The DSR Network

You may think that all Donald Trump thinks about is himself. Or his latest grift. Or cheeseburgers. But when you look at his recent behavior, it looks like even with impeachment behind him, our president saves most of his bandwidth for the land of Tchaikovsky, Putin and borscht. He shoved aside his acting Director of National Intelligence in a fit of pique over a Congressional briefing from a top...

It would seem like 2020 would be offering a great opportunity for Democrats what with the president being historical unpopular and perhaps the most corrupt and worst president in U.S. history. But still, Democrats will be Democrats and even with urgency and opportunity looming large, they seem dedicated to the idea of blowing their chances sky high. We discuss how they are doing that and speculate...

Coronavirus has a new name: Covid-19. It has infected over 50,000 people and taken over 1,000 lives. But the crisis may be just beginning. And the response of governments from China to the United States may be only be making its potential toll worse. We speak with Pulitzer Prize winning science writer, Laurie Garrett, one of the world's preeminent experts on global public health issues about just...

In 2016, Russia not only helped elect Donald Trump, they also assured Americans would never again be able to look at election results with the same trust they had in the past. If anything, actions by them, the Administration, other bad actors and incompetent administrators have raised unease about what we might expect in this year's election cycle. Beyond that, risks we have focused on in the past...

With each day since Trump's sham acquittal ceremony, it has become clear that the president sees the outcome that was served up on a silver platter by the servile Senate GOP (with one exception) as the license to behave badly. Trump never disappoints those who expect the worst from him. We discuss where this leaves us with three of the great voices of the resistance--Sarah Kendzior and Andrea Chal...

If you thought Trump's acquittal by the Senate was the worst thing that could happen this week, you seem to be forgetting who you are dealing with. First, the Senate trial had much value and was, by any reasonable assessment, a net benefit for the country even despite the fact that it wasn't really a trial, was rigged and further empowered a bad president. But in rapid succession we had awards for...

If you read Fred Kaplan's new book "The Bomb" you will discover that despite the best efforts of some very qualified, competent presidents and their teams, we've come pretty close to blowing up the world a few times over the years. Now we have a president is none of those things. Indeed he's making the risk of global calamity greater with each passing day. So how come no one on the campaign trail...

The House Managers have done an extraordinary job in the Senate trial, led by the eloquence and brilliance of Adam Schiff. They have compellingly made the case that President Trump violated the law and his oath of office and should be removed from that office. But that's not going to happen. Because this trial was rigged from the outset. But does this story end here? Will the House Managers win th...

The outbreak of coronavirus in China is rapidly emerging as a major global public health crisis? How bad might it get? How is our government doing in handling it? We talk to President Obama's ebola response czar Ron Klain about where we are and what's next? Then, because Ron is a top figure in the Biden campaign, the former VP's former chief of staff, we discuss with him Iowa, the other early prim...

The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists recently pushed its Doomsday Clock closer to "midnight" than it has ever been. They did this because nuclear safeguards are disappearing, risks are growing and because they include the risk of climate armageddon in their calculus. And you thought the impeachment and the death of American democracy was worrisome! Nuclear expert Jon Wolfsthal, Georgetown's Rosa Broo...

While the outcome of the Senate trial seems a foregone conclusion, even an acquittal might not be good news for President Trump. There are a whole range of long-term consequences of the current drama on the Hill, some with positive implications, some that would be very troubling. On this special impeachment trial episode Ryan Goodman of Just Security, Max Boot of the Council on Foreign Relations a...

We're at one of the most fraught moments in American political history. The country is polarized. The president is going to trial. That president is one of the most polarizing figures the world has ever seen. And headlines scream of momentous events in the weeks ahead. Everybody's running a fever and maybe it's time to take two aspirin and call Rosa Brooks of Georgetown University, Kori Schake of...

As the Senate impeachment trial looms, Republicans seem not to understand what a trial is. They don't want witnesses. They don't want evidence. They especially don't want witnesses or facts that might further implicate the president in crimes. But if they seek no evidence do they also then accept the House's view of the facts as the final truth? Is their stirring defense of the president that they...

