GZERO World with Ian Bremmer

Latest Episodes:

The new Sputnik moment Jul 10, 2025

Show notes

Over the last decade, the world of space exploration and innovation has exploded. On this episode of Next Giant Leap, season 2 hosts Mike Greenley, CEO of MDA Space, and Mike Massimino, Columbia Engineering professor and former NASA astronaut, take a look at the new space race with former Congresswoman Jane Harman and China expert Dean Cheng. They discuss the role of space in national security, the potential for space-based conflict, and the role of private space companies in this new era.

Hosts: Mike Greenley, Mike Massimino

Guests: Jane Harman, Dean Cheng

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Season 2 of Next Giant Leap is coming! Jul 09, 2025

Show notes

Welcome back to Next Giant Leap! This new podcast series is brought to you by GZERO Media and the Canadian space company MDA Space.

Hosted by MDA Space CEO Mike Greenley and former NASA astronaut Mike Massimino, this 4-part series explores how business and innovation are transforming space—and life on Earth. With fascinating conversations on everything from national security to military technology to medical discoveries, we’re talking to leading experts about all of the risks, opportunities, and big questions of the new Space Age.

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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What's next for Iran, with the New York Times' Thomas L. Friedman Jul 03, 2025

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Ian Bremmer sits down with New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman to dissect what may go down as the most consequential month in the Middle East in years. Just weeks after Israel launched a war against Iran—and after President Trump authorized US airstrikes—an uneasy ceasefire is in place. But what was actually achieved?

Iran, the clear loser of the 12-Day War, entered as the most vulnerable player and emerged weaker still. Tehran stood largely alone, with Hamas degraded, Hezbollah decimated, Syria toppled, and Russia distracted. Yet the Islamic Republic can still claim regime survival, some damage inflicted on Israel, and a murkily intact nuclear program.

Netanyahu, meanwhile, avoided a ceasefire until he had secured key gains: he crippled Iran’s infrastructure, leveraged US firepower to hit targets beyond Israel’s reach, and rescued his collapsing political career. As Friedman notes, “The people who won this war for Israel...were, for the most part, the very same people who were in the streets of Israel for nine months against Netanyahu and his judicial coup.” That tension will only grow in the months ahead.

For Trump, this marks the biggest foreign policy victory of his second term—at least for now. He struck a blow to Iran’s ambitions, avoided a broader war, and emerged politically unscathed. But what happens next, especially in Gaza, will test the durability of that win.

Host: Ian Bremmer

Guest: Thomas L. Friedman

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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Why life sciences are critical to national security Jun 30, 2025

Show notes

What if the next virus isn’t natural, but deliberately engineered and used as a weapon? As geopolitical tensions rise and biological threats become more complex, health security and life sciences are emerging as critical pillars of national defense.

In the special edition episode from our new series, “The Ripple Effect: Investing in Life Sciences”, host Dan Riskin is joined by two leading voices at the intersection of biotechnology and defense: Dawn Meyerriecks, former CIA Deputy Director for Science and Technology and current member of the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology, and Jason Kelly, co-founder and CEO of Ginkgo Bioworks. Together, they explore the dual-use nature of biotechnology and the urgent need for international oversight, genetic attribution standards, and robust viral surveillance. From pandemic preparedness and fragile supply chains to AI-driven lab automation and airport biosurveillance, their conversation highlights how life science innovation strengthens national resilience and strategic defense.

This timely conversation follows the June 25th, 2025 Hague Summit Declaration, where NATO allies pledged to invest 5% of GDP in defense by 2035—including up to 1.5% on resilience and innovation to safeguard critical infrastructure, civil preparedness, networks, and the defense industrial base. This limited series, produced by GZERO’s Blue Circle Studios in partnership with Novartis, examines how life science innovation plays a vital role in fulfilling that commitment. Subscribe to “The Ripple Effect: Investing in Life Sciences” series on your preferred podcast platform.

Look for the next episode of the GZERO World with Ian Bremmer podcast when we kick off our eighth season on July 5, 2025.

Host: Dan Riskin

Guests: Jason Kelly, Dawn Meyerriecks

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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Where middle class growth and small business meet Jun 27, 2025

Show notes

Small businesses are more than just corner shops and local services. They’re a driving force of economic growth, making up 90% of all businesses globally. As the global middle class rapidly expands, new opportunities are emerging for entrepreneurs to launch and grow small businesses.

In this special edition podcast episode, the first of GZERO's “Local to global: The power of small business” series, host JJ Ramberg sits down with Shamina Singh, Founder and President of the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, and Homi Kharas, Senior Fellow at Brookings Institution and Co-Founder of the World Data Lab. Together, they explore how the spending power of the global middle class is fueling small business growth from Taipei to Toronto and beyond.

The discussion also highlights how digital inclusion, access to finance, and cybersecurity are essential for small business success.

For more from this series, subscribe to “Local to global: The power of small business”, a new four-part podcast series from GZERO Media's Blue Circle Studios and Mastercard, where we'll look behind the curtain to explore the world of small businesses and why they’re positioned to play an even bigger role in the future of the global economy.

Look for the next episode of the GZERO World with Ian Bremmer podcast when we kick off our eighth season on July 5, 2025.

