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Pod Save the World
Crooked Media · Politics · Left
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. Subscribe to Friends of the Pod! Your subscription makes Crooked’s work…
More from this show
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Soccer Scandal & Idiot Ambassadors
The Trump/Xi summit produces two pandas and not much else, violence in Ethiopia could have massive regional consequences, and Manchester City is found guilty of nearly a decade of cheating. Tommy and Ben close the loop on Xi Jinping's state visit to Washington and how Trump walked away with only vague commitments. On…
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Xi’s Just Not That Into You
Xi Jinping comes to Washington, the UN struggles for relevancy, and the Russian parliamentary elections turn out exactly as expected. Tommy and Ben break down Chinese President Xi Jinping's first state visit to Washington since 2015, including Trump’s personal airport greeting, and what leverage China has on…
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Don Jr.’s Big Fat Russian Wedding
The Houthis seize control of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, Trump rolls a grenade into Northern Ireland's politics, and a Russian oligarch funds Don Jr.'s wedding. Tommy and Ben break down some of the most alarming expansions of the Iran war: Houthi rebels have captured roughly 80 miles of Yemen's Red Sea coastline…
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Can Germany’s Far Right Be Stopped?
The far right gets a huge win in Germany, Serbia celebrates a war criminal, and Nigel Farage gets caught on camera breaking the law. Tommy and Ben dig into the ultra-right-wing AfD party's historic results in a regional election, what drove it, what it would mean if they actually form a coalition government, and what…
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The Art of the Venezuela Oil Deal
The war with Iran reaches six months, Trump’s Pentagon cuts a corrupt oil deal with Venezuela, and Russia makes an (unwelcome) surprise appearance at a G20 meeting. Tommy and Ben mark six months of the war with Iran, including the death toll, damage to the global economy, and reports that Trump may implement a "mow…
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Trump & Carney’s Heated Rivalry
Trump starts a trade war with Canada, announces “Economic D-Day” against Iran, while Russia deploys AI killer drones in Ukraine. Tommy and Ben break down the collapse of US-Canada trade negotiations, the politics animating Prime Minister Mark Carney’s tough talk, and why a trade war carries long-term economic risks…
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Trump’s Unrequited Love for Kim Jong Un
Tommy and Ben walk through a week of leaders making bad decisions. President Trump kneecaps military exercises with South Korea, Vladimir Putin’s paranoia reaches new heights, and British PM Andy Burnham gets pranked. They start with Trump's decision to scale back joint US-South Korean military exercises, what it…
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Mission: Impossible - Catering Truck (Starring Donald J. Trump)
Trump evades Iran via catering truck, Pete Hegseth's Pentagon is a disaster, and Jared pays off a gangster and drug trafficker as part of his Albanian island takeover. This week Tommy and Ben cover shocking new info on how Trump hid from Iran on his way back from the NATO summit in Turkey, leaving his staff and the…
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Far Right Freaks Freak Over Migrants in Spain
Over 70,000 migrants try crossing into Spain, the US is running out of precision missiles, and Jared Kushner's brother almost bought FIFA. Tommy and Ben break down the mass crossing of migrants from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta and why right-wing politicians are frothing at the mouth over it. While…
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Lindsey Graham's Bloody Legacy
Trump welcomes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu to the White House on the same day as Lindsey Graham’s funeral, a MAGA nut does a wild U-turn on Ukraine, and the freakout over Chinese Artificial Intelligence intensifies. This week Tommy and Ben cover…Trump hits pause on…
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Pentagon Covers Up Iran War Casualties
More US casualties in the war with Iran, the State Department's new neo-McCarthy Cuba blacklist, and the UK gets a new Prime Minister while CPAC Great Britain flops. Tommy and Ben discuss reports that the Pentagon has been covering up the full extent of casualties associated with the war with Iran, the impact of the…
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Trump's Delusional Election Rant
In this special episode of Pod Save the World, Tommy and Ben speak in front of a live audience at the Aspen Security Forum. First, Trump delivers a rambling speech on election security that offers no new evidence, overstates the threat from China, and is laying the groundwork for Republicans to question the validity…
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Forever War (Trump's Version)
Tommy and Ben are back with a week of war, drama over an international bridge, and an angry Norwegian World Cup fan. First up, the guys say farewell to the ceasefire between Iran and the US, hello to a new forever war, and analyze how a rushed, sloppily worded agreement negotiated by Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff…
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Trump Bullies FIFA, NATO
Tommy is joined by guest host Mehdi Hasan to walk through a packed week of World Cup controversy, a NATO summit, and Ayatollah Khamenei’s funeral in Iran. First, they discuss the international reaction to President Trump’s interference in the World Cup to get the US team’s red card suspended and all the ways that…
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Keeping Up With the Korruption in Kazakhstan
Tommy and Ben talk through a week that includes US and Iranian airstrikes, a peace agreement, a Supreme Court double-header, and the French debate about air conditioning. First up, Israel and Lebanon have signed a 14-point peace agreement in Washington, but people on both sides question whether the deal will ever be…
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Starmer Brexits
This week Tommy and Ben catch up on the latest in Iran negotiations, react to Keir Starmer’s resignation, and continue to celebrate World Cup fandom. First they walk through the text of the US-Iran memorandum of understanding — because now it’s clear why Trump didn't want anyone to see it. The guys break down…
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How Bad Is Trump’s Iran Deal?
Tommy and Ben are back with a week of bad deals, high-stakes elections, and World Cup joy. The US and Iran have agreed to a deal to end the war, but the Trump administration has refused to release the text to anyone — so the guys parse through what we think we know. The short version: it's a pretty good deal for Iran…
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Jared & Ivanka Conquer Albanian Island
Tommy and Ben are back to discuss a week that includes collapsed ceasefire(s), the World Cup, and Jared and Ivanka pretending to be conquistadors. The so-called ceasefires between Israel and Lebanon and the US and Iran continue to unravel, while Trump insists he has Iran and Israel under his control and twists reality…
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Trump’s Top Spy Has One Job: Revenge
Trump says he’s bored with peace talks, American right-wingers flock to Moscow, and the new Director of National Intelligence’s claim to fame is owning an HVAC company. Another fun week! Tommy and Ben discuss why Trump installing Bill Pulte as the new acting Director of National Intelligence should terrify you given…
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Pope Warns of AI Apocalypse
Tommy and Ben dig into a week of an “almost” deal, a sweeping AI warning, and a terrifying Ebola outbreak. First up, the Iran deal that was supposedly days away somehow produced new US airstrikes instead, and the guys break down why the path to a permanent ceasefire remains littered with obstacles from Netanyahu…
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Is Trump Planning to Invade Cuba?
Tommy and Ben dig into a week dominated by ominous signs of regime change, nuclear standoffs, and a “historic” summit that left almost everyone disappointed. First they cover the signs pointing to American intervention in Cuba, including reports of Cuban drones, a possible indictment of 94-year-old Raúl Castro, a…
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Keir Starmer’s Last Stand?
Tommy and Ben survey the wreckage of another week in global politics. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer clings to power after Labour was crushed in local elections. Tommy and Ben debate whether Starmer should step aside or stay and fight. Then they run through the latest with Iran, from the short-lived “Project…
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Bullsh*t Ceasefires Everywhere
Ben and Tommy break down another chaotic week in foreign policy full of bad ideas and worse outcomes. Trump rolls out—and just as quickly unrolls—a new Pentagon plan—dubbed “Project Freedom”—to “guide” ships through the Strait of Hormuz, leaked intelligence reports show that the war has not changed Iran’s nuclear…
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King Trump Welcomes King Charles
The US-Iran ceasefire is holding, but the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, the global economy is teetering on the edge of disaster, and America's precision weapons stockpile is badly depleted after repeated conflicts with Iran, with experts warning that it could have grave consequences for US readiness in the event of…
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All the President’s (Corrupt) Men
Tommy and Ben break down another chaotic and consequential week in global affairs. Trump blinks and extends the ceasefire with Iran, but the Strait of Hormuz remains closed as US-Iran negotiations stall. Meanwhile, an internal power struggle between Iran's elected leaders and military is complicating talks, and the…
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JD Vance’s Global Humiliation
Tommy and Ben walk through a week of epic failures for the Trump administration, from peace talks with Iran to Viktor Orbán’s historic loss in Hungary. They break down everything that was wrong with the US-Iran peace talks, like both sides coming in with maximalist positions, Vice President JD Vance walking out in a…
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Trump Threatens Genocide
Tommy and Ben try to make sense of a dark and dizzying day in American history, from President Trump's genocidal threat to destroy the 'whole civilization' of Iran, to the announcement of a two-week ceasefire. They break down what Trump's threats to bomb every power plant and bridge in Iran would actually mean —…
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Trump Begs Allies to Clean Up Iran Mess
Ben and guest cohost Alyona Minkovski, PSTW's senior producer, try to make sense of the many contradictions and threats coming from President Trump and his administration on Iran, like reports that he wants to make the Strait of Hormuz everyone else’s problem to solve, and claims that regime change has already…
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Trump Goes from Obliteration to Negotiation on Iran
In the past few days, Donald Trump went from threatening to obliterate Iran's power plants to announcing a surprise diplomatic reprieve and declaring that the war has been won. This episode breaks down the whiplash: what actually happened, whether the talks are real, why an agreement between the US and Iran will be…
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MAGA’s Iran War Meltdown (and Micropenis)
A MAGA civil war erupts over Trump’s war with Iran, JD Vance tries to distance himself, and Megyn Kelly accuses her former Fox News colleague of having a micropenis. Seriously! On today’s show, Tommy and Ben cover the many ways Trump’s war with Iran is going off the rails. The death toll and economic costs keep…
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