The DSR Network

David Sanger of the New York Times joins Rosa Brooks of Georgetown Law and Kori Schake of IISS to discuss why the president's top advisors don't want their staffs raising the issue of protecting the US from further Russian attacks on our democracy and what it might mean. Is he a traitor? Is he a moron? Is our government falling apart? Are these mutually exclusive? Tune in to the latest Deep State...

On this episode, our experts Edward Luce of the Financial Times, Rosa Brooks of Georgetown University Law Center and Kori Schake of IISS reveal the secret and disturbingly advanced plans of Donald Trump to blow the international system that America helped create after World War II. It's farther along than you might think...and scary as can be. Which leads back to the one dominant question that ari...

It has been a busy week in foreign affairs even if you have been too glued to the Mueller Report, the White House Easter Egg roll and Game of Thrones to pay any attention. Ukraine elected a comedian with no government experience as president and while that was a triumph for democracy, well, now comes the hard part. The US ratcheted up tensions with Iran and we all know where that's going. North Ko...

No, the Mueller report was not about exoneration. No, it was not about politics. But one thing it was about at its inception was that the US had been attacked by a foreign enemy and we wanted to find out why. Presumably with the intent of stopping it. So...how come we're not doing that? And how come we're not more outraged that our government seems to think saving their own skin is more important...

Sick of the Mueller Report tsunami of news and commentary? Zoning out on tepid hot takes from the usual suspects? Want to know what the Mueller Report really means, what's next, what went wrong, why this isn't the end but the beginning and why Don, Jr.'s trolls are both the dumbest and most dangerous on the Net? Then tune in for this special Deep State Radio Muellerpalooza with an all star line up...

We'll get some of the Mueller Report later this week. Or the Barr version of the Mueller Report. And it is certain to prove the president innocent...or guilty. Hot takes will fly. But as our guests Rosa Brooks of Georgetown Law School and Ed Luce of the Financial Times point out, we won't know for days what this version of the report means or what it's missing. So take a nap. Have a walk. Play wit...

This week on “Washington for Beautiful People,” Emily’s special guest is a chef, entrepreneur, father, teacher, author, television host and the guy who eats all the strange shit….Andrew Zimmern. Andrew and Emily talk politics but dive into a discussion about social activism and surviving major life struggles. They also talk about St. Louis cuisine (yes, it’s good…ignore Bagelgate) and Emily gets s...

The US has designated Iran's Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization, the first time it has done so with a foreign military. Some see this as the ratcheting up of tensions and a prelude to war. Some see it as another gift to the re-election campaign of Bibi Netanyahu. And some, including our experts, see it primarily as more posturing from a blustering bully who doesn't want any real wars...

According to the president, we have a crisis on our southern border. And we have national security threats from N. Korea to Venezuela to Iran. And yet, we don't have a Secretary of Defense, of the Air Force, a WH Chief of Staff, a UN Ambassador and well, anybody of consequence in any top job at the Department of Homeland Security. Which leaves everything to our president his slathering loyal assis...

“Washington for Beautiful People” hit the road for a very special episode taped from the campus of Yale University. CNN’s two favorite political minds Asha Rangappa & Sam Vinograd joined Emily for a wide (very wide) ranging discussion about Trump, favorite musicals (there was judgment) 2020 hot picks and who was on each other’s list (yup, that list). You’ll laugh, you’ll be surprised and you’ll ge...

As we look toward 2020 will it matter that apparently the White House was handing out security clearances like candy on Halloween? Will Trump's horrible foreign policy matter? (Or will the ways he attempts to spin it as a yuge success?) And can Joe Biden save the day...or at least give us a soothing shoulder massage? (We joke because we love. Ok, we're ambivalent. But we joke anyway.). Join Kori S...

Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut has since entering the U.S. Senate in 2013 emerged as one of its leading voices on foreign policy and, especially on the issue of the War in Yemen, has become a voice of conscience that has led one of the rare instances of a bi-partisan pushback against Trump Administration policy. We discuss the current state of the US-Saudi relationship, Yemen, Iran, the Middl...

According to our Kori Schake of IISS, a military term for a strategy document is a "pony blanket." On this episode we do the unthinkable and discuss our "strategies" (and we use the term loosely) in the Americas at the moment--in Venezuela, on our border, with the countries of Central America and with some new regional leaders who are, let's face it, pretty awful. (You know who you are Jair and AM...

