What Really Matters with Walter Russell Mead

This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss academics whining about AI, 200 years of U.S. failure to save Haiti, the Great Slackening in American high schools, and why Biden and Bibi both benefit from fighting each other in public. Each week on What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, decide what matters and what doesn’t, and enjoy following the story of Ame...

This week, Walter and Jeremy talk Super Tuesday results, Benny Gantz’s visit to Washington, the threat of another China Shock, and why environmental movements are losing ground across the world. Each week on What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, decide what matters and what doesn’t, and enjoy following the story of America and the world more than y...

This week, Walter and Jeremy are on the road. So in place of regular programming, we’re bringing you something special: an extended excerpt from Walter’s most recent book, The Arc of a Covenant: The United States, Israel, and the Fate of the Jewish People. What you’re about to hear is Chapter 16 of that book, about the history of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and where it fits in American...

This week, Walter and Jeremy talk Biden’s age, the Trump trials, the death of Navalny, and India’s bromance with Israel. Each week on What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, decide what matters and what doesn’t, and enjoy following the story of America and the world more than you do now. For more, check out tabletmag.com/what-really-matters. You can...

This week, Walter and Jeremy talk Putin endorsing Biden, Putin dissing Tucker Carlson, Trump dissing NATO, and Biden stumbling in the Middle East. Each week on What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, decide what matters and what doesn’t, and enjoy following the story of America and the world more than you do now. For more, check out tabletmag.com/wha...

This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss the rise of the religious ‘nones,’ the Biden administration’s plans for a Palestinian state, the ideological gap between young men and women, and why America probably isn’t headed for civil war. Each week on What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, decide what matters and what doesn’t, and enjoy following the story...

This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss a potential constitutional crisis in Texas, trouble in North Korea, climate activists knee-capping Biden, and an ununified theory of US appeasement of Iran. Each week on What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, decide what matters and what doesn’t, and enjoy following the story of America and the world more than yo...

This week, Walter and Jeremy talk improving consumer sentiment, the Biden administration’s leaked ‘Houthi strategy,’ Harvard’s latest misconduct allegations, and the brokenness of American institutions. Each week on What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, decide what matters and what doesn’t, and enjoy following the story of America and the world mor...

This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss the Iowa caucuses, Taiwan elections, the spread of Iranian terror, and how Davos Man is fairing in the era of global disorder. Each week on What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, decide what matters and what doesn’t, and enjoy following the story of America and the world more than you do now. For more, check out...

This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss gig workers, Milei in Argentina, Biden's immigration fiasco, and why the US is more like Latin America than Europe. Each week on What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, decide what matters and what doesn’t, and enjoy following the story of America and the world more than you do now. For more, check out tabletmag.c...

In the final episode of 2023, Walter and Jeremy take a look back at Chinese spy balloons, Silicon Valley bank failures, Russia's coup manqué, and the dominance of American popular culture. Each week on What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, decide what matters and what doesn’t, and enjoy following the story of America and the world more than you do...

This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss Iran-backed attacks on global commerce, whether America is a gerontocracy, how oil is saving Biden’s hide, and why Anglo-American power is the big story of world history. Each week on What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, decide what matters and what doesn’t, and enjoy following the story of America and the worl...

This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss the Ivy League presidents, Bibi’s phone call with Putin, the crisis of homeownership in America, and why many American Jews prefer "refugee Zionism" to "national Zionism." Each week on What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, decide what matters and what doesn’t, and enjoy following the story of America and the wor...

This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss Biden’s sanctions on Israeli settlers, why students in the developed world are getting worse at math, America’s sterling advice on how to lose a war, and what we can learn from Henry Kissinger’s achievements in the Middle East. Each week on What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, decide what matters and what doesn...

This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss Missouri v. Biden, Milei v. Peronists in Argentina, trouble on the Korean peninsula, and whether the Biden administration is getting ready to pull its support from Israel and Ukraine. Each week on What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, decide what matters and what doesn’t, and enjoy following the story of America...

This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss a new US-Indonesia defense agreement, robots replacing manual labor in Kentucky, Erdogan’s support for Hamas, and understanding Biden’s approach to Israel through the lens of Iran policy. Each week on What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, decide what matters and what doesn’t, and enjoy following the story of Ame...

This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss why the US is pumping more oil than ever, what China and Russia get out of ditching Israel, how China’s third-world lending is panning out, and the American right’s on-again, off-again love affair with Jews. Each week on What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, decide what matters and what doesn’t, and enjoy follow...

This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss antisemitism in China, Hindu nationalist support for Israel, Saudi-Israeli peace, and why progressives liked Israel more when Stalin was alive. Each week on What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, decide what matters and what doesn’t, and enjoy following the story of America and the world more than you do now. For...

This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, what Israel’s Arab citizens think of the war, the Biden administration’s segregated therapy sessions for Muslim and Jewish staffers, and why the U.S. has so little to show for decades of peace process. Each week on What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, decide what matters...

This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss Biden’s Oval Office address, Iranian attacks on US targets in the Middle East, attacks on synagogues in Europe and North Africa, and why people who hate America and capitalism also hate Israel. Each week on What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, decide what matters and what doesn’t, and enjoy following the story...

Walter and Jeremy discuss Israel’s wartime unity government, the specter of a second front in Southern Lebanon, why American universities are “honoring the martyrs of Hamas,” and whether President Biden has already determined to accept Israeli and American defeat. Each week on What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, decide what matters and what doesn...

This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss why so many Americans are living at home, the Biden administration’s Iran policy, whether parts of Oregon will break off and join Idaho, and why elites are more miserable than normies. Each week on What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, decide what matters and what doesn’t, and enjoy following the story of Americ...

This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss Nagorno-Karabakh, a U.S. government shutdown, the India-Canada spat, why every American institution is liberal, and the time Walter met Winston Churchill. Also check out our friends at the Moment of Zen podcast. Each week on What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, decide what matters and what doesn’t, and enjoy fo...

This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss the crisis of faith in higher ed, what German cars have to do with rightwing populism, why the U.S. Navy is mothballing its submarine sinkers, and how abortion politics have changed one year after Dobbs. Also check out our friends at the Moment of Zen podcast. Each week on What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, d...

This week, Walter and Jeremy battle colds to discuss America’s new lithium wealth, the Palestinians’ bargaining position in Saudi-Israeli peace talks, the drugs, violence, and migration problems in America’s backyard, and why you should read Sir Walter Scott. Also check out our friends at the Moment of Zen podcast. Each week on What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you und...