The DSR Network

Time after time, COVID has delivered worst case scenarios. So why, now, would we rely on our hope that those scenarios--new variants, failures of leadership, new outbreaks--will not occur? Will the holidays bring people back together? Or will they see a worsening situation? What should our leaders be doing that they're not? What should we be doing to take care of ourselves? We talk with Pulitzer Prize-winning science journalist Laurie Garrett and former senior Obama WH official and practicing physician Dr. Kavita Patel. Join us for a must listen special edition of Deep State Radio.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chinese espionage expert Matthew Brazil and Jeff Stein break down the controversy about Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley’s backchannel contact with his Chinese counterpart, and Jeanne Meserve and transnational crime expert Tom Sanderson discuss the emergence of Talibani Afghanistan as a terrorist state. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After 9/11, investigators concluded one of the factors that put America at risk was that only 57 percent of nominees for top national security positions had been confirmed by the Congress and were in place. Today, that number is just over 26 percent. Random holds on nominees for indefensibly political reasons are putting this country at risk. The two worst offenders? Senators Cruz and Hawley. We discuss this with expert Loren deJonge Schulman, VP for Research at the Partnership for Public Service as well as AEI's Kori Schake, the FT's Ed Luce and Georgetown Law's Rosa Brooks. We also discuss Kori's and Rosa's prominent opeds on the controversy surrounding General Mark Milley. Plus a little bit about French submarines. Don't miss it.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Into the Forest” by Rebecca Frankel is more than just one of the best books of the year, it is a revealing journey into what makes us human…the good, the bad, the noble and the horrific. It reads like a great novel and contains much of the drama and resonance you would expect from such a work but also is infused with the detail that comes of great journalism.  We speak with the author, former Executive Editor of Foreign Policy, Rebecca Frankel, author of the New York Times best-seller “War Dogs” about her books and what it means in the context of our own times.  Join us.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the news recently, reports that General Mark Milley sought to counsel Chinese leaders in way that might avoid accidental conflict have caused controversy. Was Milley doing his duty? Or was he undermining his commander-in-chief? Similarly, it is reported that Vice President Mike Pence sought counsel from former Vice President Dan Quayle about whether he could or should follow through on President Trump's request that he Pence invalidate 2020 election results. Quayle stood up for principle and the law as Pence wavered. What does this tell us about the last administration? About the responsibility of public officials when confronted with an unfit president. We discuss with former Trump White House official Olivia Troye, Kori Schake of the American Enterprise Institute and Max Boot of the Council on Foreign Relations. It's an important, timely and difficult conversation. Don't miss it.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Extremism expert Kathleen Belew talks with Jeanne Meserve about new factors raising the potential for violence at Sept.18 Capitol protests, while former senior CIA ops official Dan Hoffman tells Jeff Stein that the Kabul collapse has given Al Qaeda and ISIS new life.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While Congress holds hearings questioning the Secretary of State about the conduct of America's exit from Afghanistan, it probably should also turn its attention to drawing the lessons of the 20 years of warfare, sacrifice and frustration that proceeded that exit. What might those lessons be? And what might come next for the Biden foreign policy team? We discuss with Kori Schake of the American Enterprise Institute, Rosa Brooks of Georgetown University School of Law and Ed Luce of the Financial Times. Join us (if only to hear Kori declare what Kori would do if she had a nuclear weapon). Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The midnight decision of the Supreme Court that basically allowed a technicality to sweep aside the constitutional right to an abortion that has been a fact of American life for half a century bodes very ill for the future of that institution and for the country. When Justice Brett Kavanaugh is the philosophical center of the court, you know we have entered a dark chapter in our history. The majority represent not conservative but religious extremist views and this most recent decision will likely be followed by much worse. We discuss with Slate senior legal editor Dahlia Lithwick, former US attorney Barb McQuade and former senior Obama White House official Dr. Kavita Patel. Join us.Shop Beathe Fum and save 10% with code DEEPSTATE or click https://www.breathefum.com/DEEPSTATESupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a riveting new memoir, former senior CIA officer Doug London celebrates a career in espionage, but in a lengthy conversation with host Jeff Stein, he offer candid, even brutal observations on how 20 years of counterterrorism warped the agency’s priorities and managers.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lt. Colonel Alexander Vindman knew when he went into the Trump White House to work on the National Security Council that he may be asked to do things that were "awful but lawful." As a serving army officer in those cases he would be obligated to follow the orders of the Commander-in-Chief. But he also knew there was a line that he would not cross. He would not follow an unlawful order, he would not help even the president break the law. As a result of his conscience--which drew directly on his military experience and prior to that on the values inculcated in him by his family--the course of history was altered. Imagine what might have happened had Donald Trump gotten the government of Ukraine to help him smear candidate Joe Biden? Where would we be now? We discuss Vindman's story--told in his excellent new book, "Here, Right Matters"--with him in this special edition of the podcast. It's a compelling, candid conversation. Don't miss it. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices