Call Me Back - with Dan Senor

One of our regular guests – Bret Stephens, Pulitzer Prize winning columnist for The New York Times – returns for a conversation on cancel culture, anti-semitism and a new issue of a journal he edits, called Sapir. Bret joined The New York Times after a long career with The Wall Street Journal, where he was most recently deputy editorial page editor and, for 11 years, a foreign affairs columnist. Before that, he was editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post. And prior to Israel, he was based in Brussels for The Wall Street Journal. In this episode we speak extensively about Sapir: https://sapirjournal.org/

U.S. Senator Tom Cotton recently announced that he would not run for president in 2024. And yet at the same time, he continues to be one of the most important voices in Washington on all matters involving American foreign policy and national security. Senator Cotton also recently penned a new book, called Only The Strong. He returns to the podcast to discuss issues ranging from Iran and Russia/Ukraine to China and a proposed ban of TikTok. Senator Cotton represents Arkansas in the Senate. He currently serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee -- where he is the Ranking Member for the Subcommittee on Criminal Justice and Counterterrorism; he sits on the Intelligence Committee, and the Armed Services Committee. He is a graduate of Harvard, and Harvard Law School. He served nearly five years on active duty in the United States Army as an Infantry Officer. -- in Iraq with the 101st Airborne and in Afghanistan with a Provincial Reconstruction Team. Between combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, Senator Cotton also served as a platoon leader in the Old Guard in Arlington Cemetery. To order copies of Senator Cotton's books: Only the Strong -- https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/only-the-strong-tom-cotton/1141450141 Sacred Duty -- https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sacred-duty-tom-cotton/1129745532

Yuval Levin returns to the podcast. He's especially focused on whether we will have a replay of Trump vs Biden in 2024 or a new generation of leaders from both parties. Yuval discusses the promise of a number of these newer candidates and challenges they face. Yuval is the Director of Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies at the American Enterprise Institute. He’s the editor-in-chief of National Affairs, a quarterly journal of essays about domestic policy, political economy, and political thought. And he's authored numerous books, including “A Time To Build”, “The Fractured Republic”, and “The Great Debate: Edmund Burke, Thomas Paine, and the Birth of Right and Left”. Yuval served as a member of the White House domestic policy staff under President George W. Bush. He earned his masters and PhD from the University of Chicago. Towards the end of our conversation, Yuval remembers Michael Gerson, former chief speechwriter to President George W. Bush and Washington Post columnist. To read Michael Gerson's Washington Post columns: https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/michael-gerson/ To order his books - Heroic Conservatism: Why Republicans Need to Embrace America's Ideals (And Why They Deserve to Fail If They Don't): https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/heroic-conservatism-michael-j-gerson/1008425020?ean=9780061349515 City of Man: Religion and Politics in a New Era (with Peter Wehner): https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/city-of-man-michael-gerson/1100395408?ean=9781575679280 To read Yuval Levin's tribute to Michael Gerson: https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/remembering-my-friend-mike-gerson/

President Biden recently warned that the U.S. faces a 'decisive decade' in its rivalry with China. Are we sleepwalking through this decisive decade? That's what Bret Stephens of The New York Times argues in the Times. (Not only with regard to China but also a range of geopolitical challenges across the globe.) In this conversation, Bret looks at China, Russia/Ukraine, and U.S. defense readiness. He also raises important questions about where the revolution in Iran is going. Bret is a Pulitzer Prize winning columnist for The Times. He came to The Times after a long career with The Wall Street Journal, where he was most recently deputy editorial page editor and, for 11 years, a foreign affairs columnist. Before that, he was editor in chief of The Jerusalem Post, where he was based in Israel. Bret was raised in Mexico City, earned his BA at the University of Chicago and his Masters at the London School of Economics. Bret is also the editor in chief of the journal, Sapir - sapirjournal.org

From civil disobedience we have not seen in China since Tiananmen Square, to loosening zero covid policy, and leadership tightening its political grip in unprecedented ways, this has been quite a few weeks in China. What is US policy on a range of issues – the protests, semiconductors, Taiwan and also TikTok? Matt Pottinger returns to the podcast. Matt covered China and lived in China as a journalist for Reuters and then The Wall Street Journal. Then, in his early 30s, he made quite a career change. Matt joined the US Marine Corps, and had multiple combat deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan. Later on Matt played an instrumental role in reshaping the West’s relationship with China, when he served as the deputy National Security Advisor in the Trump administration, and was the architect of the administration’s strategy towards China. Today, he is regularly called upon by policymakers on both sides of the aisle, to consult on US policy towards China. He recently co-authored an essay for Foreign Affairs titled “Xi Jinping in His Own Words” -- https://tinyurl.com/2t59vm7z Matt is a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution and Chair of the China program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

Most of the post-midterm commentary has been focused on how the Democrats pulled off a surprise win in holding the majority in the U.S. Senate, and only lost the U.S. House of Representatives by a slim margin. But former Clinton and Schumer strategist -- and current Bloomberg senior advisor - Howard Wolfson is asking something entirely different: why DID the Democrats lose the House? Suggesting that they could have bucked history altogether and won the House too. Howard answers this question in a provocative piece he penned for The New York Times (https://tinyurl.com/2zeh87a2). While a red wave may not have materialized nationally, there was a red wave in New York State, the bluest of blue states. Howard thinks it has major implications for Democrats nationally. Howard was the New York City Deputy Mayor for Government Affairs and Communications, under Mayor Bloomberg. Previously, he served as the communications director for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. Earlier, he was Chief of Staff to Congresswoman Nita Lowey, Executive Director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and worked on campaigns at every level of government, advising Senators Schumer and Gillibrand, and former Governor Andrew Cuomo. Today he continues to work for Mayor Bloomberg, advising him on a number of political projects and overseeing education programs through Bloomberg Philanthropies.

Looking back with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his new book, “BiBi: My Story”. Also looking forward to his next government’s approach to Saudi Arabia (could we see an expansion of the Abraham Accords?); Israel’s position in the Russia-Ukraine war (will Israel’s posture change under his leadership?); and what he sees as the implications of events on the streets of Iran. We spoke at an event hosted by The Streicker Cultural Center at Temple Emanu-El: https://streicker.nyc/

In this episode, we go deep on deconstructing the mid-term results. We try to understand the implications for both parties heading into 2024. (And Murphy even tries to draw a connection between Richard Nixon and Mahatma Gandhi). Mike Murphy has worked on 26 gubernatorial and US Senate races across the country, including 12 wins in Blue States. He was a top strategist for John McCain, Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. He’s a political analyst for NBC and MSNBC. He’s co-host of the critically acclaimed "Hacks on Tap" podcast. Mike is also co-director of the University of Southern California’s Center for the Political Future.

Yaakov Katz – Editor-in-Chief of The Jerusalem Post and a former advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett – returns to our podcast. Earlier, Yaakov Katz served as The Jerusalem Post’s military reporter and defense analyst. He is the author of "Shadow Strike: Inside Israel's Secret Mission to Eliminate Syrian Nuclear Power" and co-author of two books: "Weapon Wizards - How Israel Became a High-Tech Military Superpower" and "Israel vs. Iran - The Shadow War" "Shadow Strike: Inside Israel's Secret Mission to Eliminate Syrian Nuclear Power" – shorturl.at/adioS "Weapon Wizards - How Israel Became a High-Tech Military Superpower" - shorturl.at/fhIJ3

We join the team at Commentary Magazine for a discussion on scenarios for Israel's next government coming out of this election (the 5th in 44 months!). Subscribe to commentary magazine by going to: commentary.org