This week, instead of zooming in on a single conflict, the GZERO World Podcast looks back on 2025 and takes stock of a world increasingly defined by conflict. Ian Bremmer sits down with CNN Chief International Correspondent Clarissa Ward and Comfort Ero, President and CEO of the International Crisis Group to look at some of the biggest crises of 2025–-both the headline making wars and the ones the world overlooked.

Gaza and Ukraine captured the world’s attention this year. But at the same time, around 60 other armed conflicts and struggles have been raging around the world. It’s the most active period of conflict since the end of World War II. Some are decades-long battles, like Myanmar’s devastating civil war. Others are more recent, like the surge of terrorist insurgent groups in Africa’s Sahel. But each is a symptom of a broader global order breaking down—driven by weakening institutions, regional rivalries, climate shocks, and failing states. Bremmer sits down first with Clarissa Ward, to discuss her reporting from war zones around the world and then with Comfort Ero, for a global perspective on the conditions that have created so much strife.

Host: Ian Bremmer

Guests: Clarissa Ward, Comfort Ero

Subscribe to the GZERO World with Ian Bremmer Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred podcast platform, to receive new episodes as soon as they're published.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

At a moment when Americans can’t agree on much of anything, one unlikely institution still commands broad trust: Wikipedia. Ian Bremmer sits down with Wikipedia cofounder Jimmy Wales to ask why the crowdsourced encyclopedia remains one of the most visited and relied-upon sites in the world, even as trust in media, government, and tech companies continues to collapse.

That trust, Wales argues, comes from Wikipedia’s decentralized model and its refusal to speak with a single authoritative voice on contested issues. “We don’t try to answer the question or take a side,” Wales says. “What we do is describe the debate.” But that principle is under strain. Wales addresses recent backlash over Wikipedia’s handling of politically sensitive topics, including Gaza, where he says the site crossed an important line by adopting language that lacked broad consensus. “For Wikipedia to speak in its own voice requires an extremely high bar,” he explains.

Bremmer and Wales also explore how artificial intelligence is reshaping the information ecosystem. While AI systems are already trained on Wikipedia’s content, Wales says the platform is moving cautiously, prioritizing transparency, open source tools, and independence over partnerships with big tech. “Wikipedia’s biggest liability is also its biggest strength,” Wales says. “No one owns it.” In an internet increasingly dominated by centralized platforms and opaque algorithms, Wales makes the case that Wikipedia’s model, messy, imperfect, and community-driven, may be more necessary than ever.

Host: Ian Bremmer

Guest: Jimmy Wales

Subscribe to the GZERO World with Ian Bremmer Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred podcast platform, to receive new episodes as soon as they're published.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Computer scientist and Nobel laureate Geoffrey Hinton joins Ian Bremmer on the GZERO World podcast to talk about artificial intelligence, the technology transforming our society faster than anything humans have ever built. The question is: how fast is too fast? Hinton is known as the “Godfather of AI.” He helped build the neural networks that made today’s generative AI tools possible and that work earned him the 2024 Nobel Prize in physics. But recently, he’s turned from a tech evangelist to a whistleblower, warning that the technology he helped create will displace millions of jobs and eventually destroy humanity itself.

The Nobel laureate joins Ian to discuss some of the biggest threats from AI: Mass job loss, widening inequality, social unrest, autonomous weapons, and eventually something far more dire: AI that becomes smarter than humans and might not let us turn it off. But he also sees a path forward: if we can model good behavior and program ‘maternal instincts’ into AI, could we avoid a worst-case scenario?

Host: Ian Bremmer

Guest: Geoffrey Hinton

Subscribe to the GZERO World with Ian Bremmer Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred podcast platform, to receive new episodes as soon as they're published.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The US is ramping up pressure on Venezuela, with the USS Gerald R. Ford deployed to the region, CIA covert operations approved by the White House, and strikes on suspected narco‑trafficking vessels attributed to Caracas. Many analysts now see regime change as the ultimate goal. On the GZERO World Podcast, Ian Bremmer and former US Ambassador James Story game out what a US intervention in Venezuela might look like—and more importantly, how the US would manage the aftermath.

Story points out that while removing Nicolás Maduro may sound feasible, rebuilding Venezuela’s institutions, economy and social fabric would be far harder. “The country is a failed state,” he says. “You’re going to need the military to help you secure peace while you rebuild.” As Washington talks of sanction relief and diplomatic pressure, Story asks: does the US have the capability, resources or will to stay for the long haul?

Host: Ian Bremmer

Guest: James Story

Subscribe to the GZERO World with Ian Bremmer Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred podcast platform, to receive new episodes as soon as they're published.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

As populations grow and communities evolve, transportation authorities and urban infrastructure are seeking ways to modernize.

In this episode of “Local to global: The power of small business,” host JJ Ramberg sits down with Chapin Flynn, Senior Vice President of Transit and Urban Mobility at Mastercard, and Mark Langmead, Director of Revenue & Compass Operations at TransLink in Vancouver, to explore how cities are making transit easier, faster, and more seamless for riders–an approach known as frictionless urban mobility.

They discuss how innovations like contactless tap-and-go technologies are reducing dwell time, speeding up boarding, and producing real-time data that helps transit agencies better plan and manage their systems.

Next gen urban mobility also has the potential to benefit small businesses: when transit becomes simpler, riders shift spending from automotive fuel to Main Street, foot traffic grows near transit arteries, and neighborhoods become more connected.

“Local to global: The power of small business” is a podcast series from GZERO Media’s Blue Circle Studios and Mastercard, where we look behind the curtain to explore the world of small businesses and why they’re positioned to play an even bigger role in the future of the global economy.

Host: JJ Ramberg

Guests: Chapin Flynn, Mark Langmead

Subscribe to the GZERO World with Ian Bremmer Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred podcast platform, to receive new episodes as soon as they're published.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In 1929, unchecked speculation and economic hype helped fuel the worst financial crash in modern history. Nearly a century later, New York Times journalist and CNBC anchor Andrew Ross Sorkin sees troubling parallels. On the GZERO World podcast, he joins Ian Bremmer to talk about his new book, "1929: Inside the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History—and How It Shattered a Nation," and whether today’s economy is headed for another cliff.

Sorkin warns that behind today’s AI boom and market exuberance lies an undercurrent of fragility—historic debt levels, shaky private credit markets, and investors chasing returns with little oversight. While the technology behind AI is real, much of the money flooding in feels familiar to those who’ve studied speculative bubbles before. “We're not going to have another 1929,” Sorkin says, “but I think it's very possible. Actually, I would argue it's almost impossible for us not to have another 1999.” He sees eerie parallels between the past and the present: massive speculative investments, surging inequality, and a public increasingly disconnected from financial realities.

But one thing stands out today: silence. Sorkin warns that many CEOs and financial leaders, despite recognizing the risks, are unwilling to speak out publicly. “If we ever get to a moment where we need to make very difficult decisions,” he says, “are there going to be leaders willing to stand up and explain what needs to happen?”

Host: Ian Bremmer

Guest: Andrew Ross Sorkin 

Subscribe to the GZERO World with Ian Bremmer Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred podcast platform, to receive new episodes as soon as they're published.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What can the US learn from the benefits–and perils–of China’s quest to engineer the future? Tech analyst and author Dan Wang joins Ian Bremmer on the GZERO World Podcast to discuss his new book "Breakneck," China’s infrastructure boom, and the future of the US-China relationship. Over the last two decades, China has transformed into what Wang calls an “engineering state,” marshaling near unlimited resources to build almost anything–roads, bridges, entire cities overnight. That investment has created astounding growth, but also domestic challenges and soaring debt. It’s also led to a stubborn belief within the Chinese government that society itself can be engineered from the top down, where the state treats its people like a building material that can be tweaked or destroyed if necessary. Wang and Bremmer dig into all things US-China: the future of the relationship, the surprising similarities between the two countries, and whether Washington can learn from Beijing’s example without repeating its mistakes.

Host: Ian Bremmer

Guest: Dan Wang

Subscribe to the GZERO World with Ian Bremmer Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred podcast platform, to receive new episodes as soon as they're published.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

US President Donald Trump has been piling the pressure on Russia and Venezuela in recent weeks. He placed sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil firms and bolstered the country’s military presence around Venezuela – while continuing to bomb ships coming off Venezuela’s shores. But what exactly are Trump’s goals? And can he achieve them? And how are Russia and Venezuela, two of the largest oil producers in the world, responding? 

GZERO's Zac Weisz and Riley Callanan discuss.

Hosts: Zac Weisz, Riley Callanan

Subscribe to the GZERO World with Ian Bremmer Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred podcast platform, to receive new episodes as soon as they're published.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This is normally where you’ll find extended versions of Ian Bremmer's interviews from the public television show, but today we're bringing you something a little different. Ian just returned from Tokyo, Japan where he delivered his annual State of the World address to packed audience of diplomats, business leaders, and opinion makers from around the world.

Each year, this speech is a chance to take stock of where things stand geopolitically, and today the picture is more uncertain than ever. We’re not just facing new conflicts and crises. We’re facing a deeper transformation of the global order, driven most significantly by the world’s most powerful country stepping back. The United States isn't losing influence because of weakness. It’s walking away by choice.

That decision is reshaping alliances, weakening global institutions, and leaving many of America’s closest partners searching for a plan B. In the absence of leadership, the G-Zero world becomes more chaotic, more transactional, and less stable.

Host: Ian Bremmer

Subscribe to the GZERO World with Ian Bremmer Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred podcast platform, to receive new episodes as soon as they're published.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Can we align AI with society’s best interests? Tristan Harris, co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology, joins Ian Bremmer on the GZERO World Podcast to discuss the risks to humanity and society as tech firms ignore safety and prioritize speed in the race to build more and more powerful AI models. AI is the most powerful technology humanity has ever built. It can cure disease, reinvent education, unlock scientific discovery. But there is a danger to rolling out new technologies en masse to society without understanding the possible risks. The tradeoff between AI’s risks and potential rewards is similar to deployment of social media. It began as a tool to connect people and, in many ways, it did. But it also become an engine for polarization, disinformation, and mass surveillance. That wasn’t inevitable. It was the product of choices—choices made by a small handful of companies moving fast and breaking things. Will AI follow the same path?

Host: Ian Bremmer

Guest: Tristan Harris

Subscribe to the GZERO World with Ian Bremmer Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred podcast platform, to receive new episodes as soon as they're published.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.