United States

Apocalyptic novelist Max Brooks is something of an expert on planning for pandemics and other disasters. The author, whose books include World War Z, Germ Warfare and the forthcoming Devolution, has toured the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and has reviewed government response plans related to various emergency situations — all in the course of research.

Washington Post Beirut Bureau Chief Liz Sly has covered the Syrian civil war since it began in '11. "There is an inevitability that Russia is going to emerge as the dominant power in Syria," she says.

For many years, U.S. immigration favored immigrants from northern Europe. NPR correspondent Tom Gjelten explains how a 1965 law changed things — and led to the current debate about border security.

Atlantic journalist Anne Applebaum says the changes taking place in Poland — including a rise of conspiracy theories and attacks on the free press — mirror similar shifts happening in the U.S.

The Guardian's Carole Cadwalladr's investigation into Cambridge Analytica's role in Brexit has led her to Russian connections and the Trump campaign. She says British investigators are now "working very closely with the FBI."

Author Alissa Quart writes that the costs of housing, child care, health care and college are outpacing salaries and threatening the livelihoods of middle class Americans.

America's war in Afghanistan is the longest war the U.S. has ever fought. Beginning a month after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the initial mission was to remove the Taliban from power and destroy the al-Qaida terror network. Now, nearly 17 years later, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Steve Coll points out that the war's goals have changed.

Author Mat Johnson reflects on how the election of Barack Obama, made him feel like he belonged in America for the first time.

CNN's Peter Bergen describes how the Internet and social media have been used to radicalize and recruit Americans to jihad — and how some new jihadists then use those same tools to draw in others.

Kevin Spacey strangles a dog in the pilot, which creator Beau Willimon says producers balked at because they'd lose viewers. But "why not provide that litmus test right at the beginning?" he says.

The New York Times' Ernesto Londono wrote editorials urging Obama to end the embargo. He tells of the changes he saw when he visited Cuba last month and how he sees the new relationship evolving.

One-third of the seafood Americans catch is sold abroad, but most of the seafood we eat here is imported and often of lower quality. Why? Author Paul Greenberg says it has to do with American tastes.

In The Twilight War, historian David Crist outlines the secret history of America's 30-year conflict with Iran. based on interview with hundreds of officials as well as classified military archives, the book details how the covert war has repeatedly threatened tot bring the two nations into open warfare.

One-third of American today are obese, and another third are overweight. A new HBO documentary series, The Weight of the Nation, explores how our country got this way and what can be done to tackle the growing national health crisis.

In his latest book, Pakistan on the Brink, journalist Ahmed Rashid writes that he fears Pakistan is on the verge of a "meltdown." Rashid explains some of the challenges facing the country, as well as the complicated relationship both Pakistan and Afghanistan have with the United States.

Historian Andrew Preston says questions in an undergraduate class her was teaching at the start of the 2003 invasion of Iraq spurred the research for his new book, Sword of the Spirit, Shield of Faith. "Once I started looking for religion [in U.S. foreign policy], it was everywhere," he says.

China expert Orville Schell explains to host Terry Gross how the gates of United States and China are connected, and how the protectionist policies of the past are no longer viable.

Film critic DAVID EDELSTEIN reviews Michael Moore’s newest documentary, Capitalism: A Love Story.

Steinfels is a former senior religion correspondent for The New York Times. He now writes the Beliefs column for the paper. Steinfels is the author of the new book, A People Adrift: The Crisis of the Roman Catholic Church in America.

In his new book, The End of the American Era: U.S. Foreign Policy and the Geopolitics of the Twenty-First Century, Kupchan argues that the era of American dominance may be coming to an end. This demise will not be brought on by the Islamic world or China, but from an integrated Europe. He says that as Europe's political and strategic goals continue to diverge from those of the United States, Europe will rise as a new rival. Kupchan served on the National Security Council during the first Clinton administration.