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Why It Matters: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Council on Foreign Relations
Each episode of Why It Matters breaks down an issue that is shaping our world‘s future. Join host Gabrielle Sierra as she speaks with the leaders and thinkers who are facing these questions head on. Fueled by the minds at the Council on Foreign Relations, Why It Matters brings some of the world‘s most compelling stories home to you.
Latest Episodes
The most recent episodes — sign up to get AI-powered summaries of each one.
- 1 weeks ago34 min
Cabin Crew, Prepare for Surgery
On this episode of Why It Matters, we sit down with experts to discuss medical tourism, examining the forces that push patients to go abroad for care, the countries that have capitalized on demand, and the question of who bears the cost. Host: Gabrielle Sierra, Director of Podcasting, Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) Guest: Glenn Cohen, Faculty Director of the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology and Bioethics, Harvard University Valorie Crooks, Associate Vice President of Research, Canada Research Chair in Health Services Geographies, Simon Fraser University Read More: “Medical Tourism,” CDC “Medical Tourism to Witness Exponential Growth by 2034,” World Health Expo “Decision-making about bariatric and cosmetic medical tourism from countries with universal healthcare: a rapid systematic review,” National Institute of Health Want to keep up with Why It Matters? Sign up to receive an email alert when new episodes drop. Why It Matters is a production of the Council on Foreign Relations. The opinions expressed on the show are solely those of the host and guests, not of the Council, which takes no institutional positions on matters of policy.
- 3 weeks ago29 min
Side Effects May Include Dependency on China
What happens if the world’s pharmacy decides to close? From ibuprofen to amoxicillin, a majority of the essential medicines used in the United States depend on ingredients from China. This dependence has left the United States vulnerable to a geopolitical rival that could decide to cut off its access at any time. On this episode of Why It Matters, Rush Doshi, senior fellow at CFR, and Olivia Kosloff, senior fellow at the American Economic Liberties Project, unpack how the dependency came about and what’s at risk if the pharma supply chain snaps. Host: Gabrielle Sierra, Director of Podcasting, Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) Guest: Rush Doshi, C.V. Starr Senior Fellow for Asia Studies and Director of the China Strategy Initiative, Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) Olivia Kosloff, Senior Fellow, American Economic Liberties Project Read More: Thomas J. Bollyky, Rush Doshi, Prashant Yadav, Olivia Kosloff, and Elena Every, “The Pharma Choke Point,” CFR.org Tim Rühlig, “The China Drug Dependency,” CFR.org “Executive Order 13944 List of Essential Medicines, Medical Countermeasures, and Critical Inputs,” U.S. Food and Drug Administration Want to keep up with Why It Matters? Sign up to receive an email alert when new episodes drop. Why It Matters is a production of the Council on Foreign Relations. The opinions expressed on the show are solely those of the host and guests, not of the Council, which takes no institutional positions on matters of policy.
- Oct 1, 202626 min
How Demand for GLP-1s Overwhelmed the Global Drug System
GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic have become some of the world's most-wanted medicines, but soaring demand has also turned them into a stress test for the global drug system. On this episode of Why It Matters, Gabrielle Sierra and CFR Senior Fellow Prashant Yadav trace how the GLP-1 trend led to shortages, a booming gray market, and steep price gaps driven by patent laws that vary across borders. Host: Gabrielle Sierra, Director of Podcasting, Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) Guest: Prashant Yadav, Senior Fellow for Global Health, Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) Read More: “6 Facts About Obesity and Weight Loss Drugs In the U.S.,” Pew Research Center “The Expanding Benefits of GLP-1 Medicines,” Cell Reports Medicine “Obesity Drugs Are Scaling Fast,” Morgan Stanley “FDA’s Concerns with Unapproved GLP-1 Drugs Used for Weight Loss,” U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Want to keep up with Why It Matters? Sign up to receive an email alert when new episodes drop. Why It Matters is a production of the Council on Foreign Relations. The opinions expressed on the show are solely those of the host and guests, not of the Council, which takes no institutional positions on matters of policy.
- Apr 10, 202638 min
Honey, I Tracked the War
This episode explores how drones, cell phones, and other widely-available intelligence tools are turning civilians and aid workers into frontline witnesses—documenting war in real time, guiding humanitarian aid, and helping build evidence that could power future war crimes cases. Host: Gabrielle Sierra, Director of Podcasting, Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) Guest: Anthony Vinci, Cofounder and CEO, Vico; Adjunct Senior Fellow, Technology and National Security Program, Center for a New American Security (CNAS) Sam Vigersky, International Affairs Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) We discuss: How drones, satellites, smartphones, and other widely-available tools are changing who gets to document war. How civilians are no longer just witnesses to conflict but are also recording attacks in real time and helping gather intelligence As Anthony Vinci puts it: “We’re becoming civilian spies.” How ordinary people are building digital evidence libraries online that may later support investigations into war crimes and accountability efforts. How drones are blurring the line between surveillance, intelligence gathering, and direct attacks on the battlefield. Why more access to information does not always lead to justice, especially when politics and institutions fail to act. How journalists, aid workers, and civilians face greater danger when documenting violence and sharing what they see. Why the growing flood of footage, data, and digital records is changing how audiences process war emotionally. Read more: Anthony Vinci, The Fourth Intelligence Revolution Sam Vigersky, “Beyond Conventional Aid: Institutionalizing Public-Private Partnership in Ukraine’s Humanitarian Response,” CFR.org “Counting the Dead,” Human Rights Watch “Listen, Run, Hide: How Russia Uses Quadcopter Drones to Hunt and Kill Civilians in Kherson, Ukraine,” Human Rights Watch “UN Commission Concludes that Russian Armed Forces’ Drone Attacks Against Civilians in Kherson Province Amount to Crimes Against Humanity of Murder,” United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner Want to keep up with Why It Matters? Sign up to receive an email alert when new episodes drop. Why It Matters is a production of the Council on Foreign Relations. The opinions expressed on the show are solely those of the host and guests, not of the Council, which takes no institutional positions on matters of policy.
- Mar 26, 202631 min
One Woman's Path From a U.S. College Campus to the Ukrainian Battlefield
This episode traces one young woman's journey home to a new kind of war—and Ukraine’s fight for survival. Host: Gabrielle Sierra, Director of Podcasting, Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) Guest: Catarina Buchatskiy, Co-Founder & Director of Analytics, Snake Island Institute We discuss: The story of a young Ukrainian woman who left college in the U.S. to join the fight at home within days of the invasion. How Ukraine transformed its drone manufacturing from garage shops to a sophisticated, rapidly scaling defense industry. Ukraine’s surprising dependence on China in its drone supply chain, and its push to make ‘China-free’ drones by 2026. Stories of Ukrainian resilience and resolve. How the Snake Island Institute bridges the gap between the battlefield and Western policymaking by connecting Ukrainian military insights to the allies who are shaping defense strategy. As Buchatskiy puts it: “The overarching definition of victory is that the Ukrainian nation is whole, that the state is legitimate, that we have control over the state, that we have our democracy, and that we’re at peace and can live freely.” Want to keep up with Why It Matters? Sign up to receive an email alert when new episodes drop. Why It Matters is a production of the Council on Foreign Relations. The opinions expressed on the show are solely those of the host and guests, not of the Council, which takes no institutional positions on matters of policy.
- Mar 11, 202637 min
Allies, Partners, or Frenemies?
