Based on newly declassified material, The Peacemaker: Ronald Reagan, the Cold War, and the World on the Brink by William Inboden plunges readers into the uncertainty of the late Cold War when the Soviet Union’s fate was far from a fait accompli. In conversation with Richard Aldous, Inboden explores Reagan’s thinking in trying to achieve a negotiated surrender that saw both a nuclear drawdown and a peaceful end to the Soviet system. The Peacemaker avoids a hagiographic retelling of the Reagan yea...
Jan 17, 2023•27 min
In The Subplot ( https://www.meganwalsh.co.uk/book ), Megan Walsh explores China’s diverse literary landscape, which ranges from underground comics and surrealist works to migrant-worker poetry and the less-regulated world of online fiction. She joined Richard Aldous to discuss how China’s modern literary culture offers a window into the lives of its citizens and a country grappling with shifting norms. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access ...
Dec 19, 2022•23 min
To meet today’s economic challenges, a reappraisal of America’s free-market ideology might be in order. Jacob Soll, author of Free Market: The History of an Idea ( https://www.basicbooks.com/titles/jacob-soll/free-market/9780465049707/ ), spoke with Richard Aldous about the world’s constantly evolving free-market ideologies and how they have functioned throughout different eras, from ancient Rome to today. In a work that took eight years of research to assemble, Free Market offers a lesson in hi...
Dec 12, 2022•31 min
Ted Kennedy’s life was buffeted by heartbreak: the violent deaths of his three older brothers, his own terrible plane crash, his children’s bouts with cancer, the hideous self-inflicted wounds of Chappaquiddick. Those wounds scarred Ted deeply but also tempered his character, and, eventually, he embarked on a run as legislator that would change America for the better. John A. Farrell joins Richard Aldous to discuss his new biography, Ted Kennedy: A Life. ( https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/book...
Dec 05, 2022•28 min
What’s the best way to determine whether a presidential candidate is truly up to the task? Former Harvard Business School professor Gautam Mukunda joins Richard Aldous to discuss his new book, Picking Presidents: How to Make the Most Consequential Decision in the World. Mukunda outlines his non-partisan set of criteria for how we can evaluate if a presidential candidate would be an effective leader and why some of the worst—and best—leaders are of the “unfiltered” variety. This is a public episo...
Nov 18, 2022•31 min
Many of today’s terrorist groups don’t just use the internet, they exist almost entirely on it. What do the online origins of these movements reveal about how to stop them? Counterterrorism expert Rita Katz joined Richard Aldous to talk about her new book, Saints and Soldiers: Inside Internet-Age Terrorism, From Syria to the Capitol Siege ( https://www.saintsandsoldiersbook.com ), and how the online cultures of these movements—far more than their ideologies and leaders—create today’s terrorists ...
Nov 11, 2022•32 min
Acclaimed German journalists Stefan Aust and Adrian Geiges join Richard to discuss how Xi Jinping took China from the workbench of the world to a global superpower in their new co-authored book, [Xi Jinping: The Most Powerful Man in the World.]( https://www.amazon.com/Xi-Jinping-Most-Powerful-World/dp/1509555145 ) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.persuasion.community/subscribe...
Oct 31, 2022•30 min
Former Barack Obama speechwriter Cody Keenan joins Richard to discuss the ten crucial days that marked Obama’s presidency and how he played a part in telling the story of America in his new book, Grace: President Obama and Ten Days in the Battle for America ( https://www.harpercollins.com/products/grace-cody-keenan?variant=39970831597602 ). This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.persuasion.community/subscribe This...
Oct 21, 2022•31 min
Guardian correspondent Giles Tremlett joins Richard to discuss Spain's complicated history and search for a national identity in his new book España: A Brief History of Spain. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.persuasion.community/subscribe
Oct 11, 2022•33 min
Why has Israel played such a foundational role not only in American foreign policy, but in how America sees the world? Walter Russell Mead joins host Richard Aldous to talk about his new book The Arc of a Covenant: The United States, Israel, and the Fate of the Jewish People. ( https://www.amazon.com/s?k=arc+of+a+covenant&language=en_US&crid=1ZGOQGY4UEW8S&linkCode=sl2&linkId=3286f711151c99dc51d3db999dfbac32&sprefix=arc+of+a+covenant%2Caps%2C74&tag=americanpurpo-20&ref...
Sep 27, 2022•33 min
Misogyny in politics is as old as politics itself. But is there hope for progress? Eleanor Herman, author of Off With Her Head: Three Thousand Years of Demonizing Women in Power, joins host Richard Aldous to talk about her new book. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.persuasion.community/subscribe
Sep 16, 2022•23 min
Why do rightwing narratives do so well on the internet? Francesca Bolla Tripodi, assistant professor at the School of Information and Library Science at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill joins host Richard Aldous to discuss her new book, The Propagandists’ Playbook: How Conservative Elites Manipulate Search and Threaten Democracy. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.persuasion.community/subscribe This i...
Sep 12, 2022•31 min
What’s the future of American power look like? To answer the question, Richard Aldous asked Michael Mandelbaum, author of the new book The Four Ages of American Foreign Policy, to look at how America came to be the power it is today. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.persuasion.community/subscribe This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, v...
