Deep State Radio

To celebrate the fourth anniversary of Deep State Radio (which is to say something like 750 podcasts and a growing audience throughout), we have convened our inner circle of experts, our regular Deep State family, for a look four years from now. As you might expect, we have optimism, pessimism, realism, idealism, and a host of other flavors of outlook from which you can choose. It is the right way to celebrate the past four years and--especially--our deep gratitude to each and every Deep State nerd out there who has helped make the podcast and all of its spin-offs such a success. Don't miss it. And...thank you everybody! We look forward to the next four years!   Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Listening to FBI Director Christopher Wray before the Congress this week and last, his answers were long and yet achieved a kind of studied vacuousness. There was no there there. No substantive. No sense of responsibility for clear intelligence failures. No sense that we were getting to the root causes of the event. No sense that those really responsible for it will be brought to justice. And for all the reasons there was no sense that we will be able to avoid other such events in the future. Former FBI agent Frank Figliuzzi believes we won't. Ryan Goodman of NYU Law School and his co-host David Rothkopf speak to Figliuzzi and former US attorney Barb McQuade about the questions Wray and others need to be asked...and answer. Join us for a substantive and disturbing conversation. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The lack of accountability for Donald Trump and his cronies for the January 6th insurrection, for the serial obstruction of justice identified by the Mueller investigation, for his alleged fraud at the helm of the Trump Organization, for his efforts to intimidate state election officials in the wake of the 2020 election, for his serial sexual abuse cases...and for so much more...is deeply frustrating. Sometimes it feels as though he has gamed the system and will never be brought to justice. Allison Gill, host of the Daily Beans podcast, is a student of these cases and she counsels patience. We discuss what's next in these cases and on another front where she has been a courageous leader, sexual abuse in the military, with AG on this special edition of Deep State Radio. Don't miss it. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Terrorism expert Gina Ligon tells Jeanne Meserve that the Biden administration’s initiative on domestic extremism represents a ‘sea change’ in policy but doesn’t address the root causes of populist violence. Israeli counterterrorism dramas do, an American ex-pat writer in Jerusalem tells Jeff Stein, because so many involved have served in spy units. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

When Vladimir Putin sits down with Joe Biden, both men will be well familiar with each other and Putin will have no illusions that he can toy with the new American president like he could with the last one. Joe Biden has been working at a high level in US foreign policy since 1973 (when Leonid Brezhnev was General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.) As Biden's Europe trip has demonstrated this past week, he is a savvy foreign policy professional who knows how to pull the levers of diplomacy behind the scenes. If not every speech is a barn burner, the results so far outstrip those of all his recent predecessors in their first years in office. We discuss the Putin meeting with David Sanger of the New York Times, who is traveling with the president, and Evelyn Farkas, former senior Obama Administration official and Russia specialist. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Financial Times Editor-at-Large Gillian Tett has distinguished herself as a brilliant observer of markets and politics. That is in part due to the training she got while earning her PhD in anthropology. It is that experience and method that she brings to her latest book, the lucid, eye-opening and compelling "Anthro Vision: A New Way to See in Business and Life." It's insights and lessons are exceptionally powerful tools for leaders in every sector facing a world struggling to recover and coping with rapid change. Edward Luce, also of the Financial Times, and host David Rothkopf, discuss the book and how it applies to the lives of our listeners. You won't want to miss this conversation. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Ahead of presidents Putin and Biden meeting in Geneva, a psychiatrist puts the leader of Russia on the couch. Dr. Kenneth Dekleva, who served in the US embassy in Moscow, joins co-host Jeanne Meserve for a special edition of SpyTalk. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

