The Un-Diplomatic Podcast

Free preview cross-over with the Bang-Bang Podcast. Van and Lyle kick off their Andor series with Slate culture editor Jenny G. Zhang, diving into the show’s slow-burn opening arc where imperial boot…

What's wrong with trying to be a Washington insider these days? How different is nuclear thinking under Trump compared to previous Democratic and Republican presidencies? Is Trump's "golden dome" ide…

Free preview cross-over with the Bang-Bang Podcast. Long before the Patriot Act, long before “See Something, Say Something,” long before 9/11—there was The Siege. Released in 1998, this Bruce Willis–…

In this episode, Dr. Van Jackson appears as a guest on A Public Affair, a radio show with a live call-in segment. The conversation ended up being deliciously wide-ranging, including: Why the oligarch…

The tech billionaires who are part of the Trump-MAGA coalition have repeatedly boosted the same collection of books that they think explain international relations. Dr. Van Jackson--a professor of in…

Live on location from Wellington Harbor (outdoors)! How did tariffs in the 1930s lead to World War II in Asia? How big of a deal is the China-Japan-South Korea coordinated response to Trump's tariffs…

Why did the US lose manufacturing jobs? What's the problem with Donald Trump's global tariff plan? Why is housing unaffordable in the US? Why are most of us economically insecure? And why is wage wor…

Dr. Van Jackson appeared in a guest lecture at the Catholic University of America with Prof. Andrew Yeo. They talk about progressivism and the restraint movement, Dr. Jackson's working-class origins,…

How the national security clown show leaking war plan secrets to a journalist also led US officials to confess to war crimes. Why Europe's independence is leading to European militarism and the rise …

Why Bernie Sanders's "fight against oligarchy" townhalls have made him the most popular politician in America. Inside Pete Hegseth's war plan leak. JD Vance's hatred of Europe explained. And why Trum…

Free preview cross-over with the Bang-Bang Podcast. In this episode, Van and Lyle are joined by writer Max Read to dissect The Sum of All Fears, the 2002 film adaptation of Tom Clancy’s novel. The fi…

Grand strategy must be for war-crime dummies, because Jake Sullivan just got appointed the Kissinger chair at Harvard. Rahm Emmanuel should be exiled, not run for president. AUKUS may be doomed, but …

What it means that No Other Land won the Oscar for best documentary. The wicked politics of Ukraine's peace problems. Why China in't mussed about Trump's tariffs. The tradeoff between Taiwan's securi…

Explaining Europe's shift to strategic non-alignment. The false god of nuclear deterrence--why the nuclear triad is overrated. Making sense of the Pentagon's fake spending cuts. Privateer forces and …

Free preview episode cross-over with the Bang-Bang Podcast. A madcap collage of American Berserk—that’s one way to describe David O. Russell’s Three Kings, and it’s exactly how Van, Lyle, and screenw…

What Tupac predicted about the defense budget. Pete Hegseth unveils Trump's imperialist peace plan for Ukraine. The Monroe Doctrine means mercenary imperialism. Why the Democratic Party can't critiqu…

Dr. Van Jackson gave a public lecture at the Havens Wright Center for Social Justice in the Department of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin on February 4, 2025. This episode is the full set of…

Why Palantir and the new Silicon Valley defense-industrial cartel is bad news for humanity. How to talk about USAID without starting World War III (w/ cameo from Senator Chris Murphy). ICE immigratio…

Why JD Vance's understanding of Christian patriotism fundamentally misunderstands christianity...on purpose. ANTIFA is not a terrorist organization, and we should all be antifascist. Why Burmese scho…

The gang's back with another variety episode. Why Saudi Arabia throws so much money at Trump. Matt's trip to Israel amid ceasefire negotiations. The truth about DEI initiatives and the Pentagon. The …