Always at War

Episodios

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  Israel's Lobby: More Powerful and More Unpopular Than Ever 22.08.2026 59m

  In the latest episode of Always at War, Courtney and Alex sit down with Eli Clifton and Ian Lustick — authors of the new book Israel's Lobby: America in the Grip of a Foreign Power — to understand how a concentrated network of pro-Israel donors and organizations became the most formidable special interest in Washington, and how it helped push the United States toward war with Iran. BUY THE BOOK: https://bookshop.org/p/books/israel-s-lobby-america-in-the-grip-of-a-foreign-power-eli...
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  How America Rigged the Israel-Palestine Peace Process | GOING DEEP with Khaled Elgindy 07.08.2026 1h

  In the latest episode of Always at War, Courtney and Alex sit down with QI Senior Research Fellow Khaled Elgindy — former adviser to the Palestinian leadership on permanent status negotiations with Israel and author of Blind Spot: America and the Palestinians, from Balfour to Trump — to understand why America's constant interventions in the Israel-Palestine peace process have been doomed to failure. Khaled walks Courtney and Alex through decades of US-brokered peace processes from Oslo...
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  Israel's War for American Hearts and Minds with Nick Cleveland-Stout 24.07.2026 53m

  In the latest episode of Always at War, Courtney and Alex examine Israel's $1 billion campaign to shape global opinion and policy toward Israel with the researcher who's done the work to expose it: QI Fellow Nick Cleveland-Stout. Nick's new paper, "The Eighth Front: Inside Israel's $1 Billion Influence Campaign," is the most detailed accounting yet of Israel's changing approach to winning hearts and minds after the genocide in Gaza. Nick walks Courtney and Alex through his new research, and ...
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  America’s Soft Power Machine | GOING DEEP with Almut Rochowanski 10.07.2026 1h 5m

  In the latest episode of Always at War, Courtney and Alex sit down with Almut Rochowanski, a non-resident fellow at the Quincy Institute and longtime grassroots activist who spent nearly two decades working with civil society organizers across Russia, Ukraine, and the former Soviet Union. Almut walks Courtney and Alex through the "NGO-industrial complex": how grant cycles, donor priorities, and Western funding structures can hollow out genuine grassroots organizing and replace it with a top-d...
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  The Middle East After the Iran War | GOING DEEP with Trita Parsi 26.06.2026 58m

  SUPPORT QI'S FIRST AMENDMENT FUND: https://givingtools.com/give/939 CHECK OUT TRITA'S SUBSTACK: https://tritaparsi.substack.com/ In the latest episode of Always at War, Courtney and Alex sit down with Quincy Institute co-founder and Executive Vice President Trita Parsi, an expert on Iran and US-Iranian relations. Trita has spent years warning Washington against a disastrous war with Iran — and now, he's speaking out in favor of the US diplomatic efforts to end it. Trita's effective ad...
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  They're Not Ending Aid to Israel. They're Hiding It. 12.06.2026 53m

  On this episode of Always at War, Courtney and Alex expose the secret plan to end US military grant aid to Israel while permanently shielding US military support for Israel from congressional oversight — and from you. First, they break down Section 224, a provision buried in the annual defense spending bill that would fuse US and Israeli military sectors — weapons procurement, production, AI, biotech, and more — replacing transparent military aid with an unprecedented military-to-military par...
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  Trump's Iran deal: Will they, won't they? | ALWAYS AT WAR x TRIP THE BELTWAY FANTASTIC 29.05.2026 42m

  This week, we're bringing you a special episode in collaboration with our friends at Trip the Beltway Fantastic! Your hosts Courtney and Alex joined Kelley Vlahos, Editor-in-Chief of Responsible Statecraft, on her podcast to break down the recent will-they/won't-they diplomacy between Washington and Tehran. The trio dissects the rhetoric pushed by prominent pro-war figures—particularly the dangerous notion that America should "negotiate while fighting"—and examines how this mindset transform...
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  China Bad? | GOING DEEP with Jake Werner 15.05.2026 1h

  On this latest episode of Always at War, Courtney and Alex sit down with Jake Werner, head of the Quincy Institute’s East Asia program, to find out the answer to the question on everyone's lips in Washington: China bad? First, the three discuss the pervasive, bipartisan myth that Beijing wants to supplant America's role as the global military hegemony, tracing how the US foreign policy establishment systematically moved China from an economic partner to an existential enemy to shield itself f...
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  War by Algorithm 01.05.2026 1h 1m

  On this episode of Always at War, Courtney and Alex reveal the Department of War's newest scapegoat, Artificial Intelligence, and debate whether Congress will ever defend their constitutional power to declare war. First, they break down the technical distinction between LLMs like Claude and targeting systems like Palantir’s Project Maven, explaining how these tools are designed to maximize "target throughput" at the expense of civilian life. Next, they revisit the history of "revoluti...
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  Please Stop Spending My Taxes on Bombing Kids 17.04.2026 51m

  On this episode of Always at War, Courtney and Alex explore the many, disturbing creative writing exercises of the Washington "Blob." First, they deconstruct the latest outlandish op-eds from think tank war hawks, including an effort to frame the war on Iran as Tehran's "War of Choice," and discuss the solipsism of US foreign policymakers. Next, they reveal what Donald Trump admitted in a leaked, closed-door speech: that every dollar spent on war is a dollar taken away from Americ...
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  The REAL costs of America's wars | GOING DEEP with Catherine Lutz 03.04.2026 55m

  On this episode of Always at War, Courtney and Alex sit down with Catherine Lutz, co-founder of the Costs of War Project and professor emerita at Brown University, to dissect the culture of war in Washington that keeps America perpetually at war — with taxpayers footing the bill. First, they discuss the "base coat" of fear that defines Americans' understanding of the world. Catherine explains how decades of domestic and international policy have primed the public to view global problems...
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  Who’s Selling the Iran War? | BREAKING IT DOWN w/ Nick Cleveland-Stout 20.03.2026 1h

  On this episode of Always at War, Courtney and Alex are joined by returning guest Nick Cleveland-Stout, co-creator of the Quincy Institute’s Think Tank Funding Tracker, to pull back the curtain on the financial interests shaping how Americans are being sold the war in Iran. First, they discuss the stark gap between the American public and the Washington foreign policy establishment on the Iran war, and why that disconnect is no accident Next, they dig into the think tank money trail: ...
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  Is Trump already losing control of the Iran war? | EMERGENCY EPISODE w/Kelley Vlahos 06.03.2026 59m

  On this emergency episode of Always at War, Courtney and Alex are joined by Kelley Vlahos, Editor-in-Chief of Responsible Statecraft, to discuss the US-Israel attack on Iran and subsequent war. First, they discuss why Trump chose war over diplomacy, whether the administration is feeling a sugar high after regime change in Venezuela, and why the endgame in Tehran remains dangerously unclear. Next, they examine the fracturing of the "MAGA" coalition around the war. Kelley explains why i...
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  The deadly decline of US empire | GOING DEEP with Noah Kulwin 27.02.2026 59m

  On this episode of Always at War, Courtney and Alex go deep with Noah Kulwin, journalist and co-host of the hit documentary podcast Blowback, on why American interventionism thrives on the very chaos it claims to be fighting. First, they get into how Noah came to be interested in America’s role in the world, the origins of Blowback, and how chaos figures into America’s strategy to maintain global military primacy. Next, they explore how the American public has been insulated from the costs ...
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  Trump is strangling Cuba and threatening Iran. Feel safer yet? 13.02.2026 42m

  On this episode of Always at War, Courtney and Alex dive into the Trump administration's escalating threats against Iran and Cuba, exploring why Washington seems hell-bent on repeating its regime change failures of the past. First, they examine the looming threat of war with Iran and discuss how pro-Israel figures are pushing a "poison pill" for Iran talks that would ensure their failure, sparking a new forever war that Americans don't want. Next, they shift focus to the Cuba, where the US ha...
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  A dystopian vision for Gaza & Canada says the quiet part loud 30.01.2026 41m

  Courtney and Alex are breaking down the latest news that explain why the U.S. remains perpetually at war — this week, courtesy of our benevolent overlords in Davos at the World Economic Forum. First, they congratulate Larry Ellison on Oracle's acquisition of TikTok and swift shadow-banning of Courtney’s account. Next, they discuss Trump's "Board of Peace" and plan to build a "New Gaza" over the ashes of a genocide — and the chilling details of what this "peace" vision could entail, from force...
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  Why did Trump REALLY attack Venezuela? | GOING DEEP with Lee Schlenker 14.01.2026 1h 15m

  On this episode of Always at War, Courtney and Alex are joined by Lee Schlenker, research associate with the Global South program at the Quincy Institute, to unpack the fallout from the Trump administration’s attack on Venezuela and kidnapping of Nicolás Maduro — what it means for Venezuelans, for Trump's foreign policy, and for Americans who are sick and tired of paying for these endless military adventures all over the world. First, they discuss the mechanics of military escalation a...
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  Is the War Machine Censoring Your Social Media Feed? | GOING DEEP with Taylor Lorenz 19.12.2025 48m

  Courtney and Alex go deep with tech journalist Taylor Lorenz on how social media shapes our perceptions of US foreign policy, and why war hawks like Hillary Clinton want to make it harder for Americans to get access to independent info on war and peace. First, they discuss how the internet went from being treated by US politicians as an emancipatory tool during the Arab Spring to a dangerous source of misinformation during the war on Gaza. Next, they unpack the role of social media sites li...
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  Hillary Clinton is wrong about Gaza (again) and Ukraine diplomacy is good, actually 05.12.2025 49m

  Courtney and Alex are back to break down the latest stories that help explain why the US is always at war. First, they break down a pair of recent stunning statements by former Obama speechwriter Sarah Hurwitz and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about how young people are getting the wrong ideas about Israel from the terrible images they're seeing of the genocide in Gaza. The solution, of course, is not to prevent such carnage in the first place, but to try and game and...
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  Profiting off Venezuela regime change, Pete Hegseth’s crazy proposal, & no more US aid for Israel?! 21.11.2025 39m

  This week, Courtney and Alex discuss the news stories from around the world that caught their attention. First, they get into how American arms companies are profiting off of the push for regime change in Venezuela and the military buildup in the Carribean. Next, they unpack the Pentagon's "acquisition reform" — a terrible idea that will make it easier for the military-industrial complex to build and profit off of dysfunctional weapons (this time, with even less oversight!) Finall...