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The Lawfare Podcast

by The Lawfare Institute · English · News

The Lawfare Podcast features discussions with experts, policymakers, and opinion leaders at the nexus of national security, law, and policy. On issues from foreign policy, homeland security, intelligence, and cybersecurity to governance and law, we have doubled down on seriousness at a time when oth

New episodes: Daily
Typical length: 57 min
Latest: 14 Oct 2026
Language: English

Latest episode

14 Oct 2026 · 56 minNew

Lawfare Daily: The Spy Who Changed the Cold War in the Middle East

Senior Editor Michael Feinberg sits down with author and journalist Ben Macintyre to discuss his new book, “ Redwood: The Untold Story of the Cold War's Most Extraordinary Spy ,” which details a little known intelligence coup from the Cold War that changed the strategies of great powers in the Middle East. To receive ad-free podcasts, become a Lawfare Material Supporter at www.patreon.com/lawfare . You can also support Lawfare by making a one-time donation at https://givebutter.com/lawfare-institute . Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/lawfare . Hosted on Acast. See…

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Earlier episodes 29 most recent

13 Oct 2026 · 1 hr 41 minNew
Lawfare Daily: The Trials of the Trump Administration, October 9th
Benjamin Wittes is joined by Anna Bower, Roger Parloff, Molly Roberts, and Eric Columbus for a fast-moving tour of the week’s most important Trump-era litigation. They break down the CNN v. Trump press-pool case and why Judge Kelly may be headed for a due-process ruling; the twin Harvard cases over grants and visas, where Paul Clement makes a forceful First Amendment argument; and the FTC’s campaign against NewsGuard, which could reshape how media ratings survive government pressure. You can find information on legal challenges to Trump administration actions here . And check out Lawfare ’s…
12 Oct 2026 · 38 minNew
Lawfare Archive: Energy Security, Data Centers, and AI
From November 18, 2024: Christie Hicks, the Managing Attorney overseeing Earthjustice's Clean Energy Program, and Mandy DeRoche, a Deputy Managing Attorney in Earthjustice's Clean Energy Program, join Kevin Frazier, Senior Research Fellow in the Constitutional Studies Program at the University of Texas at Austin and a Tarbell Fellow at Lawfare , to explore the intersection of environmental law and national security as the Biden administration prioritizes AI development. Drawing on the extensive experience of Christie and Mandy in utility regulation and environmental advocacy, they…
11 Oct 2026 · 1 hr 8 min
Lawfare Archive: President Trump’s Peace Plan for Gaza
From October 2, 2025: In a live conversation on October 1, Lawfare Senior Editor Scott R. Anderson spoke to Managing Director at S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace Joel Braunold about President Trump’s proposed peace plan for Gaza and what it means for the future of Iraeli-Palestinian relations. To receive ad-free podcasts, become a Lawfare Material Supporter at www.patreon.com/lawfare . You can also support Lawfare by making a one-time donation at https://givebutter.com/lawfare-institute . Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/lawfare . Hosted on Acast. See…
10 Oct 2026 · 1 hr 27 min
Lawfare Archive: National Security and the 2024 Election, Election Management
From September 16, 2024: On Sept. 24, Lawfare Editor-in-Chief Benjamin Wittes moderated a panel discussion featuring Lawfare Senior Editor and Brookings Fellow Scott R. Anderson, Lawfare Senior Editor and Brookings Senior Fellow Molly Reynolds, Lawfare Senior Editor and Brookings Fellow Quinta Jurecic, Lawfare Senior Editor Anna Bower, and Professor of Law at Stanford Law School Nate Persily. The panel discussed how Congress has prepared for the 2024 election, including the passage of the Electoral Count Reform Act of 2022, how the government and social media companies are addressing…
9 Oct 2026 · 1 hr
Lawfare Daily: The U.S. Withdrawal from Iraq and the Future of the Iraq-U.S. Relationship
