The DSR Network

At a rally in Michigan this week, Donald Trump unleashed a strange monologue about how we should only build gas-powered cars in the future, because we have lots of gasoline and China doesn’t. Translation: China has a huge lead in electric vehicles, so we shouldn’t even try to compete. Why isn’t all this more central in the presidential race? We chatted with Princeton professor Jesse Jenkins, a sha...

The pager explosions throughout Lebanon shocked the region and the world. As more details come to light, it’s clear that the attack was the result of an extensive and unprecedented Israeli intelligence operation. So how did they do it, and what comes next? Former CIA officer Marc Polymeropoulos and regional expert Kim Ghattas join Kori Schake, Ed Luce, and David Rothkopf to answer these questions...

On the DSR daily for Wednesday, we cover Israel’s pager attack in Lebanon, suspicious packages being sent to election workers across the country, the Federal Reserve preparing to cut interest rates, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For the first time, Kamala Harris’ favorability rating has crossed into positive territory in FiveThirtyEight’s latest polling averages. That’s a crucial threshold, as Harris is introducing herself to votes within a highly compressed timetable. But there’s still work to do: Harris has not yet fully rebuilt the coalition that ousted Donald Trump in 2020. We talked to Nick Ahamed, deputy executive d...

The core ideals of America are in peril, and the problem goes beyond just this election cycle. Despite all the doom and gloom, there is a path forward to get the country back on track. PoliticsGirl Leigh McGowan joins David Rothkopf to discuss her new book, A Return to Common Sense, and outline the ways to fix America before we really blow it.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/...

From Charlottesville to Springfield, Donald Trump has been spewing language and misinformation that has incited real world violence. How have the candidates been using or abusing language in their campaigns? Norm and Kavita are back to break down this flurry of language in the media and show that words really do matter. Bonus content for members also includes a conversation on the recent assassina...

On the DSR daily for Tuesday, we cover a Russian order to expand the military, a potential major shift in the Israeli government, the unfolding humanitarian disaster in Sudan, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a reference to the apparent assassination attempt against Donald Trump over the weekend, the former president unleashed a long rant on social media blaming it all on Democrats. He insisted that because of Democratic rhetoric about Trump, the “bullets are flying, and it will only get worse.” Trump is systematically recasting any and all criticism of his attacks on democracy as incitement to viol...

On the DSR daily for September 16, we cover the FBI’s investigation into a possible assassination attempt on Donald Trump and threats in Springfield, a key Biden adviser’s trip to Israel, TikTok’s upcoming court defense, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over the weekend, Donald Trump’s rage over his debate fiasco appeared to get darker. In one splenetic social media post after another, he fumed he actually won the debate, while erupting repeatedly at ABC News’ moderation of it. All this comes as a whole bunch of new polling shows that Kamala Harris has made some surprising post-debate gains against Trump. We talked to veteran Democratic pollster...

Veteran national security analyst and nuclear policy expert Joe Cirincione joins Jon to discuss the changing global nuclear landscape. Is there still arms control in this new and modernizing nuclear age? What do these large investments into nuclear weapons systems mean for our national security? And where are Russia and China in this conversation? Find out more here: Learn more about your ad choic...

On the Friday edition of the DSR daily, we break down the dismissal of two charges against Donald Trump, the possibility of lifting restrictions on Ukraine, blatant racism in MAGA, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At this week’s debate, Donald Trump spread the deranged lie that immigrants are eating cats and dogs in Springfield, Ohio. Tensions are escalating and terror is spreading: Haitian immigrants living there say they fear for their safety, and on Thursday, Springfield’s City Hall was evacuated due to a bomb threat. What if these searing tensions are exactly what Trump and his MAGA allies want? Not tha...

We’re on a Hopium high after Kamala Harris’s stellar debate performance. With a deluge of new polls on the horizon, political gurus Tara McGowan, Simon Rosenberg, and Tom Bonier join David Rothkopf to explain how to cut through the bad data and misleading stats to determine who’s really ahead. Spoiler: the news is so good, it has us dancing.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/ad...

Election misinformation reached a new low with Donald Trump peddling a fake story that immigrants are eating pets in Ohio on the debate stage. But how does this kind of fake news come about? How much can we attribute to foreign interference, and how much is homegrown bullshit? Social media disinformation expert Renée DiResta joins David Rothkopf and Rosa Brooks to discuss where these lies come fro...

On the DSR Daily for September 12, we cover the fallout from the presidential debate and Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Kamala Harris, a Ground Zero ceremony to commemorate 9/11, hawkish rhetoric from a prominent Russian foreign policy figure, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After Kamala Harris’s shellacking of Donald Trump at the debate, Trump ventured on to Fox News, where he attacked the moderators as deeply biased against him. Incredibly, he even said their network, ABC News, should have its broadcasting license revoked. This is really a show of weakness: what enraged him is that real scrutiny was applied to the lies he can air unchallenged on right wing media. We...

On the DSR Daily for September 11 we discuss the biggest takeaways from the first debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump share our reactions to Harris’s dominant performance.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In recent days, the Trump campaign, J.D. Vance and other prominent MAGA figures have pushed a repulsive falsehood: That Haitian immigrants are eating people’s pets. Though this was decisively debunked, Vance issued a long, twisted rant on social media calling on supprters to keep pushing versions of the lie. This saga exposes something disturbing about MAGA dehumanization campaigns. We talked to M...

Ronald Reagan is a near mythological figure in American politics — so how do we separate fact from fiction and reckon with his controversial legacy? Max Boot joins David Rothkopf to discuss his new book, Reagan: His Life and Legend, and how the 40th president’s journey from New Deal Democrat to conservative avatar paved the way for Donald Trump.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.f...

With the presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump looming, Norm and Kavita are back to break down the campaign and analyze each of their strategies, as well as discuss the Trump ticket’s ever-increasing craziness. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the DSR Daily for September 10, we break down the impending presidential debate, Ukraine’s large-scale drone attack on Russia, the latest scandal surrounding Justice Clarence Thomas, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Tuesday night, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump will face off in their first debate. It goes without saying that the stakes are very high, as polls now show the two of them effectively tied, with perhaps a slight edge to Harris. Yet some analysts out there have made good arguments holding that the pieces really are in place for her to win this thing. We talked to Lakshya Jain of the data firm Spl...

Former Counterintelligence czar William Evanina joins Marc to discuss our nation’s greatest CI challenges, to include the staggering threat from an aggressive Chinese communist party, what motivates Americans to betray their country and how to defend against traitors in our midst, and his leadership growth, from SWAT team member, the JTTF post 9/11, a unique rotation to CIA, and then leading the U...

On the Friday edition of the DSR Daily, we cover what Republican endorsements mean for the Harris campaign, gun violence in America, growing support for Harris among certain demographics, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices