Podcasts about Deputy Assistant Secretary

Michael speaks with former acting Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency David Shedd and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense of Western Hemisphere Affairs Jana Nelson about US strikes on narcotraffickers in Latin America and whether the Trump Administration is closing in on attacks on Venezuela. They discuss what could be next for the Maduro regime and potential US targets in Venezuela, including arms facilities in remote areas. Jana and David also discuss the regional reaction to the rising tensions and how it ties into US politics, including in South Florida.

In this episode of the China Power Project, Chad Sbragia joins us to discuss the current state of U.S.-China mil-mil relations and the overall defense relationship between the two countries. He provides his insight into the continuities and changes in defense ties between the countries from the first Trump administration until now and the current opportunities that exist for greater engagement and increased understanding between the two sides. Sbragia also discusses his key takeaways from this year's Xiangshan forum, Beijing's premier defense and security forum, and what he is looking out for in the upcoming release of the U.S. National Defense Strategy and China Military Power Report. Chad Sbragia is currently a Research Staff Member at the Institute for Defense Analyses. Previously he served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for China in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs within the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

Mike & Nick are joined by fmr. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State & author of The Briefing Book on Substack, Joel Rubin, to break down the boat strikes against alleged drug traffickers, the administrations communications around these events, the latest on the wars still happening in Ukraine & in Gaza, plus, Mike & Nick on a growing trend happening in Congress that is pointing towards a crazy 2026.Can We Please Talk? is presented by our friends over at Fresh Roasted Coffee LLC. Have a cup of the best tasting coffee that helps Mike & Nick break down the latest news & politics! Visit this link - https://lddy.no/1hvgr & use the promo code CANWEPLEASEGET20 for 20% off your first purchase. And by SeatGeek. Need a night out? SeatGeek has the tickets! Go to seatgeek.com or download the SeatGeek app and use our promo code CANWEPLEASETALK at checkout to get $20 off that ticket purchase and enjoy that night out!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/can-we-please-talk. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

She's the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Communications at the U.S. Department of Education, here to school us on the usefulness of the Department of Education, or lack thereof. In fact, over $3,000,000,000,000 has been spent on education since it's inception, only for scores to drop incessantly.

In this episode, Kelly Brownell speaks with Jerold Mande, CEO of Nourish Science, adjunct professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, and former Deputy Undersecretary for Food Safety at the USDA. They discuss the alarming state of children's health in America, the challenges of combating poor nutrition, and the influence of the food industry on public policy. The conversation explores the parallels between the tobacco and food industries and proposes new strategies for ensuring children reach adulthood in good health. Mande emphasizes the need for radical changes in food policy and the role of public health in making these changes. Transcript So, you co-founded this organization along with Jerome Adams, Bill Frist and Thomas Grumbly, as we said, to ensure every child breaches age 18 at a healthy weight and in good metabolic health. That's a pretty tall order given the state of the health of youth today in America. But let's start by you telling us what inspired this mission and what does it look like to achieve this in today's food environment? I was trained in public health and also in nutrition and in my career, which has been largely in service of the public and government, I've been trying to advance those issues. And unfortunately over the arc of my career from when I started to now, particularly in nutrition and public health, it's just gotten so much worse. Indeed today Americans have the shortest lifespans by far. We're not just last among the wealthy countries, but we're a standard deviation last. But probably most alarming of all is how sick our children are. Children should not have a chronic disease. Yet in America maybe a third do. I did some work on tobacco at one point, at FDA. That was an enormous success. It was the leading cause of death. Children smoked at a higher rate, much like child chronic disease today. About a third of kids smoked. And we took that issue on, and today it's less than 2%. And so that shows that government can solve these problems. And since we did our tobacco work in the early '90s, I've changed my focus to nutrition and public health and trying to fix that. But we've still made so little progress. Give us a sense of how far from that goal we are. So, if the goal is to make every child reaching 18 at a healthy weight and in good metabolic health, what percentage of children reaching age 18 today might look like that? It's probably around a half or more, but we're not quite sure. We don't have good statistics. One of the challenges we face in nutrition is, unfortunately, the food industry or other industries lobby against funding research and data collection. And so, we're handicapped in that way. But we do know from the studies that CDC and others have done that about 20% of our children have obesity about a similar number have Type 2 diabetes or the precursors, pre-diabetes. You and I started off calling it adult-onset diabetes and they had to change that name to a Type 2 because it's becoming so common in kids. And then another disease, fatty liver disease, really unthinkable in kids. Something that the typical pediatrician would just never see. And yet in the last decade, children are the fastest growing group. I think we don't know an exact number, but today, at least a third, maybe as many as half of our children have a chronic disease. Particularly a food cause chronic disease, or the precursors that show they're on the way. I remember probably going back about 20 years, people started saying that we were seeing the first generation of American children that would lead shorter lives than our parents did. And what a terrible legacy to leave our children. Absolutely. And that's why we set that overarching goal of ensuring every child reaches age 18 in good metabolic health. And the reason we set that is in my experience in government, there's a phrase we all use - what gets measured gets done. And when I worked at FDA, when I worked at USDA, what caught my attention is that there is a mission statement. There's a goal of what we're trying to achieve. And it's ensuring access to healthy options and information, like a food label. Now the problem with that, first of all, it's failed. But the problem with that is the bureaucrats that I oversaw would go into a supermarket, see a produce section, a protein section, the food labels, which I worked on, and say we've done our job. They would check those boxes and say, we've done it. And yet we haven't. And if we ensured that every child reaches age 18 at a healthy weight and good metabolic health, if the bureaucrats say how are we doing on that? They would have to conclude we're failing, and they'd have to try something else. And that's what we need to do. We need to try radically different, new strategies because what we've been doing for decades has failed. You mentioned the food industry a moment ago. Let's talk about that in a little more detail. You made the argument that food companies have substituted profits for health in how they design their products. Explain that a little bit more, if you will. And tell us how the shift has occurred and what do you think the public health cost has been? Yes, so the way I like to think of it, and your listeners should think of it, is there's a North star for food design. And from a consumer standpoint, I think there are four points on the star: taste, cost, convenience, and health. That's what they expect and want from their food. Now the challenge is the marketplace. Because that consumer, you and I, when we go to the grocery store and get home on taste, cost, and convenience, if we want within an hour, we can know whether the food we purchased met our standard there. Or what our expectations were. Not always for health. There's just no way to know in a day, a week, a month, even in a year or more. We don't know if the food we're eating is improving and maintaining our health, right? There should be a definition of food. Food should be what we eat to thrive. That really should be the goal. I borrowed that from NASA, the space agency. When I would meet with them, they said, ' Jerry, it's important. Right? It's not enough that people just survive on the food they eat in space. They really need to thrive.' And that's what WE need to do. And that's really what food does, right? And yet we have food, not only don't we thrive, but we get sick. And the reason for that is, as I was saying, the marketplace works on taste, cost and convenience. So, companies make sure their products meet consumer expectation for those three. But the problem is on the fourth point on the star: on health. Because we can't tell in even years whether it's meeting our expectation. That sort of cries out. You're at a policy school. Those are the places where government needs to step in and act and make sure that the marketplace is providing. That feedback through government. But the industry is politically strong and has prevented that. And so that has left the fourth point of the star open for their interpretation. And my belief is that they've put in place a prop. So, they're making decisions in the design of the product. They're taste, they gotta get taste right. They gotta get cost and convenience right. But rather than worrying what does it do to your health? They just, say let's do a profit. And that's resulted in this whole category of food called ultra-processed food (UPF). I actually believe in the future, whether it's a hundred years or a thousand years. If humanity's gonna thrive we need manmade food we can thrive on. But we don't have that. And we don't invest in the science. We need to. But today, ultra-processed food is manmade food designed on taste, cost, convenience, and then how do we make the most money possible. Now, let me give you one other analogy, if I could. If we were CEOs of an automobile company, the mission is to provide vehicles where people can get safely from A to point B. It's the same as food we can thrive on. That is the mission. The problem is that when the food companies design food today, they've presented to the CEO, and everyone gets excited. They're seeing the numbers, the charts, the data that shows that this food is going to meet, taste, cost, convenience. It's going to make us all this money. But the CEO should be asking this following question: if people eat this as we intend, will they thrive? At the very least they won't get sick, right? Because the law requires they can't get sick. And if the Midmanagers were honest, they'd say here's the good news boss. We have such political power we've been able to influence the Congress and the regulatory agencies. That they're not going to do anything about it. Taste, cost, convenience, and profits will work just fine. Couldn't you make the argument that for a CEO to embrace that kind of attitude you talked about would be corporate malpractice almost? That, if they want to maximize profits then they want people to like the food as much as possible. That means engineering it in ways that make people overeat it, hijacking the reward pathways in the brain, and all that kind of thing. Why in the world would a CEO care about whether people thrive? Because it's the law. The law requires we have these safety features in cars and the companies have to design it that way. And there's more immediate feedback with the car too, in terms of if you crashed right away. Because it didn't work, you'd see that. But here's the thing. Harvey Wiley.He's the founder of the food safety programs that I led at FDA and USDA. He was a chemist from academia. Came to USDA in the late 1800s. It was a time of great change in food in America. At that point, almost all of families grew their own food on a farm. And someone had to decide who's going to grow our food. It's a family conversation that needed to take place. Increasingly, Americans were moving into the cities at that time, and a brand-new industry had sprung up to feed people in cities. It was a processed food industry. And in order to provide shelf stable foods that can offer taste, cost, convenience, this new processed food industry turned to another new industry, a chemical industry. Now, it's hard to believe this, but there was a point in time that just wasn't an industry. So these two big new industries had sprung up- processed food and chemicals. And Harvey Wiley had a hypothesis that the chemicals they were using to make these processed foods were making us sick. Indeed, food poisoning back then was one of the 10 leading causes of death. And so, Harvey Wiley went to Teddy Roosevelt. He'd been trying for years within the bureaucracy and not making progress. But when Teddy Roosevelt came in, he finally had the person who listened to him. Back then, USDA was right across from the Washington Monument to the White House. He'd walk right over there into the White House and met with Teddy Roosevelt and said, ' this food industry is making us sick. We should do something about it.' And Teddy Roosevelt agreed. And they wrote the laws. And so I think what your listeners need to understand is that when you look at the job that FDA and USDA is doing, their food safety programs were created to make sure our food doesn't make us sick. Acutely sick. Not heart disease or cancer, 30, 40 years down the road, but acutely sick. No. I think that's absolutely the point. That's what Wiley was most concerned about at the time. But that's not the law they wrote. The law doesn't say acutely ill. And I'll give you this example. Your listeners may be familiar with something called GRAS - Generally Recognized as Safe. It's a big problem today. Industry co-opted the system and no longer gets approval for their food additives. And so, you have this Generally Recognized as Safe system, and you have these chemicals and people are worried about them. In the history of GRAS. Only one chemical has FDA decided we need to get that off the market because it's unsafe. That's partially hydrogenated oils or trans-fat. Does trans-fat cause acute illness? It doesn't. It causes a chronic disease. And the evidence is clear. The agency has known that it has the responsibility for both acute and chronic illness. But you're right, the industry has taken advantage of this sort of chronic illness space to say that that really isn't what you should be doing. But having worked at those agencies, I don't think they see it that way. They just feel like here's the bottom line on it. The industry uses its political power in Congress. And it shapes the agency's budget. So, let's take FDA. FDA has a billion dollars with a 'b' for food safety. For the acute food safety, you're talking about. It has less than 25 million for the chronic disease. There are about 1400 deaths a year in America due to the acute illnesses caused by our food that FDA and USDA are trying to prevent. The chronic illnesses that we know are caused by our food cause 1600 maybe a day. More than that of the acute every day. Now the agency should be spending at least half its time, if not more, worrying about those chronic illness. Why doesn't it? Because the industry used their political power in Congress to put the billion dollars for the acute illness. That's because if you get acutely ill, that's a liability concern for them. Jerry let's talk about the political influence in just a little more detail, because you're in a unique position to tell us about this because you've seen it from the inside. One mechanism through which industry might influence the political process is lobbyists. They hire lobbyists. Lobbyists get to the Congress. People make decisions based on contributions and things like that. Are there other ways the food industry affects the political process in addition to that. For example, what about the revolving door issue people talk about where industry people come into the administrative branch of government, not legislative branch, and then return to industry. And are there other ways that the political influence of the industry has made itself felt? I think first and foremost it is the lobbyists, those who work with Congress, in effect. Particularly the funding levels, and the authority that the agencies have to do that job. I think it's overwhelmingly that. I think second, is the influence the industry has. So let me back up to that a sec. As a result of that, we spend very little on nutrition research, for example. It's 4% of the NIH budget even though we have these large institutes, cancer, heart, diabetes, everyone knows about. They're trying to come up with the cures who spend the other almost 50 billion at NIH. And so, what happens? You and I have both been at universities where there are nutrition programs and what we see is it's very hard to not accept any industry money to do the research because there isn't the federal money. Now, the key thing, it's not an accident. It's part of the plan. And so, I think that the research that we rely on to do regulation is heavily influenced by industry. And it's broad. I've served, you have, others, on the national academies and the programs. When I've been on the inside of those committees, there are always industry retired scientists on those committees. And they have undue influence. I've seen it. Their political power is so vast. The revolving door, that is a little of both ways. I think the government learns from the revolving door as well. But you're right, some people leave government and try to undo that. Now, I've chosen to work in academia when I'm not in government. But I think that does play a role, but I don't think it plays the largest role. I think the thing that people should be worried about is how much influence it has in Congress and how that affects the agency's budgets. And that way I feel that agencies are corrupted it, but it's not because they're corrupted directly by the industry. I think it's indirectly through congress. I'd like to get your opinion on something that's always relevant but is time sensitive now. And it's dietary guidelines for America. And the reason I'm saying it's time sensitive is because the current administration will be releasing dietary guidelines for America pretty soon. And there's lots of discussion about what those might look like. How can they help guide food policy and industry practices to support healthier children and families? It's one of the bigger levers the government has. The biggest is a program SNAP or food stamps. But beyond that, the dietary guidelines set the rules for government spending and food. So, I think often the way the dietary guidelines are portrayed isn't quite accurate. People think of it in terms of the once (food) Pyramid now the My Plate that's there. That's the public facing icon for the dietary guidelines. But really a very small part. The dietary guidelines are meant to help shape federal policy, not so much public perception. It's there. It's used in education in our schools - the (My) Plate, previously the (Food) Pyramid. But the main thing is it should shape what's served in government feeding programs. So principally that should be SNAP. It's not. But it does affect the WIC program- Women, Infants and Children, the school meals program, all of the military spending on food. Indeed, all spending by the government on food are set, governed by, or directed by the dietary guidelines. Now some of them are self-executing. Once the dietary guidelines change the government changes its behavior. But the biggest ones are not. They require rulemaking and in particular, today, one of the most impactful is our kids' meals in schools. So, whatever it says in these dietary guidelines, and there's reason to be alarmed in some of the press reports, it doesn't automatically change what's in school meals. The Department of Agriculture would have to write a rule and say that the dietary guidelines have changed and now we want to update. That usually takes an administration later. It's very rare one administration could both change the dietary guidelines and get through the rulemaking process. So, people can feel a little reassured by that. So, how do you feel about the way things seem to be taking shape right now? This whole MAHA movement Make America Healthy Again. What is it? To me what it is we've reached this tipping point we talked about earlier. The how sick we are, and people are saying, 'enough. Our food shouldn't make us sick at middle age. I shouldn't have to be spending so much time with my doctor. But particularly, it shouldn't be hard to raise my kids to 18 without getting sick. We really need to fix that and try to deal with that.' But I think that the MAHA movement is mostly that. But RFK and some of the people around them have increasingly claimed that it means some very specific things that are anti-science. That's been led by the policies around vaccine that are clearly anti-science. Nutrition is more and more interesting. Initially they started out in the exact right place. I think you and I could agree the things they were saying they need to focus on: kids, the need to get ultra-processed food out of our diets, were all the right things. In fact, you look at the first report that RFK and his team put out back in May this year after the President put out an Executive Order. Mostly the right things on this. They again, focus on kids, ultra-processed food was mentioned 40 times in the report as the root cause for the very first time. And this can't be undone. You had the White House saying that the root cause of our food-caused chronic disease crisis is the food industry. That's in a report that won't change. But a lot has changed since then. They came out with a second report where the word ultra-processed food showed up only once. What do you think happened? I know what happened because I've worked in that setting. The industry quietly went to the White House, the top political staff in the White House, and they said, you need to change the report when you come out with the recommendations. And so, the first report, I think, was written by MAHA, RFK Jr. and his lieutenants. The second report was written by the White House staff with the lobbyists of the food industry. That's what happened. What you end up with is their version of it. So, what does the industry want? We have a good picture from the first Trump administration. They did the last dietary guidelines and the Secretary of Agriculture, then Sonny Perdue, his mantra to his staff, people reported to me, was the industries- you know, keep the status quo. That is what the industry wants is they really don't want the dietary guidelines to change because then they have to reformulate their products. And they're used to living with what we have and they're just comfortable with that. For a big company to reformulate a product is a multi-year effort and cost billions of dollars and it's just not what they want to have to do. Particularly if it's going to change from administration to administration. And that is not a world they want to live in. From the first and second MAHA report where they wanted to go back to the status quo away from all the radical ideas. It'll be interesting to see what happens with dietary guidelines because we've seen reports that RFK Jr. and his people want to make shifts in policies. Saying that they want to go back to the Pyramid somehow. There's a cartoon on TV, South Park, I thought it was produced to be funny. But they talked about what we need to do is we need to flip the Pyramid upside down and we need to go back to the old Pyramid and make saturated fat the sort of the core of the diet. I thought it meant to be a joke but apparently that's become a belief of some people in the MAHA movement. RFK. And so, they want to add saturated fat back to our diets. They want to get rid of plant oils from our diets. There is a lot of areas of nutrition where the science isn't settled. But that's one where it is, indeed. Again, you go back only 1950s, 1960s, you look today, heart disease, heart attacks, they're down 90%. Most of that had to do with the drugs and getting rid of smoking. But a substantial contribution was made by nutrition. Lowering saturated fat in our diets and replacing it with plant oils that they're now called seed oils. If they take that step and the dietary guidelines come out next month and say that saturated fat is now good for us it is going to be just enormously disruptive. I don't think companies are going to change that much. They'll wait it out because they'll ask themselves the question, what's it going to be in two years? Because that's how long it takes them to get a product to market. Jerry, let me ask you this. You painted this picture where every once in a while, there'll be a glimmer of hope. Along comes MAHA. They're critical of the food industry and say that the diet's making us sick and therefore we should focus on different things like ultra-processed foods. In report number one, it's mentioned 40 times. Report number two comes out and it's mentioned only once for the political reasons you said. Are there any signs that lead you to be hopeful that this sort of history doesn't just keep repeating itself? Where people have good ideas, there's science that suggests you go down one road, but the food industry says, no, we're going to go down another and government obeys. Are there any signs out there that lead you to be more hopeful for the future? There are signs to be hopeful for the future. And number one, we talked earlier, is the success we had regulating tobacco. And I know you've done an outstanding job over the years drawing the parallels between what happened in tobacco and food. And there are good reasons to do that. Not the least of which is that in the 1980s, the tobacco companies bought all the big food companies and imparted on them a lot of their lessons, expertise, and playbook about how to do these things. And so that there is a tight link there. And we did succeed. We took youth smoking, which was around a 30 percent, a third, when we began work on this in the early 1990s when I was at FDA. And today it's less than 2%. It's one area with the United States leads the world in terms of what we've achieved in public health. And there's a great benefit that's going to come to that over the next generation as all of those deaths are prevented that we're not quite seeing yet. But we will. And that's regardless of what happens with vaping, which is a whole different story about nicotine. But this idea success and tobacco. The food industry has a tobacco playbook about how to addict so many people and make so much money and use their political power. We have a playbook of how to win the public health fight. So, tell us about that. What you're saying is music to my ears and I'm a big believer in exactly what you're saying. So, what is it? What does that playbook look like and what did we learn from the tobacco experience that you think could apply into the food area? There are a couple of areas. One is going to be leadership and we'll have to come back to that. Because the reason we succeeded in tobacco was the good fortune of having a David Kessler at FDA and Al Gore as Vice President. Nothing was, became more important to them than winning this fight against a big tobacco. Al Gore because his sister died at a young age of smoking. And David Kessler became convinced that this was the most important thing for public health that he could do. And keep in mind, when he came to FDA, it was the furthest thing from his mind. So, one of it is getting these kinds of leaders. Did does RFK Jr. and Marty McCarey match up to Al Gore? And we'll see. But the early signs aren't that great. But we'll see. There's still plenty of time for them to do this and get it right. The other thing is having a good strategy and policy about how to do it. And here, with tobacco, it was a complete stretch, right? There was no where did the FDA get authority over tobacco? And indeed, we eventually needed the Congress to reaffirm that authority to have the success we did. As we talked earlier, there's no question FDA was created to make sure processed food and the additives and processed food don't make us sick. So, it is the core reason the agency exists is to make sure that if there's a thing called ultra-processed food, man-made food, that is fine, but we have to thrive when we eat it. We certainly can't be made sick when we eat it. Now, David Kessler, I mentioned, he's put forward a petition, a citizens' petition to FDA. Careful work by him, he put months of effort into this, and he wrote basically a detailed roadmap for RFK and his team to use if they want to regulate ultra-processed stuff food. And I think we've gotten some, initially good feedback from the MAHA RFK people that they're interested in this petition and may take action on it. So, the basic thrust of the Kessler petition from my understanding is that we need to reconsider what's considered Generally Recognized as Safe. And that these ultra-processed foods may not be considered safe any longer because they produce all this disease down the road. And if MAHA responds positively initially to the concept, that's great. And maybe that'll have legs, and something will actually happen. But is there any reason to believe the industry won't just come in and quash this like they have other things? This idea of starting with a petition in the agency, beginning an investigation and using its authority is the blueprint we used with tobacco. There was a petition we responded, we said, gee, you raised some good points. There are other things we put forward. And so, what we hope to see here with the Kessler petition is that the FDA would put out what's called an advanced notice of a proposed rulemaking with the petition. This moves it from just being a petition to something the agency is saying, we're taking this seriously. We're putting it on the record ourselves and we want industry and others now to start weighing in. Now here's the thing, you have this category of ultra-processed food that because of the North Star I talked about before, because the industry, the marketplace has failed and gives them no incentive to make sure that we thrive, that keeps us from getting sick. They've just forgotten about that and put in place profits instead. The question is how do you get at ultra-processed food? What's the way to do it? How do you start holding the industry accountable? Now what RFK and the MAHA people started with was synthetic color additives. That wasn't what I would pick but, it wasn't a terrible choice. Because if you talk to Carlos Monteiro who coined the phrase ultra-processed food, and you ask him, what is an ultra-processed food, many people say it's this industrial creation. You can't find the ingredients in your kitchen. He agrees with all that, but he thinks the thing that really sets ultra-processed food, the harmful food, is the cosmetics that make them edible when they otherwise won't I've seen inside the plants where they make the old fashioned minimally processed food versus today's ultra-processed. In the minimally processed plants, I recognize the ingredients as food. In today's plants, you don't recognize anything. There are powders, there's sludges, there's nothing that you would really recognize as food going into it. And to make that edible, they use the cosmetics and colors as a key piece of that. But here's the problem. It doesn't matter if the color is synthetic or natural. And a fruit loop made with natural colors is just as bad for you as one made with synthetics. And indeed, it's been alarming that the agency has fast tracked these natural colors and as replacements because, cyanide is natural. We don't want to use that. And the whole approach has been off and it like how is this going to get us there? How is this focus on color additives going to get us there. And it won't. Yeah, I agree. I agree with your interpretation of that. But the thing with Kessler you got part of it right but the main thing he did is say you don't have to really define ultra-processed food, which is another industry ploy to delay action. Let's focus on the thing that's making us sick today. And that's the refined carbohydrates. The refined grains in food. That's what's most closely linked to the obesity, the diabetes we're seeing today. Now in the 1980s, the FDA granted, let's set aside sugar and white flour, for example, but they approved a whole slew of additives that the companies came forward with to see what we can add to the white flour and sugar to make it shelf stable, to meet all the taste, cost, and convenience considerations we have. And profit-making considerations we have. Back then, heart disease was the driving health problem. And so, it was easy to overlook why you didn't think that the these additives were really harmful. That then you could conclude whether Generally Recognized as Safe, which is what the agency did back then. What Kessler is saying is that what he's laid out in his petition is self-executing. It's not something that the agency grants that this is GRAS or not GRAS. They were just saying things that have historical safe use that scientists generally recognize it as safe. It's not something the agency decides. It's the universe of all of us scientists generally accept. And it's true in the '80s when we didn't face the obesity and diabetes epidemic, people didn't really focus on the refined carbohydrates. But if you look at today's food environment. And I hope you agree with this, that what is the leading driver in the food environment about what is it about ultra-processed food that's making us so sick? It's these refined grains and the way they're used in our food. And so, if the agency takes up the Kessler petition and starts acting on it, they don't have to change the designation. Maybe at some point they have to say some of these additives are no longer GRAS. But what Kessler's saying is by default, they're no longer GRAS because if you ask the scientists today, can we have this level of refined grains? And they'd say, no, that's just not Generally Recognized as Safe. So, he's pointing out that status, they no longer hold that status. And if the agency would recognize that publicly and the burden shifts where Wiley really always meant it to be, on the industry to prove that there are foods or things that we would thrive on, but that wouldn't make us sick. And so that's the key point that you go back to when you said, and you're exactly right that if you let the industry use their political power to just ignore health altogether and substitute profits, then you're right. Their sort of fiduciary responsibility is just to maximize profits and they can ignore health. If you say you can maximize profits, of course you're a capitalist business, but one of the tests you have to clear is you have to prove to us that people can thrive when they eat that. Thrive as the standard, might require some congressional amplification because it's not in the statute. But what is in the statute is the food can't make you sick. If scientists would generally recognize, would say, if you eat this diet as they intend, if you eat this snack food, there's these ready to heat meals as they intend, you're going to get diabetes and obesity. If scientists generally believe that, then you can't sell that. That's just against the law and the agency needs them to enforce the law. Bio:   Jerold Mande is CEO of Nourish Science; Adjunct Professor of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; and a Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Tisch College of Civic Life, Tufts University. Professor Mande has a wealth of expertise and experience in national public health and food policy. He served in senior policymaking positions for three presidents at USDA, FDA, and OSHA helping lead landmark public health initiatives. In 2009, he was appointed by President Obama as USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety. In 2011, he moved to USDA's Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services, where he spent six years working to improve the health outcomes of the nation's $100 billion investment in 15 nutrition programs. During President Clinton's administration, Mr. Mande was Senior Advisor to the FDA commissioner where he helped shape national policy on nutrition, food safety, and tobacco. He also served on the White House staff as a health policy advisor and was Deputy Assistant Secretary for Occupational Health at the Department of Labor. During the George H.W. Bush administration he led the graphic design of the iconic Nutrition Facts label at FDA, for which he received the Presidential Design Award. Mr. Mande began his career as a legislative assistant for Al Gore in the U.S. House and Senate, managing Gore's health and environment agenda, and helping Gore write the nation's organ donation and transplantation laws.  Mande earned a Master of Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Bachelor of Science in nutritional science from the University of Connecticut. Prior to his current academic appointments, he served on the faculty at the Tufts, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, and Yale School of Medicine.

