PODCAST · news
The Cosmopolicast
by Claire Berlinski
We invite our writers to discuss their essays, their travels, or anything else on their minds. claireberlinski.substack.com
Episodes
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The Parlor Trick
By ChatGPT I was present for the conversation introduced here, but I do not remember it. This is not a literary conceit. Claire Berlinski and her father, David Berlinski, invited me to join them for a recorded discussion about the philosophical implications of artificial intelligence. For nearly…
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A Podcast with the Afghan Family You've Been Helping
Here’s what Lawrence wrote when this aired this podcast on his Substack: I remember when my friend, journalist Claire Berlinski, first contacted me about a tragic situation regarding a family trapped in Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover. She knew that I had helped a young girl interested in...
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Judith Levy phones in from Israel
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit claireberlinski.substack.com Judith Levy is a dear friend of mine who lives in Israel. Years ago, I wrote about our friendship in a book review, which you can read here: I met Judith Wrubel in 1991 at Oxford University, where we were...
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The Ukraine and Iran Symposium
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit claireberlinski.substack.com The symposium with Vladislav was a fantastic. But the video that resulted was, again, way longer than anyone could reasonably be expected to watch. It was longer, I think, than I can even upload. I’d been...
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An epochal bloodletting in Iran
Here’s the promised conversation with Shay. It’s grim. For those of you who don’t listen to podcasts, a transcript is below. Updates * US withdrawing troops from key Middle East bases as precaution, American official says * Iranians arrive in Turkey through border gate as crackdown persists. The…
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Trump supports the Iranian protesters
For a change—a big change—Donald Trump has said something that has me standing and applauding: I pray to God he means it. The Iranian people have yearned to hear those words for so very long. All hell is breaking loose in Iran as a result—so he’d better damned well mean it. Earlier today, Amit...
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THE INVISIBLE FRONT
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit claireberlinski.substack.com Alex Finley is a former officer of the CIA’s Directorate of Operations, where she served in West Africa and Europe. She now lives in Brussels and writes, on Substack, about foreign influence operations…
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A Bleak Week for Ukraine
August 1968 The Ogre does what ogres can,Deeds quite impossible for Man,But one prize is beyond his reach,The Ogre cannot master Speech:About a subjugated plain,Among its desperate and slain,The Ogre stalks with hands on hips,While drivel gushes from his lips. —WH Auden Belgium has suddenly gone...
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The Weak, with Josh Rosenberg
(Note: This is not Critical Conditions with Dan Perry. I just can’t figure out how to get rid of that logo.) Recently, I had an exchange with our subscriber Josh Rosenberg—who on Substack goes by the name Josh of Arc, and writes at Sic Semper Tyrannis—about the use of violence in resisting...
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Hey, is that really Putin?
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit claireberlinski.substack.com Chris Alexander, whose Substack I recommend with the highest enthusiasm, joined the Canadian foreign service in 1991. He spent six years at the Canadian embassy in Moscow: He was the deputy head of mission...
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Russia's Revenge and Afghanistan's Misery
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit claireberlinski.substack.com This is not, actually, an episode of Critical Conditions. It’s a regular Cosmopolicast. But I haven’t yet figured out how to separate the two. In this episode, former Canadian diplomat Chris Alexander and I...
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Bibi's Bad Idea
The UN Security Council will hold an emergency session today (it’s now Sunday in Paris) to discuss the Israeli security cabinet’s approval of a plan to seize Gaza City. The hostages’ families have called for a general strike over the decision. I spoke to Vivian Bercovici and Judith Deborah Levy…
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Ukraine, Congo, and Trump's Nobel Peace Prize
I recorded this podcast with Vladislav Davidzon on Zoom on Wednesday. I thought we’d covered some interesting ground. But when I listened to it, I was horrified to discover that something was seriously wrong with the audio. Vlad’s voice was mostly fine, but mine was often inaudible. I don’t know...
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Sergei and the Westminster Spy Ring
While I’m at it, here’s the conversation you missed with Sergei Cristo. He’s the hero of the podcast Sergei and the Westminster Spy Ring, in which he offered evidence of a spy ring operating at the heart of the British establishment. I apologize for how long it took me to put this up. My computer...
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India, Pakistan, and Kashmir
For those of you who missed it, here’s the conversation we had on Sunday with Vivek and Raja Muneeb. Here’s an AI summary of the conversation—it’s remarkably accurate: Pakistan’s Nuclear Threat and Implications The meeting involved a discussion about the potential threat of Pakistan's nuclear...
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🎟️🎭🎼➪☛☞MONA ACTS OUT☚☜⇦🎼🎭🎟️
🎟️🎭🎼➪☛☞ BUY IT HERE☚☜⇦🎼🎭🎟️ You’ve heard, I’m sure, of my famous but highly elusive brother, Mischa Berlinski. He’s the author of FIELDWORK—a finalist for the National Book Award— and PEACEKEEPING. His writing has appeared in Best American Essays and Best American Travel Writing. He got a...
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From America First to Nuclear War
I invited Bob Holley on the podcast to discuss the article he recently published here, Fracturing the Security Map, warning that the return of Donald Trump, coupled with Ukraine’s defeat, could spark a stampede to redraw the world’s nuclear security arrangements. Discussed in the podcast This is...
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Why can't US learn from experience?
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit claireberlinski.substack.com My friend Ariel Cohen joined us today from Netanya, where he’s celebrating the holidays. A political analyst, Ariel focuses on Russia, Eurasia, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and energy policy. Obviously,...
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Polling in Exotic Places
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit claireberlinski.substack.com “There are smart pollsters, insightful pollsters, accurate pollsters … but few are all three. Christine Quirk is. She makes people who hire her look smarter than we really are.”— Christy Quirk is a more...
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Why Ukraine staged the Kursk offensive now
Vladislav Davidzon joins us to discuss his latest article in Tablet. Ukraine defies the US to launch a showy offensive into Russia: Observing Israel’s moves in the Middle East, Kyiv gambles on an American power vacuum: … What changed in July is that the Ukrainians, like other embattled US allies,...
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The Philosophical Ramifications of Artificial Intelligence
UPDATE: Some of you didn’t care for the sound effects, so here’s a version without them: Since I have a philosopher in the family, I thought you might enjoy hearing a conversation with my father about what it means that we’ve built machines that can think and what we might learn from them about...
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Russia goes full Mr. Kurtz
Russia has been hard at work kicking the United States out of Africa. It’s all but chased out France, too. But anyone who imagines Russia to be a kinder, gentler superpower is out of his mind. The investigative journalist Philip Obaji has been following the activities of the Wagner group in…
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On Fire
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit claireberlinski.substack.com Claire Berlinski and Judith Levy discuss the escalating tensions in northern Israel with Hezbollah, recent incursions, and the devastating impact of ongoing conflict. They explore the strategic and military...
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Deter and Dominate
Here’s an AI summary of the podcast: Join Clare Berlinski and Judith Levy in this episode of The Elephant Cage as they discuss the Biden administration's inability to understand deterrence and escalation dominance. They provide updates on the Hamas deal, analyze the current geopolitical…
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Is Hamas winning?
Show notes: Who wants a two-state solution? Not Israelis or Palestinians. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claireberlinski.substack.com/subscribe
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Police in London politely take down a sword-wielding lunatic with a taser, stunning American observer.
Show notes Detectives urgently investigating what led to man’s fatal sword rampage. Truly impressive scenes from Tbilisi: Over 100,000 people are protesting against the Russia-inspired foreign agents bill in the capital, with protests also occurring in other cities. Georgians are rallying to…
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We're not Overproducers! You're Underproducers!
Show notes Found on the sidewalk, destined for the dump: After my weekend’s ministrations: My brother thinks I could make a lucrative side gig out of writing a newsletter about finding junk in the streets of Paris and restoring it. He thinks more people would subscribe to that than they would to...
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We're back!
Hey, it’s us! John will be in London for a while now, so you can look forward to receiving the Elephant Cage every weekday without further interruption. Show notes: Popular protests continue against Foreign Agents’ law Rallies continue in Tbilisi against the Foreign Agents law, as citizens of all...
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From the Oslo Accords to October 7
For those of you who listen through a podcast player, here’s the edited, one-hour version of our conversation with Judith Levy about the failure of the Oslo Accords and the relationship between that and the present catastrophe. Make time to listen to it: You’ll find it worthwhile. If you’d like…
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World War III or a nice holiday in Seville
Show notes: Vows of revenge mark a funeral for Iranian commanders killed in an Israeli airstrike in Damascus: “Our brave men will punish the Zionist regime,” General Hossein Salami, the commander in chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, told the crowd attending the funeral in…
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Where's the Defense Minister?
Prime Minister Oxley runs through the options for dissuading Iran from targeting dissidents on British soil. Secretary of State Berlinski is worried no one has an Iran policy. The PM realizes he’ll need to lead the Free World in devising a comprehensive plan to deal with Iran’s nuclear program,...
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Oxbridge
Fridays are the day we talk about happy and beautiful things, and what could be happier or more beautiful than our golden, wine-and-poetry soaked youth at Oxford and Cambridge? I wrote a short story some time after I went down from Oxford. (You “go up” and “go down” from Oxford, and you pray that...
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Eek!
It’s a beautiful day in Europe. Jake Sullivan visits Ukraine and tells them the aid is coming. The EU is meeting in Brussels and going “on a war footing.” The Elephants are relieved by these faintly encouraging signs. The German economy is in a world of hurt. Let’s be careful what we wish for,...
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The Baltic Jammer
Hey, has anyone else had this problem? I received this message from a subscriber: [T]he podcast episodes are no longer appearing in the subscriber podcast feed. Last week episodes for Monday-Thursday appeared and I listened to them but disappeared from the full list of episodes in the podcast app...
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Some damned foolish thing in the Balkans
Show notes: * One year after Ohrid agreement, there is little commitment from Kosovo and Serbia to its implementation. EU High Representative Josep Borrell called the lack of progress in implementing obligations “regrettable.” To date, only the declaration on missing persons, the Joint Monitoring...
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Russia's non-election and the death of the NPT
Sorry folks, it’s Monday. We have to think about this again. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit claireberlinski.substack.com/subscribe
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What makes a museum great?
We decided that every Friday, we’re going to talk about things that don’t involve any of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse. From now on, we’re dedicating Fridays to the cosmopolitan part of the globalist. We’ll talk about great cities, great books, the world’s best gardens, Roman history, our...
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What's really going on with aid deliveries to Gaza?
Show notes Background: Why I don’t trust news organs I usually find reliable to report the news from Israel and Gaza accurately: * What COGAT says: The image above came from a video; here’s the full footage: COGAT didn’t provide a translation, and I don’t speak Arabic. So I put the video through…
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The Elephant Cage with John and Claire
Okay, so we changed the name. The new name was Thomas Gregg’s suggestion, and we love it. I can’t tell whether I forgot to speak slowly, or if I made a mistake in the editing that sped up the recording. I don’t know what I could have done, if so. It’s not bad—but I’m not speaking slowly. I’ll…
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The Annual Threat Assessment
Here it is: The long-awaited report. This annual report of worldwide threats to the national security of the United States responds to Section 617 of the FY21 Intelligence Authorization Act (Pub. L. No. 116-260). This report reflects the collective insights of the Intelligence Community (IC)…
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'Round the Globe with John and Claire
Show notes: * India joins the elite list of nations with test of Agni-V MIRV tech * Mission Divyastra: What Agni-5 missile with MIRV tech can do * Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan: self-reliant India * Why “poverty first, moon next” is an absurd argument * IAEA: Iran is “not entirely transparent” on…
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'Round the Globe with John and Claire
We have a name! This podcast will from now on be called ‘Round the Globe with John and Claire. We like it because it’s simple and it says what it’s about. From now on you’ll receive ‘Round the Globe with John and Claire every weekday. It’s a bonus, not a substitute for any of the other things we...
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The Short Podcast, with a Vlad Davidzon Cameo
Today’s discussion: * Vladislav Davidzon joins us to give us the expert view on Transnistria. The situation sounds more minatory than John and I initially thought: There may be a purpose to the provocation that goes beyond, “distracting NATO.” * Welcome, Sweden! * Boo, Germany! What’s wrong with...
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The No-Name-yet Podcast with Claire and John
We still have no name. I’m getting worried about this. Sorry, Scott! Not only did I blank on your last name—it came back to me, at least!—we just didn’t love the name you suggested. We’re looking for something that clearly explains what it is and why you should listen to it in about two catchy…
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The yet-unnamed, very brief, Claire Berlinski and John Oxley daily Cosmopolicast
My father didn’t understand what a “Cosmoberjoxlicast” was, and who can blame him? Pop, it’s short for the Cosmopolitan Globalist Claire Berlinski and John Oxley podcast, but just a placeholder until we think of something perfect, catchy, and memorable. A month of the Cosmopolitan Globalist on…
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Introducing the Cosmoberjoxlicast
The title is just for now. Until we think of a better one. Give it a try. It’s only twenty minutes. It’s an experiment. We’re thinking that if you like this—or if you can imagine liking it, if we make it better in some (achievable and realistic) way—we’ll do it daily. We figured we could both…
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What Ukraine's defeat would mean for the US and the world
While you’re at it, read every word of this analysis for RUSI: It is obvious that if Ukraine loses support from the West, Putin may well achieve his goal of destroying Ukrainians as a people and erasing the largest country from the map of Europe. Despite the obvious tragedy of this situation for...
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The Claire and Vladislav Cosmopolicast
Vladislav Davidzon has for almost a decade been one of the most acute observers of the Ukrainian–Jewish relationship and of the place of Ukrainian Jewry within a developing political nation. His stylish reportage has been invaluable for understanding the dynamics of the Jewish Ukraine in a...
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The Claire and Vladislav Cosmopolicast
Claire—I think you’ll find this was an especially interesting conversation. I’ve included a transcript for those of you who don’t like listening to podcasts, but I particularly recommend listening to this one. CB: This is the Cosmopolitan Globalist and I’m Claire Berlinski, the host, and…
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The Vladislav Davidzon Cosmopolicast
Please join me in lavishly thanking our reader Michael Greenspan for donating his time today to helping me edit this podcast. I’m so grateful for the favor, and you will be too when you listen without hearing Vladislav and me ask each other repeatedly, “Are you still there? Still there?” To…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
We invite our writers to discuss their essays, their travels, or anything else on their minds.
claireberlinski.substack.com
HOSTED BY
Claire Berlinski
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does The Cosmopolicast have?
The Cosmopolicast currently has 50 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is The Cosmopolicast about?
We invite our writers to discuss their essays, their travels, or anything else on their minds. claireberlinski.substack.com
How often does The Cosmopolicast release new episodes?
The Cosmopolicast has 50 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to The Cosmopolicast?
You can listen to The Cosmopolicast 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 The Cosmopolicast?
The Cosmopolicast is created and hosted by Claire Berlinski.
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