PODCAST · news
Pod Save the World
by Pod Save the World
Each week, “Pod Save America” cohost Tommy Vietor and Obama’s former Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes break down the biggest developments in foreign policy, national security and global politics. They try to explain which stories matter and why, and what we can all do to understand and shape the world around us. Subscribe to Friends of the Pod! Your subscription makes Crooked’s work possible and gives you access to ad-free episodes of Pod Save America and Pod Save the World, plus exclusive content and a lively Discord community. Learn more and subscribe at crooked.com/friends or on Apple Podcasts.
Episodes
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Trump’s Dirty Diesel Deal
Trump cuts a diesel deal with Putin, the Houthis hit Saudi Arabia’s main airport, and Kimberly Guilfoyle resigns after demanding ice at 4am in Mykonos. Tommy and Ben dig into Trump’s announcement of a diesel fuel deal and “energy ceasefire” with Russia that caught Ukraine and the Europeans...
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Russian Plague and Putin's Prisons
Tommy and Ben dig into Brazil's election results, where right-wing candidate Flavio Bolsonaro surged past expectations and is now favored to win the October 25th runoff. In Europe, Spain's Pedro Sanchez calls a snap election over a housing crisis after a dramatic eviction sparks demonstrations…
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Soccer Scandal & Idiot Ambassadors
The Trump/Xi summit produces two pandas and not much else, violence in Ethiopia could have massive regional consequences, and Manchester City is found guilty of nearly a decade of cheating. Tommy and Ben close the loop on Xi Jinping's state visit to Washington and how Trump walked away with only...
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Xi’s Just Not That Into You
Xi Jinping comes to Washington, the UN struggles for relevancy, and the Russian parliamentary elections turn out exactly as expected. Tommy and Ben break down Chinese President Xi Jinping's first state visit to Washington since 2015, including Trump’s personal airport greeting, and what leverage...
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Don Jr.’s Big Fat Russian Wedding
The Houthis seize control of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, Trump rolls a grenade into Northern Ireland's politics, and a Russian oligarch funds Don Jr.'s wedding. Tommy and Ben break down some of the most alarming expansions of the Iran war: Houthi rebels have captured roughly 80 miles of Yemen's Red...
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Can Germany’s Far Right Be Stopped?
The far right gets a huge win in Germany, Serbia celebrates a war criminal, and Nigel Farage gets caught on camera breaking the law. Tommy and Ben dig into the ultra-right-wing AfD party's historic results in a regional election, what drove it, what it would mean if they actually form a coalition...
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The Art of the Venezuela Oil Deal
The war with Iran reaches six months, Trump’s Pentagon cuts a corrupt oil deal with Venezuela, and Russia makes an (unwelcome) surprise appearance at a G20 meeting. Tommy and Ben mark six months of the war with Iran, including the death toll, damage to the global economy, and reports that Trump…
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Trump & Carney’s Heated Rivalry
Trump starts a trade war with Canada, announces “Economic D-Day” against Iran, while Russia deploys AI killer drones in Ukraine. Tommy and Ben break down the collapse of US-Canada trade negotiations, the politics animating Prime Minister Mark Carney’s tough talk, and why a trade war carries...
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Trump’s Unrequited Love for Kim Jong Un
Tommy and Ben walk through a week of leaders making bad decisions. President Trump kneecaps military exercises with South Korea, Vladimir Putin’s paranoia reaches new heights, and British PM Andy Burnham gets pranked. They start with Trump's decision to scale back joint US-South Korean military...
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Mission: Impossible - Catering Truck (Starring Donald J. Trump)
Trump evades Iran via catering truck, Pete Hegseth's Pentagon is a disaster, and Jared pays off a gangster and drug trafficker as part of his Albanian island takeover. This week Tommy and Ben cover shocking new info on how Trump hid from Iran on his way back from the NATO summit in Turkey…
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Far Right Freaks Freak Over Migrants in Spain
Over 70,000 migrants try crossing into Spain, the US is running out of precision missiles, and Jared Kushner's brother almost bought FIFA. Tommy and Ben break down the mass crossing of migrants from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta and why right-wing politicians are frothing at the mouth...
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Lindsey Graham's Bloody Legacy
Trump welcomes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu to the White House on the same day as Lindsey Graham’s funeral, a MAGA nut does a wild U-turn on Ukraine, and the freakout over Chinese Artificial Intelligence intensifies. This week Tommy and Ben...
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Pentagon Covers Up Iran War Casualties
More US casualties in the war with Iran, the State Department's new neo-McCarthy Cuba blacklist, and the UK gets a new Prime Minister while CPAC Great Britain flops. Tommy and Ben discuss reports that the Pentagon has been covering up the full extent of casualties associated with the war with…
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Trump's Delusional Election Rant
In this special episode of Pod Save the World, Tommy and Ben speak in front of a live audience at the Aspen Security Forum. First, Trump delivers a rambling speech on election security that offers no new evidence, overstates the threat from China, and is laying the groundwork for Republicans to...
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Forever War (Trump's Version)
Tommy and Ben are back with a week of war, drama over an international bridge, and an angry Norwegian World Cup fan. First up, the guys say farewell to the ceasefire between Iran and the US, hello to a new forever war, and analyze how a rushed, sloppily worded agreement negotiated by Jared…
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Trump Bullies FIFA, NATO
Tommy is joined by guest host Mehdi Hasan to walk through a packed week of World Cup controversy, a NATO summit, and Ayatollah Khamenei’s funeral in Iran. First, they discuss the international reaction to President Trump’s interference in the World Cup to get the US team’s red card suspended and...
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Keeping Up With the Korruption in Kazakhstan
Tommy and Ben talk through a week that includes US and Iranian airstrikes, a peace agreement, a Supreme Court double-header, and the French debate about air conditioning. First up, Israel and Lebanon have signed a 14-point peace agreement in Washington, but people on both sides question whether…
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Starmer Brexits
This week Tommy and Ben catch up on the latest in Iran negotiations, react to Keir Starmer’s resignation, and continue to celebrate World Cup fandom. First they walk through the text of the US-Iran memorandum of understanding — because now it’s clear why Trump didn't want anyone to see it. The…
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How Bad Is Trump’s Iran Deal?
Tommy and Ben are back with a week of bad deals, high-stakes elections, and World Cup joy. The US and Iran have agreed to a deal to end the war, but the Trump administration has refused to release the text to anyone — so the guys parse through what we think we know. The short version: it's a…
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Jared & Ivanka Conquer Albanian Island
Tommy and Ben are back to discuss a week that includes collapsed ceasefire(s), the World Cup, and Jared and Ivanka pretending to be conquistadors. The so-called ceasefires between Israel and Lebanon and the US and Iran continue to unravel, while Trump insists he has Iran and Israel under his...
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Trump’s Top Spy Has One Job: Revenge
Trump says he’s bored with peace talks, American right-wingers flock to Moscow, and the new Director of National Intelligence’s claim to fame is owning an HVAC company. Another fun week! Tommy and Ben discuss why Trump installing Bill Pulte as the new acting Director of National Intelligence…
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Pope Warns of AI Apocalypse
Tommy and Ben dig into a week of an “almost” deal, a sweeping AI warning, and a terrifying Ebola outbreak. First up, the Iran deal that was supposedly days away somehow produced new US airstrikes instead, and the guys break down why the path to a permanent ceasefire remains littered with…
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Is Trump Planning to Invade Cuba?
Tommy and Ben dig into a week dominated by ominous signs of regime change, nuclear standoffs, and a “historic” summit that left almost everyone disappointed. First they cover the signs pointing to American intervention in Cuba, including reports of Cuban drones, a possible indictment of…
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Keir Starmer’s Last Stand?
Tommy and Ben survey the wreckage of another week in global politics. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer clings to power after Labour was crushed in local elections. Tommy and Ben debate whether Starmer should step aside or stay and fight. Then they run through the latest with Iran, from the...
