Ep. 42: Tom Nichols

Talking Beats with Daniel Lelchuk

"The American unwillingness to think about foreign policy leaves decision makers with a lot of latitude to go on military adventures."

Tom Nichols joins the podcast for a discussion about authoritarian regimes around the world and waves of nationalist, populist leaders coming to power in countries the world over. What do Bolsonaro, Duterte, Orban, and Putin have in common? Where does US President Trump fit in? Tom Nichols also address themes from his well-known book The Death of Expertise, and how the internet and social media in particular drive an anti-expert, sometimes anti-knowledge campaign. He also has a strong warning for listeners: stop getting your news from Facebook and Twitter and use good, old-fashioned trusted news sources instead.

Tom Nichols is a U.S. Naval War College University Professor and an adjunct at the U.S. Air Force School of Strategic Force Studies. He is a specialist on Russian affairs, nuclear strategy, NATO issues, and a nationally-known commentator on U.S. politics and national security. He was a staff member in the United States Senate, a fellow at CSIS and the Harvard Kennedy School, and previously taught at Dartmouth, La Salle, and Georgetown. He is also a five-time undefeated 'Jeopardy!' champion, and was noted in the 'Jeopardy!' Hall of Fame after his 1994 appearances as one of the all-time best players of the game. He is the author of the well-known book The Death of Expertise: The Campaign against Established Knowledge and Why it Matters.