The DSR Network

Donald Trump just announced that he’s likely to campaign for the presidency on a promise of a 15-week abortion ban, even as political commentators are wondering whether reproductive rights will be as salient this fall as they were in 2022 and 2023. An interesting test looms in deep red Alabama, where Marilyn Lands is running for a state House seat in a special election set for March 26th—a campaign that Lands has made about her own agonizing abortion story. We talked to Lands about what she’s hearing on the ground and how voters are reacting to her personal journey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the Wednesday edition of the DSR Daily, we cover the resignation of the President of Vietnam, the looming famine and horrific reports from the civil war in Sudan, the indictment of Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is there any chance that Congress will not abandon Ukraine to the Russians? With Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans determined to cut off military aid to Ukraine, it’s looking grim. Yet there are glimmers of hope. Some Republicans are reportedly pushing a proposal that would offer aid to Ukraine as a loan. And there are signs that House Speaker Mike Johnson does want something to pass. We chatted with Democratic Congressman Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania, who offered a keen understanding of the tortured dynamics surrounding this deeply dispiriting debate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the Tuesday edition of the DSR Daily, we cover Hong Kong’s contentious new national security law, the Supreme Court indefinitely blocking a Texas law cracking down on immigration, the death of a senior Hamas military leader, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Donald Trump’s lawyers admitted that he’s failed to secure a bond to cover the half-a-billion-dollar penalty he faces in his civil fraud case in New York. As The New York Times delicately noted, “he does not have enough liquidity” to persuade any company to provide that bond. Translation: He doesn’t have the cash. This is humiliating to Trump, relative to his self-mythology. But it also points to his broader, largely-overlooked weaknesses in the 2024 campaign. We discussed this with The New Republic’s Timothy Noah, author of a great new piece on Trump’s financial travails that predicts he will soon declare bankruptcy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Marc’s guest this week is Patrick Weninger, a retired CIA Senior Intelligence Service Case Officer with over 28 years of experience in the Central Intelligence Agency and U.S. Air Force. He served executive-level headquarters assignments overseeing clandestine operations, tradecraft, and technical operations and served as a Senior Executive Operations Officer and Manager, with senior field assignments in the Near East, South Asia, and Europe, including multiple Chief of Station and war zone assignments. He led and oversaw the CIA’s global program for Russia. Marc and Patrick discuss Ukraine, election meddling and generative AI. Don’t miss this fascinating and wide-ranging conversation with one of the agency’s top former officers, in his national security podcast debut. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Russian Election (0:33) - Reuters: Putin wins Russia election in landslide with no serious competition Israel (5:56) - Straits Times: Israeli troops raid Gaza’s Al-Shifa hospital Trump (3:03) - Washington Post: Trump is eyeing Paul Manafort for 2024 campaign role The Guardian: Trump predicts ‘bloodbath’ if he loses election and claims ‘Biden beat Obama’ The Daily Blast covers the Trump Ohio Rally with special guest, Susan Glasser. Haiti (11:29) - NPR: First charter flight with U.S. citizens fleeing Haiti lands in Miami Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Ohio over the weekend, Donald Trump delivered one of his most unhinged and dangerous rally speeches yet: He used appallingly dehumanizing language about migrants, saluted the Jan. 6 rioters as patriots and heroes, and predicted a “bloodbath” if he loses the election. We talked to New Yorker staff writer Susan Glasser, the author of an excellent new piece about Trump’s use of violent and authoritarian language at rallies like this one, about why the media urgently needs to do better at conveying the full threat to democracy that Trump poses. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original Air Date: April 14, 2023 On this week’s episode of Words Matter, Norm and Kavita discuss a number of judiciary issues, including reproductive health. In a special extended bonus section, Norm and Kavita tackle Clarence Thomas and Diane Feinstein. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original Air Date: April 4, 2023 All friends are not allies and all allies are not friends. Sometimes countries that start out as allies stop behaving in an ally like way. And sometimes allies become annoying because their prime minister is too good looking. We list some of America's most annoying allies...and discuss why we're a pretty annoying ally ourselves. Join Rosa Brooks, Kori Schake, Ed Luce and David Sanger for this lively, timely discussion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Recent reporting has suggested that Russia began preparations for a nuclear strike in Ukraine in 2022. But how close did they actually get to pressing the big red button? Security analyst Michael Kofman joins Heather Williams to get to the heart of why Russia would deploy one or more nuclear weapons, and what's keeping Putin away from the brink. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the Friday edition of the DSR Daily, we discuss Senator Schumer’s surprising speech on Israel, Kamala Harris visiting a Minnesota abortion clinic, the UK’s new policy on extremism, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On March 13, 2020, COVID was declared a national emergency. Four years on, Norm Ornstein and Kavita Patel reflect on fallout of the COVID pandemic, what we learned, and why we're more prepared than ever for the next pandemic. Members get exclusive access to a discussion on the chaos around Representative Ken Buck's surprise early departure from Congress. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer gave an extraordinary speech lacerating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel over the horrific civilian toll in Gaza. This is an important moment in U.S. politics: The highest ranking Jewish Democrat stood strongly for Palestinian rights at a time when the war in Gaza is badly dividing the Democratic coalition. To navigate these complexities, we talked to Randi Weingarten of the American Federation of Teachers, which is promoting a peace effort called Standing Together, and Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne, who writes regularly about intra-coalitional tensions among Democrats. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To the surprise of no one, Donald Trump and Joe Biden have officially secured their party's nomination for president. But while President Biden’s campaign is on a roll, Donald Trump’s is self-destructing. Veteran political strategists Simon Rosenberg and Tara McGowan join David Rothkopf to bring us the latest news from the 2024 campaigns. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the Thursday edition of the DSR Daily, we cover Ken Buck's surprise departure from Congress, Israel saying that it will ‘flood’ Gaza with aid, a report that Trump started a CIA influence operation against China, and more Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Democratic strategist Simon Rosenberg has prominently argued that it’s premature to freak out about Donald Trump’s lead in the polls. Rosenberg’s case is partly that the Democratic Party is strong and has been winning lots of elections lately, as readers of his “Hopium Chronicles” well know. But there’s another, less-appreciated side to his analysis: That the people who make ads and run campaigns and do politics for a living know that Trump’s unfathomably high pile-up of negatives is, in the end, probably insurmountable for him. So we chatted with Rosenberg about this side of his theory — and about why the Biden team appears quietly confident of victory. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mehdi Hasan, founder of the new media company Zeteo, joins Ed Luce, Kori Schake, and David Rothkopf to break down he ever-present threat of a global authoritarian-right alliance, continued destruction in Gaza and Ukraine, and the disturbingly real possibility of a Trump second term. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the Thursday edition of the DSR Daily, we cover Russia’s firing of a top naval commander, Congress considering a potential ban on TikTok, AI regulation in India, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, a group of prominent “Never Trump” Republicans and conservatives announced that they will spend $50 million to defeat Donald Trump this fall. The group, Republican Voters against Trump, hopes to appeal to independents and moderate Republicans who backed him in 2020 and might be persuaded not to in 2024. But how big is this pool of voters, and what’s the best way to reach them? We chatted with strategist Sarah Longwell, who runs the group and regularly conducts focus groups to figure out what really makes these elusive voters tick. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The great power competition between the US and China and Russia poses an enormous challenge to US leadership. But this is not the first time the US has been faced with such a task. Jim Sciutto joins David Rothkopf to discuss his new book, “The Return of Great Powers,” and why we’re currently living in a “1939 moment.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On our Tuesday edition of the DSR Daily, we cover the resignation of Haiti’s Prime Minister, a aid ship carrying 200 tons of food to Gaza, Robert Hur’s impending testimony in front of Congress, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over the weekend, The New York Times published a news analysis entitled, “The Biden-Trump rerun: A nation craving change gets more of the same.” This has become a constant refrain in the press: One of the candidates is running on an explicit set of promises to destroy American democracy, yet the press keeps calling this a “rerun” of 2020, almost as if it’s all a sporting event. We chatted with Mark Jacob, a former veteran journalist who writes the “Stop the Presses” newsletter, about all the insidious ways that press coverage is sanitizing the threat posed by Donald Trump and MAGA. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With such a heavy focus on the situations in Gaza and Ukraine, other foreign policy priorities have taken a back seat. Syria is one priority that is likely to get worse before it gets better. Director of the Middle East Institute’s Syria program Charles Lister joins Marc Polymeropoulos to outline the need for a coherent strategy to deal with Syria, and how the country is primed to explode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the Monday edition of the DSR Daily, we discuss Donald Trump’s meeting with Viktor Orban, the US evacuating nonessential personnel amid escalating violence in Haiti, Joe Biden’s new budget proposal, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Have you heard of Bridget Ziegler? A co-founder of the far right Moms for Liberty, she is embroiled in a three-way sex scandal involving her husband, Florida GOP chair Christian Ziegler. Now some Florida parents are running brutal ads attacking her, even as the Moms for Liberty movement is unexpectedly losing ground everywhere. We chatted with journalist Jennifer Berkshire, the author of a forthcoming book on our cultural battles over education, who explained the bigger, deeper story here: The right are the ones now on the defensive in the school wars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original Air Date: March 22, 2021 Johns Hopkins scholar and “Active Measures” author Thomas Rid on the DNI report on Russian meddling and how 2020 is different from 2016. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original Air Date: February 4, 2019 This week our leader will, as the Constitution mandates, let us know the state of our union. We won't believe a word he says. And we already know the answer. Just look at the week's other events from political chaos in Virginia to brewing wars overseas to upcoming testimony from the president's lawyer that probably won't be good for the occupant of the Oval Office. (Who's not really orange, he just has "good genes." Join us for a discussion with attorney Katie Phang, law professor Rosa Brooks and law-abiding columnist, Ed Luce as we prepare you for the week ahead. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How many nukes does Putin have, and what are they for? This is just one of the questions that Hans Kristensen and Matt Korda’s team at the Federation of American Scientists tries to answer in their Nuclear Notebook. Hans and Matt join Jon Wolfsthal this week to discuss their report and the challenges of collecting intel on the largest nuclear arsenals in the world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On a special episode of the DSR Daily, David Rothkopf, Chris Cotnoir, and Riley Fessler share their thoughts on the State of the Union and why President Biden was in peak form, sending the Republicans into a tailspin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. triggered an online explosion with a very weird defense of himself for spending time with Jeffrey Epstein. Everyone laughed, but we think this saga is revealing: It opens a window on his underappreciated appeal to disaffected young men. So we chatted with Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, a New School professor who specializes in politics and culture and has dissected the Kennedy phenomenon in surprising ways. Petrzela helped us uncover the darker undercurrents driving Kennedy’s popularity and the ugly truths it reveals about our politics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joe Biden’s State of the Union address has been a source of speculation, anticipation, and a little bit of dread. The address presents Biden with an opportunity to shape the narrative around the election now that he and Trump have officially secured their nominations. The Washington Post’s Jen Rubin joins David Rothkopf on the day of the address to forecast the President’s message and, crucially, what to look for to make the Oscars less disappointing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the Thursday edition of the DSR Daily, we cover the first civilian deaths from a Houthi attack on a ship in the Read sea, the rapidly deteriorating situation in Haiti, reports of Israel blocking aid into Gaza, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Texas is a state that keeps breaking the hearts of Democrats everywhere. But hopes are rising again this week, after Representative Colin Allred, a former NFL player and civil rights lawyer, captured the Democratic nomination to unseat Senator Ted Cruz. Six years after Beto O’Rourke fell three points short of beating Cruz, what will be different this time? We chatted with Allred about his path forward, how Democrats can compete in rural America, and why Republicans have turned the border into a fantasy zone. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While the state of the union is ordinarily focused on domestic policy, nothing about this year has been ordinary. On the eve of the State of the Union address, Kori Schake, Ed Luce, and Alon Pinkas join David Rothkopf to predict how large of a role that foreign policy will play in President Biden’s speech. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the Wednesday edition of the DSR Daily, we cover the big results from Super Tuesday, faltering ceasefire talks in Cairo, the hunger crisis in Sudan, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Earlier this week, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico signed a handful of gun control bills in the face of a terrible spate of gun violence in her state that has drawn national attention. Lujan Grisham is smack in the middle of some big trends in our politics right now: The transformation of the southwest, the success of Democrats in border states, and the rise of the female Democratic governor in the era of Donald Trump. We chatted with Lujan Grisham about all these things—and a whole lot more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the Tuesday edition of the DSR Daily, we cover the continuing Gaza ceasefire talks in Cairo, the Supreme Court’s decision to keep Trump on the ballot, Germany’s response to an intelligence leak, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled 9 to zero that