Sources & Methods

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this week that there's been "some progress" in current negotiations with Iran. But both sides exchanged fire this week, so what gives? Today, host Scott Detrow steps in for Mary Louise Kelly. He speaks with NPR International Correspondent Aya Batrawy and NPR Pentagon Correspondent Tom Bowman about whether these diplomatic efforts can finally break the impasse between the two countries, and why a nuclear deal with Iran feels like déjà vu.  Email the show at [email protected] NPR+ supporters hear every episode without sponsor messages and unlock access to our complete archive. Sign up at plus.npr.org. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

The attack at a mosque in San Diego underscores larger problems: the rise of far right extremism and the rise of Islamophobia. But a new White House document on rising threats make no mention of right-wing extremist groups. Host Mary Louise Kelly speaks with NPR National Security Correspondent Greg Myre and NPR Domestic Extremism Correspondent Odette Yousef about what radicalized the two teens involved in the San Diego attack. They also look into the latest version of the United States Counterterrorism Strategy, which does not list far-right extremism as a threat to Americans. Plus, an update on Iran and Cuba. Email the show at [email protected] NPR+ supporters hear every episode without sponsor messages and unlock access to our complete archive. Sign up at plus.npr.org. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

President Trump visits Chinese leader Xi Jinping for the first time since 2017. What’s changed? And what does each man want from this meeting? Host Mary Louise Kelly speaks with NPR White House Correspondent Franco Ordoñez and NPR China Correspondent Jennifer Pak about Trump's big summit with Chinese leaders in Beijing and how the U.S.-China relationship has evolved since their last meeting.  Email the show at [email protected] NPR+ supporters hear every episode without sponsor messages and unlock access to our complete archive. Sign up at plus.npr.org. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

Laser weapons, advanced drone warfare, and nation states around the globe redefined by climate change: this is the world in 2084, envisioned by authors Jim Stavridis and Elliot Ackerman. Both are veterans -- Ackerman, a former Marine, did five tours in Iraq and Afghanistan; Stavridis is a retired four-star admiral and a former supreme allied commander of NATO. Their novel 2084 is the third in a trilogy. They compare their work to cold war fiction like Dr. Strangelove -- stories that imagined disasters specifically so society would work to avoid them. In this episode, they unpack what dangers they see on the distant horizon.  Email the show at [email protected] NPR+ supporters hear every episode without sponsor messages and unlock access to our complete archive. Sign up at plus.npr.org. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

We unpack a week of whiplash in the Iran war, with the President quickly calling off an effort to take control of the Strait of Hormuz, citing progress on talks. But a blockade remains.  Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman and Moscow correspondent Charles Maynes discuss the shifting messages and what's happening diplomatically behind the scenes. Plus -- why ceasefires between Moscow and Kiev fell apart, and how modern warfare and prior assumptions have made it possible for countries like Iran and Ukraine to take on larger, more powerful adversaries in the U.S. and Russia.  Email the show at [email protected] NPR+ supporters hear every episode without sponsor messages and unlock access to our complete archive. Sign up at plus.npr.org. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

National security, unlocked. Each Thursday, host Mary Louise Kelly and a team of NPR correspondents discuss the biggest national security news of the week.  With decades of reporting from battlefields and the halls of power, they bring you inside the Pentagon, State Department, and intelligence community to help you understand America's shifting role in the world, and how events in faraway places matter here at home. Additional episodes feature interviews with power players from the NatSec world -- current and former military officials, intelligence experts, diplomatic leaders, and more.  Email the show at [email protected].  NPR+ supporters hear every episode sponsor-free and can access our complete archive. Learn more and support public media at plus.npr.org. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy