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What the Hell Is Going On

What the Hell Is Going On

Written by: AEI Podcasts
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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 China Spying Through LinkedIn? With Luke Jacobus.
    Oct 15 2026

    We are joined by Luke Jacobus, one of AEI’s own, to highlight how China’s spies leverage the LinkedIn networking platform to recruit Americans to pass them sensitive knowledge. MSS agents use artificial intelligence to impersonate consultants and pay U.S. clearance holders for national security information. How effective is this recruitment method? What are potential countermeasures? To what extent do private corporations shoulder the blame? Listen in on the risks that face Americans face online every day.

    Luke Jacobus is a research associate at the Coalition Defense of Taiwan project, a partnership between the American Enterprise Institute and the Institute for the Study of War. His research focuses on the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) politics, the People’s Liberation Army, and the PRC’s overseas influence and espionage activities. Luke is a graduate of the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss), where he majored in Chinese and International Studies, and speaks Mandarin Chinese.

    Read the transcript here.

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    51 mins
  • 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.

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    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.

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    59 mins
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