Cheap Talk

Jeff Kaplow and Marcus Holmes
  • 5.0 (15)
  • GOVERNMENT
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Cheap Talk is an every-week-or-so international relations podcast with Jeff Kaplow and Marcus Holmes, professors of government at William & Mary.

  1. DEC 15

    Inherent Greatness and Decency

    The degradation of the State Department’s official correspondence due to font choice; the Trump Administration releases its National Security Strategy; the return of spheres of influence and the primacy of the Western Hemisphere for US policy; the supposed decline of European civilization; the general problem with national security strategy documents; the glaring absence of the liberal international order in US strategy; and Marcus is generally confused about fonts Cheap Talk is taking a holiday break, but will be back with new episodes in January. Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your podcast player of choice to be notified when new episodes are posted. The opinions expressed on this podcast are solely our own and do not reflect the policies or positions of William & Mary. Check out our online store at https://cheaptalk.shop. Further Reading:Michael Crowley and Hamed Aleaziz. 2025. “At State Dept., a Typeface Falls Victim in the War Against Woke.” New York Times. The White House. 2025. National Security Strategy of the United States. Emily Harding. 2025. “The National Security Strategy: The Good, the Not So Great, and the Alarm Bells.” Center for Strategic and International Studies. See all Cheap Talk episodes

    1h 10m

  2. DEC 9

    A Living, Breathing Document

    The US plan for peace between Russia and Ukraine; what Putin wants out of a settlement; the wider effects of the war on Europe; Jared Kushner is back; what AI is actually good for (according to a new study); gifts for the IR enthusiast in your life; and Marcus would like a map for Christmas The opinions expressed on this podcast are solely our own and do not reflect the policies or positions of William & Mary. Please subscribe to Cheap Talk on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your podcast player of choice to be notified when new episodes are posted. Further Reading:Tejal Patwardhan et. al. 2025. “GDPval: Evaluating AI Model Performance on Real-World Economically Valuable Tasks.” OpenAI White Paper. IR books that make perfect holiday gifts:Signing Away the Bomb, by Jeffrey M. Kaplow Face to Face Diplomacy, by Marcus Holmes Inside the Situation Room, edited by Hillary Rodham Clinton and Karen Yarhi-Milo (featuring a chapter by Marcus Holmes) Featured items from the Cheap Talk shop:Cheap Talk Live commemorative t-shirt Ceding Human Control mug Cheap Talk holographic sticker set And many more great IR gifts at the Cheap Talk shop! Jeff’s other gift suggestions for the IR enthusiast:International News/Analysis: The Economist (discounted for teachers & faculty and for students), Foreign Affairs (discounted for students and teachers), War on the Rocks Scratch-off world map UN Peacekeeper toy helmet International Spy Museum Store CIA Mug with George H.W. Bush signature See all Cheap Talk episodes

    1h 2m

  3. NOV 24

    Live from Williamsburg, Virginia!

    Cheap Talk Live! The students of William & Mary’s “Introduction to International Politics” course join the podcast to discuss drug boats; the UN-approved peace plan for Gaza; an AI arms race; the intersection of IR theory and policymaking; ending the war in Ukraine; overconfidence and fear in IR; whether IR students have to go to grad school; the ideal podcast co-host; our IR origin stories; Thanksgiving dinner picks; and Marcus takes food safety very seriously Special thanks to William & Mary’s Jeff Herrick for audio support and to all the GOVT 204 students who participated in the show. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! The opinions expressed on this podcast are solely our own and do not reflect the policies or positions of William & Mary. Please subscribe to Cheap Talk on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your podcast player of choice to be notified when new episodes are posted. Check out our online store at https://cheaptalk.shop. Recommended Thanksgiving Recipes:J. Kenji López-Alt. “Mayo-Roasted Thanksgiving Turkey with Gravy.” New York Times Cooking. J. Kenji López-Alt. “The Best Crispy Roast Potatoes Ever.” Serious Eats. See all Cheap Talk episodes

    1 hr

  4. NOV 17

    Wars on Things

    Strikes by the United States military on suspected drug boats in the Pacific; the legality of these strikes; why it might matter if the US is violating international law; building pressure on Venezuela; the US strategy (if there is one); the problems with wars on things; and Marcus has never had Tofurkey The opinions expressed on this podcast are solely our own and do not reflect the policies or positions of William & Mary. Please subscribe to Cheap Talk on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your podcast player of choice to be notified when new episodes are posted. Check out our online store at https://cheaptalk.shop. Further Reading:Lazaro Gamio, Carol Rosenberg, and Charlie Savage. 2025. “Tracking U.S. Military Killings in Boat Attacks.” New York Times. See all Cheap Talk episodes

    57 min

  5. NOV 5

    A Little Bit of a Vibration

    Dick Cheney’s outsized foreign policy role in the George W. Bush administration; what President Trump is talking about when he talks about nuclear testing; the nuclear testing announcement as diplomatic leverage; US readiness to test; nuclear testing for deterrence; the downsides of exploding nuclear weapons in Nevada; and Marcus loves Election Day The opinions expressed on this podcast are solely our own and do not reflect the policies or positions of William & Mary. Please subscribe to Cheap Talk on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your podcast player of choice to be notified when new episodes are posted. Check out our online store at https://cheaptalk.shop. See all Cheap Talk episodes

    40 min

  6. OCT 29

    The Remaining Four-to-Five Minutes of Your Life

    The opinions expressed on this podcast are solely our own and do not reflect the policies or positions of William & Mary. Please subscribe to Cheap Talk on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your podcast player of choice to be notified when new episodes are posted. Check out our online store at https://cheaptalk.shop. Further Reading/Watching:A House of Dynamite, streaming on Netflix Nuclear Decisions Online Game Jeffrey Lewis. 2018. The 2020 Commission Report On The North Korean Nuclear Attacks Against The U.S.: A Speculative Novel. Harper. Fail Safe, streaming on Tube NukeMap, a nuclear weapons effect simulator by Alex Wellerstein See all Cheap Talk episodes

    1h 7m

  7. OCT 22

    More Efficient Powerpoint Production

    Ceasefires are good; Trump’s personal stake in Middle East diplomacy; the implausibility of the AI apocalypse; the incremental ceding of human control over autonomous systems; plausible mechanisms for AI control of nuclear arsenals; misalignment, poisoning, and the manipulation of AI models; and Marcus discusses the meaning of consciousness The opinions expressed on this podcast are solely our own and do not reflect the policies or positions of William & Mary. Please subscribe to Cheap Talk on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your podcast player of choice to be notified when new episodes are posted. Check out our online store at https://cheaptalk.shop. Further Reading:Alexandra Souly et al. 2025. “Poisoning Attacks on LLMs Require a Near-constant Number of Poison Samples.” Arxiv 2510.07192. “AI: What Could Go Wrong? With Geoffrey Hinton.” 2025. The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart. See all Cheap Talk episodes

    1h 25m

  8. OCT 9

    The Hopeful Moment

    Francis Fukuyama joins Cheap Talk to discuss the rise of authoritarianism; Europe’s security environment; the risk of AI catastrophe; signs of hope for democratic resilience; and Marcus has a lot of respect for centenarians Francis Fukuyama is the Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI). He has written widely on issues in development and international politics. His books include The End of History and the Last Man (1992), The Origins of Political Order (2011), Political Order and Political Decay (2014), Identity: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment (2018), and Liberalism and Its Discontents (2022). The opinions expressed on this podcast are solely our own and do not reflect the policies or positions of William & Mary. Please subscribe to Cheap Talk on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your podcast player of choice to be notified when new episodes are posted. Check out our online store at https://cheaptalk.shop. Further Reading:Francis Fukuyama. 1989. “The End of History?” The National Interest 16: 3–18. See all Cheap Talk episodes

    53 min
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5
out of 5
15 Ratings

About

Cheap Talk is an every-week-or-so international relations podcast with Jeff Kaplow and Marcus Holmes, professors of government at William & Mary.

Information

  • Creator
    Jeff Kaplow and Marcus Holmes
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2025
  • Episodes
    112
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Show Website
    Cheap Talk

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