National Security Law Today
444 episodes listed below
Law, war, and power under pressure.
National Security Law Today is a serious interview program about the law, policy, and operational realities behind modern security crises. Recent episodes move from drone warfare and cyber conflict to Iran, Ukraine, hostage diplomacy, AI systems, and nuclear risk.
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National Security Law Today is an interview-driven forum for the legal and operational questions behind modern national security. It is serious, but not sealed off from ordinary understanding. Recent episodes begin with events already in motion: bombardment in Iran, Russia's war against Ukraine, drone warfare, cyber disruption, hostage detention, and government pressure on AI companies. The show uses those events as a way into larger questions of authority, strategy, and consequence. Small drones become a discussion of payloads, operators, critical minerals, batteries, and the law of armed conflict. The Strait of Hormuz becomes a problem of shipping, energy prices, fertilizer, and lawyers advising clients in real time. Iran's cyber front becomes a way to think about data centers, AI infrastructure, energy costs, and supply chains that may be more fragile than they look. The program is comfortable with acronyms and institutional detail, but it usually slows down enough to translate the stakes. That makes it useful for listeners who can handle complexity but do not want jargon used as a wall. Its conversations often ask what a policy goal actually is, what authority supports it, and what happens the day after force is used. The show also pays attention to people caught inside state conflict, including Americans wrongfully detained in Iran and others held as leverage. Its nuclear episodes are especially practical, focusing less on abstract fear than on stockpiles, reactors, radioactive sources, and what must be secured if a government falls. The Ukraine coverage leans on data about attrition, negotiation leverage, sanctions, and Russian miscalculation. The AI coverage turns a government dispute into a broader question about emergency powers and state access to frontier systems. Guests are given space to explain. The host presses with long, carefully framed questions. The mood is measured, occasionally dry, and often grave. It is a show for people who want national security law treated as a set of real-world decisions, not a slogan.
Made for: Best for lawyers, law students, policy professionals, security watchers, and curious listeners who want current conflicts explained through law, institutions, and operational detail.
What sets it apart: The show stands out by linking battlefield mechanics, legal authority, technology, and logistics in the same conversation. It treats national security as a practical system, not a set of isolated headlines.
National Security Law Today brings legal experts discussing the hot topics and current issues in the world of national security law right to your phone. Get information and advice for lawyers, law students or interested parties who want to dig deeper into the law that protects the country.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Elisa Poteet connects national-security law to the operational realities of intelligence, warfare, cyber conflict, drones and artificial intelligence.
National Security Law Today follows public power to the places where statutes, military choices, intelligence authorities and new technology collide.
Drones meet FISA, and you get the legal questions hiding beneath the battlefield footage.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A serious look at drones as law, logistics, and battlefield power.
Elisa Poteet and Dawn Zoldi frame drone warfare as a live legal and operational issue, moving from Iran and Ukraine to the use of small, cheap drones and the destructive payloads they can carry.
A serious panel on war aims, legal authority, and what comes next.
The panel takes up a blunt question: what the war with Iran is supposed to accomplish, and what legal or military logic can still be made to support it. Recorded just before the ceasefire announcement, it feels immediate without pretending the ground has settled.
A sober look at how cyber, energy, and supply chains now move together in war.
The episode treats Iran's cyber activity as part of the machinery of war, linking intelligence gathering, hacking, drone direction, AI products, and attacks on data centers in a single arc.
A sober account of OpenAI's rise as a national security law story.
National Security Law Today uses this re-airing to frame Karen Howe's Empire of AI as a legal and institutional story, not merely a company story.
A clear, policy-level look at why Section 702 remains central to surveillance law and reauthorization debate.
Section 702 can sound abstract quickly, but the piece keeps pulling it back to the basic institutional questions: what the authority does, why it keeps coming back for review, and what could be lost if it were narrowed too far.
Operation Spiderweb and Putin's succession frame a clear discussion of covert action, information control, and Russian power.
Part two of National Security Law Today looks at Russia's war through covert action, controlled information, and the problem of political succession.
Deterrence theory, applied to current threats.
Fast arguments for a dangerous world.
Naval power, argued from the machinery up.
The seam between people in uniform and everyone else.
