The Burn Bag Podcast
We’re here to redefine how scholars and policymakers approach national security and foreign policy. Join us, as we make sense of a world in crisis.
The Burn Bag Podcast
Latest Episodes
The Dissident's Dilemma: Case Studies of Moral Courage in an Age of Authoritarianism with Gal Beckerman
In this episode of The Burn Bag, Gal Beckerman joins us to explore what it means to be a dissident in an age of conformity, fear, and authoritarian drift. Drawing on themes from his new book,
.png)
Violence as an Epidemic: From Community Harm to War and Authoritarianism with Dr. Gary Slutkin
In this episode, The Burn Bag speaks with Dr. Gary Slutkin, a physician, epidemiologist, former World Health Organization official, and founder of Cure Violence Global, about a provocative idea: what if violence is not simply a problem...
.png)
Rethinking China: Could Washington be Getting Beijing Wrong? w/ Zhengyu Huang
In this episode of The Burn Bag Podcast, A’ndre Gonawela sits down with Zhengyu Huang — former President of the Committee of 100 and author of Rethinking China — to examine the assumptions d...
.png)
Data Centers as Targets: What Happens if the Cloud and AI Infrastructure gets Hit? with Morgan Plummer
For decades, wars targeted oil fields, pipelines, ports, and power grids. But in March 2026, that logic appeared to change when Iranian strikes reportedly targeted commercial cloud infrastructure in the Persian Gulf, damaging data center facili...
Fuels, Ports, and Power: How South Asia's Smaller States are Navigating Crisis, with Nilanthi Samaranayake
As geopolitical tensions spill into the Indian Ocean, smaller states in South Asia are finding themselves on the frontlines of crises they did not choose. From the sinking of an Iranian vessel off Sri Lanka’s coast to mounting pressure from maj...
