What the Hell Is Going On

What the Hell Is Going On

By AEI Podcasts

The American Enterprise Institute’s Danielle Pletka and Marc Thiessen address the questions we’re all asking in their podcast, “What the Hell Is Going On?” In conversational, informative and irreverent episodes, Pletka and Thiessen interview policymakers and experts, asking tough, probing questions about the most important foreign policy and security challenges facing the world today.

02/19/26

WTH Does a Chinese Billionaire Need 100 American Children? Charles Hilu Explains.

Blame it on American individualism or a political aversion to regulation, but the United States has become a striking outlier in its failure to regulate the assisted reproductive technology industry. As a result, individuals from other countries haveRead more

02/12/26

WTH Do We Need Greenland? Alexander Gray Explains.

In addition to the media blitz over Greenland triggered by President Trump, American presidents going back a century have agreed on the strategic importance of the island due to its fundamental geography, proximity, and critical sea lines. China and Read more

02/05/26

WTH Is Going on with the CCP Purge in China? John Garnaut Explains.

Kremlinology has made its way east as analysts try to make sense of dramatic PLA purges under Xi Jinping. The CCP regime appears to be clearing house, but what does it all mean? Should there be a reconsideration of a Taiwan contingency for China? Is Read more

01/29/26

WTH Can’t Putin Afford to Fail in Ukraine? Michael Tory Explains How He Will.

With regime change brewing in Venezuela, Cuba, and Iran, and the Russian war of attrition still marching on, Cold War déjà vu shapes our understanding of what happens when regimes do fall and offers a hopeful conclusion. Former Soviet states that havRead more

01/22/26

WTH Is Christian Zionism? Ralph Reed Has the Gospel.

The so-called “pro-Israel lobby” in Washington, D.C., has long been a target for antisemites and for fringe voices on both sides of the aisle. Contrary to conventional wisdom, however, support for Israel in the United States is not a predominantly JeRead more

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