Category: Briefings

The US and 21 Allies Call For a Lebanon-Israel Ceasefire Which Netanyahu Rejected

We begin with the US and 21 allies calling for a ceasefire across the Israel-Lebanon border which Prime Minister Netanyahu promptly rejected saying that Israel will keep hitting Hezbollah with “full force and we will not stop until we achieve all our goals.” Joining us is Steven Simon, a Senior Research Fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft who served on the National Security Council as senior director for counterterrorism in the Clinton White House and as senior director for the Middle East and North Africa in the Obama White House. He is a Distinguished Fellow and Professor at Dartmouth College and his latest book is Grand Delusion: The Rise and Fall of American Ambition in the Middle East and he warned in the New York Times in July that only a strong U.S. ‘no’ could stop Israel from launching a war in Lebanon.

New York’s Mayor Charged with Bribery, Wire Fraud and Seeking Illegal Campaign Donations

Then with indictments handed down today by the SDNY charging New York Mayor Eric Adams with bribery, wire fraud and seeking illegal campaign donations, we speak with James Zirin, a former federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York and the host of the critically acclaimed television talk show, Conversations with Jim Zirin, which airs on PBS. He is the author of Supremely Partisan: How Raw Politics Tips the Scales in the United States Supreme Court and Plaintiff in Chief: A Portrait of Donald Trump in 3500 Lawsuits. He is a contributing editor at The Washington Monthly and regular contributor to The Hill.

How J.D. Vance and His Backers Plan to Legislate Morality

Then finally we examine how former VP Mike Pence’s religiosity is tame by comparison to J.D. Vance who appears to be a part of the Opus Dei shadowy network behind the far-right capture of the Supreme Court and Project 2025. Joining us to discuss Vance and his backer’s plan to legislate morality is Dr. Bradley Onishi, a scholar of religion and cohost of the Straight White American Jesus podcast. He is the Founder of the Institute for Religion Media and Civic Engagement and he is the author of a number of books, the latest of which is Preparing for War: The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism—and What Comes Next, just out in paperback.