Need to Know

If you've gone shopping for lumber lately, you know. Prices are sky high. But why? Of course we know the pandemic has affected supply chains, but with lumber, there is more going on. Canada Institute Director Chris Sands helps us understand the complexities of the lumber market and the interplay with our northern neighbors.

Media Studies expert, China watcher, and friend of the Need to Know Podcast, Aynne Kokas comes back to talk about John Cena's faux pas regarding China and Taiwan - and why western celebrities always seem quick to apologize for such things. Also see Aynne's recent congressional testimony here: https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/us-china-relations-improving-us-competitiveness-through-trade

After 20 years, the United States will be withdrawing troops from Afghanistan. Our resident South Asia expert Michael Kugelman walks us through the hurdles and challenges we will have to watch out for in the foreseeable future. Plus, a quick look at the COVID-19 resurgence in India.

Kissinger Institute experts Rui Zhong and Bradley Jardine stop in to discuss Xinjiang and the challenge this particular human rights issue poses for policymakers.

Public Policy Fellow Dr. Melissa Griffith helps us go beyond the headlines and the jargon to understand the technology that produces deepfakes, how it is used for good and bad, and what policy options exist in the public and private sectors to address the challenges of this rapidly evolving technology.

A new roundtable features Monica Pham and Natalee Binkholder, two former hill staffers who helps us go inside the hallowed halls in search of bipartisanship hiding in plain sight.

With a new surge of migrants at the southern border, we have the opportunity to introduce our new Mexico Institute director, Andrew Rudman.  Also check out this recent Mexico Institute report on sustainable migration policy

Public Policy Scholar and author Diana Villiers Negroponte joins us to discuss her new book about how one administration navigated domestic and foreign challenges to usher in a new world and end the Cold War.

The military has taken power in Myanmar.  What does this mean for democracy in the country and for minorities?  Prashanth Parameswaran and Lucas Myers from the Wilson Center's Asia Program help us ground truth.

Poisoning his underwear was Plan C in dealing with Alexei Navalny. So what's next for how Putin deals with a leading opposition figure in Russia? Yuval Weber joins us to explain the Navalny agenda and it's true impact inside Russia.

Nonpartisan information on Russia is hard to find.  But we have it here with four of our best scholars on Russia letting us know what to watch for with Russia in a new year and new administration, but also how US policymakers should frame their thinking on Russia.

Brenda Wineapple, author of "The Impeachers: The Trial of Andrew Johnson and the Dream of A Just Nation," comes by to talk about the first presidential impeachment, and why we should care about it 153 years and four more impeachments later.

Historian and author John Ferling helps us understand other hyperpartisan eras in American politics, particularly the 1790s.  We discuss the election of 1800 and its parallels with today, and how we've been through tough politics before.

To start the new year, Wilson Center CEO, Former Congresswoman Jane Harman joins us to discuss the protests and riots at the Capitol on January 6th, including a possibility for the parties to reconcile, and the state of the intelligence community leading up to that day.

Tom Kellermann of VMware was prescient in our last episode, suggesting there was more going on than we then knew about cyber intrusion into corporate and government networks. Now we know more, so we thought we'd have him back -- and we answer some of your questions too!

Tom Kellermann, the Head of Cybersecurity Strategy at VMware Inc, and Wilson Center Global Fellow stops by to talk about the continuing escalation of attacks in cyberspace, and recommendations for the next administration and Congress for what can be done to combat a "new cold war that is going on in cyberspace."

Global Health Policy watcher Alex Long joins me again to discuss the progress being made on a COVID-19 vaccine but also how in the world do you distribute 7 billion of them?  Policy and Practice come together here on the Need To Know podcast.

The recently announced Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement brings together a trade bloc of Asian nations.  But what is it exactly?  Is it significant?  And what is its relevance to US relations in the region? Experts Shihoko Goto and Robert Daly help us understand.

Over the last 20 years we have heard a lot of plans to take American and coalition troops out of Afghanistan.  The most recent announcement to bring more home prior to the next administration entering office is just the latest.  Asia expert Michael Kugelman comes back to help us sort out the domestic and foreign policy situation to help us get what we need to know.

A few months ago, we heard a lot of concern about how COVID-19 was going to affect Africa when it arrived there.  But many of the assumptions that were held about the continent have failed to play out.  Africa Program director Monde Muyangwa walks us through why that is, assessing the positives and negatives of COVID response among African nations.

It has its ups and downs, but on the whole when the US looks at Europe, we see general stability and a lot of democracy, and a lot of allies.  But Dan Hamilton is here to remind us why Europe matters and why policymakers should not forget about the continent, and why Americans need Europe.

Ah, summer. we hardly knew ye. And yet here we are and it's already September. Policymakers are gearing up for a busy Autumn, so this episode gets us up to speed on some things we may have missed in the foreign policy world over the summer . We cover, the UAE/Israel deal, North Korea, the resignation of the Japanese Prime Minister, protests in Belarus, the poisoning of a Russian opposition leader...

Abraham Denmark comes aboard the Need To Know book chat crew, to discuss his new book "US Strategy in the Asian Century," in which he discusses our competition with Asia - not just with China - and how we can empower allies and benefit from the rise of Asia.  An engaging discussion and a good book to check out for your summer reading.

A new guest joins me today.  Merissa Khurma of the Wilson Center's Middle East Program comes on the show to discuss the situation in Lebanon.  Political unrest has been growing for some time and the economy sank.  Then the novel coronavirus placed more pressure on the system.  Now an explosion at the port in Beirut may place the country's political situation at a tipping point.  Here's what you ne...

The clock is ticking on TikTok and WeChat. With executive orders to restrict access in the US, legislation to bar the apps from government devices, and a general unease, Rui Zhong comes back to explain why these platforms have drawn ire.