Things That Go Boom

Think back to when you were a kid, and school was out. What did you eat when you got home? Maybe it was a beef patty from your favorite bodega or chocolate chip cookies baked by your mom. For better or worse, food is one of the first things in our lives that makes us feel… safe. But lately, between supply chain issues, empty shelves, wild conspiracy theories, and a potential nuclear attack on the breadbasket of the world… things haven’t felt so safe. So this season, Things That Go Boom is going deep on food and conflict. State dinners, MREs. Supply chains, turf wars. Food as diplomacy, hunger as a weapon. Things That Go Boom Season 7 is coming up on October 31 — so get ready for a food fight.

Putin’s war in Ukraine has European nations scrambling to cut off their supplies of Russian gas — both to further penalize Russia and to ensure the country can’t withhold its energy supplies as a blackmail tool. That transition has many European leaders turning to the Arctic for solutions like wind energy. But some Sámi activists in Arctic Europe say they’ve been backed into a corner after years of industrial development, and that what’s left of their traditional territory is not up for negotiation. GUESTS: Justin Ling, freelance journalist; Beaska Niillas, parliamentary leader in the Sámi Parliament in Norway and alternate member of the Saami Council ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: “The Costs of Choosing Wind Power,” Sunna Svendsen, Inkstick Media ”Norway Surges Oil, Gas Profit. Now It’s Urged To Help,” Mark Lewis ft. Monika Scislowska, Associated Press ”Arctic Military Infrastructure: The Olavsvern case,” Wenche Irén Sterkeby and Vidar Hole, The Arctic Institute

China’s business activity in the Arctic has been attracting a lot of eyeballs. Its state-sponsored construction companies have been securing contracts for important infrastructure, and the country sees the resources in the polar regions as key to its future stability. That interest has the United States, sometimes called the “reluctant Arctic state,” perking up its ears. But all this new competition in the region — it puts Arctic peoples at the center of a tricky geopolitical tango. We speak to two leaders in Greenlandic governance about how the country is managing that dance. Reporting by Katie Toth. GUESTS: Willie Hensley, author; educator; former Alaska State Senator; Marisol Maddox, Senior Arctic Analyst, Wilson Center; Mia Bennett, Assistant Professor, University of Washington; Pele Broberg, Member of Parliament for Greenland; chair, Partii Naleraq; Aaja Chemnitz Larsen, Member of Parliament for Denmark; chair, Conference of Arctic Parliamentarians; Col (Ret.) Pierre LeBlanc, Canadian Armed Forces ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: “How a Failed Social Experiment in Denmark Separated Inuit Children From Their Families,” Tara John, CNN “What Rights To Land Have Alaska Natives?: The Primary Question,” Willie Hensley, Alaskool “Could the Arctic Be a Wedge Between China and Russia?” Jeremy Greenwood and Shuxian Luo, War on the Rocks “Let’s (Not) Make A Deal: Geopolitics and Greenland,” Jon Rahbek-Clemmensen, War on the Rocks “American Imperialists Have Always Dreamed of Greenland,” Paul Musgrave, Foreign Policy

Noel Cockney and Randy Baillargeon have seen what a warming North can do to their home. Manning an educational Indigenous fish camp an ice road away from Yellowknife, Canada, they slice and dice fish out of Great Slave Lake and chop wood to keep people warm in the subzero spring temperatures. It’s cold — and they like it this way. Cold in the North means connectivity, as people zip around on ice roads and snowmobiles. It makes for soft, marketable furs for trappers and cozy nights at home. And as the temperature warms, those things are at risk. For decades, leaders of Arctic countries like Russia, Norway and the USA could set aside their differences and find common ground on environmental issues in the region. The Arctic was treated less like a zone of competition, and more like a tool to build diplomatic rapport. But Russia's war in Ukraine has totally upended that dynamic — and shattered the trust of the West. So — in a region where Russia controls half of the Arctic shoreline — how do we fight climate change now? Reporting by Katie Toth. GUESTS: Randy Baillargeon, Land-Based Co-ordinator and Community Mentor, Dechinta Centre for Research and Learning; Noel Cockney, Regional Programmer and Safety Co-ordinator, Dechinta Centre for Research and Learning; Dalee Sambo Dorough, International Chair, Inuit Circumpolar Council; Andrea Pitzer, Author, Icebound: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World; Mia Bennett, Assistant Professor, University of Washington ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: "How Putin’s War Is Sinking Climate Science,” Andrea Pitzer, Nautilus "How War in Ukraine Is Changing the Arctic,” The Economist

The House and Senate were always supposed to check the president’s power in foreign affairs. But when partisan loyalties and an onslaught of domestic issues make legislation nearly impossible… what’s a congress to do? This week, we talk to Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA) about how Congress can take back its power in foreign affairs – and finally get some things done. We discuss his efforts to stop the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, the animating power of a passionate public, and why he’s optimistic about the future of congressional power in American foreign policy. GUEST: Congressman Ro Khanna, represents California’s 17th Congressional District ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: War Powers Resolution of 1973, Nixon Library Trump Vetoes Measure to Force End to U.S. Involvement in Yemen War, Mark Landler and Peter Baker, The New York Times Saudi warplanes carpet-bomb Yemen with US help. This must end, Berine Sanders and Ro Khanna, The Guardian Dignity in a Digital Age, Ro Khanna, Simon & Schuster

