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American Enterprise Institute

The American Enterprise Institute is a public policy think tank dedicated to defending human dignity, expanding human potential, and building a freer and safer world. The work of our scholars and staff advances ideas rooted in our belief in democracy, free enterprise, American strength and global leadership, solidarity with those at the periphery of our society, and a pluralistic, entrepreneurial culture.

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Series

Not Dead Yet35 episodesThe Report Card with Nat Malkus56 episodesWhat the Hell Is Going On337 episodes

Recent Episodes

What the Hell Is Going On
What the Hell Is Going On

WTH Is China Spying Through LinkedIn? With Luke Jacobus.

We are joined by Luke Jacobus, one of AEI’s own, to highlight how China’s spies leverage the LinkedIn networking platform to recruit Americans to pass them sensitive knowledge. MSS agents use artificial intelligence to impersonate consultants and pay U.S. clearance holders for national security information. How effective is this recruitment method? What are potential countermeasures? To what extent do private corporations shoulder the blame? Listen in on the risks that face Americans face online every day. Luke Jacobus is a research associate at the Coalition Defense of Taiwan project, a partnership between the American Enterprise Institute and the Institute for the Study of War. His research focuses on the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) politics, the People’s Liberation Army, and the PRC’s overseas influence and espionage activities. Luke is a graduate of the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss), where he majored in Chinese and International Studies, and speaks Mandarin Chinese.
Hosts:
Danielle PletkaMarc Thiessen
Not Dead Yet
Not Dead Yet

Emma Camp

Can you live the good life without taking risks? Emma Camp of the Wall Street Journal joins the guys to talk about Gen Z, risk aversion, getting married young, and the importance of a good cocktail party — and the obligation to extend hospitality more more broadly. When did everything get wrapped in therapy speak? How has lifestyle creep blown expectations out of proportion? How do you build the habit of being social? Could a few good house parties save America?
Hosts:
BSBen SasseCSChris Stirewalt
What the Hell Is Going On
What the Hell Is Going On

WTH: Will AI End Humanity? Chris Miller Explains.

In this episode, we are joined by Chris Miller for a clear-minded and sobering discussion of the future of AI. The geopolitical competition between the United States and China in the field of artificial intelligence is the arms race of the 21st century, yet in this case, the product is self-improving. Some warn it could end humanity, while others refute these claims as exaggerations. So, what is the answer? Is the opportunity greater than the risk? What are the Chinese up to? Can they beat us? We discuss the risks, opportunities, and implications of proper regulation. Chris Miller is a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and an associate professor at Tufts University. His latest book Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology (Scribner, 2022) is a New York Times bestseller. In addition to Chip War, Dr.
Hosts:
Danielle PletkaMarc Thiessen
The Report Card with Nat Malkus
The Report Card with Nat Malkus

Private Tutoring Centers—A Bigger Deal than You Think (with Joshua Goodman)

Kumon, Sylvan Learning, Mathnasium, and Huntington Learning Center—these private tutoring chains are familiar names, but they have received little attention from education researchers. According to recent research co-authored by Josh Goodman, however, this is an oversight. Not only has the number of private tutoring centers tripled since the late 1990s, but private tutoring centers also might have a surprisingly large effect on district achievement trends. To find out more, on this episode of The Report Card, Nat Malkus speaks with Josh Goodman. Nat and Josh discuss what instruction looks like at private tutoring centers, which families send their children to private tutoring centers most often, whether tutoring might explain why East Asian countries do better on international assessments, why the number of private tutoring centers peaked in 2015, whether private tutoring centers might be insulating high-achieving students from downward achievement trends, what American schools can learn from private tutoring centers, whether giving families vouchers for private tutoring centers would have been an effective method for fighting pandemic learning loss, why big tutoring chains often outperform other tutoring centers, and why private tutoring centers might be a more cost-effective way to raise student achievement than most other interventions. Joshua Goodman is a professor of education and economics at Boston University and the co-author of Kumon Up: Private Tutoring Centers and Student Achievement and Kumon In: The Recent, Rapid Rise of Private Tutoring Centers. This episode was produced by Elli Lucas.
Host:
Nat Malkus
Not Dead Yet
Not Dead Yet

Bill Burns

The former head of the CIA joins the guys and things get wonky. The (mostly) unredacted conversation covers everything: Russia, China, college basketball, AI, spy novels, and what it takes to become an intelligence officer. What does the former top spy remember most about his time as a hostage at the Farm’s Special Operations Training Course?
Hosts:
BSBen SasseCSChris Stirewalt
What the Hell Is Going On
What the Hell Is Going On

WTH: Jason Miyares on Five Easy Ways to Wreck a State.

