Podcasts

Why It Matters

Why It Matters

Why It Matters is explaining some of the least-understood issues that are shaping our world. Every two weeks, host Gabrielle Sierra speaks to a diverse lineup of guests with the goal of simplifying a complicated global topic. Will the world run out of coffee? Will wars be fought by killer robots? Is Hollywood giving in to Chinese censorship? With a little bit of humor and a lot of curiosity, Why It Matters is here to dig in and find out.

The rapid emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) has brought lawmakers and industry leaders to the same conclusion: regulation is necessary to ensure the technolo...

The rapid emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) has brought lawmakers and industry leaders to the same conclusion: regulation is necessary to ensure the technolo...

Read More

After decades of seeming like another sci-fi catchphrase, artificial intelligence (AI) is having its moment. Some experts predict that AI will usher in an era of bou...

After decades of seeming like another sci-fi catchphrase, artificial intelligence (AI) is having its moment. Some experts predict that AI will usher in an era of bou...

Read More

Feeding the world's eight billion people has never been easy. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine shocked the market for fertilizer, that task has gotten even hard...

Feeding the world's eight billion people has never been easy. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine shocked the market for fertilizer, that task has gotten even hard...

Read More

Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the possibility of nuclear war felt like a problem of days past. Now, as great-power competition heats up, the potential for ...

Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the possibility of nuclear war felt like a problem of days past. Now, as great-power competition heats up, the potential for ...

Read More

All current U.S. military personnel have one thing in common: they volunteered. But falling recruitment has raised questions of national security, military readiness...

All current U.S. military personnel have one thing in common: they volunteered. But falling recruitment has raised questions of national security, military readiness...

Read More

Freedom of the press is under attack around the globe, but for journalists in Latin America in particular, reporting has become a matter of life and death. Populist ...

Freedom of the press is under attack around the globe, but for journalists in Latin America in particular, reporting has become a matter of life and death. Populist ...

Read More

As rising global temperatures thaw the ice at the North Pole of the planet, competition between nuclear-powered states threatens to heat up the Arctic Circle even fu...

As rising global temperatures thaw the ice at the North Pole of the planet, competition between nuclear-powered states threatens to heat up the Arctic Circle even fu...

Read More

The world is entering a new era of great-power competition. As U.S. policymakers look ahead, it pays to know what global threats to anticipate. Every January, the Co...

The world is entering a new era of great-power competition. As U.S. policymakers look ahead, it pays to know what global threats to anticipate. Every January, the Co...

Read More

In 2022, several colossal events dominated the headlines, most prominently the war in Ukraine and the worldwide inflation that it helped spark. But beyond Ukraine, e...

In 2022, several colossal events dominated the headlines, most prominently the war in Ukraine and the worldwide inflation that it helped spark. But beyond Ukraine, e...

Read More

For years, the world thought of the internet as a borderless zone that brought people from around the world together. But as governments pursue very different regula...

For years, the world thought of the internet as a borderless zone that brought people from around the world together. But as governments pursue very different regula...

Read More

The 2022 FIFA World Cup has kicked off in Qatar, and billions of fans worldwide are tuning in to the world’s most popular live event. And yet as in years past, the Q...

The 2022 FIFA World Cup has kicked off in Qatar, and billions of fans worldwide are tuning in to the world’s most popular live event. And yet as in years past, the Q...

Read More

The global arms trade is big business and the United States accounts for more than 40 percent of the world’s weapons exports. Aside from the profit motivation, selli...

The global arms trade is big business and the United States accounts for more than 40 percent of the world’s weapons exports. Aside from the profit motivation, selli...

Read More

How does a war end? In this special episode, Why It Matters speaks with CFR President Richard Haass on the conflict in Ukraine. We ask if and how this war can come t...

How does a war end? In this special episode, Why It Matters speaks with CFR President Richard Haass on the conflict in Ukraine. We ask if and how this war can come t...

Read More

The U.S.-Saudi relationship is fraught with complications. Saudi Arabia has the largest oil reserves in the world, giving it influence over what Americans pay at the...

The U.S.-Saudi relationship is fraught with complications. Saudi Arabia has the largest oil reserves in the world, giving it influence over what Americans pay at the...

Read More

Beware, coffee lovers: climate change could disrupt your precious morning cup of joe. Coffee beans could lose half of their farmable land by 2050 as temperatures and...

Beware, coffee lovers: climate change could disrupt your precious morning cup of joe. Coffee beans could lose half of their farmable land by 2050 as temperatures and...

Read More