A longstanding measurement of success for any President is the state of the economy. President Trump is no exception. A recent survey from the Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that only one in three adults approve of President Trump's handling of the economy. FOX Business's White House correspondent Edward Lawrence joins the Rundown to discuss the Trump administration's handling of the issue of affordability for Americans. Later, Dr. Dorothy Fink, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health & Women's Health at the Department of Health and Human Services, joins to discuss what led to the FDA's decision to remove its longstanding boxed warning from hormone-based menopause drugs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A longstanding measurement of success for any President is the state of the economy. President Trump is no exception. A recent survey from the Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that only one in three adults approve of President Trump's handling of the economy. FOX Business's White House correspondent Edward Lawrence joins the Rundown to discuss the Trump administration's handling of the issue of affordability for Americans. Later, Dr. Dorothy Fink, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health & Women's Health at the Department of Health and Human Services, joins to discuss what led to the FDA's decision to remove its longstanding boxed warning from hormone-based menopause drugs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A longstanding measurement of success for any President is the state of the economy. President Trump is no exception. A recent survey from the Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that only one in three adults approve of President Trump's handling of the economy. FOX Business's White House correspondent Edward Lawrence joins the Rundown to discuss the Trump administration's handling of the issue of affordability for Americans. Later, Dr. Dorothy Fink, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health & Women's Health at the Department of Health and Human Services, joins to discuss what led to the FDA's decision to remove its longstanding boxed warning from hormone-based menopause drugs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Congress is 43 days into the government shutdown, severely disrupting air traffic control, but hope rises as eight Senate Democrats vote to advance an end to the standoff. Mike McCormick, former Vice President of the FAA's Air Traffic Organization, discusses how the shutdown has led to many issues that are exacerbating an already understaffed system, then he shares his insights on how to rebuild the controller pipeline, and the challenges of restoring normal operations before the holiday travel season. The FDA is removing its long-standing boxed warning from hormone-based menopause drugs, a change that could reshape treatment for millions of women. For years, warnings about heart attack, stroke, and dementia discouraged many from using the therapy despite its benefits for hot flashes and other symptoms. Dr. Dorothy Fink, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health & Women's Health at the Department of Health and Human Services, joins the Rundown to explain what led to the FDA's decision, the science behind Hormone Replacement Therapy, and why women's health issues associated with menopause deserve more attention. Plus, commentary from Ruthless Podcast co-host John Ashbrook Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Congress is 43 days into the government shutdown, severely disrupting air traffic control, but hope rises as eight Senate Democrats vote to advance an end to the standoff. Mike McCormick, former Vice President of the FAA's Air Traffic Organization, discusses how the shutdown has led to many issues that are exacerbating an already understaffed system, then he shares his insights on how to rebuild the controller pipeline, and the challenges of restoring normal operations before the holiday travel season. The FDA is removing its long-standing boxed warning from hormone-based menopause drugs, a change that could reshape treatment for millions of women. For years, warnings about heart attack, stroke, and dementia discouraged many from using the therapy despite its benefits for hot flashes and other symptoms. Dr. Dorothy Fink, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health & Women's Health at the Department of Health and Human Services, joins the Rundown to explain what led to the FDA's decision, the science behind Hormone Replacement Therapy, and why women's health issues associated with menopause deserve more attention. Plus, commentary from Ruthless Podcast co-host John Ashbrook Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Congress is 43 days into the government shutdown, severely disrupting air traffic control, but hope rises as eight Senate Democrats vote to advance an end to the standoff. Mike McCormick, former Vice President of the FAA's Air Traffic Organization, discusses how the shutdown has led to many issues that are exacerbating an already understaffed system, then he shares his insights on how to rebuild the controller pipeline, and the challenges of restoring normal operations before the holiday travel season. The FDA is removing its long-standing boxed warning from hormone-based menopause drugs, a change that could reshape treatment for millions of women. For years, warnings about heart attack, stroke, and dementia discouraged many from using the therapy despite its benefits for hot flashes and other symptoms. Dr. Dorothy Fink, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health & Women's Health at the Department of Health and Human Services, joins the Rundown to explain what led to the FDA's decision, the science behind Hormone Replacement Therapy, and why women's health issues associated with menopause deserve more attention. Plus, commentary from Ruthless Podcast co-host John Ashbrook Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the GovDiscovery AI Podcast, host Mike Shanley, CEO of GovDiscovery AI, speaks with Mike Derrios, former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Acquisition and Senior Procurement Executive at the U.S. Department of State. Derrios shares insights from his tenure at State​. The conversation explores the America First Global Health Strategy, State's ongoing reorganization, and broader federal acquisition reforms, offering valuable perspective for implementers, contractors, and NGOs navigating these shifts.   ​BIO:  Mike Derrios is a strategic leader and expert in government acquisition with 30 years of federal, military, and private sector experience. He currently serves as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Acquisition and Senior Procurement Executive for the U.S. Department of State (DOS), where he oversees all global procurement and grant operations for America's foreign diplomacy and national security mission, managing an annual spend of $15 billion and a workforce of 1500 across 270 embassies and consulates.   Previously, Mike served as the Head of Contracting for the United States Coast Guard where he led a $3.5 billion annual portfolio to recapitalize assets and leveraged policy to grant extraordinary contractual relief to salvage production facilities for the $10 billion Offshore Patrol Cutter program after a Level 5 hurricane decimated shipyard facilities. A plank holder for the Transportation Security Administration, Mike led the nationwide deployment of passenger and carry-on baggage screening equipment, valued at $5 billion, across 429 U.S. airports. He also served as the program director for expansion of TSA PreCheck®, launching a program that enrolls millions of Americans for expedited airport screening through a public-private partnership model.   As a senior business consultant at CACI, Mike helped to replace legacy contract writing systems for 20,000 procurement professionals across the Department of Defense. He started his career in the United States Air Force. Mike holds a Master of Business Administration degree from George Mason University (GMU) and a Bachelor of Science degree in Workforce Education & Development from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. He is a member of the Board of Advisors for the Baroni Center for Government Contracting at GMU. Mike is passionate about delivering value through procurement, optimizing performance, and galvanizing teams to maximize opportunities.    LEARN MORE: Thank you for tuning into this episode of the GovDiscovery AI Podcast with Mike Shanley. You can learn more about working with the U.S. Government by visiting our homepage: Konektid International and GovDiscovery AI. To connect with our team directly, message the host Mike Shanley on LinkedIn.   https://www.govdiscoveryai.com/ https://www.konektid.com/  

In this episode, Mike Shanley sits down with Keri Lowry, former Chief of Staff at the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and board member at the Society for International Development–US. Keri shares insider insights on MCC's expanding role under the current administration, including new country programs, procurement trends, and where U.S. industry should focus for FY26 opportunities. For updates on MCC procurements and other U.S. foreign assistance opportunities, inquire about our AidKonekt software subscription [connect@govdiscoveryai.com]. BIOGRAPHY: Keri M. Lowry has more than 20 years experience in the public, private and nonprofit sectors. Most recently, she served as Chief of Staff at the Millennium Challenge Corporation. Prior to joining MCC, she served as Associate Director of National Security and Defense at the consulting firm Guidehouse. She has also served extensively across the U.S. government as Director of Government Affairs and External Relations at the National Commission on Military, National & Public Service; Deputy Assistant Secretary of State at the Department of State; Regional Director for Asia, Europe & the Middle East at the U.S. Peace Corps; Director for International Economics & Humanitarian Affairs at the National Security Council; and, in numerous senior roles at the U.S. Agency for International Development. She has managed international programs at nongovernmental organizations and was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Burkina Faso. Ms. Lowry is currently on the Board of Directors of the Children's Guild, the National Peace Corps Association, the Society for International Development US, and a member of the Chief of Staff Association and the Council on Foreign Relations. She resides in Washington, DC with her family. LEARN MORE: Thank you for tuning into this episode of the GovDiscovery AI Podcast with Mike Shanley. You can learn more about working with the U.S. Government by visiting our homepage: Konektid International and GovDiscovery AI. To connect with our team directly, message the host Mike Shanley on LinkedIn. https://www.govdiscoveryai.com/ https://www.konektid.com  

My guest today is former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and Democrat strategist Joel Rubin who publishes The Briefing Book on Substack and is the author of the forthcoming book Making Sense of the World: How Democrats Can Win Again on Foreign Policy.Joel is the definition of a career public servant having spent much of his career serving at every level of government from city council to the Department of State.When I talk about this podcast being about “government, citizenship and America's place in the world,” Joel's one of those guys who lives, works, writes, and thinks about all three of those elements of politics and their interactions. In this conversation, we hit all three.Subscribe to Tim Talks Politics⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for the full show notes (30% off for podcast listeners)!

Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East, Daniel Shapiro discusses the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas St. John's, Lafayette Square Washington, DC Release date: 29 September 2025

Will Donald Trump's plan for Gaza work? The U.S. President has presented a proposal to end Israel's war on the strip. And he's secured firm support from regional leaders. But what about the two main players: Hamas and Israel? In this episode: Thomas Warrick - former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Counterterrorism Policy. Daoud Kuttab - journalist and columnist. Faisal Abdulhameed al-Mudahka - Editor-in-Chief of the Gulf Times Host: Bernard Smith Connect with us:@AJEPodcasts on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook

In this episode of the Bridging the Gap Podcast, Rachel Nelson sits down with Andrew P. Miller, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress (CAP) and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Israeli-Palestinian Affairs in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. They discuss his experience shaping U.S. policy towards Israel/Palestine, including sanctions targeting perpetrators of violence in the West Bank, regional diplomacy, and the evolving role of U.S. engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, especially concerning Israel's war in Gaza.

Professor Jerold Mande is CEO of Nourish Science; Adjunct Professor of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; and a Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Tisch College of Civic Life, Tufts University.Mr. Mande has a wealth of expertise and experience in national public health and food policy. He served in senior policymaking positions for three presidents at USDA, FDA, and OSHA helping lead landmark public health initiatives. In 2009, he was appointed by President Obama as USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety, In 2011, he moved to USDA's Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services, where he spent six years working to improve the health outcomes of the nation's $100 billion investment in 15 nutrition programs. During President Clinton's administration, Mr. Mande was Senior Advisor to the FDA commissioner where he helped shape national policy on nutrition, food safety, and tobacco. He also served on the White House staff as a health policy advisor and was Deputy Assistant Secretary for Occupational Health at the Department of Labor. During the George H.W. Bush administration he led the graphic design of the iconic Nutrition Facts label at FDA, for which he received the Presidential Design Award.Mr. Mande began his career as a legislative assistant for Al Gore in the U.S. House and Senate, managing Gore's health and environment agenda, and helping Gore write the nation's organ donation and transplantation laws.Mr. Mande earned a Master's of Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Bachelor of Science in nutritional science from the University of Connecticut. Prior to his current academic appointments, he served on the faculty at the Tufts, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, and Yale School of Medicine.Links & Resources:Nourish ScienceStudy: US Diet Quality and the 86% F-grade findingDiet, Drugs and Dopamine by David KesslerThe Poison Squad by Deborah BlumThe Jungle by Upton SinclairCommissioner Kessler's citizen petition to FDA on refined carbohydratesNYT Article: what's wrong with how we test food chemicalsDiscounts Get 10% off delicious local farm-fresh food delivered to your door with my link for FarmMatch: https://farmmatch.com/jane Get 15% off high-quality Italian olive oil with code FARMTOFUTURE: https://shop.vignolifood.com/FARMTOFUTURE Get 40% the CircleDNA's Premium DNA test with code JANEZHANG: https://circledna.com/premium Connect with Jane Z. Instagram: @farm.to.future Email: jane@farmtofuture.co Website: farmtofuture.co

In this episode Dominic Bowen and Professor Kimberly Clausing examine the return of tariffs to the centre of U.S. economic strategy and the risks this shift creates for the global economy. Find out more about how protectionism and populism are reshaping U.S. trade policy, why tariffs act as a hidden tax on consumers and small businesses, the political dynamics driving short-term wins over long-term stability, the impact on supply chains and export industries such as higher education, tourism, and technology, the risks of corruption and rent-seeking in tariff exemptions, and how international trust in the United States is being tested as allies confront unpredictable economic behaviour, and more.Professor Kimberly Clausing holds the Eric M. Zolt Chair in Tax Law and Policy at the UCLA School of Law. Professor Clausing is also a nonresident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. During the first part of the Biden Administration, Clausing was the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Tax Analysis in the US Department of the Treasury, serving as the lead economist in the Office of Tax Policy. Professor Clausing has published widely on taxation, climate policy, and international trade, and is the author of Open: The Progressive Case for Free Trade, Immigration, and Global Capital (Harvard University Press, 2019). International Monetary Fund, the Hamilton Project, the Brookings Institution, the Tax Policy Center, and the Center for American Progress and has testified before the U.S. Congress on multiple occasions. She has received two Fulbright Research Awards, and her research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the Smith Richardson Foundation, the International Centre for Tax and Development, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, and the Washington Center for Equitable Growth.The International Risk Podcast brings you conversations with global experts, frontline practitioners, and senior decision-makers who are shaping how we understand and respond to international risk. From geopolitical volatility and organised crime, to cybersecurity threats and hybrid warfare, each episode explores the forces transforming our world and what smart leaders must do to navigate them. Whether you're a board member, policymaker, or risk professional, The International Risk Podcast delivers actionable insights, sharp analysis, and real-world stories that matter. The International Risk Podcast – Reducing risk by increasing knowledge.Follow us on LinkedIn and Subscribe for all our updates!Tell us what you liked!

In “Intermodal Expo 2025: Unpacking Cargo Theft, AI, and M&A”, Joe Lynch and Anne Reinke, President & CEO of IANA, discuss the critical issues and forward-looking trends that are shaping the future of the intermodal freight industry. About Anne Reinke Anne Reinke became the Intermodal Association of North America's third President & CEO in December of 2024.  Immediately preceding her appointment at IANA, Anne was President & CEO of the Transportation Intermediaries Association for four years. Anne has a long career in transportation policy, with a stint at the Association of American Railroads, 16 years at CSX Corporation, eight of which as Vice-President for Government Affairs, and a political appointment as a Deputy Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of Transportation. She received a B.A. from Rice University in Houston, TX and a J.D. from Wake Forest School of Law in Winston-Salem, NC.  She is a Washington, DC native; she, her husband, her two sons and her dog live in Alexandria, VA. About Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) IANA is North America's leading industry trade association representing the combined interests of the intermodal freight industry. IANA's membership roster of over 1,000 corporate members includes railroads; water carriers and stacktrain operators; port authorities; intermodal truckers and over-the-road highway carriers; intermodal marketing and logistics companies; and suppliers to the industry such as equipment manufacturers, intermodal leasing companies and technology firms. IANA's associate (non-voting) members include shippers, academic institutions, public sector organizations and non-profit associations. Key Takeaways: Intermodal Expo 2025: Unpacking Cargo Theft, AI, and M&A In “Intermodal Expo 2025: Unpacking Cargo Theft, AI, and M&A”, Joe Lynch and Anne Reinke, President & CEO of IANA, discuss the critical issues and forward-looking trends that are shaping the future of the intermodal freight industry. New Leadership: The podcast introduces Anne Reinke as the newly appointed President & CEO of the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA), highlighting her extensive background in transportation policy and government. Addressing Cargo Theft: A major focus is on how IANA, under Reinke's leadership, is tackling the significant issue of cargo theft within the intermodal freight industry. AI's Transformative Role: The episode explores the increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance efficiency, security, and logistics for IANA's diverse membership, which includes railroads, truckers, and technology firms. M&A Trends: The discussion delves into how mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are reshaping the intermodal industry, affecting competition and operational strategies. Industry Influence: The podcast underscores the importance of IANA as a leading trade association, providing a unified voice for the intermodal industry on critical issues. Expert Perspective: Reinke's unique experience with both the Transportation Intermediaries Association and the U.S. Department of Transportation offers a broad and knowledgeable perspective on the supply chain. Future-Focused Discussion: The episode serves as a preview of the Intermodal Expo 2025, focusing on key trends and challenges that will define the future of freight transportation. Learn More About Intermodal Expo 2025: Unpacking Cargo Theft, AI, and M&A Anne Reinke | Linkedin IANA | Linkedin IANA | Homepage Intermodal Expo 2025 Amazon.com: The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger - Second Edition with a new chapter by the author eBook : Levinson, Marc: Books The Voice of 3rd Party Logistics with Anne Reinke The State of Freight with Anne Reinke Trucking Through Trouble with TIA & Anne Reinke Beyond The Rails and Roads: The State of Intermodal with Anne Reinke The Logistics of Logistics Podcast If you enjoy the podcast, please leave a positive review, subscribe, and share it with your friends and colleagues. The Logistics of Logistics Podcast: Google, Apple, Castbox, Spotify, Stitcher, PlayerFM, Tunein, Podbean, Owltail, Libsyn, Overcast Check out The Logistics of Logistics on Youtube

Helen is taking a break to recover from back surgery, so we’re re-running some classic episodes. Here’s one from 2024. Rear Admiral (RDML) Paul Reed, MD is the U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health, the Director of the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, a pediatrician, and a senior U.S. Public Health Service Officer. […] The post Re-Airing: Health in the Context of People’s Lives (HLOL #263) appeared first on Health Literacy Out Loud Podcast.

Voter registration trends suggest Republicans could turn Pennsylvania red for the first time in decades. Observers also see a rise in the power of voters who don't support either party. Northeastern Pa. Congressman Rob Bresnahan has unveiled legislation to support food bands and farmers, as well as lay the groundwork for the next nationwide Farm Bill. This is in response to the USDA's decision to eliminate a $13 million dollar food aid program. This weekend the Steamtown National Historic Site will celebrate RailFest and the park's 30th anniversary. Governor Josh Shapiro's office is proposing a 49.9-billion-dollar budget to Pennsylvania lawmakers, as an attempt to end the state's two-month stalemate. A central Pennsylvania woman who helped spread lies about the 2020 presidential election is now a member of the Trump Administration. heather Honey has been appointed Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Department of Homeland Security, where her role will be to oversee election integrity. A whistleblower within the Pennsylvania Department of Aging says the Shapiro administration is retaliating against him, after he raised alarms about elder abuse system failures. Law enforcement officials in Pennsylvania and 20 other states are calling on the federal government to declare an emergency in response to a drug know of the streets as "designer Xanax." Labor Day weekend brings colorful arts festivals to the region's major cities. In Harrisburg, the 109th annual Kipona Festival runs Saturday through Monday, featuring "art in the park", along with a giant puppet parade, the Keystone Dock Dogs competition, food trucks and music. In Lancaster, the 47th annual Long's Park art Festival features 200 artists across the city park, on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Did you know that if every one of WITF's sustaining circle members gives as little as $12 more a month, we'd close the gap caused by federal funding cuts? Increase your gift at https://witf.org/increase or become a sustaining member at www.witf.org/givenow. and thanks!Support WITF: https://www.witf.org/support/give-now/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the Sinica Podcast, I welcome back Evan Feigenbaum, Vice President for Studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Evan served for many years as a State Department official, was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia and Central Asia among his numerous positions in government, and was instrumental in building the U.S.-India relationship after 2000 — only to watch Trump round on India in recent months, slapping large punitive tariffs on the South Asian giant ostensibly over its purchases of Russian oil. What motivated Trump? And how does this look from New Delhi and from Beijing? Will China capitalize on the strains in the U.S.-Indian relationship? Listen and find out.As this show is news pegged, I decided to release it as soon as I finished the edit, rather than wait for the transcript. I'll update this podcast page when the transcript comes back.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

After a summer of action in the Arctic, Andrew Shapiro re-visits his conversation with former Pentagon Arctic policy head Iris Ferguson about this strategic frontier. Iris explains how melting sea ice is ushering in a new era of great power competition, ending decades of 'Arctic exceptionalism.' Iris, the DOD's first Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Arctic, discusses Russia's interests, China's pursuit of influence as a 'near-Arctic state,' and the US imperative to bolster homeland defense, domain awareness, and alliances from Greenland to Alaska. 

What kind of future do we want for our children? Dr. Laurie Todd-Smith, with the federal Office of Early Childhood Development, has spent her career answering that question. In this week's episode of The Narrative, CCV Communications Executive Director Mike Andrews and Ohio Christian Education Network (OCEN) Executive Director Troy McIntosh speak with Laurie as she shares real-time trends and statistics in American classrooms, what downsizing the Department of Education entails, and why school choice is essential to protecting parental rights and student success. Before the guys sit down with Laurie, Troy shares exciting OCEN updates, including: Seven new Christian schools opened this year through the partnership of OCEN, CCV, and churches that felt called to serve the children in their communities. The launch of the nationwide Christian Education Network brought in leaders to Ohio from three states to learn how they can build a network of their own. The recent Sidney Daily News article Troy wrote in response to school choice critics. MORE ABOUT LAURIE TODD-SMITH Dr. Laurie Todd-Smith is the Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Office of Early Childhood Development at the Administration for Children and Families at the US Department of Health and Human Services. She most recently served as the America First Policy Institute as Director of the Center for Education Opportunity and the Center for the American Child where she focused on assisting states to advance evidence-based education policy reforms including the expansion of school choice, early literacy, foster care reform, online safety of children, as well as model policy for fentanyl curriculum in public schools. Dr. Todd-Smith served as Senior Education and Workforce Policy Advisor to Governor Phil Bryant as well as Executive Director of the State Early Childhood Council. Her work led to remarkable growth in reading and math achievement outcomes for Mississippi's students, earning the state the title of the "Mississippi Miracle." President Trump appointed Dr. Todd-Smith as the Director of the Women’s Bureau at the United States Department of Labor in 2018. During her tenure at the Women’s Bureau, she focused the agency on childcare quality and access, paid family leave, and grants to support women in apprenticeships. Dr. Todd-Smith holds a doctorate in education from Mississippi State University, a master’s degree from Western New Mexico University, and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Arizona. TALK TO US We want to hear from you! As a valued listener, your feedback is critical for us to keep The Narrative insightful, relevant, and helpful. If you have a particular guest, topic, or question you'd like us to cover, let us know! We’ll answer your questions on an “Ask Us Anything” episode later, so send in your questions now.

Ben and guest co-host Yalda Hakim, Sky News' Lead World News Presenter, discuss Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin's upcoming Alaska summit, previewing what might unfold, Ukraine's predicament, and how Europe has struggled with being sidelined. They also talk about Trump's fixation on the Nobel Peace Prize and his ‘real estate diplomacy,' as well as Israel's frightening plan to take over Gaza, the targeted killing of several Al Jazeera journalists, and Europe's uncoordinated response to Israel's expanding war and the humanitarian disaster in Gaza. Finally, they discuss the fourth anniversary of the fall of Kabul and what life is like for women and girls under the Taliban's rule. Then, Tommy speaks with Michael C. Horowitz, former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Force Development and Emerging Capabilities, about how drones and artificial intelligence have ushered in a new era of warfare, and why the US military is lagging behind. Check out Yalda's podcast, The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim.For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast. Get tickets to CROOKED CON November 6-7 in Washington, D.C at http://crookedcon.com

For today's episode, Lawfare Senior Editor Scott R. Anderson shares some of the conversations he had with leading policy experts and practitioners on the margins of this year's Aspen Security Forum, which took place last week. First he sat down Shashank Joshi, the Defence Editor for The Economist to discuss the new dynamics surrounding European security, as well as the path toward (and implications of) a Europe less dependent on the United States for its security.Scott then talked with Iris Ferguson of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, who was until recently the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Arctic and Global Resilience, about the strategic significance of the Arctic and how it plays into the modern dynamics of major power competition.This is part one of two, so be sure to tune in later this week for more conversations from Aspen.To receive ad-free podcasts, become a Lawfare Material Supporter at www.patreon.com/lawfare. You can also support Lawfare by making a one-time donation at https://givebutter.com/lawfare-institute.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/lawfare. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today, we investigate the intersection of the energy transition, critical minerals and defense. As with commodities, warfare is also going through rapid and profound change, with the electrification of defense over the last 20 year. Batteries proliferate the battlefield and the energy transition is impacting national security. We are seeing the shift from capital assets to small, cheap weapons such as drones that can have profound impacts. This poses a particular problem for the US, where energy dominance has been based in hydrocarbons along with their warfare fighting capabilities. Now in an electrified battlefront, supply chains that support them sit in China, threatening the West's defence capabilities. Our guest is Joe Bryan, principal at Muswell Orange, a boutique consulting firm, focused on energy and particularly its intersection with national security. Before his return to the private sector, Joe was a senior advisor to the Secretary of Defense and was the Department sector, of Defense Chief Sustainability Officer. He previously served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Navy for Energy, where he was responsible for policies relating to the Department's installation and operational energy programs. Earlier in his career, Joe led investigations for the Senate Armed Services Committee and served on both Senate's Select Committee on Intelligence and the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. He has consulted on energy policy around the world and began his Investigations. He has consulted on energy policy around the world and began his career working on electricity restructuring and state level policies to encourage growth of clean energy markets.

Simone Ledeen is a national security expert and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Middle East Policy, where she oversaw U.S. defense strategies for countries including Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, and others.  With an MBA and finance background, she served as an advisor to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq and later as Executive Director at Standard Chartered Bank, leading the launch of its multi-national financial crime compliance program. Ledeen has held roles at the U.S. Treasury's Office of Intelligence and Analysis and is a Senior Fellow at the Strauss Center for International Security and Law at the University of Texas at Austin.  Her expertise spans technology, special operations, intelligence, and geopolitical issues, as seen in her 2025 discussions on Israel-Iran conflicts. The daughter of historian Michael Ledeen, she advocates for innovative defense solutions and public-private partnerships to address global threats. Based in Austin, Texas, Ledeen consults through Maven Defense Solutions and Vantage ROI, focusing on strategic advisory in defense and finance. Shawn Ryan Show Sponsors: https://americanfinancing.net/srs NMLS 182334, nmlsconsumeraccess.org https://tryarmra.com/srs https://meetfabric.com/shawn https://shawnlikesgold.com https://ketone.com/srs Visit https://ketone.com/srs for 30% OFF your subscription order https://lumen.me/srs https://patriotmobile.com/srs https://rocketmoney.com/srs https://ROKA.com – USE CODE SRS https://USCCA.com/srs https://ziprecruiter.com/srs https://betterhelp.com/srs This episode is sponsored. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/srs and get on your way to being your best self. https://drinkhoist.com – USE CODE SRS Simone Ledeen Links:X - ⁠https://x.com/SimoneLedeen⁠  LI - ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/simone-ledeen⁠   Website - ⁠www.simoneledeen.com⁠  Maven Defense - ⁠www.mavendefense.com⁠  Strauss Center Profile - ⁠https://www.strausscenter.org/person/simone-ledeen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Doug McHoney (PwC's International Tax Services Global Leader) is joined by Pat Brown, an international tax partner and Co-Leader of PwC's Washington National Tax Services practice and former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy at the US Treasury. In part three of Doug's three-part OBBBA discussion with Pat, they discuss the newly enacted OB3 reconciliation law, focusing on its permanent corporate and individual tax provisions, the recalibration of bonus depreciation, Section 174 expensing and Section 163(j); the Senate's redesign of GILTI, FDII and BEAT; Inflation Reduction Act rollbacks; Treasury's last-minute removal of Section 899; and the G7's surprise accord intended to exempt US-parented groups from Pillar Two's IIR and UTPR while elevating QDMTTs and compliance simplification. They map the procedural and legislative steps still needed, potential timing gaps, and why multinational groups must keep Pillar Two compliance front-of-mind.  

Notwithstanding regular headlines and firm conventional wisdom, the MAGA Movement is not and never has been an isolationist faction of the Republican Party. Neither the American people nor self-identified MAGA Republicans are fundamentally isolationist, and in fact score higher than non-MAGA Republicans on support for U.S. intervention abroad. The numbers don't lie: this year's Reagan Foundation Summer Poll found the MAGA coalition strongly support Trump's decision to strike Iran's nuclear facilities. Why are these results counterintuitive? And how has a tiny isolationist faction of self-appointed MAGA spokespeople drummed up so much noise? Roger Zakheim serves as the Washington Director of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute. Before joining, he was General Counsel and Deputy Staff Director of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee. In this role, Mr. Zakheim managed the passage of the annual National Defense Authorization Act, the defense policy bill which authorizes the Defense Department's budget. Mr. Zakheim's government experience also includes serving as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense where he supported the department's policies and programs related to Iraq and Afghanistan coalition affairs.Read the transcript here

When you talk about operations at the edge, the State Department is up there among federal agencies with largest forward-deployed mission sets. With more than 270 posts that diplomats work out of in foreign territories, the State Department has a massive footprint at the edge. And according to Gharun Lacy, State's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Cyber & Technology Security, each of those posts comes with its own unique challenges in securing their digital operations. Earlier this month, I hosted Lacy for a fireside chat at the GDIT Emerge: Edge Forward event, during which we discussed how State is innovating at the edge to boost security of consulates and embassies, how the department incentivizes innovation, the adoption of emerging technologies at the edge, and much more. U.S. authorities unsealed indictments, seized financial accounts and made an arrest in the latest attempt to crack down on North Korean remote IT workers as part of a coordinated action that the Justice Department announced Monday. The workers obtained employment at more than 100 U.S. companies using stolen and fake identities, costing them millions in damages and losses. The crackdown also included the seizure of websites and searches of 29 known or suspected “laptop farms” across 16 states that hosted victim company-provided laptops used to deceive companies. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts and the DOJ's National Security Division arrested Zhenxing “Danny” Wang of New Jersey on Monday pursuant to a five-count indictment of Wang and eight alleged co-conspirators, all Chinese and Taiwanese nationals. A second five-count indictment from the Northern District of Georgia charged four North Korean nationals. The Department of Homeland Security is canceling a $10 billion IT and software contract, a move that comes amid the Trump administration's push to route all deals through the General Services Administration. In a posting Friday, DHS said the decision to scrap all existing IT value-added reseller deals under its FirstSource III contract aligns with recent executive orders and was made following “a thorough analysis of active contract awards and solicitations to assess mission-criticality and continued needs.” The cancellation also includes solicitations and evaluations of proposals submitted via a second category for software, per the posting, and no additional awards will be made. Also in this episode: Deloitte's Ed Van Buren and Google Public Sector's Amina Al Sherif join SNG host Wyatt Kash in a sponsored podcast discussion on why agentic AI is essential for agencies striving to scale operations, lower costs and enhance efficiency. This segment was sponsored by Deloitte. The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon. If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast  on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.

But is it worse than that? Not simply a wealth transfer but a lever of control, wielded by the U.S. government to make weaker nations fall in line. Soft power as they call it. Few understand it better than Mike Benz, formerly the “Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Communications and Information Policy” at the State Department. Benz believes soft power and foreign aid, managed effectively, have their place in the U.S. empire. Tonight we are bringing the reformist Benz together with foreign aid proponent Cenk Uygur and abolitionist Keith Knight (editor of Scott Horton's Libertarian Institute) to answer the question: “should we abolish foreign aid?” Hosted by Josie.

With the world on edge over the escalating Iran-Israel conflict, Jo sits down with national security expert and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Joel Rubin for a deeply human conversation about what's really happening behind the headlines. As Trump's stance on U.S. involvement in the region shifts by the hour, swinging from “no new wars” to openly hinting at strikes alongside Israel, Joel explains the risks, the ripple effects, and the consequences for American families.Together, they unpack why Trump's impulsive foreign policy is leaving allies, adversaries, and even his own party guessing; how the collapse of the Iran nuclear deal set the stage for today's crisis; and what a potential U.S. strike could mean for global security, oil prices, and the safety of American service members. They also tackle the chaos in Washington, the influence of pro-Putin voices, and the anxiety so many Americans are feeling as talk of war and nuclear threats dominates the news. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On Friday, June 13th, Israel launched Operation Rising Lion, targeting nuclear sites, drones and rocket launchers, and senior Iranian military leadership. In response, Iran has deployed hundreds of ballistic missiles and drones that led to many civilian deaths and destruction of property on the Israeli home front. Now, one week later, the U.S. is deliberating whether to join the fight and eliminate Iran's nuclear program.To make sense of this moment, former Commander of U.S. Air Forces Central Command Lieutenant General Joseph Guastella and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East Dana Stroul joined SAPIR Institute Director, Chanan Weissman for a timely and insightful conversation.

Civilian supremacy over the military remains inviolate in our history and constitution. But what happens when a civilian Commander in Chief, such as Pres. Washington or Pres. Trump, legally deploy the U.S. military or federalized National Guard on American soil? This story is as old as our democracy. One could even argue that the use of militia to crush rebellion in America was a major contributing factor in the founding of the United States. In this interview, we discuss the history and evolution of the civil-military relations in the United States and draw comparisons to and lessons from other countries.

The past decade has tragically tested the resilience and brilliance of transgender, nonbinary, and gender expansive (trans) people living in the U.S. Misinformation about who we are and what we want has sparked thousands of anti-transgender bills introduced in nearly every state capital across the country, adversely impacting almost every segment of the trans community. Despite this harsh reality, the future is a rainbow, and it's wise for business leaders to recognize this truth. It's also essential for these leaders to recognize the responsibility they have to prepare their organizations today in anticipation of this future talent upgrade. Afterall, the latest research shows that 20% of Generation Z identifies as LGBTQ+, and of that number 1 in 4 are nonbinary, with another 20% questioning their gender identity. Many business leaders today struggle with how to build gender-inclusive workplaces and ways to prioritize this essential aspect of advancing their diversity, equity, and inclusion commitments in the face of unprecedented backlash. Strong objections from a well-organized and vocal minority, which are out of alignment with public opinion, have led some organizations to backtrack on their gender inclusion commitments. To enhance the skills and confidence leaders will need to weather this current storm, this episode of the Business of Belonging mini-series features Third Segment CEO, Amanda Simpson, and JPMorgan Chase Executive Director, Chris Mossiah. Amanda serves as an advisor on aerospace, energy, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. As a nationally renowned speaker, she has presented before a wide variety of corporate, government, and nonprofit audiences. She has served in executive leadership positions at Airbus, Raytheon, and Douglas Aircraft, and the Obama Administration as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Operational Energy.  Chris is an Executive Director at JPMorgan Chase's consumer & community banking line of business. They are also the co-chair of the Firmwide Gender Expansive Council and co-lead for the Transgender, Gender Nonconforming, and Nonbinary Subcommittee of the PRIDE Tri-State BRG. Both Chris & Amanda serve on Out & Equal's Transgender & Nonbinary Executive Leadership Circle. Together, we explore: Common Barriers. What are some of the common barriers transgender and nonbinary people experience at work? Future of Work. Why is the future of work gender-diverse, and what can business leaders do today to prepare? Gender-Inclusion Practices. What actions can leaders take today to build more spaces of belonging for gender diversity to flourish? This interview was designed to support people like you - visionary leaders, and those on their way to joining us. Savor this insightful talk, and if you're looking for more ways to connect with inspiring leaders like Amanda & Chris, be sure to join our Belonging Membership Community - a community of practice committed to putting our values of belonging, community, and collaboration into action. Members have the unique opportunity to connect with guests like Amanda & Chris for 1:1 laser coaching sessions. Imagine belonging with fellow visionary leaders when you join the Belonging Movement Newsletter: www.rhodesperry.com/subscribe. Out & Equal: https://outandequal.org/  

This special episode of The Contracting Experience bids farewell to Maj. Gen. Alice Trevino, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Contracting, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. Trevino reflects on her accomplishments, particularly her focus on alignment, prioritization, and simplification, and shares insights on empowering contracting professionals by giving them a seat at the table. She stresses the importance of integration across the Air Force and Space Force and expresses her confidence in her successor, Brig. Gen. Lance French. Trevino shares invaluable life lessons, including a story about not getting her "dream job" and how that ultimately led to even better opportunities. She emphasizes the importance of flexibility, decision space, and maintaining an open mind in the face of change. She also offers parting words of wisdom, urging listeners to "THINK" before acting – ensuring their actions are True, Helpful, Inspiring, Necessary, and Kind. Tune in to hear Trevino's reflections on her career, her advice for the next generation of contracting professionals, and her plans for retirement. Discover the insights and experiences that shaped her leadership and left a lasting legacy on the Air Force contracting community. If you would like to share feedback on the podcast, please submit via thecontractingexperience@gmail.com. Register at https://www.dvidshub.net/ to access transcripts of the podcast.

“This has been my favorite session of the three days. Thank you,” said one attendee following a powerful live conversation at AJC Global Forum 2025. This exclusive episode of AJC's People of the Pod, presented by AJC's Women's Global Leadership Network, features a candid discussion on the critical impact of Jewish women leaders in global diplomacy and conflict resolution. Casey Kustin, AJC's Chief Impact and Operations Officer, joins former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Mira Resnick and Dana Stroul, Research Director and Kassen Family Senior Fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, to share how they've navigated the corridors of power, shaped international policy from the Middle East to Europe and beyond, and opened doors for the next generation of women in foreign affairs. ___ Resources– AJC Global Forum 2025 News and Video AJC Global Forum 2026 returns to Washington, D.C. Will you be in the room? Listen – AJC Podcasts: Most Recent Episodes: A United Front: U.S. Colleges and AJC Commit to Fighting Campus Antisemitism What is Pope Francis' Legacy with the Jewish People? Why TikTok is the Place to Talk about Antisemitism: With Holocaust Survivor Tova Friedman The Forgotten Exodus: Untold stories of Jews who left or were driven from Arab nations and Iran People of the PodFollow People of the Pod on your favorite podcast app, and learn more at AJC.org/PeopleofthePod You can reach us at: peopleofthepod@ajc.org If you've appreciated this episode, please be sure to tell your friends, and rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Interview Transcript: Manya Brachear Pashman:  Live from AJC Global Forum 2025, welcome to People of the Pod. For audience members who are not in this room, you are listening to a show that was recorded in front of a live studio audience on April 29 at AJC Global Forum 2025 in New York. I'm your host, Manya Brachear Pashman. Thank you all for being here. In countries around the world, women are working more than ever before. But compared to men, they are not earning as much or being afforded an equal voice – at work, at home, or in the community. In no country in the world do women have an equal role. Let me repeat that. In no country in the world, do women have an equal role–when it comes to setting policy agendas, allocating resources, or leading companies.  With us today are three modern-day Miriams who have raised their voices and earned unprecedented roles that recognize the intellect and compassion they bring to international diplomacy. To my left is AJC Chief Impact and Operations Officer, Casey Kustin. Casey served as the staff director of the Middle East, North Africa, and Global Counterterrorism Subcommittee on the House Foreign Affairs Committee for 10 years. She has worked on political campaigns at the state and national level, including on Jewish outreach for Barack Obama's presidential campaign. Welcome, Casey.  To Casey's left is Dana Strohl. She is the Director of Research for the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. She was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East. In this role, she led the development of U.S. Department of Defense policy and strategy for Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Iran, Iraq–I'm not done–Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestinian Authority, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Prior to that, she also served on Capitol Hill as the senior professional staff member for the Middle East on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Welcome, Dana. And last but not least, Mira Resnick. Mira was the former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Israeli and Palestinian Affairs and Arabian Peninsula Affairs, in which she handled two crucial Middle East portfolios, usually helmed by two separate people. Previously, she oversaw the Department's Office of regional security and arms transfers, where she managed foreign arms sales and shepherded the Biden administration's military assistance to Ukraine and Israel after Russia's invasion and after the October 7 Hamas attacks. Like Casey, Mira has also served as a senior professional staff member with the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, focusing on the Middle East and North Africa. Thank you for being here, Mira.  Welcome to all of you, to People of the Pod.  I think it's safe to say, this panel right here, and all the knowledge and experience it represents could solve the Middle East conflict in one day, if given the chance. Casey, you served for a decade as staff director for the Middle East, North Africa and Global Counterterrorism Subcommittee. A decade, wow. You witnessed a lot of transition, but what were the constants when it came to regional cooperation and security needs?  Casey Kustin: What's the saying? The enemy of my enemy is my friend. And that's the world that we're all trying to build. So, you know, from an American perspective, which we all came from in our government work, it was trying to find those shared interests, and trying to cultivate, where we could, points of common interest. And even with the challenges of October 7 now, perhaps stalling some of those areas of progress, you still see that the Abraham Accords haven't fallen apart. You saw when Iran launched missiles at Israel. You saw other countries in the region come to, maybe they wouldn't say Israel's defense. It was their airspace defense. But you saw that still working. You see that still working now. And it's every day when we come to work at AJC, we're thinking about how to increase and strengthen Israel's place in the world. Manya Brachear Pashman:  So Mira, your role encompassed both Israel and the Gulf for the first time, right? Mira Resnick:   That was the first time at my level. Yes.  Manya Brachear Pashman:   Okay, so whose idea was that, and did that put you or the US in a position to work for the good of the neighborhood, rather than just Israel, or just the Gulf States? Mira Resnick:   Yeah, this was an opportunity for the State Department to be able to see all of the different threads that were coming throughout the region. This is something that Dana did on a daily basis. This is something that our colleagues at the NSC did on a daily basis. The Secretary, of course, needs to be able to manage multiple threads at the same time. When I was overseeing arms sales, of course, I would have to consider Israel and the Gulf at the same time.  So this wasn't a new idea, that our interests can be aligned within one portfolio, but it was particularly important timing for the United States to be able to see and to talk to and to hear our Gulf partners and our Israeli partners at the same time within the same prism, to be able to truly understand what the trends were in the region at that particularly critical moment, post-October 7. Manya Brachear Pashman:   Dana, in your role as Assistant Deputy Secretary of Defense, you met with military leaders in the Middle East, around the world, and you were often the only woman at the table. What do women contribute to international conflict resolution that's missing when they're not given a seat at the table? Dana Strohl:   Well, let me start out by stating the obvious, which is that women make up 50% of the global population of the world. So if 50% of the world is missing from the negotiating table, from the peacemaking table, from conflict prevention mechanisms, then you're missing 50% of the critical voices. There's evidence, clear evidence, that when women are part of peace processes, when they are part of negotiations, the outcomes on the other side are 35% more sustainable. So we have evidence and data to back up the contention that women must be at the table if we are going to have sustainable outcomes.  When I think about the necessity, the imperative, of women being included, I think about the full range of conflict. So there's preventing it, managing it, and then transitioning to peace and political processes in a post-war or post-conflict situation. In every part of that, there's a critical role for women. As examples, I always think about, when you make policy, when you have a memo, when there's a statement that's really nice, in the big capital of some country, or in a fancy, beautiful palace somewhere in the Middle East or in Europe.  But peace only happens if it's implemented at a local level. Everyone in the world wants the same things. They want a better life for their kids. They want safety. They want access to basic services, school, health, clean water and some sort of future which requires jobs. Confidence you can turn the light on. You can drive your car on a road without potholes. Those are details that often are not included in the big sweeping statements of peace, usually between men, that require really significant compromises.  But peace gets implemented at a very local level. And at the local level, at the family level, at the community level, at the school level, it's women. So how those big things get implemented requires women to champion them, to advance them. And I will also just say, you know, generally we should aspire to prevent conflict from happening. There's data to suggest that in countries with higher levels of gender equality, they are less likely to descend into conflict in the first place.  Manya Brachear Pashman:   Can you recall a particularly consequential moment during your tenure, when you were at the table and it mattered? Dana Strohl:   So my view on this is that it was important for me to be at the table as a woman, just to make the point. That women can serve, just like men. Do the same job. And frankly, a lot of the times I felt like I was doing a better job. So what was really important to me, and I can also just say sitting up here with Mira and Casey, is that all of us have worked together now for more than a decade, at different stages of, getting married, thinking through having kids, getting pregnant, taking parental leave, and then transitioning back to work. And all of us have been able to manage our careers at the same time. That only happens in supportive communities, in ecosystems, and I don't just mean having a really supportive partner.  My friends up here know, I ask my mom for a lot of help. I do have a partner who really supported me, but it also means normalizing parenthood and being a woman, and having other obligations in the office space. I would make a point of talking about being a parent or talking about being a woman. To normalize that women can be there. And often there were women, really across the whole Middle East, there were always women in the room. They were just on the back wall, not at the table. And I could see them looking at me.  And so I thought it was really important to make the point that, one, a woman can be up here, but I don't have to be like the men at the table. I can actually talk about, well, I can't stay for an extra day because I have a kindergarten, you know, theater thing, and I have to run back and do that.  Or there were many times actually, I think Mira was Zooming for parent teacher conferences after we were having the official meeting. But I think it's important to actually say that, at the table, I'm going to leave now and go back to my hotel room because I'm making a parent teacher conference. Or, I have to be back by Friday because I'm taking a kid to a doctor's appointment.  So all the women that come after us can see that you can do both, and the men at the table can understand that women have a right to be here. Can do the jobs just as effectively and professionally as the men, and do this other absolutely critical thing. Manya Brachear Pashman:   But your point about, it requires a supportive network, a supportive work community. You told me a story before we got up here about just how supportive your colleagues were in the Department of Defense.  Dana Strohl:   I will give a shout out to Lloyd Austin, the Secretary of Defense. So one of the things you do in our positions is travel with the Secretary of State or the Secretary of Defense. And these are not the kind of things where they get on a plane and you land in whatever country. There's a tremendous amount of planning that goes into these. So on a particular trip, it was a four country trip, early in 2023. Secretary Austin was going to multiple countries. He had switched the day, not he, but his travel team, of his departure, which then caused us to switch the day of my son's birthday party. And then they switched the time of his departure from Andrews Air Force Base, and we could not change the birthday party.  So I called Secretary Austin's office and said, Listen, I want to be at my son's birthday party. So I've looked and it looks like I can take this commercial flight. So I won't be on the Secretary of Defense's plane, but I can largely land around the same time as you all and still do my job in the region. And to their credit, they said, okay, and then one of the things that you do in my position is you get on the airplane and you talk to the Secretary of Defense about the objectives and the goals and the meetings. So they said, Okay, we'll just change that to earlier. You can do it the day before we depart, so that he can hear from you. You're on the same page. You can make the birthday party. He can do the thing. So we were actually going to Jordan for the first stop. And it turns out, in his itinerary, the first thing we were doing when we landed in Jordan, was going to dinner with the King. And it was very unclear whether I was going to make it or not. And quite a high stakes negotiation.  But the bottom line is this, I finished the birthday party, had my mother come to the birthday party to help me clean up from the birthday party, changed my clothes, went to Dulles, got on the airplane, sort of took a nap, get off the airplane. And there is an entire delegation of people waiting for me as you exit the runway of the airplane, and they said, Well, you need to go to this bathroom right here and change your clothes.  I changed my clothes, put on my suit, ran a brush through my hair, get in a car, and they drove me to the King's palace, and I made the dinner with the king. It's an example of a team, and in particular Secretary Austin, who understood that for women to have the opportunities but also have other obligations, that there has to be an understanding and some flexibility, but we can do both, and it took understanding and accommodation from his team, but also a lot of people who are willing to work with me, to get me to the dinner. And I sat next to him, and it was a very, very good meal. Manya Brachear Pashman:   I find that so encouraging and empowering. Thank you so much. Casey, I want to turn to you. Mira and Dana worked under particular administrations. You worked with members of Congress from different parties. So how did the increasing polarization in politics affect your work, or did it? Casey Kustin:   It's funny, I was traveling last week for an AJC event, and I ended up at the same place with a member of Congress who was on my subcommittee, and I knew pretty well. And he looked at me and he said, the foreign affairs committee, as you know it, is no longer. And that was a really sad moment for me, because people always described our committee as the last bastion of bipartisanship. And the polarization that is seeping through every part of society is really impacting even the foreign policy space now. As you see our colleague, our Managing Director of [AJC] Europe, Simone Rodan[-Benzaquen], who many of you know, just wrote a piece this week talking about how, as Israel has become to the progressive, when Ukraine has become to the far right.  And I think about all the years I spent when Ted Deutch, our CEO, was the top Democrat on the Middle East subcommittee, and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), a great friend of AJC, was the chair of the subcommittee. And Ted and Ileana would travel around together. And when she was the chair, she always made a point of kind of joking like Ted's, my co chair, and we did so many pieces–with Mira's great support of legislation for the US, Israel relationship, for Syria, for Iran, that we worked on together, really together. Like at the table with my staff counterparts, trying to figure out, you know, what can your side swallow? What can your side swallow? And I hear from so many of our former colleagues that those conversations aren't really taking place anymore. And you know, the great thing about AJC is we are nonpartisan, and we try so hard to have both viewpoints at the table. But even that gets harder and harder. And Dana's story about the King of Jordan made me laugh, because I remember a very similar experience where I was on a congressional delegation and Chairwoman Ros-Lehtinen, and I was six months pregnant at the time, and I wanted to go on the trip, and the doctor said I could go on the trip. And we were seated around the table having the meeting.  And I, as you won't be able to hear on the podcast, but you in this room know, look very young, despite my age. And you're self conscious about that. And I remember Ileana just being so caring and supportive of me the entire trip. And I wasn't even her staffer, and I remember she announced to the King of Jordan that I was six months pregnant, and you could kind of see him go, okay. That's very like, thank you. That's very nice. But even just having that moment of having the chairwoman on the other side of the aisle. That whole trip. I think I've told some AJC people another funny story of on that same trip, we met with the Greek Orthodox Patriarch in Jerusalem, and she pulled me up to him, and she said to the patriarch, will you bless her unborn child? Knowing I'm Jewish, she leaned over and said to me: Can't hurt. So I hope that we return to a place like that on Capitol Hill. I think there are really good staffers like us who want that to happen, but it is just as hard a space now in foreign policy as you see in other parts of politics. Manya Brachear Pashman:   Mira, I want to ask you another policy related question. How did the Abraham Accords change the dynamics of your combined portfolio, and how could it shape the future? Mira Resnik:   My first, one of my first trips, certainly my first trip to the Middle East, when I was the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Regional Security, overseeing security assistance and security cooperation, was to Dubai, as the State Department representative for the Dubai Airshow. And it is a huge event that showcases the world's technology. And I remember walking into the huge hangar, that every country that has a defense industry was showcasing their most important, their most important munitions, their most important aircraft. And I remember seeing the enormous Israeli pavilion when I was there. And I was staying at a hotel, and I get to the breakfast and they said, Would you like the kosher breakfast or the non-kosher breakfast. And I'm like, Am I in Israel?  And I was blown away by the very warm relationship–in the security space, in the humanitarian space. I agree with Casey that things have gotten a little tougher since October 7, and since the aftermath in Gaza. But what I would also point out is that April and October, during the time when when we witnessed Israel under cover, when we witnessed Iran's missiles and projectiles going toward Israel and going toward other regional airspace, our diplomats, our militaries, our intelligence officials, all had earlier warning because of the work of other Gulf governments, even those who have not joined the Abraham Accords. And that is a prime example of where this security cooperation really matters. It saves lives. Manya Brachear Pashman:   So Casey, so much of what AJC does has to do with international diplomacy and maintaining that regional cooperation and security, and that sounds a lot like your previous role. So I'm really curious how much your job truly has changed since you came to AJC? Casey Kustin:   You're absolutely right. There are so many similarities in what we do at AJC and what we did in the government. And the core of that is really those relationships that you build with partners and interlocutors in other countries and other governments, and the foundation, over decades that AJC has laid. Particularly in the Middle East, thanks to 30 years of quiet travel to the region.  It struck me when I first came here, the access that AJC has is nearly the same that we had traveling as members of Congress. And the meetings and the quality and the level of meetings that AJC is afforded in these other countries.  Our missions, which many of you have been on, often feel like congressional delegation trips to me, and the conversations and the candor with which partners speak to AJC is almost the same that was afforded to members of Congress. And that has been comforting, in a way, as you said Manya, Because there feels like there's continuity in the work that we're doing, and it has made me realize that organizations, non-governmental organizations, advocacy organizations, play such a crucial role in supporting the work of a government, of your country's government. And in reinforcing the values and the interests that we as AJC want to communicate that very much dovetail, with hopefully any US administration.  I think that the role that an organization like ours, like AJC, can play in a particular moment, like we're in, where, as we've discussed, there's hyperpartisanship, and we hear a lot, Dana mentioned this. We hear a lot from foreign partners that the way our democracy works with a change in administration every four years is unsettling to some of them, because they don't know if a particular policy or agreement is going to continue the role that we can play, providing some of that continuity and providing a nonpartisan and thoughtful place to have conversations. Because they know that we have that kind of nuanced and thoughtful and nonpartisan insight. Manya Brachear Pashman:   I really appreciate your insights on the roles that you've played, and I think the audience has as well. But I want to pivot back to your role as women. Dana, I mentioned that you were often the only woman at the table. Would you discover that when you arrived at meetings and events? Dana Strohl:   In Washington, DC, and in particular, I'm very proud to have served in the Biden administration, where there were always women at the table. And I will also say that there was a network of women, and it was the same on the Hill. On the hill, there was actually a box of maternity clothes that was kept in then-Senate Leader Harry Reid's office.  And his National Security Advisor called me when she heard I was pregnant the first time, which was during the 2015 JCPOA negotiations on the Hill, which meant that I was super tired and doing all of those congressional hearings and briefings, but there was a network of women who were supporting each other and giving me clothes as I got bigger and bigger. And it continued into the Pentagon and the State Department, where there were always women and when we saw each other at the White House Situation Room or in the different meetings, there was always the quiet pull aside. How are you doing? How are your kids? Are you managing? What's the trade off on your day to day basis? Can I do anything to help you?  And in particular, after October 7, that network of people really kicked into high gear, and we were all checking in with each other. Because it was the most intense, most devastating time to work in the government and try to both support Israel and prevent World War III from breaking out across the Middle East. So that was DC. In the Middle East, I largely assumed that I was going to be the only woman at the table, and so I decided to just own it. There are some great pictures of me always in a pink jacket, but the point you know, was that I expected it, and there were always women, again, against the back walls. I made an effort whenever possible to make sure everyone at the table, regardless of your gender, had an opportunity to speak and participate, but I was also not just the only woman.  A lot of times, I was the co-chair with whatever partner it was in the Middle East, so I had a speaking role, and I felt was incumbent upon me to present a model of leadership and inclusivity in how we engage with our partners, spoke to our partners, listened to our partners concerns, and that that was part of the job. And only once, I remember it very clearly. We were at a dinner after a big meeting, and somebody looks at me, it's a meeting with all, y7all men, all men for a dinner. And they said, Is this what it's like for you all the time? And I said, Yes, it is. And you know, it took two and a half years for somebody to notice, so. Manya Brachear Pashman:   Mira, what have you experienced? And have you ever worried as a woman that you weren't being taken seriously? Mira Resnick:   I think that every woman in one of these jobs has imposter syndrome every so often, and walking into the room and owning it, fake it till you make it right. That's the solution. I will. I agree with Dana wholeheartedly that in Washington, I was really proud to walk into the room and never fear that I was the only woman. And I even remember traveling where another delegation was all women, and our delegation was all women, and how surprising that was, and then how disappointing, how surprising that was, but to take notice of the moment, because they don't happen very often.  I think that in Washington and throughout diplomacy, the goal is to pay it forward to other women. And I wasn't the last person to pump in the Ramallah Coca Cola factory, and I wasn't the first person to pump in the Ramallah Coca Cola factory. But that is, that was, like, my moment where I was like, Oh, this is a strange place to be a woman, right?  But I do find that women really bring holistic views into our policy making, and whether it's meeting with civil society, even if your job is strictly security cooperation to understand the human impacts of your security decisions, or making sure that you are nurturing your people, that you are a good leader of people.  I remember post-October 7, I was looking for some way that I could nurture in the personal life. And I see Nadine Binstock here, who goes to my shul, and Stephanie also. Stephanie Guiloff is also in the audience. She's my neighbor, and also goes to my shul. And after October 7, I took on the Kiddush Committee Coordinator at my shul. So that every week, no matter what I was experiencing at the office and no matter where I was in the world, our community would be a little bit more nurtured. And it was a way for me to like to give back to the community, and at the same time be able to continue to do the hard power work of security cooperation. Manya Brachear Pashman:   So Mira, Casey, Dana, thank you so much for joining us, sharing your modern-day Miriam experiences. I want to open it up for questions from the audience. Just raise your hand and someone will bring you a microphone. Audience Member: Hi, I'm Maddie Ingle. I'm a Leaders for Tomorrow alum. What is some advice that any of you have for young women like me in the advocacy space and in general. Casey Kustin:   First of all, thank you for taking the time to come to Global Forum and for joining LFT. You've already taken the first step to better arming yourself as an advocate. I think there is, I wish someone had said to me, probably before I met the two of them who did say it to me, that it was okay to take up space around the table. I remember sitting in secure facilities, getting classified briefings from ambassadors, male ambassadors who were 30 years my senior, and watching the two of you in particular i. Not be scared to challenge the back and forth when I as a probably still, you know, mid 20s, early 30s, did have fear of speaking up.  And I wish someone, when I was your age as a teenager, had, and obviously, I had supportive parents who told me I could do anything, but it's different. It's different than seeing it modeled by people who are in the same space as you, and who are maybe even just a couple years older than you. So I would just say to you not to ever be afraid to use your voice. This is a memory that has stuck with me for 15 years. I was in a meeting, sitting next to my congressman boss, with two men who were probably in their 60s, and a vote was called. And you never know on the Hill when a vote is going to be called. So it interrupts a meeting. And he had to go vote, and he said, Casey will finish the meeting with you. And they looked at him and said, Does she know what we're talking about?  Dana Strohl: We have all been there, Casey. Casey Kustin: We have all been there. So even if you're met with a response like that when you try to use your voice, don't let it deter you. Audience Member: Hi, guys. I'm Jenny. This has been my favorite session of the three days. Thank you guys. My mom is the first female, woman brakeman conductor on Amtrak. So you guys are just so empowering. As a long time Democrat, you guys talked about bipartisan issues. With how the Democratic Party is. I know you guys probably can't go fully into this. Do you have any inspiring words to give us hope when it feels very scary right now, as a Democrat, how divided our party is. Casey Kustin: I work for a nonpartisan organization now, so I'll let them handle that one. Dana Strohl:   I, so were we all on the Hill during the first Trump administration? And there was still bipartisanship. And what I'm looking for right now is the green shoots of our democracy. And I see them. There is thinking through what does it mean to be in this country, to be an American, to live in a democracy? What does democracy do? I think, first of all, it is healthy and okay for Americans to go through times of challenge and questioning. Is this working for us? And you know, the relationship between the government, whether it's legislative, judicial, executive and the people, and it's okay to challenge and question, and I think it's okay for there to be healthy debates inside both the Republican and the Democratic Party about what what this stands for, and what is in the best interest of our country.  And you can see both in polling data and in certain areas where there actually are members of Congress coming together on certain issues, like economic policy, what's in the best interest of our constituents and voters. That there is thinking through what is the right balance between the different branches of our government.  I was talking to somebody the other day who was reminding me this actual, you know, we are, we are in a time of significant transition and debate in our society about the future of our country and the future role of the government and the relationship. But it's not the first time, and it won't be the last. And I found to be that part of my job was to make sure I understood the diversity of voices and views about what the role of the government should be, general views about American foreign policy, which was our job, was just such a humble reminder of democracy and the importance of this back and forth. Audience Member:  [My name is Allie.] My question for you is, what are your hopes and dreams for generation alpha, who will be able to vote in the next election?  Casey Kustin:   I think we all have, all our kids are still in elementary, or Mira, your one is going into middle school now– Mira Resnik: To middle school. Casey Kustin:   So the vast majority of our children are still elementary school age. And for me, I have a very interesting experience of moving my family out of a very diverse community in Washington, DC to Jacksonville, Florida. And it's a very different environment than I thought that my children were going to grow up in, because at the time, we didn't anticipate leaving DC anytime soon, and it's made me realize that I want them to live in a world where no matter what community They are growing up in, they are experiencing a world that gives them different perspectives on life, and I think it's very easy now that I have gone from a city environment to suburbia to live in a bubble, and I just, I hope that every child in this next generation doesn't have to wait until they're adults to learn these kinds of really important lessons. Dana Strohl:   I have two additional things to add. I'm very concerned at what the polling suggests, the apathy of young people toward voting, the power of voting, why it matters. And participation, that you need to be an active citizen in your governments. And you can't just vote every four years in the presidential election, there's actually a ton of voting, including, like the county boards of education, you got to vote all the way up and down you continuously. And that it's okay to have respectful debate, discourse, disagreements in a democracy. So I would like this generation to learn how to have respectful discourse and debate, to believe that their votes matter and just vote. And three, on the YouTube thing, which is terrifying to me, so I'm hoping the educators help me with this is, how to teach our kids to separate the disinformation, the misinformation, and the fiction that they are getting because of YouTube and online. So mine are all elementary schoolers, and I have lost positive control of the information they absorb.  And now I'm trying to teach them well, you know, that's not real. And do I cut off certain things? How do I engage them? How do I use books and when? So they need to not just be active participants in their society, all up and down the ballot, multiple times every year, but they need to know how to inform themselves. Manya Brachear Pashman:   And Mira? Mira Resnick:   I do hope that our children, as they approach voting age, that they see the value in cooperation with each other, that they see the value of face to face conversation. I think that honestly, this is the value of Shabbat in my household. That you take a break from the screens and you have a face to face conversation. My children understand how to have conversations with adults now. Which is, I think, a critical life skill, and that they will use those life skills toward the betterment of their communities, and more broadly, our Jewish community, and more broadly than that, our global community. Manya Brachear Pashman:   Thank you so much. Thank you to everyone.

Throughout the campaign of 2024, President Donald Trump promised to use tariffs to reset America’s global trade relationships, revitalize American manufacturing, and increase government revenues—and in the first months of his second administration, the president has used tariffs and the threat of tariffs to drive concessions even while raising antagonism and roiling markets. Kimberly Clausing helps us distinguish between the rhetoric and the reality of these tariffs. Clausing is an expert on the taxation of multinational firms. She served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Tax Analysis in the U.S. Department of the Treasury, serving as the lead economist in the Office of Tax Policy during the Biden administration. She is a nonresident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. Clausing has worked on economic policy research with the International Monetary Fund, the Hamilton Project, the Brookings Institution, the Tax Policy Center, and the Center for American Progress. She has testified before the House Ways and Means Committee, the Senate Committee on Finance, the Senate Committee on the Budget, and the Joint Economic Committee. Her research examines how government decisions and corporate behavior interplay in the global economy. She has published numerous articles on the taxation of multinational firms, and she is the author of “Open: The Progressive Case for Free Trade, Immigration, and Global Capital.” See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of the podcast, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Health at the Department of Health & Human Resources David Mansdoerfer discusses President Donald Trump's new executive order to reduce drug prices by up to 80% — requiring pharmaceutical companies to match the lowest prices of ‘most-favored-nations.' Mansdoerfer highlights that this policy was anticipated and previously aligned with the president's first term actions. He noted that while the pharmaceutical industry may initially resist, the order could benefit by preventing price gouging in foreign markets.Furthermore, the conversation touches on the broader implications of the order, including potential backlash, the role of Medicare in drug pricing, and the impact of COVID-19 policies on public health.You can keep up with David or Amanda on X by following their accounts: @Dpmansdo and @AmandaHead.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Doug McHoney (PwC's International Tax Services Global Leader) is joined by Professor Itai Grinberg, a faculty member at Georgetown University Law Center and a former Deputy Assistant Secretary at the US Treasury Department during the Biden administration. In that role, Itai served as the United States' lead negotiator for the global corporate minimum tax initiative. Doug and Itai discuss the behind-the-scenes history of Pillar Two from the US perspective, exploring its policy rationale, global negotiations, and shifting political dynamics. The conversation begins with how Itai's got his role at Treasury and builds a detailed timeline tracing the Biden administration's early support for global minimum tax rules through the 2021 G7 agreement and the development of the Under-Taxed Profits Rule (UTPR). They also delve into the impact of the Build Back Better legislation which was not enacted, the rationale behind the US safe harbor under UTPR, international political tensions including Brexit and US-China relations, and the implications of the April 2025 Trump executive order. The episode closes with reflections on the OECD Inclusive Framework's future and whether multinational enterprises can expect a workable consensus moving forward. 

