Podcast

David Sanger thinks so. After four decades at The New York Times, he may be America’s most experienced national security reporter, and he thinks superpower conflict is back. He describes how the U.S. overestimated the democratizing power of globalization, underestimated the ambitions of Russia and China, and what, if anything, can be done to counter the “grand delusion” that kept so many smart observers from seeing this new era coming.

Listen on Audible | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Transcript

What Happened When the Migrant Crisis Came to Chicago?
In the Room with Peter Bergen

Busloads of migrants have been arriving in northern cities for the past two years, testing the patience of some residents and bringing out empathy in others. We go to Chicago to find out what the real, local effects of this surge are — not just what the politicians with their megaphones say they are. And we explore some solutions to a problem that has become the number one issue on voters’ minds in this crucial election year.

Listen on Audible | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Transcript

By Peter Bergen
April 16, 2024

American voters say immigration is the number one issue on their minds in this crucial presidential election year. How did we get here? In part one of this series we look at Venezuela, a country that has seen a massive exodus of its population over the past decade, many of whom end up in cities and states across the U.S.

Listen on Audible | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Transcript

The Pentagon UFO office just released its investigation of UFO sightings going back to the 1940s. We talk with maybe the most serious historian to study UFOs, Garrett Graff, to learn what UFO questions the Pentagon investigation has laid to rest, what new questions have been raised, why it’s sometimes in the interest of national security to keep information secret, and the connection Graff sees between UFO conspiracy theories and the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Listen on Audible | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Transcript

Counterterrorism Chief Says Hamas Attack and Gaza War Have Reshaped Terror Threat
In the Room with Peter Bergen

When Christine Abizaid — the director of the National Counterterrorism Center — first began working for the United States government in 2002, the biggest terror threat facing the U.S. was from Al-Qaeda. Now, homegrown far-right terrorists pose a key threat; the Hamas attacks on October 7th and the ongoing war in Gaza are fueling new risks, and some American politicians claim that lots of terrorists are entering the U.S. through the southern border. In a rare interview, Abizaid describes the real terror threats facing the United States today.

Listen on Apple Podcasts | Transcript

The answer is probably not. And that has to do with oil, the internet, and one of America’s most persistent foes, Iran.

Listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Transcript

Almost immediately after Hamas attacked Israel, the US began a well-coordinated, high-level, high-wire effort to free the Americans taken hostage. It wasn’t always like this. Until a few years ago, the US had no effective approach to securing the release of its citizens held overseas. After multiple Americans died in captivity while the government flailed, their loved ones set out on a campaign to force change. This episode’s guests are two of the top-ranking administration officials currently tasked with bringing Americans home and two women who, through their grief, got the US to do better.

Listen on Audible | Apple Podcasts | Transcript

Episode 45: A Friendly Warning for America
Mar 12 2024
With November’s election approaching, it feels like the United States is at a crossroads — not just at home, but abroad too. Will the country continue to lead the global order, as it’s done so successfully since the end of WWII? Or will it retreat into isolationism? A distinguished foreign friend of America’s — the British soldier, diplomat, politician, and adventurer Rory Stewart — shares his views on what’s at stake, both for the world and for the U.S. itself.

Go to audible.com/news where you’ll find Peter Bergen’s recommendations for other news, journalism and nonfiction listening.

Show more
38 mins

Listen on Audible | Apple Podcasts | Transcript

China is Stalking its Dissidents — Even on U.S. Soil
In the Room with Peter Bergen

The United States is home to countless dissidents from around the world who have fled repression in places like Iran, India, Russia and, increasingly, China.

Listen on Apple Podcasts | Transcript

Did Oppenheimer’s Atomic Bomb Make the World Safer?

The wild success of Oppenheimer, with 13 Oscar nominations and nearly $1 billion in ticket sales, has revived a debate about the most destructive weapon ever created — and renewed concerns about how close the world might be to nuclear war.

Listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Transcript