

Turns out Google Translate is worse than we thought.

Lost in Translation

In the age of Oppenheimer, nuclear weapons didn’t have much to do with computers. And, for a long time, most nukes were running on 1970s-era floppy disk systems. But as technology has advanced the US — and all the other nuclear weapons states — have started putting military communications, early warning systems, and even control of nuclear missiles themselves online. So, in this episode, we ask, “Could our nuclear weapons systems… be hacked?”

We talk to researchers, policy experts, a top UN official, and a hacker about how a nuclear cyber attack might go down. And what we can do to stop it.

GUESTS:

<a href="https://fas.org/expert/matt-korda/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Matt Korda</a>, Senior Research Fellow, Nuclear Information Project; <a href="https://www.stimson.org/ppl/allison-pytlak/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Allison Pytlak</a>, Program Lead of the Cyber Program at the Stimson Center;<a href="https://www.nti.org/about/people/page-stoutland/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Page Stoutland</a>, Consultant at the Nuclear Threat Initiative, <a href="https://www.ragingrock.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Maddie Stone</a>, Security Researcher at Google Project Zero; <a href="https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/profiles/kim-won-soo-0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Izumi Nakamitsu</a>, Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs at the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

<a href="https://fas.org/publication/flying-under-the-radar-a-missile-accident-in-south-asia/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Flying Under The Radar: A Missile Accident In South Asia</a>, Federation of American Scientists

<a href="https://www.nti.org/about/programs-projects/project/addressing-cyber-nuclear-security-threats/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Addressing Cyber-Nuclear Security Threats</a>, Nuclear Threat Initiative

<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna39867692" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Glitch disrupts Air Force nuke communications</a>, NBC News

<a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/04/16/985439655/a-worst-nightmare-cyberattack-the-untold-story-of-the-solarwinds-hack" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">A 'Worst Nightmare' Cyberattack: The Untold Story Of The SolarWinds Hack</a>, NPR

<a href="https://meetings.unoda.org/npt-/treaty-on-the-non-proliferation-of-nuclear-weapons-preparatory-committee-for-the-eleventh-review-conference-first-session-2023" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons - Preparatory Committee for the Eleventh Review Conference</a>, UNODA

<a href="https://www.nti.org/analysis/articles/the-failsafe-review/#:%7E:text=In%20the%20Nuclear%20Posture%20Review,assessment%20systems.%E2%80%9D%20This%20nuclear%20%E2%80%9C" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Failsafe Review</a>, Nuclear Threat Initiative

In the age of Oppenheimer, nuclear weapons didn’t have much to do with computers. And, for a long time, most nukes were running on 1970s-era floppy disk systems. But as technology has advanced the US — and all the other nuclear weapons states — have started putting military communications, early warning systems, and even control of nuclear missiles themselves online. So, in this episode, we ask, “Could our nuclear weapons systems… be hacked?”
We talk to researchers, policy experts, a top UN official, and a hacker about how a nuclear cyber attack might go down. And what we can do to stop it.
GUESTS:
Matt Korda, Senior Research Fellow, Nuclear Information Project; Allison Pytlak, Program Lead of the Cyber Program at the Stimson Center; Page Stoutland, Consultant at the Nuclear Threat Initiative, Maddie Stone, Security Researcher at Google Project Zero; Izumi Nakamitsu, Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs at the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
Flying Under The Radar: A Missile Accident In South Asia, Federation of American Scientists
Addressing Cyber-Nuclear Security Threats, Nuclear Threat Initiative
Glitch disrupts Air Force nuke communications, NBC News
A 'Worst Nightmare' Cyberattack: The Untold Story Of The SolarWinds Hack, NPR
Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons - Preparatory Committee for the Eleventh Review Conference, UNODA
The Failsafe Review, Nuclear Threat Initiative

A few things have changed since Oppenheimer.

Can You Hack a Nuke?

We need the internet. No, seriously. In 2023, the digital realm isn’t so much a portal as it is the undercurrent of our lives: The web carries our culture, our communication, our bank accounts — and, yes, our global security.

But all of that traffic flows through a series of cables at the bottom of the ocean. And lately, we’ve been worrying a lot about it up on dry land: Asking what happens when something — or someone — cuts those cables. Should we really be so worried?

This is a story about volcanoes and sharks, entrepreneurs and politicians. It’s also about none of those things. Welcome back to Things That Go Boom.

GUESTS: Nicole Starosielski, New York University; Marian Kupu, Broadcom Broadcasting; Ryan Wopschall, ICPC; Darren Griffiths, Optic Marine; Camino Kavanagh, King’s College London

ADDITIONAL READING:

<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-tech-subcom/special-report-inside-the-subsea-cable-firm-secretly-helping-america-take-on-china-idINL1N38P1Z3" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Inside the Subsea Cable Firm Secretly Helping America Take on China</a>, Joe Brock, Reuters

<a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/the-undersea-network" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Undersea Network</a>, Nicole Starosielski, Duke University Press

<a href="https://www.unidir.org/publication/wading-murky-waters-subsea-communications-cables-and-responsible-state-behaviour" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Wading Murky Waters: Subsea Communications and Responsible State Behavior</a>, Camino Kavanaugh, United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research

<a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/05/24/china-subsea-cables-internet-decoupling-biden/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Decoupling is Already Happening Under The Sea</a>, Elisabeth Braw, Foreign Policy

We need the internet. No, seriously. In 2023, the digital realm isn’t so much a portal as it is the undercurrent of our lives: The web carries our culture, our communication, our bank accounts — and, yes, our global security.
But all of that traffic flows through a series of cables at the bottom of the ocean. And lately, we’ve been worrying a lot about it up on dry land: Asking what happens when something — or someone — cuts those cables. Should we really be so worried?
This is a story about volcanoes and sharks, entrepreneurs and politicians. It’s also about none of those things. Welcome back to Things That Go Boom.
GUESTS: Nicole Starosielski, New York University; Marian Kupu, Broadcom Broadcasting; Ryan Wopschall, ICPC; Darren Griffiths, Optic Marine; Camino Kavanagh, King’s College London
ADDITIONAL READING:
Inside the Subsea Cable Firm Secretly Helping America Take on China, Joe Brock, Reuters
The Undersea Network, Nicole Starosielski, Duke University Press
Wading Murky Waters: Subsea Communications and Responsible State Behavior, Camino Kavanaugh, United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research
Decoupling is Already Happening Under The Sea, Elisabeth Braw, Foreign Policy

And no, sharks are not eating it.

The Internet Is at the Bottom of the Sea

You know the internet — that big, vast, expanse that powers our lives and every single thing we do. It’s all we seem to talk about these days: spyware, malware, phishing attacks, TikTok bans, Russian disinformation, and beyond.

But how much do you really know about the internet? Or the threats that wait to greet you there? And how much of that story is wrong?

This season on Things That Go Boom, we dig into nuclear hacking, bug hunting, cable cutting… and for some reason, a whole lot of stories about fish, in “Troubleshooting.”

9 new cyber-stories about this vast digital world, what it means for how we fight wars, and how we make sense of it all here at home.

You know the internet — that big, vast, expanse that powers our lives and every single thing we do. It’s all we seem to talk about these days: spyware, malware, phishing attacks, TikTok bans, Russian disinformation, and beyond.
But how much do you really know about the internet? Or the threats that wait to greet you there? And how much of that story is wrong?
This season on Things That Go Boom, we dig into nuclear hacking, bug hunting, cable cutting… and for some reason, a whole lot of stories about fish, in “Troubleshooting.”
9 new cyber-stories about this vast digital world, what it means for how we fight wars, and how we make sense of it all here at home.

Season 8 of Things That Go Boom is coming July 10.

Coming Soon: Troubleshooting

We’re hard at work on Season 8 of Things That Go Boom, coming your way July 10. But in the meantime, we wanted to drop in and share a special episode with you from our friends at Project Brazen.

How did Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich end up in prison in Russia, and what happens now?

On March 29, Russian authorities arrested Evan and accused him of spying on Russia on behalf of the US government. He remains in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison today.

Evan is the first American reporter to be charged with espionage in Russia since the Cold War. The charge, which The Journal vehemently denies, can carry a sentence of up to 20 years.

In this report by Project Brazen producer Neha Wadekar, you’ll hear from people close to Evan — his friends, newsroom colleagues, even his former soccer coach — about his shocking arrest, the efforts to bring him home, and how he became the journalist he is today.

Enjoy, and we’ll see you back here soon!

We’re hard at work on Season 8 of Things That Go Boom, coming your way July 10. But in the meantime, we wanted to drop in and share a special episode with you from our friends at Project Brazen.
How did Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich end up in prison in Russia, and what happens now?
On March 29, Russian authorities arrested Evan and accused him of spying on Russia on behalf of the US government. He remains in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison today.
Evan is the first American reporter to be charged with espionage in Russia since the Cold War. The charge, which The Journal vehemently denies, can carry a sentence of up to 20 years.
In this report by Project Brazen producer Neha Wadekar, you’ll hear from people close to Evan — his friends, newsroom colleagues, even his former soccer coach — about his shocking arrest, the efforts to bring him home, and how he became the journalist he is today.
Enjoy, and we’ll see you back here soon!

A special episode from our friends at Project Brazen.

How a US Reporter Was Imprisoned in Putin’s Russia

America’s war on communism in southeast Asia dragged the entire region into the fray, and the impacts are still an ever-present danger. (You might remember our episode this season on landmines and clusters.)

But here’s what we didn’t get into before: The legacy of that violence here — in our own communities.

Today, much of the nationwide push to preserve and highlight southeast Asian heritage is being led by a younger generation, raised in America by refugees. They’re opening restaurants, taking over family businesses… and embracing their own definition of true southeast Asian food.

In Philadelphia, we ask: How much can a weekend market — and its long road to protection — tell us about America’s relationship with its refugees?

GUESTS: Aleena Inthaly, <a href="https://www.legaciesofwar.org/bio-aleena-inthaly" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Legacies of War</a>; Catzie Vilayphonh, <a href="https://www.laosinthehouse.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Laos In The House</a>; Saijai Sabayjit, Saijai Thai

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

<a href="https://www.legaciesofwar.org/the-originals" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Originals</a>, Legacies of War

<a href="https://www.legaciesofwar.org/podcast" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Thip Khao Talk</a>, Legacies of War

<a href="https://www.fdrseamarket.com/our-story" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Our Story</a>, The Southeast Asian Market at FDR Park

America’s war on communism in southeast Asia dragged the entire region into the fray, and the impacts are still an ever-present danger. (You might remember our episode this season on landmines and clusters.)
But here’s what we didn’t get into before: The legacy of that violence here — in our own communities.
Today, much of the nationwide push to preserve and highlight southeast Asian heritage is being led by a younger generation, raised in America by refugees. They’re opening restaurants, taking over family businesses… and embracing their own definition of true southeast Asian food.
In Philadelphia, we ask: How much can a weekend market — and its long road to protection — tell us about America’s relationship with its refugees?
GUESTS: Aleena Inthaly, Legacies of War; Catzie Vilayphonh, Laos In The House; Saijai Sabayjit, Saijai Thai
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
The Originals, Legacies of War
Thip Khao Talk, Legacies of War
Our Story, The Southeast Asian Market at FDR Park

Philly’s southeast Asian community is done hiding.

Getting L-A-O-D

There are tens, or even hundreds, of thousands of edible plants in the world. But humans only cultivate a couple hundred of those at any significant scale. And when we eat, we tend to stick to just a few: More than half of the calories that humans consume around the world today come from just corn, soy, wheat, and rice. But that narrow focus on food is putting us in danger.