Aug 27, 2022•36 min
What’s the relationship between the fight over abortion, campaign finance reform, and the rise of Trump? Historian Mary Ziegler joins host Richard Aldous to talk about her new book Dollars for Life: The Anti-Abortion Movement and the Fall of the Republican Establishment. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.persuasion.community/subscribe This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscrib...
Jul 30, 2022•34 min
How big is the threat from China really in the telecommunications space? Jonathan Pelson warns host Richard Aldous that we should not underestimate it. Read his new book Wireless Wars: China’s Dangerous Domination of 5G and How We’re Fighting Back. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.persuasion.community/subscribe...
Jul 22, 2022•32 min
Is all innovation the same? Is there such a thing as toxic disruption? And is there any cause for optimism even as tech has failed to deliver us a utopia? Ariel Ezrachi and Maurice E. Stucke join host Richard Aldous to talk about their new book, How Big Tech Barons Smash Innovation—and How To Strike Back. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.persuasion.community/subscribe This is a public episode. If you'd like ...
Jul 15, 2022•40 min
National security, secrecy, paranoia, suicide, and the rise of modern civil rights—James Kirchick joins host Richard Aldous to talk about the untold story of the nation’s capital, and his new book Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.persuasion.community/subscribe...
Jul 08, 2022•31 min
On this Fourth of July weekend, historian Thomas S. Kidd joins host Richard Aldous to talk about the contradictions of Thomas Jefferson, as detailed in his new book Thomas Jefferson: A Biography of Spirit and Flesh. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.persuasion.community/subscribe This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.persuasio...
Jul 01, 2022•31 min
What we have been doing with China has clearly not been working. How can we course-correct? Renowned Asia scholar Aaron L. Friedberg joins host Richard Aldous to discuss his excellent new book Getting China Wrong. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.persuasion.community/subscribe This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.persuasion....
Jun 24, 2022•34 min
With the Federal Reserve making bold moves this week, Lev Menand, author of the new book The Fed Unbound: Central Banking in a Time of Crisis, joins host Richard Aldous to talk about how the makers of monetary policy still need to adapt to the uncertain future. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.persuasion.community/subscribe...
Jun 17, 2022•33 min
This week, Ambassador Frederic C. Hof joins host Richard Aldous to talk about his wrenching experience of almost negotiating a lasting Israeli-Syrian peace, as detailed in his new book Reaching for the Heights: The Inside Story of a Secret Attempt to Reach a Syrian-Israeli Peace. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.persuasion.community/subscribe This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other...
Jun 13, 2022•32 min
A look into the inner life of a notorious murderer—Nelly Lahoud joins host Richard Aldous to talk about her new book, The Bin Laden Papers: How the Abbottabad Raid Revealed the Truth about Al-Qaeda, Its Leader, and His Family. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.persuasion.community/subscribe
Jun 03, 2022•31 min
With Elon Musk in the news, it’s a good time to look back at some recent history. Jimmy Soni joins host Richard Aldous to talk about his book The Founders: The Story of PayPal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.persuasion.community/subscribe This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www....
May 20, 2022•30 min
Was the Soviet Union’s demise inevitable, and was Gorbachev the heroic reformer we remember him to have been? Vladislav M. Zubok joins host Richard Aldous to discuss the complicated legacy of the end of the Cold War, as well as his new book Collapse: The Fall of the Soviet Union. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.persuasion.community/subscribe...
May 16, 2022•36 min
How did the Republican Party end up resembling a nationalist populist movement? Matthew Continetti joins host Richard Aldous to talk through the rise and development of modern conservatism, and to discuss his new book, The Right: The Hundred Year War for American. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.persuasion.community/subscribe...
May 06, 2022•31 min
Today’s sexual ethics, meant to be liberating, seem to be instead driving a wave of dissatisfaction and unease among young people. Washington Post columnist Christine Emba joins host Richard Aldous to unpack what’s going on, and discuss her new book Rethinking Sex: A Provocation. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.persuasion.community/subscribe This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other...
May 03, 2022•28 min
Why another book on Watergate? Garrett M. Graff joins host Richard Aldous to tell a wilder, weirder, darker version of the incident than we are accustomed to hearing—as detailed in his new book Watergate: A New History. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.persuasion.community/subscribe
Apr 25, 2022•32 min
What is the nature and value of disagreement, especially in today’s social media-infused landscape? Lee Siegel joins host Richard Aldous to talk about all this, and his new book, Why Argument Matters. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.persuasion.community/subscribe
Apr 08, 2022•28 min
How does modern authoritarianism work? Daniel Treisman joins host Richard Aldous to talk Putin, Xi, Lee Kwan Yew, and the tools of modern state control—all discussed in his new book, co-authored with Sergei Guriev, Spin Dictators: The Changing Face of Tyranny in the 21st Century. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.persuasion.community/subscribe...
Apr 01, 2022•37 min
With the Ukraine War heading into its fifth week, Christopher M. Smith joins host Richard Aldous to talk about the roots of Ukraine’s turn to the West, American policymaking at the State Department, and his new book Ukraine’s Revolt, Russia’s Revenge. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.persuasion.community/subscribe...
Mar 25, 2022•32 min
