Sources & Methods

By NPR

National security, unlocked. Each Thursday, host Mary Louise Kelly and a team of NPR correspondents discuss the biggest national security news of the week. With decades of reporting from battlefields ... more

4.9

373373 ratings

Download on the App Store

Download on the App Store

Get it on Google Play

FAQs about Sources & Methods:

How many episodes does Sources & Methods have?

The podcast currently has 7 episodes available.

Sources & Methods episodes:

September 29, 2025 Tradecraft and secrets of a CIA analyst-turned novelist
This episode, Mary Louise Kelly sits down with ex-CIA analyst-turned novelist David McCloskey to discuss tradecraft and the blurry line between truth and fiction -- when the truth is classified. David McCloskey's new book is called The Persian.

We're back with a new episode on Thursday.

Email the show at [email protected]

NPR+ supporters hear every episode without sponsor messages and unlock access to our complete archive. Sign up at plus.npr.org.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy
...more
12min
September 25, 2025 Without a press corps, who holds the Pentagon to account?
And the president designates Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization.

This episode, we dig into the Pentagon's demand that reporters sign a pledge commiting not to gather any information -- including unclassified reports -- that hasn't been authorized for release, or lose their press credentials. Mary Louise Kelly talks with Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman about how how it could change his reporting. And domestic extremism correspondent Odette Yousef clarifies what President Trump's executive order means in practice and what it signals.

Email the show at [email protected]

NPR+ supporters hear every episode without sponsor messages and unlock access to our complete archive. Sign up at plus.npr.org.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy
...more
26min
September 18, 2025 Can Trump’s royal welcome keep the U.S.-U.K. relationship 'special'?
And an increasingly isolated Israel launches a new ground offensive on Gaza City.

In this episode, political correspondent Danielle Kurtzleben and diplomatic correspondent Michele Kelemen talk about the foreign policy issues that loomed large as President Trump visited U.K. Prime Minister Kier Starmer: the wars in Gaza and Ukraine. NPR international correspondent Daniel Estrin joins from Tel Aviv to talk about how Israelis are reacting to their increasing isolation amid international pressure on Israel to stop its offensive.
Email the show at [email protected]NPR+ supporters hear every episode without sponsor messages and unlock access to our complete archive. Sign up at plus.npr.org.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy
...more
25min
September 11, 2025 Two wars escalate abroad with political violence at home
And Senator Elissa Slotkin takes our questions about the post-9/11 intel community.
This episode, national security correspondent Greg Myre and domestic extremism correspondent Odette Yousef join Mary Louise Kelly discuss how U.S. national security changed after the September 11th attacks. Will the structures put in place to prevent another attack survive the Trump administration’s cuts to intelligence agencies? And did a focus on militant Islamism mean turning away from threats posed by white supremacist groups?
And Slotkin, a Michigan Democrat, argues that America’s political division is its greatest national security threat -- and the best defense is rebuilding the middle class.
Email the show at [email protected].
NPR+ supporters hear every episode without sponsor messages and unlock access to our complete archive.
Sign up at plus.npr.org.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy
...more
27min
September 04, 2025 Navy cartel strike / China power flex / global order
Trump's anti-drug warfare. China, Russia, and North Korea stand shoulder to shoulder.

This episode, Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman and NPR international correspondent Anthony Kuhn join Mary Louise Kelly to break down the Trump administration's military strike against a boat the President says was transporting drugs, and his larger confrontational posture toward Venezuela and South America. And they explain the geopolitical message behind China's massive military parade this week.

Email the show at [email protected]

NPR+ supporters hear every episode without sponsor messages and unlock access to our complete archive. Sign up at plus.npr.org.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy
...more
22min
August 28, 2025 Fired spy chief / Ukraine / Trump’s D.C. takeover
Ukraine and Russia's war of attrition. Connecting the dots on disarray in the intel community. And why D.C. feels a little like Minsk.

This episode, Moscow bureau chief Charles Maynes and national security correspondent Greg Myre join Mary Louise Kelly to discuss the Trump administration's DC takeover, a spate of firings and security clearance revocations in the intelligence community, and why there's no peace deal in sight for Ukraine.

Email the show at [email protected]

NPR+ supporters hear every episode without sponsor messages and unlock access to our complete archive. Sign up at plus.npr.org.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy
...more
33min
August 25, 2025 Introducing Sources & Methods
National security, unlocked. Each Thursday, host Mary Louise Kelly and a team of NPR correspondents discuss the biggest national security news of the week.

With decades of reporting from battlefields and the halls of power, they bring you inside the Pentagon, State Department, and intelligence community to help you understand America's shifting role in the world, and how events in faraway places matter here at home. Additional episodes feature interviews with power players from the NatSec world -- current and former military officials, intelligence experts, diplomatic leaders, and more.

Email the show at [email protected].

NPR+ supporters hear every episode sponsor-free and can access our complete archive. Learn more and support public media at plus.npr.org.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy
...more
2min

FAQs about Sources & Methods:

How many episodes does Sources & Methods have?

The podcast currently has 7 episodes available.

More shows like Sources & Methods

On the Media by WNYC Studios

On the Media

9,200 Listeners

Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! by NPR

Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!

38,792 Listeners

On Point | Podcast by WBUR

On Point | Podcast

3,936 Listeners

Fresh Air by NPR

Fresh Air

38,475 Listeners

Here & Now Anytime by NPR

Here & Now Anytime

1,006 Listeners

The NPR Politics Podcast by NPR

The NPR Politics Podcast

25,872 Listeners

1A by NPR

1A

4,646 Listeners

The Daily by The New York Times

The Daily

112,374 Listeners

Up First from NPR by NPR

Up First from NPR

56,360 Listeners

Post Reports by The Washington Post

Post Reports

5,439 Listeners

Throughline by NPR

Throughline

16,172 Listeners

Short Wave by NPR

Short Wave

6,288 Listeners

Consider This from NPR by NPR

Consider This from NPR

6,272 Listeners

State of the World from NPR by NPR

State of the World from NPR

401 Listeners

Trump's Terms by NPR

Trump's Terms

391 Listeners