This blog post is part of AEI’s Best Podcasts of 2021 series. Click here to see other AEI podcast hosts’ favorite episodes of the year.
Although 2021 was not the return to normal that many of us were hoping for, we still looked forward to our weekly podcast recordings and the opportunity to speak to experts, public officials, friends, and colleagues about some of the most important foreign and domestic policy challenges facing America today. From the riots of January 6, new COVID mutations, the emerging battle over critical race theory, and Biden’s Afghanistan withdrawal debacle, this year provided us with a wide range of both interesting and controversial topics that we were fortunate to discuss with our guests.
While
we continued spending a significant amount of time talking about COVID, we also
had the chance to keep up with some of our favorite topics and regions,
interviewing Amb. Ryan Crocker and Frederick Kagan on the Afghanistan
withdrawal; Dr. Allen Guelzo on critical race theory; Amy Walter on the state
of the American politics; Dr. Scott Gottlieb on why America was so unprepared
for the pandemic; what was behind the latest round of violence between Israel
and Hamas; a firsthand account of the tragedy and sacrifice of 9/11; and much
more.
We
hope you enjoyed listening to these episodes as much as we enjoyed recording
them. While it was difficult to pick our top ten episodes this year, below are
a few standouts:
1. WTH is going on LIVE! The Cook Political Report’s Amy Walter on what happened in Virginia’s recent election and what it means for 2022 . . . and 2024 — Episode #125, November 5
Following
Virginia and New Jersey’s highly contested gubernatorial elections, we were grateful
to be joined by Amy Walter, the Editor-in-Chief of the Cook Political Report,
for our first live podcast episode. As one of Washington’s most knowledgeable
political analysts, Amy was the perfect person to speak to about Glenn Youngkin’s
victory in Virginia, voter sentiment one year into Biden’s presidency, the
forces driving American politics, and the upcoming 2022 congressional midterms.
2. WTH was behind our COVID failure? Dr. Scott Gottlieb on his new book “Uncontrolled Spread,” the catastrophic initial response, and the lessons learned from the COVID pandemic — Episode #119, September 29
Since
the start of the pandemic, Dr. Scott Gottlieb has been a frequent guest on the
podcast and has played a crucial role in helping us better understand COVID and
the chaos surrounding it. In this episode, Dr. Gottlieb joined us to discuss
his new book “Uncontrolled Spread: Why COVID-19 Crushed Us and How We Can
Defeat the Next Pandemic.” He also talked about the reality of the Delta
variant and what a future with endemic COVID may look like. With the Omicron
variant spreading across the country now, revisit this episode to learn more
about how we got to where we are today and why America was so unprepared for
this pandemic.
3. WTH is going on 20 years after 9/11? An Afghanistan war veteran who lost his dad in the Twin Towers remembers — Episode #116, September 8
This
September marked 20 years since the attacks of September 11, 2001, which took
the lives of nearly 3,000 innocent people and shook America to its core. To
commemorate the 20th anniversary of the September 11th attacks, Patrick Dowdell
joined the podcast to talk about his father, an FDNY first responder who died
in the Twin Towers, and reflect on his dad’s life and legacy. Patrick served as
a US Army captain both in Iraq and Afghanistan, and our conversation with him
gets to the heart of the true meaning of service, sacrifice, and family.
4. WTH is going on with the retreat from Afghanistan? Amb. Ryan Crocker on America’s betrayal, Biden’s catastrophic withdrawal, and the consequences for US national security — Episode #115, September 1
With
the conclusion of the United States’ evacuation mission in Kabul, Amb. Ryan
Crocker walked us through America’s betrayal of Afghanistan, Biden’s
catastrophic withdrawal, and the consequences for US national security. Grappling
with the debacle and tragedy of the American pullout has been difficult, but as
the former ambassador to Afghanistan, Amb. Crocker offered a unique perspective
on the situation and the “contemptible” US policy decisions surrounding the
withdrawal.
5. WTH is going on with the Taliban takeover? Frederick Kagan on the fall of Kabul, the Afghan army’s role, and Biden’s surrender to the Taliban — Episode #114, August 18
In
the wake of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan and the collapse of the Afghan
government, we talked with our colleague at AEI Frederick Kagan to dig deep
into the why, the how, and the what the hell regarding the fall of Kabul and
what went wrong in Afghanistan. We also talk about how Biden’s decision will
impact al Qaeda and the erroneous claims that the Afghan army is to blame for
the Taliban’s unexpectedly swift victory.
6. WTH is critical race theory? How a philosophy that inspired Marxism, Nazism, and Jim Crow is making its way into our schools, and what we can do — Episode #108, June 23
Seemingly
overnight, debates about whether to teach children critical race theory have
taken hold of state legislatures and school board meetings across the country.
In one of our most popular interviews, Dr. Allen Guelzo rejoined the podcast to
discuss what exactly critical race theory is, its origins, and why is it so
controversial? Dr. Guelzo also outlined how critical race theory is a
philosophy that inspired Marxism, Nazism, and Jim Crow and what we can do to
prevent it from entering our school’s curriculum.
7. WTH is going on with the Covid lab leak theory? Rep. Mike Gallagher on the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the pandemic’s origin and the possible Chinese cover-up — Episode #104, May 26
Rep.
Gallagher has been at the forefront of trying to understand where COVID came
from, and in May, he introduced the COVID-19 Origin Act of 2021, which would
require the Biden Administration to declassify all intelligence and require a
report to Congress surrounding the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) and the
origin of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this
episode, Rep. Mike Gallagher discussed with us the pandemic’s origins and the
growing evidence of a Chinese lab leak and cover-up. Rep. Gallagher also talked
about the Wuhan Institute of Virology’s potential links to US funding through
the EcoHealth Alliance.
8. WTH is going on with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? What’s fueling the fighting, Iran’s role, Biden’s response — Episode #103, May 19
Amid
increasing fighting between Israel and Palestinian terrorist organization
Hamas, Jonathan Schanzer joined the show to discuss what’s fueling the latest
round of violence and how Iran is enabling it. He also talked about the Biden
administration’s response, the role of the Iran nuclear deal, and what it all
means for the future of Arab-Israeli peace. As Jonathan noted, “The United
States, at the end of the day, will be funding both sides of the Israel-Hamas
conflict once it gets back into the Iran deal.”
9. WTH is going on in Beijing? Josh Rogin on how Covid has forever changed the US-China relationship — Episode #93, March 11
On
the one-year anniversary of the World Health Organization declaring Covid-19 a
pandemic, we talked with Josh Rogin about the pandemic’s implications for the
US-China relationship and his new book “Chaos Under Heaven: Trump, Xi, and the
Battle for the Twenty-First Century.” In the interview, we also address how
Biden’s China policy will differ from Trump’s and how Xi Jinping masked
Beijing’s COVID mishandlings at the expense of the rest of the world.
10. WTH is going on in DC? Discussing the Capitol breach, Trump’s rally and the future of the GOP — Episode #84, January 7
Like many of you, we were both
disgusted and disheartened watching the events of January 6 occur on Capitol
Hill. Therefore, we thought it necessary and exigent to use this episode to
reflect on the day’s events and the future of the Republican Party. The
conversation also touches on Trump’s failure to accept the election results,
the GOP Senate losses in Georgia, and what Trump’s actions will mean for his
legacy.
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