The News Items Podcast

Latest Episodes:

The Global Order, With Benn Steil (Episode 25) Oct 02, 2026

Show notes

Benn Steil, director of international economics at the Council on Foreign Relations, joins John Ellis to examine why the postwar global economic order is under growing strain, and how China sits at the center of that story. Steil traces the evolution from Bretton Woods and GATT to the WTO, arguing that China’s integration into the global trading system created enormous benefits while also exposing deep tensions between different economic models. The conversation covers the first “China shock,” tariffs, cheap Chinese steel, and the difficulty of economically disentangling the United States and China. Steil also explains why the dollar remains dominant, how stablecoins could actually reinforce that dominance, and why Chinese subsidies in EVs and artificial intelligence present a new competitive challenge. Finally, Ellis and Steil discuss what it really means to “win” the AI race—and whether U.S. trade and economic policy has a coherent strategy for getting there.

News-Items.com

Hosted by John Ellis

Produced by Dale Eisinger

Investing In Ukraine, With Perry Boyle (Episode 24) Sep 29, 2026

Show notes

Perry Boyle, co-founder and CEO of MITS Capital, joins John Ellis from Kyiv to discuss how the war in Ukraine is reshaping modern warfare, and why he believes the West is not adapting fast enough. Boyle, a former Wall Street executive, explains how he went from retirement to investing in Ukrainian defense technology, backing startups working on drones, autonomous systems, AI, and battlefield components. He describes a war increasingly fought through sensors, robotics, data, and unmanned systems rather than traditional weapons, and argues that NATO doctrine and training remain badly behind Ukraine’s battlefield experience. Boyle also paints a stark picture of Ukraine’s financial and military position, warning that without substantially greater European support, the country could face severe difficulties sustaining the war. The conversation closes with his argument that Ukraine’s defense-tech ecosystem could become critical not only to Ukraine’s survival, but to Europe’s future security.

News-Items.com

Hosted by John Ellis

Produced by Dale Eisinger

What's The Matter With Polling? with Adam Berinsky (Episode 23) Aug 17, 2026

Show notes

MIT political scientist Adam Berinsky joins John Ellis to examine why modern polling is harder to trust and what that means for politics. They discuss collapsing response rates, the limits of margin-of-error claims, online surveys, media incentives, and why “accuracy” can be a misleading way to rank pollsters. The conversation then turns to partisan media, negative advertising, voter turnout, political fragmentation, and the persistence of conspiracy theories. Berinsky explains why misinformation is so difficult to correct, who is most susceptible to political rumors, and why trusted messengers matter. Finally, they consider how artificial intelligence could reshape evidence, persuasion, and political decision-making.

News-Items.com

Hosted by John Ellis

Produced by Dale Eisinger

Currencies, Prediction Markets and (of course) AI, with Rebecca Patterson (Episode 22) Aug 14, 2026

Show notes

Rebecca Patterson, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and former chief investment strategist at Bridgewater Associates, joins John Ellis to explain why the U.S. and Japan intervened jointly to support the yen, and why Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is so focused on keeping U.S. yields under control. Patterson traces the risks from currency weakness, Treasury selling, and financial contagion, while arguing that today’s conditions are far from a repeat of the Asian financial crisis. The conversation then turns to prediction markets, where Patterson sees both useful forecasting signals and growing evidence of gambling-style behavior among younger users. Finally, Ellis and Patterson examine how AI could reshape finance, employment, and corporate costs, with open-source models, especially cheaper Chinese alternatives, putting pressure on the economics of the current AI boom. The result is a wide-ranging discussion of currencies, markets, political incentives, and the next phase of artificial intelligence over the coming two years.

News-Items.com

Hosted by John Ellis

Produced by Dale Eisinger

The AI Optimist, with Alan D. Thompson (Episode 21) Aug 08, 2026

Show notes

John Ellis talks with AI researcher Alan D. Thompson about the rapid advance of artificial intelligence and the prospect of artificial superintelligence. Thompson explains his methods for tracking progress toward AGI, the growth of trillion-parameter models, and the narrowing gap between leading American and Chinese systems. They discuss the enormous capital investment in data centers, the economics of AI infrastructure, and the sectors most likely to be transformed first, including healthcare and mental health. The conversation also covers job displacement, the difficulty of managing the economic transition, the emergence of autonomous humanoid robots, and the possibility that increasingly capable systems could reshape governance and social institutions. Thompson argues that continued scaling remains the central force driving AI progress and that the next advances may arrive faster than expected.

News-Items.com

Hosted by John Ellis

Produced by Dale Eisinger

Election Security, with Dr. Charles Stewart (Episode 20) Jul 18, 2026

Show notes

John Ellis talks with MIT political scientist Charles Stewart III about the mechanics, vulnerabilities and public perception of American elections. They revisit the disputed 2000 contest, the administration of the 2020 vote, and the reasons false claims of fraud gained traction despite extensive verification. Stewart explains why machine counting is generally more reliable than hand counts, why California takes longer to certify results, and how election officials measure performance. The conversation then turns to the 2026 midterms, including federal efforts involving voter files, mail ballots, and identification requirements. Stewart warns that close races could produce widespread challenges, pressure on local officials and disputes over seating members of Congress. He also discusses AI, election funding, and why he remains confident in the country’s fact-based institutions today.

News-Items.com

Hosted by John Ellis

Produced by Dale Eisinger

Regime Change, with Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan (Episode 19) Jul 11, 2026

Show notes

John Ellis talks with The New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan about their book, Regime Change, an account of Donald Trump’s second presidency. They discuss how power operates inside a White House built around speed, instinct, and direct access to the president, often with little traditional process. The conversation covers Stephen Miller’s influence, Trump’s tariff decisions, the role of tech executives, the administration’s handling of the Epstein files, and the path to war with Iran. Haberman and Swan also describe the unusual figures who shape Trump’s information flow, the limits of internal dissent, and the tension between his visible stamina and questions about his age and health. It is a detailed look at an administration moving quickly, personally, and with few institutional brakes.

News-Items.com

Hosted by John Ellis

Produced by Dale Eisinger

Hollywood's Stress Test, with Richard Rushfield (Episode 18) Jul 03, 2026

Show notes

John Ellis talks with Richard Rushfield, founder of The Ankler, about a Hollywood business model under stress. Rushfield traces the industry’s troubles back to the end of fin-syn rules, the rise of Netflix, and a wave of consolidation that has left studios bigger, safer, and more risk-averse. They discuss Disney’s parks-first future, Paramount’s high-stakes tie-up with Warner Bros. Discovery, Fox’s Roku bet, YouTube’s dominance, AI anxiety, China’s fading promise, and why horror still works while comedy has nearly disappeared. It’s a tour through Hollywood’s money, politics, technology, and creative exhaustion.

News-Items.com

The Ankler

Hosted by John Ellis

Produced by Dale Eisinger

Germany in the World, with David Blackbourn (Episode 17) Jun 26, 2026

Show notes

John Ellis talks with historian David Blackbourn, author of Germany in the World: A Global History, 1500-2000, about five centuries of German history viewed through a global lens. They discuss Germany before there was a German state; the role of merchants, soldiers, missionaries, commodities and culture; the rupture of 1914; the rise of Nazism and the Holocaust’s international machinery; and the country’s postwar rebuilding, division and reunification. The conversation then turns to the German model today: dependence on America, Russia and China, Merkel’s legacy, Ukraine, the AfD, Europe’s economic sclerosis, and whether Germany can still attract talent and reinvent itself.

News-Items.com

Hosted by John Ellis

Produced by Dale Eisinger

Episode 16: Russ Howard Jun 05, 2026

Show notes

John Ellis talks with retired Brigadier General Russ Howard about the wars in Iran and Ukraine, why modern warfare is changing faster than most militaries can adapt, and a much bigger problem that could be coming down the road. Howard argues that food, fertilizer, water, and supply chains are becoming national security issues in their own right. They discuss the real-world effects of conflict on agriculture, growing concerns over global water shortages, and a project at Arizona State University that asks what the world might look like in 2040 if current trends continue. A conversation about the risks that sit just beneath the headlines.

News-Items.com

Hosted by John Ellis

Produced by Dale Eisinger

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