logo
episode-header-image
Dec 2024
51m 24s

614. Is the U.S. Sleeping on Threats fro...

Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher
About this episode
John J. Sullivan, a former State Department official and U.S. ambassador, says yes: “Our politicians aren’t leading — Republicans or Democrats.” He gives a firsthand account of a fateful Biden-Putin encounter, talks about his new book "Midnight in Moscow", and predicts what a second Trump term means for Russia, Ukraine, China — and the U.S. 
Up next
Mar 27
668. Do Taylor Swift and Bad Bunny Have Blood on Their Hands?
As one researcher told us: “We’ve engineered a world where the most distracting device ever made is also the one we use to listen to music in the car." A new study tries to measure the cost. SOURCES: Bapu Jena, economist, physician, and professor at Harvard Medical School. Chris ... Show More
53m 58s
Mar 25
In a Driverless World, Who Loses and Who Wins?
In blue cities across the country, unions and politicians want to ban self-driving cars. In this episode from the Search Engine podcast, PJ Vogt visits Boston to sort the facts from the propaganda. (Part two of a two-part series.) SOURCES: Carl Richardson, ADA coordinator for the ... Show More
1h 5m
Mar 20
Are Human Drivers Finally Obsolete?
How a secret project at Google led to driverless cars on American roads. Freakonomics Radio shares a story from our friends at Search Engine. (Part one of a two-part series.) SOURCES: Alex Davies, author of Driven: The Race To Create the Autonomous Car. Chris Urmson, co-founder a ... Show More
1h 11m
Recommended Episodes
Jul 2025
'KGB Have You By The Balls!' Trump vs Putin | War + Tariffs With Jeffrey Sachs
President Trump has clearly run out of patience with Putin, reducing his 50-day deadline to end the war in Ukraine to little more than a week. The penalty will be severe tariffs, which the US says will hammer the Russian economy. Yet Russia’s economy is actually growing because o ... Show More
54m 51s
Feb 2024
The Romance Between The American Right, Russia And Putin
For half a century, during the Cold War, every U-S president painted Russia as the dominant threat. America's ideological opposite, a hostile and nuclear-armed power. Ronald Reagan went so far as to call the Soviet Union an Evil Empire.So the events of recent days have been notew ... Show More
12m 57s
Dec 2024
Exclusive: Russia Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov Describes the War With the US and How to End It
Russia’s longtime foreign minister describes the war with the United States and how to end it. (00:00) Is the US at War With Russia? (12:56) Russia’s Message to the West Through Hypersonic Weapons (17:47) Is There Conversation Happening Between Russia and the US? (23:18) How Man ... Show More
1h 24m
Nov 2024
Andrei Kelin: Is Vladimir Putin reshaping geopolitics?
Stephen Sackur speaks to Russia’s ambassador in London, Andrei Kelin. Thanks to the war in Ukraine and allegations of Russian hybrid warfare in Europe and beyond, diplomatic relations between Moscow and the West are poisonous. Is Vladimir Putin right to think he’s reshaping geopo ... Show More
22m 58s
May 2018
Why Putin Matters
<p>On The Gist, the mainstream media is too buttoned-up when describing the Trump administration's shenanigans.</p> <p>There is no Russian Federation as we know it without Vladimir Putin. Former Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul explains how parts of Russian society are eager f ... Show More
31m 56s
Aug 2025
“A War For SURVIVAL” Trump To Secure Putin Peace Deal? With Dave Smith & Bill Browder
President Trump will meet President Putin at an historic summit in Alaska on Friday - the first meeting with a US president since the Russian leader invaded Ukraine, representing what could be the biggest chance yet of ending three and a half years of war. However, Ukrainian pres ... Show More
53m 36s
Sep 2024
Why Russians are still backing Putin
<p>Ukraine’s incursion into the Kursk region of Russia represented another sign that Vladimir Putin’s invasion is not going to plan. But numerous setbacks, and the sanctions regime imposed by the west, have so far failed to loosen the Russian leader’s grip on power. Gideon discus ... Show More
28m 47s
Aug 2025
White House Envoy In Moscow, MAGA Split On Gaza, Redefining The Attorney General Role
White House envoy Steve Witkoff is in Moscow to meet with Vladimir Putin, days before President Trump's deadline for Russia to end the war in Ukraine or face sanctions. Some of the President's core supporters are expressing disagreement with President Trump on issues from Gaza to ... Show More
13m 10s
Aug 2025
80 Years After Hiroshima and Nagasaki, New Nuclear Threats Emerge
President Donald Trump is set to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska this week to discuss a potential end to the war in Ukraine (which Russia started.) To call the meeting ‘high stakes’ would be an understatement — already critics are warning of the potential for ... Show More
22m 37s