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 Radden Keefe, Elizabeth Kolbert, David Sanger, Fareed Zaharia, and Anne Applebaum.
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How Was Afghanistan Lost to the Taliban - Again? Ep. 2
In the final chaotic days of the US presence in Afghanistan, a young survivor of a Taliban attack was trying to get to the airport, the top American diplomat was doing his best to make the departure as orderly as humanly possible, and the Afghan national security advisor was fleeing with the president on a helicopter. You will hear from all of them and more in this exploration of how the US pullout has reverberated – through individual lives and throughout geopolitics.
©2023 Audible Originals, LLC (P)2023 Audible Originals, LLC
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Episode 15: How Was Afghanistan Lost to the Taliban - Again? Ep. 1
By: Peter L. Bergen
Narrated by: Peter L. Bergen
Aug 1 2023
Length: 40 mins
Podcast
Summary
After a 20-year war that cost the United States two trillion dollars and led to nearly 200,000 deaths, the Taliban are back in power – and offering safe haven to Al Qaeda once again. General David H. Petraeus, Trump advisor Lisa Curtis, Afghan ambassador to the US Roya Rahmani and others, bring us “in the room” to explain how this debacle came to pass, and warn us of the consequences.
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Episode 14: What Would a Second Trump Presidency Mean for the World?
When he first ran for president, Donald Trump didn’t have any record on foreign policy. Now he does, and that offers more than a hint of how he might lead if he were to win the White House again in 2024. Peter dissects the Trump record with one of the ex-president’s best-known former foreign policy advisors – and critics – John Bolton, who doesn’t mince words in assessing Trump’s handling of Russia and China, Ukraine and Afghanistan, Iran and North Korea. Bolton takes us around the world and on the roller coaster ride that was the West Wing of the Trump White House.
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Episode 13: What Makes a Great Authentic Spy Novel?
Double agents, dead drops, and deadly missions enliven some of the most popular and well-known spy novels. But do you need to have been an ACTUAL spy in an intelligence agency like the CIA to write like one? And how do real spies rate the fictional ones?
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Episode 12: Can the Fentanyl Epidemic Be Stopped?
In the past five years, overdose death rates have skyrocketed in the United States, with fentanyl – a synthetic, cheaply produced opioid – now a leading cause of death for 18-45 year-olds. How do the chemicals used to make fentanyl get from China to Mexico to the United States? Why would drug dealers sell a substance that’s killing off so many of their customers? What is the Biden administration doing to stop these deaths? And what can ordinary Americans do to keep their communities safe?
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Episode 11: Michael Flynn’s New War
How “America’s General” joined a movement that’s fired up about COVID, conspiracies, and Christ – might just be headed to a town near you.
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What on Earth Happened to Lieutenant General Michael Flynn?
A storied Army general, a key intelligence figure in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a registered Democrat—and now, a full-blown right-wing conspiracy theorist. How did this all-American war hero disappear down the Q-Anon rabbit hole? We’ll retrace the unraveling of Michael Flynn’s legendary career and explain how a once-trusted general ended up lying to the FBI, denying the 2020 election results, and instigating one of the most bonkers meetings ever held at the White House. He is also now positioning himself as a leader of the Christian nationalist right as we head into the 2024 presidential elections.
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Episode 9: Does Anything Scare War Correspondent Clarissa Ward?
CNN’s chief international correspondent has seen the worst of humanity. But she’s also experienced amazing acts of kindness under some of the most difficult circumstances. And she’s learned a lot about what drives countries into war in the first place.
Listen on Audible | Apple Podcasts | Transcript
Episode 8: Decoding the Trump Indictment
Why is it so important to keep the country’s secrets secret? And what does the alphabet soup of national security-related acronyms in the indictment against the former president actually mean? Three intelligence professionals with more than 80 years of combined experience explain what’s involved in collecting and protecting the people, methods and information in classified documents – and the potential consequences of their exposure.
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Episode 7: Who Is Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — and What Does He Want?
Known as MBS, the 37-year-old de facto Saudi ruler has ambitious plans to modernize society. But he has also been accused of brutal human rights violations, including ordering the operation that led to the medieval-style death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Should America still be his friend? And with the US now much less dependent on Saudi oil, does it really need to?
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