In Improv (and Nuclear Negotiations), the Secret is to Always Say "Yes"
It's an old rule of improv comedy that you have to play along with the premise you are presented with. It's a rule apparently that the old show biz wannabe who is currently president of the United States took to heart last week when he jumped on North Korean dictatorial dumpling Kim Jong Un's invitation to have a sit down. He said "yes" before he or anyone on his staff had the slightest idea about what that might mean. And now the world has to figure out what to do with this new wrinkle. Fortunately, Deep State Nerds have this episode with Third Way's Mieke Eoyang, The Alliance for Securing Democracy's Laura Rosenberger, IISS' Kori Schake and Georgetown University's Rosa Brooks. It's a great one. 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
13 Mar 201850min
That'll Be Spaghetti Putin-esca From Now On...
Russia scored its biggest recent victory in its on-going war against western democracies with the victories of the right wing in the recent Italian election. It ranks right behind the Trump victory and the Brexit vote. But the reality is some of what Russia is doing is winning and some of what is happening is just us losing. We're making mistakes and often, not even making the minimum basic effort to protect ourselves. Our experts, David Sanger, Ed Luce, Rosa Brooks and Bob Hormats, discuss on the latest Deep State Radio. Tune in.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
8 Mar 201843min
An Embarrassment of Embarrassments
What's more screwed up in the White House--personnel or policy? There's virtually no senior advisor to the President who hasn't left or been rumored to be on their way out. (With the exception of Trump's Igor, Stephen Miller, who will be flattering his boss and promoting institutionalized racism until the very last day of the administration.) There is almost no policy area where the policy approach has not been ill-considered and contradicted by someone in the administration. Our experts including former Under Secretary of State Bob Hormats, David Sanger of the New York Times, Ed Luce of the Financial Times and Rosa Brooks of Georgetown University discuss the latest developments in both areas--from the departure of Hope Hicks to some really really bad 1920's vintage trade policies. Tune in.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
6 Mar 201840min
The Road Not Taken
Max Boot's great new book "The Road Not Taken" about American intelligence officer Edward Lansdale not only offers great insights into an intriguing character and a pivotal moment in American and modern world history, it is searingly relevant to today. Would an expert like Lansdale even be heard today by a disconnected president who is trying to discredit the intelligence community? Would the kind of carefully built expertise he accumulated be valued in a government that doesn't even care to have ambassadors in key outposts worldwide? Max Boot joins Rosa Brooks of Georgetown and Deep State Radio host David Rothkopf for a discussion of the book and why its lessons are so important today.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
1 Mar 201838min
This Country Was Built on Laundered Money
It is impossible to prove that Trump role model Tony Montana was actually speaking about former Trump Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort when he said, "this country was built on laundered money" but he might as well have been. And it may be that the money laundered by Manafort ultimately brings him down...and possibly turns the tide against the president and his family. Or perhaps they did their own money laundering. It's too early to tell. But that doesn't stop our experts Susan Hennessey of Lawfare, Max Boot of the Council on Foreign Relations and Rosa Brooks of Georgetown University from trying to figure out where we are in this mess with the latest indictments and maneuverings. Tune in to hear what they have to saySupport 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
27 Feb 201844min
A Crisis of Character
America's problems extend far beyond Russiagate. In fact, they extend far beyond porn stars and having half the cabinet under investigation, failures in Puerto Rico and near nuclear war with North Korea. They include unprecedented levels of overt corruption in the White House...but perhaps worse for a system that depends on checks and balances, they go further to the fact that no one in Congress seeks to call out or stop that corruption. Or gun violence. Or the war on science. Or financial recklessness. Or any of the other ills that currently plague the U.S. How did we get here? Who's to blame? What's to be done? Tune in to find out. Or at least for therapeutic purposes.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
22 Feb 201846min
You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet!
The Mueller indictment charging 13 Russians for their efforts to illegally influence America's 2016 presidential election rocked Washington and sent shockwaves worldwide. The President of the U.S. tried to frame it as vindication because it did not point to his own personal collusion with the Russians (or that of any other U.S. individual). But...as our experts Evelyn Farkas, Kori Schake and Ed Luce point out...we're just in the early days of this investigation and many more indictments are yet to come. Where will that leave the U.S.-Russia relationship? American standing? Trump? Tune in to find out.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
20 Feb 201843min
Olympic Update: What’s More Boring—Curling or Mike Pence?
America has an unrealistic Korea policy (denuclearization) that it is not really pursuing that hard (what with not having an ambassador to South Korea, gutting the State Department and leaving it to Mike Pence who is actually not a human being but a not-so-lifelike cardboard cutout). This might not work out so well, argue our experts like our Kori Schake, Rosa Brooks, David Sanger and Joe Cirincione. We also discuss Syria and Iran. Which also may not turn out so well. So…get a drink, settle in to a comfortable chair, put a pillow over your head to muffle your screams…and 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
15 Feb 201847min
