GZERO World with Ian Bremmer

Latest Episodes:

How AI will revolutionize medicine with Siddhartha Mukherjee Sep 06, 2025

Show notes

On the latest episode of the GZERO World podcast, Ian Bremmer talks with world-renowned cancer researcher and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Siddhartha Mukherjee about the future of medicine—and why artificial intelligence might finally tip the scales in the decades-long war on cancer.

Cancer remains the second leading cause of death in the US, killing nearly 1,700 people every day. But Mukherjee says AI is already reshaping the field, from radiology and diagnostics to identifying new carcinogens and designing entirely new cancer drugs. “Every time we do this in collaboration with a machine,” he explains, “the machine learns it, and it learns it forever.”

In a wide-ranging conversation, Mukherjee breaks down three major areas where AI is advancing medicine: patient care, data mining, and generative drug development. He also weighs in on early cancer detection, how inflammation may hold the key to understanding new carcinogens, and why this moment may be the most hopeful in half a century of cancer research.

Host: Ian Bremmer

Guest: Siddhartha Mukherjee

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Rethinking the refugee crisis and global aid system, with David Miliband Aug 23, 2025

Show notes

The number of people forced to flee their homes because of war, persecution, humanitarian disaster or political collapse topped 123 million people in 2024. That’s double what it was just 10 years ago. Yet just as the need has exploded, the global aid system is unraveling. On the GZERO World Podcast, David Miliband, president & CEO of the International Rescue Committee sits down with Ian Bremmer to discuss the growing crisis as the number of refugees continues to rise and the US, once the anchor of the global aid system, shuts down USAID and drastically pulls back foreign funding.

Miliband says we’re facing “a new abnormal,” with 275 million people facing humanitarian emergencies in 20 countries in crisis. The vast majority of displaced people are hosted in low and middle income countries, meaning the world’s poorest and most under-resourced places are shouldering a disproportionately high share of the burden. Miliband and Bremmer discuss the worsening humanitarian situation in places like Sudan and Gaza, the impact of US aid cuts, whether any nation or group of nations can fill the void, and where Miliband sees glimmers of hope amid so many intractable problems.

Host: Ian Bremmer

Guest: David Miliband

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Pakistan needs to stand up to India, says former Foreign Minister Hina Khar Aug 16, 2025

Show notes

After nearly eight decades of on-again-off-again conflict, India and Pakistan neared the brink of all-out war last spring. The intense, four-day conflict was an unsettling reminder of the dangers of military escalation between two nuclear-armed adversaries. Though the ceasefire was reached and both sides claimed victory, Delhi and Islamabad are still on edge and tensions remain high. On the GZERO World Podcast, former Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Khar joins Ian Bremmer to discuss Pakistan’s response to India’s strikes, which she believes were unjustified, and why Pakistan needs to defend itself from further aggression.

One fifth of the world’s population lives on the Indian subcontinent, and Khar says putting them at stake because of a political conflict is dangerous because “you do not know how quickly you can go up the escalation ladder.” Bremmer and Khar also discuss the US role in mediating the conflict with India, Pakistan’s domestic and economic challenges, its strategic partnership with China, and the dangers for global security if the world abandons a rules-based international order.

“As someone who was representing this country as foreign minister, I used to wonder, why were we reduced to eating grass to become a nuclear power?” Khar says, “And now, that is the only thing providing deterrence and security against a country which feels it can attack us anytime, any day.”

Host: Ian Bremmer

Guest: Hina Khar

Subscribe to the GZERO World with Ian Bremmer Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred podcast platform, to receive new episodes as soon as they're published.

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Trump vs higher education, with Harvard Law's Noah Feldman Aug 09, 2025

Show notes

From lawsuits and executive orders to funding cuts tied to antisemitism claims, the Trump White House is targeting institutions like Harvard and Columbia in what Feldman calls an effort to undermine independent centers of truth. “Trump's gone after universities, he's gone after media, and he's going after courts,” Feldman tells Ian. “Each in its own way is an independent institutional voice telling people, ‘This is the way things are.’”

On the latest episode of the GZERO World Podcast, Feldman explains why this isn’t just about cancel culture or campus politics—it's about whether universities will remain places where truth is pursued freely, or "knuckle" under political pressure. He discusses Harvard’s legal fight with the administration, growing antisemitism on and off campus, and the deeper risks for American democracy if academic independence erodes.

Host: Ian Bremmer

Guest: Noah Feldman

Subscribe to the GZERO World with Ian Bremmer Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred podcast platform, to receive new episodes as soon as they're published.

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The new global trade wars, with Fareed Zakaria Aug 02, 2025

Show notes

President Trump’s policies swiftly rewriting the rules of global trade. As the United States imposes tariffs on allies and adversaries alike, do we risk losing our edge? On the GZERO World Podcast, CNN’s Fareed Zakaria joins Ian Bremmer to discuss what happens when globalization’s biggest champion becomes its biggest critic. For the past 80 years, the United States has been the beating heart of the free trade movement, the country that forced all the other countries in the world to open their markets. But now, Washington is tearing up the economic playbook—levying historic tariffs and recasting the world as a high-stakes, winner-take-all, zero-sum game.

