Russia

Russia marks Victory Day with pomp and circumstance and a chance to show off its power and strength. Also, many Nigerians are calling on the government to bring back fuel subsidies as oil prices rise. And, a discussion about the value of written language after a teacher in the UK finds a stone inscribed with […]

Until recently, Myanmar’s army was widely seen as undefeatable — too big and brutal to take down. An armed uprising started three years ago is now on a roll, capturing vast territory and leaving senior generals “demoralized,” according to an army major who defected. And, Georgia’s capital city Tbilisi sits at the ancient crossroads of […]

The German government says that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned by Novichok — a Soviet-era nerve agent. Plus, a textile company in Ghana produces vibrant patterns with pandemic motifs. And, it’s the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II today. We hear a story about service dogs who worked with Allied forces during the war.

Can the country rebound from the social, cultural, and economic toll of COVID-19? Now we know what happens while we’re sleeping; have we woken up? And what will it take to right the ship?

GUESTS: Gigi Kwik Gronvall, Senior Scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; Sherri Goodman, former Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Environmental Security and a Senior Fellow at the Wilson Center and the Center for Climate Security; Travis L. Adkins, lecturer of African and Security Studies at the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University; Marissa Conway, Co-founder of the Centre for Feminist Foreign Policy.

ADDITIONAL READING:

Foreign Policy Begins at Home, Council on Foreign Relations.

At the Intersection of Domestic and Foreign Policy, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Is American Foreign Policy the Key to Economic Growth?, The Washington Post.

The Legacy of American Racism at Home and Abroad, Foreign Policy.

The Scientific Response to COVID-19 and Lessons for Security, Survival.

Disinformation and misinformation have been blurring the line between fantasy and reality since the start of communication itself. But over the last decade, they’ve posed an increasing threat to democracy in the United States, with the 2016 presidential election becoming a major flashpoint in Americans’ understanding of the consequences of fake news. The false information flooding the internet and spreading like wildfire on social media pose risks not just to national and election security, but even to our health and safety.

With its bots, troll farms, and vested interest in certain election outcomes, Russia has become America’s public disinformation enemy. But experts say that the power of foreign actors to sow discord rests, first and foremost, right here at home, and the solution may be different than you think.

GUESTS: Mike Mazarr, Senior Political Scientist at RAND Corporation; Cindy Otis, Author, Former CIA Analyst, and disinformation investigations manager; Camille Stewart, Head of Security Policy for Google Play and Android; Russell Jeung, Professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University

ADDITIONAL READING:

True or False: A CIA Analyst’s Guide to Spotting Fake News, Cindy Otis.

Vote and Die: Covering Voter Suppression during the Coronavirus Pandemic, Nieman Foundation.

Combating Disinformation and Foreign Interference in Democracies: Lessons From Europe, Margaret L. Taylor.

Are we in the middle of a new Cold War? Or have we rewritten the game? With old nuclear arms treaties expiring, and no new ones being signed, are we adapting to the times or playing with fire?

In this episode, we look at the past and present of civil defense and nuclear arms control and ask what we can do — as individuals and as a nation — to prevent the existential threat of nuclear war.

GUESTS: Alex Wellerstein, professor at the Stevens Institute of Technology and historian of nuclear weapons; Alexandra Bell, Senior Policy Director at the Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation.

ADDITIONAL READING:

NUKEMAP.

Trump Will Withdraw From Open Skies Treaty, New York Times.

Time Running Out on the Last US-Russia Nuclear Arms Treaty, Defense News.

Will Donald Trump Resume Nuclear Testing?, The Economist.

After almost a decade in prison, Yevgeny Prigozhin was released into a new world. Gorbachev gave his last speech as leader of the Soviet Union; the Communist Party was outlawed. Soon, gangs were violently extorting new business owners and the murder rate doubled. But Prigozhin was comfortable with chaos. He started a hot dog stand and climbed his way up into the highest echelons of power… then decided to diversify.

In this episode, we look at a Russian businessman who takes on a new game, war in the shadows, and how we prepare for what we can’t see.

GUESTS: Anastasia Gorshkova, Russian Journalist; Sean McFate, Georgetown, Author, Former Mercenary

ADDITIONAL READING:

Putin’s Kleptocracy, Karen Dawisha.

The Future is History, Masha Gessen.

The New Rules of War, Sean McFate.

The US spends more than $700 billion on defense every year, more than healthcare, education, and all the rest of our discretionary spending combined. And yet the coronavirus slipped silently and invisibly across our borders, and even onto our aircraft carriers. You could say we were preparing for World War III, when we got hammered by World War C.

This season we ask, “What else are we missing?”

GUESTS: Alden Wicker, Sustainable Fashion Journalist; Kathleen Hicks, CSIS; John Blocher, Dave Ahern, Mia Herrington, and Larry Rubin, who shared their personal views with us at Defense One 2020.

ADDITIONAL READING:

Getting to Less, Foreign Affairs.

The Lessons of Y2K, 20 Years Later, Washington Post.

Nuclear Spending vs. Healthcare, ICAN.

Could the rise of China and Russia spell the end of the US as the dominant world power? Are we on an irreversible path toward military confrontation? Are we prepared for life in a multilateral world?

Military spending is growing, and the Pentagon says it’s in service of something called “great power competition” — but are the biggest threats to US power military? Or, something else. 

This next season of Things That Go Boom will explore how our national security has refocused on threats that require traditional military might — things like carriers and fighter jets — at a time when some of the biggest threats to our security are silent, agile, economic, and even viral. We’ll ask if our main adversaries — Russia and China — are really a threat, and we’ll examine just how strong, or weak, a position the US holds in this new geopolitical reality.

Where Do U.S.-Russia Relations Stand Following Pompeo’s Meeting with Putin?

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo went to Russia on Tuesday to meet with Vladimir Putin. The leaders discussed several issues on which the two countries remain sharply opposed.

“Freedom Never Smelled So Good”:  How an American Woman is Helping Honduran Women Achieve Justice

Gracie Murphree has been running a refugee center in Honduras for women and children escaping violence.

LGBTQ Representation is Becoming More Prominent in Children’s Entertainment

A recent episode of Arthur, where Arthur’s teacher gets married to his partner Patrick, is emblematic of the rise of LGBTQ representation in children’s entertainment.

Other segments:

Attack at a Church in Burkina Faso is the Latest in a Surge of Terrorism in the Country 

This past Sunday, a terrorist attack at a Catholic church left six dead. This is just the latest in a surge of attacks over the last few years.

WhatsApp Hack Exposes Vulnerabilities of Encrypted Messaging Apps

The hack affected 1.5 billion WhatsApp users.