Sources & Methods

Laser weapons, advanced drone warfare, and nation states around the globe redefined by climate change: this is the world in 2084, envisioned by authors Jim Stavridis and Elliot Ackerman. Both are veterans -- Ackerman, a former Marine, did five tours in Iraq and Afghanistan; Stavridis is a retired four-star admiral and a former supreme allied commander of NATO. Their novel 2084 is the third in a trilogy. They compare their work to cold war fiction like Dr. Strangelove -- stories that imagined disasters specifically so society would work to avoid them. In this episode, they unpack what dangers they see on the distant horizon. Email the show at [email protected]+ supporters hear every episode without sponsor messages and unlock access to our complete archive. Sign up at plus.npr.org.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

We unpack a week of whiplash in the Iran war, with the President quickly calling off an effort to take control of the Strait of Hormuz, citing progress on talks. But a blockade remains. Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman and Moscow correspondent Charles Maynes discuss the shifting messages and what's happening diplomatically behind the scenes. Plus -- why ceasefires between Moscow and Kiev fell apart, and how modern warfare and prior assumptions have made it possible for countries like Iran and Ukraine to take on larger, more powerful adversaries in the U.S. and Russia. Email the show at [email protected]+ supporters hear every episode without sponsor messages and unlock access to our complete archive. Sign up at plus.npr.org.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Saturday’s attack at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner was the third assassination attempt on President Trump.Host Mary Louise Kelly speaks with NPR National Security Correspondent Greg Myre and NPR Justice Correspondent Ryan Lucas about what the attack says about the state of political violence in the U.S. and the debate over whether the Secret Service was ready to protect Trump and those around him. Email the show at [email protected]+ supporters hear every episode without sponsor messages and unlock access to our complete archive. Sign up at plus.npr.org.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

The ceasefire between Iran and the U.S. has been extended, but the Strait of Hormuz is still closed and there’s still no deal on Iran’s nuclear program. Does President Trump know how to get the U.S. out of this conflict?Host Mary Louise Kelly speaks with National Security Correspondent Greg Myre and White House Correspondent Franco Ordoñez. They discuss how the conflict with Iran is at a standstill as Trump struggles to make a deal. Meanwhile, what is life like for Iranians?Email the show at [email protected]+ supporters hear every episode without sponsor messages and unlock access to our complete archive. Sign up at plus.npr.org.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

President Trump is threatening NATO — again. NATO — is bracing for divorce. Can the transatlantic relationship be saved? Host Mary Louise Kelly speaks with NPR National Security correspondent Greg Myre and NPR International Correspondent Rob Schmitz about how the war with Iran is affecting the U.S. alliance with Europe. Rob also opens his reporter's notebook and shares what it was like covering Hungary's historic election that ousted the longest-serving leader in the European Union, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.Email the show at [email protected]+ supporters hear every episode without sponsor messages and unlock access to our complete archive. Sign up at plus.npr.org.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

There’s keeping a low profile and then there’s author James Wolff. Not his real name. It's a pseudonym. James Wolff had a career as a British intelligence officer. Now, he writes about them. His latest espionage novel is called Spies and Other Gods and it's chock full of spies, people pretending to be spies, secret operations and deceit. Host Mary Louise Kelly spoke with James Wolff about writing fiction as an ex-spy and when the truth can be stranger — and more tangled — than fiction. Email the show at [email protected]+ supporters hear every episode without sponsor messages and unlock access to our complete archive. Sign up at plus.npr.org.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

At the 11th-hour, with President Trump’s self-imposed deadline looming, the United States and Iran entered into a truce. Will it hold? Is the war over? What’s the way ahead?Host Mary Louise Kelly, NPR Pentagon Correspondent Tom Bowman and NPR International Correspondent Daniel Estrin walk through where things stand from the point of view of each of the major stakeholders: the United States, Israel, Lebanon and Iran. Email the show at [email protected]+ supporters hear every episode without sponsor messages and unlock access to our complete archive. Sign up at plus.npr.org.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

National security, unlocked. Each Thursday, host Mary Louise Kelly and a team of NPR correspondents discuss the biggest national security news of the week. With decades of reporting from battlefields and the halls of power, they bring you inside the Pentagon, State Department, and intelligence community to help you understand America's shifting role in the world, and how events in faraway places matter here at home. Additional episodes feature interviews with power players from the NatSec world -- current and former military officials, intelligence experts, diplomatic leaders, and more. Email the show at [email protected]. NPR+ supporters hear every episode sponsor-free and can access our complete archive. Learn more and support public media at plus.npr.org.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy