The Final Service

The surprising success of Russian athletes at the 2014 Sochi Olympics gave Vladimir Putin the political capital to invade Crimea, and it was all built on an elaborate state-sponsored doping program. Russia received little more than a slap on the wrist by the International Olympic Committee, so President Putin was emboldened to attack Ukraine in 2022. This time the IOC had to act, and the majority of Russian athletes have been banned from the 2024 Paris Games.   John Hoberman, Olympic Historian and Professor of Germanic Studies, University of Texas at Austin, joins Ray Suarez to share why the IOC has a history of enabling authoritarian leaders, and why it has blood on its hands.Guest:John Hoberman, Olympic Historian and Professor of Germanic Studies, University of Texas, AustinHost:Ray Suarez, host, On Shifting GroundIf you appreciate this episode and want to support the work we do, please consider making a donation to Commonwealth Club World Affairs. We cannot do this work without your help. Thank you.

It's been a wild few weeks in US news... but remember the Olympics?After COVID-19 threw a curveball in Tokyo, the Olympic Games are back. Since the Olympics as we know them started in 1896, they have only been canceled for drastic events like World Wars and a pandemic. The 2020 Tokyo games were postponed a year due to lockdown restrictions, and global viewership suffered. So will the 2024 Paris games rekindle our love for the Games?The Athletic sports writer, Richard Deitsch, joins Ray Suarez to talk about whether the Olympics can rebound. Guests: Richard Deitsch, sports writer and host, Sports Media with Richard DeitschHost: Ray SuarezIf you appreciate this episode and want to support the work we do, please consider making a donation to Commonwealth Club World Affairs. We cannot do this work without your help. Thank you. 

A gunman just tried to assassinate former President Donald Trump weeks after he was convicted of election interference…  Joe Biden’s campaign is in freefall… and all along voters have resented a choice between two troubled candidates.Americans — from the largest urban centers to the smallest rural towns — are deeply pessimistic about the state of the nation. And on both sides of the political aisle, there seems to be a disconnect between what people want… and where they feel the country is headed. This week, in an election special, we’ll hear from Iowa voter Phil Hemingway, and how he’s feeling about this contentious election year. Then, Dante Chinni, director of MSU J-School’s American Communities Project, Anne Applebaum, staff writer for The Atlantic, and Ian Bremmer, president of GZERO Media, join Ray Suarez to unpack why Americans have lost faith in democracy… and what it will take to get it back. Guests:  Phil Hemingway, owner, manager and automotive technician at Phil’s Repair, LLCDante Chinni, data and political journalist and director of the MSU J-School’s American Communities ProjectAnne Applebaum, staff writer for The Atlantic, Pulitzer-prize winning historian and author of “The Twilight of Democracy”Ian Bremmer, a political scientist, author of “The Power of Crisis,” and professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Political AffairsHost:  Ray SuarezIf you appreciate this episode and want to support the work we do, please consider making a donation to World Affairs. We cannot do this work without your help. Thank you.

For generations, a nuclear war has been assumed to be so horrible that no one has used these weapons since 1945. But what have we done in the last 80 years to pull ourselves back from the edge of nuclear destruction?In her new book “Nuclear War: A Scenario”, pulitzer-prize finalist Annie Jacobsen explores a ticking-clock scenario. Based on dozens of exclusive interviews with military and civilian experts who have built the weapons, she pieced together what a response to nuclear war might look like. She’s in conversation with independent tech journalist, Quentin Hardy.Guest:  Annie Jacobsen, Journalist; Author, Nuclear War: A ScenarioGuest Host:Quentin Hardy, former Head of Editorial, Google CloudCome check out Ray's live conversation on US immigration next Tuesday, July 9th at 6 pm PT! Tickets for in-person and online program are here: https://bit.ly/RaySuarezLive

Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un just signed a mutual defense deal that feels a lot more like 1964 than 2024.In part two of our series, John Delury, associate professor of Chinese studies at Yonsei University, explains why Putin is taking his relationship with Kim to the next level, and whether the UN Security Council can do anything about it.Guest:John Delury, associate professor of Chinese studies at Yonsei UniversityHost:  Ray SuarezCome check out Ray's live conversation on US immigration next Tuesday, July 9th at 6 pm PT! Tickets for in-person and online program are here: https://bit.ly/RaySuarezLive