Donald Trump will not be disqualified from appearing on the ballot in Colorado, despite having engaged in insurrection. Coupled with the court’s willingness to hear Trump’s demand for full immunity from prosecution for insurrection-related crimes, all this raises serious questions about whether it is functionally placing Trump beyond accountability. We chatted with New Republic writer Matt Ford, author of a new piece eviscerating the court’s latest ruling, about the deeper falsehoods about Trump and the MAGA movement that the court is advancing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New York Times award winning journalist Adam Entous joins Marc Polymeropoulos to discuss Adam’s latest NY Times article chronicling the extraordinary evolution between 2014 until today of the partnership between US and Ukrainian intelligence. From initial efforts by the US to “put in the plumbing,” building personal ties and basic intelligence exchanges, to the CIA remaining on the ground during the Russian invasion and an admission from Ukrainian intelligence that without CIA’s targeting help, Kyiv would have fallen, it is an intelligence success story for the ages. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the Monday edition of the DSR daily, we cover Kamala Harris’s scheduled meeting with Benny Gantz, the US airdropping food into Gaza, France preparing to enshrine abortion rights in the constitution, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With Donald Trump set to host Viktor Orban at his Mar-a-Lago retreat this week, it's time to get serious about the rise of the global far right and why its worldview poses such a dire threat. This week, Donald Trump will host Hungarian leader Viktor Orban at his Mar-a-Lago resort. Meanwhile, Congress is on the verge of abandoning Ukraine to Vladimir Putin. Trump’s romance with Orban—and the opposition of MAGA Republicans to helping Ukraine—are part of the same story, in which the American right has grown besotted with international strongmen. We chatted with Jacob Heilbrunn, author of “America Last: The Right’s Century-Long Romance with Foreign Dictators,” about the rise of the global far right and the deeper threats posed by this perilous moment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original Air Date: March 24, 2023 Trump might finally be indicted but what impact will that have on the political landscape? Kavita and Norm seek to answer that question during this engaging conversation. Members get a bonus conversation about COVID and the recent UN Climate Report. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original Air Date: January 18, 2023 Davos may attract some of the world's wealthiest people but DSR continues to attract the best foreign policy and national security thinkers and analysis. David Rothkopf talks with David Sanger of the New York Times and Rosa Brooks of Georgetown University about Kissinger's remarks at Davos and other foreign policy issues cropping up around the world. Should Ukraine join NATO? Will Sweden and Finland actually join NATO? How should the U.S. handle the new (old) government in Israel? Find out in this wide-ranging conversation. Don't miss it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Climate change is scary enough on its own. But what about the effect of climate change on our nuclear weapons? Expert Jamie Kwong joins Jon Wolfsthal and Heather Williams to break down the recent incident at Pantex, and the increasing risk that effects of climate change poses to our nuclear installations. This episode is best enjoyed with a cocktail in hand. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donald Trump is the healthiest, most successful, and most innocent man in America — according to Donald Trump. The grifts and lies show no signs of slowing even as the walls close in around the former president. Norm and Kavita go over the many machinations of the former president, including the New York criminal trial, his efforts to turn the RNC into his personal piggy bank, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the Friday edition of the DSR Daily, we cover the Senate approving a stopgap funding bill, Joe Biden and Donald Trump visiting the border, Alabama passing legislation to protect IVF, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, former MSNBC journalist Mehdi Hasan launched a new digital media company called “Zeteo,” which is Greek for “to seek.” Hasan intends this as an answer to the failings of the mainstream media, which he says is enabling Donald Trump’s effort to “usher in a new era of fascism in the United States.” We chatted with Hasan about his new project’s goals, his belief that the conventions of political reporting are failing to meet this moment, and why the far-right information space is flourishing while the small-L liberal media is in crisis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re not just disappointed — we’re mad. The Supreme Court’s decision to hear Trump’s immunity claims has dealt another blow to efforts to hold Trump accountable for his numerous misdeeds in office. Experts Norm Eisen and Allison Gill join David Rothkopf to break down the implications of the decision. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

American society is more polarized than ever before, and disinformation is pouring gasoline on the fire. As we head into an existentially important election, this issue becomes even more pronounced. Barb McQuade joins David Rothkopf to discuss her new book, “Attack from Within,” and how we can fight back against the flood of disinformation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices