The Chicago Council on Global Affairs
419 episodes listed below
Leslie Vinjamuri interviews policy experts on one unfolding foreign-policy story each week.
Deep Dish on Global Affairs examines foreign policy through long, deliberate conversations with scholars, journalists, experts, and thought leaders. Recent episodes move from Iran, Cuba, Lebanon, Japan, and New Delhi to the larger systems shaping war, law, trade, food security, and American power.
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The show is produced by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and hosted by Leslie Vinjamuri, the organization's president and CEO, who conducts nearly all of the interviews herself. Its format is a straightforward one-on-one conversation built around a news-driven question posed in the title, such as whether Japan is entering a new political era or whether the Middle East is heading toward a wider war; a small number of episodes shift to a panel format around events like the Raisina Dialogue in New Delhi. Guests are drawn from academia, journalism, and government service, including a University of Tokyo professor, an Economist correspondent, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel, a former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and war crimes prosecutor, an LSE professor, and a World Food Programme official. Recurring subject matter includes U.S. foreign policy under the Trump administration, the Israel-Iran-Lebanon conflict and its regional escalation risk, European security and NATO burden-sharing, U.S.-China strategic competition, sanctions policy toward Cuba and Iran and their humanitarian consequences, international law and war crimes accountability, and food security as a geopolitical issue. Episodes typically walk through the history and mechanics behind a current event before turning to what it means going forward, often closing on an open question about risk rather than a firm prediction. The tone is analytical and explanatory rather than opinionated or partisan, aimed at contextualizing headlines rather than delivering commentary. New episodes are released weekly, each running roughly 25-35 minutes, with production limited to straight interview audio and no narrative sound design or listener call-in segments evident in the sample. The show benefits listeners who want expert framing of an unfolding crisis rather than breaking-news speed. It suits people who already follow international relations and want a single expert's perspective added to a story they've seen in headlines. It is less suited to listeners looking for opinion-driven debate or multiple competing viewpoints in one episode, given its single-guest structure.
Made for: People who follow international relations and foreign policy and want expert context on a specific unfolding crisis, such as policy professionals, IR students, and current-affairs followers.
What sets it apart: Hosted by the sitting president of a foreign-policy think tank rather than a journalist, giving each episode direct access to academics, diplomats, and former officials analyzing one story at a time rather than a roundtable news-roundup.
Deep Dish on Global Affairs helps you make sense of our rapidly changing world. Join host Leslie Vinjamuri, President and CEO of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, as she speaks with thought leaders, journalists, and experts shaping foreign policy and global events. Together, they go beyond the headlines, explaining how events unfolded, why they matter, and what to watch for. Can global trade survive the shock of Trump's tariffs? What's behind the global race for AI dominance? New episodes every Thursday. Learn more at https://globalaffairs.org/deep-dish
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Expert interviews connect geopolitical shocks to the alliances, laws, supply chains, and humanitarian systems that determine what follows.
Deep Dish on Global Affairs follows breaking conflicts into the institutions, alliances, and economic systems they disturb. Leslie Vinjamuri leads expert interviews with direct questions about consequences: how war with Iran could affect food and energy, what reduced American…
A breaking crisis arrives; Leslie traces its next consequence before you mistake the headline for the whole story.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A sober look at how law tries, and often fails, to restrain war.
The episode follows Louise Arbour through a clear-eyed discussion of whether international law still has the tools to confront modern war. It moves from the post-Cold War push to build norms around accountability and limits on force, through the global war on terror, and into…
A sober look at Cuba where sanctions, scarcity, and regime-change rhetoric collide.
Trump's pressure on Cuba is treated as an immediate policy and humanitarian crisis, with Leslie Vingimori guiding Maria de Los Angeles Torres through the White House options, the sanctions burden, and the worsening shortages of power, food, and water.
A grave geopolitical sweep that turns a regional war into a wider argument about power and stability.
Deep Dish on Global Affairs opens with Israel expanding its campaign into Lebanon and frames a larger question about what follows when outside powers pursue stability in the Middle East through military force.
A war briefing that moves from the Strait of Hormuz to supermarket shelves.
The episode treats the war in Iran as a crisis whose effects are already spilling past the battlefield, from higher gas prices to the slower squeeze on groceries through fertilizer shortages and pressure on farmers.
A steady conversation about India, Iran, and the strain on the global order.
This episode uses the Raisina Dialogue to take stock of a world where diplomacy, trade, multilateralism, and war are all pressing at once. Leslie Vengimori's conversation with Karim Hagag of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute and Harsh Pant of the Observer…
A sober look at escalation, regime change, and the limits of air power.
