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.

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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. 

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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. 

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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]. 


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