Drone warfare takes center stage.
National Security Law Today features a live ABA Standing Committee panel — moderated by Judge Jamie Baker and featuring retired Vice Admiral Robert Murrett and CFR Senior Fellow Elisa Ewers — analyzing the U.S.
National Security Law Today host Elisa Poteet interviews Matt Suiche, founder of OnDB and former teenage cybersecurity researcher, on the convergence of AI, cyber, and kinetic warfare in the Iran conflict.
This episode discusses Iran's strategic actions in the Straits of Hormuz, their impact on global oil prices and U.S.
This episode discusses Iran's practice of hostage diplomacy, focusing on the wrongful detention of Americans and featuring insights from former FBI hostage recovery expert Kieran Ramsey.
This episode analyzes Russia's costly war in Ukraine with Seth Jones, discussing military losses, strategic miscalculations, and implications for U.S.
This episode discusses the standoff between the U.S.
Legal experts discuss the implications of Iran's nuclear capabilities amid heightened US military presence in the Middle East.
Legal experts discuss the Insurrection Act, its history, and modern applications.
The episode discusses an upcoming event on hostage diplomacy and wrongful detention, featuring the case of Jason Rezaian, while continuing a series on scaling AI.
The episode discusses Venezuela's history and its connection to national security law, starting with a detour about Simón Bolívar.
An interview with an AI scientist discussing how AI alignment approaches may harm national security, plus AI in offensive and defensive cybersecurity.
Legal experts discuss the National Defense Authorization Act's impact on AI policy and executive authority in national security.
Legal experts discuss AI regulations and their impact on national security, focusing on the NDAA and federalism.
National Security Law Today re-airs a conversation with Karen Howe, author of Empire of AI and AI reporter for MIT Technology Review, who spent six years investigating OpenAI and interviewed over 250 people including more than 90 current and former employees.
Discussion of an AI-powered drone attack on Poland and President Trump's frustration with European allies over Russian oil sanctions, featuring an energy hedging expert.
National Security Law Today hosts a two-part discussion on FISA Section 702 reauthorization featuring Josh Geltzer, Deputy Homeland Security Advisor to President Biden, and Glenn Gerstell, former General Counsel of the NSA.
In part two of this interview, former CIA Moscow station chief Rob Dannenberg details Ukraine's Operation Spiderweb, a covert drone attack on Russian airbases using disguised portable cabins.
Legal experts discuss the upcoming Putin-Trump summit and provide historical context on Ukraine-Russia relations.
Part two of an interview discussing the environmental and logistical realities of rare earth mining in Myanmar's Kachin State.
Legal experts discuss the national security implications of rare earth mineral supply chains, focusing on Myanmar and China.
Legal experts discuss the National Defense Authorization Act's impact on energy policy, including nuclear energy and critical minerals.
Legal experts discuss rising energy needs as a national security concern, focusing on legislative changes in the NDAA and energy bills.
This episode discusses the intersection of energy demands and national security, focusing on recent news about China's export controls on rare earth minerals and their impact on U.S.
Legal experts discuss national security challenges from AI, energy dependence, and emerging technologies.
Elisa interviews Dr.
This episode discusses national security implications of energy policy, including nuclear energy viability and critical mineral dependencies.
Legal experts discuss how rising global energy demand puts Americans at risk abroad and how companies can protect their people and information.
This episode examines the national security implications of energy and critical mineral supply chains, particularly focusing on dependencies on foreign sources like Russia, China, and the Democratic Republic of Congo for resources needed for AI, data centers, and advanced weapons systems.
This episode continues a discussion with Dr.
This episode explores the national security implications of rising energy demands from AI and data centers, focusing on grid reliability and the consequences of potential failures, featuring an interview with expert Dr.
This episode discusses China's influence in Africa and its potential to control critical mineral supplies, drawing parallels to historical conflicts.
This episode explores the role of social media platforms in the First Amendment debate, discussing whether they should be held accountable for curbing misinformation and balancing free speech with democratic stability.
This episode explores how disinformation and ideological subversion threaten democracy, featuring an interview with former U.S.
This episode discusses how device and social media addiction among young men may harm the future defense and national security workforce.