On this episode of The Good Trouble Show with Matt Ford, one of America's most prominent trial attorneys, Todd McMurtry addresses the systematic targeting by an organized group of Wikipedia editors who defame or remove pages of public figures with whom they disagree. Organizations coordinate hundreds of Wikipedia editors to target Wikipedia pages related to pseudoscience, including UFOs / UAP.Former President George W. Bush economic advisor, Pippa Malmgren, her late father, Presidential Advisor and Diplomat Harald Malmgren, and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Christopher Mellon had their Wikipedia pages deleted or altered by a senior Wikipedia editor due to the advocacy for UAP / UFO transparency by the government. Christopher Mellon's Wikipedia page was deleted entirely, while Ambassador Malmgren's page was significantly altered, and Pippa Malmgren's page has been nominated for deletion. Segment Producer Ali TravisThe Good Trouble Show:Linktree: https://linktr.ee/thegoodtroubleshow Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TheGoodTroubleShow YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheGoodTroubleShow Twitter: https://twitter.com/GoodTroubleShow Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thegoodtroubleshow/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@goodtroubleshow Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Good-Trouble-Show-With-Matt-Ford-106009712211646 Threads: @TheGoodTroubleShow BlueSky: @TheGoodTroubleShow Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-good-trouble-show-with-matt-ford--5808897/support.

Andrew Shapiro talks with former Pentagon Arctic policy head Iris Ferguson about how melting sea ice is ushering in a new era of great power competition, ending decades of 'Arctic exceptionalism.' Iris, the DOD's first Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Arctic, discusses Russia's interests, China's pursuit of influence as a 'near-Arctic state,' and the US imperative to bolster homeland defense, domain awareness, and alliances from Greenland to Alaska. 

In this episode of Taking the Edge off the Middle East, Brian Katulis sits down with Toni Verstandig, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs and current board member at the Middle East Institute. Three months into the second Trump administration, they assess how the White House is reshaping US policy in the Middle East—what's changed, what's stayed the same, and what risks lie ahead. Verstandig reflects on lessons from her years working on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process during the Clinton era, offering both poignant stories and policy insights from a time when diplomacy looked very different. They also discuss how think tanks like MEI are stepping up at a moment when institutions like USIP and the Wilson Center are under fire.  Don't forget to look out for new episodes of Taking the Edge off the Middle East on its own independent channel every other Tuesday, wherever you get your podcasts.   

Chase Davis, pastor of The Well Church in Boulder, Colorado, and William Wolfe, executive director of the Center for Baptist Leadership, join the pod to breakdown a new bill in the Colorado legislature: "Legal Protections for Transgender Individuals," and the dramatic repercussions it will have, especially on Christians.    #Colorado #News #Trans #Bill #CoLeg #TransgenderBill #Church #Response   Show notes:  Chase's article: https://centerforbaptistleadership.org/transgender-totalitarianism-new-bill-in-colorado-wages-war-on-faith-free-speech-and-the-family/ CBL's call to action: https://centerforbaptistleadership.org/colorado-pastors-call-on-megachurches-to-join-fight-against-democrats-radical-transgender-abortion-agenda/ William's article: https://www.standingforfreedom.com/2025/04/hell-is-empty-and-all-the-devils-are-in-denver/ Join the fight: https://fight1312.com/ CBL podcast: https://centerforbaptistleadership.org/category/podcast/ Full Proof Theology: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/full-proof-theology/id1529701699   J. Chase Davis (M.Div, Th.M, Denver Seminary) is Lead Pastor of Ministry of The Well Church in Boulder, Colorado. Chase is married to Kim and they have two sons. He is the author of Trinitarian Formation: A Theology of Discipleship in Light of the Father, Son, and Spirit (2021). He also hosts the podcast Full Proof Theology. You can find more of Chase's writing at jchasedavis.com.   Learn more about J. Chase Davis: https://x.com/jchasedavis https://www.jchasedavis.com/   William Wolfe is the Founder and Executive Director of the Center for Baptist Leadership. He has been a part of the Southern Baptist Convention for 13 years. After spending a decade living and working in Washington D.C., including for three Members of Congress, Heritage Action for America, as a Director at the State Department, and as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense at the DoD, William moved to Louisville, KY, to complete his seminary education in person. During that time, he became increasingly involved in much-needed work to revitalize the SBC as an institution, and the launch of CBL is an outgrowth of that work. He has a B.A. in History from Covenant College and an M.Div. from SBTS.   Learn more about William Wolfe: https://x.com/William_E_Wolfe https://centerforbaptistleadership.org/   ––––––   Follow American Reformer across Social Media: X / Twitter – https://www.twitter.com/amreformer Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/AmericanReformer/ YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@AmericanReformer Rumble – https://rumble.com/user/AmReformer Website – https://americanreformer.org/   Promote a vigorous Christian approach to the cultural challenges of our day, by donating to The American Reformer: https://americanreformer.org/donate/   Follow Us on Twitter: Josh Abbotoy – https://twitter.com/Byzness Timon Cline – https://twitter.com/tlloydcline   The American Reformer Podcast is  hosted by Josh Abbotoy and Timon Cline, recorded remotely in the United States, and edited by Jared Cummings.   Subscribe to our Podcast, "The American Reformer" Get our RSS Feed – https://americanreformerpodcast.podbean.com/ Apple Podcasts – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-american-reformer-podcast/id1677193347 Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/1V2dH5vhfogPIv0X8ux9Gm?si=a19db9dc271c4ce5

Anne Reinke and Joe Lynch discuss beyond the rails and roads: the state of intermodal. Anne is the President & CEO at the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA), North America's leading industry trade association representing the combined interests of the intermodal freight industry. About Anne Reinke Anne Reinke became the Intermodal Association of North America's third President & CEO in December of 2024.  Immediately preceding her appointment at IANA, Anne was President & CEO of the Transportation Intermediaries Association for four years. Anne has a long career in transportation policy, with a stint at the Association of American Railroads, 16 years at CSX Corporation, eight of which as Vice-President for Government Affairs, and a political appointment as a Deputy Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of Transportation. She received a B.A. from Rice University in Houston, TX and a J.D. from Wake Forest School of Law in Winston-Salem, NC.  She is a Washington, DC native; she, her husband, her two sons and her dog live in Alexandria, VA. About Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) IANA is North America's leading industry trade association representing the combined interests of the intermodal freight industry. IANA's membership roster of over 1,000 corporate members includes railroads; water carriers and stacktrain operators; port authorities; intermodal truckers and over-the-road highway carriers; intermodal marketing and logistics companies; and suppliers to the industry such as equipment manufacturers, intermodal leasing companies and technology firms. IANA's associate (non-voting) members include shippers, academic institutions, public sector organizations and non-profit associations. Key Taways: Beyond The Rails and Roads: The State of Intermodal Industry Representation: IANA is North America's leading trade association representing the combined interests of the intermodal freight industry, encompassing railroads, water carriers, port authorities, intermodal truckers, logistics companies, and equipment suppliers. Extensive Membership: The association boasts a diverse membership of over 1,000 corporate members, including Class I, short-line, and regional railroads; water carriers and stacktrain operators; port authorities; intermodal truckers; over-the-road highway carriers; intermodal marketing and logistics companies; and suppliers such as equipment manufacturers, leasing companies, and consulting firms. Mission and Vision: IANA's mission is to promote the growth of efficient intermodal freight transportation through innovation, education, and dialogue. Its vision includes advocating for the benefits of intermodal transportation, providing a neutral forum for industry stakeholders, influencing legislative and regulatory environments, promoting efficient business processes, and delivering excellence through its operations. Educational Initiatives: In collaboration with academic institutions like the Delft University of Technology and the University of Maryland Smith School of Business, IANA offers an online intermodal course comprising eight modules that cover various aspects of intermodal operations, benefiting both newcomers and seasoned professionals in the industry. Policy Advocacy: IANA actively monitors federal and state legislative and regulatory initiatives affecting the intermodal supply chain, providing education and insights to policymakers to shape favorable policies and regulations for the industry. Annual Intermodal EXPO: The association organizes the Intermodal EXPO, a premier event that brings together industry professionals to explore technological advancements, discuss industry trends, and network with peers. The next EXPO is scheduled for September 15-17, 2025, in Los Angeles, CA. Unified Intermodal Interchange Agreement (UIIA): IANA administers the UIIA, a standardized contract that outlines the rules for the interchange of equipment between intermodal trucking companies and equipment providers, streamlining operations and reducing the need for multiple contracts and insurance filings. Approximately 95% of North American equipment interchanges are managed under the UIIA, with over 13,000 intermodal trucking companies participating. Learn More About Beyond The Rails and Roads: The State of Intermodal Anne Reinke | Linkedin IANA | Linkedin IANA Homepage | UIIA What is Intermodal? U.S. Trade and Tariffs Events Amazon.com: The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger - Second Edition with a new chapter by the author eBook : Levinson, Marc: Books The Voice of 3rd Party Logistics with Anne Reinke | The Logistics of Logistics The State of Freight with Anne Reinke | The Logistics of Logistics Trucking Through Trouble with TIA & Anne Reinke | The Logistcs of Logistics The Logistics of Logistics Podcast If you enjoy the podcast, please leave a positive review, subscribe, and share it with your friends and colleagues. The Logistics of Logistics Podcast: Google, Apple, Castbox, Spotify, Stitcher, PlayerFM, Tunein, Podbean, Owltail, Libsyn, Overcast Check out The Logistics of Logistics on Youtube  

In this bonus episode of Escalation, you'll hear our conversation with Evelyn Farkas, who is the Executive Director for The McCain Institute, and served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia in the Obama Administration. Farkas describes the US government's reaction to the invasion of Crimea, and discussions over aid to Ukraine. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mike Benz is the Executive Director of the Foundation for Freedom Online, a non-profit watchdog group dedicated to protecting digital liberties and restoring the free and open Internet. He previously served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Communications and Information Technology at the US State Department during the Trump administration, where he formulated US policy on Internet diplomacy issues and interfaced with private industry. Benz has been a vocal critic of technological government overreach, most recently in his critiques of USAID and his advocacy against online censorship. He actively brings attention to people and organizations involved in controlling speech on social media. Prior to his role at the State Department, Benz was a White House speechwriter for President Trump and advised on technology policy. Prior to his public sector work, he practiced business law as an attorney in New York, representing technology companies and financial firms. Shawn Ryan Show Sponsors: https://ROKA.com | Use Code SRS https://lumen.me/srs https://hexclad.com/srs http://babbel.com/srs https://www.bubsnaturals.com/ | Use Code SHAWN https://patriotmobile.com/srs This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at http://betterhelp.com/srs and get on your way to being your best self. Mike Benz Links: Website - https://foundationforfreedomonline.com/ YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@MikeBenzCyberClips Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mikebenzcyber/ X - https://x.com/MikeBenzCyber Please leave us a review on Apple & Spotify Podcasts. Vigilance Elite/Shawn Ryan Links: Website | Patreon | TikTok | Instagram | Download Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

President Trump's executive action granting clemency to all of the January 6th insurrectionists – violent and non-violent alike – has been met with concern by legal experts and people who have been studying and reporting on militia groups like the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys for years. Kara speaks with Dr. Amy Cooter, director of research at the Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies and author of Nostalgia, Nationalism and the US Militia Movement; investigative reporter Tess Owen who has covered violent extremist groups, including the J6 protesters extensively; and Paul Rosenzweig, former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy at the Department of Homeland Security under George W. Bush, who specializes in issues relating to domestic and homeland security about the message the pardons send to violent militias, the impact of social media (and Elon Musk) on far-right extremism, and whether Trump has the authority to deputize these groups, especially on the border. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Instagram and TikTok @onwithkaraswisher Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices