Relevant Reading:

Friends Divided: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson

Clement Atlee: The Man Who Made Modern Britain

Red Famine: Stalin’s War on Ukraine

Stalin: Waiting for Hitler, 1929-1941

Good evening, listeners! We have a special holiday treat for you this week, as host Richard Aldous closes out the year by taking a look back at some of our favorite interviews from 2017.

First up, we go back just a few weeks ago to Gordon Wood, historian and the Alva O. Way University Professor and professor of history at Brown University, who discussed his new book Friends Divided: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson (you can also find a transcript for this discussion here).

Then we turn to a conversation with John Bew, professor of History and Foreign Policy at the War Studies Department at King’s College London, about his new book, Clement Attlee: The Man Who Made Modern Britain.

After that, you’ll hear Richard speaking with Washington Post columnist and TAI board member Anne Applebaum about her newly published book Red Famine: Stalin’s War on Ukraine.

Finally, we close out with an excellent interview with Stephen Kotkin, professor in history and international affairs at Princeton University and a fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, about his new biography, Stalin: Waiting for Hitler, 1929-1941 (the transcript for which can be found here).

Clever listeners may notice a theme in these choices: books, of course! These books made for great interviews, and they’d do well as last-minute gift ideas, as well.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, where you can leave a review, and follow John Bew @JohnBew, Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum, and Richard Aldous @RJAldous on Twitter. We’ll be looking to bring more authors onto the show in 2018, but until then, have a happy and peaceful holiday break. See you next year!

Relevant Reading:

Balkans Forward: A New US Strategy for the Region

Good evening, listeners! We have a great episode for you this week, as host Richard Aldous speaks with TAI Executive Editor Damir Marusic about a new report he co-authored at the Atlantic Council on American strategy in the Balkans.

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, where you can leave a review, and follow Damir Marusic @dmarusic and Richard Aldous @RJAldous on Twitter.

Relevant Reading:

The Cold War and the Welfare State

Good evening, listeners! We have another great episode for you this week, as host Richard Aldous speaks with Nils Gilman about the GOP tax bill.

Nils Gilman is vice president of programs at the Berggruen Institute and is a monthly columnist here at TAI.

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, where you can leave a review, and follow Nil Gilman @nils_gilman and Richard Aldous @RJAldous on Twitter.

Relevant Reading:

Friends Divided: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson

Good evening listeners, and Happy Thanksgiving! We have a special treat for you this week, as host Richard Aldous speaks with Gordon Wood about his new book, Friends Divided: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.

Gordon Wood is an acclaimed author, historian, and the Alva O. Way University Professor and professor of history at Brown University.

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, where you can leave a review, and follow Richard Aldous @RJAldous on Twitter.

Relevant Reading:

Make Conservatism Moderate Again

Good evening, listeners! We have another great episode for you this week, as host Richard Aldous speaks with Dalibor Rohac about growing ideological tension on the right side of the political spectrum.

Dalibor Rohac is a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a regular columnist for The American Interest.

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, where you can leave a review, and follow Henri J. Barkey @hbarkey and Richard Aldous @RJAldous on Twitter.

Relevant Reading:

Stalin: Waiting for Hitler, 1929-1941Stephen Kotkin

Good evening, listeners. We have an excellent episode for you this week, as host Richard Aldous speaks with Stephen Kotkin about his new book, Stalin: Waiting for Hitler, 1929-1941.

Stephen Kotkin is a professor in history and international affairs at Princeton University and a fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, and his new book is the second volume of a comprehensive biography of Joseph Stalin.

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, where you can leave a review, and follow Richard Aldous @RJAldous on Twitter.

Relevant Reading:

Is There a Crisis of Liberal Democracy?

Good evening, listeners! We have a great episode for you this week as host Richard Aldous speaks with Larry Diamond about a potential crisis brewing for liberal democracy.

Larry Diamond is a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. He coordinates the democracy program of the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law (CDDRL) within the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI).

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, where you can leave a review, and follow Larry Diamond @LarryDiamond and Richard Aldous @RJAldous on Twitter.

Relevant Reading:

Rival Power: Russia in Southeast EuropeDimitar Bechev

Good evening, listeners! We have an excellent episode for you this week, as host Richard Aldous speaks with Dimitar Bechev about his new book, Rival Power: Russia in Southeast Europe.

Dimitar is a research fellow at the Center for Slavic, Eurasian, and East European Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council.

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, where you can leave a review, and follow Dimitar Bechev @DimitarBechev and Richard Aldous @RJAldous on Twitter.

Relevant Reading:

Red Famine: Stalin’s War on Ukraine

Good evening, listeners! We have an excellent episode for you this week, as host Richard Aldous speaks with Washington Post columnist and a TAI board member Anne Applebaum about her new book.

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, where you can leave a review, and follow Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum and Richard Aldous @RJAldous on Twitter.

Relevant Reading:

Thinking Long-Term About Ukraine’s Defense

Is Competent Trumpism Possible?

Good evening, listeners! We have another great episode for you this week, as host Richard Aldous speaks with Kirk Bennett about Ukraine and Russia before discussing Trump’s incompetence with Nils Gilman.

First, Kirk Bennett, a retired U.S. Foreign Service Officer who served in both Russia and Ukraine, returns to the program to discuss America’s long-term strategy in Ukraine, and how that matches up against Russian ambitions in the region.

Then, Nils Gilman, vice president of programs at the Berggruen Institute and a monthly columnist here at The American Interest, argues that Trump won the presidential election because of—not despite—his erratic behavior, and that his incompetence is an essential part of his popular (and populist) appeal.

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, where you can leave a review, and follow Nils Gilman @nils_gilman and Richard Aldous @RJAldous on Twitter.