Season Five Trailer

Why It Matters is back for a fifth season, asking the important questions about the global issues, problems, and trends that will affect the future. What role does American music play in international relations? Will the global supply chain put the path to clean energy at risk? What the heck is quantum computing? 

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Host
  • Gabrielle Sierra
    Director, Podcasting
Credits

Asher Ross - Supervising Producer

Markus Zakaria - Audio Producer and Sound Designer

Rafaela Siewert - Associate Podcast Producer

Show Notes

Get caught up on the first four seasons: 

 

Season four: 

 

Hyperventilating Over Hypersonics

 

The Climate for Nuclear Energy

 

Mexico

 

Sexual Assault in the U.S. Military

 

Spying 101

 

Perspective on Afghanistan, With Richard N. Haass

 

Japan’s Population Problem

 

Water Scarcity

 

When the Microchips Are Down

 

Season three:

 

Gone Fishing

 

A Global Shot in the Arm, With Anthony Fauci

 

The Dollar Privilege

 

The Most Persistent and Lethal Threat

 

Russia

 

China’s Starring Role in Hollywood

 

The Future Is African

 

A Climate Bomb in the Amazon

 

Let’s Talk About Toilets

 

Make America Vote Again

 

Season Three Trailer

 

Season two:

 

Treasures Looted in War

 

Why We Need International Students

 

Pricing Our Climate

 

Hey, Remember the Olympics?

 

Living in History

 

The World Is Watching Us

 

The Human Cost of Labor Trafficking

 

Exporting Authoritarianism

 

WhatsApp With India?

 

Wearing the World Out

 

Bonus Episode: ‘A Medically Induced Economic Coma’

 

Season Two Trailer

 

Season one:

 

The Big Red Button

 

China Doesn’t Want Your Trash

 

STEMinism

 

Space Jam

 

Prescription for Disaster

 

New Years Special: 2020 Hindsight

 

Robots That Kill

 

Voter, You’ve Been Hacked

 

Dimming the Sky

 

The One Where We Talk About NATO at a Party

 

Coronavirus

 

Maternal and Child Health

In the past thirty years, sixty countries have expanded access to abortion care as an underpinning of maternal health. The 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade made the United States the fourth country ever to decrease access to abortion—and the world took notice. Some countries have since reinforced protections for abortion care, while others have moved to further restrict it.

India

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the most popular man in India. On track to be elected for a third term, he has boosted the country’s global standing and propelled strong economic growth while consolidating power and galvanizing majoritarian support for his Hindu nationalist agenda—all while growing closer to the United States. How could Hindu nationalism reshape India?

Media

In a wide-ranging conversation, Foreign Affairs Editor Dan Kurtz-Phelan joins Why It Matters to discuss nonpartisan publishing in a polarized political climate, the state of press freedom around the world, and the future of journalism.

Top Stories on CFR

NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)

The war in Ukraine marks a new era of instability in Europe. Countering Russia’s efforts will require a stronger, more coordinated NATO.

China

After the rise of Chinese power during the 2010s and failed U.S. policies in the Indo-Pacific, the United States should renew the Pivot to Asia and place the region at the center of its grand strategy.*

France

Far-right advances in the European Parliament elections have destabilized politics in France, a longstanding pillar of the European Union, and highlighted fault lines in the bloc.