On June 18th, Russian President Vladimir Putin made an unprecedented trip to Pyongyang. It was the first time he’d set foot inside North Korea in nearly 25 years and marks a new low point in his war against Ukraine.This week, we’re running a two-part series about the recent courtship between President Putin and North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un. In the first episode, we’re joined by New York Times’ national security reporter Julian Barnes. He’ll walk us through last year’s alleged arms deal between Russia and North Korea and Putin's growing desperation for munitions. On Wednesday we’ll dive deep on Putin and Kim’s most recent meeting and how it’s destabilizing a fragile international order.Guest:Julian Barnes, national security reporter for The New York TimesHost: Ray SuarezCome check out Ray's live conversation on US immigration next Tuesday, July 9th at 6 pm PT! Tickets for in-person and online program are here: https://bit.ly/RaySuarezLive

On June 9th, Europe's European Union members voted for their next parliament. The election tends to be a practical and mostly predictable affair, where parties across the continent build centrist coalitions, but major victories for the far-right in countries like France, Germany, and Italy are shaking things up.In 2023, journalist Julia Ebner joined Ray Suarez to share how she went undercover in the world of online extremists. Ebner revealed how conspiracy theories like QAnon have taken hold in Germany.In this week’s program, Ebner shares how political extremism has moved mainstream, and how the far-right is upending the elections in Europe.Guest:Julia Ebner, author of Going Mainstream: How extremists are taking overHost: Ray SuarezIf you appreciate this episode and want to support the work we do, please consider making a donation to World Affairs. We cannot do this work without your help. Thank you.

The recent spate of violence in Sub-Saharan Africa is centuries in the making, and finding solutions isn’t easy. And when we talk about lifting the world out of poverty, Africa is at the center of any meaningful discussion. Abraham Leno, Executive Director of the Eastern Congo Initiative, has worked on the African continent for decades, and he joins Ray Suarez to share how ECI is working to change narratives about people in Eastern Congo. Guest:Abraham Leno, Executive Director of the Eastern Congo Initiative Host:  Ray SuarezIf you appreciate this episode and want to support the work we do, please consider making a donation to World Affairs. We cannot do this work without your help. Thank you.

The Democratic Republic of Congo sits just south of the so-called  “coup belt” in Africa – an area stretching across the entire continent, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea. With more than half a dozen attempts in the region since 2021, social scientists are beginning to call the coups a “contagion”.As Congo faces the challenges of post-colonial governance, what can be done to protect the future of its democracy? Vox reporter, Ellen Ioanes, joins Ray Suarez to talk about the US, China, Russia’s role in fomenting violence in the DRC.Guest:  Ellen Ioanes, World & Weekend Reporter, VoxHost:  Ray SuarezIf you appreciate this episode and want to support the work we do, please consider making a donation to World Affairs. We cannot do this work without your help. Thank you.

In May, Senate Majority Leader, Chuck Schumer, presented a sprawling “road map” for regulating artificial intelligence. The report called for $32 billion in spending to put guardrails on the rapidly evolving technology. But tech experts have called the plan “pathetic”, and many critics believe Washington is out of touch.This week, in our latest special election series, why AI may be the big bad “X Factor” of the upcoming presidential election.We’ll hear from Josh Lawson, Director of AI and Democracy at the Aspen Institute. Then, US Congressman Ted Lieu and Dr. Gary Marcus, Founder of Robust AI and Geometric AI, join Ray Suarez to talk about the future of AI, and whether it can be regulated in time.Guests:  Josh Lawson, Director of AI and Democracy at the Aspen InstituteUS Representative Ted Lieu (D-CA 36th District)Dr. Gary Marcus, Founder of Robust AI and Geometric AIHost:Ray SuarezIf you appreciate this episode and want to support the work we do, please consider making a donation to World Affairs. We cannot do this work without your help. Thank you.