TWNW Special: What to Read and Listen to This Summer

In this special episode of The World Next Week, Heather A. Conley, president of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, joins James M. Lindsay and Robert McMahon to discuss the books they recommend reading, the books they’re looking forward to reading, and the podcasts they’re listening to for fun this summer.

Read more about Jim, Bob, and Heather’s picks on Jim’s blog, The Water’s Edge.

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Hosts
  • James M. Lindsay
    Senior Vice President, Director of Studies, and Maurice R. Greenberg Chair
  • Robert McMahon
    Managing Editor
  • Heather Conley

Show Notes

In this special episode of The World Next Week, Heather A. Conley, president of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, joins James M. Lindsay and Robert McMahon to discuss the books they recommend reading, the books they’re looking forward to reading, and the podcasts they’re listening to for fun this summer.

 

Read more about Jim, Bob, and Heather’s picks on Jim’s blog, The Water’s Edge.

 

Jims Picks

Michael Mandelbaum, The Four Ages of American Foreign Policy (2022)

Richard Cohen, Making History: The Storytellers Who Shaped the Past (2021)

Laszlo Montgomery, The China History Podcast, Teacup Media

 

Bobs Picks

Catherine Belton, Putin’s People (2020)

Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, The Love Songs of W.E.B Du Bois (2021)

Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley, Gastropod, Vox Media Podcast Network

 

Heathers Picks

Greg Behrman, The Most Noble Adventure: The Marshall Plan and How America Helped Rebuild Europe (2007)

Patrick Radden Keefe, Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland (2018)

Todd Schulkin, Inside Julia’s Kitchen, Heritage Radio Network

 

Additional Books, Podcasts, and Shows Mentioned on the Podcast

Karen Dawisha, Putin’s Kleptocracy (2014)

Aaron L. Friedberg, Getting China Wrong (2022)

Joseph Marion Jones, The Fifteen Weeks (1965)

Michael Kimmage, The Abandonment of the West (2020)

Sebastian Mallaby, The Power Law (2022)

George Mitchell, Making Peace (1999)

Yascha Mounk, The Great Experiment (2022)

Benn Steil, The Marshall Plan: Dawn of the Cold War (2019)

Ali Wyne, America’s Great-Power Opportunity (2022)

Heather A. Conley, “How Will Biden Handle Russia?” The President's Inbox, December 1, 2020

David Crowther, The History of England

Mike Duncan, The History of Rome

Jamie Jeffers, The British History Podcast

Michael Mandelbaum, “Americas Rise to Power,” The President's Inbox, May 7, 2022

Robin Pierson, The History of Byzantium

Julia, HBO Max (2022)

Australia

The International Atomic Energy Association reports on the nuclear-powered submarines that the United States and the United Kingdom will provide to Australia within the AUKUS alliance; world leaders and defense officials meet in Singapore for Asia’s premier security event– the Shangri-La Dialogue; U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken wraps up his Nordic tour with his final stop in Helsinki, meeting with Finnish officials to discuss North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) priorities; and NATO sends additional troops to Kosovo to respond to ethnically-charged clashes.

Nigeria

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his opponent Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu face off in Turkey’s runoff election; U.S. government leaders contend with a looming deadline to avoid a disastrous default; president-elect Bola Tinubu is sworn in as Nigeria contends with an economic crisis; Evan Gershkovich’s pre-trial detention is extended; and Sudan struggles to find a lasting solution to the conflict between the military and a paramilitary group, exacerbating its humanitarian crisis. 

Syria

The Arab League summit marks the return of Syria and its president, Bashar al-Assad; Japan hosts the leaders of the Group of Seven democracies in Hiroshima, Japan, with concerns over China and Russia at the fore; the UN Security Council discusses sanctions on North Korea amid the country’s missile buildup; and migration slows at the southern U.S. border after the lifting of Title 42.

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United States

The National Guard is a special part of the U.S. military that answers to both state governors and the president. While it began as a “strategic reserve,” the guard has grown into a pivotal partner in military operations.

Pakistan

Sadanand Dhume, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a South Asia columnist for the Wall Street Journal, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss the political, economic, and climate crises roiling Pakistan.