The Current

Brookings senior fellows Michael O'Hanlon and Robert Kagan discuss O'Hanlon's latest book, To Dare Mighty Things: U.S. Defense Strategy Since the Revolution, an examination of 250 years of U.S. defense policy around the world. "Isolationism," O'Hanlon says, "strikes me as the least accurate term" to describe that history. Show notes and transcript. Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu.

In recent days, the Iranian regime has conducted an unprecedented and bloody crackdown on protests across Iran. In this episode, Brookings Fellow Aslı Aydıntaşbaş is joined by two Iran experts, vice president of Foreign Policy Suzanne Maloney and visiting fellow Mara Karlin, to discuss the unique nature of the protests and the regime's violent response, options for U.S. military action, and President Trump's possible endgame. Show notes and transcript. Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu.

Are we heading in the right direction with AI in education, or drifting into a "wild west" of privacy risks and lost learning? In this episode, Rebecca Winthrop, senior fellow and director of the Center for Universal Education at Brookings, sits down with tech reporter Kara Swisher to unpack the urgent findings from her task force's new report, "A new direction for students in an AI world: Prosper, prepare, protect." The episode also features highlights from the report's launch event, where student co-author Rida Karim joins the conversation to discuss practical strategies for integrating AI without sacrificing critical thinking. Show notes and transcript. Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu.

Scott Anderson and Caitlin Talmadge discuss the legal, tactical, and strategic angles of the recent U.S. military operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife. Anderson, a fellow in Governance Studies and general counsel for Lawfare, and Talmadge, Foreign Policy nonresident senior fellow and professor at M.I.T., explore what the stunning tactical success of the operation means for U.S. strategic goals in the region and around the world. Show notes and transcript. Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu.

Tony Pipa, senior fellow at the Center for Sustainable Development and host of the Reimagine Rural podcast, sits down with Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear to discuss what the governor calls the "biggest threat to rural healthcare in my lifetime." With nearly 200 rural hospitals having closed since 2005, the stakes for rural America have never been higher. In this episode, Governor Beshear breaks down the devastating economic ripple effects of these closures, from lost jobs to reduced workforce productivity. He notes that rural hospitals are often the largest payrolls in their communities and explains why he believes new federal policy proposals could shutter 35 hospitals in Kentucky alone. Show notes and transcript. Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu.

A recent flurry of negotiations among American, Russian, Ukrainian, and European officials to find a diplomatic solution to end the Russia-Ukraine war has, so far, been unsuccessful. To discuss Putin's negotiation tactics, the reality on the battlefield, and how Ukraine can best position itself moving forward, Fiona Hill and Thomas Wright, two Brookings Foreign Policy senior fellows, join The Current. Show notes and transcript. Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu.

Artificial Intelligence (AI), is heralding a profound shift in how we learn, work, and live. To gain insight into how AI is reshaping the American workforce and economy, two Brookings experts join this episode of The Current. First, Molly Kinder, senior fellow in Brookings Metro, examines how AI is impacting the American workforce today; and then Senior Fellow Rebecca Winthrop, director of the Center for Universal Education at Brookings, looks at how we can prepare our students to thrive in the future workforce. Show notes and transcript. Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu.

In this episode, ACDS chair Norm Eisen discusses the forthcoming fourth edition of the Democracy Playbook and the emerging research showing how democracies can reverse democratic backsliding. He explains how the new edition—released on a rolling basis—will offer practical strategies drawn from scholarship and practitioner experience to help spark and sustain these "U-turns" globally. Drawing on global fieldwork and cutting-edge research, Eisen highlights what has strengthened democracies in real-world contexts thus far. Show notes and transcript. Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu.

The conflict in Sudan is the world's worst humanitarian crisis. More than 150,000 people have died; millions have fled their homes and are starving; and prospects for a ceasefire are bleak. To discuss the roots of the war, the humanitarian emergency, and prospects for peace, Visiting Fellow Jeffrey Feltman joins Michael O'Hanlon, director of research for Foreign Policy, on The Current. Show notes and transcript. Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu.

Little Village, a Latino business corridor in Chicago, has been contending with tariffs, immigration enforcement, and other changes in federal policy. But business owners have been figuring out new ways to make money, sell their products, and stay open. Tonantzin Carmona, a fellow in Brookings Metro, as well as Chicago civic leaders Luis Gutierrez and Jennifer Aguilar discuss how. Show notes and transcript. Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu.