Cheap Talk ends the semester with a mailbag episode: State dinners; celebrities and national interest; AI and international relations; sports diplomacy and the World Cup; President Biden’s willingness to meet with Vladimir Putin; and Marcus admits he doesn’t like soccer

Thanks to all those who contributed questions. Leave a message for a future podcast at https://www.speakpipe.com/cheaptalk

Looking for a holiday gift for the international affairs nerd in your life? We humbly suggest the following:

Signing Away the Bomb, by Jeffrey M. Kaplow (Coming out on December 22!) (https://www.amazon.com/Signing-Away-Bomb-Surprising-Nonproliferation/dp/1009216732)

Face-to-Face Diplomacy, by Marcus Holmes (https://www.amazon.com/Face-Face-Diplomacy-Marcus-Holmes-ebook/dp/B07952GT58/)

AI Links:

ChatGPT (https://chat.openai.com)

Kelsey Piper. Aug. 13, 2020. “GPT-3, explained: This new language AI is uncanny, funny — and a big deal.” Vox.com (https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/21355768/gpt-3-ai-openai-turing-test-language)

Ethan Mollick. Dec. 8, 2022. “Four Paths to the Revelation.” One Useful Thing Substack. (https://oneusefulthing.substack.com/p/four-paths-to-the-revelation)

Movie and TV Recommendations:

Welcome to Wrexham (Streaming on Hulu)

Slash/Back (Streaming on AMC+)

The Bureau (Streaming on AMC+)

Dispatches from Elsewhere (Streaming on AMC+)

Pepsi, Where’s My Jet? (Streaming on Netflix)

We’ll be back with new episodes in late January. Subscribe now in your podcast player of choice so you don’t miss anything. Just enter this custom URL: http://www.jkaplow.net/cheaptalk?format=rss


- In Apple Podcasts, tap “Library” on the bottom row, tap “Edit” in the upper-right corner, and choose “Add a Show by URL...”


- In Google Podcasts, tap the activity icon in the lower-right, tap “Subscriptions,” tap the “...” menu in the upper-right, and tap “Add by RSS feed.”


- In Overcast, tap the “+” in the upper-right corner, then tap “Add URL.”

Best wishes for a happy holiday and new year! We'll see you in 2023.