The Dissident's Dilemma: Case Studies of Moral Courage in an Age of Authoritarianism with Gal Beckerman
In this episode of The Burn Bag, Gal Beckerman joins us to explore what it means to be a dissident in an age of conformity, fear, and authoritarian drift. Drawing on themes from his new book, How to B...
4 Jun 55min
Violence as an Epidemic: From Community Harm to War and Authoritarianism with Dr. Gary Slutkin
In this episode, The Burn Bag speaks with Dr. Gary Slutkin, a physician, epidemiologist, former World Health Organization official, and founder of Cure Violence Global, about a provocative idea: what ...
27 Mai 55min
Rethinking China: Could Washington be Getting Beijing Wrong? w/ Zhengyu Huang
In this episode of The Burn Bag Podcast, A’ndre Gonawela sits down with Zhengyu Huang — former President of the Committee of 100 and author of Rethinking China — to examine the assumptions driving U.S...
19 Mai 49min
Data Centers as Targets: What Happens if the Cloud and AI Infrastructure gets Hit? with Morgan Plummer
For decades, wars targeted oil fields, pipelines, ports, and power grids. But in March 2026, that logic appeared to change when Iranian strikes reportedly targeted commercial cloud infrastructure in t...
7 Mai 50min
Global (Dis)Order: America and the Future of the International System with Dr. Mira Rapp-Hooper
In this episode of the Burn Bag Podcast, A'ndre Gonawela is joined by Mira Rapp-Hooper, a Visiting Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and former Special Assistant to the President and Senior D...
31 Mar 51min
Iran After Khamenei: Vali Nasr on the New Supreme Leader and Tehran's War Strategy
Who is Mojtaba Khamenei — Iran's new Supreme Leader? Who was the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei? In this episode of the Burn Bag Podcast, A’ndre Gonawela is joined by Vali Nasr, the Majid Khadduri Professor o...
13 Mar 42min
Fmr. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper on the Iran War's First Week
As the war between the United States, Israel, and Iran escalates following the February 28 strikes, former U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper joined A'ndre for a quick chat to assess how the conflic...
7 Mar 31min
