What the Hell Is Going On

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The American Enterprise Institute’s Danielle Pletka and Marc Thiessen address the questions we’re all asking in their podcast, “What the Hell Is Going On?” In conversational, informative and irreverent episodes, Pletka and Thiessen interview policymakers and experts, asking tough, probing questions about the most important foreign policy and security challenges facing the world today.

3일 전

WTH Do Americans Not Trust Experts? AEI President Robert Doar Explains

Americans have lost faith in the expert class, and in some cases, for good reason. So-called “experts” didn’t just destroy livelihoods during the COVID pandemic or make China rich through normalized trade relations, they also looked down upon and antagonized the American people in the process. What role will experts play in the second Trump administration? And how can the expert class begin to regain the trust of the American people? Robert Doar is the president of the American Enterprise Institute. While at AEI, Mr. Doar has served as a co-chair of the National Commission on Hunger and as a lead member of the AEI-Brookings Working Group on Poverty and Opportunity. He first joined AEI in 2014 to lead the Institute’s opportunity and mobility studies program after serving for more than 20 years in leadership positions in the social service programs of New York State and New York City. He is the host of the podcast One on One with Robert Doar. Read the transcript here. Subscribe to our Substack here.

50분
12월 10일

WTH is Going On In Syria? The New Lines Institute’s Hassan Hassan Explains

In roughly ten days, opposition forces in Syria were able to accomplish more than they did in a decade and topple the tyrannical Assad regime. But as the dust settles, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham – the U.S. designated terrorist organization that led the march to Damascus – will have to prove that it has moved on from its anti-Western Jihadist ideology and is committed to rebuilding a Syrian state that meets the needs of its people. Why did Assad’s regime collapse so quickly? And what does the future of Syrian governance look like? Hassan Hassan is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of New Lines Magazine, an initiative of the New Lines Institute, and the founder of the institute’s Human Security Unit. Previously, he was a Senior Fellow at the Program on Extremism at George Washington University and the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy. He is the co-author of the New York Times bestseller ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror (2016, Reagan Arts). Read the transcript here. Subscribe to our Substack here.

1시간 10분
12월 6일

WTH: Biden Pardons Hunter! Professor Jonathan Turley Explains

After repeatedly pledging to the American people that he would not pardon his son Hunter, Joe Biden gave his son one of the most sweeping pardons in presidential history. The presidential pardon power has a long history of abuse, but never before has a pardon been so broad, over such a long period of time, and issued by someone possibly implicated in the case. Why did Biden choose to pardon his son now? And what does the pardon mean for the future of political lawfare? Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University. At GWU, he is also the Director of the Environmental Law Advocacy Center, and Executive Director of the Project for Older Prisoners. Professor Turley has served as counsel in some of the most notable cases in the last two decades including the representation of whistleblowers, military personnel, judges, and members of Congress, and has testified before Congress over 100 times. His latest book is The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage (Simon and Schuster, 2024). Read the transcript here. Subscribe to our substack here. Find The Indispensable Right here.

48분
12월 5일

WTH Extra! Martial Law in South Korea? Zack Cooper Explains

Late Tuesday night South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law, accusing the opposition party of “legislative dictatorship” and vowing to eradicate “pro-North Korean anti-state forces.” Almost as suddenly as martial law was declared, the legislature voted unanimously for it to end – sending the very military forces that attempted to lock down the National Assembly packing. What do Yoon’s actions mean for the future of South Korean politics? How might a collapse of South Korea’s conservative party affect U.S.-Korean relations? And what are the broader implications for American allies and partners in Asia? Zack Cooper is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he studies US strategy in Asia, including alliance dynamics and U.S.-China competition. He also teaches at Princeton University and serves as chair of the board of the Open Technology Fund. Zack previously served as the assistant to the deputy national security adviser for combating terrorism at the National Security Council and as a special assistant to the principal deputy undersecretary of defense for policy at the Department of Defense. His upcoming book is Tides of Fortune: The Rise and Decline of Great Militaries (Yale University Press, 2025). Read the transcript here. Subscribe to our Substack here.

48분
11월 27일

WTH is Going On With the World’s Looming Depopulation Crisis? Nicholas Eberstadt Explains

For the first time since the Black Death in the 1300s, the world is heading towards an era of depopulation. And for the first time in human history, this era of depopulation will be by choice. All over the world, women are choosing to have fewer and fewer children even as medical advances continue to prolong life. The result will be that people born today will live in graying societies in which the elderly and retired vastly outnumber the young and employed who are critical in supporting older generations. Why are people around the world choosing to have fewer children? And what do graying societies mean for the global economy? Nicholas Eberstadt is the Henry Wendt Chair in Political Economy at the American Enterprise Institute where he researched demographics, economic development, and international security in the Korean peninsula and Asia. He is also a senior advisor to the National Bureau of Asian Research, a founding board member of the US Committee on Human Rights in North Korea, and has served as a consultant or adviser to the US Government and international organizations. His most recent book is the Post-Pandemic Edition of Men Without Work (Templeton, 2022). Read the transcript here. Read Eberstadt's Foreign Affairs article here. Subscribe to our substack here.

54분
11월 21일

WTH is Trump Trying to Recess Appoint Cabinet Members? John Yoo Explains

Many of President-elect Donald Trump’s announced cabinet nominees are well respected and will likely have an easy path to Senate approval. Others, not so much. So Trump has proposed doing something no president has ever done before: Skirting the Senate approval process altogether via recess appointments. This appointment scheme delegitimizes Trump’s cabinet picks, sets a dangerous precedent for future administrations, and is likely unconstitutional. John Yoo is the Emanuel Heller Professor of Law at the University of California at Berkeley, a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and a Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution and Stanford University. Yoo was a law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, the general council of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and the former head of the Office of Legal Counsel in the Justice Department. His most recent book is The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Supreme Court (Regnery, 2023) with Robert Delahunty. Read the transcript here. Subscribe to our Substack here.

1시간 6분
11월 14일

WTH Should Democrats Learn from Trump's Victory? Ruy Teixeira Explains

President Donald Trump made gains among nearly every single demographic group in his historic victory, particularly with Hispanic and young voters. As the Democratic Party asks itself how it lost to Trump – a man they cast as a dictatorial threat to Democracy itself – it will have to look inward and realize it has moved from being the “party of the kitchen table” to the “party of the faculty lounge.” Working middle-class voters don’t identify with a party that spends more time criticizing anyone who disagrees with them as bigoted than working to make peoples’ lives better. Will Democratic leaders learn from their mistakes and move to the center on cultural issues? Or will the Democrats continue to pander to their progressive base? Ruy Teixeira is a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he focuses on the transformation of party coalitions and the future of American electoral politics. Before joining AEI, he was a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. Teixeira is co-founder of the Liberal Patriot Substack and co-author of the books The Emerging Democratic Majority (Scribner, 2002) and Where Have All the Democrats Gone? The Soul of the Party in the Age of Extremes (Henry Holt & Company, 2023). Read the transcript here. Subscribe to our Substack here.

58분
11월 7일 · 보너스

WTH Extra! Trump Wins! Dany and Marc Discuss

For the first time since 1892, a former president has regained the office he lost. President. In a landslide victory, Donald Trump won an extremely diverse coalition worried about the state of America’s economy and southern border. The Democratic Party, meanwhile, lost ignominiously and will have some soul-searching to do in the wake of failed identity politics and attempts to cast Trump and his supporters as a threat to American ideals. Who are the voters that drove Trump to victory? How might Trump’s second term differ from his first? And what can American leaders on both sides do right now to unite the country? Subscribe to our Substack here.

35분

모두 보기(200개)

4.4

최고 5점

562개의 평가

Good but one huge problem

7월 16일

Textdgh

Whoever the Denny chick is, is utterly irritating. When she is on, I will not listen. Good grief, this lady is awful.
JD Vance Debate

10월 10일

Modlibrep

I realize you hate JD Vance, but where is an episode on the VP debate?
Embarrassingly biased

9월 12일

Kronos Employee

Pathetic pandering. Go listen to Tim Miller or even the National Review guys if you want to hear real commentary.
Dany Pletka

8월 7일

LBrown2024

A former fan of DP, I am stepping back as a listener for a while. I forgave when, in referring to E Jean Carroll’s sexual abuse by Donald Trump, Dany called EJean ‘oh, what’s her name.’ Now Dany’s referring to Kamala Harris as paraphrasing [stupid]. Potentially our next, and first woman president. I don’t see anyone suggesting DP for that position. (Me, either.) Get a little class, look in the mirror, place yourself in others’ shoes and use your powerful position in the limelight to fight for American democracy…and please consider you are representing Jewish women. Shalom

The American Enterprise Institute’s Danielle Pletka and Marc Thiessen address the questions we’re all asking in their podcast, “What the Hell Is Going On?” In conversational, informative and irreverent episodes, Pletka and Thiessen interview policymakers and experts, asking tough, probing questions about the most important foreign policy and security challenges facing the world today.