The Brief presents unique and entertaining interviews with original thinkers on the most critical issues of the day. Journalist Jim Clancy engages expert guests in rigorous but relaxed conversations that unpack serious subjects in new and surprising ways. In a relatable yet informed manner, we illuminate some of the misapprehensions that the public may hold. By tapping the knowledge of our guests, we intend to surface some of the overlooked causal factors and explore contingencies that may yet happen.
The Brief will range beyond conventional national security debates and explore how technology- especially artificial intelligence- is likely to alter our economies and societies. The podcast intends to provide robust discussions about how environmental and climate concerns should be every society’s priority, and we will cover some innovative potential approaches on how humanity could bend the curve of global warming.
Under Siege on the West Bank: A Palestinian Documents the Violence and Destruction
In this episode of The Brief Podcast, Mohammad Huraini takes us on a walking tour of his village in the South Hebron Hills. It is part of a community known as Masafer Yatta. It comprises more than a dozen Palestinian hamlets. Mohammed uses his video recordings to document settler attacks, often supported by army troops or police. Illegal "settlers" in the region are terrorizing Palestinians who have lived there for decades with the aim of stealing their land and destroying their homes. Muhammed's goal is to document events using a video camera. He tells Jim Clancy that despite repeated, brutal attacks by the settlers the Palestinian residents around Masafer Yatta aren't abandoning their homes, livestock or property. You can support Mohammad's work here. (https://chuffed.org/project/help-mohammad-document-settler-attacks-in-west-bank)
22 Jan 2026
Why Trump's "Board of Peace" Won't Work for Gaza
Sarah Leah Whitson joins Jim Clancy in a discussion of Trump's "Global Board of Peace" and concerns about the state of U.S. Democracy. Whitson is an experienced Human Rights and Democracy advocate who co-founded DAWN (Democracy for the Arab World Now) with Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi before his murder. Whitson says "It is a profoundly anti-democratic entity and a profoundly colonial entity such that the people who actually live in Gaza have no say whatsoever for the government that is going to rule their lives." The discussion turns to the actual state of the ceasefire in Gaza, the failure to deliver most of the humanitarian aid and supplies and the effect that is having on civilians there. Whitson surveys the U.S. political scene and spares neither Republicans nor Democrats "What I am surprised and disappointed and frankly revolted by is the complacency, cowardice and corruption of the American political elites, of American civil society with power."
14 Jan 2026
Trump's "Predatory Hegemony" Defines 2025: Prof. Stephen Walt
Harvard Professor and internationally acclaimed realist Stephen Walt looks at the events, personalities and policies that defined a tumultuous year in politics at home and abroad in this edition of The Brief Podcast with Jim Clancy. Unrestrained in his foreign policy instincts, Trump has bullied friends and foes alike without a hint of a collective strategy. Walt reviews how a President obsessed with claiming the mantle of a global peacekeeper has conflated short term ceasefires with the difficult work of resolving the root causes of conflicts. From the Genocide in Gaza to gunboat diplomacy in Venezuela, Walt deconstructs how flim flam is failing on all fronts. Walt observes the winners and (mostly) losers of 2025. That includes Israel's powerful lobby in the U.S. that faces a collapse of support in American public opinion. It also includes Trump's onslaught against science and research at prominent universities that can be likened to "shooting itself in the head.". The flailing tariff policies, deployment of troops on American streets and troubled alliances from Europe to Asia are discussed and no sacred cows are spared. Despite all of that, Professor Walt still sees hope for democratic resilience among the people of the United States.
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
407,909
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
3 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 33 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
7
Social presence
0
YouTube
86
Engagement
60
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