President Joe Biden returned from his first overseas trip this week, wrapping up the festivities with a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Talking tough on Putin ahead of the meeting, the Biden administration advertised a hard-hitting discussion about the countries’ relationship and Russian misdeeds.

Dr. Leon Aron joined the show to walk us through what actually happened at the long-anticipated summit. He explains that while the leaders discussed cyberattacks, arms control, and the US-Russia relationship, Biden gained little to nothing from the meeting, while the summit legitimized the Putin regime.

Dr. Aron, who was born in Moscow and came to the United States as a refugee in 1978, is a resident scholar and the director of Russian studies at AEI. He studies Russian domestic and foreign policy, US-Russia relations, and the economic, social, and cultural aspects of Russia’s post-Soviet evolution.

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Demographers have sounded the alarm on global depopulation, predicting that in the latter half of the 21st century, global population will enter sustained decline for the first time in history. American fertility rates are dropping and China’s population is predicted to fall from 1.4 billion to 730 million by the end of the century.

Demographer and AEI scholar Nick Eberstadt joined Dany and Marc to discuss whether we should be concerned about long-term depopulation forecasts. He also talks about the graying of China under the Chinese Communist Party, and the changing values of American society. 

Nick Eberstadt is the Henry Wendt Chair in Political Economy at AEI, where he researches and writes extensively on demographics and economic development generally, and more specifically on international security in the Korean peninsula and Asia. He is also a senior adviser to the National Bureau of Asian Research.

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Biden administration officials and European diplomats have been negotiating an American reentry into Obama’s 2015 nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, in Vienna in recent weeks. As talks continue, some American allies and experts have expressed concern at the pace of the president’s attempts to revive the deal.

Nuclear weapons expert David Albright joined Dany and Marc to discuss his new book with Sarah Burkhard, Iran’s Perilous Pursuit of Nuclear Weapons, based on Iran’s own nuclear archives spirited from a secret warehouse in Tehran. They also talk about the amount of time it would take for Iran to produce a nuclear weapon, how it will be delivered, and the administration’s eagerness to reenter the deal.

David Albright, a physicist, is founder and President of the non-profit Institute for Science and International Security. He is a former weapons inspector and has written numerous assessments on secret nuclear weapons programs throughout the world.

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After labeling the Wuhan lab leak theory a conspiracy, the mainstream media and prominent scientists – even Dr. Fauci – are beginning to take the Covid origin story seriously. To further investigate the hypothesis, Rep. Mike Gallagher has asked the Biden administration to declassify the intelligence surrounding research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

On our latest episode, Rep. Gallagher joined Dany and Marc to discuss the pandemic’s origins and the growing evidence of a Chinese lab leak and cover-up. He also talks about the Wuhan Institute of Virology’s potential links to US funding through the EcoHealth Alliance.

First elected in 2016, Rep. Gallagher represents Wisconsin’s 8th District in the US House of Representatives. He served in the Marine Corps for seven years and as the lead Republican staffer for Middle East, North Africa, and Counterterrorism on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. 

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The latest round of fighting between Israel and Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas has grown increasingly violent in recent days, with Iranian-backed Hamas firing thousands of rockets at Israel, and Israel responding in turn. How will the conflict play out? And should the United States be taking a more proactive role?

Jonathan Schanzer joined Dany and Marc to discuss what’s fueling the latest round of violence. They also talk about the Biden administration’s response, the role of the Iran nuclear deal, and what it all means for the future of Arab-Israeli peace.

Jonathan Schanzer is senior vice president for research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. He is also on the leadership team of FDD’s Center on Economic and Financial Power. Schanzer previously worked as a terrorism finance analyst at the US Department of the Treasury and has held think tank positions at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and the Middle East Forum.  

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Prominent politicians and the media have long stated that the science behind climate change is settled. However, in his new book “Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesn’t, and Why It Matters,” Obama administration scientist Dr. Steve Koonin dispels a number of misleading claims surrounding the climate change debate.

On this episode, Dr. Koonin joins Dany and Marc to give his politics-free take. He reviews US government and UN climate assessments, explaining that the facts do not support climate change hysteria. While Dr. Koonin agrees that the climate is changing, he points out that the why and how are not as clear as you’ve likely been led to believe. And that the solutions being mooted won’t work.

Dr. Koonin is a Professor at New York University, with appointments in the Stern School of Business, the Tandon School of Engineering, and the Department of Physics. Dr. Koonin served as Undersecretary for Science in the US Department of Energy under President Obama, where his portfolio included the climate research program and energy technology strategy.

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After months of promising to “follow the science,” the Biden administration has only slightly loosened Covid restrictions for vaccinated Americans. Many schools remain closed, vaccinated people must still wear masks, and a return to normal feels far away.

Dr. Nicole Saphier joined Dany and Marc to discuss the ongoing Covid hysteria and the Biden administration’s pandemic political theater. They also discuss vaccine hesitancy, herd immunity, and the debate over vaccine passports.

Dr. Saphier is a physician at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, an assistant professor at Weill Cornell Medical College, and author of the upcoming book, “Panic Attack: Playing Politics with Science in the Fight Against COVID-19.”

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What did President Joe Biden say during his joint address to Congress? Has he lived up to his promises of bipartisanship during his first 100 days in office? And what administration priorities will Congress debate next? 

On WTH’s 100th episode, Dany and Marc evaluate Biden’s first 100 days in office, discussing the good, the bad, and the ugly of the president’s joint address to Congress. They also talk about Sen. Tim Scott’s rebuttal, Biden’s foreign policy statements, and the state of the Democratic Party.

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Is a major war with China inevitable? How can the United States prepare for the changing nature of conflict? In their new book, Admiral James Stavridis and Elliot Ackerman warn of a cataclysmic war between the US and China in the South China Sea. “2034: A Novel of the Next World War” also explores America’s weaknesses and the growing role of technology in future armed conflict.

Adm. Stavridis and Ackerman joined Dany and Marc to discuss their book, future foreign policy threats, and the need to reassess America’s technological capabilities. They also talk about policymakers’ failure of imagination, which left the country unprepared for tragedies such as 9/11 and Covid-19.  

Admiral James Stavridis is a retired four-star naval officer. He also served as Supreme Allied Commander at NATO and previously commanded US Southern Command. Elliot Ackerman is the author of four novels. He is both a former White House Fellow and Marine, and served five tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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President Biden recently announced that he plans to withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan by September 11, 2021. The decision has sparked accusations of “surrender,” and fears that Biden is repeating the Iraq withdrawal mistake again -- a decision that led to the establishment of ISIS’s caliphate in Iraq.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger joined Dany and Marc to talk about the implications of the US troop withdrawal. He also discusses his service in Afghanistan and Iraq, the timing of Biden’s decision, and what it will mean for American national security.

Rep. Kinzinger is currently serving his sixth term in the House of Representatives, representing Illinois’ Sixteenth Congressional District. Prior to being elected to Congress, Kinzinger served in the Air Force in both Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.

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