The Rational Policy Podcast

Mike Coté
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  • Politics
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A historical perspective on policy, international affairs, and geopolitics. Talking current events weekly, ranging from the serious to the absurd, all with a dash of good humor. www.rationalpolicy.com

  1. Oct 2

    Episode 54 - Ups and Downs

    Welcome back to the Rational Policy Podcast! In Episode 54, your stalwart hosts Mike Coté and Art Vandelay break down the week in news and politics. Much has happened since our last sojourn into the realm of foreign affairs, so we start there. First, we revisit our Greenland discussion from last week in light of Mike’s piece on the subject for The Dispatch, discussing some of the criticism of the new security deal and why it is missing the forest for the trees. Next, we jump into an update on Iran, but no ordinary update; this one focuses on two foiled terrorist plots linked in varying degrees to the Islamic Republic. We, of course, detail the incredible story of the attempted hijacking of a FlyDubai flight from the UAE to Israel and the courageous and quick-thinking actions of Israeli passengers and the Emirati pilot to counter and subdue the terrorist. This whole thing was straight out of a movie, but it was all too real; thankfully, the hijacker was stopped before he succeeded in his malign aims. We also discuss the aborted attack on an American military base in England by Iran-linked terrorists who sought to create a makeshift truck bomb and destroy critical American aircraft and other military assets. We talk about what Iran’s new approach says about the state of the war, how Islamic terrorism is still a live issue, and why trying to take down a plane full of Israelis is probably a bad idea. Afterwards, we transition to domestic issues and take a look at the state of American politics a month out from this year’s midterm elections. We handicap the biggest races, discuss the predictive power (or lack thereof) of polling, and explain why the Republicans may face a major wipeout in November. We also touch on some of the key issues of the cycle, how elections today are over-nationalized, and what sorts of reforms would help boost trust in the system and counter common misperceptions about how it works. Lastly, we return to the topic of online right-wing racism against Indian-Americans, going after the clowns who push these noxious ideas, as well as the cowards who purport to be ‘just asking questions’ about them. Check it out, follow us on Twitter/X (Mike / Art), and share the podcast with anyone you think might appreciate it. Thanks for listening. We’ll be back next week with another fantastic episode. Until then, go Yankees! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.rationalpolicy.com

  2. Sep 25

    Episode 53 - UNGA-Palooza

    The Rational Policy Podcast is back with Episode 53! In this installment of the show, your hosts Mike Coté and Art Vandelay spend the duration talking about the United Nations General Assembly and all of the foreign policy happenings that are taking place alongside it. We discuss the overall utility of the UN – spoiler alert: it has none – and how it would be better off if they just relocated to a villainous underwater lair. That would certainly be more in character for that dastardly organization than is its current home in midtown Manhattan. We talk about some of the logistical and security challenges of hosting such a huge international event, as well as the absurdity of the idea that America lets our enemies come here unmolested to rail against us from a podium we largely paid for. After those pleasantries – we love ragging on the UN here at Rational Policy! – we dive into the meat of the matter and talk about all the big developments and meetings occurring on the sidelines of UNGA. We talk about the Trump-Xi meeting and how the best-case scenario is an unfruitful, ideally angry, discussion, as any concessions to China are bad for the country. Then we break down the latest news out of Greenland, exploring the new security deal agreed to by all parties and explaining how this is not only a significant change from the previous 1951 agreement, but an absolute boon to American domestic and hemispheric security. We shift after that to the Middle East, where we go into an Iran update and talk about how Iranian leaders should never have been allowed into the US for UNGA. Finally, we travel to Europe, where we talk about the progress of the Ukraine War, explore the Russian way of combat, and discuss how Putin may escalate to save his own bacon. Check it out, follow us on Twitter/X (Mike / Art), and share the podcast with anyone you think might appreciate it. Thanks for listening. We’ll be back next week with another great episode. Until then, go watch the classic James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me. I promise you won’t regret it (and you’ll get all of our references). See you next time! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.rationalpolicy.com

  3. Sep 18

    Episode 52 - September Grab Bag

    Welcome back to the Rational Policy Podcast! In this installment, our 52nd (!) to date, your stalwart hosts Mike Coté and Art Vandelay dive into a grab bag of the week in news and politics. We skip over some of the repeat topics that we usually address - Iran, Israel, Ukraine, China - and touch on some other subjects that caught our eye instead. First, we take a listener request from my friend Dr. Amber Brittain-Hale to discuss the potentially looming breakup of the United Kingdom. We talk about the history of British unionism (and secessionism), the challenges to the current version of the UK, and the very real problems its constituent parts - and the US - would face if our top Atlantic ally fell apart internally. Next, we touch on last week’s Republican midterm convention, noting it as a good idea in an age of nationalized politics, but one that was executed poorly. (Good ideas badly executed may be the overarching theme of the entire second Trump administration.) After that, we spend some time on a broader and more serious topic: whether artificial intelligence will kill us all. We talk about the big money and progressive politics behind the AI doomer clique, the role of China in pushing anti-AI fervor in the US, how we should regulate this industry (if at all), and why this technology is just a tool for humans, neither inherently good nor bad. Finally, we jump head-first into the online right-wing fever swamps, detailing the latest dust-up over who counts as an American. We go hard at the faulty idea of Heritage Americans, explore the dangerous and anti-American ideology of the New Right, describe the malign networks promoting racism and Christian nationalism, explain the funding mechanisms behind this attempt to alter the civic compact, and provide a better, actually conservative, way forward. Check it out, follow us on Twitter/X (Mike / Art), and share the podcast with anyone you think might appreciate it. Thanks for listening. We’ll be back next week with another great episode. Until then, enjoy the early beginnings of the best season of the year: autumn. See you next time! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.rationalpolicy.com

  4. Sep 10

    Episode 51 - Never Forget

    The Rational Policy Podcast is back from our late summer break! After a few weeks off, we were champing at the bit to get back in the saddle and record; thankfully, the world of news seemed to slow down a bit while we were off, so we didn’t miss all that much. But now that Labor Day has passed and September has kicked off in earnest, we’re ready to bring you plenty of shows to round out the year, especially as the midterm elections rapidly approach. But we aren’t talking rank politics in Episode 51, instead focusing on foreign affairs and a solemn commemoration of a profoundly important anniversary. We lead off discussing the recent developments in the Iran War, detailing the progress of the economic warfare campaign, the continuation of the blockade, and the Iranian response. We debate whether this approach will bring success - and if our political class has the patience to allow it to - as well as whether Iran still maintains a meaningful ability to hamper our regional interests. Next, we delve into a foreign policy issue closer to home, that of Venezuela. We talk about the newly-announced oil deal between Washington and Caracas, somewhat disagreeing as to what it means and how beneficial it will be to both parties. We also discuss the long-term approach to democratic transition in Venezuela and the Trump administration’s habit of undermining good ideas with poor execution. Finally, we reminisce about the 25th anniversary of the heinous terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, talking about our personal recollections, the importance of continued vigilance against Islamic terrorism, and the failure of younger generations to treat this event with the solemnity and seriousness it deserves. We mention the powerfully moving 9/11 Memorial and Museum, the criticality of grasping the magnitude of the actual horrors of that atrocity, and how the War on Terror was not lost, but is still ongoing. Check it out, follow us on Twitter/X (Mike / Art), and share the podcast with anyone you think might appreciate it. Thanks for listening. We’ll be back next week with our regularly scheduled programming. Until then, take a moment to remember those men and women who were stolen from us by terrorism a quarter of a century ago, as well as who took their lives and why we must continue the fight. Never Forget. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.rationalpolicy.com

  5. Aug 19

    Episode 50 - Dog Days Dispatch

    Welcome back to the Rational Policy Podcast! Somehow, we’ve been doing this for a whole 50 episodes (!), so we wanted to thank you for listening in and supporting the show; it means a lot. So, in honor of our milestone 50th episode we……did nothing different. As always, your steady hosts Mike Coté and Art Vandelay break down the (light) week in news, this time hitting a grab bag of topics ranging from British academia to Korean military exercises. We start off with the former, detailing the most incredible academic scandal in recent memory: the downfall of former Cambridge sociologist Jason Arday. We discuss the scandal’s most ridiculous aspects, the left-wing blame-game firestorm after Arday’s tragic suicide, and how this controversy indicts the whole of progressive academia. Next, we shift to a nigh-inscrutable decision by President Trump to cancel joint military exercises with South Korea, largely in a fit of pique. We explain the nuances around how to deal with the dovish leadership in Seoul, the usefulness of these exercises, and how Trump’s personalist foreign policy is less disconcerting than the ideological isolationism of some in his movement, led by his vice president. Then, we switch gears entirely and go big picture, talking about the significant similarities between the 2020s and the 1970s and what that may portend for our politics over the coming years. Finally, we answer one of your questions from Twitter! Check it out, follow us on Twitter/X (Mike / Art), and share the podcast with anyone you think might appreciate it. Thanks for listening. We’ll be on vacation until just after Labor Day. Enjoy the dog days of summer, take a break from the doomscrolling, and head on outside - it would do us all good. Catch you on the flip side! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.rationalpolicy.com

  6. Aug 14

    Episode 49 - Fauci Thunderdome!

