'Skullduggery' political podcast: 'America the Fallen (with Ben Rhodes)' — May 29, 2021
How do we rescue American democracy from the corrupt grip of an extremist party determined to undermine democratic norms and cement minority rule by authoritarian means? This is the problem before us as laid out by Ben Rhodes, the former deputy national security advisor to Barack Obama, co-host of the "Pod Save the World" podcast and author of the new book "After the Fall." Rhodes joins Michael Isikoff, Daniel Klaidman and Victoria Bassetti on this episode to discuss many aspects of domestic and foreign policy, including the conflict between Israel and Palestinians, the global influence of presidents Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, and several of the sweeping legislative proposals before Congress today.
All of this comes on the heels of the failure in the Senate to form an independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection on the Capitol, for which 19 more Senators voted in favor than against but failed to meet the 60-vote threshold to invoke cloture.
GUEST:
Ben Rhodes (@brhodes), former deputy national security advisor to Barack Obama; author
HOSTS:
Michael Isikoff (@Isikoff), Chief Investigative Correspondent, Yahoo News
Daniel Klaidman (@dklaidman), Editor in Chief, Yahoo News
Victoria Bassetti (@VBass), fellow, Brennan Center for Justice (contributing co-host)
RESOURCES:
“Senate Republicans Filibuster Jan. 6 Inquiry Bill, Blocking an Investigation” by Nicholas Fandos (May 28; New York Times)
“Ex-Speaker Ryan to GOP: Reject Trump, ‘2nd-rate imitations’” by Steve Peoples (May 28; Associated Press)
“After the Fall: Being American in the World We’ve Made” by Ben Rhodes (2021; Penguin Random House)
“American Demons: Ben Rhodes’ ‘After the Fall’ Excerpt” (May 26; Atlantic)
“Teshuvah: A Jewish Case for Palestinian Refugee Return” by Peter Beinart (May 11; Jewish Currents)
“U.S. to reimpose sanctions on Belarus after forced diversion of Ryanair flight” by Amy B. Wang (May 28; Washington Post)
“France Suspects Russian Role in Campaign to Discredit Pfizer Vaccine” by Matthew Dalton (May 25; Wall Street Journal)