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PODCAST

Talk Cocktail

Jeff Schechtman

Jeff Schechtman talks with authors, journalists, newsmakers and opinion shapers, and sheds light on the issues of the day, from local stories to national and international headlines and ideas. jeffschechtman.substack.com

news & politics

All Episodes

31:22

Small Drones, Big Consequences: The Future of...

Talk Cocktail ·

2025/06/25

$500 drones destroyed $100M Russian bombers. Last month (it seems so long ago) Ukrainian forces achieved what seemed impossible: Commercial drones costing less than a smartphone successfully struck Russian strategic bombers worth $100 million each, deep inside enemy territory. This isn’t tactical innovation—it’s the emergence of warfare where David doesn’t just defeat Goliath, but renders him obsolete.On this WhoWhatWhy podcast, I talk with David Shlapak, senior defense researcher at RAND

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36:36

How Black Capitalists Are Rewriting the Rules of...

Talk Cocktail ·

2025/06/21

Dr. Rachel Laryea, author of Black Capitalists: A Blueprint for What is Possible, challenges the assumption that capitalism and social justice are incompatible. Drawing from her journey from Goldman Sachs to Yale to entrepreneurship, she reveals how black capitalists operate as strategic insiders within financial systems—not to exploit, but to extract resources for community uplift. Her research shows how communal capitalism, where profit meets social good, offers a blueprint for transforming wealth

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26:31

The American Economy: Coasting on Fumes but Built to...

Talk Cocktail ·

2025/06/20

Despite global chaos, America’s economy shows puzzling resilience in the face of emerging capital flight, dangerous policy uncertainty, and spiraling debt.As global chaos erupts — from Iran to immigration raids in Big Box parking lots — James Carville’s famous dictum echoes louder than ever: “It’s the economy, stupid.”On this week’s WhoWhatWhy podcast I talk with Noah Smith, author of the widely read substack Noahpinion. While consumer spending down, housing starts are declining, unemployment is

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34:16

Zero Sum: How Putin Turned Capitalism into Russian...

Talk Cocktail ·

2025/06/19

When the Soviet Union collapsed, it wasn't the end of history—it was the beginning of capitalism's most seductive experiment.Russia became a Wild East where Big Macs symbolized freedom and suitcases of cash ruled reality. Western corporations flooded Moscow with intoxicating chaos, chasing astronomical returns that seemed too good to be true. They were! Charles Hecker, talks to me about his provocative book "Zero Sum: The Arc of International Business in Russia." He explains how corporate greed

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31:44

Demonstrations, Deportations, and Downtown LA"

Talk Cocktail ·

2025/06/18

Gustavo Arellano is a longtime Los Angeles Times columnist and chronicler of the Latino community. In my recent California Sun podcast he brings his deeply personal perspective to the immigration crackdown unfolding in Los Angeles. He shares observations from the epicenter of protests. Born to a Mexican father who snuck across the border as a teenager, Arellano’s voice carries both the weight of historical context and the urgency of someone who sees his community under siege.This post is FREE for

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34:17

Zero Sum: How Putin Turned Capitalism into Russian...

Talk Cocktail ·

2025/06/14

When the Soviet Union collapsed, it wasn't the end of history—it was the beginning of capitalism's most seductive experiment. Russia became a Wild East where Big Macs symbolized freedom and suitcases of cash ruled reality. Western corporations flooded Moscow with intoxicating chaos, chasing astronomical returns that seemed too good to be true. They were! Charles Hecker, talks to me about his provocative book "Zero Sum: The Arc of International Business in Russia." He explains how corporate greed and

en

49:40

The China Paradox That Will Define the 21st Century

Talk Cocktail ·

2025/06/11

On this week’s WhoWhatWhy podcast I talk with Jeffrey Wasserstrom, historian and author of The Milk Tea Alliance: Inside Asia’s Struggle Against Autocracy and Beijing.He explains how China tells three crucial stories: the story it tells itself to maintain legitimacy, the story it tells the world to project power, and the underground tales that threaten both narratives.Wasserstrom also takes us into the “Milk Tea Alliance” connecting young activists across Asia to the Chinese bookstores now operating

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28:22

Hollywood: when art, commerce, and family once danced...

Talk Cocktail ·

2025/06/07

Matthew Specktor, joins me on this California Sun podcast to discuss his new memoir “The Golden Hour.” He offers us a unique perspective on Hollywood’s transformation — as both the son of legendary talent agent Fred Specktor and a thoughtful cultural observer, he explains how the movie industry shifted from a close-knit “family business,” where art and commerce balanced, to today’s corporate-dominated landscape. Get full access to Talk Cocktail Podcast at jeffschechtman.substack.com/subscribe

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34:57

When Thinking Stops, Evil Spreads: The Danger in Our...

Talk Cocktail ·

2025/06/05

When we stop thinking, we enable harm. In this WhoWhatWhy podcast Elizabeth Minnich warns us that systemic evils don’t need monsters — “it takes all of us” through everyday compliance.I talk with moral philosopher Elizabeth Minnich, who delivers a timely warning about collective thoughtlessness. Building directly on her experience as Hannah Arendt’s long-time teaching assistant, Minnich reverses Arendt’s famous “banality of evil” thesis. Where Arendt observed how unremarkable Nazi bureaucrat Adolf

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31:33

The Human Cost of Migration

Talk Cocktail ·

2025/06/04

My guest, journalist Jeanne Carstensen uses one devastating 2015 shipwreck to illuminate the global refugee crisis affecting over 100 million displaced people worldwide.In our conversation, she talks of refugees as a self-selecting population—educated professionals like Afghan bankers and Syrian artists who pay smugglers tens of thousands of dollars to escape violence. Their shared dream: reaching safety and rebuilding lives with dignity. Carstensen argues we're witnessing only the beginning of

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34:57

When Thinking Stops, Evil Spreads: The Danger in Our...

