Call Me Back - with Dan Senor

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China Surprise: Saudi-Iranian Detente Mar 13, 2023

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China just announced that it had brokered a deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran to restore diplomatic relations, for the first time since they were officially severed in 2016. But this news begs more questions than it answers. To help us understand what it means for Washington, Jerusalem, Beijing, Tehran, and Riyadh, Rich Goldberg joins the podcast. Rich is a senior advisor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. From 2019-2020, he served as a Director for Countering Iranian Weapons of Mass Destruction for the White House National Security Council. He previously served as a national security staffer in the US Senate and US House. He was a founding staff director of the House U.S.-China Working Group and was among the first Americans ever to visit China’s human space launch center. A leader in efforts to expand U.S. missile defense cooperation with Israel, Rich played a key role in U.S. funding for the Iron Dome. Rich is an officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve with military experience on the Joint Staff and in Afghanistan.

Western ideas at their best & why they're under attack - with Eric Cohen Mar 06, 2023

Show notes

Eric Cohen is the CEO of Tikvah. He was the founder and remains editor-at-large of the New Atlantis, and he serves as the publisher of Mosaic. Eric has written for The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and Commentary, He is the author of In the Shadow of Progress: Being Human in the Age of Technology. He previously worked for the U.S. President’s Council on Bioethics. Eric's work can be found at: TikvahFund.org The Mosaic essay we discuss in this episode: "The Spirit of Jewish Classical Education", by Eric and Cohen & Mitchell Rocklin https://mosaicmagazine.com/essay/history-ideas/2023/02/the-spirit-of-jewish-classical-education/ Column by Tyler Cowen: "Wokeism Has Peaked" https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2022-02-18/wokeism-has-peaked-in-america-but-is-still-globally-influential#xj4y7vzkg The New Atlantis https://www.thenewatlantis.com/

What does Biden mean by “as long as it takes”? - with Richard Fontaine Feb 27, 2023

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On the topic of geopolitics, international flashpoints and the state of the war, a surprisingly optimistic Richard Fontaine returns to our podcast. Richard is the CEO of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), a bi-partisan foriegn policy think tank in Washington, DC. Prior to CNAS, he was foreign policy advisor to Senator John McCain and worked at the State Department, the National Security Council, and on the staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He serves on the Biden administration’s Defense Policy Board – which advises the Pentagon. Richard’s oped discussed in this episode: https://warontherocks.com/2023/02/of-strategy-and-schnitzel-munich-security-conference-2023/

Niall Ferguson: How Cold War II Turns Hot Feb 20, 2023

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Historian Niall Ferguson returns to the podcast to look at how the current Cold War could turn hot. Niall has taught at Harvard, Cambridge, Oxford and New York University. He’s authored 17 books. He’s currently at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University where he is the MIllbank Family Senior Fellow, and Managing Director of Greenmantle, a macroeconomic and geopolitical advisory firm. Order Niall’s most recent book, “Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe” here: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/doom-niall-ferguson/1137713414 Learn more about the University of Austin here: https://www.uaustin.org/ Learn more about Greenmantle here: https://www.gmantle.com/ Email me questions, comments and ideas at Dan@unlocked.fm.

Bonus Episode: Check-in on the Abraham Accords - with Aryeh Lightstone Feb 16, 2023

Show notes

The Abraham Accords were signed in September 2020. This agreement between Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, marked the first full normalization agreement between Israel and an Arab country since the 1994 Jordan-Israel agreement. Soon after the September 2020 signing, Morocco and Sudan joined the Accords as well. Since these historic breakthroughs, Israel has been through wild political swings, from a left-right coalition government that included Naftali Bennett from the Right, Yair Lapid from the center-Left, and Mansour Abbas from a Muslim-Arab party. Fast forward to today, there is a government of the Right led by Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been on this podcast. And through it all, the Abraham Accords have endured. One of the architects of the accords was Aryeh Lightstone, who served as Senior Advisor to the U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman from 2017 to 2021. On a recent trip to Israel, I sat down with Aryeh to hear the latest and also discuss his book, "Let My People Know: The Incredible Story of Middle East Peace―and What Lies Ahead." Aryeh played a critical role in the opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem and he was a U.S. Government point person in the Middle East for the actualization of the Abraham Accords. Aryeh Lightsone's book: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/let-my-people-know-aryeh-lightstone/1140125201

