Pod Save the World
Pod Save the World
Each week, “Pod Save America” cohost Tommy Vietor and Obama’s former Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes break down the biggest developments in foreign policy, national security and global politics. They try to explain which stories matter and why, and what we can all do to understand and shape the world around us.
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Episodes
Mentioned books
36 snips
Oct 28, 2026 • 1h 20min
Democracy Wins in Brazil and Serbia
Pedro Telles, a Democracy Hub program director focused on democratic organizing and digital mobilization, discusses Lula’s comeback in Brazil and the student-led movement that toppled Serbia’s autocrat. He examines campaign strategy, WhatsApp organizing, Meta’s alleged bias, youth activism, Brazil’s polarized future, and what progressive movements can learn from these democratic breakthroughs.
73 snips
Oct 21, 2026 • 1h 38min
France Descends Into Chaos
Independent journalist and writer Jasper Nathaniel reports on Palestine, Israel, and the West Bank through his Infinite Jazz newsletter. He recounts witnessing settlers attack a Palestinian farmer and American photographer, while Israeli forces stood by. They discuss escalating violence against journalists and diplomats, Palestinians’ right to self-defense, and how impunity and territorial ambitions are driving displacement.
57 snips
Oct 14, 2026 • 1h 22min
Trump’s Dirty Diesel Deal
Lesley Anne Warner, a Carnegie Endowment scholar specializing in African security, joins the conversation on Ethiopia’s fragile coalition and Eritrea’s fears of Ethiopia’s Red Sea ambitions. They explore how conflicts in Ethiopia, Sudan, Yemen, and the Gulf could merge into a sprawling proxy war, and why diplomacy needs real consequences. Elsewhere: Trump’s diesel deal with Putin, Houthi attacks, India’s voter purge, Erik Prince’s mercenaries, and Kimberly Guilfoyle’s embassy scandal.
54 snips
Oct 7, 2026 • 1h 25min
Russian Plague and Putin's Prisons
Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal Russia correspondent and author of This Cursed Beautiful Land, recounts his arrest, imprisonment, and return to journalism. He describes FSB surveillance, life in Russian prisons, anti-war prisoners, and the resilience and dark humor he encountered. The conversation also explores Russia’s plague secrecy, rising global tensions, and authoritarian power.
49 snips
Sep 30, 2026 • 1h 39min
Soccer Scandal & Idiot Ambassadors
Sam Vigersky, an international affairs fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, discusses Haiti’s descent into gang rule. He explores the power vacuum after President Jovenel Moïse’s assassination, gangs’ use of hunger and sexual violence, a collapsing health system, deportation policy, failed international missions, and what a long-term humanitarian strategy could look like.
88 snips
Sep 23, 2026 • 1h 30min
Xi’s Just Not That Into You
Maher Bitar, a national security professional and former Obama and Biden administration official, joins the conversation on why foreign policy is shaping the midterms. They discuss polling on tariffs, war, AI’s impact on families, conditional military aid, NATO, and voters’ demand for accountability. The broader conversation covers Xi Jinping’s visit, AI-driven security risks, Yemen, Russia, and Europe’s far right.
111 snips
Sep 16, 2026 • 1h 33min
Don Jr.’s Big Fat Russian Wedding
Hamza Chaudhary, an AI and national security policy expert at the Future of Life Institute, joins the conversation on AI’s wild week. They explore deceptive systems, bioweapon risks, government oversight, whistleblower protections, and judging tech leaders’ calls for a slowdown. The discussion also looks ahead to Trump’s summit with Xi Jinping.
112 snips
Sep 9, 2026 • 1h 37min
Can Germany’s Far Right Be Stopped?
Lawrence Wright, Pulitzer-winning author of The Looming Tower and New Yorker staff writer, joins a wide-ranging discussion on 9/11’s enduring legacy. The conversation explores intelligence failures, America’s post-9/11 overreach, endless war, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia’s unanswered questions, and the challenge of understanding adversaries without excusing terrorism. Elsewhere, Germany’s far right scores a breakthrough amid growing global instability.
85 snips
Sep 2, 2026 • 1h 24min
The Art of the Venezuela Oil Deal
David Eby, British Columbia’s premier and a lawyer-politician, discusses Canada’s escalating clash with Trump over tariffs, sovereignty and the cringe-worthy “Lake America” rename. He covers economic fallout, Canadian unity, Alberta separatism, defense choices and new trade ties beyond the U.S. The conversation follows debates over Iran’s endless war, a corruption-tainted Venezuelan oil deal, global scandals and climate disaster.
117 snips
Aug 26, 2026 • 1h 41min
Trump & Carney’s Heated Rivalry
Dr. Feroze Sidhwa, an emergency/trauma physician turned advocate after volunteering in Gaza. Poh Si Teng, director who filmed U.S. doctors in Gaza. They discuss making the documentary, choices about graphic footage, doctors’ shift from clinical care to congressional advocacy, Gaza’s collapsed healthcare, barriers to humanitarian access, and the role of Gazan journalists in telling the story.
