Pod Save the World

In this special episode of Pod Save the World, Tommy and Ben speak in front of a live audience at the Aspen Security Forum.
First, Trump delivers a rambling speech on election security that offers no new evidence, overstates the threat from China, and is laying the groundwork for Republicans to question the validity of the midterm elections. Then the guys turn their attention to the foreign policy establishment itself, taking on some of the more eyebrow-raising statements from fellow panelists at the forum — including Condoleezza Rice — and making the case that the blob needs to reckon seriously with its own failures: on regime change, on ignoring public opinion, and on dismissing anti-war voices rather than engaging with them. They also lay out their vision for reimagining American foreign policy, including more transparency around Washington think tanks, stronger lobbying disclosure rules, a bigger State Department, a smaller defense budget, and returning more war-making responsibility to Congress. Then in the second half, Ben and Tommy sit down with Annalena Baerbock, President of the United Nations General Assembly, to discuss the UN's near-total absence from negotiations in today's major conflicts, what meaningful reform of the institution would actually look like, and how alarmed the world should be about the rise of Germany's far-right AfD party.
For a transcript of this episode, email transcripts@crooked.com

Tommy and Ben are back with a week of war, drama over an international bridge, and an angry Norwegian World Cup fan.
First up, the guys say farewell to the ceasefire between Iran and the US, hello to a new forever war, and analyze how a rushed, sloppily worded agreement negotiated by Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff collapsed. The New York Times reveals the details of Israel's embarrassing failed plot to install former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as Iran's new president, including a fake climate conference in Budapest and a Mossad extraction plan. Trump is using questions about the new Qatari gifted Air Force One to attack reporters and a $4.7 billion bridge connecting Detroit to Canada is at the center of another Trump corruption story. In Venezuela, the earthquake death toll has climbed to nearly 4,500, and reporting confirms that Marco Rubio is essentially running the country from Washington. A Cambridge University study reveals that Boko Haram fighters have been using AI chatbots to design explosives and plan attacks. After the NATO summit in Turkey, President Erdogan gave every leader a vintage pistol with live ammo as a parting gift, and a single Norwegian man calls out the historical inaccuracies of the row by World Cup fans. Then Ben speaks to Congressman Ro Khanna about his trip to the West Bank and his detention by Israeli settlers.
For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast, episode title, and episode date.

Tommy is joined by guest host Mehdi Hasan to walk through a packed week of World Cup controversy, a NATO summit, and Ayatollah Khamenei’s funeral in Iran.
First, they discuss the international reaction to President Trump’s interference in the World Cup to get the US team’s red card suspended and all the ways that corruption is endemic to FIFA. Then Trump heads to Ankara for the NATO summit, and the guys dig into what is actually at stake—from Trump's demand that allies spend 5% of GDP on defense to reports to a Wall Street Journal deep dive on European leaders holding a “therapy session” about their strained relationship with America. Then there's Trump's bromance with Turkish President and NATO Summit host Tayyip Erdogan and the push to sell F-35s to Turkey despite a Congressional ban. In Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei's week-long funeral ceremonies are drawing tens of thousands of mourners to the streets of Tehran; in the UK, Nigel Farage resigns from Parliament to trigger a by-election he plans to immediately run in again, and in France, a Paris appeals court has cleared the far right leader Marine Le Pen's run for president.
For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast, episode title, and episode date.

Tommy and Ben talk through a week that includes US and Iranian airstrikes, a peace agreement, a Supreme Court double-header, and the French debate about air conditioning.
First up, Israel and Lebanon have signed a 14-point peace agreement in Washington, but people on both sides question whether the deal will ever be implemented, and some in Lebanon fear that it could actually be a recipe for civil war. Meanwhile, the US ceasefire with Iran has produced a week of airstrikes and fighting over what was actually agreed to. Then a brazen new example of corruption combines a mining deal with Kazakhstan, the sons of both President Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and $1.6 billion in federal funding. Then the guys dig into how Supreme Court rulings on the preservation of birthright citizenship and the gutting of Temporary Protected Status for Haitians and Syrians will impact American foreign policy. They also cover the devastating earthquakes in Venezuela and the impact on the interim government, the debate within France over air conditioning while Europe bakes under a historic heat wave, and the most devastating World Cup losses so far this tournament. Then Tommy speaks to New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof about Elon Musk’s brazen lie that “nobody died” as the result of Musk and DOGE “feeding USAID into the wood chipper.”
For Friends of the Pod, the boys answer listener questions about how live audiences influence political speeches. They also recount some of their tougher culinary experiences while on diplomatic clock.
Buy Ben’s book All We Say: The Battle for American Identity: A History in 15 Speeches  and subscribe to his Substack here.
For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast, episode title, and episode date.

This week Tommy and Ben catch up on the latest in Iran negotiations, react to Keir Starmer’s resignation, and continue to celebrate World Cup fandom.
First they walk through the text of the US-Iran memorandum of understanding — because now it’s clear why Trump didn't want anyone to see it. The guys break down everything Iran got, including sanctions relief and billions in unfrozen assets, compared to the very vague assurances the US received that Iran won't build a nuclear weapon and will keep the Strait of Hormuz open. Then they go over the latest negotiations in Switzerland, disagreements over what was agreed to, and why the war in Lebanon remains the biggest threat to its success. Across the pond, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced his resignation after Andy Burnham's decisive by-election win, setting up the UK to have its seventh prime minister in ten years. The guys also dive into Israel's increasingly close and diplomatically fraught relationship with Somaliland, and Colombia's razor-thin runoff election, which was won by a right-wing candidate who calls himself “El Tigre.” And finally, the World Cup remains an absolute joy — Ben and Tommy go over some of their favorite moments like underdog Cape Verde holding Spain and Uruguay to draws, Scottish fans taking over Boston and Miami, and Uzbek fans riding into a Houston stadium on horseback. At the end of the show, Ben speaks to Washington Post columnist Rana Ayyub about the Cockroach Movement in India, and how the war with Iran has spilled over into the country’s politics.
For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast, episode title, and episode date.
Buy Ben’s book All We Say: The Battle for American Identity: A History in 15 Speeches  and subscribe to his Substack here.