A Charlie Rose Global Conversation

Michael McFaul has spent a lifetime studying Russia and the global contest between great powers.A Rhodes Scholar and Stanford professor, he speaks from the perspective of scholar, diplomat and author.From 2012 to 2014, he served as U.S. Ambassador to Russia under President Obama, after three years on the National Security Council as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Russian and Eurasian Affairs.He writes about this and much more in his new book, Autocrats vs. Democrats: China, Russia, America, and the New Global Disorder.This is a moment in which it is crucial to understand the risks and possibilities of the competition among great powers. We’ll talk about many things - Russia’s war in Ukraine and what it reveals about the limits of Western deterrence, China’s expanding reach across Asia and the global economy, and America’s role in a changing world - including what yesterday’s Trump - Xi in South Korea meeting says about the complex diplomacy now shaping the U.S. - China dynamic.For more, please visit: www.charlierose.com

John Malone, a media titan and billionaire investor known for his role in cable and media consolidation, shares insights on the Warner Bros. Discovery sale. He discusses the necessity of consolidation to compete globally and the impact of big tech on the streaming landscape. Malone dives into the future of cable companies, the challenges facing CNN, and the growth potential of Formula One. He also reflects on media's role in polarization and the importance of defending American innovation while sharing personal anecdotes about his life and mentors.

Diane Keaton, the Oscar-winning actress whose wit, warmth, and singular style made her one of the most recognizable figures in American film, died on October 11 in California. She was 79.She first came to national attention as Kay Adams in 1972 in The Godfather, Francis Ford Coppola’s landmark portrait of family and power. Five years later she became an icon in Annie Hall, Woody Allen’s modern romantic comedy that seemed to capture an era and, in many ways, her own spirit. She won the Academy Award for that performance.Her characters were eccentric, vulnerable, self-assured, and searching. She brought a rare blend of intelligence and spontaneity to her work in Reds, Marvin’s Room, The First Wives Club, and Something’s Gotta Give.She was also a writer, director, and photographer, a restless creative presence who never stopped reinventing herself. Her influence extended far beyond film: her offbeat sense of fashion, her humor, her voice, all became part of her legend.She adopted two children later in life and spoke often about the joy and grounding they brought her.Diane Keaton joined me several times. She was candid, funny, and unfailingly original, a woman entirely herself on camera and off.For more please visit: www.charlierose.com

Amos Yadlin has spent his life defending the State of Israel - first as a fighter pilot in the Israeli Air Force, then as head of military intelligence, and later as a respected strategic thinker.He was one of eight F-16 pilots who destroyed Iraq’s Osirak nuclear reactor in 1981.From 2006 to 2010 he was in charge of intelligence for the IDF.He helped oversee the 2007 Israeli strike that eliminated Syria’s covert nuclear facility, and was head of military intelligence during the cyber operations later revealed as Stuxnet in 2008.He now heads MIND Israel, a national security and strategy think tank.This is a pivotal moment for Israel and the region.A ceasefire is now in effect after two years of war in Gaza. And as we record this conversation, Hamas says it will begin releasing hostages shortly.Israel has completed the first phase of its military withdrawal; and international mediators, led by Washington, Doha, and Egypt, are preparing for a summit in Egypt.We talk about many things -the return of the hostages, the future of the ceasefire and the end of the war as well as what it means for both Israel and Hamas. The future of Israeli security.The weakening of Iran, the damage to Hezbollah, the Houthis, and Hamas, and how to address Israel’s reputation in the world.President Trump is traveling to the summit in Egypt and will address the Israeli Knesset.I am pleased to welcome Amos Yadlin, who joins me from Israel.For more, please visit: www.charlierose.com

General Stanley McChrystal's story begins as the son of a general and continues through a military career that saw him make important stops as he rose through the ranks - leading a Ranger battalion, serving with the 82nd Airborne, overseeing U.S. counterterrorism operations in Iraq as head of JSOC (the Joint Special Operations Command), and ultimately rising to his final post as commander of all U.S. and coalition troops in Afghanistan.This is, as you know, an important moment in the United States. The government is on strike, troops are deployed in American cities, there is hope for the release of hostages in Gaza, and Donald Trump may be rethinking Ukraine. I want to talk about big ideas: the U.S. role in the world as America approaches its 250th birthday on July 4, 2026; the changing world order; U.S. competition with China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran; the rise of populism and the challenge to liberal democracy; the internal risks to American institutions from autocracy; active wars in Ukraine, Gaza, and Sudan; and the risks posed by a government shutdown, the roundup of immigrants by ICE, and troops patrolling U.S. cities.We'll also look at the lessons of war - from World War II to Korea, Vietnam, the Balkans, the Middle East, and especially Iraq and Afghanistan, where General McChrystal served in command positions. I want to begin with his focus since retiring as a four-star general: teaching leadership at Yale and forming the McChrystal Group to bring lessons from the battlefield to the boardroom, as described in his MasterClass.That brings us to two critical ideas at the center of his message: leadership and character. I want to begin with character - the subject of his 2025 book, UNC Character: Choices That Define a Life.For more, please visit: www.charlierose.com

