Things That Go Boom

Ah Long spent years building a life in Shanghai. Then the pandemic arrived. China's Zero-COVID policy cost him his job, his relationship, and eventually his faith that he could build a future there. So he did something almost unimaginable: he set out alone for the United States, crossing the Darién Gap, surviving robberies, and surrendering at the US-Mexico border to seek asylum. But by the time he arrived, America had changed, too. In this episode, reporter Aria Young follows Ah Long's extraordinary journey from China to New York and examines how both Beijing and Washington have turned to the language of emergency to expand executive power. The story asks a larger question: when governments rule through crisis, what happens to the people caught between? Guests: Ah Long, Chinese asylum seeker living in New York Rory Truex, Associate Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton University Rev. Mike Chan, Executive Director of Ministries in New York at Chinese Christian Herald Crusade Additional Resources:  Crossing the Darién Gap: Migrants Risk Death on the Journey to the US, Diana Roy and Sabine Baumgartner, Council on Foreign Relations  Deportation Data Project A Study of Chinese Law on Restricting Personal Liberty for Public Health Protection: Taking the COVID-19 Epidemic as the Entry Point, Tengfei Liu and Zhongwu Ma, Frontiers in Public Health

A few hours outside Bogotá, a giant yellow circus tent rises above the countryside. Inside, families laugh at clowns, gasp at acrobats, and cheer for trapeze artists soaring overhead. The performers are all members of the Colombian military. For more than three decades, Circo Colombia has sent active-duty soldiers across the country to perform for communities, many of them in regions shaped by decades of armed conflict. Military officials say the circus builds trust, provides entertainment, and offers a different face of the armed forces. But not everyone sees it that way. Some Colombians view the circus as a sophisticated public-relations project for an institution still grappling with allegations of corruption, violence, and abuses committed during the country's long civil conflict. Others argue the performances can blur the line between entertainment, recruitment, and intelligence gathering. Reporter Natalie Skowlund travels to the town of Supatá to step inside the tent and meet the people at the center of this unusual story: soldier-clowns, former military performers, circus historians, government officials, and audience members trying to make sense of what happens when the military puts on a show. In this episode: Why Colombia has a military circus, what it reveals about the country's relationship with war and memory, and how one former circus soldier came to see the circus not as a tool of the military, but as a path to freedom. Guests: Professional Soldier Luís Javier Cardenas, clown and trapeze artist with Circo Colombia Franci Guzmán and Ana Pinzón, audience members at Circo Colombia show in Supatá, Colombia Rosa Elena González Moreno, Colombian Ministry of Culture Circus Program Coordinator Jonathan Hernández, professional circus artist and former soldier performer with Circo Colombia Olga Lucía Sorzano, PhD, Colombian circus scholar and director of Artemotion Additional Resources: A Spanish-language report on the history of circus in Colombia. Tatan's Instagram account. Colombia's military circus, live, in the AP archive.

After a Norfolk Southern train carrying toxic chemicals derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, residents were told the air was safe and the situation was under control. But for many people living there, the emergency never really ended. In this episode, East Palestine resident and Rail Watch founder Jess Conard takes us inside the chaos and confusion of the derailment’s aftermath: shifting evacuation zones, lingering chemical smells, chronic health problems, and the exhausting burden of trying to prove harm after disaster strikes. But this story isn’t just about one train derailment. It’s about what actually counts as an emergency in the eyes of the federal government — and what kind of response that label unlocks. As Congress routinely moves billions of dollars quickly and flexibly for war and national security priorities, communities impacted by industrial disaster often struggle to access long-term healthcare, environmental testing, or meaningful support. Through conversations with budget experts Steve Ellis and Julia Gledhill, this episode examines how emergency spending works, how “urgent” becomes a political category, and what those choices reveal about whose suffering matters. Because emergencies don’t just expose broken systems. They expose what those systems were built to protect. Guests: Jess Conard, founder and executive director of Rail Watch Steve Ellis, president of Taxpayers for Common Sense Julia Gledhill, research analyst at the Stimson Center Additional Resources:  Rail Watch The Ghost Budget: US War Spending & Fiscal Transparency, Linda J. Bilmes, MIT Press Direct The United States Is Self-Destructing Amid Empire Collapse, Julia Gledhill, The Nation Defense Divided: Overcoming the Challenges of Overseas Contingency Operations, Laicie Heeley and Anna Wheeler, Stimson Center

Wars. Raids. Climate disasters. Political violence. Economic shocks. Surveillance. States of emergency that never seem to end. We live through them all while still trying to get dinner on the table, make rent, raise kids, and imagine a future. This season, Living in the Emergency follows people navigating a world shaped by permanent urgency — and examines who benefits when fear, instability, and crisis become the organizing logic of everyday life. From emergency spending… to military spectacle… to disasters whose consequences linger long after the cameras leave… this season explores how emergencies reshape communities, politics, and the boundaries of what we learn to accept. Hosted by Laicie Heeley, Things That Go Boom returns on May 25th with reported, narrative-driven stories about the systems and decisions hiding inside the chaos. Because this isn’t one crisis. It’s a condition. Subscribe to Things That Go Boom wherever you get your podcasts.

A quick note: Independent journalism like Things That Go Boom only exists because of listener support. And right now, Newsmatch is doubling all donations — making it a powerful moment to give. If you love our show (and we hope you do!) consider making a tax-deductible contribution today. 👉 https://inkstickmedia.com/donate/ Enjoy the show! For decades, the US economy has been deeply intertwined with war-making — from Cold War-era aerospace and nuclear weapons to today’s AI-driven military technologies. But this wasn’t always seen as inevitable. In the 1970s and ’80s, organizers built unlikely coalitions across the peace, labor, civil rights, and faith movements to challenge military spending and push for an economy that served people instead of perpetual war. Their work helped popularize the idea of economic conversion: redirecting public resources away from weapons production and toward jobs that meet human needs. In this episode, we revisit that history — and ask what it can teach us now. As communities organize against new defense-tech projects and local governments continue to subsidize weapons manufacturers, activists are once again grappling with how to confront the war economy — and what a more just, peaceful alternative could look like. This is the final episode of our season, MIC Drop, reporting on how the military-industrial complex shapes local economies — and how communities are organizing in response. Guests:  Dr. David Cortright, former Executive Director of SANE; Larry Frank, former Development Director for Jobs with Peace LA; Nathan Kim, Graduate Research Associate at DAIR Additional Resources: Cortright v. Resor Reenactment and details about the Waging Peace event at George Washington University UCLA: Memory Work Los Angeles project on Jobs with Peace Recording of the 1982 Central Park Rally  Brown University Costs of War Project

As violence continues in Gaza, a new strategy inside the Palestine solidarity movement is taking shape — one aimed not at city streets or college campuses, but at the arteries of the global economy. Around the world, dockworkers have refused to unload ships tied to Israel’s military supply chain. In Italy, Morocco, India, and Sweden, those refusals have sparked national strikes and port shutdowns. But in the United States — where 70% of Israel’s weapons originate — things look very different. This episode dives into the complicated reality facing American activists trying to “block the boat”: a divided labor movement, powerful unions with clashing politics, and a military-industrial complex that shields its most sensitive logistics behind military bases and Air Force cargo planes. We meet East Coast organizers struggling to reach conservative longshore workers, West Coast veterans who once helped stop South African apartheid cargo, and the researchers studying how social-movement unionism succeeds — and fails. What power do workers really have to stop the flow of war? And what happens when activists push that power to its limits? Guests:  Tova Fry, organizer and activist with Port Workers & Communities for Palestine Katy Fox-Hodess, Senior Lecturer at the University of Sheffield Rafeef Ziadah, Senior Lecturer at Kings College Lara Kiswani, Executive Director of the Arab Resource & Organizing Center Clarence Thomas, retired dock worker at ILWU Local 10 Charmaine Chua, Acting Associate Professor of Geography at the University of California, Berkeley Additional Resources:  Community picket lines and social movement unionism on the US docks, 2014–2021: Organizing lessons from the Block the Boat campaign for Palestine, Katy Fox-Hodess and Rafeef Ziadah, Critical Sociology Reds or Rackets? The Making of Radical and Conservative Unions on the Waterfront, Howard Kimeldorf This Union Is Famous for Opposing South African Apartheid. Now It’s Standing With Gaza., Sarah Lazare, The Nation Dockworker Power: Race and Activism in Durban and the San Francisco Bay Area, Peter Cole

For a century, the weapons industry has helped shape St. Louis — from the McDonnell Douglas fighters that once symbolized American air power to Boeing’s sprawling factories today. But when thousands of machinists walked off the job this year, something cracked in “Fighterland, USA.” In this episode, we head to the picket line to hear from the workers who build America’s bombs and jets — those struggling to afford rent, groceries, and daycare while assembling weapons worth more than their annual salaries. Reporter Sophie Hurwitz takes us inside a city reckoning with its identity: Can St. Louis really become the “Silicon Valley of defense” when the jobs it’s banking on are shrinking? What happens when an economy built on war no longer guarantees stability? And what does labor power look like in an industry whose products help shape conflicts worldwide? While some in town are fighting to keep defense dollars flowing, others want St. Louis to imagine a different future. This is the story of a strike, a city, and a century-long relationship with the military-industrial complex now reaching its breaking point. Guests:  Sophie Hurwitz, Reporting Fellow, Inkstick Media; Breanna Donnell, Rick Perdue, Mason, and other Boeing Machinists; Stephen Quackenbush, Professor and Director of Defense and Strategic Studies, University of Missouri; Maxi Glamour, 3rd Ward Committeeperson, St. Louis Additional Resources:  “How One Dissenter Left Boeing,” Sophie Hurwitz, Inkstick Media  “The Year Arms Contractors Stopped Supporting Pride,” Sophie Hurwitz, Inkstick Media

San Diego’s Barrio Logan is a place defined by both proximity and resistance — pressed against naval shipyards, fenced in by freeways, and crowned by the Coronado Bridge. For decades, the community has lived with the noise, the pollution, and the promises that never quite came true. When the USS Bonhomme Richard went up in flames in 2020, the Navy said there was “nothing toxic in the smoke.” Residents knew better. It was just the latest chapter in a long story of damage left unresolved — one that began when the waterfront was seized for the war effort and continued through decades of rezoning fights, health crises, and a ballot-box battle that pitted neighbors against the city’s most powerful industry. In this episode, Things That Go Boom travels to San Diego to ask: what does it mean to live — and keep fighting — in the shadow of the military’s hometown? Featuring voices from across the neighborhood, we trace how a community beneath the bridge built its own language of survival. GUESTS: Dr. Alberto López Pulido, Professor of Ethnic Studies, University of San Diego; Brent Beltrán, Publisher, Calaca Press; community activist; Ramón “Mr. Ray” Fino, Vietnam veteran, lifelong Barrio Logan resident; Angel Garcia, Commander, VFW Post Don Diego 7420 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: Environmental Health Coalition:Barrio Logan Community Plan Chicano Park Museum: Logan Heights Archival Project Intersectional Health Project San Diego: Barrio Logan “Fallout From Trump’s EPA Cuts Includes Long-Sought Barrio Logan Park,” Philip Salata, inewsource

When 27-year-old Gabriel Sanchez won his Democratic primary in Smyrna, Georgia — home to a massive Lockheed Martin plant — few expected an outspoken anti-war socialist to carry a district built on defense jobs. But Sanchez has managed to do just that, working to push for better benefits, wages, and labor rights across the state. In this episode, we look at how he’s building bridges between anti-war ideals and pro-labor politics — and what his unlikely success might mean for the future of organizing in defense towns. We reached out to Lockheed Martin for comment before publication, and asked questions about the company's stance on Sanchez's legislative goals. The company responded with this statement: “We value our state and national elected officials and the support provided to the Marietta site and the C-130, an aircraft that has created economic growth and provided humanitarian and critical assistance around the globe. We also enjoy a strong partnership with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers as the largest employer of union-represented workers in Cobb County.” GUEST: Gabriel Sanchez, Georgia State Representative ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: Jonathan Chang and Meghna Chakrabarti, “'The last supper': How a 1993 Pentagon dinner reshaped the defense industry,” WBUR’s On Point Taylor Barnes, “Meet the democratic socialist winning in a Lockheed town,” Inkstick Media Michelle Baruchman, “Only socialist in legislature beat expectations,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution (paywall)

When a 77-year-old Vietnam vet and former city councilman takes on a luxury apartment development in Scottsdale, Arizona, it sounds like classic NIMBY politics. But this fight isn’t just about height limits or desert views — it’s about who gets to decide the future of a community. The developer, Axon, isn’t your average builder. It’s one of the most powerful policing tech companies in the world — the maker of tasers, body cameras, drones, and AI-driven surveillance systems now being used by police departments and border agencies across the country. As the fight over zoning unfolds, it exposes a deeper question about democracy in the age of data: when private companies control the tools of public safety, who’s really watching whom? From Scottsdale city hall to the Arizona statehouse, and from real-time crime centers to school surveillance systems, this episode traces how a battle over apartments reveals the hidden architecture of America’s growing surveillance state — and the quiet ways local democracy is being rewritten in its shadows. GUESTS: Bob Littlefield, Former Scottsdale City Council member; president of Taxpayers Against Awful Apartment Zoning Exemptions (TAAZE); Barry Friedman, Professor of Law at New York University; Susan Wood, Scottsdale resident and community activist; Betty Janik, Former Scottsdale City Council member; Detective Julie Smith, Peoria Police Department; Representative Alexander Kolodin, Arizona State Representative (R–District 3) ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:  The Policing Project, NYU Atlas of Surveillance, Electronic Frontier Foundation

Why do local governments keep handing out tax breaks to defense contractors… even when the promised jobs don’t materialize? In the first episode of our new season, reporter Taylor Barnes takes us deep into the Utah desert, where Northrop Grumman is building the next generation of intercontinental ballistic missiles with the help of massive state subsidies. But when she asked how many jobs those subsidies were supposed to create, officials redacted nearly everything. Then they got a lawyer. Then they rewrote the rules. This episode is about more than one company or one contract. It’s about what happens when state and local leaders subsidize secrecy, and when media systems — hollowed out by layoffs, ownership conflicts, and techno-fetishism — stop asking questions. From shady job tallies in Ohio to corporate influence on Capitol Hill to military ribbon cuttings reported without context, we examine how the war machine hides in plain sight. And we follow the reporters and local watchdogs still trying to uncover the truth. GUESTS: Taylor Barnes, Inkstick Media; Mary Vavrus, University of Minnesota ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: Legal Moves, New Lobbyist Point to Northrop Grumman’s Influence in Utah, Taylor Barnes, Inkstick Media Utah Refuses to Share Details of Nuclear Weapons Plant Subsidy, Taylor Barnes, Inkstick Media

Across the country — from DC to Los Angeles to Chicago — the military is more visible in daily life than it’s been in years. But behind the boots on the ground lies a much bigger system. One that puts grenade launchers in the hands of police, surveils our every step, and ships weapons overseas. And it's grown bigger and more powerful than ever before.  This season on Things That Go Boom, we trace the reach of the military-industrial complex: how decisions in Washington fuel a trillion-dollar industry, how that industry shapes our cities and neighborhoods, and how people on the ground are responding.

Mahmoud Khalil became the face of Palestinian rights at Columbia University when the Syrian-born refugee refused to wear a mask and negotiated on behalf of the encampment with the University administration. Now the US wants to deport him using a deep-cut statute in the immigration act that gives the Secretary of State sweeping powers to decide who could have “adverse” foreign policy impacts on the United States. How did we get here? We trace the line back from Charlottesville in 2017 — from domestic extremists fighting on the streets to taking shots in the halls of power.  GUESTS: Joseph Howley, Associate Professor of Classics, Columbia University; Diala Shamas, Attorney, Center for Constitutional Rights; Chris Mathias, Author, “To Catch A Fascist” (forthcoming);  Ben Lorber, Senior Research Analyst, Political Research Associates ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:  Anti-Palestinian at the Core: The Origins and Growing Dangers of US Antiterrorism Law, Center for Constitutional Rights  A Letter From Palestinian Activist Mahmoud Khalil, ACLU

If you live in the US, buying a gun can be as easy as going to Walmart. In countries with strict gun laws, such as most of Europe or Australia, you need a little more ingenuity. Although not that much more: since March of 2020, anyone with access to a cheap second-hand 3D printer and experience putting IKEA furniture together can do it. Does that mean the rest of us should start printing bunkers, presto? Or are we worried for nothing? Things That Go Boom travels to the mean streets of New York and the jungles of Myanmar to find out. GUESTS: Lizzie Dearden, British journalist specializing in the modern technology that offers criminals and terrorists new ways to operate; Frank Grosspietsch, Canadian expert and international consultant in all things ghost gun; Manny Maung, Burmese journalist and human rights expert; "Rebel Lion," Burmese rebel fighter resisting the military junta; and Brendan Baker, reading the English translation of Rebel Lion's Burmese ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: Rebel Lion's Facebook profile. Rap Against Junta, the Burmese resistance hip-hop collective making music denouncing the military junta. Lizzie Dearden's latest book, Plotters, about the terrorist plots you've never heard of because the perpetrators were caught in time.

Nearly everyone has played dress up at some point in their lives, whether putting on mom or dad’s clothes as kids, for Halloween, as their favorite Marvel character at ComicCon… or even, maybe, as a Civil War soldier. Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where historians say Civil War casualties were highest, attracts many reenactors. They carry their muskets, pull on their blue britches, and revel in the past. But today that hobby has taken on new meaning — survivalists on the left and right and even some pundits have suggested a second US Civil War isn’t quite so unlikely as it might seem. So, we thought we’d head out to learn a little bit more about why some folks like to play war… and what they think about the prospect of another. GUESTS: Pete Bedrossian, Civil War reenactor; Mike Peets, Civil War reenactor; Levi Rifenburgh, Civil War reenactor, high school student; Mary Babcock, Bannerman Island; Rebecca DuBois, Bannerman Island, archivist; Peggy Bedrossian, Former reenactor, Pete's wife; Kyle Windahl, Regalia maker, historian; Jocelyn Windahl, Occasional Reenactor, High school STEM teacher, Kyle's wife; Matt Atkinson, Civil War reenactor; Sherry/Cheri Stultz, Gettysburg Family Restaurant; Mark Russell, Civil War reenactor ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: Civil War Re-Enactors Have Their Own POG-Level Slang, Blake Stilwell, We Are The Mighty How Gettysburg Became a Refuge for Conservatives Battered by Trump-Era Strife, Virginia Heffernan, Politico

Initially assigned to $100 million bank failure investigations, Mike German’s FBI career took a pivotal turn in 1992, when he went undercover to infiltrate neo-Nazi groups in LA. The years that followed gave him a front-row seat to the Justice System’s handling of domestic terrorism from the 1990s to his departure in 2004. When Mike left the FBI, it was after reporting deficiencies in the bureau’s counterterrorism operations in the wake of 9/11. And today he and his colleagues are taking on the FBI in the halls of Congress and in court. On this episode, Mike tells us how FBI leaders exploited America’s fear of terrorism after 9/11 to break free of regulations imposed on them in the wake of Hoover-era civil rights abuses. And how today, the FBI can’t even count the number of domestic terrorism cases it handles. And that’s before the Trump administration’s purge. GUEST: Mike German, Fellow, Brennan Center for Justice ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: Policing White Supremacy: The Enemy Within, Mike German and Beth Zasloff, New Press Disrupt, Discredit, and Divide: How the New FBI Damages Democracy, Mike German, New Press Justice Department Must Reveal the Real Scope of Domestic Terrorism, Mike German and Faiza Patel, Brennan Center for Justice.

True to his promise, on the first day of Donald Trump’s second term as president, he pardoned more than 1,500 people charged in connection with the attack at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 — an event many observers accuse him of instigating. He also commuted the sentences of the six organizers of the riot, those convicted of the most serious crimes.  What does these paramilitaries’ return to public life mean for the rest of us?  And how did our broken pardon system get us here?   — GIVEAWAY NEWS! Drawn and Quarterly has agreed to collab with us and give one US-, UK-, or Canada-based member of our Boom Squad a free copy of “Are you willing to die for the cause.”   To enter: Subscribe to Inkstick on Substack (https://inkstick.substack.com/). You'll get a welcome email from us saying you're on the list. Reply to our welcome email with the word "BOOK” so we know to enter you in the draw. If you’re already a subscriber you can still join by replying to any of Inkstick’s Substack emails with the word BOOK. You can also follow us on Instagram @inkstickmedia and @goboompod for two extra entries. We’ll draw names at random and let the winner know by the time our next episode hits. Offer is only valid for people with UK, US and Canadian mailing addresses.  GUESTS: Former Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn, founder, Dunn’s Democracy Defenders; Walter Olson, Cato Institute; Graham Dodds, Concordia University  ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:  How Do Donald Trump’s Pardons Compare With Other Us Presidents? Hanna Duggal and Marium Ali, Al Jazeera   Donald Trump Is Firing Out Presidential Pardons and Warnings of Retribution. What Happens Next? Adam Quinn, The Conversation

Amy Cooter has been studying US militias since 2008 when, as a graduate student in Michigan, she attended a public meeting of a group that was thought to be a cover for an underground neo-Nazi movement. As it turned out, that assumption was wrong.  It was then that Amy realized this militia movement she encountered was worthy of study all on its own. And at the time, most academics weren't studying it, partly because they believed all these guys were the same. They're not. Today Amy is one of the foremost experts on these groups. In this episode, she tells us the things we’re still getting wrong about the US militia movement. And explains how, by ignoring the movement’s complexities, we might have missed our window for change. GUEST: Dr. Amy Cooter, Director of Research, Academic Development, and Innovation (RADI), Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: "As Trump Touts Plans for Immigrant Roundup, Militias Are Standing Back, but Standing By," Amy Cooter, The Conversation. Nostalgia, Nationalism, and the US Militia Movement, Amy Cooter, Routledge. "The Sheriffs, Hardliners, and Militias Preparing for Trump’s Return," Tyler Hicks, Inkstick Media.

In 1970, Canada’s streets were full of troops and the country was on edge. Quebec cabinet minister Pierre Laporte had been captured by a militant French separatist group, the FLQ, and the Canadian government worried thousands of FLQ sympathizers could be ready to unleash chaos in Quebec. As it turned out, the group that caused so much fear throughout the 1960s was never more than a few dozen individuals.  This season on Things That Go Boom, we’re starting in Canada, because four years after Jan. 6, the US is as divided as ever. And we wondered if it might be headed for an October Crisis of its own. It doesn’t take a lot of people to create a lot of fear. But what does it mean for a place to devolve into the grip of that fear, and how do we escape it? GUESTS Jean Foster, retired schoolteacher; Elizabeth Morgan, philanthropist and organic farmer; Chris Oliveros, graphic novelist, “Are You Willing To Die For The Cause”; Alexandre Turgeon, historian, Laval University; Peter Graefe, political scientist, McGill University RESOURCES You can buy “Are You Willing to Die for the Cause?” by Chris Oliveros here: https://drawnandquarterly.com/books/are-you-willing-to-die-for-the-cause/

When Members of Congress are sworn into office, they say an oath.  To protect the country from all enemies… foreign and domestic.  But what does a domestic enemy look like? And how can they be stopped?  Four years after January 6th,  we're turning our eyes on the US to ask, “in our divided times, how do we we stop political violence at home… before it starts… and without losing what makes us, us, along the way.”

When former US Navy Intelligence Officer Andrew McCormick spent the holiday season in Kandahar in 2013, attempts at holiday cheer were everywhere. But few were more out-of-touch than the generic care packages sent from civilians who knew nothing about him — or the war he was fighting.  Part of our series of monologues in partnership with The War Horse.  Additional Resources Care Packages a Powerful Symbol of the Military-Civilian Divide, Andrew McCormick, The War Horse, 2020

One night In 1968, Ed Meagher was finishing his last shift at Clark Airways, which included authenticating and repeating messages for the nuclear-armed B-52 fleet in Southeast Asia.  Then his phone lines started dinging, with signal after signal — and he couldn’t figure out why none were a match.  This monologue is the second in our series with The War Horse.  Additional Resources We Were at DefCon 2 — One Step From Nuclear War — and I Was Checking My Work, Ed Meagher, The War Horse, 2024

This month on Things That Go Boom, we’re passing the mic to three veterans to share their memories in their words.  In this first entry: When paratrooper Bill Glose came home from the Gulf War after leading his platoon, silence was his fortress. That all changed when a friend suggested he start writing poetry.  The story is part of a new partnership with the news site The War Horse. The site publishes real stories from veterans that look war in the eye, rough edges and all. If you haven't heard of them, be sure to check them out. And tune in all month for more monologues.  Additional Resources  Silence Was My Father’s Fortress. I Shared It for a Time Until Poetry Set Me Free, Bill Glose, The War Horse, 2024

After a season spent examining feminist foreign policies around the world, we turn our attention back to the US. Will the US adopt a feminist foreign policy? And what would that mean?  In this episode, three remarkable activists, organizers, and academics share their perspectives on where we are in the process, what the obstacles are, and what gives them hope for the future. Listen and subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, Pocket Casts, or wherever you get your podcasts to receive a new episode every two weeks. GUESTS:  Janene Yazzie, Director of Policy and Advocacy for NDN Collective; Lyric Thompson, Founder and CEO of the Feminist Foreign Policy Collaborative; Margo Okazawa-Rey, Professor Emerita San Francisco State University ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: NDN Collective Feminist Foreign Policy Collaborative International Women’s Network Against Militarism Poverty Draft by Al Scorch We are the Ones by Sweet Honey in the Rock Special thanks to The Gender Security Project

Political Scientist Cynthia Enloe is, arguably, the reason we’re all here. She was one of the first to explore gender in international relations, and the first to ask, “Where are the women?” But what she meant when she asked that question? It’s been lost in a sea of nuances around feminism and feminist foreign policy. Leading to misunderstandings like so many we’ve seen this season on Things That Go Boom.  Misunderstandings like the sense among some that feminism is just about turning things around and subjugating men. Or that a man could never be a feminist, let alone carry out a feminist foreign policy. On this episode of Things That Go Boom, where are the women, really? And where do we go from here? GUESTS: Cynthia Enloe, Clark University ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:  Bananas, Beaches and Bases: Making Feminist Sense of International Politics, Cynthia Enloe Twelve Feminist Lessons of War, Cynthia Enloe The Invisible Frontline: How the Fight for Women’s Rights Changes in Times of War, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe

As civilian casualties mount in Gaza and many more conflicts around the world kill and displace vulnerable people, we ask, "What can feminist foreign policy do about war crimes?" The international community doesn’t have a great track record of timely intervention to stop atrocities. But one-sided military intervention can also be a recipe for disaster.  In this episode, we hear from activists in Rwanda and Afghanistan about how their work protects the vulnerable and what they wish international feminists would do differently. And we hear from an expert on international hierarchies about how feminist foreign policy fits into the long history of attempts to end genocide — and who intervention has historically served. GUESTS: Mary Balikungeri, Director and Founder of Rwanda Women’s Network; Dr. Toni Haastrup, Chair in Global Politics at the University of Manchester; Salma, activist with the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: The Rwanda Women’s Network The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) Statement of Intent on Feminist Informed Policies Abroad and at Home, The African Feminist Collective on Feminist Informed Policies The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, UN Background on the Responsibility to Protect, UN Women Peace and Security Agenda (UN Resolution 1325), UN On May 19, 2024 there was an attempted coup in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the government there alleges that American citizens were involved in the plot. (DRC army says it stopped attempted coup involving US citizens, Reuters) The incident appears to be largely separate from the conflict on DRC’s eastern border that we discuss in this episode and the US has denied any involvement in the attempted coup.

When news of a new disaster seems to roll in every day… it can feel like there’s little hope. But what if we had… another option? Not just to reverse course on climate change, but to set the course for a better future. Carol Cohn and Claire Duncanson think we do. GUESTS: Carol Cohn, University of Massachusetts, Boston; Claire Duncanson, University of Edinburgh ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: Sex and Death in the Rational World of Defense Intellectuals, Carol Cohn Feminist Roadmap for Sustainable Peace and Planet The Past, Present, and Future(s) of Feminist Foreign Policy, Columba Achilleos-Sarll, Jennifer Thomson, Toni Haastrup, Karoline Färber, Carol Cohn, Paul Kirby

When does something as deeply personal as abortion become a matter of foreign policy? Maybe when it becomes a stand-in for national values and belief systems. Or maybe when it becomes a clever wedge to divide societies. Today, Polish abortion activists are on the cusp of a huge change. After 30 years of some of the strictest abortion laws in the country, it looks like some liberalization could be on the way. But it wasn’t easy to get here. And a new trove of documents suggests that Kremlin meddling may have been part of the reason why. GUESTS: Rebecca Gomperts, abortion activist/medical doctor; Hanna Muehlenhoff, University of Amsterdam; Wiktoria Szymczak, abortion doula; Klementyna Suchanow, organizer, Polish Women’s Strike; Anna Gielewska, Editor in Chief of V Square BACKGROUND: Lucy Hall, University of Amsterdam; Tom Meinderts, University of Amsterdam; Bethany Van Kampen Saravia, Ipas Partners for Reproductive Justice A spokesperson for Poland’s Law and Justice party, which formerly led the country’s government, replied to our questions with a statement excerpted below: “The Constitution of Poland defends the right to life and Poland's position concerning abortion is based on the Polish Constitution which was adopted in 1997. Polish law allows for abortion in cases where the pregnancy is a result of a criminal act or when the woman's life or health is in danger. The Law and Justice government followed established procedures when employing staff and will not comment on individual appointments.” ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: Anti-Abortion International Under the Tutelage of the Kremlin: We Are Disclosing the Emails of the Group in Which Ordo Iuris Operates, Klementyna Suchanow for Onet (Machine translation from Polish by Google at the link; we are not responsible for errors) A Dying Baby, a Trump Tweet: Inside Network Setting Global Right-Wing Agenda, Sian Norris for Open Democracy Conservatives AKA Russia: How a Polish Left Wing Activist Spins Conspiracy Theories, Zuzanna Dąbrowska for Do Rzeczy (republished by Ordo Iuris) Tip of the Iceberg: Religious Extremist Funders against Human Rights for Sexuality & Reproductive Health in Europe, European Parliamentary Forum for Sexual and Reproductive Rights

Mexico's gotten a lot of praise for its feminist foreign policy — despite ongoing femicide in the country. But Mexican women are doing more than just pointing out the hypocrisy. They're using these new foreign policy tools to fight back at home in the war against their own bodies. On this episode, we travel to Mexico to talk with, and march alongside, some of the women fighting for change. GUESTS: Daniela Garcia Philipson, Ph.D. Candidate, Monash University; Martha Delgado Peralta, Former Undersecretary for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights at the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Andrea Samaniego Sánchez, UNAM; Marcela, Activist; Lidia Florencio, Activist ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: Internacional Feminista Mexico’s Feminist Foreign Policy, Martha Delgado Feminist Foreign Policy Index: A Qualitative Evaluation of Feminist Commitments, International Center for Research on Women

It took two years, after holdups from Turkey and Hungary, but Sweden has officially joined NATO. A move not everyone in Sweden is super psyched about. But this country’s history isn’t quite so peaceful as it might seem. So, can a peace-loving nation with a war-loving legacy keep the peace… when someone starts a war in its backyard? And how does feminist foreign policy really play out when defense is center stage? GUESTS: Dr. Patrik Höglund, historian and maritime archaeologist; Dr. Brian Palmer, Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor, Uppsala University; Dr. Annick Wibben, Professor of Gender, Peace & Security at the Swedish Defence University; Margot Wallström, former Foreign Minister of Sweden ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, New World Encyclopedia The Vasa Museum Vrak - Museum of Wrecks Speech by Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock at the Conference on Shaping Feminist Foreign Policy, Federal Foreign Office of Germany Handbook on Sweden’s Feminist Foreign Policy, Government of Sweden Sweden ends weapons deal with Saudi Arabia, Associated Press

This season on Things That Go Boom, we’re on a mission to figure out this new thing spreading like wildfire across the world: feminist foreign policy. But to even begin to understand what it is and where it’s going, we had to start in the place where it failed. We’re calling this season, “The F Word.” And on this episode and the next, we take a deep look at the chasm that caused Sweden’s feminist foreign policy to break in two. And we ask: If this thing can’t succeed in Sweden, can it succeed at all? GUESTS: Dr. Brian Palmer, Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor, Uppsala University; Dr. Elin Bjarnegård, Professor, Uppsala University; Margot Wallström, former Foreign Minister of Sweden ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: Antigone's Diary becomes a mural when youth in the suburb of Husby tell about their lives, Stockholm University Handbook on Sweden’s Feminist Foreign Policy, Government of Sweden Sweden’s New Government Abandons Feminist Foreign Policy, Human Rights Watch Jantelagen: Why Swedes won’t talk about wealth, BBC Special thanks to all of our guests, including our anonymous panel participants and Dr. Brian Palmer who went above and beyond to help our team understand and connect with folks in and around Stockholm.

With more than 50 elections set to take place around the world, 2024 will be a battle for democracy. It will also be a battle for peace. Because after doing things the same way for, pretty much ever, countries in Europe and Latin America have been experimenting with something called “feminist foreign policy,” and feeling the backlash. After all, there’s a lot in a word. But that word is really just the best way folks have come up with to describe this thing that some people think could begin to break up the boys club that dictates how we wage war, and peace. So, can it survive? That’s what we set out to find out on this season of Things That Go Boom.

Click Here is a podcast, hosted by Dina Temple-Raston, that tells true stories about the people making and breaking our digital world. Earlier this year, the FBI added Mikhail Pavlovich Matveev to their Most Wanted hacker list for his alleged role in a number of ransomware attacks against U.S. targets. In a rare interview shortly after the FBI announcement, he talked about being added to the list and what he plans to do as an encore.

What do swarms of autonomous drones, facial recognition, and nuclear test site monitoring have in common? They are all things we were still curious about as we wrapped up this internet and security season of Things That Go Boom. In this mailbag episode, experts weigh in to help answer some tough questions from you, our audience! GUESTS: Lauren Kahn, Senior Research Analyst at the Center for Security and Emerging Technology; Dr. Eleni Manis, Research Director at the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project; Dr. Jeffrey Lewis, Director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: Hicks Discusses Replicator Initiative, US Department of Defense Ground Rules for the Age of AI Warfare, Foreign Affairs Madison Square Garden Uses Facial Recognition to Ban Its Owner’s Enemies, The New York Times Nuclear Test Sites Are Too Damn Busy, Arms Control Wonk The Reason We’re All Still Here, Dr. Jeffrey Lewis

On Sunday, the people of Poland cast their votes in an election that some have called a battle for the country’s soul. When we released this episode, we were still watching for the various parties to confirm the parliamentary coalitions that would lead to the final result. But experts tell us no matter who wins, one thing is likely to stay the same: Poland's hardline approach to refugees from its eastern border with Belarus. So today, we head to that border, where scientists are studying the impact of rising militarization and anti-refugee activity on the region. It's not always easy — because the Polish border guard isn't always keen to hand out the answers these scientists would love to add to their analysis. But Eliot Higgins, the founder of investigative website Bellingcat, says civilians have an edge these days when states won’t answer our questions. We have an unprecedented amount of information at our fingertips — and we're using it to challenge our governments around the world in all kinds of ways. A NOTE: We’re heartbroken by the sudden Hamas attack on Israelis and by the Israeli airstrikes and devastation in Gaza. Donate to Doctors Without Borders as it continues to offer impartial medical care to those most impacted by war. GUESTS: Katarzyna Nowak, University of Warsaw; Michał Żmihorski, Mammal Research Institute; Maciej Kisilowski, Central European University; Eliot Higgins, Bellingcat ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: Threats to Conservation From National Security Interests, Katarzyna Nowak, Dinah Bear, Anwesha Dutta, Myles Traphagen, Michał Żmihorski, and Bogdan Jaroszewicz, Conservation Biology Recognizing Opposition Movements is Riskier Than It Seems, John Reid Wilcox, Inkstick Media Monitoring the Environmental Consequences of the War in Ukraine, Jon Letman, Inkstick Media Can National Reconciliation Defeat Populism? Maciej Kisilowski, Anna Wojciuk. Project Syndicate. Thanks to Sławomir Makaruk for additional field production.