    Hello listener, and welcome back to the Rational Policy Podcast! In this installment, Episode 49, hosts Mike Coté and Art Vandelay step into the debate Thunderdome and duke it out over a topic that has been back in the news after a (thankfully) long hiatus: Anthony Fauci and, more broadly, the question of accountability for decisions made during the coronavirus pandemic of 2020. The subject was resurfaced in congressional hearings in which Fauci was subpoenaed by Republicans to testify on his actions during that time, an effort spearheaded by Senator Rand Paul (R-KY). Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination to avoid answering questions, despite a blanket pardon from former president Joe Biden. Listen in to hear your usually-simpatico hosts butt heads on the usefulness of the hearings, the trust crisis in public health, and the question of Fauci himself - hero or villain? Then, we shift gears to discuss a couple of secondary stories related to the war in Iran: the new Pakistan-Turkey-Saudi Arabia “alliance” and President Trump’s clandestine escape from a Turkish sojourn in the face of serious Iranian threats. We discuss whether that ‘Islamic NATO’ is worth anything (it isn’t) and whether the surreptitious switcheroo to safeguard the president was an affront to journalists or the result of falsified Israeli intelligence (it wasn’t). Check it out, follow us on Twitter/X (Mike / Art), and share the podcast with anyone you think might appreciate it. Thanks for listening. We’ll be back next week with an earlier episode, then will be on vacation until September. See you next time! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.rationalpolicy.com

  7. Aug 7

    Episode 48 - The Call is Coming from Inside the House

    Welcome back to Episode 48 of the Rational Policy Podcast! Join your stalwart hosts Mike Coté and Art Vandelay for another whirlwind tour around the world of news and politics, this time without a stop in the Middle East - we could all use a break at this point. Instead, we talk about three issues where the biggest problems are entirely internal. First, we dive into some rank punditry on the 2026 midterm elections, centered around the far-left antisemitic and anti-American socialist candidates who have seemingly grabbed the reins of the Democratic Party. We discuss the primary victory of Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan, as well as some other recent DSA-aligned triumphs, and debate what it means for the future of the Democrats; will they embrace the radicals or defenestrate them? And what will the voters think? Next, we shift to the political right, focusing on the nascent postliberal movement, a major debate over the “common good,” and what conservativism really means in the American context. We detail how this fringe movement could go mainstream and why that would be a terrible outcome for both the political right and America writ large. Finally, we sail across the Atlantic to talk about the evocative and powerful images coming out of Spain, where Moroccan migrants invaded the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla in North Africa, causing mass chaos and sparking an internal debate in the European Union over migration policy. We explore why this event occurred, why it matters, and how it exposed the deep rot in the very foundation of the EU. Check it out, follow us on Twitter/X (Mike / Art), and share the podcast with anyone you think might appreciate it. Thanks for listening. We’ll be back next week, barring another bout of the plague. Until then, get outside and enjoy the summer! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.rationalpolicy.com

    Episode 48 - The Call is Coming from Inside the House

  8. Jul 24

    Episode 47 - Tehran Two-Step

    The Rational Policy Podcast is back with Episode 47! Join hosts Mike Coté and Art Vandelay as we discuss the most important events in geopolitics over the past week. We start this episode off with a return to the biggest topic of discussion we’ve had for the first half of this year: the Iran War. We detail the recent return to outright hostilities, the recurring messaging problems of the Trump administration, the broader ramifications of escalation, and whether there is any strategic core at the base of the conflict. Will Trump have the patience and wherewithal to carry out his threats? Does America have the ability to stomach war anymore? And are there any politicians in this populist moment who would be brave enough to buck the electorate and do the right thing for the country’s long-term security? Next, we swing back to the Western Hemisphere, talking about one of the only near-unblemished aspects of this administration’s foreign policy record: the reassertion of American primacy in the Americas. We discuss how Marco Rubio is the perfect man for the job, why this strategic approach makes sense, the problems with the regimes in Cuba and Nicaragua (among others), and how far-left, anti-American agitation can be confronted and defeated in our own backyard. Finally, we go after New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani for a despicable antisemitic stunt that he pulled regarding arresting Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Check it out, follow us on Twitter/X (Mike / Art), and share the podcast with anyone you think might appreciate it. Thanks for listening. We’ll be back next week with another show. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.rationalpolicy.com

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A historical perspective on policy, international affairs, and geopolitics. Talking current events weekly, ranging from the serious to the absurd, all with a dash of good humor. www.rationalpolicy.com

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