Zakaria says we are living through an age of backlash to 30 years of globalization and that the next 10 years will be a period of “slowbalization,” where we'll see a much slower pace of growth and a much more political economy. Bremmer and Zakaria break down America’s retreat from global leadership, shifting power dynamics between the US and China, European pressure to become more self-sufficient, and whether the Trump administration’s economic gamble is worth the risk.

“The United States has gone from the leading advocate of free trade to being the most protectionist advanced industrial country in the world,” Zakaria warns, “We’ve always invited competition from the world’s best. If we move to something else, I think we lose that edge.”

Host: Ian Bremmer

Guest: Fareed Zakaria

Subscribe to the GZERO World with Ian Bremmer Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred podcast platform, to receive new episodes as soon as they're published.

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Could the future of industry lie among the stars? Jul 31, 2025

Show notes

Creating artificial human retinas in zero gravity. Mining rare minerals on the moon. There seems to be no limit to what could be possible if we continue to take our more important industries to space. Join Mike Massimino and Mike Greenley on this episode of Next Giant Leap as they explore the industrialization of space. Dr. Joan Saary sheds light on the potential of designing medical treatments in microgravity and treating astronauts in orbit, and Dr. Gordon Osinski explains the exciting future of resource extraction on other planetary objects.

Hosts: Mike Greenley, Mike Massimino

Guests: Dr. Joan Saary, Dr. Gordon Osinski

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The two trillion dollar opportunity Jul 24, 2025

Show notes

You might not know it, but you interact with space technology countless times on a daily basis. In fact, the space economy has become so ubiquitous that some estimate that its value could reach as high as $1.8 trillion by 2035. On this episode of Next Giant Leap, hosts Mike Massimino and Mike Greenley are joined by Alex MacDonald, former Chief Economist at NASA. They discuss the surprising history of private investment in the space industry, the many reasons for the current boom, and how you might get a job in the space world.

Hosts: Mike Greenley, Mike Massimino

Guest: Alex MacDonald

Subscribe to the GZERO World with Ian Bremmer Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred podcast platform, to receive new episodes as soon as they're published.

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Spy games and loyalty tests with Senator Mark Warner Jul 19, 2025

Show notes

It’s been a banner stretch for President Trump: a major strike on Iran’s nuclear sites, a sprawling tax-and-spending bill pushed through Congress, and a growing foreign policy resume. But beneath the surface of all the flag-waving and victory laps, Democrats like Senator Mark Warner are warning that the real story is unfolding in the shadows—inside an increasingly politicized US intelligence community.

In this episode of the GZERO World podcast, Ian sits down with the senior Senator from Virginia at his Capitol Hill office for a wide-ranging conversation about what’s breaking inside America’s national security institutions—and what that means for foreign policy decisions from Tehran to Gaza. Warner doesn’t hold back: “We’re in uncharted, dangerous territory. [Intelligence] Analysts are being told to change their conclusions—or lose their jobs.”

The two also dive into the fallout from the US-Israeli strikes on Iran, the fragile push for a Gaza ceasefire, and why Warner sees a largely ignored civil war in Sudan as one of the world’s worst ongoing humanitarian crises—and a rare opportunity for the US to lead.

Host: Ian Bremmer

Guest: Senator Mark Warner (D-VA)

Subscribe to the GZERO World with Ian Bremmer Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred podcast platform, to receive new episodes as soon as they're published.

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A new era of space defense Jul 17, 2025

Show notes

For many of us, the idea of a space-based arm of the military calls to mind images from science fiction. But the real-life world of space defense has become increasingly integral to military operations on land, at sea, and in the air. In this episode of Next Giant Leap, hosts Mike Massimino and Mike Greenley explore the world of space military technology. Guests Major General (Ret.) Kim Crider formerly of the United States Space Force, and Brigadier-General Chris Horner of the Canadian Space Division walk us through the many innovations in this fascinating arena, and attempt to answer one crucial question: how do you secure a domain with no borders?

Hosts: Mike Massimino, Mike Greenley

Guests: Kim Crider, Chris Horner

Subscribe to the GZERO World with Ian Bremmer Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred podcast platform, to receive new episodes as soon as they're published.

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The return of the nuclear threat, with Admiral James Stavridis Jul 12, 2025

Show notes

The world is heading toward a new nuclear arms race—one that’s more chaotic and dangerous than the last. The Cold War built rules of deterrence for a world of dueling superpowers and static arsenals. But in a fragmented, GZERO world of fast-moving technology and unpredictable leadership, the safeguards are fraying. On the GZERO World Podcast, Admiral James Stavridis, former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, sits down with Ian Bremmer to discuss the growing nuclear threat and what we can do to stop it.

The indicators are alarming: China is stockpiling nuclear warheads at record speed. Russia continues to rattle its nuclear saber in Ukraine. Even US allies are privately and publicly questioning whether they need a deterrent of their own. So how serious is the nuclear risk? How do we guarantee security in a world where the weapons (and the rules) are changing? Are we ready for a future where not just missiles, but lines of code, could end civilization? Stavridis and Bremmer assess the current arms race and what it will take to lower the nuclear temperature.

“We're already involved in a proxy war with a nuclear power,” Stavridis warns, “We'd be smart to try and continue to have strong alliances to balance China and Russia drawing closer and closer together.”

Host: Ian Bremmer

Guest: Admiral James Stavridis

Subscribe to the GZERO World with Ian Bremmer Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred podcast platform, to receive new episodes as soon as they're published.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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