A Few Choice Words
"I respect your culture, but I do not believe it is your culture to allow women to die," says Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield to the Taliban. And do you know what the Taliban did after that? And wh...
22 Okt 202018min
Bananas Was His Business
Hugo Rodriguez, from the banana business in Latin America to the US Foreign Service. Machetes, scorpions, poisonous snakes, starting work at four am in the fruit fields...how does this prepare someone...
15 Okt 202028min
Malfeasances Aside...
There's a gray area in judging the actions of ambassadors, whether political appointee or career. What's the difference between what is illegal, inappropriate, or, more to the point, truly unethical?...
7 Okt 202026min
My Job is to Keep You out of Jail
What's the difference between a political appointee ambassador and a career ambassador? Increasingly, these ambassadorships are offered as rewards for large political campaign contributions. How can t...
30 Sep 202032min
The World's Blindest Power?
9/11/2012, Benghazi, Libya, an attack on our diplomatic mission, killing four, including our ambassador. The legendary Tom Pickering led the first investigation (of ten), and it was not a pleasant rep...
23 Sep 202039min
Ukraine is Not Dead Yet
And neither is worldwide democracy, thanks in part to the very fine-tipped pen and tiny notebook of Ambassador William Taylor, a key source in the Congressional investigations into the Ukraine corrupt...
17 Sep 202041min
Second Annual AmDip Greatest Hits!
Need a mood lifter? We do! Laura likes our music selects so much that she's listening to this one twice! Go back to simpler times (say, 2019) with AmDip, then sing along to our Covid-era theme song...
10 Sep 202029min
Colombia: Bloodless Theater in the Jungle
Ambassador Whitaker tells the story of how the Colombian government fooled the guerrillas into releasing long-held hostages... an operation that would make Hollywood proud.
3 Sep 202024min