We’re about a year out from a presidential election, and former President Donald Trump is leading the Republican pack in spite of his supporters’ attack on the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The attack reflected the anger and violence that can be stoked by misinformation. But the issue of misinformation has become heavily politicized since the 2016 election and Cambridge Analytica’s use of Facebook data to target divisive messages at segments of the American population. As a result, researchers like Boston University’s Joan Donovan have found themselves subject to intense political and funding pressures. In this episode, we talk with Dr. Donovan about the parallels between Big Tobacco and Big Tech, and what the online misinformation landscape looks like heading into the 2024 elections. GUESTS: Dr. Joan Donovan, Assistant Professor, Boston University College of Communication, Division of Emerging Media Studies ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: Harvard Misinformation Expert Joan Donovan Forced to Leave by Kennedy School Dean, Sources Say, The Harvard Crimson Here Are 4 Key Points From the Facebook Whistleblower’s Testimony on Capitol Hill, National Public Radio Factsheet 4: Types of Misinformation and Disinformation, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Social Media Misinformation and the Prevention of Political Instability and Mass Atrocities, The Stimson Center

When we say that we’re going to store something “in the cloud” it sounds like an ethereal place somewhere in the atmosphere. But the online cloud is generated by computer servers in data centers all over the world. Thousands of them. And AI is likely to ramp up demand. These data centers don’t employ a lot of people, and each one can hoover up the resources of a small town. So what happens when our need for more, better, faster cyber capability collides with our need for land, water, and power? GUESTS: Dr. Anne Pasek, Canada Research Chair in Media, Culture and the Environment, Trent University, Canada; Todd Murren, General Manager, Bluebird Network Data Centers; Kelly Gallaher, activist, A Better Mount Pleasant, WI; Mike Gitter, Water Utility Director, Racine, WI ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: The Cloud’s Heavy Toll on Natural Resources, Marketplace Tech A New Front in the Water Wars:  Your Internet Use, The Washington Post It’s Not Easy Going Green, Reveal Data Center Site Selection:  Why Midwestern US Is So Attractive to Hyperscalers, Data Center Knowledge Presentation on Microsoft’s Data Center Plan for Mount Pleasant, WI, Microsoft. The Risk of AI Power Grids, Radiolab The Pros and Cons of Underground Data Centers, Data Center Knowledge

Internet blackouts — when internet service is shut down in a country or region — have become much more common over the last decade. But who gets to decide when these disruptions are necessary? From thwarting political protests to preventing cheating on school exams, we’re diving into the who, what, and why of internet blackouts around the world. And we’re asking… what exactly are the rules here in the US? GUESTS: Mazin Riyadh, student at the University of Mosul;Dr. PatriciaVargas, Fellow for the Information Society Project and Fellow for the Internet Society; Zuha Siddiqui, Journalist ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: Internet Shutdowns During Exams, Access Now Political Factors that Enable an Internet Kill Switch in Democratic and Non-Democratic Regimes, Yale Information Society Project Pakistan’s 4-day internet shutdown was the final straw for its tech workers, Rest of World

It’s one of our biggest problems in 2023, and it can feel distinctly human. But it's not. All sorts of animals deal with all sorts of misinformation every day, including some of our oldest ancestors — like the humble fish. This week on Things That Go Boom, we exit the human world entirely to see what we can learn. Special thanks this week to Christina Stella for pinch-hitting for our engineer, Robin Wise! GUESTS: Ashkaan Fahimipour, Florida Atlantic University; Jimmy Liao, The University of Florida ADDITIONAL READING: Wild Animals Suppress the Spread of Socially Transmitted Misinformation, Ashkaan K. Fahimipour, Michael A. Gil, Maria Rosa Celis, and Andrew M. Hein, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Navigating Turbulent Waters, Jimmy Liao, This I Believe

Greg is an artist whose clients include Magic the Gathering and Dungeons and Dragons. And much like a lot of the folks striking in Hollywood right now, he’s ticked off about AI. It’s a story we hear a lot these days: AI is having an impact on everything in our lives, and it’s killing creators’ livelihoods. What we don’t hear, though, is what that story has to do with the people seeking asylum in the United States every day. In this episode, we’ll show you how their lives can be forever changed by similar large language models to the ones used to copy Greg’s art. GUESTS: Greg Rutkowski, visual artist; Ariel Koren, founder and CEO, Respond Crisis Translation; Uma Mirkhail, Afghan languages team lead, Respond Crisis Translation; Andrew Deck, reporter, Rest of World THANKS ALSO TO: Leila Lorenzo, policy director, Respond Crisis Translation ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: AI Translation Is Jeopardizing Afghan Asylum Claims, Andrew Deck, Rest of World Seeking Asylum at the u.s.-Mexico Border? You’d Better Speak English or Spanish, Andrew Deck, Rest of World Learn about Respond Crisis Translation here. See more of Greg Rutkowski’s art here.

In the age of Oppenheimer, nuclear weapons didn’t have much to do with computers. And, for a long time, most nukes were running on 1970s-era floppy disk systems. But as technology has advanced the US — and all the other nuclear weapons states — have started putting military communications, early warning systems, and even control of nuclear missiles themselves online. So, in this episode, we ask, “Could our nuclear weapons systems… be hacked?” We talk to researchers, policy experts, a top UN official, and a hacker about how a nuclear cyber attack might go down. And what we can do to stop it. GUESTS: Matt Korda, Senior Research Fellow, Nuclear Information Project; Allison Pytlak, Program Lead of the Cyber Program at the Stimson Center;Page Stoutland, Consultant at the Nuclear Threat Initiative, Maddie Stone, Security Researcher at Google Project Zero; Izumi Nakamitsu, Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs at the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: Flying Under The Radar: A Missile Accident In South Asia, Federation of American Scientists Addressing Cyber-Nuclear Security Threats, Nuclear Threat Initiative Glitch disrupts Air Force nuke communications, NBC News A 'Worst Nightmare' Cyberattack: The Untold Story Of The SolarWinds Hack, NPR Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons - Preparatory Committee for the Eleventh Review Conference, UNODA The Failsafe Review, Nuclear Threat Initiative

We need the internet. No, seriously. In 2023, the digital realm isn’t so much a portal as it is the undercurrent of our lives: The web carries our culture, our communication, our bank accounts — and, yes, our global security. But all of that traffic flows through a series of cables at the bottom of the ocean. And lately, we’ve been worrying a lot about it up on dry land: Asking what happens when something — or someone — cuts those cables. Should we really be so worried? This is a story about volcanoes and sharks, entrepreneurs and politicians. It’s also about none of those things. Welcome back to Things That Go Boom. GUESTS: Nicole Starosielski, New York University; Marian Kupu, Broadcom Broadcasting; Ryan Wopschall, ICPC; Darren Griffiths, Optic Marine; Camino Kavanagh, King’s College London ADDITIONAL READING: Inside the Subsea Cable Firm Secretly Helping America Take on China, Joe Brock, Reuters The Undersea Network, Nicole Starosielski, Duke University Press Wading Murky Waters: Subsea Communications and Responsible State Behavior, Camino Kavanaugh, United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research Decoupling is Already Happening Under The Sea, Elisabeth Braw, Foreign Policy

You know the internet — that big, vast, expanse that powers our lives and every single thing we do. It’s all we seem to talk about these days: spyware, malware, phishing attacks, TikTok bans, Russian disinformation, and beyond. But how much do you really know about the internet? Or the threats that wait to greet you there? And how much of that story is wrong? This season on Things That Go Boom, we dig into nuclear hacking, bug hunting, cable cutting… and for some reason, a whole lot of stories about fish, in “Troubleshooting.” 9 new cyber-stories about this vast digital world, what it means for how we fight wars, and how we make sense of it all here at home.

We’re hard at work on Season 8 of Things That Go Boom, coming your way July 10. But in the meantime, we wanted to drop in and share a special episode with you from our friends at Project Brazen. How did Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich end up in prison in Russia, and what happens now? On March 29, Russian authorities arrested Evan and accused him of spying on Russia on behalf of the US government. He remains in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison today. Evan is the first American reporter to be charged with espionage in Russia since the Cold War. The charge, which The Journal vehemently denies, can carry a sentence of up to 20 years. In this report by Project Brazen producer Neha Wadekar, you’ll hear from people close to Evan — his friends, newsroom colleagues, even his former soccer coach — about his shocking arrest, the efforts to bring him home, and how he became the journalist he is today. Enjoy, and we’ll see you back here soon!

America’s war on communism in southeast Asia dragged the entire region into the fray, and the impacts are still an ever-present danger. (You might remember our episode this season on landmines and clusters.) But here’s what we didn’t get into before: The legacy of that violence here — in our own communities. Today, much of the nationwide push to preserve and highlight southeast Asian heritage is being led by a younger generation, raised in America by refugees. They’re opening restaurants, taking over family businesses… and embracing their own definition of true southeast Asian food. In Philadelphia, we ask: How much can a weekend market — and its long road to protection — tell us about America’s relationship with its refugees? GUESTS: Aleena Inthaly, Legacies of War; Catzie Vilayphonh, Laos In The House; Saijai Sabayjit, Saijai Thai ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: The Originals, Legacies of War Thip Khao Talk, Legacies of War Our Story, The Southeast Asian Market at FDR Park

There are tens, or even hundreds, of thousands of edible plants in the world. But humans only cultivate a couple hundred of those at any significant scale. And when we eat, we tend to stick to just a few: More than half of the calories that humans consume around the world today come from just corn, soy, wheat, and rice. But that narrow focus on food is putting us in danger. As climate change, the COVID pandemic, and conflict in “breadbasket” regions like Ukraine continue to disrupt agriculture, it may be time for forgotten crops to make a comeback. On this episode, Chef Pierre Thiam explains how one of these ancient grains might just save the world. GUEST: Pierre Thiam, Chef, author, & entrepreneur ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: Where to find some fonio: Yolélé How to cook fonio:The Fonio Cookbook by Pierre Thiam Will the world’s breadbaskets become less reliable?, McKinsey (charts and maps!) Looking at other grains (millet and fonio)  to help feed the world, Foreign Policy Explore stats on crop and livestock production around the world, The UN Food and Agriculture Organization

Just two years ago, Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was in prison. It’s a fairytale-like comeback story. But his life is also a food story. From a hungry childhood raised by sharecropper parents, Lula made ending hunger a major part of his first two highly popular terms as president. Now, as he settles into the Presidential Palace once again – he has big plans for strengthening Brazil’s democracy and positioning the country as a diplomatic powerhouse. Those plans will depend on reaching people through their stomachs. GUESTS: Cassia Bechara, International Relations Committee Spokesperson, Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra/Landless Workers’ Movement; Michael Fox, Independent Journalist; Fabio de Sa e Silva, Assistant Professor of International Studies and Wick Cary Professor of Brazilian Studies, University of Oklahoma; Fabiane Ziolla Menezes, Business and Technology Journalist, Brazilian Report Thank you to Larissa Packer, Rafael Soares Gonzales, and James MacDonald. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: “Lurching From Food Crisis to Food Crisis,” GRAIN “The Rise of Congress Will Have Consequences for Brazil’s Victor,” Lucas de Aragão, Americas Quarterly Check out the Brazilian Report’s newsletters here.