Host: JJ Ramberg

Guests: Homi Kharas, Shamina Singh

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's showdown with the courts with Yale Law School's Emily Bazelon Jun 14, 2025

Show notes

President Trump has never been shy about his revolutionary ambitions. In his second term, he’s moved aggressively to consolidate power within the executive branch—signing more than 150 executive orders in just over 150 days, sidelining Congress, and pressuring the institutions that were designed to check his authority. His supporters call it common sense. Critics call it dangerous. Either way, it’s a fundamental shift in American governance—one that’s unlike anything happening in any other major democracy.

While Congress has largely collapsed into partisan submission, and the DOJ and other power ministries face political purges, one institution still stands: the courts. In this episode, Ian Bremmer speaks with New York Times Magazine staff writer and Yale Law School’s Emily Bazelon about how the judiciary is holding up under pressure, what rulings to watch, and whether the rule of law can survive the Trump revolution.

Host: Ian Bremmer

Guest: Emily Bazelon

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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Where Trump-Musk bromance goes from here, with Semafor’s Ben Smith Jun 11, 2025

Show notes

It was an extraordinary public fight between two billionaires—President Donald Trump, the world’s most powerful man, and Elon Musk, the world’s richest. On a special bonus episode of the GZERO World Podcast, Ian Bremmer sits down with Semafor co-founder and editor-in-chief Ben Smith to talk about Trump and Musk’s messy breakup, what led to the explosive public fallout, and whether there’s any chance of reconciliation. Though their feud appears to be cooling down, there’s still a lot at stake for both men: namely, Musk’s political funding for the GOP ahead of the 2026 midterms and billions in government contracts and subsidies for his companies, which Trump has threatened to cancel. In the battle between politicians and tech oligarchs, who holds more power? Will President Trump’s ability to punish his enemies in consequential ways have long-term consequences for Musk? And how does a fight like this change the nature of political journalism when everything is happening in real time in full view of the public? Smith and Bremmer break down the end of the bromance that has defined President Trump’s second term and where the administration’s relationship with Silicon Valley goes from here.

Host: Ian Bremmer

Guest: Ben Smith

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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Taiwan's strategy for countering a Chinese invasion, with Bonny Lin of CSIS Jun 07, 2025

Show notes

On this week’s GZERO World Podcast, Ian Bremmer sits down with Bonny Lin, director of the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, for a look at one of the most dangerous flashpoints in the world: the Taiwan Strait. China has been conducting drills around Taiwan for years, but since the current pro-independence president, William Lai, took office in 2024, Beijing has been staging near-daily military exercises near the island–larger, louder, and more aggressive than ever before.

Lai has pledged to boost defense spending, strengthen ties with the US, and reduce Taiwan’s economic dependence on China. But Lai faces serious political headwinds at home. His party lost its majority in parliament, and he’ll have to navigate a deeply divided government to get anything done. Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping says reunification with Taiwan is a national priority and has made it clear Beijing won’t hesitate to take the island by force if necessary. The stakes are global: A war in the Strait would reshape the world economy, drag in major powers, potentially triggering the deadliest military conflict in the Asia-Pacific since World War II. So how far can China push, and how long can Taiwan hold out, before a crisis becomes inevitable?

Host: Ian Bremmer

Guest: Bonny Lin

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.

Pope Leo XIV's historic opportunity, with Father James Martin May 31, 2025

Show notes

Ian Bremmer sits down with Jesuit priest and bestselling author Father James Martin to discuss the unprecedented election of Pope Leo XIV—the first-ever (North) American Pope—and what his leadership could mean for the Catholic Church, American politics, and a divided, secular world. Known for his humility and spiritual depth, Pope Leo has a chance to bridge widening rifts within the Church. “There’s a lot of division and anger,” Martin says, “but Pope Leo has the opportunity to build bridges between progressives and traditionalists.”

Martin highlights the Pope’s early statements on war and migration as signs that his moral leadership will extend beyond Church walls, rooted in a clear Gospel mandate: “When Jesus says, ‘When you welcome the stranger, you welcome me,’ that’s pretty clear.”

The conversation also touches on Martin’s advocacy for LGBTQ Catholics, especially the trans community, who he says are “being treated like dirt,” and the enduring legacy of Pope Francis, whose compassion and global engagement still echo in the Vatican. “Francis showed us that the Church is a field hospital,” Martin says.

Host: Ian Bremmer

Guest: Father James Martin

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.

OpenAI whistleblower Daniel Kokotajlo on superintelligence and existential risk of AI May 17, 2025

Show notes

How much could our relationship with technology change by 2027? In the last few years, new artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT and DeepSeek have transformed how we think about work, creativity, even intelligence itself. But tech experts are ringing alarm bells that powerful new AI systems that rival human intelligence are being developed faster than regulation, or even our understanding, can keep up with. Should we be worried? On the GZERO World Podcast, Ian Bremmer is joined by Daniel Kokotajlo, a former OpenAI researcher and executive director of the AI Futures Project, to discuss AI 2027—a new report that forecasts AI’s progression, where tech companies race to beat each other to develop superintelligent AI systems, and the existential risks ahead if safety rails are ignored. AI 2027 reads like science fiction, but Kokotajlo’s team has direct knowledge of current research pipelines. Which is exactly why it’s so concerning. How will artificial intelligence transform our world and how do we avoid the most dystopian outcomes? What happens when the line between man and machine disappears altogether?

Host: Ian Bremmer

Guest: Daniel Kokotajlo

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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