Talk Cocktail

Is China’s unstoppable rise actually a carefully constructed illusion? In this recentWhoWhatWhy podcast, I talk with Timothy Heath, a senior international defense researcher at RAND Corporation who spent over 15 years in the US government analyzing military and political issues related to China. Heath peels back layers

As the embers go cold, the smoke clears and the ashes are carted off in Los Angeles a stark reality emerges: not just winds but climate change played a significant role in this deadly and destructive event. A new World Weather Attribution study found that human-caused climate change increased the likelihood of extreme

On a recent WhoWhatWhy podcast, I spoke with Princeton historian Julian Zelizer who offers a provocative argument from his new book In Defense of Partisanship. At a time when nearly a third of Americans view both major parties with disgust and many blame partisan loyalty for our democratic decay, Zelizer says that stro

Brewster Kahle, founder of the Internet Archive, housed in a former San Francisco church with Greek columns that echo the ancient Library of Alexandria, discusses his three-decade mission to preserve humanity's digital knowledge and culture. Now facing unprecedented challenges, including a major cyberattack and legal b

When LA’s hydrants failed during massive fires, misinformation spread. What really happened – and the hard truths about our urban water systems. In my latest WhoWhatWhy podcast, I talk to one of California’s leading water experts who cuts through the noise to explain what really happened. Gregory Pierce — director of t

Oh, how the party has changed.  At a moment when the Republican Party has shifted dramatically from its Reaganite roots, I talk with Washington Post columnist Max Boot, whose definitive biography of Ronald Reagan arrives with particular resonance. Through a decade of research, Boot reveals a pragmatic leader who would