Despite being banned, anti-personnel landmines and unexploded submunitions still litter fields from Bosnia to Bangladesh. And they’re even being used in Ukraine. Does that mean the treaties that ban their use aren’t working? Experts say the story isn’t so simple, and that, actually, the treaties to ban these weapons have shown a new way forward: one where norms stigmatize the return to these weapons and constrain even the biggest superpowers. But what will it take to clean up the mess left behind? And can anti-nuclear activists repeat the party trick? GUESTS: Treasa Dunworth Associate Professor of Law, University of Auckland; Matthew Breay Bolton, Professor of Political Science, Pace University; Sera Koulabdara, Executive Director, Legacies of War; Alex van Roy, Chief Operations Officer, FSD ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: How War Changes Land: Soil Fertility, Unexploded Bombs, and the Underdevelopment of Cambodia, Erin Lin, American Journal of Political Science Political Minefields: The Struggle Against Automatic Killing, Matthew Breay Bolton, Bloomsbury Academic Humanitarian Disarmament: An Historical Inquiry, Treasa Dunworth, Cambridge University Press Legacies Library: Resources on the Secret War in Laos

One morning in the 2010s, a rural midwestern farmer called the cops. There was a guy in a suit sniffing around a field near town. A big SUV dropped him off. And the story of how the man got there? That can tell us a lot about Xi Jinping’s past, present, and future. China’s seen incredible growth over the last 50 years — and with that, major changes in the country’s diet and agriculture. With 1.4 billion people to feed and a party narrative to upkeep, President Xi Jinping is pushing the country to invest in its own food security. During a time when tension between the US and China are rising, we look at how Great Power Competition is unfolding in America’s cornfields. GUESTS: Sue-Lin Wong, The Economist; Wendong Zhang, Cornell University; Arthur Kroeber, Gavekal Dragonomics ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: The Prince, The Economist How Has China Maintained Domestic Food Stability Amid Global Food Crises?, World Economic Forum China’s Interests in US Agriculture: Augmenting Food Security through Investment Abroad, US-China Economic and Security Review Commission

We turn our attention to the narrow strait that divides China and Taiwan, which some analysts believe is the most likely flashpoint for another far-away conflict involving the US military. If President Biden reconfigures foreign policy to focus more on threats at home, will that leave us unprepared to defend US interests abroad? Or should we rethink which battles we’re willing to fight? GUESTS: Oriana Skylar Mastro, Fellow at Stanford University’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Michael Mazarr, Senior Political Scientist at the RAND Corporation. ADDITIONAL READING: The Taiwan Temptation, Foreign Affairs. Time for a New Approach to Defense Strategy, War on the Rocks. Biden Backs Taiwan, but Some Call for a Clearer Warning to China, New York Times. ** This episode was originally published on September 13, 2021.

Conversations about downsizing America’s defense budget almost immediately stall out in a Catch-22: Reallocating those tax dollars to invest in domestic priorities would be devastating to the many small cities where a manufacturing plant, ICBM silo, or military base is the lifeblood of the local economy. If Biden begins to shift some money away from defense, or even just, away from some of the big weapons systems a lot of defense towns are tasked to build, does that mean a whole lot of middle-class jobs might get cut? What if there’s a better option? One that fits more closely with Biden’s plans for the middle class? GUESTS: Natalie Click, PhD student at Arizona State University; Taylor Barnes, Journalist; Miriam Pemberton, Institute for Policy Studies ADDITIONAL READING: From Arms to Renewables: How Workers in This Southern Military Industrial Hub Are Converting the Economy, Taylor Barnes, Southerly Magazine. ‘Honk for Humane Jobs’: NC Activists Challenge Subsidies for Weapons Maker, Taylor Barnes, Facing South. Let’s Turn Our Military Resources To Building a Post-COVID Industrial Base for All Americans, Miriam Pemberton, Newsweek. Study Says Domestic, Not Military Spending, Fuels Job Growth, Brown University. How Much More Expensive Can the F-35 Actually Get? Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics. ** This episode was originally published on August 30, 2021.

Many Americans once viewed the US military as a reliable road to a middle-class life. But, despite record-breaking military spending in recent years, new research shows that one-in-six military families don’t have consistent access to healthy food. So, how is it that service members and their families are finding basic necessities out of reach? In this episode, we talk about childcare, spouse employment, frequent moves, and food stamps with folks who have wrestled with all of these issues firsthand. And we ask the experts, are the new policies to address these problems going to be enough? Statement, Cmdr. Nicole Schwegman, Department of Defense spokesperson: “We understand the extraordinary pressures military families face and we have made progress, but we know that there is more work to be done. We will continue to listen, learn, and lead on issues we know are critical to stability and the unique challenges of military life.” GUESTS*: Rae Ellen Holberg, military spouse and mother of four; Shannon Razsadin, president and executive director of MFAN; Sarah Streyder, executive director of Secure Families Initiative; Nils Olsen, company commander in the US Army; Brandon Archuleta, senior fellow at the Center of New American Security *The views of all guests are their own, and do not reflect the policies or positions of the US Army, United States Department of Defense or the United States Government. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: Food Insecurity Among US Veterans and Military Families, Center for Strategic & International Studies Food Insecurity, Military Family Advisory Network Allowance for the Most At-risk Military Families Begins To Take Shape, Military Times Taking Care of Our Service Members and Families,Department of Defense Who Signs Up to Fight? Makeup of U.S. Recruits Shows Glaring Disparity, New York Times

Samin Nosrat joins us to talk about cooking, conflict, and the global forces shaping the food on our plates. Have you ever tried Saigon cinnamon? How about Iranian saffron? Learn about the flavors and traditions we lose when war and international politics get in the way. We get real about "kimchi diplomacy.” And we talk about the alternating slog and beauty of cooking as a way to connect to our own bodies — and support others — when times are hard. GUESTS: Samin Nosrat, writer, cook, and teacher ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: Before Croissants, There Was Kubaneh, a Jewish Yemeni Delight, Tejal Rao, The New York Times Magazine What's an Aleppo Pepper?, Layla Eplett, Scientific American The Experiment Presents SPAM, Julia Longoria and team, WNYC & The Atlantic

On the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, endangered plants bloom on the shrubsteppe. The Yakama Nation signed a treaty in 1855 to cede some of its lands to the US government. The treaty promised that the Yakama people could continue to use their traditional territory to hunt and fish. But in 1943, those promises were broken, as Hanford became a secretive site for nuclear plutonium production. Today, Hanford is one of the world’s most contaminated sites, and the cleanup will take generations. As more ceded lands have been encroached on by agriculture and development, the Hanford land is home to an ugly irony: Untouchable by outsiders — but unsafe for members of the Yakama Nation to fully practice their traditions. Now, while they fight for the most rigorous cleanup possible, they’re also finding other ways to keep those traditions alive. Flash back to 1989, on the other side of the world lies another steppe near Semey (once Semipalatinsk), Kazakhstan. A land that’s survived famine, collectivization, and hundreds of nuclear tests. When an underground test goes wrong, Kazakhs band together with the world and say it’s time to stop nuclear testing for good. — In addition to responding to questions we had about the Hanford site, the Department of Energy provided the following statement: “The Department is committed to continuing to work with the Yakama Nation on progressing toward our common goal of site cleanup,” it says in part. “DOE progress at Hanford is leading to a cleaner environment and additional protections for the Columbia River. This year alone Hanford … completed a protective enclosure around another former plutonium production reactor along the Columbia River and treated over 2 billion gallons of contaminated groundwater.” GUESTS: Robert Franklin, Associate Director of the Hanford History Project; Marlene Jones, Marylee Jones, and Patsy Whitefoot, Yakama Nation members; Kali Robson, Trina Sherwood, and McClure Tosch, Yakama Nation's Environmental Restoration/Waste Management Program; Togzhan Kassenova, Senior Fellow at the Center for Policy Research, SUNY-Albany; Sarah Cameron, University of Maryland ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: Atomic Steppe: How Kazakhstan Gave Up The Bomb, Togzhan Kassenova Nuclear waste ravaged their land. The Yakama Nation is on a quest to rescue it, Hallie Golden, The Guardian How Native Land Became a Target for Nuclear Waste, Sanjana Manjeshwar, Inkstick Media Hanford Site Cleanup Costs Continue to Rise, but Opportunities Exist to Save Tens of Billions of Dollars, GAO

When we’re not in a crisis, food doesn’t tend to make it into stump speeches or budget pressers. It’s easy to end up in front of the computer, scrolling social media, snacking on something produced a thousand miles away and not think twice about it. But what we eat touches every aspect our society — from security to culture, labor, economy, climate and more. It’s also a potent lightning rod for online conspiracies and disinformation. GUESTS: Katie (pseudonym); Nina Jankowicz, Centre for Information Resilience; Domini Mellott, Secret Harvest; Vidya Mani, University of Virginia ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: Russia Smuggling Ukraninan Grain To Help Pay For Putin’s War, Michael Biesecker, Sarah El Deeb, and Beatrice Dupuy, The Associated Press Food Supply and Covid-19: Breaking the Chain, Vidya Mani Russian Disinformation in Africa: What’s sticking and what’s not, Mary Blankenship and Aloysius Uche Ordu, Brookings Food Should Be Treated As National Security, Ehud Eiran, Michaela Elias and Aron M. Troen, Foreign Policy

Think back to when you were a kid, and school was out. What did you eat when you got home? Maybe it was a beef patty from your favorite bodega or chocolate chip cookies baked by your mom. For better or worse, food is one of the first things in our lives that makes us feel… safe. But lately, between supply chain issues, empty shelves, wild conspiracy theories, and a potential nuclear attack on the breadbasket of the world… things haven’t felt so safe. So this season, Things That Go Boom is going deep on food and conflict. State dinners, MREs. Supply chains, turf wars. Food as diplomacy, hunger as a weapon. Things That Go Boom Season 7 is coming up on October 31 — so get ready for a food fight.

Putin’s war in Ukraine has European nations scrambling to cut off their supplies of Russian gas — both to further penalize Russia and to ensure the country can’t withhold its energy supplies as a blackmail tool. That transition has many European leaders turning to the Arctic for solutions like wind energy. But some Sámi activists in Arctic Europe say they’ve been backed into a corner after years of industrial development, and that what’s left of their traditional territory is not up for negotiation. GUESTS: Justin Ling, freelance journalist; Beaska Niillas, parliamentary leader in the Sámi Parliament in Norway and alternate member of the Saami Council ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: “The Costs of Choosing Wind Power,” Sunna Svendsen, Inkstick Media ”Norway Surges Oil, Gas Profit. Now It’s Urged To Help,” Mark Lewis ft. Monika Scislowska, Associated Press ”Arctic Military Infrastructure: The Olavsvern case,” Wenche Irén Sterkeby and Vidar Hole, The Arctic Institute

China’s business activity in the Arctic has been attracting a lot of eyeballs. Its state-sponsored construction companies have been securing contracts for important infrastructure, and the country sees the resources in the polar regions as key to its future stability. That interest has the United States, sometimes called the “reluctant Arctic state,” perking up its ears. But all this new competition in the region — it puts Arctic peoples at the center of a tricky geopolitical tango. We speak to two leaders in Greenlandic governance about how the country is managing that dance. Reporting by Katie Toth. GUESTS: Willie Hensley, author; educator; former Alaska State Senator; Marisol Maddox, Senior Arctic Analyst, Wilson Center; Mia Bennett, Assistant Professor, University of Washington; Pele Broberg, Member of Parliament for Greenland; chair, Partii Naleraq; Aaja Chemnitz Larsen, Member of Parliament for Denmark; chair, Conference of Arctic Parliamentarians; Col (Ret.) Pierre LeBlanc, Canadian Armed Forces ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: “How a Failed Social Experiment in Denmark Separated Inuit Children From Their Families,” Tara John, CNN “What Rights To Land Have Alaska Natives?: The Primary Question,” Willie Hensley, Alaskool “Could the Arctic Be a Wedge Between China and Russia?” Jeremy Greenwood and Shuxian Luo, War on the Rocks “Let’s (Not) Make A Deal: Geopolitics and Greenland,” Jon Rahbek-Clemmensen, War on the Rocks “American Imperialists Have Always Dreamed of Greenland,” Paul Musgrave, Foreign Policy

Noel Cockney and Randy Baillargeon have seen what a warming North can do to their home. Manning an educational Indigenous fish camp an ice road away from Yellowknife, Canada, they slice and dice fish out of Great Slave Lake and chop wood to keep people warm in the subzero spring temperatures. It’s cold — and they like it this way. Cold in the North means connectivity, as people zip around on ice roads and snowmobiles. It makes for soft, marketable furs for trappers and cozy nights at home. And as the temperature warms, those things are at risk. For decades, leaders of Arctic countries like Russia, Norway and the USA could set aside their differences and find common ground on environmental issues in the region. The Arctic was treated less like a zone of competition, and more like a tool to build diplomatic rapport. But Russia's war in Ukraine has totally upended that dynamic — and shattered the trust of the West. So — in a region where Russia controls half of the Arctic shoreline — how do we fight climate change now? Reporting by Katie Toth. GUESTS: Randy Baillargeon, Land-Based Co-ordinator and Community Mentor, Dechinta Centre for Research and Learning; Noel Cockney, Regional Programmer and Safety Co-ordinator, Dechinta Centre for Research and Learning; Dalee Sambo Dorough, International Chair, Inuit Circumpolar Council; Andrea Pitzer, Author, Icebound: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World; Mia Bennett, Assistant Professor, University of Washington ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: "How Putin’s War Is Sinking Climate Science,” Andrea Pitzer, Nautilus "How War in Ukraine Is Changing the Arctic,” The Economist

The House and Senate were always supposed to check the president’s power in foreign affairs. But when partisan loyalties and an onslaught of domestic issues make legislation nearly impossible… what’s a congress to do? This week, we talk to Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA) about how Congress can take back its power in foreign affairs – and finally get some things done. We discuss his efforts to stop the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, the animating power of a passionate public, and why he’s optimistic about the future of congressional power in American foreign policy. GUEST: Congressman Ro Khanna, represents California’s 17th Congressional District ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: War Powers Resolution of 1973, Nixon Library Trump Vetoes Measure to Force End to U.S. Involvement in Yemen War, Mark Landler and Peter Baker, The New York Times Saudi warplanes carpet-bomb Yemen with US help. This must end, Berine Sanders and Ro Khanna, The Guardian Dignity in a Digital Age, Ro Khanna, Simon & Schuster

Covert action has supported our nation’s security goals for decades — from fighting the Cold War to killing Osama Bin Laden. But it’s also part of a long American history of justifying the means to an end, one that’s led to unethical and illegal actions across the world. You could spend hours reading about past covert affairs without understanding how the executive branch manages missions or the classified intel around them — and, it’s not just you. Congress is tasked with overseeing those efforts, and even it has a hard time breaking through the layers of bureaucracy meant to keep our secrets safe. But when the war drum starts beating, where does it leave lawmakers tasked with checking and balancing? Two skeletons in the CIA’s closet might help give us some answers. GUESTS: Lana Ponting, MKULTRA Survivor; Julie Tanny, MKULTRA Survivor; Oona Hathaway, Yale University; Sam Worthington, InterAction ADDITIONAL READING: Secrecy’s End, Oona Hathaway, Minnesota Law Review Covert Action, Congressional Inaction, Stephen R. Weissman, Foreign Affairs Brainwashed: The echoes of MKULTRA, Canadian Broadcasting Association In Vaccines We Trust? The Effect of The CIA’s Vaccine Ruse on Immunization In Pakistan, Monica Martinez-​Bravo and Andreas Stegmann, Journal of the European Economic Association

When Congress created Space Force back in 2019, it looked to some like a wild idea from President Trump had just gone and become the sixth branch of the armed forces. But the US military has been using space for decades, and the importance of space to civilians and the military alike means that Space Force actually has a lot on its plate. As Congress considers the defense budget and the ways military activity in space can evolve, its decisions could have long-lasting consequences. GUESTS: Maj. Mike Lyons (USA, ret.), Fellow at the Truman National Security Project; Theresa Hitchens, Senior Space Reporter at Breaking Defense; Katherine Kuzminski, Senior Fellow and Director, Military, Veterans, and Society Program at the Center for a New American Security; Dr. Laura Grego, Stanton Nuclear Security Fellow at the MIT Laboratory for Nuclear Security and Policy Special thanks to Dr. Robert Farley. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: What's With All the U.S. Space-Related Agencies?, US Department of Defense. Space Threat Assessment: 2021, Center for Strategic and International Studies. The Politics of Space Security, James Clay Moltz, Stanford University Press. Biden’s 2023 defense budget adds billions for U.S. Space Force, Sandra Erwin, Space News.

It’s hard to overstate how much arms trade and aid factor into US foreign policy. Missiles, aircraft, guns, and more — we sell and give them to others as a way to exert global power without ever putting boots on the ground. It’s a trend Congress has passively greenlit for years. But every deal comes with risk. US weapons have a history of ending up in the wrong hands. Or disappearing entirely. Other times, the “right” hands use weapons to perpetuate devastating civilian harm. On this episode of Things That Go Boom, we dive into the complex world of arms transfers to ask, “Where does Congress fit into scrutinizing US deals?” The short answer is…it generally doesn’t. That is, unless it wants to. GUESTS: Lauren Woods, Center for International Policy; Jodi Vittori, Georgetown University ADDITIONAL READING: Human Rights, Civilian Harm, and Arms Sales: A Primer on US Law and Policy, Center for Civilians in Conflict. The Hidden Costs of US Security Cooperation, Lauren Woods, Responsible Statecraft. Sending Weapons To Ukraine Could Have Unintended Consequences, Jordan Cohen, Inkstick. Mitigating Patronage and Personal Enrichment in US Arms Sales, Jodi Vittori, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

At their core, sanctions are a way for countries to say, “We don’t like what you’re doing, and we’re going to make your life harder for it.” When they’re at their best, sanctions can isolate corrupt financiers, stigmatize human rights violators and even get entire countries to change their behavior. But they don’t always work that way. Economic sanctions are really hard to do right. They have to be precisely gamed out, or they can backfire in any number of ways. They're often hard to get rid of. And, more often than not, they hurt real people. But the US likes sanctions. Congress likes sanctions. On this episode of Things That Go Boom, what does all of this mean for some of our oldest sanctions? And some of our newest? GUESTS: Jason Bartlett, Center for a New American Security; Ricardo Herrero, Cuba Study Group; Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons, Artist and Cornelius Vanderbilt Endowed Chair of Fine Arts, Vanderbilt University; Inna Melnykovska, Central European University; Paul Carroll, Charity & Security Network; Konrad Körding, University of Pennsylvania; Elnaz Alikarami, McGill University; and Nosratullah Mohammadi, University of Geneva (formerly Zanjan, Iran) ADDITIONAL READING: Can Sanctions Stop Russia?, Annie Lowrey, The Atlantic. The Russian Sanctions Regime and the Risk of Catastrophic Success, Erik Sand and Suzanne Freeman, War on the Rocks. The Impact of Western Sanctions on Russia and How They Can Be Made Even More Effective, Anders Åslund and Maria Snegovaya, Atlantic Council. Boxing Cuba In Benefits No One, Christopher Sabatini and Lauren Cornwall, Foreign Policy. Special thanks to Maria Snegovaya.

Long lines at ATMs and gas stations. The constant blare of air raid sirens. Military jets scrambling across the sky. Eurasia expert (and for the first time, war reporter) Terrell Jermaine Starr is in Ukraine witnessing all this and more. On this special bonus episode of Things That Go Boom, he argues that we can’t understand Russia’s full-scale invasion — or the man behind it — without examining the country’s imperialist history. It’s a story President Vladimir Putin is leaning on today. Things That Go Boom will be back with our regularly-scheduled programming on March 21. GUESTS: Terrell Jermaine Starr, Journalist, and Nonresident Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council DONATE TO: World Central Kitchen Kyiv Independent Voices of Children Direct Relief ADDITIONAL READING: Why Progressives Should Help Defend Ukraine, Terrell Jermaine Starr, Foreign Policy. Ambassador Michael McFaul on Ukraine-Russia Relations, Black Diplomats. The Putin Doctrine, Angela Stent, Foreign Affairs.

Congress hasn’t passed a significant immigration bill in decades, but the demands on the immigration system today are very different than they were in the ’90s. So, what’s a president to do? With asylum seekers facing a militarized border and millions of undocumented immigrants already inside the country, recent presidents have used their executive authority to try and shape the system to meet the needs of the day. But, more and more, the courts are stepping in. Today, lawsuits drag on, Congress remains deadlocked, and millions of people are caught in the middle. GUESTS: Dr. Jorge Castañeda, former Foreign Minister of Mexico and Global Distinguished Professor of Latin American and Caribbean Studies at New York University; Cristina Rodríguez, Leighton Homer Surbeck Professor of Law at Yale Law School; Theresa Cardinal Brown, Managing Director, Immigration and Cross-Border Policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center; Juan Pablo Barrios, asylum seeker from Venezuela (interpretation by Gustavo Martínez). RESOURCES FOR ASYLUM SEEKERS: American Immigration Council: Asylum Resources Asylee Eligibility for Resettlement Assistance Guide, CLINIC Getting Asylum, Protection in The United States, Immigrants’ Rights Clinic at Stanford Law School, 2017 Para Obtener Asilo, Protección en los Estados Unidos, Immigrants’ Rights Clinic at Stanford Law School, 2017 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: The President and Immigration Law, Adam B. Cox and Cristina M. Rodríguez Ex Mex: From Migrants to Immigrants, Jorge G. Castañeda This Week in Immigration, The Bipartisan Policy Center, Theresa Cardinal Brown Lake Maracaibo: an oil development sacrifice zone dying from neglect, Mongabay Special thanks to Professor Jennifer M. Chacón.

Since the beginning of the American experiment, presidents have tussled with Congress over how to handle foreign threats. That creative conflict is supposed to be the democratic ideal. But there were also moments when lawmakers realized it was easier to just… not do the job. In the best of times, Congress oversaw the president and pushed back on missteps — or prevented those missteps in the first place. In the worst of times, it checked out. Then, the dawn of the nuclear age blew up that precarious balance. GUESTS: Kevin Butterfield, Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington at Mount Vernon; Kori Schake, American Enterprise Institute; Laura Ellyn Smith, University of Oxford; Jeremi Suri, University of Texas at Austin ADDITIONAL READING: The Presidency Is Too Big to Succeed, Jeremi Suri, The Atlantic. The Runaway Presidency, Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., The Atlantic. Adults in a Room IV, Inkstick Media.

The Framers of the Constitution made sure Congress had a voice guiding our role in the world. Congress decides how much money we spend on everything from immigration to foreign aid. It has the power to declare war, approve treaties, and oversee how the Department of Defense handles troops in conflict zones. But over the past few decades, our lawmakers’ hold on that responsibility seems to have slipped… into the hands of the president. It’s an outcome the Framers worried might come to pass. And its story goes all the way back to George Washington. From Afghanistan to arms sales, Congress is losing its grip on our foreign policy. Why is that? And, as we make our way toward the midterms, what can be done to reassert Congress’ authority as a coequal branch of the government?

The Republic of the Marshall Islands is a speck of a country in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Population 60,000. But it has an outsized legacy as the place where the US military exploded dozens of nuclear weapons in the 40s and 50s, and brushed over the danger to local populations. For decades the Marshall Islands has been fighting for the US to fully recognize the devastating health and environmental impacts from all those nuclear tests, without much success. But skip forward to a recent congressional hearing and something seemed to shift — something that starts with C and ends with A, and rhymes with ‘pivot to Asia.’ GUESTS: Rhea Moss-Christian, chairwoman of the Marshall Islands National Nuclear Commission ADDITIONAL READING: How the US Betrayed the Marshall Islands, Kindling the Next Nuclear Disaster, Susanne Rust, Los Angeles Times. ‘They Did Not Realize We Are Human Beings.’Dan Diamond, Politico. (With reporting from Calvin Ryerse.)

