New Frontiers brings together scholars, experts, and practitioners to discuss issues of international and global importance.
Produced by the Rohatyn Center for Global Affairs at Middlebury College, the podcast tackles a wide range of topics— from big tech, environmental conservation, global security, and political economy to culture, literature, religion, and changing work patterns—that, when examined as a whole, offers a comprehensive survey of the world's most pressing issues.
In this episode, Stephen Herzog (https://stephen-herzog.com/) of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (https://nonproliferation.org/) joins Mark Williams to discuss his co-edited book Atomic Backfires. (https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262051859/atomic-backfires/) Drawing on extensive research and case studies, Herzog examines renewed global fears surrounding nuclear weapons and proliferation, pointing to Russia’s nuclear saber-rattling during the war in Ukraine, the proliferation incentives created by the experiences of Iraq, Libya, and Ukraine, and concerns over weakening U.S. security assurances under the Trump administration. He also explores the unintended—and often counterproductive—effects of policies designed to reduce nuclear risks, including sanctions, military threats, counterproliferation strikes, and arms control agreements.
New Frontiers (https://www.middlebury.edu/rohatyn/new-frontiers-podcast) (from the Rohatyn Center for Global Affairs (https://www.middlebury.edu/rohatyn) at Middlebury College (https://www.middlebury.edu/#)) is a higher education podcast series bringing scholarly research and expertise to bear on national, international, and global affairs.
Produced and edited by Margaret DeFoor and Mark Williams, director of the Rohatyn Center for Global Affairs. Intro by Charlotte Tate, associate director of the Rohatyn Center for Global Affairs. Edits by RCGA intern Mehr Sohal.
Music Credits
Forte by Kestra - Summer with Sound Album
Soul Zone by Kestra - Light Rising Album
Transitions by Mark Williams
15 Apr 2026
US Terrorist Lists: Who Decides, and Why It Matters
How does the U.S. government determine who gets designated a terrorist and belongs on the official “terrorist list”? What consequences could arise as a result of being put on the terrorist list, and what procedures are followed to ensure this designation—and the penalties that come with it—are justified? Explore these topics with Mark Williams and counterterrorism expert Jason Blazakis (https://www.middlebury.edu/institute/people/jason-blazakis). A former director of the State Department’s Counterterrorism Finance and Designations Office, and founding director of the Center for Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism (https://www.middlebury.edu/institute/academics/centers-initiatives/ctec), Blazakis explains how making the terrorist list can lead to a range of negative consequences: asset freezes, criminal penalties, immigration issues, etc., the slow, evidenced-based procedures traditionally followed to ensure any terrorist designation was legally justified, and his concerns that recent changes in those procedures by the Trump administration could lead to their abuse.
New Frontiers (https://www.middlebury.edu/rohatyn/new-frontiers-podcast) (from the Rohatyn Center for Global Affairs (https://www.middlebury.edu/rohatyn) at Middlebury College (https://www.middlebury.edu/#)) is a higher education podcast series bringing scholarly research and expertise to bear on national, international, and global affairs.
Produced and edited by Margaret DeFoor and Mark Williams, director of the Rohatyn Center for Global Affairs. Intro by Charlotte Tate, associate director of the Rohatyn Center for Global Affairs. Edits by RCGA intern Mehr Sohal.
Music Credits
Forte by Kestra - Summer with Sound Album
Soul Zone by Kestra - Light Rising Album
Transitions by Mark Williams
8 Mar 2026
De-coding Earth’s Climate History: Scientific Research on the High Seas
In this episode, Rohatyn Center director Mark Williams talks with climate scientist Allison Jacobel about how researchers reconstruct the Earth’s climate history without a “time machine,” why the oceans and seafloor hold richer continuous climate records than land, and what understanding the past can tell us about contemporary climate change and our climate future.
Dr. Allison W. Jacobel (https://www.ajacobel.com/) is Assistant Professor of Earth and Climate Sciences at Middlebury College and a faculty fellow at the Rohatyn Center for Global Affairs. Her work focuses on understanding the climate system through the application of geochemical, sedimentological, and micropaleontological techniques. Specifically, she is interested in the reconstruction of abrupt and orbital-scale climate change and the carbon storage mechanisms that amplify insolation forcing.
New Frontiers (https://www.middlebury.edu/rohatyn/new-frontiers-podcast) (from the Rohatyn Center for Global Affairs (https://www.middlebury.edu/rohatyn) at Middlebury College (https://www.middlebury.edu/#)) is a higher education podcast series bringing scholarly research and expertise to bear on national, international, and global affairs.
Produced and edited by Margaret DeFoor and Mark Williams, director of the Rohatyn Center for Global Affairs. Intro by Charlotte Tate, associate director of the Rohatyn Center for Global Affairs. Edits by RCGA intern Mehr Sohal.
Music Credits
Forte by Kestra - Summer with Sound Album
Soul Zone by Kestra - Light Rising Album
Transitions by Mark William.
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
1,228
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
5 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
5 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 61 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
71
Social presence
0
YouTube
68
Engagement
60
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