The “Golden Dome” that Trump is promising is a fantasy at best.

Back in February, on the WhoWhatWhy podcast, I explored the seductive dream of an impenetrable missile defense — and the sobering reality behind it.

I spoke with Marion Messmer, a senior research fellow at Chatham House’s International Security Program in London. She lays bare the hard truths behind the rhetorical hype of space-based defense systems. In an age of hypersonic weapons and artificial intelligence, she argues, no nation can truly construct an impenetrable shield against missile attacks

In this latest podcast I talk with Emmy-winning journalist Gianna Tobani about "The Volunteer." Gianna Tobani takes me through the harrowing story of Scott Dozier, a death row inmate who volunteered for execution but was ultimately driven to suicide after the state repeatedly failed to carry out his sentence.

Through intimate conversations with Dozier, Tobani unveils a broken death penalty system where pharmaceutical companies refuse to provide execution drugs, states resort to black market deals, and the condemned endure psychological torture in 9x5 foot cells.

Dozier's story transcends debates about justice to expose a brutal truth: sometimes not being executed is worse than execution itself.

America once built highways and reached the moon. Now we can’t even fix a bridge. The reason? The reforms meant to improve government have paralyzed it.

In this recent WhoWhatWhy podcast I talk with Marc Dunkelman, whose recent book, Why Nothing Works: Who Killed Progress — and How to Bring It Back, uncovers the real reasons why America has lost its ability to build and manufacture.

The culprit? A fundamental shift in progressive thinking itself.

Dunkelman reveals how a deep distrust of and “cultural aversion to power” emerged in the 1960s and gradually transformed governance.

What began as well-intentioned safeguards against political overreach has created a paralysis where anyone can veto almost anything. Progressives replaced discretionary authority with procedural obstacles — environmental reviews, endless community meetings, and litigation tools that allow virtually anyone to block progress.

In this WhoWhatWhy podcast, I talk with China expert Dinny McMahon who explains how Beijing is desperately racing to innovate its way out of demographic disaster — replacing construction-led growth with advanced manufacturing and automation. But as the collapsing property market exposes mountains of municipal debt, and rising global trade barriers threaten China’s export-driven strategy, the sustainability of this economic pivot hangs in the balance.

As factories across China operate in darkness — not because they’ve failed but because they’re so automated they need no human presence — a profound contradiction emerges: a nation that produces one-third of the world’s goods while consuming only 12 percent of them, simultaneously dominating global manufacturing while its aging population hurtles toward catastrophic decline.

According to UN estimates, China’s population could literally halve by the end of this century, creating a society where retirees will soon outnumber workers.

David Denby, long time New York Magazine film critic and acclaimed New Yorker writer, joins me to discuss his captivating new book "Eminent Jews." He examines how Leonard Bernstein, Mel Brooks, Betty Friedan, and Norman Mailer—all born within eight years of each other—wielded their Jewish heritage as a creative weapon in post-WWII America. In our conversation, Denby reveals how these boundary-breaking figures transformed American culture with their bold, unapologetic genius while embodying a new Jewish confidence.

In this recentWhoWhatWhy podcast, I talk with John Lechner, author of Death Is Our Business. He details how private armies increasingly blur the lines between state power and mercenary force. The prospect of billionaires and politicians commanding their own military forces is no longer just a dystopian idea.

John Lechner’s five-year investigation into Russia’s notorious Wagner Group reveals a disturbing template for what privatized warfare could mean for America and the world.

Americans see Canada as that friendly neighbor up north. Canadians now see America as their greatest threat. How did we get here, and what does it mean for both nations?

Joining me on this week’s WhoWhatWhy podcast is veteran political analyst and Globe and Mail columnist Andrew Coyne. Trump’s talk of annexation and punitive tariffs has profoundly transformed Canada’s relationship with the US, creating a mixture of bewilderment, fear and, unexpectedly for Canadians, fierce national pride.

For Coyne, author of the upcoming book The Crisis of Canadian Democracy, the impact goes far beyond politics: It’s forcing Canadians to question basic assumptions about their sovereignty and security that have held firm since World War II. What was once unthinkable — the need to defend against US aggression — has become part of the national conversation.

For over two centuries, the American experiment has weathered crises that would have toppled lesser democracies — a resilience celebrated as uniquely American. But what if this story of perpetual reinvention through adaptation has reached its limits, our Constitution stretched too thin by the democratic achievements we cherish most?

In this WhoWhatWhy podcast, Yale professor Stephen Skowronek talks to me about his “adaptability paradox” theory: Our constitutional system functioned for centuries because it excluded many Americans, allowing a homogeneous elite to govern effectively. When the rights revolution of the ’60s and ’70s finally attempted to include everyone, the balancing act collapsed, leaving our institutions unable to manage diverse interests with competing demands.

There was a time when geographic mobility defined America — one-third of the population relocated each year, chasing better jobs and brighter futures. But today, historian and journalist Yoni Appelbaum argues in his new book, Stuck: How the Privileged and the Propertied Broke the Engine of American Opportunity, that America’s once-robust engine of upward mobility is grinding to a halt.

Appelbaum challenges the long-held belief that income alone dictates housing choices. Instead, he reveals how restrictive housing policies — exclusionary zoning, historical redlining, and modern NIMBYism — have dramatically limited the supply of new housing, effectively blocking the paths that families once took toward prosperity.

Today, affluent neighborhoods, often proudly progressive, tout diversity while quietly building invisible walls against newcomers, turning geographic mobility into a privilege reserved mainly for the wealthy.

The result is profound economic stagnation, deepening political polarization, and psychological harm — leaving millions trapped, angry, and increasingly cynical about the future. Yet despite the immense costs, estimated at $2 trillion annually, Appelbaum sees genuine hope.

What if Donald Trump’s strange fixation on William McKinley isn’t just historical trivia, but the key to understanding what happens next?

On this WhoWhatWhy podcast, long-time journalist and author Chris Lehmann argues we’re not necessarily headed for authoritarian collapse — we’re rewinding to the Gilded Age.

How might McKinley’s transformation from economic nationalist to global imperialist more than a century ago foreshadow Trump’s second term? Lehmann explores the forces that shaped McKinley’s presidency and how similar dynamics are at play today, from the influence of wealthy backers to the quest for historical legacy.