As climate change, the COVID pandemic, and conflict in “breadbasket” regions like Ukraine continue to disrupt agriculture, it may be time for forgotten crops to make a comeback. On this episode, Chef Pierre Thiam explains how one of these ancient grains might just save the world.

GUEST: <a href="https://www.pierrethiam.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Pierre Thiam</a>, Chef, author, &amp; entrepreneur

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

Where to find some fonio: <a href="https://yolele.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Yolélé</a>

How to cook fonio:<a href="https://yolele.com/products/the-fonio-cookbook" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> The Fonio Cookbook</a> by Pierre Thiam

<a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/sustainability/our-insights/will-the-worlds-breadbaskets-become-less-reliable" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Will the world’s breadbaskets become less reliable?</a>, McKinsey (charts and maps!)

<a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/10/08/food-crisis-biodiversity-agriculture-india-millet/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Looking at other grains (millet and fonio)  to help feed the world</a>, Foreign Policy

<a href="https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QCL/visualize" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Explore stats on crop and livestock production around the world</a>, The UN Food and Agriculture Organization

There are tens, or even hundreds, of thousands of edible plants in the world. But humans only cultivate a couple hundred of those at any significant scale. And when we eat, we tend to stick to just a few: More than half of the calories that humans consume around the world today come from just corn, soy, wheat, and rice. But that narrow focus on food is putting us in danger.
As climate change, the COVID pandemic, and conflict in “breadbasket” regions like Ukraine continue to disrupt agriculture, it may be time for forgotten crops to make a comeback. On this episode, Chef Pierre Thiam explains how one of these ancient grains might just save the world.
GUEST: Pierre Thiam, Chef, author, & entrepreneur
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
Where to find some fonio: Yolélé
How to cook fonio: The Fonio Cookbook by Pierre Thiam
Will the world’s breadbaskets become less reliable?, McKinsey (charts and maps!)
Looking at other grains (millet and fonio)  to help feed the world, Foreign Policy
Explore stats on crop and livestock production around the world, The UN Food and Agriculture Organization

Chef Pierre Thiam and the ancient grain that could help feed the world.

Mr. Fonio

Just two years ago, Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was in prison. It’s a fairytale-like comeback story. But his life is also a food story. From a hungry childhood raised by sharecropper parents, Lula made ending hunger a major part of his first two highly popular terms as president.

Now, as he settles into the Presidential Palace once again – he has big plans for strengthening Brazil’s democracy and positioning the country as a diplomatic powerhouse.

Those plans will depend on reaching people through their stomachs.

GUESTS: Cassia Bechara, International Relations Committee Spokesperson, Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra/Landless Workers’ Movement; Michael Fox, Independent Journalist; Fabio de Sa e Silva, Assistant Professor of International Studies and Wick Cary Professor of Brazilian Studies, University of Oklahoma; Fabiane Ziolla Menezes, Business and Technology Journalist, Brazilian Report

Thank you to Larissa Packer, Rafael Soares Gonzales, and James MacDonald.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

“<a href="https://grain.org/en/article/6862-lurching-from-food-crisis-to-food-crisis" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Lurching From Food Crisis to Food Crisis</a>,” GRAIN

“<a href="https://americasquarterly.org/article/the-rise-of-congress-will-have-consequences-for-brazils-victor/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Rise of Congress Will Have Consequences for Brazil’s Victor</a>,” Lucas de Aragão, Americas Quarterly

Check out the Brazilian Report’s <a href="https://brazilian.report/newsletters/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">newsletters here</a>.

Just two years ago, Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was in prison. It’s a fairytale-like comeback story. But his life is also a food story. From a hungry childhood raised by sharecropper parents, Lula made ending hunger a major part of his first two highly popular terms as president.
Now, as he settles into the Presidential Palace once again – he has big plans for strengthening Brazil’s democracy and positioning the country as a diplomatic powerhouse.
Those plans will depend on reaching people through their stomachs.
GUESTS: Cassia Bechara, International Relations Committee Spokesperson, Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra/Landless Workers’ Movement; Michael Fox, Independent Journalist; Fabio de Sa e Silva, Assistant Professor of International Studies and Wick Cary Professor of Brazilian Studies, University of Oklahoma; Fabiane Ziolla Menezes, Business and Technology Journalist, Brazilian Report
Thank you to Larissa Packer, Rafael Soares Gonzales, and James MacDonald.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
“Lurching From Food Crisis to Food Crisis,” GRAIN
“The Rise of Congress Will Have Consequences for Brazil’s Victor,” Lucas de Aragão, Americas Quarterly
Check out the Brazilian Report’s newsletters here.

What Lula’s return could mean for Brazilian bellies.

What’s Next for Brazil After Bolsonaro?

Despite being banned, anti-personnel landmines and unexploded submunitions still litter fields from Bosnia to Bangladesh. And they’re even being used in Ukraine. Does that mean the treaties that ban their use aren’t working? Experts say the story isn’t so simple, and that, actually, the treaties to ban these weapons have shown a new way forward: one where norms stigmatize the return to these weapons and constrain even the biggest superpowers.

But what will it take to clean up the mess left behind? And can anti-nuclear activists repeat the party trick?

GUESTS: Treasa Dunworth Associate Professor of Law, University of Auckland; Matthew Breay Bolton, Professor of Political Science, Pace University; Sera Koulabdara, Executive Director, Legacies of War; Alex van Roy, Chief Operations Officer, FSD

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

<a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ajps.12577" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">How War Changes Land: Soil Fertility, Unexploded Bombs, and the Underdevelopment of Cambodia</a>, Erin Lin, American Journal of Political Science

<a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/political-minefields-matthew-breay-bolton/1135712488" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Political Minefields: The Struggle Against Automatic Killing</a>, Matthew Breay Bolton, Bloomsbury Academic

<a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/humanitarian-disarmament/31DF512BE6B2A6C225A9DE87F6563DD4" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Humanitarian Disarmament: An Historical Inquiry</a>, Treasa Dunworth, Cambridge University Press

<a href="https://www.legaciesofwar.org/legacies-library" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Legacies Library: Resources on the Secret War in Laos</a>

Despite being banned, anti-personnel landmines and unexploded submunitions still litter fields from Bosnia to Bangladesh. And they’re even being used in Ukraine. Does that mean the treaties that ban their use aren’t working? Experts say the story isn’t so simple, and that, actually, the treaties to ban these weapons have shown a new way forward: one where norms stigmatize the return to these weapons and constrain even the biggest superpowers.
But what will it take to clean up the mess left behind? And can anti-nuclear activists repeat the party trick?
GUESTS: Treasa Dunworth Associate Professor of Law, University of Auckland; Matthew Breay Bolton, Professor of Political Science, Pace University; Sera Koulabdara, Executive Director, Legacies of War; Alex van Roy, Chief Operations Officer, FSD
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
How War Changes Land: Soil Fertility, Unexploded Bombs, and the Underdevelopment of Cambodia, Erin Lin, American Journal of Political Science
Political Minefields: The Struggle Against Automatic Killing, Matthew Breay Bolton, Bloomsbury Academic
Humanitarian Disarmament: An Historical Inquiry, Treasa Dunworth, Cambridge University Press
Legacies Library: Resources on the Secret War in Laos

The long fight to protect people from explosive remnants of war... and what it means for the future.

Can Cluster Bombs Show Us How To Stop a Nuclear War?

One morning in the 2010s, a rural midwestern farmer called the cops. There was a guy in a suit sniffing around a field near town. A big SUV dropped him off.

And the story of how the man got there? That can tell us a lot about Xi Jinping’s past, present, and future.

China’s seen incredible growth over the last 50 years — and with that, major changes in the country’s diet and agriculture. With 1.4 billion people to feed and a party narrative to upkeep, President Xi Jinping is pushing the country to invest in its own food security.

During a time when tension between the US and China are rising, we look at how Great Power Competition is unfolding in America’s cornfields.

GUESTS: Sue-Lin Wong, The Economist; Wendong Zhang, Cornell University; Arthur Kroeber, Gavekal Dragonomics

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

<a href="https://www.economist.com/theprincepod" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Prince</a>, The Economist

<a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/11/china-domestic-food-stability-amid-global-food-crises/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">How Has China Maintained Domestic Food Stability Amid Global Food Crises?</a>, World Economic Forum

<a href="https://www.uscc.gov/sites/default/files/2022-05/Chinas_Interests_in_U.S._Agriculture.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">China’s Interests in US Agriculture: Augmenting Food Security through Investment Abroad</a>, US-China Economic and Security Review Commission

One morning in the 2010s, a rural midwestern farmer called the cops. There was a guy in a suit sniffing around a field near town. A big SUV dropped him off.
And the story of how the man got there? That can tell us a lot about Xi Jinping’s past, present, and future.
China’s seen incredible growth over the last 50 years — and with that, major changes in the country’s diet and agriculture. With 1.4 billion people to feed and a party narrative to upkeep, President Xi Jinping is pushing the country to invest in its own food security.
During a time when tension between the US and China are rising, we look at how Great Power Competition is unfolding in America’s cornfields.
GUESTS: Sue-Lin Wong, The Economist; Wendong Zhang, Cornell University; Arthur Kroeber, Gavekal Dragonomics
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
The Prince, The Economist
How Has China Maintained Domestic Food Stability Amid Global Food Crises?, World Economic Forum
China’s Interests in US Agriculture: Augmenting Food Security through Investment Abroad, US-China Economic and Security Review Commission

Turns out, even Corn Country, USA isn’t immune to foreign espionage.

How Xi Jinping Plans to Fill China’s ‘Rice Bowl’

We turn our attention to the narrow strait that divides China and Taiwan, which some analysts believe is the most likely flashpoint for another far-away conflict involving the US military.

If President Biden reconfigures foreign policy to focus more on threats at home, will that leave us unprepared to defend US interests abroad? Or should we rethink which battles we’re willing to fight?

GUESTS: Oriana Skylar Mastro, Fellow at Stanford University’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Michael Mazarr, Senior Political Scientist at the RAND Corporation.

ADDITIONAL READING:

<a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2021-06-03/china-taiwan-war-temptation" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Taiwan Temptation</a>, Foreign Affairs.

<a href="https://warontherocks.com/2021/07/time-for-a-new-approach-to-defense-strategy/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Time for a New Approach to Defense Strategy</a>, War on the Rocks.

<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/08/us/politics/biden-china-taiwan.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Biden Backs Taiwan, but Some Call for a Clearer Warning to China</a>, New York Times.

** This episode was originally published on September 13, 2021.

We turn our attention to the narrow strait that divides China and Taiwan, which some analysts believe is the most likely flashpoint for another far-away conflict involving the US military.
If President Biden reconfigures foreign policy to focus more on threats at home, will that leave us unprepared to defend US interests abroad? Or should we rethink which battles we’re willing to fight?
GUESTS: Oriana Skylar Mastro, Fellow at Stanford University’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Michael Mazarr, Senior Political Scientist at the RAND Corporation.
ADDITIONAL READING:
The Taiwan Temptation, Foreign Affairs.
Time for a New Approach to Defense Strategy, War on the Rocks.
Biden Backs Taiwan, but Some Call for a Clearer Warning to China, New York Times.
** This episode was originally published on September 13, 2021.

In this episode from 2021, we ask: "Which battles are we willing to fight?"

Reissue: Navigating the Strait

Conversations about downsizing America’s defense budget almost immediately stall out in a Catch-22: Reallocating those tax dollars to invest in domestic priorities would be devastating to the many small cities where a manufacturing plant, ICBM silo, or military base is the lifeblood of the local economy.