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Bullsh*t Ceasefires Everywhere
Ben and Tommy break down another chaotic week in foreign policy full of bad ideas and worse outcomes. Trump rolls out—and just as quickly unrolls—a new Pentagon plan—dubbed “Project Freedom”—to “guide” ships through the Strait of Hormuz, leaked intelligence reports show that the war has not…
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King Trump Welcomes King Charles
The US-Iran ceasefire is holding, but the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, the global economy is teetering on the edge of disaster, and America's precision weapons stockpile is badly depleted after repeated conflicts with Iran, with experts warning that it could have grave consequences for US...
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All the President’s (Corrupt) Men
Tommy and Ben break down another chaotic and consequential week in global affairs. Trump blinks and extends the ceasefire with Iran, but the Strait of Hormuz remains closed as US-Iran negotiations stall. Meanwhile, an internal power struggle between Iran's elected leaders and military is...
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JD Vance’s Global Humiliation
Tommy and Ben walk through a week of epic failures for the Trump administration, from peace talks with Iran to Viktor Orbán’s historic loss in Hungary. They break down everything that was wrong with the US-Iran peace talks, like both sides coming in with maximalist positions, Vice President JD...
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Trump Threatens Genocide
Tommy and Ben try to make sense of a dark and dizzying day in American history, from President Trump's genocidal threat to destroy the 'whole civilization' of Iran, to the announcement of a two-week ceasefire. They break down what Trump's threats to bomb every power plant and bridge in Iran would...
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Trump Begs Allies to Clean Up Iran Mess
Ben and guest cohost Alyona Minkovski, PSTW's senior producer, try to make sense of the many contradictions and threats coming from President Trump and his administration on Iran, like reports that he wants to make the Strait of Hormuz everyone else’s problem to solve, and claims that regime…
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Trump Goes from Obliteration to Negotiation on Iran
In the past few days, Donald Trump went from threatening to obliterate Iran's power plants to announcing a surprise diplomatic reprieve and declaring that the war has been won. This episode breaks down the whiplash: what actually happened, whether the talks are real, why an agreement between the…
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MAGA’s Iran War Meltdown (and Micropenis)
A MAGA civil war erupts over Trump’s war with Iran, JD Vance tries to distance himself, and Megyn Kelly accuses her former Fox News colleague of having a micropenis. Seriously! On today’s show, Tommy and Ben cover the many ways Trump’s war with Iran is going off the rails. The death toll and...
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Why Trump Might Send Ground Troops to Iran
Tommy and Ben unpack the latest twists in Donald Trump’s chaotic regime-change war with Iran, which eleven days in is still plagued by shifting goals, contradictory messaging, and rising regional consequences. They break down the White House’s confusing claims of victory despite unresolved...
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Did Israel Push Trump into War with Iran?
Tommy and Ben discuss the ways in which the war in Iran seems to be spiraling out of control, from American service member deaths and devastating civilian casualties to Iranian drone strikes on embassies and the mounting global economic fallout. Meanwhile, the White House’s explanation for why…
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Update: Trump Breaks Silence About Iran War
Trump’s war with Iran is escalating fast and the consequences are spreading across the Middle East. Tommy and Ben break down the latest military operations, Iran’s decision to attack countries and sow chaos across the region, and the growing regional fallout as missiles and drones hit targets…
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Breaking: America and Israel at War with Iran
Tommy and Ben discuss the breaking news that Israel and America launched hundreds of joint strikes against Iran, throwing the region into chaos. They talk about reports that the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei is dead, Iran’s retaliation against Israel, US bases in the region and civilian…
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Countdown to War With Iran?
Tommy and Ben discuss seemingly imminent American military strikes on Iran despite the absence of clear goals or military plan, the lack of concern for both the Iranian public and US troops who are caught in the middle of President Trump’s chaotic warmongering, and Tucker Carlson’s striking...
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AOC on the World Stage, Trump Starves Cuba
Ben and guest co-host Ayman Mohyeldin break down the news out of the Munich Security Conference, including Marco Rubio’s condescending speech, why all eyes were on Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the grim outlook for Ukraine, and Ben’s sense of the mood on the ground there. They also…
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Will Epstein Files Take Down the British Government?
Tommy and Ben discuss the growing calls for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to resign over Labour’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein, and the comparative lack of political accountability here in the US. They also talk about new details surrounding the whistleblower complaint that was silenced by...
