Refuge and Security: Why Should Immigration be a Foreign Policy Priority? with Krish O'Mara Vignarajah
Immigration is often framed as a domestic political fight — about borders, jobs, identity, and security. But America’s immigration choices a...
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The Burn Bag Podcast
The *hottest* national security and foreign policy podcast featuring conversations with leading policy practitioners, thinkers, and leaders. In each episode, we open up a 'burn bag' to break...
Episodes
20 of 364 episodes
The Dissident's Dilemma: Case Studies of Moral Courage in an Age of Authoritarianism with Gal Beckerman
In this episode of The Burn Bag, Gal Beckerman joins us to explore what it means to be a dissident in an age of conformity, fear, and author...
Violence as an Epidemic: From Community Harm to War and Authoritarianism with Dr. Gary Slutkin
In this episode, The Burn Bag speaks with Dr. Gary Slutkin, a physician, epidemiologist, former World Health Organization official, and foun...
Rethinking China: Could Washington be Getting Beijing Wrong? w/ Zhengyu Huang
In this episode of The Burn Bag Podcast, A’ndre Gonawela sits down with Zhengyu Huang — former President of the Committee of 100 and author...
Data Centers as Targets: What Happens if the Cloud and AI Infrastructure gets Hit? with Morgan Plummer
For decades, wars targeted oil fields, pipelines, ports, and power grids. But in March 2026, that logic appeared to change when Iranian stri...
Fuels, Ports, and Power: How South Asia's Smaller States are Navigating Crisis, with Nilanthi Samaranayake
As geopolitical tensions spill into the Indian Ocean, smaller states in South Asia are finding themselves on the frontlines of crises they d...
Global (Dis)Order: America and the Future of the International System with Dr. Mira Rapp-Hooper
In this episode of the Burn Bag Podcast, A'ndre Gonawela is joined by Mira Rapp-Hooper, a Visiting Senior Fellow at the Brookings Insti...
Iran After Khamenei: Vali Nasr on the New Supreme Leader and Tehran's War Strategy
Who is Mojtaba Khamenei — Iran's new Supreme Leader? Who was the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei? In this episode of the Burn Bag Podcast, A’ndr...
Fmr. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper on the Iran War's First Week
As the war between the United States, Israel, and Iran escalates following the February 28 strikes, former U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Es...
War With Iran: The Ayatollah's Death, Trump's Gamble, and the Gulf Under Fire with fmr. NSC Senior Director Javed Ali
In this episode of The Burn Bag , A’ndre Gonawela sits down with former NSC Senior Director Javed Ali to unpack the rapidly escalating crisi...
The Iran Crisis: The Protests, the Ayatollah's Crackdown, and Trump's Decision with Alex Vatanka
Iran is at a critical juncture as it faces a wave of nationwide protests driven by economic strain, political frustration, and societal exha...
Syria After Assad: The SDF Transition and Ahmed al-Sharaa's Strategy with Charles Lister
Syria is at a pivotal moment. After the fall of Bashar al-Assad, the country’s new leadership under President Ahmed al-Sharaa is working to...
Russia’s Gambit: Moscow’s Middle East Strategy After Syria and Iran, with Dr. Iulia Joja
In this episode of The Burn Bag , A’ndre Gonawela is joined by Dr. Iulia Joja , Senior Fellow at the Middle East Institute, to examine Russi...
Venezuela After Maduro: Democracy or Regime Management? with Tony Frangie Mawad
In Part Two of this conversation on Venezuela, The Burn Bag turns to the present — and the shockwaves following U.S. strikes and the arrest...
How Venezuela Got Here: Chávez, Maduro, and the Making of an Authoritarian State with Tony Frangie Mawad
In this episode of The Burn Bag , host A’ndre Gonawela is joined by Tony Frangie Mawad, a Venezuela-based journalist and political scientist...
The Nuclear Threshold: Diplomacy, Deterrence, and Disarmament featuring Alexandra Bell
In the final episode of The Nuclear Threshold , A’ndre speaks with Alexandra Bell , President & CEO of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists...
The Nuclear Threshold: Who Really Decides on Nuclear Launch? featuring Dr. Steve Fetter
In the second installment of The Nuclear Threshold mini-series, we turn from missile defense to the human side of nuclear risk — the people,...
The Nuclear Threshold: Will Missile Defense Systems Really Save Us? featuring Dr. Laura Grego
The Nuclear Threshold is a three-part Burn Bag mini-series exploring how deterrence, defense, and diplomacy shape nuclear risk in the 21st c...
The Gaza Ceasefire: Amb. Dennis Ross on Trump's Middle East Diplomacy, Israel, and Hamas
As the fragile Gaza ceasefire wavers amid renewed airstrikes and mutual accusations of violations, President Donald Trump insists that “noth...
Best of: Dr. Anthony Fauci on Pandemics, Public Health, and a Lifetime in Public Service
RE-RELEASE: This episode was originally released in February 2025. In this episode, Dr. Anthony Fauci joins A'ndre for an in-depth conv...