Covert action has supported our nation’s security goals for decades — from fighting the Cold War to killing Osama Bin Laden. But it’s also part of a long American history of justifying the means to an end, one that’s led to unethical and illegal actions across the world. You could spend hours reading about past covert affairs without understanding how the executive branch manages missions or the classified intel around them — and, it’s not just you. Congress is tasked with overseeing those efforts, and even it has a hard time breaking through the layers of bureaucracy meant to keep our secrets safe. But when the war drum starts beating, where does it leave lawmakers tasked with checking and balancing? Two skeletons in the CIA’s closet might help give us some answers. GUESTS: Lana Ponting, MKULTRA Survivor; Julie Tanny, MKULTRA Survivor; Oona Hathaway, Yale University; Sam Worthington, InterAction ADDITIONAL READING: Secrecy’s End, Oona Hathaway, Minnesota Law Review Covert Action, Congressional Inaction, Stephen R. Weissman, Foreign Affairs Brainwashed: The echoes of MKULTRA, Canadian Broadcasting Association In Vaccines We Trust? The Effect of The CIA’s Vaccine Ruse on Immunization In Pakistan, Monica Martinez-​Bravo and Andreas Stegmann, Journal of the European Economic Association

When Congress created Space Force back in 2019, it looked to some like a wild idea from President Trump had just gone and become the sixth branch of the armed forces. But the US military has been using space for decades, and the importance of space to civilians and the military alike means that Space Force actually has a lot on its plate. As Congress considers the defense budget and the ways military activity in space can evolve, its decisions could have long-lasting consequences. GUESTS: Maj. Mike Lyons (USA, ret.), Fellow at the Truman National Security Project; Theresa Hitchens, Senior Space Reporter at Breaking Defense; Katherine Kuzminski, Senior Fellow and Director, Military, Veterans, and Society Program at the Center for a New American Security; Dr. Laura Grego, Stanton Nuclear Security Fellow at the MIT Laboratory for Nuclear Security and Policy Special thanks to Dr. Robert Farley. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: What's With All the U.S. Space-Related Agencies?, US Department of Defense. Space Threat Assessment: 2021, Center for Strategic and International Studies. The Politics of Space Security, James Clay Moltz, Stanford University Press. Biden’s 2023 defense budget adds billions for U.S. Space Force, Sandra Erwin, Space News.

It’s hard to overstate how much arms trade and aid factor into US foreign policy. Missiles, aircraft, guns, and more — we sell and give them to others as a way to exert global power without ever putting boots on the ground. It’s a trend Congress has passively greenlit for years. But every deal comes with risk. US weapons have a history of ending up in the wrong hands. Or disappearing entirely. Other times, the “right” hands use weapons to perpetuate devastating civilian harm. On this episode of Things That Go Boom, we dive into the complex world of arms transfers to ask, “Where does Congress fit into scrutinizing US deals?” The short answer is…it generally doesn’t. That is, unless it wants to. GUESTS: Lauren Woods, Center for International Policy; Jodi Vittori, Georgetown University ADDITIONAL READING: Human Rights, Civilian Harm, and Arms Sales: A Primer on US Law and Policy, Center for Civilians in Conflict. The Hidden Costs of US Security Cooperation, Lauren Woods, Responsible Statecraft. Sending Weapons To Ukraine Could Have Unintended Consequences, Jordan Cohen, Inkstick. Mitigating Patronage and Personal Enrichment in US Arms Sales, Jodi Vittori, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

At their core, sanctions are a way for countries to say, “We don’t like what you’re doing, and we’re going to make your life harder for it.” When they’re at their best, sanctions can isolate corrupt financiers, stigmatize human rights violators and even get entire countries to change their behavior. But they don’t always work that way. Economic sanctions are really hard to do right. They have to be precisely gamed out, or they can backfire in any number of ways. They're often hard to get rid of. And, more often than not, they hurt real people. But the US likes sanctions. Congress likes sanctions. On this episode of Things That Go Boom, what does all of this mean for some of our oldest sanctions? And some of our newest? GUESTS: Jason Bartlett, Center for a New American Security; Ricardo Herrero, Cuba Study Group; Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons, Artist and Cornelius Vanderbilt Endowed Chair of Fine Arts, Vanderbilt University; Inna Melnykovska, Central European University; Paul Carroll, Charity & Security Network; Konrad Körding, University of Pennsylvania; Elnaz Alikarami, McGill University; and Nosratullah Mohammadi, University of Geneva (formerly Zanjan, Iran) ADDITIONAL READING: Can Sanctions Stop Russia?, Annie Lowrey, The Atlantic. The Russian Sanctions Regime and the Risk of Catastrophic Success, Erik Sand and Suzanne Freeman, War on the Rocks. The Impact of Western Sanctions on Russia and How They Can Be Made Even More Effective, Anders Åslund and Maria Snegovaya, Atlantic Council. Boxing Cuba In Benefits No One, Christopher Sabatini and Lauren Cornwall, Foreign Policy. Special thanks to Maria Snegovaya.

Long lines at ATMs and gas stations. The constant blare of air raid sirens. Military jets scrambling across the sky. Eurasia expert (and for the first time, war reporter) Terrell Jermaine Starr is in Ukraine witnessing all this and more. On this special bonus episode of Things That Go Boom, he argues that we can’t understand Russia’s full-scale invasion — or the man behind it — without examining the country’s imperialist history. It’s a story President Vladimir Putin is leaning on today. Things That Go Boom will be back with our regularly-scheduled programming on March 21. GUESTS: Terrell Jermaine Starr, Journalist, and Nonresident Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council DONATE TO: World Central Kitchen Kyiv Independent Voices of Children Direct Relief ADDITIONAL READING: Why Progressives Should Help Defend Ukraine, Terrell Jermaine Starr, Foreign Policy. Ambassador Michael McFaul on Ukraine-Russia Relations, Black Diplomats. The Putin Doctrine, Angela Stent, Foreign Affairs.