If Biden begins to shift some money away from defense, or even just, away from some of the big weapons systems a lot of defense towns are tasked to build, does that mean a whole lot of middle-class jobs might get cut?

What if there’s a better option? One that fits more closely with Biden’s plans for the middle class?

GUESTS: Natalie Click, PhD student at Arizona State University; Taylor Barnes, Journalist; Miriam Pemberton, Institute for Policy Studies

ADDITIONAL READING:

<a href="https://southerlymag.org/2020/10/27/from-arms-to-renewables-how-workers-in-this-southern-military-industrial-hub-are-converting-the-economy/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">From Arms to Renewables: How Workers in This Southern Military Industrial Hub Are Converting the Economy</a>, Taylor Barnes, Southerly Magazine.

<a href="https://www.facingsouth.org/2021/07/honk-humane-jobs-nc-activists-challenge-subsidies-weapons-maker" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">‘Honk for Humane Jobs’: NC Activists Challenge Subsidies for Weapons Maker</a>, Taylor Barnes, Facing South.

<a href="https://www.newsweek.com/military-budget-post-coronavirus-recovery-1503210" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Let’s Turn Our Military Resources To Building a Post-COVID Industrial Base for All Americans</a>, Miriam Pemberton, Newsweek.

<a href="https://www.brown.edu/news/2017-05-25/jobscow" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Study Says Domestic, Not Military Spending, Fuels Job Growth</a>, Brown University.

<a href="https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a36983255/how-much-does-f-35-cost/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">How Much More Expensive Can the F-35 Actually Get?</a> Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics.

** This episode was originally published on August 30, 2021.

Conversations about downsizing America’s defense budget almost immediately stall out in a Catch-22: Reallocating those tax dollars to invest in domestic priorities would be devastating to the many small cities where a manufacturing plant, ICBM silo, or military base is the lifeblood of the local economy.
If Biden begins to shift some money away from defense, or even just, away from some of the big weapons systems a lot of defense towns are tasked to build, does that mean a whole lot of middle-class jobs might get cut?
What if there’s a better option? One that fits more closely with Biden’s plans for the middle class?
GUESTS: Natalie Click, PhD student at Arizona State University; Taylor Barnes, Journalist; Miriam Pemberton, Institute for Policy Studies
ADDITIONAL READING:
From Arms to Renewables: How Workers in This Southern Military Industrial Hub Are Converting the Economy, Taylor Barnes, Southerly Magazine.
‘Honk for Humane Jobs’: NC Activists Challenge Subsidies for Weapons Maker, Taylor Barnes, Facing South.
Let’s Turn Our Military Resources To Building a Post-COVID Industrial Base for All Americans, Miriam Pemberton, Newsweek.
Study Says Domestic, Not Military Spending, Fuels Job Growth, Brown University.
How Much More Expensive Can the F-35 Actually Get? Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics.
** This episode was originally published on August 30, 2021.

In this episode from 2021, we ask: "Is defense spending really a good way to create middle-class jobs?"

Reissue: Take This Job and Shove It

Many Americans once viewed the US military as a reliable road to a middle-class life. But, despite record-breaking military spending in recent years, new research shows that one-in-six military families don’t have consistent access to healthy food. So, how is it that service members and their families are finding basic necessities out of reach?

In this episode, we talk about childcare, spouse employment, frequent moves, and food stamps with folks who have wrestled with all of these issues firsthand. And we ask the experts, are the new policies to address these problems going to be enough?

Statement, Cmdr. Nicole Schwegman, Department of Defense spokesperson:

“We understand the extraordinary pressures military families face and we have made progress, but we know that there is more work to be done. We will continue to listen, learn, and lead on issues we know are critical to stability and the unique challenges of military life.”

GUESTS*:

Rae Ellen Holberg, military spouse and mother of four; <a href="https://www.mfan.org/team/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Shannon Razsadin</a>, president and executive director of MFAN; <a href="https://securefamiliesinitiative.org/sfi-team/sarahstreyder/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sarah Streyder</a>, executive director of Secure Families Initiative; Nils Olsen, company commander in the US Army; <a href="https://www.cnas.org/people/brandon-j-archuleta" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Brandon Archuleta</a>, senior fellow at the Center of New American Security

*The views of all guests are their own, and do not reflect the policies or positions of the US Army, United States Department of Defense or the United States Government.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

<a href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/solving-food-insecurity-among-us-veterans-and-military-families" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Food Insecurity Among US Veterans and Military Families</a>, Center for Strategic &amp; International Studies

<a href="https://www.mfan.org/topic/food-insecurity/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Food Insecurity</a>, Military Family Advisory Network

<a href="https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2022/12/02/allowance-for-the-most-at-risk-military-families-begins-to-take-shape/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Allowance for the Most At-risk Military Families Begins To Take Shape</a>, Military Times

<a href="https://media.defense.gov/2022/Sep/22/2003083398/-1/-1/0/TAKING-CARE-OF-OUR-SERVICE-MEMBERS-AND-FAMILIES.PDF" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Taking Care of Our Service Members and Families, </a>Department of Defense

<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/10/us/military-enlistment.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Who Signs Up to Fight? Makeup of U.S. Recruits Shows Glaring Disparity</a>, New York Times

Many Americans once viewed the US military as a reliable road to a middle-class life. But, despite record-breaking military spending in recent years, new research shows that one-in-six military families don’t have consistent access to healthy food. So, how is it that service members and their families are finding basic necessities out of reach?
In this episode, we talk about childcare, spouse employment, frequent moves, and food stamps with folks who have wrestled with all of these issues firsthand. And we ask the experts, are the new policies to address these problems going to be enough?
Statement, Cmdr. Nicole Schwegman, Department of Defense spokesperson:
“We understand the extraordinary pressures military families face and we have made progress, but we know that there is more work to be done. We will continue to listen, learn, and lead on issues we know are critical to stability and the unique challenges of military life.”
GUESTS*:
Rae Ellen Holberg, military spouse and mother of four; Shannon Razsadin, president and executive director of MFAN; Sarah Streyder, executive director of Secure Families Initiative; Nils Olsen, company commander in the US Army; Brandon Archuleta, senior fellow at the Center of New American Security
*The views of all guests are their own, and do not reflect the policies or positions of the US Army, United States Department of Defense or the United States Government.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
Food Insecurity Among US Veterans and Military Families, Center for Strategic & International Studies
Food Insecurity, Military Family Advisory Network
Allowance for the Most At-risk Military Families Begins To Take Shape, Military Times
Taking Care of Our Service Members and Families, Department of Defense
Who Signs Up to Fight? Makeup of U.S. Recruits Shows Glaring Disparity, New York Times

Food insecurity in the force… and what we can do about it.

Are Military Families Really Going Hungry?

Samin Nosrat joins us to talk about cooking, conflict, and the global forces shaping the food on our plates. Have you ever tried Saigon cinnamon? How about Iranian saffron? Learn about the flavors and traditions we lose when war and international politics get in the way.

We get real about "kimchi diplomacy.” And we talk about the alternating slog and beauty of cooking as a way to connect to our own bodies — and support others — when times are hard.

GUESTS: <a href="http://ciaosamin.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Samin Nosrat</a>, writer, cook, and teacher

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/22/magazine/before-croissants-there-was-kubaneh-a-jewish-yemeni-delight.html?partner=socialflow&amp;smid=tw-nytmag&amp;smtyp=cur" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Before Croissants, There Was Kubaneh, a Jewish Yemeni Delight</a>, Tejal Rao, The New York Times Magazine

<a href="https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/food-matters/what-s-an-aleppo-pepper/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">What's an Aleppo Pepper?</a>, Layla Eplett, Scientific American

<a href="https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/experiment/spam-how-american-dream-got-canned" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Experiment Presents SPAM</a>, Julia Longoria and team, WNYC &amp; The Atlantic

Samin Nosrat joins us to talk about cooking, conflict, and the global forces shaping the food on our plates. Have you ever tried Saigon cinnamon? How about Iranian saffron? Learn about the flavors and traditions we lose when war and international politics get in the way.
We get real about "kimchi diplomacy.” And we talk about the alternating slog and beauty of cooking as a way to connect to our own bodies — and support others — when times are hard.
GUESTS: Samin Nosrat, writer, cook, and teacher
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
Before Croissants, There Was Kubaneh, a Jewish Yemeni Delight, Tejal Rao, The New York Times Magazine
What's an Aleppo Pepper?, Layla Eplett, Scientific American
The Experiment Presents SPAM, Julia Longoria and team, WNYC & The Atlantic

A conversation about the food we’re robbed of with the writer, cook, and teacher.

Samin Nosrat on War, Appropriation, and the Power of Food

On the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, endangered plants bloom on the shrubsteppe. The Yakama Nation signed a treaty in 1855 to cede some of its lands to the US government. The treaty promised that the Yakama people could continue to use their traditional territory to hunt and fish. But in 1943, those promises were broken, as Hanford became a secretive site for nuclear plutonium production.

Today, Hanford is one of the world’s most contaminated sites, and the cleanup will take generations. As more ceded lands have been encroached on by agriculture and development, the Hanford land is home to an ugly irony: Untouchable by outsiders — but unsafe for members of the Yakama Nation to fully practice their traditions. Now, while they fight for the most rigorous cleanup possible, they’re also finding other ways to keep those traditions alive.

Flash back to 1989, on the other side of the world lies another steppe near Semey (once Semipalatinsk), Kazakhstan. A land that’s survived famine, collectivization, and hundreds of nuclear tests. When an underground test goes wrong, Kazakhs band together with the world and say it’s time to stop nuclear testing for good.

—

In addition to responding to questions we had about the Hanford site, the Department of Energy provided the following statement: “The Department is committed to continuing to work with the Yakama Nation on progressing toward our common goal of site cleanup,” it says in part. “DOE progress at Hanford is leading to a cleaner environment and additional protections for the Columbia River. This year alone Hanford … completed a protective enclosure around another former plutonium production reactor along the Columbia River and treated over 2 billion gallons of contaminated groundwater.”

GUESTS: Robert Franklin, Associate Director of the Hanford History Project; Marlene Jones, Marylee Jones, and Patsy Whitefoot, Yakama Nation members; Kali Robson, Trina Sherwood, and McClure Tosch, Yakama Nation's Environmental Restoration/Waste Management Program; Togzhan Kassenova, Senior Fellow at the Center for Policy Research, SUNY-Albany; Sarah Cameron, University of Maryland

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

<a href="https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=33596" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Atomic Steppe: How Kazakhstan Gave Up The Bomb</a>, Togzhan Kassenova

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/20/yakama-nation-nuclear-waste-cleanup?utm_term=Autofeed&amp;CMP=twt_gu&amp;utm_medium&amp;utm_source=Twitter" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Nuclear waste ravaged their land. The Yakama Nation is on a quest to rescue it,</a> Hallie Golden, The Guardian

<a href="https://inkstickmedia.com/how-native-land-became-a-target-for-nuclear-waste/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">How Native Land Became a Target for Nuclear Waste</a>, Sanjana Manjeshwar, Inkstick Media

<a href="https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-22-105809" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Hanford Site Cleanup Costs Continue to Rise, but Opportunities Exist to Save Tens of Billions of Dollars</a>, GAO

On the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, endangered plants bloom on the shrubsteppe. The Yakama Nation signed a treaty in 1855 to cede some of its lands to the US government. The treaty promised that the Yakama people could continue to use their traditional territory to hunt and fish. But in 1943, those promises were broken, as Hanford became a secretive site for nuclear plutonium production.
Today, Hanford is one of the world’s most contaminated sites, and the cleanup will take generations. As more ceded lands have been encroached on by agriculture and development, the Hanford land is home to an ugly irony: Untouchable by outsiders — but unsafe for members of the Yakama Nation to fully practice their traditions. Now, while they fight for the most rigorous cleanup possible, they’re also finding other ways to keep those traditions alive.
Flash back to 1989, on the other side of the world lies another steppe near Semey (once Semipalatinsk), Kazakhstan. A land that’s survived famine, collectivization, and hundreds of nuclear tests. When an underground test goes wrong, Kazakhs band together with the world and say it’s time to stop nuclear testing for good.
—

In addition to responding to questions we had about the Hanford site, the Department of Energy provided the following statement: “The Department is committed to continuing to work with the Yakama Nation on progressing toward our common goal of site cleanup,” it says in part. “DOE progress at Hanford is leading to a cleaner environment and additional protections for the Columbia River. This year alone Hanford … completed a protective enclosure around another former plutonium production reactor along the Columbia River and treated over 2 billion gallons of contaminated groundwater.”
GUESTS: Robert Franklin, Associate Director of the Hanford History Project; Marlene Jones, Marylee Jones, and Patsy Whitefoot, Yakama Nation members; Kali Robson, Trina Sherwood, and McClure Tosch, Yakama Nation's Environmental Restoration/Waste Management Program; Togzhan Kassenova, Senior Fellow at the Center for Policy Research, SUNY-Albany; Sarah Cameron, University of Maryland
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
Atomic Steppe: How Kazakhstan Gave Up The Bomb, Togzhan Kassenova
Nuclear waste ravaged their land. The Yakama Nation is on a quest to rescue it, Hallie Golden, The Guardian
How Native Land Became a Target for Nuclear Waste, Sanjana Manjeshwar, Inkstick Media
Hanford Site Cleanup Costs Continue to Rise, but Opportunities Exist to Save Tens of Billions of Dollars, GAO

Two stories about the loss of land and the persistence of hope.

What Our Nuclear History Means for Indigenous Food

When we’re not in a crisis, food doesn’t tend to make it into stump speeches or budget pressers. It’s easy to end up in front of the computer, scrolling social media, snacking on something produced a thousand miles away and not think twice about it.

But what we eat touches every aspect our society — from security to culture, labor, economy, climate and more. It’s also a potent lightning rod for online conspiracies and disinformation.

GUESTS: Katie (pseudonym); <a href="https://www.info-res.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Nina Jankowicz</a>, Centre for Information Resilience; <a href="https://secretharvesthawaii.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Domini Mellott</a>, Secret Harvest; <a href="https://ideas.darden.virginia.edu/vidya-mani" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Vidya Mani</a>, University of Virginia

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-putin-business-lebanon-syria-87c3b6fea3f4c326003123b21aa78099" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Russia Smuggling Ukraninan Grain To Help Pay For Putin’s War</a>, Michael Biesecker, Sarah El Deeb, and Beatrice Dupuy, The Associated Press

<a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3812329" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Food Supply and Covid-19: Breaking the Chain</a>, Vidya Mani

<a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/africa-in-focus/2022/10/17/russian-disinformation-in-africa-whats-sticking-and-whats-not/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Russian Disinformation in Africa: What’s sticking and what’s not</a>, Mary Blankenship and Aloysius Uche Ordu, Brookings

<a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/01/23/food-hunger-national-security-issue-instability/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Food Should Be Treated As National Security</a>, Ehud Eiran, Michaela Elias and Aron M. Troen, Foreign Policy

When we’re not in a crisis, food doesn’t tend to make it into stump speeches or budget pressers. It’s easy to end up in front of the computer, scrolling social media, snacking on something produced a thousand miles away and not think twice about it.
But what we eat touches every aspect our society — from security to culture, labor, economy, climate and more. It’s also a potent lightning rod for online conspiracies and disinformation.
GUESTS: Katie (pseudonym); Nina Jankowicz, Centre for Information Resilience; Domini Mellott, Secret Harvest; Vidya Mani, University of Virginia
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
Russia Smuggling Ukraninan Grain To Help Pay For Putin’s War, Michael Biesecker, Sarah El Deeb, and Beatrice Dupuy, The Associated Press
Food Supply and Covid-19: Breaking the Chain, Vidya Mani
Russian Disinformation in Africa: What’s sticking and what’s not, Mary Blankenship and Aloysius Uche Ordu, Brookings
Food Should Be Treated As National Security, Ehud Eiran, Michaela Elias and Aron M. Troen, Foreign Policy

Food is one of our biggest threats hiding in plain sight.

Food, War, and the Conspiracy Supply Chain

Think back to when you were a kid, and school was out. What did you eat when you got home?

Maybe it was a beef patty from your favorite bodega or chocolate chip cookies baked by your mom. For better or worse, food is one of the first things in our lives that makes us feel… safe.

But lately, between supply chain issues, empty shelves, wild conspiracy theories, and a potential nuclear attack on the breadbasket of the world… things haven’t felt so safe.

So this season, Things That Go Boom is going deep on food and conflict.

State dinners, MREs.

Supply chains, turf wars.

Food as diplomacy, hunger as a weapon.

Things That Go Boom Season 7 is coming up on October 31 — so get ready for a food fight.

Think back to when you were a kid, and school was out. What did you eat when you got home?
Maybe it was a beef patty from your favorite bodega or chocolate chip cookies baked by your mom. For better or worse, food is one of the first things in our lives that makes us feel… safe.
But lately, between supply chain issues, empty shelves, wild conspiracy theories, and a potential nuclear attack on the breadbasket of the world… things haven’t felt so safe.
So this season, Things That Go Boom is going deep on food and conflict.
State dinners, MREs.
Supply chains, turf wars.
Food as diplomacy, hunger as a weapon.
Things That Go Boom Season 7 is coming up on October 31 — so get ready for a food fight.

Season 7 of Things That Go Boom is coming October 31.

Season 7: Food Fight

Putin’s war in Ukraine has European nations scrambling to cut off their supplies of Russian gas — both to further penalize Russia and to ensure the country can’t withhold its energy supplies as a blackmail tool. That transition has many European leaders turning to the Arctic for solutions like wind energy. But some Sámi activists in Arctic Europe say they’ve been backed into a corner after years of industrial development, and that what’s left of their traditional territory is not up for negotiation.

GUESTS: Justin Ling, freelance journalist; Beaska Niillas, parliamentary leader in the Sámi Parliament in Norway and alternate member of the Saami Council

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

“<a href="https://inkstickmedia.com/the-costs-of-choosing-wind-power/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Costs of Choosing Wind Power</a>,” Sunna Svendsen, Inkstick Media 
”<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-climate-and-environment-government-politics-f4de4a834ae7344b2ae7ee8672f1e3e8" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Norway Surges Oil, Gas Profit. Now It’s Urged To Help</a>,” Mark Lewis ft. Monika Scislowska, Associated Press 
”<a href="https://www.thearcticinstitute.org/arctic-military-infrastructure-olavsvern-case/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Arctic Military Infrastructure: The Olavsvern case</a>,” Wenche Irén Sterkeby and Vidar Hole, The Arctic Institute

Putin’s war in Ukraine has European nations scrambling to cut off their supplies of Russian gas — both to further penalize Russia and to ensure the country can’t withhold its energy supplies as a blackmail tool. That transition has many European leaders turning to the Arctic for solutions like wind energy. But some Sámi activists in Arctic Europe say they’ve been backed into a corner after years of industrial development, and that what’s left of their traditional territory is not up for negotiation.
GUESTS: Justin Ling, freelance journalist; Beaska Niillas, parliamentary leader in the Sámi Parliament in Norway and alternate member of the Saami Council
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
“The Costs of Choosing Wind Power,” Sunna Svendsen, Inkstick Media
Norway Surges Oil, Gas Profit. Now It’s Urged To Help,” Mark Lewis ft. Monika Scislowska, Associated Press
Arctic Military Infrastructure: The Olavsvern case,” Wenche Irén Sterkeby and Vidar Hole, The Arctic Institute

Not everything is as it seems.

Cold Front: Tromsø

China’s business activity in the Arctic has been attracting a lot of eyeballs. Its state-sponsored construction companies have been securing contracts for important infrastructure, and the country sees the resources in the polar regions as key to its future stability. That interest has the United States, sometimes called the “reluctant Arctic state,” perking up its ears.

But all this new competition in the region — it puts Arctic peoples at the center of a tricky geopolitical tango. We speak to two leaders in Greenlandic governance about how the country is managing that dance.

Reporting by Katie Toth.

GUESTS: Willie Hensley, author; educator; former Alaska State Senator; Marisol Maddox, Senior Arctic Analyst, Wilson Center; Mia Bennett, Assistant Professor, University of Washington; Pele Broberg, Member of Parliament for Greenland; chair, Partii Naleraq; Aaja Chemnitz Larsen, Member of Parliament for Denmark; chair, Conference of Arctic Parliamentarians; Col (Ret.) Pierre LeBlanc, Canadian Armed Forces

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

“<a href="https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2022/01/world/greenland-denmark-social-experiment-cmd-idnty-intl-cnnphotos/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">How a Failed Social Experiment in Denmark Separated Inuit Children From Their Families</a>,” Tara John, CNN

“<a href="http://www.alaskool.org/projects/ancsa/wlh/WLH66_1.htm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">What Rights To Land Have Alaska Natives?: The Primary Question</a>,” Willie Hensley, Alaskool

“<a href="https://warontherocks.com/2022/04/could-the-arctic-be-a-wedge-between-russia-and-china/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Could the Arctic Be a Wedge Between China and Russia?</a>” Jeremy Greenwood and Shuxian Luo, War on the Rocks

“<a href="https://warontherocks.com/2019/08/lets-not-make-a-deal-geopolitics-and-greenland/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Let’s (Not) Make A Deal: Geopolitics and Greenland</a>,” Jon Rahbek-Clemmensen, War on the Rocks

“<a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/08/16/american-imperialists-have-always-dreamed-of-greenland/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">American Imperialists Have Always Dreamed of Greenland</a>,” Paul Musgrave, Foreign Policy

China’s business activity in the Arctic has been attracting a lot of eyeballs. Its state-sponsored construction companies have been securing contracts for important infrastructure, and the country sees the resources in the polar regions as key to its future stability. That interest has the United States, sometimes called the “reluctant Arctic state,” perking up its ears.
But all this new competition in the region — it puts Arctic peoples at the center of a tricky geopolitical tango. We speak to two leaders in Greenlandic governance about how the country is managing that dance.
Reporting by Katie Toth.
GUESTS: Willie Hensley, author; educator; former Alaska State Senator; Marisol Maddox, Senior Arctic Analyst, Wilson Center; Mia Bennett, Assistant Professor, University of Washington; Pele Broberg, Member of Parliament for Greenland; chair, Partii Naleraq; Aaja Chemnitz Larsen, Member of Parliament for Denmark; chair, Conference of Arctic Parliamentarians; Col (Ret.) Pierre LeBlanc, Canadian Armed Forces
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
“How a Failed Social Experiment in Denmark Separated Inuit Children From Their Families,” Tara John, CNN
“What Rights To Land Have Alaska Natives?: The Primary Question,” Willie Hensley, Alaskool
“Could the Arctic Be a Wedge Between China and Russia?” Jeremy Greenwood and Shuxian Luo, War on the Rocks
“Let’s (Not) Make A Deal: Geopolitics and Greenland,” Jon Rahbek-Clemmensen, War on the Rocks
“American Imperialists Have Always Dreamed of Greenland,” Paul Musgrave, Foreign Policy

What does China want from the North?

Cold Front: Beijing

Noel Cockney and Randy Baillargeon have seen what a warming North can do to their home.

Manning an educational Indigenous fish camp an ice road away from Yellowknife, Canada, they slice and dice fish out of Great Slave Lake and chop wood to keep people warm in the subzero spring temperatures. It’s cold — and they like it this way.

Cold in the North means connectivity, as people zip around on ice roads and snowmobiles. It makes for soft, marketable furs for trappers and cozy nights at home. And as the temperature warms, those things are at risk.

For decades, leaders of Arctic countries like Russia, Norway and the USA could set aside their differences and find common ground on environmental issues in the region. The Arctic was treated less like a zone of competition, and more like a tool to build diplomatic rapport. But Russia's war in Ukraine has totally upended that dynamic — and shattered the trust of the West. So — in a region where Russia controls half of the Arctic shoreline — how do we fight climate change now?

Reporting by Katie Toth.

GUESTS: Randy Baillargeon, Land-Based Co-ordinator and Community Mentor, Dechinta Centre for Research and Learning; Noel Cockney, Regional Programmer and Safety Co-ordinator, Dechinta Centre for Research and Learning; Dalee Sambo Dorough, International Chair, Inuit Circumpolar Council; Andrea Pitzer, Author, Icebound: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World; Mia Bennett, Assistant Professor, University of Washington

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

"<a href="https://t.co/S9Pqu7DDET" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">How Putin’s War Is Sinking Climate Science</a>,” Andrea Pitzer, Nautilus

"<a href="https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2022/07/04/how-war-in-ukraine-is-changing-the-arctic" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">How War in Ukraine Is Changing the Arctic</a>,” The Economist

Noel Cockney and Randy Baillargeon have seen what a warming North can do to their home.
Manning an educational Indigenous fish camp an ice road away from Yellowknife, Canada, they slice and dice fish out of Great Slave Lake and chop wood to keep people warm in the subzero spring temperatures. It’s cold — and they like it this way.
Cold in the North means connectivity, as people zip around on ice roads and snowmobiles. It makes for soft, marketable furs for trappers and cozy nights at home. And as the temperature warms, those things are at risk.
For decades, leaders of Arctic countries like Russia, Norway and the USA could set aside their differences and find common ground on environmental issues in the region. The Arctic was treated less like a zone of competition, and more like a tool to build diplomatic rapport. But Russia's war in Ukraine has totally upended that dynamic — and shattered the trust of the West. So — in a region where Russia controls half of the Arctic shoreline — how do we fight climate change now?
Reporting by Katie Toth.
GUESTS: Randy Baillargeon, Land-Based Co-ordinator and Community Mentor, Dechinta Centre for Research and Learning; Noel Cockney, Regional Programmer and Safety Co-ordinator, Dechinta Centre for Research and Learning; Dalee Sambo Dorough, International Chair, Inuit Circumpolar Council; Andrea Pitzer, Author, Icebound: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World; Mia Bennett, Assistant Professor, University of Washington
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
"How Putin’s War Is Sinking Climate Science,” Andrea Pitzer, Nautilus
"How War in Ukraine Is Changing the Arctic,” The Economist

The Arctic is heating up.

Cold Front: Yellowknife

The House and Senate were always supposed to check the president’s power in foreign affairs. But when partisan loyalties and an onslaught of domestic issues make legislation nearly impossible… what’s a congress to do?

This week, we talk to Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA) about how Congress can take back its power in foreign affairs – and finally get some things done. We discuss his efforts to stop the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, the animating power of a passionate public, and why he’s optimistic about the future of congressional power in American foreign policy.

GUEST: <a href="https://twitter.com/RoKhanna" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Congressman Ro Khanna</a>, represents California’s 17th Congressional District

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

<a href="https://www.nixonlibrary.gov/news/war-powers-resolution-1973" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">War Powers Resolution of 1973</a>, Nixon Library

<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/16/us/politics/trump-veto-yemen.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Trump Vetoes Measure to Force End to U.S. Involvement in Yemen War</a>, Mark Landler and Peter Baker, The New York Times

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/dec/03/saudi-warplanes-carpet-bomb-yemen-with-us-help-this-must-end" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Saudi warplanes carpet-bomb Yemen with US help. This must end</a>, Berine Sanders and Ro Khanna, The Guardian

<a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Dignity-in-a-Digital-Age/Ro-Khanna/9781982163341" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dignity in a Digital Age</a>, Ro Khanna, Simon &amp; Schuster

The House and Senate were always supposed to check the president’s power in foreign affairs. But when partisan loyalties and an onslaught of domestic issues make legislation nearly impossible… what’s a congress to do?
This week, we talk to Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA) about how Congress can take back its power in foreign affairs – and finally get some things done. We discuss his efforts to stop the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, the animating power of a passionate public, and why he’s optimistic about the future of congressional power in American foreign policy.
GUEST: Congressman Ro Khanna, represents California’s 17th Congressional District
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
War Powers Resolution of 1973, Nixon Library
Trump Vetoes Measure to Force End to U.S. Involvement in Yemen War, Mark Landler and Peter Baker, The New York Times
Saudi warplanes carpet-bomb Yemen with US help. This must end, Berine Sanders and Ro Khanna, The Guardian
Dignity in a Digital Age, Ro Khanna, Simon & Schuster

Rep. Ro Khanna thinks Congress can turn it around.

Move Slow and Fix Things

Covert action has supported our nation’s security goals for decades — from fighting the Cold War to killing Osama Bin Laden. But it’s also part of a long American history of justifying the means to an end, one that’s led to unethical and illegal actions across the world.

You could spend hours reading about past covert affairs without understanding how the executive branch manages missions or the classified intel around them — and, it’s not just you. Congress is tasked with overseeing those efforts, and even it has a hard time breaking through the layers of bureaucracy meant to keep our secrets safe.

But when the war drum starts beating, where does it leave lawmakers tasked with checking and balancing? Two skeletons in the CIA’s closet might help give us some answers.

GUESTS: Lana Ponting, MKULTRA Survivor; Julie Tanny, MKULTRA Survivor; <a href="https://law.yale.edu/oona-hathaway" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Oona Hathaway</a>, Yale University; <a href="https://www.interaction.org/staff/sam-worthington/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sam Worthington</a>, InterAction

ADDITIONAL READING:

<a href="https://minnesotalawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/3-Hathaway_MLR.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Secrecy’s End</a>, Oona Hathaway, Minnesota Law Review

<a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2020-12-02/covert-action-congressional-inaction?utm_medium=promo_email&amp;utm_source=lo_flows&amp;utm_campaign=registered_user_welcome&amp;utm_term=email_1&amp;utm_content=20211206" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Covert Action, Congressional Inaction</a>, Stephen R. Weissman, Foreign Affairs

<a href="https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform/brainwashed-mkultra" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Brainwashed: The echoes of MKULTRA</a>, Canadian Broadcasting Association

<a href="https://www.cemfi.es/%7Emartinez-bravo/mmb/Research_files/MS_Vaccines_20210219.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">In Vaccines We Trust? The Effect of The CIA’s Vaccine Ruse on Immunization In Pakistan</a>, Monica Martinez-​Bravo and Andreas Stegmann, Journal of the European Economic Association

Covert action has supported our nation’s security goals for decades — from fighting the Cold War to killing Osama Bin Laden. But it’s also part of a long American history of justifying the means to an end, one that’s led to unethical and illegal actions across the world.
You could spend hours reading about past covert affairs without understanding how the executive branch manages missions or the classified intel around them — and, it’s not just you. Congress is tasked with overseeing those efforts, and even it has a hard time breaking through the layers of bureaucracy meant to keep our secrets safe.
But when the war drum starts beating, where does it leave lawmakers tasked with checking and balancing? Two skeletons in the CIA’s closet might help give us some answers.
GUESTS: Lana Ponting, MKULTRA Survivor; Julie Tanny, MKULTRA Survivor; Oona Hathaway, Yale University; Sam Worthington, InterAction
ADDITIONAL READING:
Secrecy’s End, Oona Hathaway, Minnesota Law Review
Covert Action, Congressional Inaction, Stephen R. Weissman, Foreign Affairs
Brainwashed: The echoes of MKULTRA, Canadian Broadcasting Association
In Vaccines We Trust? The Effect of The CIA’s Vaccine Ruse on Immunization In Pakistan, Monica Martinez-​Bravo and Andreas Stegmann, Journal of the European Economic Association

Now, somebody has to be held accountable.

This Really Happened

When Congress created Space Force back in 2019, it looked to some like a wild idea from President Trump had just gone and become the sixth branch of the armed forces. But the US military has been using space for decades, and the importance of space to civilians and the military alike means that Space Force actually has a lot on its plate. As Congress considers the defense budget and the ways military activity in space can evolve, its decisions could have long-lasting consequences.

GUESTS: Maj. <a href="https://twitter.com/MAJMikeLyons" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Mike Lyons</a> (USA, ret.), Fellow at the Truman National Security Project; <a href="https://twitter.com/genevaexpat" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Theresa Hitchens</a>, Senior Space Reporter at Breaking Defense; <a href="https://twitter.com/klkuzminski" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Katherine Kuzminski</a>, Senior Fellow and Director, Military, Veterans, and Society Program at the Center for a New American Security; <a href="https://twitter.com/LauraEGrego" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dr. Laura Grego</a>, Stanton Nuclear Security Fellow at the MIT Laboratory for Nuclear Security and Policy

Special thanks to <a href="https://twitter.com/drfarls" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dr. Robert Farley</a>.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

<a href="https://www.defense.gov/News/Feature-Stories/Story/Article/2446327/whats-with-all-the-us-space-related-agencies/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">What's With All the U.S. Space-Related Agencies?</a>, US Department of Defense.

<a href="https://csis-website-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/publication/210331_Harrison_SpaceThreatAssessment2021.pdf?gVYhCn79enGCOZtcQnA6MLkeKlcwqqks" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Space Threat Assessment: 2021</a>, Center for Strategic and International Studies.

<a href="https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=31357" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Politics of Space Security</a>, James Clay Moltz, Stanford University Press.

<a href="https://spacenews.com/bidens-2023-defense-budget-adds-billions-for-u-s-space-force/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Biden’s 2023 defense budget adds billions for U.S. Space Force</a>, Sandra Erwin, Space News.

When Congress created Space Force back in 2019, it looked to some like a wild idea from President Trump had just gone and become the sixth branch of the armed forces. But the US military has been using space for decades, and the importance of space to civilians and the military alike means that Space Force actually has a lot on its plate. As Congress considers the defense budget and the ways military activity in space can evolve, its decisions could have long-lasting consequences.
GUESTS: Maj. Mike Lyons (USA, ret.), Fellow at the Truman National Security Project; Theresa Hitchens, Senior Space Reporter at Breaking Defense; Katherine Kuzminski, Senior Fellow and Director, Military, Veterans, and Society Program at the Center for a New American Security; Dr. Laura Grego, Stanton Nuclear Security Fellow at the MIT Laboratory for Nuclear Security and Policy
Special thanks to Dr. Robert Farley.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
What's With All the U.S. Space-Related Agencies?, US Department of Defense.
Space Threat Assessment: 2021, Center for Strategic and International Studies.
The Politics of Space Security, James Clay Moltz, Stanford University Press.
Biden’s 2023 defense budget adds billions for U.S. Space Force, Sandra Erwin, Space News.

What’s your budget for space lasers?

To Appropriations and Beyond!

It’s hard to overstate how much arms trade and aid factor into US foreign policy. Missiles, aircraft, guns, and more — we sell and give them to others as a way to exert global power without ever putting boots on the ground.

It’s a trend Congress has passively greenlit for years. But every deal comes with risk.

US weapons have a history of ending up in the wrong hands. Or disappearing entirely. Other times, the “right” hands use weapons to perpetuate devastating civilian harm.

On this episode of Things That Go Boom, we dive into the complex world of arms transfers to ask, “Where does Congress fit into scrutinizing US deals?”

The short answer is…it generally doesn’t. That is, unless it wants to.

GUESTS: <a href="https://www.internationalpolicy.org/people/Lauren-Woods" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Lauren Woods</a>, Center for International Policy; <a href="https://gufaculty360.georgetown.edu/s/contact/00336000014SuuTAAS/jodi-vittori" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Jodi Vittori</a>, Georgetown University

ADDITIONAL READING:

<a href="https://civiliansinconflict.org/arms-sales-law-and-policy-primer/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Human Rights, Civilian Harm, and Arms Sales: A Primer on US Law and Policy</a>, Center for Civilians in Conflict.

<a href="https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2021/03/11/the-hidden-costs-of-us-security-cooperation/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Hidden Costs of US Security Cooperation</a>, Lauren Woods, Responsible Statecraft.

<a href="https://inkstickmedia.com/sending-weapons-to-ukraine-could-have-unintended-consequences/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sending Weapons To Ukraine Could Have Unintended Consequences</a>, Jordan Cohen, Inkstick.

<a href="https://carnegieendowment.org/2021/05/18/mitigating-patronage-and-personal-enrichment-in-u.s.-arms-sales-pub-84526" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Mitigating Patronage and Personal Enrichment in US Arms Sales</a>, Jodi Vittori, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

It’s hard to overstate how much arms trade and aid factor into US foreign policy. Missiles, aircraft, guns, and more — we sell and give them to others as a way to exert global power without ever putting boots on the ground.
It’s a trend Congress has passively greenlit for years. But every deal comes with risk.
US weapons have a history of ending up in the wrong hands. Or disappearing entirely. Other times, the “right” hands use weapons to perpetuate devastating civilian harm.
On this episode of Things That Go Boom, we dive into the complex world of arms transfers to ask, “Where does Congress fit into scrutinizing US deals?”
The short answer is…it generally doesn’t. That is, unless it wants to.
GUESTS: Lauren Woods, Center for International Policy; Jodi Vittori, Georgetown University
ADDITIONAL READING:
Human Rights, Civilian Harm, and Arms Sales: A Primer on US Law and Policy, Center for Civilians in Conflict.
The Hidden Costs of US Security Cooperation, Lauren Woods, Responsible Statecraft.
Sending Weapons To Ukraine Could Have Unintended Consequences, Jordan Cohen, Inkstick.
Mitigating Patronage and Personal Enrichment in US Arms Sales, Jodi Vittori, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

The how, why, and everything that can go wrong when we arm the world.

Of Militias and Mercedes-Benzes

At their core, sanctions are a way for countries to say, “We don’t like what you’re doing, and we’re going to make your life harder for it.” When they’re at their best, sanctions can isolate corrupt financiers, stigmatize human rights violators and even get entire countries to change their behavior.

But they don’t always work that way.

Economic sanctions are really hard to do right. They have to be precisely gamed out, or they can backfire in any number of ways. They're often hard to get rid of. And, more often than not, they hurt real people.

But the US likes sanctions. Congress likes sanctions.

On this episode of Things That Go Boom, what does all of this mean for some of our oldest sanctions? And some of our newest?

GUESTS: <a href="https://www.cnas.org/people/jason-bartlett" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Jason Bartlett</a>, Center for a New American Security; <a href="http://cubastudygroup.org/about-us/staff/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ricardo Herrero</a>, Cuba Study Group; <a href="https://www.vanderbilt.edu/arts/maria-magdalena-campos-pons/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons</a>, Artist and Cornelius Vanderbilt Endowed Chair of Fine Arts, Vanderbilt University; <a href="https://people.ceu.edu/inna_melnykovska" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Inna Melnykovska</a>, Central European University; <a href="https://charityandsecurity.org/about/staff/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Paul Carroll</a>, Charity &amp; Security Network; Konrad Körding, University of Pennsylvania; Elnaz Alikarami, McGill University; and Nosratullah Mohammadi, University of Geneva (formerly Zanjan, Iran)

ADDITIONAL READING:

<a href="https://inkstickmedia.com/border-aucracy/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Can Sanctions Stop Russia?</a>, Annie Lowrey, The Atlantic.

<a href="https://warontherocks.com/2022/03/the-russian-sanctions-regime-and-the-risk-of-catastrophic-success/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Russian Sanctions Regime and the Risk of Catastrophic Success</a>, Erik Sand and Suzanne Freeman, War on the Rocks.

<a href="https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/in-depth-research-reports/report/the-impact-of-western-sanctions-on-russia/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Impact of Western Sanctions on Russia and How They Can Be Made Even More Effective</a>, Anders Åslund and Maria Snegovaya, Atlantic Council.

<a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/02/06/cuba-us-relations-isolation-sanctions/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Boxing Cuba In Benefits No One</a>, Christopher Sabatini and Lauren Cornwall, Foreign Policy.

Special thanks to Maria Snegovaya.

At their core, sanctions are a way for countries to say, “We don’t like what you’re doing, and we’re going to make your life harder for it.” When they’re at their best, sanctions can isolate corrupt financiers, stigmatize human rights violators and even get entire countries to change their behavior.
But they don’t always work that way.
Economic sanctions are really hard to do right. They have to be precisely gamed out, or they can backfire in any number of ways. They're often hard to get rid of. And, more often than not, they hurt real people.
But the US likes sanctions. Congress likes sanctions.
On this episode of Things That Go Boom, what does all of this mean for some of our oldest sanctions? And some of our newest?
GUESTS: Jason Bartlett, Center for a New American Security; Ricardo Herrero, Cuba Study Group; Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons, Artist and Cornelius Vanderbilt Endowed Chair of Fine Arts, Vanderbilt University; Inna Melnykovska, Central European University; Paul Carroll, Charity & Security Network; Konrad Körding, University of Pennsylvania; Elnaz Alikarami, McGill University; and Nosratullah Mohammadi, University of Geneva (formerly Zanjan, Iran)
ADDITIONAL READING:
Can Sanctions Stop Russia?, Annie Lowrey, The Atlantic.
The Russian Sanctions Regime and the Risk of Catastrophic Success, Erik Sand and Suzanne Freeman, War on the Rocks.
The Impact of Western Sanctions on Russia and How They Can Be Made Even More Effective, Anders Åslund and Maria Snegovaya, Atlantic Council.
Boxing Cuba In Benefits No One, Christopher Sabatini and Lauren Cornwall, Foreign Policy.
Special thanks to Maria Snegovaya.

Everybody gets a sanction!

You Get a Sanction, and You, and You

Long lines at ATMs and gas stations. The constant blare of air raid sirens. Military jets scrambling across the sky. Eurasia expert (and for the first time, war reporter) Terrell Jermaine Starr is in Ukraine witnessing all this and more.

On this special bonus episode of Things That Go Boom, he argues that we can’t understand Russia’s full-scale invasion — or the man behind it — without examining the country’s imperialist history. It’s a story President Vladimir Putin is leaning on today.

Things That Go Boom will be back with our regularly-scheduled programming on March 21.

GUESTS: Terrell Jermaine Starr, Journalist, and Nonresident Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council

DONATE TO:

<a href="https://donate.wck.org/give/236738/#!/donation/checkout" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">World Central Kitchen</a>

<a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/kyivindependent-launch" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Kyiv Independent</a>

<a href="https://voices.org.ua/en/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Voices of Children</a>

<a href="https://www.directrelief.org/emergency/ukraine-crisis/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Direct Relief</a>

ADDITIONAL READING:

<a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/02/11/progressives-defend-ukraine/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Why Progressives Should Help Defend Ukraine</a>, Terrell Jermaine Starr, Foreign Policy.

<a href="https://www.blackdiplomats.net/episodes/ambassador-michael-mcfaul-on-ukrainerussia-relations" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ambassador Michael McFaul on Ukraine-Russia Relations</a>, Black Diplomats.

<a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/ukraine/2022-01-27/putin-doctrine" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Putin Doctrine</a>, Angela Stent, Foreign Affairs.

Long lines at ATMs and gas stations. The constant blare of air raid sirens. Military jets scrambling across the sky. Eurasia expert (and for the first time, war reporter) Terrell Jermaine Starr is in Ukraine witnessing all this and more.
On this special bonus episode of Things That Go Boom, he argues that we can’t understand Russia’s full-scale invasion — or the man behind it — without examining the country’s imperialist history. It’s a story President Vladimir Putin is leaning on today.
Things That Go Boom will be back with our regularly-scheduled programming on March 21.
GUESTS: Terrell Jermaine Starr, Journalist, and Nonresident Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council
DONATE TO:
World Central Kitchen
Kyiv Independent
Voices of Children
Direct Relief
ADDITIONAL READING:
Why Progressives Should Help Defend Ukraine, Terrell Jermaine Starr, Foreign Policy.
Ambassador Michael McFaul on Ukraine-Russia Relations, Black Diplomats.
The Putin Doctrine, Angela Stent, Foreign Affairs.

We speak with Terrell Jermaine Starr on the ground in Ukraine.

'Praying to Black Jesus' in Kyiv

Congress hasn’t passed a significant immigration bill in decades, but the demands on the immigration system today are very different than they were in the ’90s. So, what’s a president to do? With asylum seekers facing a militarized border and millions of undocumented immigrants already inside the country, recent presidents have used their executive authority to try and shape the system to meet the needs of the day. But, more and more, the courts are stepping in. Today, lawsuits drag on, Congress remains deadlocked, and millions of people are caught in the middle.

GUESTS: <a href="https://twitter.com/JorgeGCastaneda?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dr. Jorge Castañeda</a>, former Foreign Minister of Mexico and Global Distinguished Professor of Latin American and Caribbean Studies at New York University; <a href="https://twitter.com/cmrodriguez95" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Cristina Rodríguez</a>, Leighton Homer Surbeck Professor of Law at Yale Law School; <a href="https://twitter.com/BPC_TBrown?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Theresa Cardinal Brown</a>, Managing Director, Immigration and Cross-Border Policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center; Juan Pablo Barrios, asylum seeker from Venezuela (interpretation by Gustavo Martínez).

RESOURCES FOR ASYLUM SEEKERS:

<a href="https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/topics/asylum" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">American Immigration Council: Asylum Resources</a>

<a href="https://cliniclegal.org/resources/humanitarian-relief/asylum-and-refugee-law/asylee-eligibility-resettlement-assistance" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Asylee Eligibility for Resettlement Assistance Guide</a>, CLINIC

<a href="https://www-cdn.law.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/KnowYourRights_v13.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Getting Asylum, Protection in The United States</a>, Immigrants’ Rights Clinic at Stanford Law School, 2017

<a href="https://www-cdn.law.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/KnowYourRights-ESP_v13.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Para Obtener Asilo, Protección en los Estados Unidos</a>, Immigrants’ Rights Clinic at Stanford Law School, 2017

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

<a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-president-and-immigration-law-9780190694364?cc=us&amp;lang=en&amp;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The President and Immigration Law</a>, Adam B. Cox and Cristina M. Rodríguez

<a href="https://thenewpress.com/books/ex-mex" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ex Mex: From Migrants to Immigrants</a>, Jorge G. Castañeda

<a href="https://bipartisanpolicy.org/podcast/this-week-in-immigration/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">This Week in Immigration</a>, The Bipartisan Policy Center, Theresa Cardinal Brown

<a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2016/05/lake-maracaibo-oil-development-disaster-area-dying-neglect/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Lake Maracaibo: an oil development sacrifice zone dying from neglect</a>, Mongabay

Special thanks to Professor Jennifer M. Chacón.

Congress hasn’t passed a significant immigration bill in decades, but the demands on the immigration system today are very different than they were in the ’90s. So, what’s a president to do? With asylum seekers facing a militarized border and millions of undocumented immigrants already inside the country, recent presidents have used their executive authority to try and shape the system to meet the needs of the day. But, more and more, the courts are stepping in. Today, lawsuits drag on, Congress remains deadlocked, and millions of people are caught in the middle.
GUESTS: Dr. Jorge Castañeda, former Foreign Minister of Mexico and Global Distinguished Professor of Latin American and Caribbean Studies at New York University; Cristina Rodríguez, Leighton Homer Surbeck Professor of Law at Yale Law School; Theresa Cardinal Brown, Managing Director, Immigration and Cross-Border Policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center; Juan Pablo Barrios, asylum seeker from Venezuela (interpretation by Gustavo Martínez).
RESOURCES FOR ASYLUM SEEKERS:
American Immigration Council: Asylum Resources
Asylee Eligibility for Resettlement Assistance Guide, CLINIC
Getting Asylum, Protection in The United States, Immigrants’ Rights Clinic at Stanford Law School, 2017
Para Obtener Asilo, Protección en los Estados Unidos, Immigrants’ Rights Clinic at Stanford Law School, 2017
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
The President and Immigration Law, Adam B. Cox and Cristina M. Rodríguez
Ex Mex: From Migrants to Immigrants, Jorge G. Castañeda
This Week in Immigration, The Bipartisan Policy Center, Theresa Cardinal Brown
Lake Maracaibo: an oil development sacrifice zone dying from neglect, Mongabay
Special thanks to Professor Jennifer M. Chacón.

Who doesn’t make the rules?

Border-aucracy

Since the beginning of the American experiment, presidents have tussled with Congress over how to handle foreign threats. That creative conflict is supposed to be the democratic ideal. But there were also moments when lawmakers realized it was easier to just… not do the job. In the best of times, Congress oversaw the president and pushed back on missteps — or prevented those missteps in the first place. In the worst of times, it checked out. Then, the dawn of the nuclear age blew up that precarious balance.

GUESTS: Kevin Butterfield, Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington at Mount Vernon; Kori Schake, American Enterprise Institute; Laura Ellyn Smith, University of Oxford; Jeremi Suri, University of Texas at Austin

ADDITIONAL READING:

<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/05/the-real-reason-the-presidency-is-impossible/559877/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Presidency Is Too Big to Succeed</a>, Jeremi Suri, The Atlantic.

<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1973/11/the-runaway-presidency/306211/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Runaway Presidency</a>, Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., The Atlantic.

<a href="https://inkstickmedia.com/adults-in-a-room-iv/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Adults in a Room IV</a>, Inkstick Media.

Since the beginning of the American experiment, presidents have tussled with Congress over how to handle foreign threats. That creative conflict is supposed to be the democratic ideal. But there were also moments when lawmakers realized it was easier to just… not do the job. In the best of times, Congress oversaw the president and pushed back on missteps — or prevented those missteps in the first place. In the worst of times, it checked out. Then, the dawn of the nuclear age blew up that precarious balance.
GUESTS: Kevin Butterfield, Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington at Mount Vernon; Kori Schake, American Enterprise Institute; Laura Ellyn Smith, University of Oxford; Jeremi Suri, University of Texas at Austin
ADDITIONAL READING:
The Presidency Is Too Big to Succeed, Jeremi Suri, The Atlantic.
The Runaway Presidency, Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., The Atlantic.
Adults in a Room IV, Inkstick Media.

Most of us will never meet a president. But your House Rep or Senator? They're supposed to speak for you.

Why Buy the Cow?

The Framers of the Constitution made sure Congress had a voice guiding our role in the world. Congress decides how much money we spend on everything from immigration to foreign aid. It has the power to declare war, approve treaties, and oversee how the Department of Defense handles troops in conflict zones.

But over the past few decades, our lawmakers’ hold on that responsibility seems to have slipped… into the hands of the president. It’s an outcome the Framers worried might come to pass. And its story goes all the way back to George Washington.

From Afghanistan to arms sales, Congress is losing its grip on our foreign policy. Why is that? And, as we make our way toward the midterms, what can be done to reassert Congress’ authority as a coequal branch of the government?

The Framers of the Constitution made sure Congress had a voice guiding our role in the world. Congress decides how much money we spend on everything from immigration to foreign aid. It has the power to declare war, approve treaties, and oversee how the Department of Defense handles troops in conflict zones.
But over the past few decades, our lawmakers’ hold on that responsibility seems to have slipped… into the hands of the president. It’s an outcome the Framers worried might come to pass. And its story goes all the way back to George Washington.
From Afghanistan to arms sales, Congress is losing its grip on our foreign policy. Why is that? And, as we make our way toward the midterms, what can be done to reassert Congress’ authority as a coequal branch of the government?

Things That Go Boom is headed to the halls of Congress on Feb. 7.

S6 Trailer

The Republic of the Marshall Islands is a speck of a country in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Population 60,000. But it has an outsized legacy as the place where the US military exploded dozens of nuclear weapons in the 40s and 50s, and brushed over the danger to local populations.

For decades the Marshall Islands has been fighting for the US to fully recognize the devastating health and environmental impacts from all those nuclear tests, without much success.

But skip forward to a recent congressional hearing and something seemed to shift — something that starts with C and ends with A, and rhymes with ‘pivot to Asia.’

GUESTS: Rhea Moss-Christian, chairwoman of the Marshall Islands National Nuclear Commission

ADDITIONAL READING:

<a href="https://www.latimes.com/projects/marshall-islands-nuclear-testing-sea-level-rise/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">How the US Betrayed the Marshall Islands, Kindling the Next Nuclear Disaster</a>, Susanne Rust, Los Angeles Times.

<a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/01/26/marshall-islands-iowa-medicaid-103940" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">‘They Did Not Realize We Are Human Beings.’ </a>Dan Diamond, Politico.

(With reporting from Calvin Ryerse.)

The Republic of the Marshall Islands is a speck of a country in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Population 60,000. But it has an outsized legacy as the place where the US military exploded dozens of nuclear weapons in the 40s and 50s, and brushed over the danger to local populations.
For decades the Marshall Islands has been fighting for the US to fully recognize the devastating health and environmental impacts from all those nuclear tests, without much success.
But skip forward to a recent congressional hearing and something seemed to shift — something that starts with C and ends with A, and rhymes with ‘pivot to Asia.’
GUESTS: Rhea Moss-Christian, chairwoman of the Marshall Islands National Nuclear Commission
ADDITIONAL READING:
How the US Betrayed the Marshall Islands, Kindling the Next Nuclear Disaster, Susanne Rust, Los Angeles Times.
‘They Did Not Realize We Are Human Beings.’ Dan Diamond, Politico.
(With reporting from Calvin Ryerse.)

The Marshall Islands wants nuclear justice. The US wants to keep China in check.

Downwind

Long before there was a catchphrase called “foreign policy for the middle class,” a Vermont mayor was on C-SPAN fighting for exactly that thing.

Now he’s a US Senator.

And Bernie Sanders has pretty much spent his entire career in Washington questioning whether government decisions really serve working people … or, the 1%.

On this episode of Things That Go Boom, we sit down with Sanders’ Foreign Policy Advisor Matt Duss, because we wanted to know, from the perspective of someone whose boss has been thinking about these ideas for such a long time...

Is Biden’s foreign policy for the middle class anything more than a slogan?

GUESTS: Matt Duss, Foreign Policy Advisor, Senator Bernie Sanders

ADDITIONAL READING:

<a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/matt-duss-bernie-sanders-foreign-policy-blob/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Who Is Matt Duss, and Can He Take On Washington’s ‘Blob’?</a>, David Klion, The Nation

Long before there was a catchphrase called “foreign policy for the middle class,” a Vermont mayor was on C-SPAN fighting for exactly that thing.
Now he’s a US Senator.
And Bernie Sanders has pretty much spent his entire career in Washington questioning whether government decisions really serve working people … or, the 1%.
On this episode of Things That Go Boom, we sit down with Sanders’ Foreign Policy Advisor Matt Duss, because we wanted to know, from the perspective of someone whose boss has been thinking about these ideas for such a long time...
Is Biden’s foreign policy for the middle class anything more than a slogan?
GUESTS: Matt Duss, Foreign Policy Advisor, Senator Bernie Sanders
ADDITIONAL READING:
Who Is Matt Duss, and Can He Take On Washington’s ‘Blob’?, David Klion, The Nation

An interview with Matt Duss.

What’s Next for Progressive Foreign Policy?

Obaidullah Baheer has built his career promoting progress in Afghanistan: He’s a university lecturer on intractable conflicts and who advocates for women’s and minority rights online.

But his life could have wound up very different. As the grandson of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar — the leader of Islamist rebel group Hezb-i-Islami — he was once taught to hate the West and everything it stood for.

So how did he turn toward peace instead of war? And, as the Taliban take control of Afghanistan, what can his story tell us about the country’s future?

GUESTS: Obaidullah Baheer, Lecturer at the American University of Afghanistan

ADDITIONAL READING:

<a href="https://www.economist.com/1843/2021/08/20/my-family-fought-alongside-the-taliban-but-im-afraid-for-my-friends" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">My Family Fought Alongside the Taliban. Now, I’m Afraid for My Friends</a>, Obaidullah Baheer, The Economist.

<a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2021/9/8/what-to-make-of-the-talibans-exclusive-caretaker-government" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">What To Make Of the Taliban’s ‘Exclusive’ Caretaker Government</a>, Obaidullah Baheer, Al Jazeera.

<a href="https://www.tamhussein.co.uk/2021/09/bin-laden-the-road-to-9-11/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bin Laden: The Road To 9-11</a>, Tam Hussein, Channel 4.

Obaidullah Baheer has built his career promoting progress in Afghanistan: He’s a university lecturer on intractable conflicts and who advocates for women’s and minority rights online.
But his life could have wound up very different. As the grandson of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar — the leader of Islamist rebel group Hezb-i-Islami — he was once taught to hate the West and everything it stood for.
So how did he turn toward peace instead of war? And, as the Taliban take control of Afghanistan, what can his story tell us about the country’s future?
GUESTS: Obaidullah Baheer, Lecturer at the American University of Afghanistan
ADDITIONAL READING:
My Family Fought Alongside the Taliban. Now, I’m Afraid for My Friends, Obaidullah Baheer, The Economist.
What To Make Of the Taliban’s ‘Exclusive’ Caretaker Government, Obaidullah Baheer, Al Jazeera.
Bin Laden: The Road To 9-11, Tam Hussein, Channel 4.

Meet this guy.

S5 Bonus - And You Thought Thanksgiving Dinner Was Intense?

We turn our attention to the narrow strait that divides China and Taiwan, which some analysts believe is the most likely flashpoint for another far-away conflict involving the US military.

If President Biden reconfigures foreign policy to focus more on threats at home, will that leave us unprepared to defend US interests abroad? Or should we rethink which battles we’re willing to fight?

GUESTS: Oriana Skylar Mastro, Fellow at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute; Michael Mazarr, Senior Political Scientist at the RAND Corporation.

ADDITIONAL READING:

<a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2021-06-03/china-taiwan-war-temptation" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Taiwan Temptation</a>, Foreign Affairs.

