Abby Mullen, assistant professor at the US Naval Academy, joins the program to talk about her book To Fix a National Character: The United States in the First Barbary War, 1800–1805. The group explores the conflict, American geopolitics in its infancy, the Barbary States and piracy committed on their behalf at the time, how US naval expeditions in an era without a global network of bases functioned, the myth of the war in "The Marines' Hymn", and more.

Danny and Derek welcome back to the program Stephen Wertheim, senior fellow in the American Statecraft Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, this time to talk about foreign policy and the election. They discuss the professionalization of the Democrats, the Harris campaign's decision to ally themselves with the likes of the Cheney family, national security FP, Trump as the "peace candidate", how defense spending might exceed $1 trillion going forward, the fate of Ukraine,...

It's another edition of the bi-monthly collaboration between AP and Nonzero Newsletter continues! For the full version of this episode, subscribe now at Supporting Cast, where you'll also get a discounted subscription for Nonzero Newsletter! Part one video 0:00 Another high-synergy, brilliant collaboration 1:15 Is Elon our first true oligarch?  9:57 Trump assembles his Justice League of hawks 16:29 Biden’s awful foreign policy team 21:25 Trump’s plan to purge the military  33:06 Will Trump...

Your weekly news roundup from two happy warriors. This week: struggles at the UN COP29 climate change conference (1:48), not the least of which is the incoming climate denier president of the US (5:45); in Israel-Palestine, the US shockingly doesn't follow through on its 30-day humanitarian aid deadline (7:57), Trump appointments signal imminent formal annexation of Palestinian territories (12:24), and Qatar withdraws from ceasefire talks (16:48); in Lebanon, Israel is working on a ceasefire...

Danny and Derek speak with Steven Cohen, PhD candidate in history, working on drug war political economy in the Americas, about what we might see if, as expected, Marco Rubio is named as secretary of state in the new Trump administration. Subscribe now for the full episode!

Historian Benji Rolsky speaks with Danny about how others in their profession have thought about the far right, a subset of history which has expanded greatly in the last decade or so. They explore how the study of the far right might be "broken", anti-fundamentalism, Christian nationalism, the episodic nature of this field, and how Trump might have changed the historiography. Read Benji's piece "Why the Study of the Right is Broken": Part 1 and Part 2. Also check out his book The Rise and...

This is a re-post of an special episode we did for subscribers on Wednesday, November 6. Subscribe now for immediate access to breaking news specials and much more content. Danny and Derek jump on the mic to break down Donald Trump's decisive election victory. Topics include the crisis of liberalism, the end of the road for the Democrats' status quo, what Trump and Vance mean for American foreign policy, the Boomers and members of the Silent Generation holding onto power, and the profound...

Danny and Derek chat with Simon Willmetts, associate professor of intelligence studies at Leiden University, about his recent piece for Diplomatic History, "The CIA and Time Magazine: Journalistic Ethics and Newsroom Dissent". The group discusses the subfield of intelligence history, public awareness of intelligence organizations, why the scope Time and Life magazines in the mid-20th century and why the CIA would want to collude with such publications, the development of journalistic ethics...

Heads of state come and go, but not all of them make the news roundup with Danny and Derek. This week: in Palestine-Israel, Netanyahu fires defense minister Gallant (0:57), a leak scandal involving Netanyahu's office (6:36), an update on the humanitarian situation in northern Gaza (8:52), and the IDF appears to admit to committing ethnic cleansing (13:05); in Lebanon, the ceasefire push collapses (15:39), the IDF looks to create a "buffer zone" (17:46), and the Washington Post reports that...

Alexander Aviña, associate professor of history at Arizona State University, joins Danny and Derek to talk about narratives forming around the election regarding a Latino shift to the right, Biden and Trump's respective records on the border, whether Trump will be able to carry out his threats of mass deportation, right-wing anti-migrant rhetoric vs. businesses that depend on that labor force, and more. Subscribe now for the full episode!

Danny and Derek jump on the mic to break down Donald Trump's decisive election victory. Topics include the crisis of liberalism, the end of the road for the Democrats' status quo, what Trump and Vance mean for American foreign policy, the Boomers and members of the Silent Generation holding onto power, and the profound alienation of our time. Subscribe now for the full episode! When you subscribe now, you'll get access to the AP Discord to connect with fellow subscribers and members of the AP...

Danny and Derek welcome back to the program Eli Clifton, senior advisor and investigative journalist at large at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, to talk about the role of foreign policy in US presidential elections (namely tomorrow's). They talk about chatter on the ground regarding Palestine/Lebanon, whether the Democrats are capable of "learning lessons" from a loss, how to once again make FP relevant to American voters, the broken discourse around China, how money in...

Danny and Derek speak with Charles Kupchan, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and professor of international affairs at Georgetown University, about his essay for Foreign Affairs "The Deep Roots of Trump’s Isolationism". They define "isolationism" and whether Trump even knows what that is, then discuss the history of American intervention, the so-called rules-based order, anti-democratic liberalism, the necessity of maintaining American interests abroad, the implications of...

Nothing's spookier than the news, but Danny and Derek find their courage. This week: in Israel-Palestine, a new report of the Biden administration ignoring Israeli war crimes (0:30), the Knesset votes to ban UNRWA (2:43), and yet more ceasefire talks (8:12); in Lebanon, Hezbollah names a new leader (10:32) and a push for a ceasefire there (12:25); regarding Iran, the aftermath of the Israeli strikes (15:36) and reports of an imminent retaliation (19:10); North Korea/DPRK tests an ICBM...

Danny and Derek welcome back to the podcast Khalid Medani, associate professor of political science, director of the Institute of Islamic Studies, and chair of the African Studies Program at McGill University, to talk about the state of play in Sudan's civil war. They delve into the military stalemate between the Sudanese Army and Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the humanitarian crisis reaching 13 million displaced and 26 million on the brink of starvation, involvement from outside actors...

Séamus Malekafzali once again joins Danny and Derek, this time to talk about Iran's lack of a retaliation (so far) to Israel's strike this weekend, what Israel might be hoping to get out of that and its invasion of Lebanon, the effect of the latter on Lebanese Americans, Iran's grand strategy, and more. To hear the full episode, subscribe now at Supporting Cast.

Adam Tooze, the Shelby Cullom Davis chair of history at Columbia University and director of the European Institute, is back on the program, this time to talk about his recent piece for The Guardian, "Facing war in the Middle East and Ukraine, the US looks feeble. But is it just an act?". They get into the "post-Cold War order", how Biden's foreign policy compares with that of Trump's, US "allies" vs adversaries' "axes", US policy in Palestine, the state of "international law", Russian...

Danny and Derek talk about what we know so far regarding Israel's strikes on Iran last night, their apparent targets, to what extent they're performative, whether there will be a counterstrike, how this factors into domestic US politics, and more. Subscribe now at Supporting Cast for the full episode

This the full version of the special episode we posted last Friday after the death of Yahya Sinwar. Subscribe now for immediate access to all specials. Derek welcomes back to the program Mohammad Alsaafin, journalist at AJ+, to talk about the death of Yahya Sinwar, the Israeli offensive in northern Gaza, the potential for resettlement, IDF assassinations of Hezbollah leadership, where the Biden administration currently stands, and more. You can follow Mohammad on Twitter @malsaafin Check out...

It's 80 degrees in late October here at AP headquarters, but Danny and Derek remain cool as a cucumber to bring you the news. This week: the 2024 BRICS summit was held, featuring Vladimir Putin pushing for a dollar alternative and potentially alienating some member states (1:36); in Palestine-Israel, an update on Northern Gaza (9:10), Antony Blinken visits (12:31), and a leaked document on Israel's planned counterattack on Iran (16:22); in Lebanon, the IDF targets the Qard al-Hassan banking...

Derek speaks with ProPublica's Brett Murphy about recent revelations showing the US government's continued arming of Israel despite the State Department's knowledge of Israel preventing humanitarian aid getting into Gaza. They delve into the laws regarding arming countries engaging in such policies, Antony Blinken's denial of knowing Israel's humanitarian aid obstruction in Gaza, America's rationale for an unconditional flow of arms, and more. Brett's pieces on the matter: Israel...

Asheville-based journalist and lawyer Jessica Pishko chats with Danny and Derek about the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in North Carolina and the state response. They discuss the state of affairs in Western North Carolina, the model of FEMA as part of the Department of Homeland Security, the federal government's messaging around this disaster, the proliferation of disinformation, the future of disaster relief as climate change worsens, and more. They also preview a future discussion about...

Derek welcomes back to the program Mohammad Alsaafin, journalist at AJ+, to talk about the death of Yahya Sinwar. Then, for subscribers, they discuss the Israeli offensive in northern Gaza, the potential for resettlement, IDF assassinations of Hezbollah leadership, where the Biden administration currently stands, and more. Subscribe now for the full episode. You can follow Mohammad on Twitter @malsaafin. Check out his video for AJ+, "What Does Hezbollah ACTUALLY Want?"

It's another dose of doom, but we tacked on a relatively feel-good animal story. Otherwise, this week: It appears that Israel has killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar (1:32), the IDF's brutal operation continues in northern Gaza (4:56), and the Biden administration floats withholding arms over the Strip's humanitarian situation (6:42); an update on Israel's invasion of Lebanon (13:09); the world continues to await Israel's response to Iran's ballistic missile strike (16:07); a diplomatic crisis...