Inside The War Room

That’s right - the legend Noam Chomsky joins Inside the War Room to talk about the decline of America, China, Russia, and the Middle East.

Links from the show:

The Withdrawal: Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, and the Fragility of US Power

Noam’s books

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About my guest:

Avram Noam Chomsky (/ˈnoʊm ˈtʃɒmski/; born December 7, 1928) is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, logician, social critic, and political activist. Sometimes described as "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is also a major figure in analytic philosophy, and one of the founders of the field of cognitive science. He has spent more than half a century at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he is Institute Professor Emeritus, and is the author of over 100 books on topics such as linguistics, war, politics, and mass media. Ideologically, he aligns with anarcho-syndicalism and libertarian socialism.

Links from the show:

Strange New World: How Thinkers and Activists Redefined Identity and Sparked the Sexual Revolution

Carl’s blog

EPPC

About my guest:

Carl R. Trueman (PhD, University of Aberdeen) is professor of biblical and religious studies at Grove City College. He is a contributing editor at First Things, an esteemed church historian, and a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. Trueman has authored or edited more than a dozen books, including The Creedal Imperative; Luther on the Christian Life; and Histories and Fallacies. He is a member of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.

The dust from the Jerry Sandusky scandal has settled, but has the true story been told? Today we hear from Dr. Graham Spanier about his book In the Lions' Den: The Penn State Scandal and a Rush to Judgment.

Links from the show:

In the Lions' Den: The Penn State Scandal and a Rush to Judgment

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About my guest:

GRAHAM SPANIER served as president of The Pennsylvania State University from September 1995 to November 2011. His prior positions include chancellor of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Oregon State University, and Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He previously served Penn State from 1973 to 1982 as a member of the faculty and in three administrative positions in the College of Health and Human Development.

A family sociologist, demographer, and marriage and family therapist, he earned his Ph.D. in sociology from Northwestern University, where he was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow, and his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Iowa State University. He is the recipient of three honorary doctorates. Spanier is President Emeritus and University Professor Emeritus at Penn State. He held academic appointments as professor of human development and family studies, sociology, demography, and family and community medicine.

As president of Penn State, Dr. Spanier was often described as an unconventional university president. He is a magician who served as faculty advisor to the Penn State Performing Magicians, performed with Penn State’s Musical Theatre students, the marching band, the glee club, and the chamber orchestra. He has run with the bulls in Pamplona, has a commercial pilot’s license, and plays percussion with the Deacons of Dixieland. He and his racquetball partner were the eleven-time Penn State co-ed intramural racquetball champions.

He oversaw one of the nation’s largest and most comprehensive universities, with nearly 100,000 students and 47,000 employees on 24 campuses and a physical plant of 1,700 buildings. During his tenure, applications soared to more than 120,000 per year and the academic standing of dozens of programs rose in national rankings.

As a national leader in higher education, Spanier chaired the Association of American Universities, the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, and led the Kellogg Commission on the Future of State and Land-Grant Universities. He was a founding member of the Internet2 board, U.S. Chair and international Vice Chair of the Worldwide Universities Network, and co-chair, with the President of the Recording Industry Association of America, of the Committee on Higher Education and the Entertainment Industry. Dr. Spanier was the first university president to receive the Theodore M. Hesburgh Award for Leadership Excellence awarded by the American Council on Education. He was given the American Institute of Architects Award for Contribution to the Profession by a Non-Architect.

In the world of collegiate athletics, he chaired the NCAA Division I Board of Directors, was a member of the NCAA Executive Committee, was chair of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) Presidential Oversight Board, oversaw the reorganization of the Fiesta Bowl, was chairman of the Big Ten Conference Council of Presidents/Chancellors, and chaired commissions for the NCAA.

A distinguished researcher and scholar, he has more than 100 scholarly publications, including ten books, and was the founding editor of the Journal of Family Issues. Spanier served as President of the National Council of Family Relations, chairman of the Board of Directors of Child Fund International (formerly Christian Children’s Fund), a member of the Board of Governors of Junior Achievement Worldwide, and a member of the Board of Trustees of the National 4-H Council.

Spanier served as chair of the National Security Higher Education Advisory Board, a member of the National Counterintelligence Working Group, and as a member of the Board of Advisors of the Naval Postgraduate School and the Naval War College. He has received numerous recognitions for his contributions to national security, including being honored as one of the “Most Influential People in Security,” the “Wings of Law” Award from the Respect for Law Alliance, the Director’s Award for “Exceptional Public Service” presented by the FBI, and the Warren Medal for “Outstanding Contributions to the National Security of the United States of America.” He has been a frequent speaker at FBI and other governmental and educational conferences and seminar...

Links from the show:

Surveillance State: Inside China's Quest to Launch a New Era of Social Control

A Shot to Save the World podcast

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About my guest:

Josh Chin is deputy bureau chief responsible for politics and general news in The Wall Street Journal's China bureau.

Prior to his current role, Josh spent six years as a politics reporter in China covering law, civil society, and government use of technology. He is a recipient of the Dan Bolles Medal and led an investigative team that won the Gerald Loeb Award for international reporting in 2018. He is the co-author, with Journal reporter Liza Lin, of "Surveillance State: Inside China’s Quest to Launch a New Era of Social Control" (2022, St. Martin’s Press).

Josh started reporting for the Journal in 2008 as a freelance video journalist in Beijing and also spent several years editing the newspaper’s China blog. He began his career an editorial assistant at the Park Record, in Park City, Utah