David Brooks is one of our most thoughtful and influential writers on American politics and the human aspiration. He is an opinion columnist for The New York Times and a regular commentator on PBS NewsHour, as well as a contributing writer for The Atlantic magazine. Early in his career, he was a reporter and editor at The Wall Street Journal and Newsweek. David Brooks is the author of six books, including Bobos in Paradise, On Paradise Drive, The Social Animal, The Road to Character, The Second Mountain, and How to Know a Person. He is recognized as a voice who brings moral dimensions to commentary, connecting politics with questions of character and action. As Benjamin Wallace-Wells wrote in The New Yorker, Brooks is “a writer who sees American life as a sea of souls yearning for goodness.” He is also known for the Sydney Awards, his annual selection of the year’s best magazine writing.This is a moment of deep division in American politics and changes in the world order, as well as a time of increasing search for self-awareness by individuals. Donald Trump, in his second term, is testing institutions at home and America’s role abroad. We will begin with these questions: What story defines this moment? What stories has David Brooks pursued? And as the nation approaches its 250th birthday, what is the most important story ahead? We will discuss the news of the day, the future of America, the books and ideas of David Brooks, and what he has learned as a writer, reporter, and man of demanding curiosity.For more, please visit: www.charlierose.com

Jane Goodall, who became a global celebrity for her study of chimpanzees in East Africa, died on October 1ST in Los Angeles. She was 91.In 1957, with no formal academic training, she left secretarial work in England and traveled to Kenya, where she met Louis Leakey, the renowned paleoanthropologist who became her mentor.In 1960, at age 26, she went to the Gombe Stream Chimpanzee Reserve in what is now Tanzania to study chimpanzees. There she built an extraordinary relationship with wild chimps. She gave them names, observed their personalities, and revealed the complexity of their communities, producing remarkable studies of their family life and environment.Also in 1960, she made a discovery that transformed science. She documented chimpanzees making and using tools to fish termites from mounds, overturning the long-held belief that toolmaking was uniquely human. As she later said, “The longer I was there, the more like us I saw that they were … we’ve been so jolly arrogant to think we’re so special.”In 1965 Cambridge University awarded her a Ph.D. in ethology, even though she had never earned an undergraduate degree.She wrote widely about her work, including her landmark 1971 book: In the Shadow of Man, which brought her Gombe research to a global audience. She also reached millions through National Geographic documentaries and television specials that made her one of the most recognizable scientists of her time.According to the New York Times, the evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould said her work, “represents one of the Western world’s great scientific achievements.”She became an ardent conservationist and advocate for animal welfare, founding the Jane Goodall Institute in 1977 and later launching Roots & Shoots, a youth program that continues worldwide today.She was also a pioneer for women in the field. At a time when fieldwork was almost entirely male, she broke barriers, inspired generations.In later years she became one of the world’s leading voices for the environment, traveling constantly to speak about conservation, climate change, and animal welfare.

Sean “P. Diddy” Combs - the well-known music and fashion entrepreneur - faces his sentencing hearing this week. Two member of his defense team, discuss the highly publicized trial of the summer of 2025.Combs’ defense team achieved a significant victory by securing acquittals on the most serious charges of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking. He was convicted on two lesser counts of transportation for prostitution under the Mann Act. The trial lasted 43 days, and the jury deliberated for three days. Sentencing is set for October 3.Jonathan Bach is a highly successful trial lawyer who interrogated one of the prosecution’s witnesses during the Combs defense. Alexandra Shapiro - a former Supreme Court clerk for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and a former New York prosecutor - is considered one of the most admired and sought-after appellate lawyers in America.Their firm, Shapiro, Arata & Bach, has participated in a number of celebrated cases at both the trial and appellate levels. In full disclosure, they are friends of mine, and Jonathan has represented me in a legal matter.My conversation with Jon and Alexandra is an opportunity to look inside the Combs trial—one of the most publicized cases in recent history. We will also explore fascinating questions about lawyers and the role of trials in American history.Trial lawyers are classic figures in American life, much like the Western cowboy. Throughout U.S. history, they have captured public attention as defenders of both ideas and people. They have been portrayed in movies, on stage, and in iconic films such as To Kill a Mockingbird, and they have played central roles in historic cases like the Scopes “Monkey” Trial and the Nuremberg Trials.Remember historic figures such as John Adams, Abraham Lincoln, Clarence Darrow, and Thurgood Marshall—they were all trial lawyers. Consider infamous trials like O.J. Simpson’s, which featured prominent trial lawyer Johnnie Cochran. And remember the many talented women who have argued in courtrooms across America, advancing the cause of equal rights—they, too, were trial lawyers.This is an especially interesting moment to reflect on the Combs trial and the role of trial lawyers as he awaits sentencing.We will discuss many topics, including:What the prosecution charged.How the defense crafted its response—strategically choosing how to make its case without presenting a formal defense.What arguments Combs’ legal team might pursue going forward.For more, please visit www.charlierose.com

The indefinite suspension of Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night program - which he hosted for more than two decades - reverberated across media, politics, and public conversation.We are at an important moment. The questions go beyond one host or one network. They speak to the balance between government power and individual rights. People on both sides of the political spectrum fear the rise of violence against individuals as a means to stifle speech.We will talk about many aspects of this subject, including the series of events that led to Kimmel’s suspension, the importance and history of the First Amendment, and why these issues are so critical today.For more, please visit: www.charlierose.com

Karen Elliott House knows well the personalities and history of the Middle East conflict from her experiences as a reporter, editor, and author. She received a Pulitzer Prize in 1984 for her reporting on King Hussein of Jordan. She later became foreign editor of The Wall Street Journal and eventually its publisher.She has written two books on Saudi Arabia: the most recent, published in July 2025, The Man Who Would Be King: Mohammed bin Salman and the Transformation of Saudi Arabia; and, thirteen years earlier in 2012, On Saudi Arabia: Its People, Past, Religion, Fault Lines and Future.This is a critical moment to consider the history and future of the region, as the war continues and Israel carries out bombings in retaliation against Hamas.We will talk specifically about the role of Saudi Arabia, its leader, and his actions within the kingdom and the broader region.