For today’s episode, Lawfare Senior Editor Scott R. Anderson sits down with Dr. Omar Mohammed, a senior researcher with the Program on Extremism at The George Washington University and the author of the blog Mosul Eye, which anonymously documented life under ISIS control in Iraq; Amb. Doug Silliman, President of the Arab Gulf States Institute and a former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq; and Victoria Taylor, Director of the Iraq Initiative and the Syria Project at the Atlantic Council and a former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Iraq and Iran at the U.S. Department of State. They discuss the recent…
8 Oct 2026 · 1 hr 22 min
Rational Security: The “Too Much Molly” Edition
This week, Scott sat down with Lawfare Editor in Chief and cohost emeritus Benjamin Wittes, Lawfare Senior Editor Molly Roberts, and Vice President and Director of Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution Molly Reynolds to talk through the week’s big news in national security, including: “Pocket Change.” Late on Friday, September 25, the White House sent Congress an $810 million “pocket rescission”—a request to cancel already-appropriated federal funding, timed so the money will expire at the end of the fiscal year on September 30, before the 45 days Congress has to review the…
8 Oct 2026 · 41 min
Lawfare Daily: Gulf Countries Hedging Amid Iran War Debacle
Lawfare Public Service Fellow Julia Curlee talks with former CIA analyst Shawn Howard and Ariane Tabatabai of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs about Shawn’s new Foreign Policy essay on how the Gulf states are coping with a war they didn’t start. They discuss why U.S. protection has made the Gulf states targets, how Tehran sees them, Iran’s strikes on the mediators, the possibility of a UAE side deal, and what a post-midterm return to U.S. bombing would mean for the region. Mentioned in this episode: Shawn A. Howard, “ Gulf States Are Hedging and Suffering ,” Foreign Policy Julia Curlee…
7 Oct 2026 · 53 min
Lawfare Daily: ‘Crossing the Red Line’ in Gaza with Akbar Shahid Ahmed
On today’s episode, Lawfare Managing Editor Tyler McBrien sits down with Akbar Shahid Ahmed, the diplomatic correspondent at The Washington Sun, to discuss Ahmed’s new book “ Crossing the Red Line: Biden, His Advisors, and Israel's War in Gaza .” They talk about the top officials in the administration who drove Biden’s Gaza policy, how the war quickly became a moral and strategic disaster, and what the heavy civilian death toll might augur for the future. To receive ad-free podcasts, become a Lawfare Material Supporter at www.patreon.com/lawfare . You can also support Lawfare by making a…
6 Oct 2026 · 49 min
Lawfare Daily: A Progress Report on the War on Terrorism with Peter Bergen
Lawfare Foreign Policy Editor Daniel Byman sits down with Peter Bergen, author of “ All the Presidents' Wars: Twenty-Five Years of America's War on Terror ,” to discuss counterterrorism in the 25 years after 9/11, reviewing the many mistakes the United States and al-Qaeda made, as well as some of the surprising successes. Peter also draws lessons from the war in Iran today for how to better respond to a future terrorist attack. To receive ad-free podcasts, become a Lawfare Material Supporter at www.patreon.com/lawfare . You can also support Lawfare by making a one-time donation at…
5 Oct 2026 · 1 hr 40 min
Lawfare Daily: The Trials of the Trump Administration, October 2
In a conversation on YouTube , Lawfare Executive Editor Natalie Orpett sat down with Senior Editors Scott R. Anderson, Anna Bower, Eric Columbus, Molly Roberts, and Roger Parloff to discuss a legal challenge addressing the president’s authority to wage the Iran war, litigation over the cancellation of foreign aid funds, the Supreme Court allowing third country removals, Renee Good’s family filing civil suits against the federal government, and more. You can find information on legal challenges to Trump administration actions here . And check out Lawfare ’s new homepage on the litigation ,…
4 Oct 2026 · 52 min
Lawfare Archive: Nayib Bukele's Crackdown on Dissent in El Salvador
From May 20, 2025: El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has made a lot of headlines recently in the United States for his partnership with the Trump administration. Bukele has helped enable President Trump’s scheme to remove supposed Venezuelan gang members from the U.S. under the Alien Enemies Act, housing these detainees in the notorious CECOT prison. In court, the Justice Department has claimed it has no ability to request that Bukele return these detainees to the United States, even after Bukele posed for photos next to Trump in the Oval Office. The use of CECOT is key to the Trump…
3 Oct 2026 · 1 hr 14 min
Lawfare Archive: Reparations for Russia's Aggression Against Ukraine with Markiyan Kliuchkovskyi and Patrick Pearsall
From July 16, 2025: Lawfare Legal Fellow Mykhailo Soldatenko and Lawfare Senior Editor Scott R. Anderson sit down with Markiyan Kliuchkovskyi, Executive Director of the Register of Damage for Ukraine at the Council of Europe and a former legal advisor of the Office of the President of Ukraine, and Patrick Pearsall, Partner at Gibson Dunn and directs the International Claims and Reparations Project at Columbia Law School. Markiyan and Patrick played a key role in proposing and designing Ukraine's reparations strategy soon after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. They discuss how they…
2 Oct 2026 · 1 hr 5 min
Lawfare Daily: The Trump-Xi Summit and U.S.-China AI Competition
Martin Chorzempa is the Dennis Weatherstone Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and a leading U.S. expert on China's economy and tech sector. In this week's episode, Peter and Martin unpack President Trump's September 24 summit with Chinese Leader Xi Jinping, talk about the balance of leverage in the geopolitical and economic relationship, and unpack the countries' differing perspectives on—and approaches to—artificial intelligence. Martin also discusses some of his current research into Chinese open weight AI models, which American companies are using with…
1 Oct 2026 · 1 hr 4 min
Rational Security: The “Techs Appeal” Edition
This week, Scott sat down with his Lawfare colleagues Managing Editor Tyler McBrien and Senior Editors Anna Bower and Michael Feinberg to talk through the week’s big news in national security, including: “Third Country’s the Charm.” On Tuesday, the Supreme Court cleared the way—for the third time—for the Trump administration to resume deporting migrants to “third countries” with which they have no connection, staying a lower court ruling that found the policy unlawful and agreeing to hear the case on the merits in December. The decision comes days after the administration quietly flew a…
1 Oct 2026 · 57 min
Lawfare Daily: The Remaking of the Department of Defense
On today's podcast, Executive Editor Natalie Orpett sits down with Rachel VanLandingham, a professor at Southwestern Law School and a retired Lt. Colonel in the U.S. Air Force, to talk about the many ways in which the Trump administration has been remaking DoD. Some changes are announced loudly—the ban on transgender service members and the so-called “High-T” initiative—while others are taking place through quiet bureaucratic moves, like changes to personnel management. But all are combining to reshape the U.S. armed forces according to a new vision. They talk about how these changes are…
30 Sep 2026 · 47 min
Lawfare Daily: Did Washington Walk Into Beijing’s Trap? Xi’s State Visit with Jonathan Czin
Lawfare Public Service Fellow Julia Curlee sits down with Jonathan Czin, the Michael H. Armacost Chair in Foreign Policy Studies and fellow in the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution, to unpack Xi Jinping’s state visit to Washington, his first in 11 years. The two former CIA and National Security Council colleagues discuss what each side walked away with, including a two-month extension of the trade truce and potential channels on artificial intelligence and military crisis communications. They look at the implications for Taiwan, the war in Iran, and how the loss of…
29 Sep 2026 · 56 min
Lawfare Live: Debriefing the D.C. Circuit's Argument Over Contempt Inquiry
On September 29 at 9:30 a.m. ET, the full D.C. Circuit will hear oral argument over Judge Boasberg's inquiry into whether top Trump administration officials committed criminal contempt when they sent 137 Venezuelans to CECOT, a notorious El Salvador prison. Lawfare Editor in Chief Benjamin Wittes sat down with Senior Editors Anna Bower, Roger Parloff, and Molly Roberts to break down what happened. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/lawfare . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
29 Sep 2026 · 51 min
Lawfare Daily: The Policy Implications of the AI Vibe Shift
Lawfare Senior Editor Kevin Frazier is joined by Scaling Laws co-host Assemblyman Alex Bores of New York, AVERI Director of U.S. Policy Nat Purser, and Institute of Law and AI Managing Director of U.S. Law Mackenzie Arnold to discuss recent developments in the AI risk environment, what led us here, and what comes next for domestic and AI foreign policy. They also touch on other major pieces of AI news including President Trump’s announcement of an “AI Force” and an AI Czar, projections for the September 24 U.S.-China Summit, and other recent developments. If you want to catch up on some of…
28 Sep 2026 · 1 hr 33 min
Lawfare Daily: The Trials of the Trump Administration, September 25
In a conversation on YouTube , Lawfare Senior Editors Anna Bower, Eric Columbus, Molly Roberts, and Roger Parloff discussed the D.C. Circuit rejecting Anthropic’s challenge to the Pentagon’s exclusion of Claude from its supply chain, the Supreme Court allowing the Department of Homeland Security to use the SAVE database with social security information, DHS requesting the Supreme Court allow third country removals, a permanent injunction issued regarding overcrowded immigration detention centers, and more. You can find information on legal challenges to Trump administration actions here .…
27 Sep 2026 · 51 min
Lawfare Archive: Mikhail Zygar on Putin, the Russia-Ukraine War, and Press Freedom
From April 23, 2025: On today's episode, Mikhail Zygar, a renowned Russian journalist living in exile in the U.S. and the author of multiple books on Vladimir Putin, joined Lawfare Associate Editor Olivia Manes to discuss his experience as the founder of one of the last independent Russian media channels, TV Rain. They talked about the incentives underlying Putin's actions in Ukraine, how the Russian president has clamped down on independent journalism, global disillusionment with liberal democracy, and more. To receive ad-free podcasts, become a Lawfare Material Supporter at…
26 Sep 2026 · 37 min
Lawfare Archive: Robert Mahari on Addictive Intelligence, Digital Attachment Disorders, and Other AI-related Concerns
From October 1, 2024: Robert Mahari, a joint JD-PhD candidate at the MIT Media Lab and Harvard Law School, joins Kevin Frazier, Assistant Professor at St. Thomas University College of Law and a Tarbell Fellow at Lawfare , to explain how increased use of AI agents may lead humans to form troublingly and even addictive relationships with artificial systems. Robert also shares the significance of his research on common uses of existing generative AI systems. This interview builds on Robert’s recent piece in the MIT Tech Review , which he co-authored with Pat Pataranutaporn. To receive ad-free…
25 Sep 2026 · 1 hr 2 min
Lawfare Daily: Iran War Update—and How We Got Here
On today's podcast, Executive Editor Natalie Orpett is joined by Ariane Tabatabai and Julia Curlee. Ari is Vice President of Research, Security and Defense at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and a Contributing Editor at Lawfare, and Julia Curlee is a Public Service Fellow at Lawfare. They talk about the war in Iran: where things stand today, and how we got here—including how the gutting of the national security apparatus in Washington affected the way the war is being waged by Tehran. Ari and Julia's Foreign Policy piece is available here:…
24 Sep 2026 · 1 hr 22 min
Rational Security: “The Right Kind of American for Rational Security” Edition
This week, Scott sat down with his Lawfare colleagues Executive Editor Natalie Orpett and Public Service Fellow Julia Curlee to talk through the week’s big news in national security, including: "The Xi-Quel." This week, Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives in Washington for a three-day state visit—his first to the U.S. capital in more than a decade, and the second Trump-Xi summit of 2026 after the president’s own trip to Beijing in May. The pageantry will be considerable: Trump plans to greet Xi personally at Joint Base Andrews, followed by a Rose Garden honor guard, a bilateral meeting, and…
24 Sep 2026 · 34 min
Lawfare Daily: The Houthi War Against Saudi Arabia
For today's episode, Lawfare Foreign Policy Editor Daniel Byman interviews Gregory Johnsen, non-resident fellow at the Arab Gulf State Institute, to discuss the current war in Yemen. The two discuss the latest developments in the war, the reasons for the Houthis' successes so far, the dilemmas facing Saudi Arabia, and why the situation has gone from bad to worse. To receive ad-free podcasts, become a Lawfare Material Supporter at www.patreon.com/lawfare . You can also support Lawfare by making a one-time donation at https://givebutter.com/lawfare-institute . Support this show…
23 Sep 2026 · 1 hr 2 min
Lawfare Daily: Emily Benson on What Economic Security Is, and How We Should Think About It
Emily Benson is the Head of Strategy at Minerva Technology Futures, a strategic consulting firm that advises companies on how geopolitics impacts their business. She has also spent time at CSIS and at the Department of Commerce, and has spent more time thinking about economic statecraft than most of us. Emily joins Lawfare Contributing Editor and host of the Security Economics podcast Peter Harrell to discuss what economic security actually is and how we should think about it. She recently moved to Europe, and that gives her an interesting perspective on the issue, including whether Europe…
22 Sep 2026 · 47 min
Lawfare Daily: Two Appeals Concerning Alien Enemies Act Removals in Apparent Defiance of a Court Order
Lee Gelernt, the chief ACLU litigator on Alien Enemies Act cases, speaks to Senior Editor Roger Parloff about two upcoming DC Circuit arguments he’ll be making relating to the March 15, 2025, removals of 137 Venezuelans under the Alien Enemies Act. In one, the en banc court will grapple with whether to permit Judge James Boasberg to conduct fact-finding on whether to seek contempt charges against high-level Trump administration officials, including current Attorney General Todd Blanche and current U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Emil Bove. To receive ad-free podcasts, become a Lawfare Material…
21 Sep 2026 · 1 hr 38 min
Lawfare Daily: The Trials of the Trump Administration, September 18
In a conversation on YouTube , Lawfare Editor in Chief Benjamin Wittes sat down with Senior Editors Anna Bower, Eric Columbus, Molly Roberts, and Roger Parloff to discuss the First Circuit rejecting the Trump administration’s third country deportation policy, former fugitive ICE agent jailed in Minnesota, oral argument in the Fourth Circuit over the dismissal of the first indictment against James Comey, and more. You can find information on legal challenges to Trump administration actions here . And check out Lawfare ’s new homepage on the litigation , new Bluesky account , and new WITOAD…
20 Sep 2026 · 48 min
Lawfare Archive: Page Hedley and Gad Weiss on OpenAI’s Latest Corporate Governance Pivot
From May 22, 2025: Page Hedley, Senior Advisor at Forecasting Research Institute and co-author of the Not for Private Gain letter urging state attorneys general to stop OpenAI’s planned restructuring, and Gad Weiss, the Wagner Fellow in Law & Business at NYU Law, join Kevin Frazier, AI Innovation and Law Fellow at Texas Law and Senior Editor at Lawfare , and Alan Rozenshtein, Associate Professor at Minnesota Law and Senior Editor at Lawfare , to analyze news of OpenAI once again modifying its corporate governance structure. The group break down the rationale for the proposed modification,…
19 Sep 2026 · 45 min
Lawfare Archive: Conversations from Aspen, Part 1: Shashank Joshi on European Security and Iris Ferguson on the Arctic
From July 23, 2025: For today's episode, Lawfare Senior Editor Scott R. Anderson shares some of the conversations he had with leading policy experts and practitioners on the margins of this year's Aspen Security Forum, which took place last week. First he sat down Shashank Joshi, the Defence Editor for The Economist to discuss the new dynamics surrounding European security, as well as the path toward (and implications of) a Europe less dependent on the United States for its security. Scott then talked with Iris Ferguson of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, who was until…

About The Lawfare Podcast

The Lawfare Podcast is a English news podcast from The Lawfare Institute. Melo plays each episode straight from the publisher's own feed — no ads added, no account needed — and remembers where you stopped, in this browser only.

Publisher: The Lawfare Institute
Language: English
Category: News
New episodes: Daily
Typical length: 57 min
Latest episode: 14 Oct 2026
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