Departures Podcast featuring Paul Preston, author of ‘Architects of Terror: Paranoia, Conspiracy, and Anti-Semitism in Franco’s Spain’

The story of the rise of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco in 1936 is often overshadowed by that of the country’s civil war and its entanglement across the other major developments in Europe at the time. But Spanish fascism was also driven by an enduring set of beliefs – which were so thoroughly odious and absurd […]

Departures Podcast featuring Deborah Cohen, author of ‘Last Call at the Hotel Imperial: The Reporters Who Took On a World at War’

The role of foreign correspondents, especially during times of war, can be extraordinarily important not only in shaping public perceptions and strategic decisionmaking at the highest level, but also in informing on revolutionary shifts in social norms, as these reporters find themselves bringing their personal lives into the public and the newsmaking process into their […]

Departures Podcast featuring Danilo Mandić, author of ‘Gangsters and Other Statesmen’

When we think of networks of organized crime, we tend to place them in their own category, occupying an “underworld” of its own rules separate from the norms and laws that guide our states operate in societies. In his new book, “Gangsters and Other Statesmen: Mafias, Separatists, and Torn States in a Globalized World,” Danilo […]

Departures Podcast with Helen Thompson, author of ‘Disorder: Hard Times in the 21st Century’

We can all agree that the global world order has become rather disorderly. We also seem to have trouble coming up with consistent and convincing explanations of what brought about this disorder, pointing uselessly at shocks such as the passage of Brexit to the Trump to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. But for political scientist […]

Departures Podcast with Brendan Simms and Charlie Laderman, authors of ‘Hitler’s American Gamble’

During one specific week in December in 1941, a series of events and calculations led to Adolf Hitler’s disastrous decision to declare war on the United States, putting the conflict on the eventual path toward the outcome we now regard with familiarity. The sequence of events leading from the bombing of Pearl Harbor by Japan […]

Departures Podcast with John Lough, author of ‘Germany’s Russia Problem: The Struggle for Balance in Europe’

In power since 2005, Angela Merkel’s CDU coalition has managed to govern Germany with an admirable level of success, but at the same time during this period, Vladimir Putin’s Russia has invaded multiple countries, interfered in elections both near and far away, and run amok with jailings and assassinations of dissidents. How is it possible […]

Departures Podcast with Ian Goldin, author of ‘Rescue: From Global Crisis to a Better World’

The disruptive impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has obliterated many standing global norms, but it’s less clear how this crisis could change our approach to solving the world’s biggest challenges. According to Ian Goldin, who is a Professor of Globalisation and Development at the University of Oxford, the coronavirus pandemic could serve as the necessary […]

Departures Podcast with Paul Jankowski

A favorite historical hypothetical question we often hear tossed around is what should the world have done differently to halt the rise of Nazi Germany and prevent World War II from taking place. But the truth is, the number of signals and signs of this approaching threat were numerous and often rather clear, and so […]

Tensions between Turkey and Greece May Flare Up in the Eastern Mediterranean

The natural gas exploration activities in the East Mediterranean in the 2000s revealed that there is a great economic potential in the region. But new opportunities have come with new challenges and crises as they remain susceptible to regional conflicts arising from the fact that maritime borders between the littoral states were not demarcated before […]

Departures Podcast with Ian Buruma

00:00:00 FDR and Churchill. Kennedy and Macmillan. Reagan and Thatcher. Bush and Blair. Trump and Johnson. The so-called “special relationship” enjoyed between the United States and the United Kingdom in the past 75 years since the end of World War II, often guided by the personalities of the respective individual leaders, has come to define […]