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What Really Matters
Walter Russell Mead and Jeremy Stern help you understand the news, decide what news matters and what doesn’t, and enjoy following the story of America and the world more than you do now.
What Really MattersAmerica’s Popular Universities for PalestineThis week, Walter and Jeremy discuss the Ukraine aid package, banning TikTok, Lina Khan’s FTC overreach, and the pro-Hamas protests sweeping America’s college campusesApril 25, 2024- What Really MattersThe Rise of the Cyber CityThis week, Walter and Jeremy discuss Israel’s options for retaliating against Iran, why the IMF scolded the United States, Zelensky’s pleas for Israel-style support for Ukraine, and why the Work From Home (WFH) revolution could change American cities and make Gen Z filthy richApril 11, 2024
- What Really MattersCzar Tucker and the Antisemitic RightThis week, Walter and Jeremy talk Israel-Iran war worries, European bans on youth gender care, an Indonesia-Israel normalization agreement, and why Tucker Carlson is peddling the antisemitism of the Russian czarsApril 11, 2024
- What Really MattersForeign Policy in a Second Trump TermThis week, Walter and Jeremy discuss Biden’s industrial policy, Israeli airstrikes in Syria and Gaza, the fentanyl crisis, and what foreign policy might look like if Trump wins in NovemberApril 5, 2024
- What Really MattersTwilight of the WonksThis week, Walter and Jeremy discuss ethnic tensions in Russia, the race for AI talent, Chinese-Pakistani relations, and Walter’s new Tablet essay on why the golden age of the Wonk is coming to an endMarch 29, 2024
- What Really MattersBuild Back Better Palestinian AuthorityThis week, Walter and Jeremy talk universal basic income, the decline of New York City, the Houthis as the greatest naval threat since Imperial Japan, and why the Palestinians need a Konrad AdenauerMarch 22, 2024
- What Really MattersBiden v. BibiThis week, Walter and Jeremy discuss academics whining about AI, 200 years of U.S. failure in Haiti, the ‘great slackening’ in American high schools, and why Biden and Bibi both benefit from fighting each other in publicMarch 14, 2024
- What Really MattersWhere the Green Movement Went WrongThis week, Walter and Jeremy talk Super Tuesday results, Benny Gantz’s visit to Washington, the threat of another China shock, and why environmental movements are losing ground across the worldMarch 8, 2024
- What Really MattersThe Great MacGuffin and the Quest for the Holy GrailThis week, Walter and Jeremy are on the road. So in place of regular programming, we’re bringing you something special: an extended excerpt from Walter’s most recent book, The Arc of a Covenant: The United States, Israel, and the Fate of the Jewish PeopleMarch 1, 2024
- What Really MattersThe Zionist Hindu Crusader AllianceThis week, Walter and Jeremy talk Biden’s age, the Trump trials, the death of Navalny, and India’s bromance with IsraelFebruary 23, 2024
- What Really MattersBiden, Tucker, Putin, TrumpThis week, Walter and Jeremy talk Putin endorsing Biden, Putin dissing Tucker Carlson, Trump dissing NATO, and Biden stumbling in the Middle EastFebruary 16, 2024
- What Really MattersAmerica Isn’t Headed for Civil WarThis week, Walter and Jeremy discuss the rise of the religious ‘nones,’ the Biden administration’s plans for a Palestinian state, the ideological gap between young men and women, and why America probably isn’t headed for civil warFebruary 9, 2024
- What Really MattersWhat Was the Iran Deal?This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss a potential constitutional crisis in Texas, trouble in North Korea, climate activists kneecapping Biden, and an ununified theory of U.S. appeasement of IranFebruary 1, 2024
- What Really MattersThe Scourge of Elite CorruptionThis week, Walter and Jeremy talk improving consumer sentiment, the Biden administration’s leaked ‘Houthi strategy,’ Harvard’s latest misconduct allegations, and the brokenness of American institutionsJanuary 26, 2024
- What Really MattersLive From DavosThis week, Walter and Jeremy discuss the Iowa caucuses, Taiwan elections, the spread of Iranian terror, and how Davos Man is faring in the era of global disorderJanuary 18, 2024
- What Really MattersIs America a Western Country?This week, Walter and Jeremy discuss gig workers, Milei in Argentina, Biden’s immigration fiasco, and why the U.S. is more like Latin America than EuropeJanuary 12, 2024
- What Really MattersThat Was the Year That WasIn the final episode of 2023, Walter and Jeremy take a look back at Chinese spy balloons, Silicon Valley bank failures, Russia’s coup manqué, and the dominance of American popular cultureDecember 29, 2023
- What Really MattersBiden’s Suez CrisisThis week, Walter and Jeremy discuss Iran-backed attacks on global commerce, whether America is a gerontocracy, how oil is saving Biden’s hide, and why Anglo-American power is the big story of world historyDecember 22, 2023