Best Another Europe is Possible Podcasts (2025)

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What a Stronger Europe Means for America 53:46

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6d ago53:46

53:46

For years, U.S. presidents have complained that European governments spend far too little on their militaries, leaving the United States to pick up a disproportionate share of the tab for the transatlantic alliance. But in the past few years, Europe’s defense spending has exploded. At the NATO summit last week, U.S. allies committed to spending fiv…

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How Weak Is Iran? 1:05:35

13d ago1:05:35

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Donald Trump pledged not to entangle the United States in wars in the Middle East. But last weekend, he joined Israel’s air campaign against Iran, bombing three nuclear sites before claiming that Iranian facilities targeted by U.S. aircraft and missiles had been “obliterated.” Iran responded by firing missiles at U.S. bases in the region just befor…

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106: What would an alternative "strategic defence review" look like? 44:00

14d ago44:00

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To much fanfare, Britain has announced yet another "strategic" defence review - the fifth that a UK Government has undertaken in the last 15 years. The peculiar thing, however, is that despite the frequency of these reviews, they have a strong tendency to assert continuity over change. This is certainly the narrative of the present UK Government's …

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Iran, Israel, and the Middle East in Tumult 1:01:22

21d ago1:01:22

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Less than a week ago, on June 12, Israel launched a barrage of attacks against Iran, targeting nuclear sites, missile depots, and military and political leaders. Since then, the two countries have exchanged a series of attacks. Philip Gordon is the Sydney Stein, Jr. Scholar at the Brookings Institution and a longtime observer and analyst of the Mid…

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What Trump Gets Wrong About the Global Economy 57:21

27d ago57:21

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U.S. President Donald Trump famously tweeted during his first term, “Trade wars are good, and easy to win.” But the record of the trade war that Trump started with his so-called Liberation Day tariffs in early April suggests that things are a bit more complicated. In an essay for Foreign Affairs appropriately titled, “Trade Wars Are Easy to Lose,” …

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Another China Is Possible 56:09

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It has become a trope to lament and lambast the wishful thinking that shaped U.S. policy toward China in the two decades after the Cold War. That policy rested on a prediction about China’s future: that with economic growth and ongoing diplomatic, economic, and cultural engagement—with the United States and the rest of the world—China would become …

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Sudan’s Intractable War 46:24

1M ago46:24

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The war in Sudan gets only a fraction of the attention that conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza and potential conflicts elsewhere get. But after two years of fighting, it has created the biggest humanitarian crisis ever recorded. And as the two sides in the conflict, the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, vie for control of the country a…

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Can Trump Remake the Middle East? 54:13

2M ago54:13

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Donald Trump just finished his first tour of the Middle East since returning to the White House. The region has changed a lot since he was last there as president. There’s been Hamas’s attack on Israel, the ensuing Israeli retaliation, the weakening of Iran and its proxies, and the fall of the Assad regime in Syria. Trump used the visit to announce…

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Following the Clues of the Universe by Alister McGrath 12:24

2M ago12:24

12:24

Can Sherlock Holmes help us find meaning in life? Detective stories and murder mysteries hint at how to make sense of our world.By Plough

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Has the United States Gone Rogue? 47:21

2M ago47:21

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In a little more than 100 days, Donald Trump has set about dismantling much of the international order that has prevailed since World War II. That’s true of traditional U.S. approaches to trade, to conflict, alliances, international organizations, and more. But as much as we focus on Trump, Michael Beckley argues that much of this change in U.S. fo…

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Passing On the Farm to My Daughter by James Rebanks 17:09

2M ago17:09

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A record-breaking bull showed that my seventeen-year-old is ready to start taking my place.By Plough

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Understanding How Trump Sees the World 42:11

2M ago42:11

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Donald Trump’s first National Security Strategy, released at the end of 2017, announced the start of a new era for American foreign policy—one that put great-power competition at its center and focused especially on intensifying rivalry with China. For all the dissension and turbulence in American politics since then, that framework for American fo…

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Warehouse Workers of Paris Find Their Voice by Benoît Gautier 25:42

2M ago25:42

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In de-industrializing France, a shuttle bus is workers’ last link to stability.By Plough

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Planning for a Post-American Future in Ukraine 36:00

2M ago36:00

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Donald Trump famously promised to end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours of returning to the White House. But he is just over 100 days into his presidency, and the war is certainly not over. With Kyiv opposed to territorial concessions, and with Russia’s military campaign showing no signs of slowing down, the Trump administration has threatened to …

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Stanley Hauerwas’s Provocations by Tish Harrison Warren 19:00

2M ago19:00

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America’s theologian isn’t worried about the death of cultural Christianity.By Plough

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Why Trump’s Tariffs Won’t Fix Global Trade 57:35

3M ago57:35

57:35

Donald Trump’s embrace of tariffs should come as no surprise. For decades, he has claimed that other countries are ripping Americans off—and promised to use tariffs to remake a global trade system that, in his view, has been deeply unfair to the United States. But almost no one anticipated a trade and tariff policy as extreme and erratic as the one…

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Building Solidarity in Europe’s Gig Economy by Ben Wray 20:21

3M ago20:21

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Food-delivery bike riders in London, Berlin, and Copenhagen are pushing back against their algorithmic bosses.By Plough

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Why America Shouldn’t Underestimate Chinese Power 1:02:02

3M ago1:02:02

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For years in U.S. foreign policy circles, discussions of China focused on its growing wealth, power, and ambition, and the fear that it would supplant the United States. But a few years ago, the conversation took a sharp turn. Rather than fixating on China’s rise, most analysis began to focus on the country’s stagnation and even decline. There were…

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In the Holy Land, Seeking the Solace of the Cross by Stephanie Saldaña 8:42

3M ago8:42

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In a year wracked by violence, I remember the crucifixion to find comfort.By Plough

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How Latin America Can Survive an Age of Turmoil 46:33

3M ago46:33

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For decades, it has been a trope of foreign policy commentary in the United States that Washington does not pay enough attention to its own hemisphere. But the Trump administration seems to be bucking this trend—though not exactly in the way those complaining about neglect might have wanted. President Donald Trump’s campaign spent a lot of time foc…

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The Quest to Emancipate Labor by Peter Mommsen 30:38

3M ago30:38

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Why do we work? The dream of a truly human economy spans millennia, from Genesis to Marx to Martin Luther King.By Plough

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Deerassic Park by Tim Maendel 14:20

3M ago14:20

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A high-school science teacher and his students practice conservation in the woods and ponds of upstate New York.By Plough

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Where Is the U.S.-China Relationship Headed? 52:13

3M ago52:13

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Two months into U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term, the U.S.-Chinese relationship—the most consequential one in the world by a long stretch—faces new uncertainty. Trump has threatened larger tariffs as China has continued its military buildup and activities in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea. But Trump has also focused his ire on allie…

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Sister Penelope in Expectation by Grace Hamman 20:40

4M ago20:40

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The mysterious friend of C. S. Lewis teaches how to know and be known in Christ.By Plough

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Should I Read Scary Fairy Tales to My Child? by Stephanie Ebert 15:39

4M ago15:39

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My kids already know the world is not safe. Will dragons and goblins make it worse?By Plough

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What Does Trump See in Putin? 56:42

4M ago56:42

56:42

Not even two months into his second term, U.S. President Donald Trump is reshaping U.S.-Russian relations at a critical juncture for the war in Ukraine. As Russian President Vladimir Putin presses his advantage on the battlefield, Trump’s admiration for the Russian leader, and his push for warmer relations with Moscow, is raising alarms across Euro…

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105: The Care economy: bringing wellbeing back into our politics 33:22

4M ago33:22

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In an age of war and permanent crisis, is it all too easy to forget the fundamentals? How do we look after each other, care for one another and create economies that prioritise our human development? In this podcast, Seema Syeda and Zoe Williams welcome back Tim Jackson to talk about his new book, The Care Economy (Polity 2025). Going back to the p…

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Teaching the One Percent by Dhananjay Jagannathan 15:57

4M ago15:57

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Dhananjay Jagannathan defends the spiritual worth of liberal education at Columbia University.By Plough

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Jesus Changes Everything: An Afternoon with Stanley Hauerwas 1:07:22

4M ago1:07:22

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For decades, Stanley Hauerwas has been provoking Christians with his insistence that if they would only follow their Master, it would impact all areas of life, from the personal to the societal. In his new book, *Jesus Changes Everything*, his timely and prophetic voice speaks to another generation of followers of Jesus tired of religion as usual. …

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Tell an Old Story for Modern Times by Lisabeth Button 26:26

4M ago26:26

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A Bruderhof teacher applies lessons from her mentors and Homer in her classroom and beyond.By Plough

