This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss Elon Musk’s departure from Washington, America’s nonexistent shipbuilding capacity, plans to revoke visas from Chinese students, and the conspicuous absence of Biden’s foreign policy team from the new book on the ‘coverup’ of his condition. Also in this weeks episode, an interview with Tablet editor-in-chief Alana Newhouse, from the podcast How to Be a Jew, about why she decided to start a print magazine. If you want to subscribe to that magazine, click here....
May 30, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 87
This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss Trump's ban on foreign students at Harvard, the Supreme Court's decision on the president's authority to fire federal commissioners, the Senate's vote against California's EV mandate, and a report from the Copenhagen Democracy Summit.
May 23, 2025•38 min•Ep. 86
This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss the declining fortunes of young men and boys in America, the Trump-China trade truce, Qatari cash in Washington, and Trump's visit to the Middle East.
May 15, 2025•37 min•Ep. 85
This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss the first American Pope, the India-Pakistan conflict, Trump's trade deal with the UK, and the new struggle for mastery in Africa.
May 09, 2025•42 min•Ep. 84
This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss the impact of tariffs on China's economy, Trump's mineral deal with Ukraine, the Canadian election, and how rising tensions between India and Pakistan could suck America and China into war. Each week on What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, decide what matters and what doesn’t, and enjoy following the story of America and the world more than you do now. For more, check out tabletmag.com/whatreallymatters. You ...
May 02, 2025•32 min•Ep. 83
This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss Trump's take-it-or-leave-it Ukraine deal, why he walked back threats against China and the Fed, what the terror attack in Kashmir means for Modi's India, and the legacy of Pope Francis. Each week on What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, decide what matters and what doesn’t, and enjoy following the story of America and the world more than you do now. For more, check out tabletmag.com/whatreallymatters. You can ...
Apr 25, 2025•43 min•Ep. 82
This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss Harvard vs. Trump, Israel vs. Iran, Tourists vs. US Customs, and the Dollar vs. the World. Each week on What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, decide what matters and what doesn’t, and enjoy following the story of America and the world more than you do now. For more, check out tabletmag.com/what-really-matters. You can read Walter Russell Mead’s Tablet column here, and check out more from Tablet here. Connect w...
Apr 18, 2025•39 min•Ep. 81
This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss the effect of Trump's tariffs on Russia's economy, Apple's operations in China, Netanyahu's visit to the White House, and how tariffs are concentrating power in Trump's hands. Each week on What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, decide what matters and what doesn’t, and enjoy following the story of America and the world more than you do now. For more, check out tabletmag.com/what-really-matters. You can read Wal...
Apr 10, 2025•52 min•Ep. 80
This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss Donald Trump's tariffs regime, and what the neoliberal era in American politics was and wasn't. Each week on What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, decide what matters and what doesn’t, and enjoy following the story of America and the world more than you do now. For more, check out tabletmag.com/what-really-matters. You can read Walter Russell Mead’s Tablet column here, and check out more from Tablet here. Conn...
Apr 07, 2025•39 min•Ep. 79
This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss Signalgate, Palestinian protests against Hamas, JD Vance's trip to Greenland, and what Trump sees when he scans the Middle East. Each week on What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, decide what matters and what doesn’t, and enjoy following the story of America and the world more than you do now. For more, check out tabletmag.com/what-really-matters. You can read Walter Russell Mead’s Tablet column here, and chec...
Mar 28, 2025•34 min•Ep. 78
This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss the Trump-Putin phone call, Israel's attacks in Gaza, America's attacks on the Houthis, and how the Sino-Russian-Iranian bloc is measuring up against what's left of the US-led alliance system. Each week on What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, decide what matters and what doesn’t, and enjoy following the story of America and the world more than you do now. For more, check out tabletmag.com/what-really-matters....
Mar 20, 2025•38 min•Ep. 77
This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss fears of a U.S. recession, universities abandoning DEI under pressure from the White House, a new Chinese railway in Africa, and how Trump's approach to Putin compares with Roosevelt's to Stalin, and Nixon's to Brezhnev. Each week on What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, decide what matters and what doesn’t, and enjoy following the story of America and the world more than you do now. For more, check out tablet...
Mar 14, 2025•39 min•Ep. 76
This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss the U.S. cutting off intelligence sharing with Ukraine, shutting down American consulates overseas, TSMC's $100 billion investment in Arizona, and Trump's on again, off again tariffs on U.S. allies and enemies. Each week on What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, decide what matters and what doesn’t, and enjoy following the story of America and the world more than you do now. For more, check out tabletmag.com/wh...
Mar 07, 2025•40 min•Ep. 75
This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss the Trump-Zelensky mineral deal, the rise of Christian faith among American youth, Germany's election results, and why Trump's Russia policy is also Obama, Merkel, and Biden's, only with greater chance of success. Each week on What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, decide what matters and what doesn’t, and enjoy following the story of America and the world more than you do now. For more, check out tabletmag.com...
Feb 27, 2025•37 min•Ep. 74
This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss the White House scrapping environmental regulations, the Trump-Modi bromance, the New York Times' adoption of AI tools, and the beginning of the end of the transatlantic alliance. Each week on What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, decide what matters and what doesn’t, and enjoy following the story of America and the world more than you do now. For more, check out tabletmag.com/what-really-matters. You can read...
Feb 19, 2025•48 min•Ep. 73
This week, Walter and Jeremy talk the FBI's Kennedy assassination files, a constitutional crisis manqué, antisemitism among the young, and how Trump is hoisting China on its own green petard. Each week on What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, decide what matters and what doesn’t, and enjoy following the story of America and the world more than you do now. For more, check out tabletmag.com/what-really-matters. You can read Walter Russell Mead’s Ta...
Feb 13, 2025•40 min•Ep. 72
This week, Walter and Jeremy talk Donald Trump's plans for Gaza, buying out the CIA bureaucracy, the problems of the NGO complex, and the controversy around USAID. Each week on What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, decide what matters and what doesn’t, and enjoy following the story of America and the world more than you do now. For more, check out tabletmag.com/what-really-matters. You can read Walter Russell Mead’s Tablet column here, and check ...
Feb 07, 2025•54 min•Ep. 71
In the last episode of 2024, Walter gives his picks for what you should read and learn next year. Each week on What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, decide what matters and what doesn’t, and enjoy following the story of America and the world more than you do now. For more, check out tabletmag.com/what-really-matters. You can read Walter Russell Mead’s Tablet column here, and check out more from Tablet here. Connect with us Follow the podcast on T...
Dec 13, 2024•37 min•Ep. 70
This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss the prospects for a Trump-brokered ceasefire in Ukraine, South Korea’s martial law scare, the fall of the French government, and what the latest developments in Syria tell us about Israel, Russia, and America. Each week on What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, decide what matters and what doesn’t, and enjoy following the story of America and the world more than you do now. For more, check out tabletmag.com/wha...
Dec 06, 2024•36 min•Ep. 69
This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss Donald Trump’s cabinet picks, the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, Trump’s promise to China, Mexico, and Canada with tariffs, his attempts to solve the fentanyl crisis, and what Walter saw and heard in a remote Indian hilltop town on the border of Bhutan and China. Each week on What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, decide what matters and what doesn’t, and...
Nov 26, 2024•30 min•Ep. 68
This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss how Donald Trump won over Gen Z, Latino, and Blue state urban voters, and how the history of the American South, Latin American populism, and Davy Crockett-style mass politics explain the greatest comeback in American political history. Each week on What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, decide what matters and what doesn’t, and enjoy following the story of America and the world more than you do now. For more, ...
Nov 08, 2024•48 min•Ep. 67
This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss voter stratification by education and gender, why America’s bipartisan China strategy is faltering, Biden’s October surprise “garbage” gaffe, how the United States got itself into a generational leadership crisis, and predictions for election day. Each week on What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, decide what matters and what doesn’t, and enjoy following the story of America and the world more than you do now....
Nov 01, 2024•34 min•Ep. 66
This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss America’s new lithium wealth, leaking Israeli war plans to Iran, Chicago’s ongoing financial collapse, and how the war in Ukraine would end up under Kamala Harris or Donald Trump. Each week on What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, decide what matters and what doesn’t, and enjoy following the story of America and the world more than you do now. For more, check out tabletmag.com/what-really-matters. You can read...
Oct 25, 2024•37 min•Ep. 65
This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss the killing of Sinwar, how AI is fueling demand for nuclear energy, why the media is the least trusted institution in America, and how the Chinese Communist Party got caught in a trap of its own making. Each week on What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, decide what matters and what doesn’t, and enjoy following the story of America and the world more than you do now. For more, check out tabletmag.com/what-reall...
Oct 18, 2024•46 min•Ep. 64
This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss White House frustration with Israeli war plans, a new Republican advantage in party identification, Democrats losing ground with Arab American voters, and how October 7 changed the world. Each week on What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, decide what matters and what doesn’t, and enjoy following the story of America and the world more than you do now. For more, check out tabletmag.com/what-really-matters. You ...
Oct 11, 2024•30 min•Ep. 63
This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss Zelensky’s visit to Washington, why Gen Z men are more religious than their female peers, how US airstrikes are helping the Houthis, and what exactly President Biden and his national security team still don’t understand about diplomacy. Each week on What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, decide what matters and what doesn’t, and enjoy following the story of America and the world more than you do now. For more, ...
Sep 27, 2024•31 min•Ep. 62
This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss exploding Hezbollah pagers, the Fed’s interest rate cut, Gavin Newsom vs. AI, and how the United States is stumbling blind into World War. Click here to read the report from the Commission on the National Defense Strategy. Each week on What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, decide what matters and what doesn’t, and enjoy following the story of America and the world more than you do now. For more, check out tabl...
Sep 20, 2024•39 min•Ep. 61
This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss the Harris-Trump debate, Iran selling ballistic missiles to Russia, Europe’s never-ending decline, and how Sept. 11 continues to shape American and world history. Each week on What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, decide what matters and what doesn’t, and enjoy following the story of America and the world more than you do now. For more, check out tabletmag.com/what-really-matters. You can read Walter Russell M...
Sep 13, 2024•45 min•Ep. 60
This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss Joe Biden’s move to block the sale of US Steel, Chinese spies in New York State, the Hamas massacre of Israeli hostages, and the larger meaning of Tucker Carlson’s crank historical revisionism. Each week on What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, decide what matters and what doesn’t, and enjoy following the story of America and the world more than you do now. For more, check out tabletmag.com/what-really-matters...
Sep 06, 2024•37 min•Ep. 59
This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss the arrest of Pavel Durov in France, the revision of U.S. job growth statistics, RFK Jr. and Tuli Gabbard endorsing Donald Trump, and how Benjamin Netanyahu secured his place in Jewish and world history. Each week on What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, decide what matters and what doesn’t, and enjoy following the story of America and the world more than you do now. For more, check out tabletmag.com/what-real...
Aug 30, 2024•31 min•Ep. 58