Long before there was a catchphrase called “foreign policy for the middle class,” a Vermont mayor was on C-SPAN fighting for exactly that thing. Now he’s a US Senator. And Bernie Sanders has pretty much spent his entire career in Washington questioning whether government decisions really serve working people … or, the 1%. On this episode of Things That Go Boom, we sit down with Sanders’ Foreign Policy Advisor Matt Duss, because we wanted to know, from the perspective of someone whose boss has been thinking about these ideas for such a long time... Is Biden’s foreign policy for the middle class anything more than a slogan? GUESTS: Matt Duss, Foreign Policy Advisor, Senator Bernie Sanders ADDITIONAL READING: Who Is Matt Duss, and Can He Take On Washington’s ‘Blob’?, David Klion, The Nation

Obaidullah Baheer has built his career promoting progress in Afghanistan: He’s a university lecturer on intractable conflicts and who advocates for women’s and minority rights online. But his life could have wound up very different. As the grandson of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar — the leader of Islamist rebel group Hezb-i-Islami — he was once taught to hate the West and everything it stood for. So how did he turn toward peace instead of war? And, as the Taliban take control of Afghanistan, what can his story tell us about the country’s future? GUESTS: Obaidullah Baheer, Lecturer at the American University of Afghanistan ADDITIONAL READING: My Family Fought Alongside the Taliban. Now, I’m Afraid for My Friends, Obaidullah Baheer, The Economist. What To Make Of the Taliban’s ‘Exclusive’ Caretaker Government, Obaidullah Baheer, Al Jazeera. Bin Laden: The Road To 9-11, Tam Hussein, Channel 4.

We turn our attention to the narrow strait that divides China and Taiwan, which some analysts believe is the most likely flashpoint for another far-away conflict involving the US military. If President Biden reconfigures foreign policy to focus more on threats at home, will that leave us unprepared to defend US interests abroad? Or should we rethink which battles we’re willing to fight? GUESTS: Oriana Skylar Mastro, Fellow at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute; Michael Mazarr, Senior Political Scientist at the RAND Corporation. ADDITIONAL READING: The Taiwan Temptation, Foreign Affairs. Time for a New Approach to Defense Strategy, War on the Rocks. Biden Backs Taiwan, but Some Call for a Clearer Warning to China, New York Times.

Conversations about downsizing America’s defense budget almost immediately stall out in a Catch-22: Reallocating those tax dollars to invest in domestic priorities would be devastating to the many small cities where a manufacturing plant, ICBM silo, or military base is the lifeblood of the local economy. If Biden begins to shift some money away from defense, or even just, away from some of the big weapons systems a lot of defense towns are tasked to build, does that mean a whole lot of middle class jobs might get cut? What if there’s a better option? One that fits more closely with Biden's plans for the middle class? GUESTS: Natalie Click, PhD student at Arizona State University; Taylor Barnes, Journalist; Miriam Pemberton, Institute for Policy Studies ADDITIONAL READING: From Arms to Renewables: How Workers in This Southern Military Industrial Hub Are Converting the Economy, Taylor Barnes, Southerly Magazine. ‘Honk for Humane Jobs’: NC Activists Challenge Subsidies for Weapons Maker, Taylor Barnes, Facing South. Let’s Turn Our Military Resources To Building a Post-COVID Industrial Base for All Americans, Miriam Pemberton, Newsweek. Study Says Domestic, Not Military Spending, Fuels Job Growth, Brown University. How Much More Expensive Can the F-35 Actually Get? Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics.

On this episode of Things That Go Boom, we look at some of the ways civilian and military cultures are merging — and diverging — after two decades of war in Iraq and Afghanistan. If Americans are distanced from the messy work of national security, how can the Biden administration have an honest conversation with them about priorities? GUESTS: Lacey Hopper, rucking aficionado; Timur Nersesov, US Army Reserve Officer; Loren DeJonge Schulman, Center for a New American Security. ADDITIONAL READING: Who signs up to fight?Dave Philipps and Tim Arango, The New York Times. Biden’s Foreign Policy Starts at Home, Peter Nicholas, The Atlantic. // This episode comes at a chaotic and frightening time in Afghanistan, as Taliban fighters pour into the capital and US troops rush to evacuate allies. The following organizations are just a few providing aid to those in Afghanistan who need help: Doctors Without Borders International Rescue Committee No One Left Behind

Washington and Beijing have been increasingly at odds -- over human rights, trade, maritime boundaries, you name it. Does this tension help Biden at home? And what does it mean for Asian Americans? GUESTS: Samuel Chu, Hong Kong Democracy Council; Nina Luo, Writer and Organizer; Adrian De Leon, University of Southern California; Rui Zhong, Wilson Center ADDITIONAL READING: The American Victims of Washington’s Anti-China Hysteria, Nina Luo, The New Republic. Why Is China Coming After Americans Like Me in the US? Samuel Chu, The New York Times.

Here in the US, we’re just catching on to the idea of creating a foreign policy that lifts up our middle class, but China’s been at it for decades. On this episode, we dig into China’s rise. What’s worked, what hasn’t, and where it might go next. GUESTS: Ethan Lee, Stanford University (Student); Ali Wyne, Eurasia Group; Scott Rozelle, Stanford University; Peter Lorentzen, University of San Francisco. ADDITIONAL READING: The World China Wants, Rana Mitter, Foreign Affairs. Invisible China: How the Urban-Rural Divide Threatens China’s Rise, Scott Rozelle, University of Chicago Press. Foreign Policy Lessons From Brown v. Board of Education, Ali Wyne, Inkstick Media. 'Mulan' and China's Approach To Soft Power Through Hollywood, Ethan Lee, Inkstick Media.

One of Biden's biggest foreign policy moves so far has been sticking with Trump's Afghanistan withdrawal plan. The move comes after 20 years of war, which killed more than 241,000 people on all sides according to Brown University estimates. But how does it fit into Biden's foreign policy for the middle class? And what does our exit mean for the lives of middle-class Afghan women who fear a Taliban resurgence? GUESTS: Metra Mehran, Institute of Diplomacy at Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kabul; James Traub, Foreign Policy ADDITIONAL READING: Biden’s ‘Foreign Policy for the Middle Class’ Is a Revolution, James Traub, Foreign Policy. The People We’re Leaving Behind in Afghanistan, Steve Coll, The New Yorker. US Troops Are Packing Up, Ready or Not, Thomas Gibbons-Neff, Najim Rahim and Fatima Faizi, New York Times.

Quick, give me the first answer to this question that comes to your head: What TV character is the archetype of the American middle class? Archie Bunker? Homer Simpson? Roseanne Conner? What about Cliff Huxtable? Dre Johnson? Or Jane Villanueva? On this episode, we dig into the huge, diverse swath of people that make up America’s middle class. And we ask if it’s possible to create one overarching policy that makes life better for them all — especially if you, yourself, only represent a small piece. Or may even have fallen out of touch entirely. GUESTS: Emily VanDerWerff, Vox; Anne Helen Petersen, Culture Study; Mari Faines, Physicians for Social Responsibility; Lori Latrice Martin, Louisiana State University ADDITIONAL READING: What TV Says About Race and Money, Salamishah Tillet, New York Times 10 Episodes That Show How Cheers Stayed Great for 11 Seasons, Emily VanDerWerff, AV Club America’s Hollow Middle Class, Anne Helen Petersen, Vox America in Denial: How Race-Fair Policies Reinforce Racial Inequality in America, Lori Latrice Martin, SUNY Press

The Biden administration says it’s focused on creating a “foreign policy for the middle class,” But what does that really mean? Keeping on keeping on with the way things have always been done? Slapping a little lipstick and climate change on Trump’s, “America First” agenda? Or creating something truly revolutionary? Ask around in Washington, and you’ll get ten different answers to the same question, if you get an answer at all. So this season, Things That Go Boom set out to decide for itself: What even is the middle class? What does it have to do with foreign policy? And, are we sitting on the precipice of a major change in the way we live our lives?

April 29 marked President Biden’s 100th day in office. So we thought it was about time to pop back in with a special bonus episode — before we’re back officially with season 5 — to take a look at what Biden’s done so far in terms of foreign policy, and what that might signal about his priorities going forward. On this episode Things That Go Boom: A very candid conversation with Nahal Toosi. What has Biden already accomplished, what can we learn about his goals, and what are analysts watching for on the horizon? GUESTS: Nahal Toosi, Politico ADDITIONAL READING: We're All 'Omnipolicy' Experts Now, Nahal Toosi. Biden’s ‘Foreign Policy for the Middle Class’ Is a Revolution, James Traub. 7 Ways to Track if Biden’s Omnipolicy Works, Nahal Toosi.

Over the course of our nuclear history, smaller (potentially more usable) nuclear weapons have come in all shapes and sizes — from so-called backpack bombs to the Davy Crockett nuclear rifle... And last year, the US deployed a new one. But, what exactly are these things? Do we need them? And what does the deployment of a new generation of them reveal about the US’s nuclear posture? On this episode of Things That Go Boom, we talk about low-yield nuclear weapons -- or what we’ve affectionately termed, “baby nukes.” GUESTS: Matt Korda, Federation of American Scientists; Rose Gottemoeller, Stanford University ADDITIONAL READING: The Littlest Boy, Adam Rawnsley and David Brown. Nuclear Notebook: United States Nuclear Weapons, 2021, Hans Kristensen and Matt Korda. After the Apocalypse: US Nuclear Policy, Heather Williams, Vipin Narang, Beatrice Finh, and Togzhan Kassenova.

Conspiracy theories are as old as time. And, they’re not all bad. Sometimes they bring us together for a subpar party in the desert. Take, for example, that one time in 2019 when more than 2 million people RSVP’d to ambush Area 51. But when they take a turn to the dark side, conspiracy theories can be as dangerous as any other threat we face. On this episode of Things That Go Boom, we talk about how the internet has fueled a rise in that dark side, and how it caught the US government by surprise. GUESTS: Elizabeth Neumann, Former Assistant Secretary for Counterterrorism and Threat Prevention at the Department of Homeland Security; Oumou Ly, Fellow, Berkman Klein Center, Harvard Law School ADDITIONAL READING: Leaving Trump in Office Now Will Just Encourage White Nationalists, Kathleen Belew and Elizabeth Neumann. When Disinformation Becomes a Political Strategy, Who Holds the Line?, Oumou Ly. QAnon Believers Are Obsessed With Hillary Clinton. She Has Thoughts., Michelle Goldberg.

When a violent pro-Trump mob stormed the legislature on Jan. 6, it caught the Capitol Police completely off-guard. But there was one woman in the House Chamber who was not surprised. In fact, she wore tennis shoes that day — Rep. Barbara Lee. We speak with Lee about the greatest terror threat inside the United States today, white nationalism, as well as a more general trend toward political radicalization. We also revisit her lonely vote in the wake of 9/11, when Lee was the only lawmaker in both chambers to take a stand against granting broad war powers to the president in response to the attack. Twenty years later, those powers have been stretched to cover drone strikes and military interventions across the globe. But with President Joe Biden in the White House, Lee seems closer than ever to getting that authorization repealed. GUEST: Rep. Barbara Lee, of California’s 13th congressional district, is a member of the Democratic Party. Besides her efforts to reign in presidential war powers, she’s advocated to end poverty and fight HIV. ADDITIONAL READING: 60 Words And A War Without End, BuzzFeed White Supremacist Domestic Terror Threat Looms Large In US, The Guardian Lone Wolves Connected Online: A History Of Modern White Supremacy, NYT

In December 2020, the company FireEye noticed that it had been the victim of a cyber intrusion. And it wasn’t the only one. About 18,000 companies and government agencies were breached, everything from the agency that controls America's nuclear weapons to the agency that regulates the electric grid, to a company whose products you probably use every day: Microsoft. So, what did they have in common? They were all using the same software monitoring service: a platform called Orion, from the company SolarWinds. The breach leaves the US open to nightmare scenario after nightmare scenario. So how did we get here, and how can we prevent similar attacks in the future? GUESTS: Mieke Eoyang, Senior Vice President for the National Security Program and Chairperson of the Cyber Enforcement Initiative, Third Way; Juliet Okafor, Founder and CEO, Revolution Cyber ADDITIONAL READING: Cybercrime vs. Cyberwar: Paradigms for Addressing Malicious Cyber Activity, Journal of National Security Law and Policy. To Catch a Hacker. A Moment of Reckoning: The Need for a Strong and Global Cybersecurity Response, Microsoft.

Darlene Turner is an Inupiaq Eskimo living on a battle line. Not the military kind, the climate change kind. With less sea ice to buffer storms, the ocean is washing away chunks of her village and its residents have made a difficult decision to relocate. “Would you relocate?” she asks. Experts believe stories like Darlene’s are just a precursor to a massive migratory trend that could have millions of Americans on the move before mid-century, as wildfires rage and floodwaters rise. And the consequences could be far-reaching— affecting our economy, our social fabric and even our foreign policy priorities. On this episode, we examine how ‘climigration’ could play out here at home, and how climate change can become a threat multiplier. GUESTS: Jesse Keenan, associate professor of real estate at the Tulane School of Architecture specializing in climate change adaptation: Francesco Femia, co-founder of the Center for Climate and Security, and the Council on Strategic Risks; Darlene Turner, library skills teacher; Jonathan Foret, executive director of the South Louisiana Wetlands Discovery Center. ADDITIONAL READING: The Great Climate Migration, ProPublica. ‘We’re Moving to Higher Ground’: America’s Era of Climate Mass Migration is Here, The Guardian. How Russia Wins the Climate Crisis, NYT.

Over the past few weeks, the president-elect, Joe Biden, has been rolling out announcements about his new cabinet. And in one of those announcements, he revealed that the subject of one of our favorite interviews over the years, Jake Sullivan, would be named national security advisor. The announcement made sense to us, since tensions between the US and Iran seem to have reached a new boiling point in the wake of President Trump’s decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal. Jake, you might remember, led the backchannel negotiations that ultimately brought us the deal. And, in this episode, which originally aired in 2019, Jake takes us back to the moment when those negotiations began. GUESTS: Jake Sullivan, National Security Advisor-designate; Wendy Sherman, former Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs; Ernest Moniz, former Secretary of Energy ADDITIONAL READING: The Inexorable Rise of Jake Sullivan, Politico. Iran’s Rouhani Says ‘No Doubt’ Biden Will Rejoin Nuclear Deal, Lift Sanctions, Washington Post.

Just after President Dwight D. Eisenhower assumed office on January 20, 1953, deep in the middle of the Cold War, his greatest adversary died. The speech that followed is considered one of his best, though not his most well known. Today, the US is sitting on the precipice of another great moment of potential change. One in which it’s not hard to imagine Eisenhower standing up before us and making the same case he did almost 70 years ago. So on today’s episode, we sit down with someone in a position to help us realize the perhaps forgotten potential of Eisenhower’s “Chance for Peace.” Someone who's given a lot of thought to the cost of violence, both at home and abroad. Senator Chris Murphy. GUESTS: Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) ADDITIONAL READING: Principles for a Progressive Foreign Policy; Chris Murphy, Brian Schatz, and Martin Heinrich. Rethinking the Battlefield; Chris Murphy. How to Make a Progressive Foreign Policy Actually Work; Chris Murphy.

Things That Go Boom is launching its very first fundraiser! Please consider giving just $5 a month. It’s convenient for you, provides ongoing support for Things That Go Boom and Inkstick Media, and you’ll feel good knowing you’re helping make Things That Go Boom freely available to everyone. Always. If Things That Go Boom is something that you’ve come to rely on over the course of the past two years, please go to inkstickmedia.com/donate and make a donation today. ————————— In 1958, a movie about a man-eating, bloodcurdling mass from outer space introduced the world to "The Blob." But in recent years, that term has taken on a whole new meaning among foreign policy professionals in Washington. What exactly defines this Blob can be as amorphous as the movie monster, so we reached out to three people to explain who exactly belongs in this group. The term, we learned, describes a perspective that transcends party lines and has remained relatively unchallenged for decades. In this episode, we'll explore the moment that all changed, and the Blob came face-to-face with... the anti-Blob. GUESTS: Ben Armbruster, Managing Editor of ResponsibleStatecraft.org at The Quincy Institute; Emma Ashford, Senior Fellow at the New American Engagement Initiative in the Scowcroft Center of the Atlantic Council; Van Jackson, professor of International Relations at Victoria University of Wellington. ADDITIONAL READING: Build a Better Blob, Emma Ashford The Blob Strikes Back, and Misses, Patrick Porter. More, Less, or Different?, Jake Sullivan. Policy Roundtable: The Future of Progressive Foreign Policy, Van Jackson.

2020 has been a scary year. In an effort to get to the root of why we’re all feeling the way we are, the first thing we did was something we probably should have done a long time ago... we reached out to a psychiatrist. We also asked all of you — our listeners, our friends, our family — to tell us the answer to what might seem like a pretty simple question: How safe do you feel? But the answers didn’t feel simple at all. GUESTS: Arash Javanbakht, MD; Bunmi Akinnusotu, Host of What in the World?; You guys! ADDITIONAL READING: Sex and Death in the Rational World of Defense Intellectuals, Carol Cohn. The Politics of Fear: How Fear Goes Tribal, Allowing Us To Be Manipulated, Arash Javanbakht. When Mask-Wearing Rules in the 1918 Pandemic Faced Resistance, Becky Little. As the 1918 Flu Emerged, Cover-Up and Denial Helped It Spread, Becky Little.

Things That Go Boom will be back November 9th, and we’ll be there to hold your hand while you weep, or party, all the way to the inauguration, a coronavirus vaccine, an accidental nuclear war (?!) … and beyond. In the meantime, go vote!

Can the country rebound from the social, cultural, and economic toll of COVID-19? Now we know what happens while we’re sleeping; have we woken up? And what will it take to right the ship? GUESTS: Gigi Kwik Gronvall, Senior Scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; Sherri Goodman, former Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Environmental Security and a Senior Fellow at the Wilson Center and the Center for Climate Security; Travis L. Adkins, lecturer of African and Security Studies at the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University; Marissa Conway, Co-founder of the Centre for Feminist Foreign Policy. ADDITIONAL READING: Foreign Policy Begins at Home, Council on Foreign Relations. At the Intersection of Domestic and Foreign Policy, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Is American Foreign Policy the Key to Economic Growth?, The Washington Post. The Legacy of American Racism at Home and Abroad, Foreign Policy. The Scientific Response to COVID-19 and Lessons for Security, Survival.

Why did the US Naval Academy reinstate celestial navigation as part of its curriculum a few years ago? Well, you can’t hack a sextant. In this episode, we look at some of the vulnerabilities that come with an over-reliance on high-tech defense systems. Our guests are Peter Singer and August Cole — national security experts who have taken to writing futuristic techno-thrillers to sound a few alarms. Among their warnings: The opening battles of WWIII won’t happen on a battlefield, and they will probably be silent. GUESTS: Peter Singer, strategist and senior fellow at New America; August Cole, non-resident senior fellow at the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security at the Atlantic Council. ADDITIONAL READING: Burn-In, Forbes. Ghost Fleet, The Diplomat. China Uses AI To Enhance Totalitarian Control, The Atlantic.

Disinformation and misinformation have been blurring the line between fantasy and reality since the start of communication itself. But over the last decade, they’ve posed an increasing threat to democracy in the United States, with the 2016 presidential election becoming a major flashpoint in Americans’ understanding of the consequences of fake news. The false information flooding the internet and spreading like wildfire on social media pose risks not just to national and election security, but even to our health and safety. With its bots, troll farms, and vested interest in certain election outcomes, Russia has become America’s public disinformation enemy. But experts say that the power of foreign actors to sow discord rests, first and foremost, right here at home, and the solution may be different than you think. GUESTS: Mike Mazarr, Senior Political Scientist at RAND Corporation; Cindy Otis, Author, Former CIA Analyst, and disinformation investigations manager; Camille Stewart, Head of Security Policy for Google Play and Android; Russell Jeung, Professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University ADDITIONAL READING: True or False: A CIA Analyst's Guide to Spotting Fake News, Cindy Otis. Vote and Die: Covering Voter Suppression during the Coronavirus Pandemic, Nieman Foundation. Combating Disinformation and Foreign Interference in Democracies: Lessons From Europe, Margaret L. Taylor.

As the US reckons with systemic racism and a less-than-democratic past, China is doubling down on its authoritarian ways. Meanwhile, research on the health of democracy from across the globe indicates the patient is not well. We trace China’s rise from the 1990s, when American pop music held a place alongside patriotic education, to its more recent political assertiveness-- not to mention its chokehold on civil rights in Hong Kong and Xinjiang. As China moves to assert itself on the world stage, is democracy losing? GUESTS: Connie Mei Pickart, writer and educator; Yascha Mounk, associate professor at Johns Hopkins University and senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund ADDITIONAL READING: How the World Views American-Style Democracy, Eurasia Group Foundation. Nationalism Ruined My Chinese Friendships, Connie Mei Pickart. In Hong Kong, Defiance Gone Quiet, The New York Times.

Are we in the middle of a new Cold War? Or have we rewritten the game? With old nuclear arms treaties expiring, and no new ones being signed, are we adapting to the times or playing with fire? In this episode, we look at the past and present of civil defense and nuclear arms control and ask what we can do — as individuals and as a nation — to prevent the existential threat of nuclear war. GUESTS: Alex Wellerstein, professor at the Stevens Institute of Technology and historian of nuclear weapons; Alexandra Bell, Senior Policy Director at the Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation. ADDITIONAL READING: NUKEMAP. Trump Will Withdraw From Open Skies Treaty, New York Times. Time Running Out on the Last US-Russia Nuclear Arms Treaty, Defense News. Will Donald Trump Resume Nuclear Testing?, The Economist.

After almost a decade in prison, Yevgeny Prigozhin was released into a new world. Gorbachev gave his last speech as leader of the Soviet Union; the Communist Party was outlawed. Soon, gangs were violently extorting new business owners and the murder rate doubled. But Prigozhin was comfortable with chaos. He started a hot dog stand and climbed his way up into the highest echelons of power… then decided to diversify. In this episode, we look at a Russian businessman who takes on a new game, war in the shadows, and how we prepare for what we can't see. GUESTS: Anastasia Gorshkova, Russian Journalist; Sean McFate, Georgetown, Author, Former Mercenary ADDITIONAL READING: Putin’s Kleptocracy, Karen Dawisha. The Future is History, Masha Gessen. The New Rules of War, Sean McFate.

If the US can’t build better airports or trains than China, or even take care of itself in times of major crisis like the coronavirus, how exactly is it supposed to “beat” China in this global competition we’re in? We look back to see how China’s ascent snuck up on the US, and we ask if a zero-sum mentality is sleep-walking us to war. GUESTS: Kishore Mahbubani, author and distinguished fellow, Asia Research Institute; Rachel Esplin Odell, International Security Fellow, Belfer Center. ADDITIONAL READING: Has China Won? Kishore Mahbubani. The Folly of Trump’s Blame-Beijing Coronavirus Strategy,The New Yorker.

The US spends more than $700 billion on defense every year, more than healthcare, education, and all the rest of our discretionary spending combined. And yet the coronavirus slipped silently and invisibly across our borders, and even onto our aircraft carriers. You could say we were preparing for World War III, when we got hammered by World War C. This season we ask, “What else are we missing?” GUESTS: Alden Wicker, Sustainable Fashion Journalist; Kathleen Hicks, CSIS; John Blocher, Dave Ahern, Mia Herrington, and Larry Rubin, who shared their personal views with us at Defense One 2020. ADDITIONAL READING: Getting to Less, Foreign Affairs. The Lessons of Y2K, 20 Years Later, Washington Post. Nuclear Spending vs. Healthcare, ICAN.

Could the rise of China spell the end of the US as the dominant world power? Are we on an irreversible path toward military confrontation? Are we prepared for life in a multilateral world? Military spending is growing, and the Pentagon says it’s in service of something called “great power competition” — but are the biggest threats to US power military? Or, something else.  This next season of Things That Go Boom will explore how our national security has refocused on threats that require traditional military might — things like carriers and fighter jets — at a time when some of the biggest threats to our security are silent, agile, economic, and even viral. We’ll ask if our main adversaries — Russia and China — are really a threat, and we’ll examine just how strong, or weak, a position the US holds in this new geopolitical reality.