Sources & Methods

Four years in and Ukraine is still giving Russia a run for its money. Four months in and Iran shows no sign of bowing to U.S. demands. 

What do Russia’s fight with Ukraine and the U.S. war with Iran tell us about the limits of military might?


Host Mary Louise Kelly speaks with NPR's Ukraine Correspondent Joanna Kakissis about the overnight attack in Kyiv, which comes on the heels of Ukraine's drone assaults in Moscow. NPR National Security Correspondent Greg Myre joins them to talk about what the conflicts in Ukraine

and Iran say about military might and whether major powers can regain dominance. 


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This September marks 25 years since terrorists hijacked planes and steered them into the twin towers of the World Trade Center. They steered a third plane into the Pentagon. A fourth was headed for the U.S. Capitol, but crashed into a field in Pennsylvania after its passengers overpowered their attackers.

In the days — and years — that followed America’s leaders walked a fine and sometimes blurry line: how to prevent an attack like that from ever happening again? And how to do so without trampling American laws and democratic values? 


As part of a conversation about the legacy of 9/11 at The Aspen Ideas Festival, host Mary Louise Kelly spoke with two of the country's leaders during that time: Alberto Gonzales, who was serving as White House counsel, and Jeh Johnson, who became Homeland Security Secretary under President Obama.

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Another British prime minister is on his way out the door. That's six in 10 years. Now, the UK is once again looking for a new leader. Will that mean yet another reset of the “special relationship” with the United States?


Host Mary Louise Kelly speaks with NPR's London Correspondent Lauren Frayer and Pentagon Correspondent Tom Bowman about Prime Minister Keir Starmer's successor, whether Britain is ungovernable and what implications the new leader could have for global defense strategy (think the wars in Ukraine and Iran). Plus, they open up their reporter's notebook to talk about NPR (not us) and snog (not what you're thinking).


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The U.S. and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding to end the war.


The agreement extends the existing ceasefire, reopens the Strait of Hormuz, and opens negotiations for a final peace deal.

Host Mary Louise Kelly gathers three NPR correspondents who are covering the region – Greg Myre in Tel Aviv, Jane Arraf in Beirut and Aya Batrawy in Cairo – to understand what's next and who has emerged as the winners and losers. Also, where nearly four months of war have left the Middle East.

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U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is blocking some

promotions at the Pentagon, and a “summer surge” of National Guard troops heads

to Washington.

Host Mary Louise Kelly speaks with NPR Pentagon

Correspondent Tom Bowman and NPR reporter Kat Lonsdorf about the purges at the

Pentagon, and why there are still National Guard troops deployed in some Democratic-run

cities. Plus, a drone rescue in the Middle East.

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President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu started the war with Iran together, but they have different ideas for how to end it.

Host Scott Detrow steps in for Mary Louise Kelly again this week. He speaks with NPR National Security Correspondent Greg Myre and NPR White House Correspondent Franco Ordoñez about the current friction between the two leaders, and where pain points have come up in the past. Also, where the elusive deal with Iran stands.

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There's a country that was once rooted in a movement around social justice and political freedom.
That country? It's Iran in 1979 during the revolution.


The path from 1979, with the toppling of a monarch, through the decades of oppression and economic turmoil that followed, to this current moment, is mapped out in the book: “Stolen Revolution: Betrayal and Hope in Modern Iran.”

Host Mary Louise Kelly speaks with reporter and co-author Yeganeh Torbati about her new book, which follows six ordinary Iranians who -- through their lived experiences -- provide rare insight into the hopes and fears of people living from the revolution through decades of turmoil.


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Jake Sullivan, former National Security Advisor under President Biden, says it's hard to see what the United States gains in the war with Iran. 

He spoke with host Mary Louise Kelly before a live audience at the 2026 WBUR Festival last week for a wide-ranging conversation that included China, Ukraine, Greenland, Cuba, Afghanistan and of course, Iran.

"In the weeks leading up to the start of the bombing, they were putting proposals on the table that actually look more forward leaning than what we're seeing now in some ways. And the Strait of Hormuz was open," he said. "Now, today, the Strait of Hormuz is closed. The nuclear deal seems to be getting further away, not closer."


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Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this week that there's been "some progress" in current negotiations with Iran. But both sides exchanged fire this week, so what gives?


Today, host Scott Detrow steps in for Mary Louise Kelly. He speaks

with NPR International Correspondent Aya Batrawy and NPR Pentagon Correspondent

Tom Bowman about whether these diplomatic efforts can finally break the impasse

between the two countries, and why a nuclear deal with Iran feels like déjà vu.

 
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The attack at a mosque in San Diego underscores larger problems: the rise of far right extremism and the rise of Islamophobia. But a new White House document on rising threats make no mention of right-wing extremist groups.


Host Mary Louise Kelly speaks with NPR National Security Correspondent Greg Myre and NPR Domestic Extremism Correspondent Odette Yousef about what radicalized the two teens involved in the San Diego attack. They also look into the latest version of the United States Counterterrorism Strategy, which does not list far-right extremism as a threat to Americans. Plus, an update on Iran and Cuba.


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