Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates says that America overuses (and often MIS-uses) the military to achieve its strategic goals while neglecting other (and often better) non-military options. He discusses how Congress and the last 5 Presidents have allowed many of those non-military instruments of power to wither and die in the three decades after the Cold War. He suggests that the United States needs to be "less monastic and more Madison Avenue" in how we talk about the good we do around the world and that Presidents need to make an effort to convince the the American people to take a broader, more longterm view of what is in the US national interest. He criticizes President Trump’s

Director Peter Medak looks back on his filming of the famously disastrous Peter Sellers movie Ghost in the Noonday Sun for his new documentary The Ghost of Peter Sellers. He discusses emotional toll that working with Peter Sellers took on him, why he thought that he would be the one director who could tame Sellers, and why he wanted to revisit that painful experience all these years later. He talks about the mad genius and superstitions of Peter Sellers, and why Sellers was one only happy playing a character but never happy being himself. He shares the many, many ways that the actor tried to sabotage his movie (faking a heart attack, starting a riot, trying to fire the director, etc.), an

Comedian Mike Birbiglia discusses his new book The New One: Painfully True Stories from a Reluctant Dad including the seven reasons he originally never wanted to be a parent, the lies couples tell themselves when they decide to have a baby, and the scourge of parents who try to push babies on other people. He opens up about he and his wife's initial troubles conceiving, reveals that President Barack Obama was the first person to learn that they were pregnant, and shares some pretty good parenting advice that they got from the leader of the free world. He talks about the moment when he finally felt like a member of his own family again, the pleasure of seeing the world through his daughter’

Malcolm Gladwell (Outliers, Talking to Strangers, Revisionist History podcast) talks about growing up in a Mennonite community in Ontario, Canada, his brief flirtation with conservatism in his youth, and how his father’s boundless curiosity inspired him to always ask questions. We delve into the Black Lives Matter protests in the wake of the tragic George Floyd murder and some surprising parallels between African-Americans' relationship with the police and Britain’s heavy-handed approach to Irish Catholics during the 3-decade conflict known as "the Troubles." Then Malcolm discusses podcasts as the antidote to our modern quick-hit news culture, he reveals that even he is often surprised by

Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace talks his five decades in broadcast journalism, following in the very big footsteps of his father Mike Wallace, what he’s learned from interviewing 7 different U.S. Presidents, and what it was like to date Walter Cronkite's daughter when he was a 16-year-old intern at CBS News. Then he discusses his new book Countdown 1945: The Extraordinary Story of the Atomic Bomb and the 116 Days That Changed the World. He reveals how Harry Truman agonized over the decision to use the atomic bomb, the surprising dissenter among his military generals who warned against it, and how Truman broke the news of the bomb to Joseph Stalin. He shares how the U.S. government man

Actor Michael Stuhlbarg (Boardwalk Empire, The Shape of Water) discusses his new film about the complicated marriage of horror writer Shirley Jackson and literary critic Stanley Hyman, how Hyman influenced Shirley Jackson’s work, and how the filmmakers of Shirley imbued the movie with a distinctively Jackson-esque style. Michael also talks about his prolific career on stage and screen from training in mime with Marcel Marceau to working with directors like Guillermo del Toro and the Coen Brothers. See Michael in Shirley available on Hulu, Video-on-Demand, and participating Drive-Ins starting June 5. Today's episode is sponsored by Black Rifle Coffee Company and Capella University. Visit w

On the 40th Anniversary of CNN, journalist Lisa Napoli discusses the founding and "wild west" early years of the upstart network that set out to change how the news gets delivered and consumed. Lisa reveals that few people to took Ted Turner seriously when he entered broadcasting and how Turner went from hating the news to founding the first all-news network in the basement of run-down former country club in Atlanta. She talks about the skeptics who questioned whether there was a enough news to fill a whole day and how being on the air 24-hours gave CNN a decided advantage over the big three networks. We also discuss Ted Turner’s political evolution, his flirtation with running for Presid

Former Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy says America is facing a loneliness crisis. He discusses the many physical and mental impacts of feeling lonely and reveals that chronic loneliness is just as bad for you as smoking and obesity. He opens up about his bouts of loneliness during his life, how he came to realize that it’s much larger problem than he ever realized, and the U.S. Congressman who confided in him about his own struggle with loneliness. Vivek explains the difference between someone who is genuinely lonely vs. someone who enjoys being alone, how loneliness can often disguise itself as other health problems, and how loneliness once served an evolutionary function but might be