Podcast
In The Room
Each week, listeners are invited to join Peter as he covers topics like the Ukraine War, the war in Gaza, the Pentagon’s long and schizophrenic relationship with UFOs, a rare peek inside the FBI’s unit that is trying to prevent mass shootings, and a tour of the CIA’s secret museum. He interviews top experts and leaders like U.S. Army General David Petraeus, Jen Easterly, who leads U.S. efforts to prevent cyberattacks, former U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton, U.S. Deputy Homeland Security Advisor Josh Geltzer, CNN Chief International Correspondent Clarissa Ward, Sir Lawrence Freedman, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Lord Andrew Roberts, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Christine Abizaid, Admiral William “Bill” McRaven and leading authors like Patrick Redden Keefe and Elizabeth Kolbert.
Listen on Audible, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever podcasts are found.
Is Israel Prepared for this Ground War?
Nov 14 2023
Experts on urban and underground warfare explain why an aerial campaign alone can’t defeat Hamas, what the shortcomings are of the Israeli Defense Force, and how long, complicated, and tragic this war will be.
Listen on Audible | Transcript
Turning Bad News into a Great Read
By: Peter L. Bergen
Nov 7 2023
Length: 43 mins
Podcast
Summary
How do two of America’s leading nonfiction writers turn some of the biggest issues affecting us into juicy narratives that change hearts and minds — and maybe even policies? Patrick Radden Keefe on how he rendered the opioid crisis as a dramatic tale of money, power, and human suffering in his book Empire of Pain, and Elizabeth Kolbert on how she illuminates what we are losing as global temperatures rise, as in her most recent book, Under a White Sky.
Listen on Audible | Apple Podcasts | Transcript
A General and a Military Historian Say Israel-Hamas War is Most Challenging Conflict Since 1945
Narrated by: Peter L. Bergen
Oct 31 2023
Length: 31 mins
Podcast
Summary
General David Petraeus and historian Andrew Roberts, co-authors of the new book “Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Ukraine,” discuss how they believe this war will evolve, how it compares to other conflicts of the last seven and a half decades, and what we can learn from the mistakes made during those wars.
Listen on Audible | Transcript
Can the Next Mass Shooting Be Prevented?
By: Peter L. Bergen
Oct 27 2023
Length: 46 mins
Another mass shooting is making headlines in the United States. With it comes the familiar feeling of powerlessness. But a rare peek inside the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit reveals that at least some shootings are being prevented, using techniques to identify people headed down the ‘pathway to violence.’ In the absence of gun reform, agents share what ordinary people can do to help. And a mother recounts the harrowing story of how she discovered her son’s plans to shoot up a school — and what happened next.
Listen on Audible | Apple Podcasts | Transcript
How Does the Russian Propaganda Machine Work?
When Ukrainian soldiers liberated the town of Bucha, Ukraine in March, 2022, news reports showed scenes of bodies lying in the streets. Human Rights Watch documented cases of summary executions. But on Russian state television, the news was presented as “fake,” a staged event. Objective reporting about the war in Ukraine is now against the law in Russia and journalists can’t even use the word “war” in their stories. But it wasn’t always like this. Two veteran Russian journalists who’ve experienced the changes firsthand, explain what has happened.
Narrated by: Peter L. Bergen
Oct 24 2023
Length: 41 mins
Podcast
Listen on Audible | Apple Podcasts
You Should Worry About A.I., but Not for the Reason You Think
Episode 26: You Should Worry About A.I., but Not for the Reason You Think
Oct 17 2023
New tools like Chat GPT have sparked futuristic fears about intelligent machines wiping people out or, at the very least, taking all our jobs. But there’s a more immediate A.I. threat coming for us, as soon as the next election.
42 mins
Listen on Audible | Transcript
The Future of War
The Future of War
By: Peter L. Bergen
Narrated by: Peter L. Bergen
Oct 10 2023
Length: 39 mins
Podcast
Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face,” Mike Tyson famously once said. Vladimir Putin thought he could defeat Ukraine in three days. How did he get it so wrong? And what can we learn from his mistake? Throughout history, according to one of the world’s leading experts, wars have almost never played out as predicted. But if that’s the case, how are we supposed to prepare for future wars — like a potential one with China?
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The War that Americans Forgot, Iraqis Can’t — and Iran Won
Twenty years ago, a massive statue of Saddam Hussein was pulled down in Baghdad, a day that for many Iraqis signaled hope for the future of the country. But America’s invasion did not come with a coherent plan for what should come next, and those hopes were dashed. What is the legacy of U.S. intervention in the country today? Peter travels to Iraq to find out.
Listen on Audible
How Hackers Stole Half of Americans’ Private Information - and Why
The wild story of the ‘worst corporate data breach ever,’ the man who got blamed for it, and the sleuths who figured out who actually did it.
Listen on Audible
1-on-1 with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. on why he is running for US president
RFK, Jr.’s views on vaccines and penchant for questioning official narratives have kept him on the fringes of American politics for years. His blistering critiques of the Biden Administration on everything from the pandemic to the war in Ukraine have earned him praise from Republicans. Now, he’s running to beat President Biden in the Democratic primaries. In this lengthy sit-down, Peter probes Kennedy’s unrelenting skepticism about a wide range of issues.
Listen on Audible | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Transcript
FEATURED BOOK
The Cost of Chaos: The Trump Administration and The World:
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