Sources & Methods

A German spy chief is arrested for treasonous espionage. What exactly is he accused of doing? Also, two tech billionaires are leading the Pentagon’s future of war project. Is that a problem?

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks with Esme Nicholson in Berlin about the case against August Hanning, and with NPR's Tom Bowman about how bases housing U.S. troops around the world could be vulnerable to drones.

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For the second time since the 2003 invasion, the last American troops have left Iraq.

Host Mary Louise Kelly speaks with NPR International Correspondent Jane Arraf who is in Baghdad to see how Iraqis are greeting the moment. And NPR Pentagon Correspondent Tom Bowman explains how this withdrawal and the ongoing war with Iran are changing the U.S. footprint in the region. He also discusses Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's "State of the Force" address.

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Russia threatens attacks beyond Ukraine's border and rattles Europe. Is it ready?

This month Poland Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned about intelligence assessments suggesting that Russia is planning drone and missile strikes against countries that support Ukraine, including Poland and Romania.

How serious is that threat? And if that happens, is NATO ready to defend itself? 

Would the U.S. honor its NATO collective defense commitments and jump in to help? 

Those are some questions host Mary Louise Kelly put to Romania's Foreign Minister Oana-Silvia ?oiu and Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski. 

The conversation took place on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly before a live audience at the Council of Foreign Relations in New York City. 


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President Trump used his speech at the United Nations General Assembly to attack the principles the organization is built on. Does the U.N. stand a chance in a new era of great power rivalry?

Host Mary Louise Kelly speaks with NPR Diplomatic Correspondent Michele Kelemen about what happened this week when leaders from around the world came to New York at a precarious moment for the U.N. And NPR White House reporter Emily Feng explains what to look for during the diplomatic event that overshadowed the U.N. meeting this week: Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit in Washington.

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All a sudden everyone is talking about the risk of an AI catastrophe or, in the case of President Trump, an AI "hoax."

Host Mary Louise Kelly talks with NPR Cybersecurity Correspondent Jenna McLaughlin about the risks cyber experts are worried about already. And NPR White House Correspondent Emily Feng explains why a global agreement on AI guardrails to protect against future existential risks looks elusive.

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It’s been 25 years since al-Qaida attacked the United States by hijacking airplanes and crashing them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, with a fourth plane crashing into a field in Pennsylvania.

Sept. 11 represented a new kind of national security threat, and a new national security architecture was created to confront it.

Before a live audience at NPR, host Mary Louise Kelly discussed how that day changed the country and its spy agencies, with people who worked on the frontlines of government and intelligence.

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The U.S. military is blowing up boats again. And it is taking a stake in the Venezuelan oil business. What is the administration trying to achieve in the Western Hemisphere?

Guest host Scott Detrow talks with NPR National Security Correspondent Greg Myre and international reporter John Otis about how the Trump administration's "Donroe Doctrine" is playing out. They also discuss parallels between the Iran war and the post-9/11 conflicts that eventually became quagmires.

Tune in for a live stream episode of our show next week.

Click "Notify me" here to join the conversation on Wednesday, September 9 at 9:30am ET.

Mary Louise Kelly will discuss how the events of 9/11 are still shaping global events, with former intelligence officials and policymakers who lived through it. 

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It’s been six months since the U.S. and Israel went to war with Iran.
Is anyone winning?

On the one-year anniversary of this podcast, Host Mary Louise Kelly speaks with NPR National Security Correspondent Greg Myre and two of NPR’s International Correspondents: Daniel Estrin in Tel Aviv and Hadeel Al-Shalchi in Istanbul. They discuss where the war stands – economically, diplomatically and militarily – and who has scored wins during the conflict.

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This week, President Trump ordered that annual military drills between the U.S. and South Korea be scaled back. He also said he’d like to meet with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.


As Trump closes one door with a key U.S. ally, is he also trying to open one with its northern neighbor?

Host Mary Louise Kelly speaks with NPR Pentagon Correspondent Tom Bowman and NPR White House Correspondent Emily Feng about whether the U.S. is once again trying to shift its attention to Asia, and how the war with Iran is hanging over that effort. Also, the latest on conditions aboard an aircraft carrier that’s been at sea for more than 260 days.

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Clarification: This episode has been updated to

remove an imprecise description of the Korean War.

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A president is stashed away in a catering truck -- a ruse to escape a threat from Iran. The White House press corps was clueless. 

Who else remained in the dark and how did this happen? 


Host Mary Louise Kelly speaks with NPR Correspondents Kat Lonsdorf and Tom Bowman, who covers the Pentagon, about the threat against President Trump from Iran. They also discuss the future of National Guard deployment and whether troops might be patrolling polling places in November, the human cost of war, and Count Binface. 


For tickets to a live taping of Sources & Methods visit npr.org/sourcesliveshow.


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