Episode 1: The End of U.S. Soft Power? An Interview with Timothy Frye

In the first episode of Beyond the Scoop, Season 2, editor Masha Udensiva-Brenner interviews political scientist, and former Harriman Institute director Timothy Frye about his essay in the 2026 issue of Harriman Magazine, which tracks the evolution of U.S. soft power through Frye's personal experiences working on soft power projects.    Frye discusses his time as a young guide working for a U.S. Information Agency traveling exhibit in the late Soviet Union, and his thoughts on the current state of U.S. soft power, an element of U.S. foreign policy that enjoyed bipartisan support for decades until the Trump administration dismantled most of the programs that brought American aid and American culture to the rest of the world.