What do you get when you combine four mouthy tweople (that 's people on twitter.) You get chaos, laughter, political conversation and did I mention chaos? On this special episode of "Washington for Beautiful People," Emily is joined by the shy Philippe Reines, positively demure @Goldengateblond (aka Shauna) and the delicate flower Allison Winn Scotch. (Please read those descriptions with the appro...

The current leadership in the UK may or may not be the worst since the low points of Plantagenet rule. Our experts Ed Luce of the Financial Times, Kori Schake of IISS, and Amanda Sloat of Brookings, consider this, the likelihood that a Robin Hood is likely to emerge to save the U.K. (hopefully not the Russell Crowe version) and what may be next in that country's mad march toward self-destruction. ...

Few journalists have so distinguished themselves in their coverage of the Trump-Russia investigations as has Natasha Bertrand, staff writer for the Atlantic and analyst for NBC News. We discuss the recent developments in the case from the Barr letter purporting to summarize the Mueller Report to the storm of controversy it has generated. We explore prevailing misconceptions about the case and cons...

Despite the pronouncements of the Trump Administration that the president has been fully exonerated (and those by his spokesperson that people who accused him are guilty of treason and should be put to death), let's not get ahead of ourselves. Especially about the death penalty for Trump critics part. That's a little close to home. We've still not seen the actual Mueller report, note our experts R...

Diedrich Bader was born in D.C, lived in Paris, Dad worked for the CIA (yup, that CIA) and he has an IMDB page that's longer than a CVS receipt. I think it's official, Diedrich Bader just claimed the title as the most interesting man in the world. Growing up, Bader's family's business was USG and as a result we had a lively, passionate, wide ranging conversation on what's working and what isn't wo...

In this episode of Deep State Radio, David Rothkopf remains in an undisclosed location, and Rosa Brooks -- the Mike Pence of Deep State Radio (or maybe the Harry Truman?) -- again steps in as host. Rosa, Ed Luce and Heather Hurlburt wonder if the US college admissions scandal tells us something about global fears of class slippage and economic ruin, and the team does a round robin on issues in the...

In this episode of Deep State Radio, David Rothkopf takes a "vacation," and Rosa Brooks steps in as hostess with the mostest. Ed Luce tell listeners that the prospects of a brand new Brexit referendum are looking brighter in the United Kingdom, and outlines the options the British electorate should be offered: Stay, May, or D-Day. Also in this episode, Ed, Rosa Brooks, Kori Schake and Heather Hurl...

Washington for Beautiful People is where entertainment and politics meet, so who better to talk about this than Entertainment Weekly Senior Reporter Anthony Breznican. On this episode, Anthony and I talk about celebrity involvement in politics and how A-list stars like Chris Evans puts everything on the line to speak truth to power. We also chat Mr. Rogers (the anti-Trump), how voting local matter...

Lurid and sleazy are everyday descriptions in Trumpworld but the world was nonetheless stunned by revelations of a South Florida madam who founded a chain of spas recently busted for human trafficking and how she has become a Mar-a-Lago insider & GOP donor who is now pimping out the presidency…well, just like a Trump.  But the sordid nature of the story is not why it is important.  The national se...

For a man who’s word means nothing and who never met a lie he didn’t like, it is hard to imagine how Donald Trump could produce something even more meaningless than the stream-of-consciousness Twitterized nonsense he offers up daily.  But there is one thing that qualifies and that is the President’s budget because with a Democratic House, there is zero chance his budget plan will be used for anyth...

America and India are entering a rough patch in the relationship between the world’s two biggest democracies.  Trade issues are at the center of the current trouble but the problems go deeper.  And of course, we have seen disturbing tension between India and Pakistan recently.  Is this relationship getting the attention from the Trump Administration it deserves?  Is the attention its getting helpi...

It's not often that America's Sweetheart exclaims "this conversation is going to drive me to drink." That's the sign of a fiery conversation about Trump, politics and giving back. Valerie Bertinelli has graced our tv screens as an actress and as a food personality. Valerie is also a passionate critic of this administration and that's where things got interesting. In this podcast, Valerie talks pol...