Vox's Worldly

Zack, Jenn, and Alex wrap up 2018 by looking back at three of the most dramatic foreign policy decisions President Trump made in 2018 — and whether, in retrospect, they turned out to be as dramatic as we’d initially thought. For Elsewhere, Zack pushes back on the fundamental premise of the conversation in the first part of the show and argues that, #actually, Trump’s decisions are still bad, regardless. Zack sings some Miley Cyrus, Jenn explains that the Gestapo were, in fact, Nazis, and Alex treats us to his adorably atrocious Southern accent. Links: Trump doesn’t believe his own government’s report that the climate is changing for the worse. Vox has done a lot of coverage on Trump’s policy toward Saudi Arabia after the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. It’s worth reading Trump’s statement on his final decision on what to do. Here’s a good explainer on Trump’s decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem. Some analysts, including the New York Times editorial board, called Trump’s move a “failure.” The worry was mo

Zack and Jenn discuss the massive hack of Marriott, in which the information of as many as 500 million people was stolen. China appears to be the culprit — part of a broader cyber assault on US institutions that amounts to a massive Chinese intelligence coup against America. On Elsewhere, they discuss British Prime Minister Theresa May’s uncomfortably close victory in a vote challenging her leadership of the Conservative Party, and what that means for the future of Brexit. Zack adopts some British vocabulary and Jenn vents about the many irritations of the security clearance process. The team cited this New York Times piece about the hacks throughout the episode.   The full Fox & Friends interview with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo can be found here. If you want to read more about the security clearance process, Jenn recommends this FAQ. Zack mentioned that the CFO of Huawei was arrested in Canada, but here's a much more in-depth look at what that means. And for more context on the no-confidence vote, Vox ha

Zack, Jenn, and Alex discuss the protests currently raging in France. They began as a reaction to President Emmanuel Macron’s gas tax hike, but have evolved into a much wider rebuke of his allegedly elitist, out-of-touch presidency. For Elsewhere, they break down the late President George H.W. Bush’s hugely consequential foreign policy legacy — both for good and for ill. Zack advises Macron not to act like a god, Jenn nerds out on Middle East history, and Alex tries his hand at French. Macron wants to increase the price of gas by 30 cents to $7.36 a gallon. France’s economy isn’t doing too hot, as Jenn mentioned. Macron fancies himself as a political centrist, which may explain why he’s berated from across the political spectrum. Macron has proposed many labor reforms, the source of the current controversy. Jenn and Alex note that people in the lower and middle classes don’t like “Macronomics.” Zack still can’t believe Macron compared himself to a god. Macron lambasts his citizens for not understanding why he

Zack, Jenn, and Alex discuss the Senate’s historic War Powers vote on Wednesday, the first step toward reining in US participation in Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen. The US has been supporting Saudi Arabia with weapons and intelligence for years, but the Senate just took a major — unprecedented, in fact — step toward stopping it. On Elsewhere, they run through the UK’s deal with the EU on the terms of Brexit and why Parliament might end up rejecting the deal in December. Zack does a terrible British accent, Jenn manages to repeatedly work the word “omnishambles” into the conversation, and Alex talks about a “garden of unicorns.” References: Alex Ward wrote a great explainer on the recent Senate vote. The full clip of Sens. Mike Lee and Bernie Sanders speaking about the war in Yemen on NBC. For a deeper dive on the Khashoggi murder, you can listen to our last episode, or read our latest Khashoggi coverage here.   Trump offered his full-throated support for Saudi Arabia in an (as Alex put it) childlike statement.

On Future Perfect, Vox’s Dylan Matthews tackles provocative ideas with the potential to radically improve the world – ideas like opening up our borders. One of the most reliable, best-documented ways to lift someone in a poor country out of poverty is to let them come to the US (or another rich country). That’s the argument made by Fabio Rojas, a self-described advocate of open borders. "Open borders" is often used as a punching bag by immigration opponents, but Rojas argues it could dramatically reduce poverty without costing Americans jobs. Leon Fresco works to help get real immigration legislation passed. He's very skeptical. Find Future Perfect on Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | ART19  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Zack and Alex are joined by James Palmer, an editor at Foreign Policy magazine, to discuss a terrible and under-discussed humanitarian crisis: China’s repression of its Uighur Muslim minority. In Xinjiang province, where most Uighurs live, China has set up a series of concentration camps designed to brainwash Uighurs and stamp out their culture and religion. As many as 1 million people are currently in those camps. The Worldly team breaks down how this is happening, what it says about modern China, and what (if anything) the world can do to stop it. Uighurs, explained James Palmer shouted out this piece on Uighur camps by Rian Thum, and an older piece he himself had written called The Strangers He also cited the Urumqi riots as part of the lead up to the introduction of the camps. This New York Times piece provides more details about those. Palmer mentioned that a prominent Uighur footballer was sent to the camps. His story here. Here’s more on China’s social credit score and use of facial recognition softwar

Zack, Jenn, and Alex break down the implications of President Donald Trump firing Attorney General Jeff Sessions, both for the Russia investigation and for the rule of law. On Elsewhere, they discuss how the Democratic takeover of the House could result in some much-needed scrutiny over America’s role in Saudi Arabia’s vicious war in Yemen. Zack says most dictators are men, Jenn points out that women can also be power-hungry queens, and Alex explains that House Democrats are Democrats … in the House. Mueller Investigation 101 A little more information about Sessions’s confirmation hearings. More on the history of the Trump-Sessions feud. As Zack said, the president reportedly screamed at Sessions. Trump actually called Sessions “Mr. Magoo.” And Jenn mentioned several Trump tweets about Sessions. As Alex claimed, Trump wanted to fire Sessions even before midterm elections results were in. Jenn mentioned Matt Whitaker’s “Mueller lynch mob” tweet. More on what the investigation revealed about Paul Manafort. Here

Jenn, Alex, and returning special guest Alina Polyakova discuss what a presidential election in Brazil and a stunning political announcement in Germany have in common: the collapse of centrist leadership worldwide. The center-left and center-right have broadly governed world affairs since World War II, but a mix of economic problems and growing immigration have led fringe groups to gain power around the globe. It’s a potentially dangerous development that threatens to upend how the world has mostly governed itself for more than 70 years. Jenn usurps Zack’s traditional hosting role, Alex somehow fails to make a soccer reference, and Alina corrects many of Alex’s bad takes. We based the episode around Alex’s piece on the decline of centrist leadership around the world. Alex mentioned the Bretton Woods agreement that led to many of the world’s global institutions. Alina noted how the European Union rose from the ashes of World War II. International relations theory nerds will appreciate the “End of History” refe

Zack, Jenn, and Alex address one of the world’s biggest threats: nuclear war. There’s a small but still very real chance that nuclear weapons will be used in our lifetimes; the gang discusses how that could happen — and what it would look like if the bomb actually went off. For Elsewhere, they end the episode on a “high” note: discussing the impact of Canada’s recent legalization of marijuana. Zack comes up with a new nuclear Pokémon, Jenn complains about “dirty hippies,” and Alex finds a way to talk about the World Cup. Throughout the episode, we drew on Alex Ward’s story about how a nuclear war kills you. As we mentioned, Worldly’s dug deep in to the possibility of nuclear war between India and Pakistan before. And here’s Yochi Dreazen’s piece on what a war between the US and North Korea would look like. We’re still at war with North Korea formally, for real. Jeffrey Lewis’s book, The 2020 Commission Report on the North Korean Nuclear Attacks Against the United States: A Speculative Novel There’s a Tumblr o

On a special episode of Worldly with two main segments, Zack talks with Alex about the latest in the Jamal Khashoggi saga and then interviews Vox health writer Julia Belluz on the worrying Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Zack and Alex examine how the US political system is responding to the mounting evidence of Saudi guilt, and Julia explains why this looks like one of the worst Ebola outbreaks in history. This is a pretty dark episode, so not a lot of jokes — sorry fam. Vox has been following the Khashoggi story closely. You can find some of the latest articles here, here, and here. We talked about Sen. Lindsey Graham’s and Sen. Marco Rubio’s strong pushback against Saudi Arabia. Here’s a video of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo telling the press he doesn’t “want to know any of the facts.” But it does look like Pompeo pressed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman hard in private during their meeting this week. President Donald Trump says he doesn’t want to punish Saudi Arabia to the point

Zack, Jenn, and Alex discuss the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi, a prominent Saudi dissident-in-exile and Washington Post columnist. Khashoggi went into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to get some paperwork, and then never came out; it’s looking like the increasingly repressive Saudi government either kidnapped or killed him, and is now having to face the consequences. On Elsewhere, they discuss a recent attempt to ban same-sex marriage in Romania that backfired spectacularly. Jenn teaches the team how to pronounce Arabic names, Alex makes the “wah-wah” noise, and Zack is shocked that the show ended on a positive note for once. Vox’s Alexia Underwood wrote a great explainer on the Khashoggi situation. Alexia also recommends this piece with more background on Khashoggi. You can read Khashoggi’s columns in the Washington Post. As Jenn mentioned, the New York Times dug into the identities of the 15 men.   US intelligence reportedly suggests Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered Khashoggi’s rendition to Saud

Zack, Jenn, and Alex discuss the state of Brexit: The United Kingdom’s ongoing negotiation over the terms of its departure from the European Union. The process has involved months of turmoil between UK Prime Minister Theresa May and hardline members of her party, and the UK and EU are still far apart — and if there’s no resolution, things could get bad for the UK pretty soon. On Elsewhere, they discuss an ironic situation in China: The ruling Communist Party has cracked down on a Marxist student group at the country’s most prestigious university. Zack geeks out on political science research, Jenn discusses high school lock-ins, and Alex throws a water bottle across the room. References: If you want to know the intricacies of the Chequers plan, Jenn recommends this BBC article. Listen to former Brexit Secretary David Davis say that the Chequers plan “is almost worse than being in” the EU here. Alex wrote about Boris Johnson quitting as the UK’s foreign secretary over the Chequers plan. Zack said the best polit

Zack, Jenn, and Alex discuss President Trump’s massive new escalation in his trade war with China — new tariffs that mean half of all imports from China are now being taxed. They break down how these tariffs will actually affect Americans, Trump’s overall strategy of hurting the Chinese economy, and why this isn’t likely to end well for anyone. On Elsewhere, they chat about the Polish president’s bold new gambit to build a US military base on his soil — and name it Fort Trump. Zack does a Jerry Seinfeld voice, Jenn learns an exciting fact about Jared Kushner’s Amazon search history, and Alex confesses his love for the fashion lobby. References! The statement from the president announcing tariffs. Throughout the episode, we quoted Alex’s reporting; Jenn also referenced Matt Yglesias’s explanation of the trade war. Jenn quoted a guest on Marketplace. To hear the full interview, check out “Tariffs, but make it fashion” from September 17, 2018. Here’s more on how Peter Navarro was hired. This Politico piece digs

Zack, Jenn, and Alex break down the debate over the legacy of the 9/11 attacks: Did al-Qaeda get what it wanted? On Elsewhere, we look at Russia’s latest bizarre attempt to deflect blame for the UK spy poisoning by posting a questionable interview with the supposed suspects. Zack makes an epistemology joke, Alex negs Salisbury, and Jenn labels Russians a “tropical people.” References: The Foreign Policy article that kicked off this conversation.   During the conversation about torture in the US, Jenn mentioned a Dick Cheney quote and Alex referenced a quote from President Obama. Jenn recommends this article for deeper understanding about al-Qaeda’s goal of bleeding America economically and militarily to convince the country to get out of the Middle East. She also cited this statement of the organization’s goals from 1998. And here’s more on the “Why aren’t we attacking Sweden?” argument. Ayman al-Zawahiri’s Knights Under the Prophet’s Banner recounts his early days in Egypt, and Gilles Kepel’s book Muslim Ext

Zack, Jenn, and Alex dissect the looming crisis in Idlib, the last big rebel stronghold in Syria, which will soon be the target of a vicious Assad regime offensive. The roughly three million people in the region, many of whom were displaced from previous rounds of fighting, are in dire straits — and it’s not clear what the United States, or the rest of the world, plans to do about any of this. On Elsewhere, they examine former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's improbably woke Twitter account. Zack discusses the intricacies of Soviet propaganda, Jenn tells Trump to call Putin, and Alex invokes the time-honored “whoa if true” maxim. References! We draw on Alex’s reporting for a lot of the first segment. For more, read The looming fight for Idlib, Syria’s last main rebel stronghold, explained. Zack talked about the “siege, starve, surrender” approach. He also mentioned that starvation as a method of warfare is a war crime. A few times over the course of the episode, Alex mentioned the humanitarian crisis b

Zack and Alex are joined by a special guest — Weeds host Dara Lind — to discuss the way President Trump makes deals with foreign countries. They break down the big news of the week on nuclear negotiations with North Korea and NAFTA talks with Mexico and Canada, and point to a common thread: Trump announces an agreement that doesn’t actually solve the problem it’s supposed to, and might not even work, forcing his aides to scramble and clean up the mess. Zack channels Jenn while she’s on vacation, Dara explains NAFTA by referencing Avril Lavigne, and Alex explains that 2 and 3 are different numbers. References! We dig into Alex’s reporting this episode. Here’s his full piece on the promises made at the North Korea summit in Singapore. And here are the four points Alex also mentioned. The whole team discussed this piece out of Tokyo Business Today.   Dara’s been on Worldly since, but here’s the episode she mentioned where they talk about the rise of Trump’s war cabinet:   Dara gave us a quick primer on NAFTA, bu

Zack, Jenn, and Alex talk about Trump’s late-night tweet about the alleged persecution of white South African farmers. They explain what’s actually happening in South Africa, how Trump’s take on the situation has its roots in an international white nationalist movement, and how Fox News is helping turn these extreme ideas into actual US foreign policy. On Elsewhere, they discuss the recent revelation that Iran has been engaging in a Russia-style disinformation campaign on social media — and why the US can’t seem to fight back against foreign meddling in its politics. Alex recalls his old AOL screen name, Zack reveals a little too much about what the word “cyber” means to him, and Jenn leavens a dark episode with talk of cute cats and dogs. References: Jenn’s piece on President Trump’s South Africa tweet, which we reference throughout the episode.    Jenn mentioned that experts contest this narrative. Here are several pieces from Quartz, the New Statesman, and the BBC that dig into that idea further. If you’d

Zack, Jenn, and special guest Matt Yglesias discuss the economic crisis crippling Turkey — and how its feud with the Trump administration over a detained American pastor is making things even worse. On Elsewhere, Jenn and Zack examine the very real and very disturbing pirates of the Caribbean. Zack demonstrates his thorough mastery of Turkish acronyms, Matt challenges Turkey’s right to the biggest airport, and Jenn reveals the lengths she’d go to protect her dog. References: For some background on Erdogan, watch this Vox video on Erdogan’s slide toward authoritarianism. Zack mentioned the history of military coups in Turkey, but we couldn’t go into it in detail. Here’s an in-depth piece with the long, bizarre backstory. A little more on Erdogan’s son-in-law as finance minister. As Zack mentioned, there have been lots of Turkish megaprojects, including an airport and a bridge. The Washington Post article Jenn quoted to describe the situation for people living in Turkey. Jenn talked about Erdogan’s possible dea

Zack, Jenn, and Alex explore the utterly bizarre diplomatic fight between Saudi Arabia and Canada — and why it has everything to do with the ruthless ambition of Saudi’s young new crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman. On Elsewhere, they discuss a big scoop Alex got on what the US is asking from North Korea in their nuclear arms negotiations — and what that tells us about how those negotiations are going (spoiler: not very well). Zack finally grants his Canadian fiancée’s wish to do a Canada episode, Jenn proposes a new location for a Trump hotel, and Alex reveals his unique nickname for the Saudi crown prince. References! Jenn’s piece on the Saudi Arabia-Canada fight (and a shorter, more up-to-date version here) The tweet from the Canadian foreign ministry that kicked things off Jenn specifically described one tweet with an image of a plane flying towards the Toronto skyline, and cited some Washington Post reporting. Here’s an article on the Saudi-owned media outlet al-Arabiya putting out a video calling Jordan

On this week’s episode, Zack, Jenn, and Alex look at the economics behind Trump’s offer to sit down with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. The Iranian economy is in trouble after the US withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal, due to the impending threat of new sanctions; Trump hopes this will pressure the Iranians to come back to the negotiating table, but it might actually backfire. On Elsewhere, they talk about Google’s plan to move into China by building a censored search engine, and the ways tech giants are like mini states. Alex reveals his love of pistachios, Jenn expresses distaste for Bing, and Zack pinpoints the “Iranian carrot.” References! We played a clip from a recent Trump rally in Tampa, Florida. The full rally can be found here. Jenn read a quote from this Chicago Tribune article, which also goes deeper into the Iranian economy. Alex gave us a recap on America’s previous sanctions and the Iran nuclear deal. More details here. He also mentioned that the Iranian currency has dropped dramatically si