Why It Matters

For years, security experts have warned that white nationalist and white supremacist extremism represent the most significant domestic terrorism threat to the United States. Now, in the wake of the attack on the U.S. Capitol, the country seems to be gaining clarity about the seriousness of the situation for the first time. How did we get here, and what can be done?

Featured Guests: 

Bruce Hoffman (Shelby Cullom and Kathryn W. Davis Senior Fellow for Counterterrorism and Homeland Security) 

Cynthia Miller-Idriss (Professor, School of Public Affairs and School of Education, American University)

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit us at cfr.org/podcasts/most-persistent-and-lethal-threat

There is no country quite like Russia. Despite having a relatively small economy, it has been able to maintain global influence through a range of unconventional tactics. How has Vladimir Putin played his country’s weak hand so effectively? And what is his goal?

Featured Guests: 

Jill Dougherty (Global Fellow, Kennan Institute, Wilson Center) 

Stephen Sestanovich (George F. Kennan Senior Fellow for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Council on Foreign Relations) 

Angela Stent (Director, Center for Eurasian, Russian, and East European Studies, Georgetown University)

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit us at cfr.org/podcasts/russia

What does it take to make a Hollywood blockbuster? Movie stars? A great script? How about approval from the Chinese government? In this episode, two guests explore the surprising role of Chinese censorship and oversight in the production of U.S. films and ask what’s at stake as their presence increases.

Featured Guests: 

Aynne Kokas (Associate Professor of Media Studies, University of Virginia) 

James Tager (Deputy Director, Free Expression Research and Policy, PEN America)

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit us at cfr.org/podcasts/chinas-starring-role-hollywood

The U.S. president can launch a first-strike nuclear attack at any time, and there’s no law mandating they seek advice first. Some experts think that’s too much power to put in one person’s hands.

Episode Page and Show Notes

Featured Guests: 

Richard K. Betts (Adjunct Senior Fellow for National Security Studies)

Alexandra Bell (Senior Policy Director, Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation)

Abigail Stowe-Thurston (Program Coordinator, Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation)

Projections show that by 2050, Africa’s population will double. By 2100, one in three people on Earth will be African. This means that, by the end of the century, sub-Saharan Africa—which already has an extraordinarily young population—will be home to almost half of the young people in the world. In this episode, two experts examine whether Africa’s youth boom will be a blessing or a curse.

Featured Guests: 

Michelle Gavin (Senior Fellow for Africa Studies, Council on Foreign Relations) 

John Githongo (Inuka Kenya Trust, CEO and publisher of The Elephant)

The Brazilian Amazon is burning, threatening the world’s largest repository of biodiversity. If the fires are not controlled soon, they could release a “climate bomb” of stored carbon that would accelerate climate change.

Featured Guests: 

Monica de Bolle (Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics) 

Stewart M. Patrick (James H. Binger Senior Fellow in Global Governance and Director of the International Institutions and Global Governance Program, Council on Foreign Relations) 

Thomas Lovejoy (President, Amazon Biodiversity Center)

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit us at cfr.org/podcasts/climate-bomb-amazon

Fifty-five percent of the global population lacks access to safe sanitation, a deadly global health disparity that rarely finds its way into the spotlight. In this episode, we examine the scope of the problem, and the cultural challenges that have made it surprisingly difficult to fix.

Featured Guests: 

Tom Slaymaker (Senior Statistics and Monitoring Specialist, WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Program for Water Supply, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH)) 

Sangita Vyas (Associate Director, Research Institute for Compassionate Economics) 

Brooke Yamakoshi (WASH Specialist, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF))

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit us at cfr.org/podcasts/lets-talk-about-toilets

The United States trails far behind most advanced democracies when it comes to voter turnout, with just 55 percent of eligible voters participating in the 2016 election. What are other countries doing right, and what is the United States doing wrong?

Featured Guests: 

David Becker (Executive Director, Center for Election Innovation & Research) 

Kristen Clarke (President and Executive Director, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law) 

Rosalind Dixon (Professor of Law, University of New South Wales)

For more information on this episode, visit us at cfr.org/podcasts/make-america-vote-again

What happens when the world runs out of fish? Does TikTok actually present a national security risk? Will Africa's population boom change the world as we know it? In season three, Why It Matters explores a new series of challenges that are gathering on the horizon.

For more information on our first two seasons, be sure to visit us at cfr.org/podcasts/why-it-matters

As climate change accelerates, some scientists are researching ways to alter our climate to slow down warming. But the method, called solar geoengineering, comes with some serious risks.

Featured Guests: 

David Keith (Harvard University) 

Shuchi Talati (Union of Concerned Scientists) 

Gernot Wagner (New York University)

For more information on this episode, visit us at cfr.org/podcasts/dimming-sky