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Epstein Files Reveal Depraved Global Network
Tommy and Ben break down the expanding web of corruption around President Trump — from a bombshell report revealing the UAE royal family’s stake in the Trump family crypto venture, to the global fallout from the release of the Epstein Files. They also dig into Director of National Intelligence...
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Has the World Finally Decided To Stand up to Trump?
Tommy and Ben explain why Trump backed off his threat to take Greenland by force and debate whether European leaders have finally found a playbook for how to push back, the backlash to Trump’s disgraceful denigration of NATO troops and their service in Afghanistan, and Canadian Prime Minister…
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Greenland Prepares for Trump Invasion
Tommy and Ben talk about the growing and very real threat of President Trump attempting to take Greenland by force, the spectrum of reactions from world leaders from feckless NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte to scorning French President Emmanuel Macron, and how this would lead to the end of NATO...
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Iranian Regime Massacres Protesters, Will Trump Respond?
Tommy and Ben talk about the historic protests in Iran and reports of the regime’s brutal crackdown with potentially tens of thousands dead, President Trump’s threats of military intervention (and why they’re a bad idea), and Iranian exiles vying for power as regime replacements from the safety…
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Where Will Trump Invade Next?
Tommy and Ben discuss: the fallout from the Trump administration’s strikes on Venezuela and kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro, why President Trump chose Maduro’s VP Delcy Rodríguez to run the country instead of opposition leader María Corina Machado, how the DOJ’s new indictment of Maduro...
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Breaking: Trump Invades Venezuela
Tommy and Ben respond to the breaking news that the Trump administration launched strikes on Venezuela and arrested Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in a special forces raid. They talk about President Trump’s claims that the US will now “run” the country, the illegality of this regime change...
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ISIS Terror in Australia
Tommy and Ben discuss the horrific Bondi Beach terror attack, the rise of antisemitism in Australia, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bad-faith attempt to connect Australia’s recognition of a Palestinian state to this violence, and the perpetrators potentially training in the...
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Trump Forfeits AI Race to China
Tommy and Ben explain how President Trump forfeited our advantage in the artificial intelligence race by allowing Nvidia to sell advanced AI chips to China, break down the new White House National Security Strategy document and debate whether it matters, and explain how fighting between Thailand...
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Is Pete Hegseth a War Criminal?
Tommy and Ben discuss a blockbuster Washington Post report alleging that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth personally ordered a “double tap” airstrike that was a textbook example of a war crime, the latest on Trump’s slow-moving regime change policy in Venezuela, Trump’s shocking pardon of Juan…
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Unpacking Trump’s Ukraine “Peace Deal”
Tommy and Ben unpack Trump’s rapidly changing “peace deal” to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. They explain how the plan has changed since the first draft leaked last week, the confusion over where the plan came from and why many people believe the Russians authored it, what it tells us...
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Trump & Saudi Arabia: A Tale of Corruption
Tommy and Ben discuss Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to Washington, his request for F-35 fighter jets and a NATO-like security guarantee, the real estate deals the Trump family might get in return, and how corruption is driving US foreign policy, including in the case of a…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Each week, “Pod Save America” cohost Tommy Vietor and Obama’s former Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes break down the biggest developments in foreign policy, national security and global politics. They try to explain which stories matter and why, and what we can all do to understand and shape the world around us.
Subscribe to Friends of the Pod! Your subscription makes Crooked’s work possible and gives you access to ad-free episodes of Pod Save America and Pod Save the World, plus exclusive content and a lively Discord community. Learn more and subscribe at crooked.com/friends or on Apple Podcasts.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Pod Save the World have?
Pod Save the World currently has 551 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Pod Save the World about?
Each week, “Pod Save America” cohost Tommy Vietor and Obama’s former Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes break down the biggest developments in foreign policy, national security and global politics. They try to explain which stories matter and why, and what we can all do to understand and...
How often does Pod Save the World release new episodes?
Pod Save the World releases new episodes frequently with a large back catalog of 551 episodes. Check the episode list for recent publication dates.
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You can listen to Pod Save the World on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Pod Save the World?
Pod Save the World is created and hosted by Pod Save the World.
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