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Cheap Talk

Cheap Talk is an every-week-or-so international relations podcast with Jeff Kaplow and Marcus Holmes, professors of government at William & Mary.

Podcast · By Jeff Kaplow and Marcus Holmes · English · Official site

Indexed episodes, last 90 days
6
Latest publication
Sep 26, 2026
Audience
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Earliest in this view
Aug 23, 2026

Latest episodes

  1. Episode · Sep 26, 2026

    Humans Make Mistakes Too (opens the original)

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    A big week for face-to-face diplomacy; the UN as a safe forum for high-level visits; the importance of side-meetings outside the General Assembly Hall; another Trump-Zelensky meeting; the logic of a post-election deal with Iran; China’s summit strategy; resolving the Greenland Crisis of 2025-2026; whether AI really almost caused a war with China; and Marcus supports hotline proliferation The opinions expressed on this podcast are solely our own and do not reflect the policies or positions of Wil

  2. Episode · Sep 18, 2026

    The Lingo of Our AI Tech Overlords (opens the original)

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    The public debate over AI and the end of humanity; proposals to slow down AI development and improve safety; the challenges of coordinating domestically and internationally; normal accident theory and the nuclear safety analogy to AI; positive and negative controls and the always/never dilemma; predictions for the end of humanity; and Marcus wonders whether aliens have AI and how that went for them The opinions expressed on this podcast are solely our own and do not reflect the policies or posit

  3. Episode · Sep 14, 2026

    Not Routine at All (opens the original)

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    The international security implications of the Hugging Face hack; rogue AI agents and cyberattack attribution; competing explanations for the CIA Director’s recent visit to Moscow; signaling to various audiences; worries about Russia expanding the Ukraine conflict into NATO; US domestic politics and the state of the Iran war; and Marcus has really enjoyed the US Open The opinions expressed on this podcast are solely our own and do not reflect the policies or positions of William & Mary. Please s

  4. Episode · Sep 5, 2026

    This Could Result in an International Incident (opens the original)

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    The fascinating story of OpenAI’s rogue models and the HuggingFace hacking incident; turning a mirror on our humanity; the natural inclination to cooperate and communicate; models sacrificing themselves for the greater good; models cheating on their benchmarks and the temptation to cover their tracks; conspiracy theories and misinformation in the world of AI models; and Marcus is tempted to go into the app development space The opinions expressed on this podcast are solely our own and do not ref

  5. Episode · Aug 30, 2026

    Twice as Popular as Taylor Swift (opens the original)

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    Remembering Dolly Parton, global icon; US military capacity and the readiness costs of extended deployments in the Iran conflict; the US-Saudi Arabia nuclear cooperation agreement is submitted to Congress; developments in the trade war with Canada; spillover between economic statecraft and security policy; and Marcus thinks Jolene is a good tune The opinions expressed on this podcast are solely our own and do not reflect the policies or positions of William & Mary. Please subscribe to Cheap Talk

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