Podcast

RFK, Jr.’s views on vaccines and penchant for questioning official narratives have kept him on the fringes of American politics for years. His blistering critiques of the Biden Administration on everything from the pandemic to the war in Ukraine have earned him praise from Republicans. Now, he’s running to beat President Biden in the Democratic primaries. In this lengthy sit-down, Peter probes Kennedy’s unrelenting skepticism about a wide range of issues.

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On #InTheRoom Admiral William McRaven. He’s the Navy SEAL who literally wrote the book on special operations, and who says the best way to plan the raid for the world’s most wanted man — or do pretty much anything else — is to start by making your bed. https://www.audible.com/pd/Episode-21-Lessons-From-the-Man-Who-Got-bin-Laden-Podcast/B0BZ2M62FH?action_code=ASSGB149080119000H&share_location=pdp–

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It’s impossible to understand the events of 9/11 without understanding Osama bin Laden. Who was he? What was he hoping to achieve with the attack? How did the US track him down? And what can we learn from that story now? Three women – a CIA analyst, an FBI investigator, and a scholar who read 6,000 pages of documents recovered from bin Laden’s compound after he was killed – recount how they came to know and understand Osama bin Laden.

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We can’t do much without batteries and microchips; they power everything from smartphones to electric cars to defense systems. But the US ceded control of the raw materials required to make them – to its chief rival, China. Is it possible to catch up, especially given America’s more stringent labor and environmental standards?

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Malcolm Nance was retired from the U.S. Navy, but the Russian invasion of its neighbor compelled him to dig out his old weapons and equipment, and join up with the International Legion fighting in Ukraine. He explains how the International Legion functions, what it’s like to take a direct hit from a Russian shell, and why he doesn’t believe he and his fellow legionnaires have run afoul of an 18th century law against Americans fighting in other people’s wars.

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Actually, there basically is – led by the same guy. They have found that President Trump didn’t cause the botched response (although they label him a “comorbidity”). Neither did partisan politics (although there are some isolated exceptions). And if you think that’s surprising, wait till you hear how prepared we are (not) for the next pandemic.

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In the final chaotic days of the US presence in Afghanistan, a young survivor of a Taliban attack was trying to get to the airport, the top American diplomat was doing his best to make the departure as orderly as humanly possible, and the Afghan national security advisor was fleeing with the president on a helicopter. You will hear from all of them and more in this exploration of how the US pullout has reverberated – through individual lives and throughout geopolitics.

©2023 Audible Originals, LLC (P)2023 Audible Originals, LLC

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By: Peter L. Bergen
Narrated by: Peter L. Bergen
Aug 1 2023
Length: 40 mins
Podcast

Summary

After a 20-year war that cost the United States two trillion dollars and led to nearly 200,000 deaths, the Taliban are back in power – and offering safe haven to Al Qaeda once again. General David H. Petraeus, Trump advisor Lisa Curtis, Afghan ambassador to the US Roya Rahmani and others, bring us “in the room” to explain how this debacle came to pass, and warn us of the consequences.

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Double agents, dead drops, and deadly missions enliven some of the most popular and well-known spy novels. But do you need to have been an ACTUAL spy in an intelligence agency like the CIA to write like one? And how do real spies rate the fictional ones?

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