Mike Murphy on the 2024 presidential primaries Feb 13, 2023

Show notes

In this episode, we go deep on 2024 presidential primaries with Mike Murphy, who has worked on 26 gubernatorial and US Senate races across the country. Murphy was a top strategist for John McCain, Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. He’s a political analyst for NBC and MSNBC. He’s co-host of the critically acclaimed "Hacks on Tap" podcast. Mike is also co-director of the University of Southern California’s Center for the Political Future. Articles we discuss in this episode: “Biden is as good as it gets for the Democrats”, by Michael Brendan Dougherty: https://www.nationalreview.com/2023/01/bidens-as-good-as-it-gets-for-democrats/ “Biden's State of the Union Was a Feisty Return to '90s Politics. Republicans Should Be Afraid,” by Josh Barro: https://www.joshbarro.com/p/bidens-state-of-the-union-was-a-feisty

Bonus Episode: Super Bowl & Beyond - with Mike Tanenbaum Feb 11, 2023

Show notes

Mike Tannenbaum has more than 2 decades of experience in NFL team front offices. He was an executive vice president of football operations for the Miami Dolphins (2015-18), and executive vice president and general manager for the New York Jets (2006-12). Under Mike’s leadership, the Jets advanced to the playoffs in three seasons, won four playoff games and made two AFC Championship game appearances. Mike’s tenure as general manager of the Jets marked the most successful seven-year period in franchise history.He’s also worked with legendary NFL coaches, from Bill Parcells to Bill Belichick. Today Mike is an ESPN analyst – ESPN’s NFL Front Office Insider. In addition to his ESPN role, Tannenbaum is the founder of football think tank and news and commentary platform, The 33rd Team, and he teaches Football Business Management: The Inner Workings of the NFL at Columbia University. Mike began his NFL career as an intern for the New Orleans Saints in 1994. Discussed on the show: The33rdteam.com

Maggie Haberman on 2024 Feb 06, 2023

Show notes

Are we actually headed for a replay of Trump vs Biden in 2024? How strong is Trump heading into the GOP primaries? Is Biden certain to be the Democratic nominee? Do Biden and Trump need each other? And what role will Trump play in 2024 if he’s NOT the Republican nominee? Maggie Haberman, senior political correspondent for The New York Times, returns to the podcast. For the entirety of the Trump administration, Maggie Haberman was a White House correspondent for The New York Times. She joined The Times in 2015. Maggie is part of a team at The Times that won a Pulitzer, and she is the author of the book Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America. Before joining The New York Times, Maggie was a reporter at Politico, The New York Post and The New York Daily News. Maggie Haberman's book, Confidence Man: www.barnesandnoble.com/w/confidence-man-maggie-haberman/1140985472 Articles discussed in this episode: "Some Democrats are worried about Harris’s political prospects" - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/01/30/harris-democrats-worry/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email "Few Americans are excited about a Biden-Trump rematch, Post-ABC poll finds" https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/02/05/poll-biden-trump-2024/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

US Foreign Policy in 2023 - with Congressman Mike Gallagher Jan 30, 2023

Show notes

Congressman Mike Gallagher returns to our podcast, this time to look ahead at American foreign policy in 2023. Congressman Gallagher -- of Wisconsin's 8th CD -- has a unique perspective, since he’s just been tapped to lead the newly created House Select Committee on China. Congressman Gallagher served for seven years on active duty in the Marine Corps, including two deployments to Iraq. He served as a top staffer on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Congressman Gallagher has a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University, a master’s degree in Security Studies from Georgetown University, a second master's in Strategic Intelligence from National Intelligence University, and a PhD in International Relations from Georgetown. Rep. Gallagher has served on the House Armed Services Committee and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. In addition to foreign policy, in this episode, we also wound up talking about the new Congress and the reforms made during the Speaker's election. In this episode, we discussed Yuval Levin's "Some Good Can Come Out of the Kevin McCarthy Fiasco" -- https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/10/opinion/kevin-mccarthy-speaker-house.html

Our new media diets - with John Podhoretz Jan 23, 2023

Show notes

In this episode, we break down changes in our media diets that have been changed as a result of the pandemic and the tech market boom, and what will revert back to VERY pre-pandemic habits. John Podhoretz returns to our conversation. He’s been a prolific TV and film critic for over four decades. John is editor in chief of Commentary Magazine and host of Commentary’s award-winning daily podcast, he’s a columnist for the New York Post, a book author, and was film critic for the Weekly Standard and television critic for the New York Post.

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