Global I.Q. Podcast

In New York Times bestselling author Scott Turow's latest novel, The Last Trial, two formidable men collide: a celebrated criminal defense lawyer at the end of his career and his lifelong friend, a renowned doctor accused of murder. Full of the deep insights into the spaces where the fragility of human nature and the justice system collide, The Last Trial is a masterful legal thriller that unfolds in page-turning suspense — and questions how we measure a life.

Scott Turow is the author of ten bestselling works of fiction, including Identical, Innocent, Presumed Innocent, and The Burden of Proof, and two nonfiction books, including One L, about his experience as a law student. His books have been translated into more than forty languages, sold more than thirty million copies worldwide, and have been adapted into movies and television projects. He has frequently contributed essays and op-ed pieces to publications such as the New York Times, Washington Post, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, and The Atlantic.

Five U.S. presidents have depended on Ambassador Dennis Ross to shape U.S. policy and relationships in the Middle East, and for twelve years he played a leading role in the many attempts to bring a settlement to the decades-long conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Ross is the author of several influential books about the region and his experiences, including “The Missing Peace” and “Doomed to Succeed.” In his latest book, he takes a look back at Israel’s founding founders Ben-Gurion, Begin, Rabin and Sharon, suggesting that today’s political leaders might draw on the lessons of the past to steer Israel safely forward. Among the questions and topics to be discussed will be stability of the emergency government forged between Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz and what it means for each leader’s political future; whether the two-state solution – to which Ross devoted much of his career – is a distant memory; and how are Israel’s growing economic and political ties with Gulf countries reshaping the politics of the region?

Ambassador Dennis Ross’ is the William Davidson Distinguished Fellow Counselor at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. His last diplomatic assignment was as President Obama’s Special Assistant and National Security Council Senior Director for the Central Region. Ross is a scholar and a diplomat with decades of experience in Soviet and Middle East policy. He is a 1970 graduate of UCLA.

Jonathan Karl was a cub reporter when he first met Donald Trump in 1994. “I knew that I could call him from that point on whenever I wanted to and he would be accessible and willing to play along and loved to be in the mix,” Karl says. He has reported from the White House under four presidents and logged more airtime than any other network reporter during President Trump’s first two years. “Front Row at the Trump Show” is Karl’s story about his often-contentious relationship with the 45th president and the view from one of history’s front row seats.

Jonathan Karl is ABC News’ chief Washington correspondent and co-anchor of “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.” He is also the President of the White House Correspondents' Association. In his 15 years in Washington, Karl has won prestigious awards for his coverage of U.S. politics, foreign policy and the military for ABC and CNN. He spent his early career at the New Republic and the New York Post. Karl graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Vassar College.

Sponsored by Dallas Baptist University.

The oil war between Russia and Saudi Arabia has plunged energy markets into a freefall, threatening U.S. energy independence as many domestic producers are faced with bankruptcy. Is this another calculated challenge against the U.S. by Vladimir Putin? The guile and aggression of the Russian president has “resurrected Russia’s status as a force to be reckoned with,” says foreign policy expert Angela Stent, author of “Putin’s World: Russia Against the West and With the Rest.” Stent examines how Russian history formed this mercurial leader in what Kirkus Reviews calls “a compelling historico-psychological work.”

Angela Stent is a former national intelligence officer and current director of the Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies and professor of government and foreign service at Georgetown University. She is a Brookings Institution senior fellow and is an editorial board member of the Journal of Cold War Studies and the World Policy Journal. In addition to service on the National Intelligence Council and at the U.S. Department of State, Stent was a member of the senior advisory council for NATO’s supreme allied commander in Europe. She received her bachelor’s degree from Cambridge University, her MS from the London School of Economics, and her master’s degree and doctorate from Harvard University.

When he began writing “The End of October,” a medical thriller about a deadly virus that sweeps across the world after coming to life in a refugee camp in India, The New Yorker’s Lawrence Wright says, “I thought it might happen one day but I didn’t think it would happen today… As I read the papers and watch the news, I have that same unsettled sensation of revisiting scenes that I have already written.” The events depicted in “The End of October” were meant to serve as a cautionary tale. But real life doesn't always wait for warnings.

Sponsored by Dallas Baptist University.

Gene Sperling, economic advisor to Presidents Clinton and Obama, discusses how COVID-19 shows that his theory of 'Economic Dignity' - judging an economy by its ability to maximize the happiness and fulfillment of all workers - is needed now.

What will happen after the COVID-19 nightmare ends? What has it revealed about the risks and rewards of global dependency? If globalization is replaced by regionalism and nationalism, how will the U.S.’s relationship with Asia change? What will supply chains look like? Will automation accelerate as a corporate defense against the effects of pandemics on the labor force? Leading global strategy advisor Parag Khanna, bestselling author of “The Future is Asian,” has a conversation with Jim Falk about the “Asian century” in a post-pandemic world.

Parag Khanna is founder and managing partner of the global strategic advisory firm FutureMap. His career spans service at the World Economic Forum, Council on Foreign Relations, Brookings Institution, New America Foundation and the National University of Singapore. Khanna is the bestselling author of six books including “The Future is Asian: Commerce, Conflict & Culture in the 21st Century” and “Connectography: Mapping the Future of Global Civilization.” He earned his BS in international affairs and MA in security studies from Georgetown University and his Ph.D. in international relations from the London School of Economics. Khanna was named one of Esquire’s “75 Most Influential People of the 21st Century” and has been honored as a “Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum.”

KERA’s “McCuistion” show co-hosts Dennis McCuistion and Jim Falk interview Ken Hersh, President and CEO of the George W. Bush Presidential Center and former Chairman and CEO of NGP Energy Capital Management, to discuss the impact COVID-19 has had on energy and the economy.

Global I.Q. is sponsored by Dallas Baptist University.

Milan Vaishnav, senior fellow and director of the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, discusses the effect of COVID-19 on the indian economy and political system.

Dionne Searcey, author of “In Pursuit of Disobedient Women,” was the West Africa bureau chief for The New York Times from 2015 to 2019, winning the Michael Kelly Award for courage in international reporting and the Society of Professional Journalists’ Sigma Delta Chi Award for international reporting for her coverage of Boko Haram. She reported on the American economy for The Times and was an investigative reporter and national legal correspondent for The Wall Street Journal.