The Truth of the Matter

CSIS’s Jon Alterman joins the podcast to discuss the brutal aftermath of the Hamas attack on Israel and its implications in the short and medium term.

In this crossover episode with the Coronavirus Crisis Update podcast, Andrew and Steve are joined by John Barry, historian and author of the award-winning The Great Influenza; the Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History, a study of the 1918 pandemic. He is currently working on a volume on Covid-19: “Writing books makes me happiest and craziest.” He has penned many editorials over the course of the pandemic, drawing lessons from 1918. What has he discovered? “What we learn from history is we learn nothing.” Where are we today? “Until vaccines are widely distributed and there is easy access to antivirals, the virus will rule. ... I am optimistic the virus will continue trending to mildness” but there may be intermediate steps. “Mutations are random.” “We are at a potentially dangerous time” if we throw away our defenses and become indifferent or complacent. His high school football coach taught him a lesson for today: late in the game, you are tired and the other guy is tired. “The guy who focuses at the end will win.” That does not mean you “live in a box” and isolate yourself. Aaron Rodgers, while a great football player, “lied” about his vaccination status. He “is a total jackass.”

Before becoming a writer, John Barry coached football at the high-school, small college, and major college levels. He is a Distinguished Professor at Tulane University’s Bywater Institute and a professor at the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine.

CSIS’s Max Bergmann joins the podcast to discuss the UK’s new PM and the energy and economic war she, and Europe are facing.

CSIS’s Ryan Berg joins the podcast to discuss the reelection of Nayib Bukele in El Salvador, the Central American leader who calls himself “the world’s coolest dictator.”