With Republicans variously arguing that vaccines make people magnetic and that the Forest Service should be able to reroute the Moon's orbit, you'd think the party would be headed for a bad end. Add in the corruption and the traitors and the insurrections and it is baffling there still is a GOP. Yet, that said, many observers are predicting the GOP will win the House and Senate in next year's midterm elections. If that happens, you can expect columns the morning after asking whether the party that stood up for truth and the rule of law has a future. We discuss this and what the Dems should do about it with James Hohmann of the Washington Post, Dr, Kavita Patel of the Brookings Institution and the Obama White House and Ryan Goodman of NYU Law School and "Just Security." Don't miss this. Although you may want an adult beverage at hand while you listen.  Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Chinese espionage poses a mortal threat to the US, former counterintelligence boss Bill Evanina tells Jeanne Meserve. And author Kai Bird talks with Jeff Stein about a clandestine plot with Iran by Reagan campaign manager and future CIA Director Bill Casey to deny Jimmy Carter re-election.  Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Pultizer Prize-winner Daniel Yergin is widely regarded as the world's foremost analyst and commentator on energy issues. His books have chronicled every aspect of how modern energy markets have evolved and their impact on geopolitics and daily life. His latest book, "The New Map: Energy, Climate and the Clash of Nations," describes how emerging energy technologies and climate related issues are impacting power and the potential for conflict, growth and power shifts worldwide. We discuss the book and how it ties to today's headlines with Yergin on this special episode. Don't miss it. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Joe Biden is off to Europe. He will meet with Allies and with Vladimir Putin. Under Trump, that was a formula for headlines and disaster. Under all presidents such trips produce fraught analyses seeking to identify presidential doctrines and historic deliverables. But most of diplomacy is blocking and tackling. And much of it best done out of sight of the public. We discuss the upcoming trip with Atlantic columnist Tom Nichols, AEI's Kori Schake and Georgetown Law's Rosa Brooks and we come to the conclusion that "Biden Returns Home After Uneventful Trip" might be the best outcome of all. We also discuss what might be the tougher upcoming diplomatic trip in the next few days, that of Kamala Harris to Mexico and Central America. Don't miss it.  Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On this special edition of SpyTalk, co-host Jeanne Meserve speaks with William Evanina, former Director of the United States National Counterintelligence and Security Center about the recent spate of ransomware attacks. Evanina says President Biden should threaten to pull out of the upcoming summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and that the US should demonstrate it is willing and able to shut down Russian infrastructure. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Democrats keep bending over backwards to "do what's right" or "preserve bipartisanship." Republicans meanwhile have made it clear they have no interest in doing what's right or bipartisanship. Is the Democratic strategy a way to get to enough votes to reform the filibuster and thereby thwart GOP efforts to gut democracy? Or is it the old story of Lucy, Charlie Brown and the football. The weeks ahead will reveal the truth. In the eyes of Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne, a moment of truth lies ahead. Ryan Goodman of "Just Security" and NYU Law School and Dr. Kavita Patel of the Brookings Institution and the Obama White House join the discussion. Don't miss it. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Former top FBI domestic extremist specialist Tom O’Connor tells co-host Jeanne Meserve in a startling interview that he’s worried about another Timothy McVeigh plotting something big. And Jeff Stein talks with veteran intelligence reporter Bill Arkin about a vast Pentagon secret army combatting our enemies that no one’s heard about. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Many are rightly focused on the importance of 2024's presidential elections and the midterms in 2022. But if we do not stop GOP efforts at voter suppression this year...which means ending the filibuster this year...and we don't create accountability for Trump Administration abuses, we will set in motion inevitable defeats not just for Democrats but for American democracy in the years ahead. We discuss with the American Enterprise Institute's Norm Ornstein, Brookings scholar Dr. Kavita Patel and co-editor of Just Security and Professor at NYU Law School Ryan Goodman. Don't miss it. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Jean Meserve talks with former Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Juliette Kayyem about the mess in DHS’ intelligence shop, and Jeff Stein interviews Barry Meier about his new book, “Spooked: The Trump Dossier, Black Cube, and the Rise of Private Spies.” Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, is one of the world's leading thinkers on international affairs. His most recent book, "The World: A Brief Introduction" is a one volume crash course into how we got to where we are and where we go from here. It is now out in paperback and to mark that event, we sat down with Richad to discuss the book, America's changing role in the world, the impact of COVID, our very different rivalries with China and Russia and much much more. Ed Luce of the Financial Times joins in the conversation for a pod episode you won't want to miss. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We've come to the end of another violent cycle between Israelis and Palestinians. Generally, the Biden Administration has gotten good grades for a policy that balanced active, behind the scenes efforts to bring the violence to a quick close with a desire not to get side-tracked from their main agenda items here at home. Where do we go from here? What did the crisis tell us is now different between Israelis and Palestinians? About American attitudes toward both sides? We discuss with well-known Middle East experts and commentators Rula Jebreal and Aaron David Miller and Kori Schake of the American Enterprise Institute plus Rosa Brooks of Georgetown Law School. Also: Thoughts on how the US and the world should react to the shocking seizure of a journalist from a transiting Ryan Air jet by Belarus. Don't miss it. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, the vast majority of Republicans on Capitol Hill sought to block a bipartisan commission that would investigate the attack that took place on January 6th and the factors leading up to it. Some even portrayed the attackers as the victims or as just a bunch of tourists visiting a national monument. It would have been shocking if it were not so commonplace. So the question becomes, do enough Americans even care about preserving our system of government to protect it? And if not, how can a sufficient number be motivated to care? We discuss with Washington Post columnist Greg Sargent and Ryan Goodman, co-editor of Just Security and a professor at NYU Law School. It's an important discussion. Don't miss it. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The past two weeks have revealed that the Israel-Palestine conflict remains far from a solution. Indeed, of the two most likely solutions discussed--a two-state "solution" or a one-state "solution"--both seem impossible. But the problem is a real one with profound human consequences in Israel and Palestine and great resonance in the US (often for the wrong reasons). We discuss the situation and our options with one of the most thoughtful observers and voices on these issues in the U.S., Jeremy Ben-Ami, the president of J-Street. Don't miss this thoughtful conversation on a complex and confounding problem. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/deepstateradio. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.