<a href="https://warontherocks.com/2021/07/time-for-a-new-approach-to-defense-strategy/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Time for a New Approach to Defense Strategy</a>, War on the Rocks.

<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/08/us/politics/biden-china-taiwan.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Biden Backs Taiwan, but Some Call for a Clearer Warning to China</a>, New York Times.

We turn our attention to the narrow strait that divides China and Taiwan, which some analysts believe is the most likely flashpoint for another far-away conflict involving the US military.
If President Biden reconfigures foreign policy to focus more on threats at home, will that leave us unprepared to defend US interests abroad? Or should we rethink which battles we’re willing to fight?
GUESTS: Oriana Skylar Mastro, Fellow at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute; Michael Mazarr, Senior Political Scientist at the RAND Corporation.
ADDITIONAL READING:
The Taiwan Temptation, Foreign Affairs.
Time for a New Approach to Defense Strategy, War on the Rocks.
Biden Backs Taiwan, but Some Call for a Clearer Warning to China, New York Times.

Which battles are we willing to fight?

S5 E7 - Navigating the Strait

Conversations about downsizing America’s defense budget almost immediately stall out in a Catch-22: Reallocating those tax dollars to invest in domestic priorities would be devastating to the many small cities where a manufacturing plant, ICBM silo, or military base is the lifeblood of the local economy.

If Biden begins to shift some money away from defense, or even just, away from some of the big weapons systems a lot of defense towns are tasked to build, does that mean a whole lot of middle class jobs might get cut?

What if there’s a better option? One that fits more closely with Biden's plans for the middle class?

GUESTS: Natalie Click, PhD student at Arizona State University; Taylor Barnes, Journalist; Miriam Pemberton, Institute for Policy Studies

ADDITIONAL READING:

<a href="https://southerlymag.org/2020/10/27/from-arms-to-renewables-how-workers-in-this-southern-military-industrial-hub-are-converting-the-economy/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">From Arms to Renewables: How Workers in This Southern Military Industrial Hub Are Converting the Economy</a>, Taylor Barnes, Southerly Magazine.

<a href="https://www.facingsouth.org/2021/07/honk-humane-jobs-nc-activists-challenge-subsidies-weapons-maker" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">‘Honk for Humane Jobs’: NC Activists Challenge Subsidies for Weapons Maker</a>, Taylor Barnes, Facing South.

<a href="https://www.newsweek.com/military-budget-post-coronavirus-recovery-1503210" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Let’s Turn Our Military Resources To Building a Post-COVID Industrial Base for All Americans</a>, Miriam Pemberton, Newsweek.

<a href="https://www.brown.edu/news/2017-05-25/jobscow" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Study Says Domestic, Not Military Spending, Fuels Job Growth</a>, Brown University.

<a href="https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a36983255/how-much-does-f-35-cost/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">How Much More Expensive Can the F-35 Actually Get?</a> Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics.

Conversations about downsizing America’s defense budget almost immediately stall out in a Catch-22: Reallocating those tax dollars to invest in domestic priorities would be devastating to the many small cities where a manufacturing plant, ICBM silo, or military base is the lifeblood of the local economy.
If Biden begins to shift some money away from defense, or even just, away from some of the big weapons systems a lot of defense towns are tasked to build, does that mean a whole lot of middle class jobs might get cut?
What if there’s a better option? One that fits more closely with Biden's plans for the middle class?
GUESTS: Natalie Click, PhD student at Arizona State University; Taylor Barnes, Journalist; Miriam Pemberton, Institute for Policy Studies
ADDITIONAL READING:
From Arms to Renewables: How Workers in This Southern Military Industrial Hub Are Converting the Economy, Taylor Barnes, Southerly Magazine.
‘Honk for Humane Jobs’: NC Activists Challenge Subsidies for Weapons Maker, Taylor Barnes, Facing South.
Let’s Turn Our Military Resources To Building a Post-COVID Industrial Base for All Americans, Miriam Pemberton, Newsweek.
Study Says Domestic, Not Military Spending, Fuels Job Growth, Brown University.
How Much More Expensive Can the F-35 Actually Get? Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics.

Is defense spending really a good way to create middle-class jobs?

S5 E6 - Take This Job and Shove It

On this episode of Things That Go Boom, we look at some of the ways civilian and military cultures are merging — and diverging — after two decades of war in Iraq and Afghanistan. If Americans are distanced from the messy work of national security, how can the Biden administration have an honest conversation with them about priorities?

GUESTS: Lacey Hopper, rucking aficionado; Timur Nersesov, US Army Reserve Officer; Loren DeJonge Schulman, Center for a New American Security.

ADDITIONAL READING:

<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/10/us/military-enlistment.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Who signs up to fight? </a>Dave Philipps and Tim Arango, The New York Times.

<a href="http://ttps://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2021/04/bidens-foreign-policy-starts-at-home/618505/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Biden’s Foreign Policy Starts at Home</a>, Peter Nicholas, The Atlantic.

// This episode comes at a chaotic and frightening time in Afghanistan, as Taliban fighters pour into the capital and US troops rush to evacuate allies. The following organizations are just a few providing aid to those in Afghanistan who need help:

<a href="https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Doctors Without Borders</a>

<a href="https://www.rescue.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">International Rescue Committee</a>

<a href="https://nooneleft.org/default.aspx?" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">No One Left Behind</a>

On this episode of Things That Go Boom, we look at some of the ways civilian and military cultures are merging — and diverging — after two decades of war in Iraq and Afghanistan. If Americans are distanced from the messy work of national security, how can the Biden administration have an honest conversation with them about priorities?
GUESTS: Lacey Hopper, rucking aficionado; Timur Nersesov, US Army Reserve Officer; Loren DeJonge Schulman, Center for a New American Security.
ADDITIONAL READING:
Who signs up to fight?  Dave Philipps and Tim Arango, The New York Times.
Biden’s Foreign Policy Starts at Home, Peter Nicholas, The Atlantic.
// This episode comes at a chaotic and frightening time in Afghanistan, as Taliban fighters pour into the capital and US troops rush to evacuate allies. The following organizations are just a few providing aid to those in Afghanistan who need help:
Doctors Without Borders
International Rescue Committee
No One Left Behind

National security comes home to ruck.

S5 E5 - You Say Gatorade, I Say Bacon

Washington and Beijing have been increasingly at odds -- over human rights, trade, maritime boundaries, you name it. Does this tension help Biden at home? And what does it mean for Asian Americans?

GUESTS: Samuel Chu, Hong Kong Democracy Council; Nina Luo, Writer and Organizer; Adrian De Leon, University of Southern California; Rui Zhong, Wilson Center

ADDITIONAL READING:

<a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/162429/yellow-peril-rhetoric-selling-war-with-china" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The American Victims of Washington’s Anti-China Hysteria</a>, Nina Luo, The New Republic.

<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/10/opinion/china-hong-kong-arrest.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Why Is China Coming After Americans Like Me in the US?</a> Samuel Chu, The New York Times.

Washington and Beijing have been increasingly at odds -- over human rights, trade, maritime boundaries, you name it. Does this tension help Biden at home? And what does it mean for Asian Americans?
GUESTS: Samuel Chu, Hong Kong Democracy Council; Nina Luo, Writer and Organizer; Adrian De Leon, University of Southern California; Rui Zhong, Wilson Center
ADDITIONAL READING:
The American Victims of Washington’s Anti-China Hysteria, Nina Luo, The New Republic.
Why Is China Coming After Americans Like Me in the US? Samuel Chu, The New York Times.

The darker side of our domestic priorities.

S5 E4 - Amtrak and the End of the Free World

Here in the US, we’re just catching on to the idea of creating a foreign policy that lifts up our middle class, but China’s been at it for decades. On this episode, we dig into China’s rise. What’s worked, what hasn’t, and where it might go next.

GUESTS: Ethan Lee, Stanford University (Student); Ali Wyne, Eurasia Group; Scott Rozelle, Stanford University; Peter Lorentzen, University of San Francisco.

ADDITIONAL READING:

<a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2020-12-08/world-china-wants" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The World China Wants</a>, Rana Mitter, Foreign Affairs.

<a href="https://fsi.stanford.edu/publication/invisible-china-how-urban-rural-divide-threatens-china%E2%80%99s-rise" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Invisible China: How the Urban-Rural Divide Threatens China’s Rise</a>, Scott Rozelle, University of Chicago Press.

<a href="https://inkstickmedia.com/foreign-policy-lessons-from-brown-v-board-of-education/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Foreign Policy Lessons From Brown v. Board of Education</a>, Ali Wyne, Inkstick Media.

<a href="https://inkstickmedia.com/mulan-and-chinas-approach-to-soft-power-through-hollywood/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">'Mulan' and China's Approach To Soft Power Through Hollywood</a>, Ethan Lee, Inkstick Media.

Here in the US, we’re just catching on to the idea of creating a foreign policy that lifts up our middle class, but China’s been at it for decades. On this episode, we dig into China’s rise. What’s worked, what hasn’t, and where it might go next.
GUESTS: Ethan Lee, Stanford University (Student); Ali Wyne, Eurasia Group; Scott Rozelle, Stanford University; Peter Lorentzen, University of San Francisco.
ADDITIONAL READING:
The World China Wants, Rana Mitter, Foreign Affairs.
Invisible China: How the Urban-Rural Divide Threatens China’s Rise, Scott Rozelle, University of Chicago Press.
Foreign Policy Lessons From Brown v. Board of Education, Ali Wyne, Inkstick Media.
'Mulan' and China's Approach To Soft Power Through Hollywood, Ethan Lee, Inkstick Media.

How China’s middle class is driving Biden’s strategy for America’s middle class.

S5 E3 - Alright Dom, What's Next?

One of Biden's biggest foreign policy moves so far has been sticking with Trump's Afghanistan withdrawal plan. The move comes after 20 years of war, which killed more than 241,000 people on all sides according to Brown University estimates. But how does it fit into Biden's foreign policy for the middle class? And what does our exit mean for the lives of middle-class Afghan women who fear a Taliban resurgence?

GUESTS: Metra Mehran, Institute of Diplomacy at Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kabul; James Traub, Foreign Policy

ADDITIONAL READING:

<a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/03/17/bidens-foreign-policy-middle-class-revolution/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Biden’s ‘Foreign Policy for the Middle Class’ Is a Revolution</a>, James Traub, Foreign Policy.

<a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-people-were-leaving-behind-in-afghanistan" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The People We’re Leaving Behind in Afghanistan</a>, Steve Coll, The New Yorker.

<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/17/world/asia/afghanistan-troop-withdrawal.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">US Troops Are Packing Up, Ready or Not</a>, Thomas Gibbons-Neff, Najim Rahim and Fatima Faizi, New York Times.

One of Biden's biggest foreign policy moves so far has been sticking with Trump's Afghanistan withdrawal plan. The move comes after 20 years of war, which killed more than 241,000 people on all sides according to Brown University estimates. But how does it fit into Biden's foreign policy for the middle class? And what does our exit mean for the lives of middle-class Afghan women who fear a Taliban resurgence?
GUESTS: Metra Mehran, Institute of Diplomacy at Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kabul; James Traub, Foreign Policy
ADDITIONAL READING:
Biden’s ‘Foreign Policy for the Middle Class’ Is a Revolution, James Traub, Foreign Policy.
The People We’re Leaving Behind in Afghanistan, Steve Coll, The New Yorker.
US Troops Are Packing Up, Ready or Not, Thomas Gibbons-Neff, Najim Rahim and Fatima Faizi, New York Times.