This episode outlines the global network sustaining both sides of the war in Ukraine, with NATO allies on one side and Russia with backing from China, Iran, and North Korea on the other, and how the limits and tensions within these alliances are shaping the war’s next phase and raising broader global security risks. Host: Gabrielle Sierra, Director of Podcasting, Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) Guests: Liana Fix, Senior Fellow for Europe, Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) Joseph Torigian, Senior Fellow for Asia Studies, Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) We discuss: How the war in Ukraine has become a global conflict fueled by competing networks of allies and partners on both sides. Why Ukraine’s survival depends on sustained military, financial, and intelligence support from the United States and NATO. How Russia has built its own wartime coalition, relying on Iran for drones, North Korea for munitions, and China for economic backing. Why the Russian alliance with China is driven more by shared opposition to Western power than true strategic alignment. How cracks are emerging within both coalitions, from political fatigue in the West to quiet limits in China’s support for Russia. As Liana Fix puts it: “A more transactional idea of alliances is exactly where we are headed.” How sanctions, supply chains, and defense production have turned global economics into a second front in the war. How shifting alliances could expand the conflict’s risks beyond Ukraine and reshape global security dynamics. What this war reveals about the return of bloc politics in a new era of great power competition. Read More: Liana Fix, “Defending Europe if Russia Steps Out of the Gray Zone,” CFR.org Liana Fix, Heidi E. Crebo-Rediker, Thomas Graham, Paul B. Stares, and Sam Vigersky, “Securing Ukraine’s Future: Adapting to New Realities After Four Years of War,” CFR.org Joseph Torigian, “Xi Jinping’s Russian Lessons,” Foreign Affairs Clara Fong and Lindsay Maizland, “China and Russia: Exploring Ties Between Two Authoritarian Powers” Anya Konstantinovsky, “China, Russia, and Ukraine: December 2024” Molly Carlough and James Kennedy, “How North Korea Has Bolstered Russia’s War in Ukraine” Want to keep up with Why It Matters? Sign up to receive an email alert when new episodes drop. Why It Matters is a production of the Council on Foreign Relations. The opinions expressed on the show are solely those of the host and guests, not of the Council, which takes no institutional positions on matters of policy.
- Mar 11, 202632 min
We Are in a New Era of Warfare
This episode explores how the emergence of drone warfare and innovation under fire is transforming power and forcing nations to rethink strategy and military capacity. Host: Gabrielle Sierra, Director of Podcasting, Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) Guests: Michael C. Horowitz, Senior Fellow for Technology and Innovation, Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) Erin D. Dumbacher, Stanton Nuclear Security Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) We discuss: How Ukraine is redefining modern warfare with cheap, scalable drone technology that can take down multimillion-dollar weapons. As Michael Horowitz puts it: “We’ve entered the era of precise mass in war.” How Ukraine became a real-world testing ground for autonomous weapons and AI-driven combat systems. Why small countries can now challenge military superpowers using precision strike at scale. How 70% of battlefield casualties in Ukraine are now linked to drone warfare, not traditional weapons. How Silicon Valley quietly became a key player in the war, from Starlink to AI intelligence and communication tools. How Russia is adapting just as quickly, scaling drone production and learning in real time. What the U.S. risks if it fails to keep up with rapid battlefield innovation and production speed. Read More: Securing Ukraine’s Future, CFR Michael C. Horowitz and Lauren Kahn, “Military AI Adoption Is Outpacing Global Cooperation,” CFR.org Michael Horowitz, “What Drones Can—and Cannot—Do on the Battlefield,” Foreign Affairs Erin D. Dumbacher, “Nukes Without Limits? A New Era After the End of New START,” CFR.org Want to keep up with Why It Matters? Sign up to receive an email alert when new episodes drop. Why It Matters is a production of the Council on Foreign Relations. The opinions expressed on the show are solely those of the host and guests, not of the Council, which takes no institutional positions on matters of policy.
- Dec 18, 202532 min
The Risk Report for 2026
As 2025 draws to a close, U.S. foreign policy stands at an inflection point. Under the second Trump administration, traditional alliances have been tested, a hard-edged national security strategy has been rolled out, and for the first time, CFR’s annual Preventive Priorities Survey has ranked a military conflict with Venezuela as a top threat facing the U.S. in 2026. Whether these and other flashpoints erupt next year will hinge on how world leaders manage mounting pressures, both at home and abroad. Read the full 2026 Preventive Priorities Survey. Featured Guest: Paul B. Stares (General John W. Vessey Senior Fellow for Conflict Prevention and Director of the Center for Preventive Action) Why It Matters is a production of the Council on Foreign Relations. The opinions expressed on the show are solely those of the guests, not of CFR, which takes no institutional positions on matters of policy.
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About Why It Matters
Each episode of Why It Matters breaks down an issue that is shaping our world‘s future. Join host Gabrielle Sierra as she speaks with the leaders and thinkers who are facing these questions head on. Fueled by the minds at the Council on Foreign Relations, Why It Matters brings some of the world‘s most compelling stories home to you.
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