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Where Does Ukraine Go From Here? 47:37

4M ago47:37

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After three years of war, Ukraine is facing intense pressure from Donald Trump to reach a settlement with Russia. Trump has engaged directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin while calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a dictator. His administration has sidelined European allies while joining a handful of Russian partners in voting aga…

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104: A far right Davos? The inside story on London's Arc conference 38:45

4M ago38:45

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The drift of the global billionaire oligarchy to the radical right is quickening its pace. The Arc conference - billed as a "far right Davos" and with ticket prices to match - recently descended on London, and was joined by the various luminaries and politicians from the British right. On this podcast, Zoe Williams and Luke Cooper are joined by Ste…

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Why We’re Failing to Pass on Christianity by Benjamin Crosby 20:35

4M ago20:35

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How do you teach Christian basics to those who think they know all about it?By Plough

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Bonus: Is America on the Path to Authoritarianism? 45:06

5M ago45:06

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A month into U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term in office, many are alarmed by what they see as emerging signs of democratic erosion. In a new essay, called “The Path to American Authoritarianism,” the scholars Steven Levitsky and Lucan Way make the case that such alarm is justified—that the administration’s early moves could herald an irrev…

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The School that Escaped to the Alps by Marianne Wright 23:28

5M ago23:28

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Faced with a Nazi takeover, the first Bruderhof school took refuge in Liechtenstein.By Plough

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What Happened to Bidenomics? 47:41

5M ago47:41

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From record-low unemployment to strong GDP growth, the Biden administration presided over what appeared to be a strong economic recovery in the aftermath of the pandemic. But these measures masked a more complex reality, argues Jason Furman in a new essay in Foreign Affairs. That reality, in his view, should reshape debates about economic strategie…

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Does Teaching Literature and Writing Have a Future? by Phil Christman 26:23

5M ago26:23

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Learning that one’s job might soon be eliminated by the emergence of an overhyped new technology puts one in good company.By Plough

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Why I Became a Firefighter by Brit Frazier 16:53

5M ago16:53

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A priest joins her local volunteer fire department.By Plough

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Putin’s Fight Won’t End With Ukraine 48:32

5M ago48:32

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After nearly three years of war, the mood among many of Ukraine’s allies has turned grim. Russian forces are making steady gains; Kyiv is running low on ammunition; and the return of Donald Trump to the White House has only added to anxieties about the conflict, casting doubt over not only the future of American military aid, but also the prospect …

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Schools for Philosopher-Carpenters by Alex Sosler 22:37

5M ago22:37

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A new crop of innovative schools encourages all students to use their minds and their hands.By Plough

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103: Ukraine in 2025: what now? 45:31

6M ago45:31

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With the return of Donald Trump in the White House - and his insistence that Kyiv and Moscow strike a peace deal "in 24 hours - huge uncertainty now hangs over the future of Ukraine's democracy and freedom. In this podcast, Luke Cooper and Zoe Williams discuss the huge challenges and hardships Ukraine has experienced in the war, drawing on insights…

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Educating for Freedom by Peter Mommsen 26:49

6M ago26:49

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Peter Mommsen asks whether our society has lost sight of how to raise young humans.By Plough

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How Will the World Navigate Trump’s Return? 51:17

6M ago51:17

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With Donald Trump about to return to the White House, leaders around the world are bracing for what could be a significant realignment in U.S. foreign policy—and trying to prepare their own country’s response. In a special two-part episode, Foreign Affairs Editor Dan Kurtz-Phelan speaks with two policymakers who have grappled directly with the disr…

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The PloughRead: An Exodus From China by Pan Yongguang 14:21

6M ago14:21

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Pan Youngguang describes how his persecuted house church chooses to flee together as a community.By Plough

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Bonus: In the Room With Xi Jinping 51:13

6M ago51:13

51:13

The United States’ relationship with China has scarcely been so contentious. Over the last several years, the two powers have butted heads over issues including trade and technology, Russia’s war on Ukraine, and Beijing’s belligerence in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait. Nicholas Burns has helped oversee Washington’s response to these risi…

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The PloughRead: Paraguayans Don’t Read by Santiago Ramos 31:55

6M ago31:55

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Santiago Ramos points out that in a dictatorship, literature nurtures freedom. In a democracy, does it matter?By Plough

Another Europe Is Possible Podcasts