The president has no foreign policy expertise, no advisors, no morals, no scruples and he is in deep political hot water at home. So naturally, he wags the dog with an attack on Iranian General Qassem Soleimani. He does it in spite of international law. He lies about it. He doesn't think through the consequences. And he survives politically. So, now you know that as this year of ever-increasing pr...

If and when Nancy Pelosi decides to sends the articles of impeachment to the Senate, the odds of a fair trial are slim to none. (Aw, who are we kidding? They're zero.) Trump will be acquitted. He will have a celebratory press conference and declare he has been exonerated, an end to the hoaxy witch hunt. But will his legal troubles stop there? What about as more details of his crimes are revealed? ...

In the days since President Donald Trump ordered the killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, the presidents's spokespeople have taken to the airwaves to claim that we are safer with the Iranian who had the death of hundreds of Americans on his hands gone. But so far, things don't feel safer. The Iranian government--which has a global network of proxies at its disposal--promised revenge. It vo...

For Two Years, Rosa Brooks had remained optimistic that despite all that was happening in the Trump administration over the past three years, a full-on constitutional crisis could be avoided. That changed with our episode on October 11, 2019. In this Best of Deep State Radio episode, we’ve pieced together several of these discussions including what led Rosa to declare a constitutional crisis. Tune...

In the last episode of not just 2019 but of the entire decade for Deep State Radio, we gather Rosa Brooks of Georgetown Law, Stephen Walt of Harvard's Kennedy School, David Sanger of the New York Times and Ed Luce of the Financial Times to reflect on the ten years just past. We identify the big geopolitical trends from the rise of China (and Russia) to the spread of ethno-nationalism and the boom...

During this special 20 minute conversation with one of the standout stars of the impeachment process, California Congressman Eric Swalwell, he parries the latest jibes from the White House against Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic Majority in the House by noting that 70 percent of the American people want a fair trial in the Senate. For this reason, he argues, Americans should not jump to the conclu...

In the wake of impeachment, all eyes turn to the Senate. Will delaying handing over the articles of impeachment buy the Democrats any leverage? Will buying time be enough with new bad news for Trump breaking daily--such as the report it was Putin who told him about Ukraine interference in 2016 or the magazine Christianity Today coming out for the president's removal from office? Or will the Senate...

The US and the UK were the Batman and Robin of the Atlantic Alliance. Or was it the Holmes and Watson? The Lucy and Ethel? Well, whatever we were, we aren't that any more. It looks like Great Britain may be heading for a crack app and a future as only Meh Britain. And the US has been in retreat since the fiasco in Iraq. What comes next? Rosa Brooks of Georgetown Law, Kori Schake of IISS, Ed Luce o...

What if the history books record that Donald Trump was third American president to be impeached, but the first of those to be re-elected? It's not far-fetched. In fact, many folks think it's likely. And it's what happens after that that has them scared. We discuss in a great roundtable with the Washington Post's Greg Sargent, Georgetown Law's Rosa Brooks and NYU Law School's Ryan Goodman. You won'...

Remember national security? Remember defending the country against foreign attacks? Remember principles? Remember truth? Well, there sure are some people in our government who don't. Saudis attack Americans and the American president flacks for the Saudi Crown Prince. Russia attacks America and GOP Congressman and Senators help them by spreading Russian disinformation. An investigation confirms th...

On this special episode of Deep State Radio, coinciding with the official beginning of the House Judiciary Committee's Impeachment Hearings, we discuss the case against Trump in the context of history. Our guests are impeachment historian Frank Bowman of the University of Missouri and Ryan Goodman, NYU Law School professor and co-editor at "Just Security." Are the Democrats making a mistake by foc...

With every flashing headline, every bright chyron claiming "breaking news" we expect our worlds are changing. In the current political atmosphere in the US those come fast and furious and leads pundits everywhere to regularly exclaim that we have reached a turning point. Well, we offer a different kind of pundit on Deep State Radio, people who speak their minds and don't march to the beat of every...