World Affairs

Paul Whelan

<p>Sharing never-before-told anecdotes, Paul Whelan recounts his harrowing journey as a hostage in Putin’s Russia—enduring human rights abuses while fighting for freedom and justice from behind enemy lines.</p><p>On December 28, 2018, Paul Whelan was traveling in Russia for a friend’s wedding when he was framed for espionage and arrested in his hotel room.

Jeffrey Engel

<p>Widely considered the leading presidential historian of his generation, Jeffrey Engel connects America’s past with our present, helping our nation find a way forward by bringing history to life with humor and insight. </p><p>Today’s problems are nothing new. The United States has faced wars, pandemics, and political division before. While history is an imperfect guide to enacting a better future, it’s the best guide we have. It’s also a guide both for, and full of, people.

Garry Kasparov

Considered the greatest chess player that ever lived, Russian world champion Garry Kasparov shares insights on strategy, innovation, leadership, and risk. 

Garry Kasparov is widely regarded as the greatest chess player in history, becoming the youngest world champion ever at 22 in 1985 and spending twenty years as the world’s top-rated player. His legendary matches against the IBM supercomputer Deep Blue in 1996 and 1997 made him a central figure in artificial intelligence and the evolution of the human-machine relationship. 

Ari Fleischer

<p>A political communications expert who served in the White House and Congress, Ari Fleischer provides an in-depth look at the Biden Administration, the 2024 elections, foreign policy, and the failures of the mainstream media. </p><p>As former White House press secretary, Ari Fleischer was the primary spokesperson for President George W. Bush and delivered the daily White House press briefings from 2001 to 2003.

Willis Sparks

<p>Drawing from his expertise in US and foreign policy, Willis Sparks offers insight on geopolitical trends, sharing strategies for businesses to position themselves for success in the global marketplace. </p><p>Willis Sparks is a thought leader on the risks, opportunities, and trends created by current geopolitical conflicts and political developments in major emerging market countries.

Dr. Pippa Malmgren

<p>Dr. Pippa Malmgren is a digital diviner: she uses years of experience at the highest levels of geopolitics and industry to identify the trends that others might miss in a turbulent landscape.  </p><p>Weaving signals together to paint a compelling landscape that gives audiences confidence to navigate turbulence and opportunity, Pippa makes the world economy exciting.

Maria Ressa

<p>Maria Ressa is an award-winning journalist and the co-founder, CEO of Rappler.com, an online news organization in the Philippines.</p><p>Maria’s courage and work on disinformation and ‘fake news’ culminated in being awarded the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of her “efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace.” Her numerous awards include being named <em>Time’s </em>2018 Person of the Year and listed among its 100 Most Influential People of 2019.</p><p>Maria advises organizations and

Caitlin Dickerson

<p>Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Peabody Award, and Edward R. Murrow Award, Caitlin Dickerson engages audiences on the power of journalism as a check against systemic inequality, telling stories of remarkable resilience and hope from the front lines of the world’s refugee crisis.</p><p>From Ukraine to Romania to Guatemala, Caitlin Dickerson has spent years covering people forced to live on the move for some of the nation’s foremost news outlets.

Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch

<p>The former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine and bestselling author of the memoir <i>Lessons from the Edge </i>shares insights on the region and the current crisis as well as experiences from her 33-year career in the U.S. Foreign Service.</p><p>Marie Yovanovitch served three times as U.S. Ambassador, most recently in Kyiv as the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine. Previously, she served as U.S. Ambassador to the Kyrgyz Republic (2005-2008) and the Republic of Armenia (2008-2011).

Peter Beinart

Beinart is Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York. He is also a Contributing Opinion Writer at The New York Times, a CNN Political Peter Commentator, Editor-at-Large of Jewish Currents and a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He writes the Beinart Notebook newsletter on Substack.Com