Talk Cocktail ·

2025/05/31

When we stop thinking, we enable harm. In this WhoWhatWhy podcast Elizabeth Minnich warns us that systemic evils don’t need monsters — “it takes all of us” through everyday compliance.I talk with moral philosopher Elizabeth Minnich, who delivers a timely warning about collective thoughtlessness. Building directly on her experience as Hannah Arendt’s long-time teaching assistant, Minnich reverses Arendt’s famous “banality of evil” thesis.Where Arendt observed how unremarkable Nazi bureaucrat Adolf

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31:20

Dismantling the Global Order That America Created

Talk Cocktail ·

2025/05/30

A former NATO ambassador shows how Trump has shattered 80 years of global trust in just 120 days, forcing allies to act without America for the first time.In just 120 days, President Donald Trump has accomplished what no foreign adversary could achieve in eight decades: the systematic destruction of America’s global leadership from within.On this WhoWhatWhy podcast, I’m joined by Ivo Daalder, former US ambassador to NATO under President Barack Obama, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, and

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26:39

Is the California Dream Over?

Talk Cocktail ·

2025/05/28

Adam Nagourney, a veteran New York Times reporter based in Los Angeles, wrote recently about whether the California Dream had become a mirage.On this California Sun Podcast, Nagourney reminds me that even as the state has grown into the world’s fourth-largest economy, the promise of reinvention that defined the Golden State feels increasingly elusive. As young people flee, wildfires destroy neighborhoods, and a hostile White House turns its back, Nagourney believes California is still resilient and

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41:22

The Coalition Behind Democracy’s Decline

Talk Cocktail ·

2025/05/24

On a recent WhoWhatWhy podcast I spoke with Katherine Stewart, author of Money, Lies, and God: Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy.She outlines a covert alliance of wealth, faith, and fear is quietly dismantling American democracy — one lie, one spectacle, and one grievance at a time.When we imagine democracy collapsing, we picture tanks in the streets, ballots burning, or shadowy hackers pulling invisible strings. Yet the gravest threat to America’s democratic experiment isn’t loud or

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32:04

The "Golden Dome" Will Never Happen

Talk Cocktail ·

2025/05/22

The “Golden Dome” that Trump is promising is a fantasy at best.Back in February, on the WhoWhatWhy podcast, I explored the seductive dream of an impenetrable missile defense — and the sobering reality behind it. I spoke with Marion Messmer, a senior research fellow at Chatham House’s International Security Program in London. She lays bare the hard truths behind the rhetorical hype of space-based defense systems. In an age of hypersonic weapons and artificial intelligence, she argues, no nation

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32:04

The "Golden Dome" Will Never Happen

Talk Cocktail ·

2025/05/21

The “Golden Dome” that Trump is promising is a fantasy at best.Back in February, on the WhoWhatWhy podcast, I explored the seductive dream of an impenetrable missile defense — and the sobering reality behind it.I spoke with Marion Messmer, a senior research fellow at Chatham House’s International Security Program in London. She lays bare the hard truths behind the rhetorical hype of space-based defense systems. In an age of hypersonic weapons and artificial intelligence, she argues, no nation can

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32:45

Joan Didion’s early warning about America’s...

Talk Cocktail ·

2025/05/17

New York Times film critic Alissa Wilkinson discusses her new book, “We Tell Ourselves Stories: Joan Didion and the American Dream Machine,” which explores the California author’s prescient understanding of how entertainment would colonize American political life.Wilkinson examines Didion’s work through the lens of a Hollywood insider and cultural critic, revealing how she anticipated our drift toward manufactured realities and endless performance — from Ronald Reagan’s performative presidency to

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25:49

Execution Denied

Talk Cocktail ·

2025/05/14

In this latest podcast I talk with Emmy-winning journalist Gianna Tobani about "The Volunteer." Gianna Tobani takes me through the harrowing story of Scott Dozier, a death row inmate who volunteered for execution but was ultimately driven to suicide after the state repeatedly failed to carry out his sentence.Through intimate conversations with Dozier, Tobani unveils a broken death penalty system where pharmaceutical companies refuse to provide execution drugs, states resort to black market deals,

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38:01

Fake Alzheimer's Research

Talk Cocktail ·

2025/05/14

Science and medicine promise breakthroughs, but what if the foundation of today’s Alzheimer’s research is built on fraud? Investigative journalist Charles Piller uncovers this disturbing reality in Doctored: Fraud, Arrogance, and Tragedy in the Quest to Cure Alzheimer's. Vanderbilt neuroscientist Matthew Schrag’s forensic work exposed doctored images and manipulated data that propped up a dominant but flawed theory, potentially setting back Alzheimer’s research by decades. With millions suffering

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25:49

Execution Denied

Talk Cocktail ·

2025/05/10

In this latest podcast I talk with Emmy-winning journalist Gianna Tobani about "The Volunteer." Gianna Tobani takes me through the harrowing story of Scott Dozier, a death row inmate who volunteered for execution but was ultimately driven to suicide after the state repeatedly failed to carry out his sentence. Through intimate conversations with Dozier, Tobani unveils a broken death penalty system where pharmaceutical companies refuse to provide execution drugs, states resort to black market deals,

en

1,369 results

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