This episode looks past the daily churn and asks what an endgame might actually mean. Daniel Shapiro, speaking from Tel Aviv, is strongest when he moves from strike-by-strike updates to the harder question of regime change, post-conflict chaos, and why air power is unlikely to…
A measured look at Japan's shifting politics and the regional stakes around them.
Japan's current political moment gives the discussion its pull: the country's first female prime minister, a sweeping Liberal Democratic Party win, and a public mood that stays upbeat even as defense, constitutional change, and the Indo-Pacific remain unsettled.
A sober look at whether Europe can shoulder more of its own defense.
Deep Dish on Global Affairs treats Europe's defense problem as an active policy fight, not an abstract theme. Leslie Vincimori uses Munich to work through burden sharing, the war in Ukraine, and the pressure low growth and domestic strain are putting on collective defense.
Sharp political debate with policy detail and real disagreement.
Matt Gurney and Jen Gerson debate Canadian politics, from Alberta separatism to Ottawa's bureaucracy.
Robert Evans, Katie Stoll, and Cody Johnston build fake conspiracies and mock right-wing media.
Steve Hayes and Dispatch panelists argue through the week's Iran, DOJ, and Supreme Court news.
Jonah Goldberg's solo political rants and author interviews on conservatism, courts, and current events.
John Donvan moderates two-sided debates on AI, bioethics, feminism, and film's future.
International law runs into the wars of the present.
Cuba is under acute pressure.
The war threatens to pull more of the region in.
Iran's war is already spilling outward.
This episode analyzes the shifting U.S.
Just days after the U.S.
The headlines keep coming every few hours.
Deep Dish on Global Affairs examines why Sanai Takayichi, Japan's first female prime minister, has surged to power after a historic Liberal Democratic Party landslide.
This episode analyzes the state of Western alignment and transatlantic tensions at the Munich Security Conference, exploring how internal disagreements are reshaping international security amid global challenges.
Europe is having to rethink old guarantees.
A discussion on whether the 21st century is the Asian century, examining shifts in global power and the implications for US influence.
Host Leslie Vinjamuri discusses the tensions at Davos between the US and its allies, featuring reactions to Trump's remarks and analysis of the global order.
Host Leslie Vinjamuri discusses U.S.
An expert discussion on the ongoing protests in Iran, their historical context, and potential implications for the country's future.
This episode discusses Europe's security concerns, including Trump's Greenland comments and Ukraine peace talks, with defence editor Shashank Joshi.
Host Leslie Vinjamuri discusses the first year of Trump's second term and its impact on global foreign policy with columnist Jonathan Friedland.
An interview with Kenneth Roth discussing the state of human rights amid global conflicts and technological change.
A discussion with former Deputy Secretary of Defense Kath Hicks on defense innovation and US-China competition in AI, autonomous weapons, and cyber capabilities.
An interview with former UN official Martin Griffiths about the overlooked humanitarian crisis in Sudan and efforts to broker peace.
This episode features an interview with former deputy national security advisor Nadia Shadlow discussing the evolution of Trump's national security strategy from his first term to his anticipated second term.
This episode explores how demographic trends like aging populations and shrinking workforces are reshaping military strategy, economic security, and alliances in East Asia.
A discussion on the strategic importance of the Arctic due to melting ice, involving geopolitical competition among major powers.
Analysis of Canada's new Prime Minister Mark Carney and the country's response to US tariffs and shifting global dynamics.
Analysis of Trump's shift in Venezuela policy from sanctions to covert CIA operations and military buildup.
Analysis of China's upcoming five-year plan and escalating US-China tensions over tariffs and rare earth rules.
Analysis of Russian airspace incursions into NATO countries and the state of the Russia-Ukraine war under the Trump administration.
Leslie Vinjamuri discusses the potential for peace in the Middle East following Trump and Netanyahu's agreement on a Gaza peace plan, with experts Stephen Cook and Sanam Bakil.
This episode analyzes the strategic unity between the US and Europe in supporting Ukraine against Russia, featuring experts discussing authoritarian resurgence and democratic resilience in global politics.
This episode revisits the debate on whether the United States should embrace or reject engagement with China, featuring expert analysis on China's perceived threat to US global hegemony and potential policy implications.
This episode explores why quick fixes fail in social change and discusses sustainable transformation through patient, inclusive strategies with author Sasha Hasselmeyer.
This episode discusses the Oppenheimer movie and its relevance to modern nuclear threats, featuring experts from the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists.
Experts discuss the global decline in birth rates, its economic and environmental implications, and potential societal responses.
This episode explores the political debates in Taiwan regarding the risk of conflict with China, focusing on alternative views, U.S.
This episode explores the U.S.
This episode explores why Costa Rica is politically stable, environmentally sustainable, and happy despite regional challenges.