Jason Miyares, former attorney general for the state of Virginia, joins us to discuss Virginia’s hard political shift leftward — skyrocketing taxes, sanctuary cities — and the impact of these policies on its eight million citizens. We weigh rising crime rates, extreme constitutional amendments, and the end of purple Virginia. What the hell are the consequences of this governance? How the hell is this going to impact American citizens? Jason S. Miyares served as the 48th Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Virginia from 2022 to 2026, becoming the first Latino-American — and specifically the first Cuban-American— elected to statewide office in Virginia. As the Commonwealth’s chief legal officer, he led the Office of the Attorney General and represented the interests of more than eight million Virginians. He received a Bachelor of Business Administration from James Madison University and his J.D. from the College of William & Mary School of Law. Read the transcript here. Subscribe to our Substack here.
Hosts:
Danielle PletkaMarc Thiessen

September 2026

Not Dead Yet
Not Dead Yet

Ed and Carmen Policy

Chris is doing journalism, so Ben talks football. Another father-son football episode with Ed and Carmen Policy. Can you build a common culture for front office white-collar workers and on-field warriors? How has a salary cap made the NFL more competitive, and can baseball learn anything from it? Did high school failure help create the 49ers dynasty? Gambling’s a big problem, but after the Supreme Court’s ruling, what’s the path forward? Why is Youngstown, OH the epicenter of football? Ben Sasse's WSJ piece on how playing football builds character: https://www.wsj.com/opinion/free-expression/america-needs-its-boys-to-play-football-5b9673de?st=Qmuz3H&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
Hosts:
BSBen SasseCSChris Stirewalt
What the Hell Is Going On
What the Hell Is Going On

WTH Is Going on with Trump at the United Nations? Brett Schaefer Explains.

In honor of NYC’s least favorite week, we are joined by Brett D. Schaefer to analyze the ongoing United Nations General Assembly meeting. How the hell is this institution serving American interests? Together with Brett, we discuss the President’s address, weird US shenanigans, the threats to American interests posed by international governance, and the importance of U.S. oversight. The United Nations needs significant reform, but how the hell can the White House make that happen? Brett D. Schaefer is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he focuses on multilateral treaties, peacekeeping, and the United Nations and international organizations. Before joining AEI, Mr. Schaefer was the Jay Kingham Senior Research Fellow in International Regulatory Affairs at the Heritage Foundation, a member of the United Nations Committee on Contributions and an expert on the UN Task Force for the United States Institute of Peace. His work has been published in Fox News, The Hill, National Review, and National Security Journal, CNN, and CNBC, and more. Read Brett and Dany’s project on corrupt OCHA funding here. Read Brett’s reaction to Trump’s UN speech here. Read Brett’s United Nations Organizations Assessment Project here. Read the transcript here. Subscribe to our Substack here.
Hosts:
Danielle PletkaMarc Thiessen
The Report Card with Nat Malkus
The Report Card with Nat Malkus

Implementing AI (with Philip Oreopoulos)

Proponents of education technology have often made big promises about its potential to transform schooling, but so far, ed tech has failed to live up to its promise. Will AI also fail to deliver, or will it finally be the education technology that breaks through? On this episode of The Report Card, Nat Malkus and Philip Oreopoulos discuss this question and more. Nat and Philip discuss how to make sure ed tech actually gets used, whether schools need dedicated ed-tech staff, the educational benefits of using AI for language instruction, the logistical challenges of using AI for math instruction, how much upside there is for AI tutoring, how AI can affect the amount of time students spend on material, and what teachers should know about effective ed-tech implementation. Philip Oreopoulos is a professor of economics at the University of Toronto and the author of several recent papers on AI and education technology that examine the importance of implementation. This episode was produced by Elli Lucas. Show Notes: One Click Away: AI Tutoring with Khanmigo in a Two-Year School Experiment Making AI Tutoring Productive: Evidence from a Mastery-Based Math Practice Experiment How In-School Supervised Ed-Tech Support Produces Massive Learning Gains: A Khan Academy Field Experiment in India
Host:
Nat Malkus
Not Dead Yet
Not Dead Yet

Katherine Boyle

First return guest, Katherine Boyle, joins the guys to pick up where they left off. How can technology strengthen families? Why do boys need risks? How can women combine work and motherhood? Don’t we all need some suffering? Come for the deep questions, stick around for the autonomous boats, rebuilt shipyards, and American builders.
Hosts:
BSBen SasseCSChris Stirewalt
What the Hell Is Going On
What the Hell Is Going On

WTH Are We Doing To Replenish Our Weapons Stockpiles? Anduril’s Chris Brose Explains.

What the hell is happening with U.S. defense technology? Chris Brose, the President and Chief Strategy Officer of defense tech firm Anduril joins us to talk about how private defense companies are innovating and revolutionizing American national security, America’s lousy defense acquisition habits, and what we can learn from Ukraine and the war with Iran. The traditional US defense industrial base is slowly cranking out exquisite and outdated weapons. If things don’t change, we risk losing a war to China. We discuss the crucial shift towards technological advancement, what the Pentagon and Congress must do, and what this means long term for the safety and security of the American people. Chris Brose is President and Chief Strategy Officer of Anduril Industries, a venture-backed defense technology company. He is the author of The Kill Chain: Defending America in the Future of High-Tech Warfare (2020) and formerly a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. From 2014-2018, he was the staff director of the Senate Armed Services Committee supporting then Chairman John McCain. From 2009-2014, Mr. Brose served as senior policy advisor to Senator John McCain, and from 2008-2009, he was senior editor of Foreign Policy. From 2005-2008, he served as policy advisor and chief speechwriter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and began his career in government as a speechwriter for Secretary of State Colin Powell from 2004-2005. Read the transcript here. Subscribe to our Substack here.
Hosts:
Danielle PletkaMarc Thiessen
Not Dead Yet
Not Dead Yet

Andy Crouch

Technology, idolatry, time, and habits. Andy Crouch joins the gang to talk about technology, work without rest, and rest. How radical is an hour a day, a day a week, and a week a year? How does rest make us better at work? Is anybody a digital native? Golf, magic, acorn (not cogs) metaphors. It’s a wild ride.
Hosts:
BSBen SasseCSChris Stirewalt
What the Hell Is Going On
What the Hell Is Going On

WTH Live! Remembering 9/11 25 Years Later with Stephen Hadley and J.D. Crouch.

On the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, we hosted a live recording of the podcast, What the Hell Is Going On?, featuring former National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley and former Deputy National Security Adviser J. D. Crouch II. Both Mr. Hadley and Dr. Crouch were serving in the Bush administration on that terrible day. Together, we discuss the attacks, the global war on terror, the state of America’s fight against Islamist extremism, and the United States’ safety and security one quarter century on. Stephen Hadley is a principal of Rice, Hadley, Gates & Manuel LLC, an international strategic consulting firm founded with Condoleezza Rice, Robert Gates, and Anja Manuel. He is an executive vice chair of the board of directors of the Atlantic Council and is also the former board chair of the United States Institute of Peace, where he continues to serve on the Board of Directors. J. D. Crouch II is managing director for global strategy at Gallagher Insurance. A longtime national security and foreign policy leader, Dr. Crouch has served as deputy national security adviser to President George W. Bush, assistant secretary of defense for international security policy, and US ambassador to Romania. He later served as president and CEO of the United Service Organizations. At Gallagher, he focuses on the geopolitical forces shaping global business, risk, and strategic decision-making. Read the transcript here. Subscribe to our Substack here.
Hosts:
Danielle PletkaMarc Thiessen
The Report Card with Nat Malkus
The Report Card with Nat Malkus

Should We Close the US Department of Education?

According to many in the Trump administration, closing the US Department of Education would increase efficiency, reduce bureaucracy, and give states more control over education. But according to opponents of the move, closing the Department would create a bureaucratic web that would be confusing for states to navigate, weaken civil rights enforcement, and do little to raise student achievement. Once abstract, these debates are now anything but. Since his second term began, President Trump has signed an executive order directing the Department to begin shutting itself down, the Department has cut about half of its staff, and the Department has announced several interagency agreements to shift certain federal programs to other agencies. Against this backdrop, on this episode of The Report Card, Nat Malkus and four experts discuss and debate whether we should close the US Department of Education. Note: This episode is adapted from the most recent installment of the American Enterprise Institute’s Education Policy Debate Series, which was held at AEI on September 2.
Host:
Nat Malkus
Not Dead Yet
Not Dead Yet

Yuval Levin

World renowned for his beauty and his above-average thoughtfulness, Yuval Levin joins the guys. Why does he describe his work as gratitude for America? Why can’t you script a career path? Why do we overcomplicate questions of virtue? Is it true that Ben once sheared a sheep with Yuval in western Nebraska? All this and so much more.
Hosts:
BSBen SasseCSChris Stirewalt
Guest:
Yuval Levin
What the Hell Is Going On
What the Hell Is Going On

WTH Is Happening With Midterms? With Josh Kraushaar.

In our back-to-school episode, we welcome the return to D.C. by diving straight into the upcoming midterm elections. Who the hell is running? What the hell do they believe in? Where the hell are the particularly crucial races? Between the Iran War, heightening antisemitism, the increasingly popular DSA, and a possible AI bubble, American voters have no shortage of issues to weigh at the polls. We are pleased to host Josh for a discussion on what November might bring, and its implications for broader American policy in the future. Josh Kraushaar is the editor-in-chief of Jewish Insider and is a political analyst for Fox News Radio. With a track record of identifying election trends before they become conventional wisdom, Kraushaar is one of Washington’s leading political analysts. Josh will soon be publishing a weekly column analyzing the latest political developments for JI and is also the author of Axios’ weekly Sunday Sneak Peek newsletter, which focuses on the big-picture forces driving American politics. Read the transcript here. Subscribe to our Substack here.
Hosts:
Danielle PletkaMarc Thiessen
Not Dead Yet
Not Dead Yet

Gordon Gee

Ok, they’ll bite. What’s a university? Ben and Chris are joined by legendary university president E. Gordon Gee. Public trust is in collapse, the core curriculum looks like a Cheesecake Factory menu, the math doesn’t add up, and college football looks a heckuva lot like professional football. The guys cover it all. Boy do Stirewalt and Gee love West Virginia.
Hosts:
BSBen SasseCSChris Stirewalt

August 2026

What the Hell Is Going On
What the Hell Is Going On

WTH Should I Read This Summer? ‘Subversion and Seduction’ by Audrye Wong.

What the hell is Beijing doing to seduce Washington? Join us for the last in our summer book series for a discussion with Dr. Audrye Wong for a conversation about her new book, Subversion and Seduction: China’s Economic Statecraft. How the hell has Beijing gained influence inside the United States? What the hell are their carrots and sticks? We debrief the state of China’s seduction campaign and Audrye’s policy suggestions to counter Beijing. Audrye Wong is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where her work focuses on China’s foreign policy, economic statecraft, propaganda and disinformation campaigns, and foreign influence operations. Previously, Dr. Wong was a professor at the University of Southern California and postdoctoral fellow at the Grand Strategy, Security, and Statecraft joint program of the Harvard Kennedy School and Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Security Studies Program. She has also held affiliations with Harvard’s Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, the Wilson Center, the Brookings Institution, and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She is fluent in Mandarin. Dr. Wong holds a PhD, MA and AB from Princeton. Read the transcript here. Subscribe to our Substack here.
Hosts:
Danielle PletkaMarc Thiessen
The Report Card with Nat Malkus
The Report Card with Nat Malkus

How Schools Should Approach Mental Health (with Carolyn D. Gorman)

Many schools today offer mental health programming, but according to Carolyn Gorman, a lot of school mental health programming is not only wasteful and ineffective but also directionally misguided: School mental health programming often targets students who don’t need help, pathologizes ordinary emotions, and fails to adequately help students with the most severe mental health problems. On this episode of The Report Card, Nat Malkus speaks with Carolyn Gorman about school-based mental health. Nat and Carolyn discuss whether and why student mental health has gotten worse, what we do and don’t know about school-based mental health programming, what K–12 schools should do when it comes to mental health, whether the mental health landscape in higher education is similar to the mental health landscape in K–12 schools, and how schools can promote student mental health through ordinary routines and orderly school environments. Carolyn D. Gorman is a fellow at the Manhattan Institute, where her research examines how policy changes in the U.S. impact individuals with mental illness. This episode was produced by Elli Lucas. Show Notes: School-Based Mental Health Initiatives Challenges and Considerations for Policymakers The Tradition and Limits of Campus Mental Health Congress Is Treating Schools like Mental-Health Clinics It’s Time For Schools To Get Out Of The Mental Health Business
Host:
Nat Malkus
Not Dead Yet
Not Dead Yet

Cal Newport

The guys do some deep work. Prolific author and computer scientist Cal Newport joins the podcast. The gang talks about why email is a slog, what sparks human creativity, why the good life needs thoughtful deliberation, why Slack is a bummer, why the apocalyptic AI warnings are out of control, why productivity is different than busyness, and what we can do about it.
Hosts:
BSBen SasseCSChris Stirewalt
What the Hell Is Going On
What the Hell Is Going On

WTH Should I Read This Summer? ‘Israel on Trial’ by Roy Altman

In the third part of our What The Hell summer reading series, Judge Roy Altman joins us for a discussion on the questions posed in his book, “Israel on Trial: Examining the History, the Evidence, and the Law.” What the hell are the charges? Who the hell are the plaintiffs? Altman applies his legal and ethical training to put Israel on trial. Together, we analyze the ultimate question: guilty or not guilty? After being confirmed to a seat on the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida in 2019, Judge Roy K. Altman, at 36, became the youngest federal district court judge in the country—and the youngest federal judge ever appointed in the Southern District of Florida. He received his JD from Yale Law School, where he was projects editor of the Yale Law Journal. Altman clerked on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals for the Honorable Stanley Marcus and was appointed a federal prosecutor at the US Attorney’s Office in Miami, where he twice received the Director of the Executive Office of US Attorneys’ Award for Superior Performance by a federal prosecutor. Altman was named a partner at the Miami law firm Podhurst Orseck, where he represented the victims of airplane crashes and bank fraud conspiracies. He received a BA from Columbia University, where he played quarterback on the football team and pitched for the baseball team. Read the transcript here. Subscribe to our Substack here.
Hosts:
Danielle PletkaMarc Thiessen
What the Hell Is Going On
What the Hell Is Going On

WTH Should I Read This Summer? ‘Twenty Times I Almost Died’ by John Spencer

In the second edition of our What the Hell summer reading series, John Spencer shares stories from his latest book, “Twenty Times I Almost Died: Life Lessons from the Edge of Survival.” From fighting swarms of killer bees in Panama, to 25 years in the military, to conducting war research in Gaza, Spencer has consistently pushed the line. WTH does a person take away from these experiences? We discuss his incredible experiences and the life lessons that are learned on the edge of danger. John Spencer is an award-winning scholar, professor, author, combat veteran, and military analyst. An internationally recognized authority on urban warfare, military strategy, and modern conflict, he is widely regarded as one of the world's leading experts on urban warfare. During his Army career, he served as an advisor to the Army's senior four-star general and other senior leaders as part of strategic research organizations spanning the Pentagon and the United States Military Academy at West Point. Since retiring from the Army, he has continued to advise senior military leaders, heads of state, and militaries around the world. Spencer currently serves as the Chair of Urban Warfare Studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point and Co-Director of the Urban Warfare Project. Read the transcript here. Subscribe to our Substack here.
Hosts:
Danielle PletkaMarc Thiessen
The Report Card with Nat Malkus
The Report Card with Nat Malkus

How AI and Screens Are Changing Reading (with Naomi Baron)

AI is transforming not only the way students work but also the way they read. It summarizes readings for students, changing the way they engage with texts, form judgments, and—perhaps—develop cognitively. On this episode of The Report Card, Nat Malkus speaks with Naomi Baron about these changes and more. Naomi Baron is Professor Emerita of Linguistics at American University and the author of Reader Bot: What Happens When AI Reads and Why It Matters. This episode was produced by Elli Lucas. Show Notes: Reader Bot: What Happens When AI Reads and Why It Matters Who Wrote This? How AI and the Lure of Efficiency Threaten Human Writing The End of Reading Is Here Is This What a Post-Literate Era Looks Like? Learn more about AEI's The Report Card.
Host:
Nat Malkus
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