Episode 31: Amb. Michael Guest

Michael Guest is a trailblazer. In 2001 he became the first out-gay senate confirmed United States ambassador. In 2007 his long and distinguished career in the foreign service was cut short when he resigned after failing to secure the kind of benefits and rights for his family that are routinely granted to heterosexual spouses.

Amb. Guest tells Mark about his long career working European and NATO policy during the height of the Cold War and as the Soviet Union disintegrated. He discusses how growing up the son of a Southern Baptist preacher helped shape his worldview and describes his path to the foreign service. They kick off with a discussion of the ways in which the Obama administration has mainstreamed LGBT rights into the US foreign policy and human rights agenda. Have a listen!

Episode 13: Gary Bass

The historian Gary Bass has penned a new book that is getting rave reviews. The Blood Telegram: Nixon, Kissinger and a Forgotten Genocide tells the story of the muted American response to a human rights and humanitarian catastrophe that befell Bangladesh in the wake of its separation from Pakistan in the early 1970s.

Gary and I talk about his story, what made this particular genocide “forgotten”, and how one goes about researching history like this.  Have a listen!

 

 

Episode 3: Dodge Billingsley

dodgeThis week’s guest is the filmmaker Dodge Billingsley. We discuss his new documentary about the political and cultural challenges of Korean unification; his time spent embedded with Chechen rebels; and the movies that that shaped his worldview.

Episode 1: Heather Hurlburt

heather hurlburtExecutive Director of the National Security Network Heather Hurlburt kicks off the new podcast series. She discuses why Syria is a such a vexing dilemma for Obama; how different generations of policy hands drew separate lessons from the Iraq War; why Russian studies ought be back in vogue; and how the Boston Red Sox shaped her worldview. Have a Listen!