The President’s Inbox

America’s Ebola Preparedness, With Thomas Bollyky

This episode unpacks how a major Ebola outbreak in Central Africa exposed critical gaps in global health surveillance and assesses U.S. preparedness for future biological threats. Host: James M. ...

2026-06-11

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America at 250: The Marshall Plan, With Benn Steil

This episode unpacks how the Marshall Plan transformed postwar Western Europe and why security, allied cooperation, and forward thinking were the real keys to its enduring success. To mark the 250...

2026-06-04

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Why the U.S. Needs an Africa Strategy, With Michelle Gavin

This episode unpacks how Africa's demographic surge, critical mineral wealth, and expanding security threats are reshaping its relevance to U.S. foreign policy in the twenty-first century. Host: ...

2026-05-28

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What Trump and Xi Didn't Settle in Beijing, With Nicholas Burns

This episode unpacks the key discussion points from the U.S.-China summit, including Taiwan, the Iran war, AI regulation, and the future of U.S.-China relations. Host: James M. Lindsay, Mary and ...

2026-05-21

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Trump and Xi in Beijing, With Rush Doshi

This episode unpacks President Donald Trump’s upcoming summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, the first by a sitting U.S. President in nearly a decade, as the United States and China wor...

2026-05-14

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The Spillover: Are Prediction Markets Forecasting Tools or Virtual Casinos?

Prediction markets have grown into a multibillion-dollar industry. This episode asks whether they are powerful forecasting tools or gambling platforms in disguise—and what their rise means for how ris...

2026-05-07

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How to Build an American Foreign Policy, With Michael Mandelbaum

This episode unpacks three enduring pillars that have defined U.S. foreign policy from the nation’s founding to today: ideology, economic statecraft, and democratic accountability. Host: James M....

2026-04-29

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America at 250: The Spanish-American War, With H.W. Brands

This episode unpacks the causes, key events, and consequences of the Spanish-American War, highlighting how it shaped U.S. foreign policy into the modern era. To mark the 250th anniversary of the...

2026-04-23

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What Comes Next After Failed U.S.-Iran Talks, With Elliott Abrams

This episode unpacks the U.S.-Iran ceasefire talks in Islamabad and the prospect of a U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Host: James M. Lindsay, Mary and David Boies Distinguished Senior Fell...

2026-04-15

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Russia’s Stakes in the Iran War, With Thomas Graham

This episode unpacks the opportunities and risks Moscow is facing amid the U.S. and Israeli war with Iran. Host: James M. Lindsay, Mary and David Boies Distinguished Senior Fellow in U.S. Foreign...

2026-04-09

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Gulf States Under Fire, With Mina Al-Oraibi

This episode unpacks how the war with Iran will affect the future of the Gulf countries’ security and economic prosperity. Host: James M. Lindsay, Mary and David Boies Distinguished Senior Fellow...

2026-04-02

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Why Allies Aren’t Following on Iran, With Kristi Govella and Constanze Stelzenmüller

We discuss: Why U.S. allies are refusing to join the Iran war, and what that signals about weakening alliance cohesion and growing strategic independence. How the closure of the Strait of Hormuz,...

2026-03-26

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The Strategy Gap in Iran, With Max Boot

Max Boot, Jeane J. Kirkpatrick senior fellow for national security studies at the Council, sits down with James M. Lindsay to analyze what tactical and strategic lessons can be drawn from the U.S. and...

2026-03-19

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America at 250: The Lend-Lease Act, With Lynne Olson

Lynne Olson, acclaimed historian and author of Those Angry Days: Roosevelt, Lindbergh, and America’s Fight Over World War II, 1939–1941, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss the history of the L...

2026-03-12

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SPECIAL EPISODE | Trump Chooses War With Iran, With Dalia Dassa Kaye

Dalia Dassa Kaye, senior fellow at the University of California, Los Angeles Burkle Center for International Relations, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss President Donald Trump's decision to ...

2026-03-03

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Cuba on the Brink, With Michael Bustamante

Michael Bustamante, Chair in Cuban and Cuban-American Studies at the University of Miami, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss the Trump administration’s maximum pressure campaign against Cuba. ...

2026-02-26

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America at 250: Nixon Goes to China, With Jeremi Suri

Jeremi Suri, Mack Brown Distinguished Chair for Leadership in Global Affairs and Professor of Public Affairs and History at the University of Texas at Austin, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discus...

2026-02-19

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The New Saudi Strategy, With F. Gregory Gause III

F. Gregory Gause III, a leading scholar on Saudi Arabia and an associate fellow at the Middle East Institute, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss the evolution of U.S.-Saudi relations as Saudi ...

2026-02-11

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Canada Hedges Against the United States, With Jonathan Berkshire Miller

Jonathan Berkshire Miller, senior fellow at the Macdonald Laurier Institute, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss Canada's effort to diminish its vulnerability to U.S. economic threats and just ...

2026-02-05

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Trump’s Greenland Ambitions, With Heather Conley and Rebecca Pincus

Heather Conley, nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and Rebecca Pincus, senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, sit down with James M. Lindsay to discuss ho...

2026-01-29

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The President’s Inbox

Episodes (100 episodes)

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