What the Hell Is Going On cover art

What the Hell Is Going On

What the Hell Is Going On

Written by: AEI Podcasts
Listen for free

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.Copyright © American Enterprise Institute Political Science Politics & Government World
Episodes
  • WTH Is Going on with Trump at the United Nations? Brett Schaefer Explains.
    Sep 24 2026

    In honor of NYC’s least favorite week, we are joined by Brett D. Schaefer to analyze the ongoing United Nations General Assembly meeting. How the hell is this institution serving American interests? Together with Brett, we discuss the President’s address, weird US shenanigans, the threats to American interests posed by international governance, and the importance of U.S. oversight. The United Nations needs significant reform, but how the hell can the White House make that happen?

    Brett D. Schaefer is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he focuses on multilateral treaties, peacekeeping, and the United Nations and international organizations. Before joining AEI, Mr. Schaefer was the Jay Kingham Senior Research Fellow in International Regulatory Affairs at the Heritage Foundation, a member of the United Nations Committee on Contributions and an expert on the UN Task Force for the United States Institute of Peace. His work has been published in Fox News, The Hill, National Review, and National Security Journal, CNN, and CNBC, and more.

    Read Brett and Dany’s project on corrupt OCHA funding here.

    Read Brett’s reaction to Trump’s UN speech here.

    Read Brett’s United Nations Organizations Assessment Project here.

    Read the transcript here.

    Subscribe to our Substack here.

    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 6 mins
  • WTH: Jason Miyares on Five Easy Ways to Wreck a State.
    Oct 1 2026

    Jason Miyares, former attorney general for the state of Virginia, joins us to discuss Virginia’s hard political shift leftward — skyrocketing taxes, sanctuary cities — and the impact of these policies on its eight million citizens. We weigh rising crime rates, extreme constitutional amendments, and the end of purple Virginia. What the hell are the consequences of this governance? How the hell is this going to impact American citizens?

    Jason S. Miyares served as the 48th Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Virginia from 2022 to 2026, becoming the first Latino-American — and specifically the first Cuban-American— elected to statewide office in Virginia. As the Commonwealth’s chief legal officer, he led the Office of the Attorney General and represented the interests of more than eight million Virginians. He received a Bachelor of Business Administration from James Madison University and his J.D. from the College of William & Mary School of Law.

    Read the transcript here.

    Subscribe to our Substack here.

    Show More Show Less
    59 mins
  • WTH: Will AI End Humanity? Chris Miller Explains.
    Oct 8 2026

    In this episode, we are joined by Chris Miller for a clear-minded and sobering discussion of the future of AI. The geopolitical competition between the United States and China in the field of artificial intelligence is the arms race of the 21st century, yet in this case, the product is self-improving. Some warn it could end humanity, while others refute these claims as exaggerations. So, what is the answer? Is the opportunity greater than the risk? What are the Chinese up to? Can they beat us? We discuss the risks, opportunities, and implications of proper regulation.

    Chris Miller is a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and an associate professor at Tufts University. His latest book Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology (Scribner, 2022) is a New York Times bestseller. In addition to Chip War, Dr. Miller’s books include We Shall Be Masters: Russian Pivots to Asia from Peter the Great to Putin, Putinomics: Power and Money in Resurgent Russia, and The Struggle to Save the Soviet Economy: Mikhail Gorbachev and the Collapse of the USSR. Dr. Miller’s work has been published in History of Political Economy, the International History Review, and the Soviet and Post-Soviet Review. His commentary has appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, the Moscow Times, and South China Morning Post, among others. He has an MA and PhD in history from Yale University and a BA in history from Harvard University and has done research at Hoover Institution, Brookings Institution, Carnegie Moscow Center and the New Economic School in Moscow.

    Read the transcript here.

    Subscribe to our Substack here.

    Show More Show Less
    56 mins
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1
No reviews yet