Carnegie Council Podcasts

Latest Episodes:

Democracy in Retreat May 29, 2026

Show notes

In the last twenty years rights and liberties have eroded across more of the world than they have advanced. The cumulative effect is a transformed international order in which authoritarian governments are more assertive and the democracies that shaped the postwar system are at risk of diminishing influence.

Yana Gorokhovskaia, research director at Freedom House, joins the Values & Interests podcast to discuss the findings of the latest Freedom in the World report and the challenges democracies face as the norms that once anchored the international system come under increasing strain.

Read Freedom House's latest Freedom in the World report.

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Access all "Values & Interests" episodes: https://carnegiecouncil.co/values-interests-podcast

Nuclear Ethics May 22, 2026

Show notes

We are walking a fraying nuclear tightrope. Russia, China, and the U.S. are expanding their nuclear capabilities; extended deterrence is strained to the breaking point; and proliferation among middle and smaller powers appears inevitable.

But as history has clearly shown, the catastrophic consequences of nuclear weapons are anything but hypothetical. The recently released PBS documentary "Bombshell" captures the human, political, and ethical toll of the bomb—both for its Japanese victims and for the United States, the democracy that chose to wield such destructive power—and the narratives constructed by America's leaders and media to justify its use.

This expert panel and Q&A, held in partnership with PBS, was moderated by acclaimed journalist Ann Curry as part of Carnegie Council's keynote public affairs series, "Values & Interests."

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Access all "Values & Interests" episodes: https://carnegiecouncil.co/values-interests-podcast

Watch "Bombshell" here: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/bombshell/

Practicing Strategic Empathy and Navigating Competing Values May 14, 2026

Show notes

In a world experiencing a seismic shift in the values and principles that guide geopolitics, how can we practice strategic empathy without succumbing to moral relativism?

Brian Wong, assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Hong Kong, joins the "Values & Interests" podcast to discuss how we can challenge our own moral and political beliefs, the future of global justice, and the technological forces disrupting our very conception of what it means to be human.

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Access all "Values & Interests" episodes: https://carnegiecouncil.co/values-interests-podcast

Professor Wong's latest book is Moral Debt.

Building Moral and Professional Resilience May 06, 2026

Show notes

Gilles Michaud, UN under-secretary-general for safety and security, joins the "Values & Interests" podcast to examine the moral and political challenges facing UN personnel in some of the world's most difficult security environments. Drawing on a multi-decade career at the intersection of law enforcement and geopolitics, Michaud reflects on lessons learned, the future of the UN, and how anyone can cultivate moral and professional resilience in an increasingly unstable and dangerous world.

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Access all "Values & Interests" episodes: https://carnegiecouncil.co/values-interests-podcast

U.S. Power and Principle May 01, 2026

Show notes

America's post–World War II calculus guiding the relationship between power and principle has shifted dramatically. The result is a moment in which U.S. leaders may no longer be asking a vital question at the intersection of ethics and international relations: power, but to what end?

In this conversation for the "Values & Interests" series, James Story, former U.S. ambassador to Venezuela, and Carnegie Council President Joel Rosenthal discuss the new dynamic between U.S. power and principle.

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Access all "Values & Interests" episodes: https://carnegiecouncil.co/values-interests-podcast

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The Ethics of AI Agents in Global Governance Apr 21, 2026

Show notes

The adoption of AI agents is expanding rapidly, particularly within multilateral and diplomatic spaces. Such integration presents a myriad of new ethical questions and challenges for both the practitioners of today and next-gen leaders.

In this "Ethics Empowered: Leadership in Practice" event, Eleonore Fournier-Tombs, New York State's chief AI officer, leads a discussion on this pressing issue.

For more, please go to: https://carnegiecouncil.co/ethics-empowered-ai-agents

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Geopolitics in a Fracturing World, with Aarathi Krishnan Apr 16, 2026

Show notes

In a fracturing world awash with belligerent rhetoric, where are the real geopolitical pressure points and what forces are driving them? Aarathi Krishnan, CEO of Raksha Intelligence Futures, joins the "Values & Interests" podcast to pull back the curtain on the political, economic, and technological dynamics shaping this moment of uncertainty and transition in the global system.

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Access all "Values & Interests" episodes: https://carnegiecouncil.co/values-interests-podcast

For additional analysis, you can access Raksha's latest report: https://www.rak-sha.com/geopolitical-fractures-report-2026

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The Gaslighting of America, with Professor Mathias Risse Apr 02, 2026

Show notes

What is fueling the post-truth era in American politics, and why is it working?

Professor Mathias Risse of the Harvard Kennedy School argues that "gaslighting"—"persuasion through systematic besmirching, belittling, and the inversion of shared norms"—has become a dominant rhetorical force in American politics. Embraced by leaders such as Donald Trump and JD Vance, this disingenuous approach erodes the very fabric of civic life and good-faith exchange—two essential pillars for a functioning democracy.

In this episode, host Kevin Maloney and Professor Risse explore: How does gaslighting work? Why is it so effective? And what are the short- and long-term impacts on the United States?

Access all "Values & Interests" episodes: https://carnegiecouncil.co/values-interests-podcast

More on gaslighting from Professor Risse: https://carnegiecouncil.co/eia-gaslighting-risse

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Ethics on Film: Discussion of "One Battle After Another" Mar 19, 2026

Show notes

In this "Ethical Article," Alex Woodson reviews Paul Thomas Anderson's Oscar-winning film "One Battle After Another." He discusses gender roles, white supremacy, and the motivations of revolutionaries.

To read this article, please go to: https://carnegiecouncil.co/ethics-on-film-one-battle

Amoral American Power, with Professor Matias Spektor Mar 02, 2026

Show notes

For decades, America couched its foreign policy not only in the language of interests, but in universal values such as freedom and human rights. But what happens when that moral framing of liberal values falls away?

From the streets of Caracas to the skies over Tehran, U.S. power is no longer justified through a narrative of liberal internationalism or advanced via appeals—even performative ones—to institutions such as the UN. Instead, Trump 2.0 has embraced a more explicit "might makes right" approach that rejects universality and leans into civilizational conflict between the West and the rest.

Matias Spektor, professor and dean at Fundação Getulio Vargas's (FGV) School of International Relations, joins the Values & Interests podcast to examine the consequences of this shift in American power—and how U.S. foreign policy is being interpreted across the Global South, where many have long pointed to a gap between U.S. principles and its practices on the world stage.

For more, please go to: https://carnegiecouncil.co/values-interests-spektor