Sources & Methods
Episodes
What’s next after Iran truce / Hormuz status / Israel and Lebanon
09 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
At the 11th-hour, with President Trump’s self-imposed deadline looming, the United States and Iran entered into a truce. Will it hold? Is the war o...
Trump's belated case for war in Iran
02 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
More than 30 days after President Trump launched a war against Iran, he addressed the American people in a primetime address and finally made a case f...
Live Q&A: Trump on Hormuz; Lebanon, counterattacks, the intel beat, and more
31 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
We unpack the latest on Iran, Lebanon, troop movements in the region, and Iranian counterattacks. Then, Mary Louise Kelly and Greg Myre answer your qu...
Trump's Hormuz plan / troops to Mideast / Iran peace ‘talks’?
26 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The Pentagon is sending thousands of U.S. troops to the Middle East. Is this an escalation or a warning?Host Mary Louise Kelly, NPR Pentagon Correspon...
Top Swedish General: NATO 'heeding the call' on its new reality
25 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Europe has come to grips with a new reality, ushered in by the Trump administration: Europe needs to commit more resources to its own security. That's...
Inside a secret Pentagon effort to bring AI to the battlefield
23 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Project Maven, a secretive decade-long Pentagon campaign to deliver the U.S. into an age of AI warfare, is the subject of a new book by Bloomberg repo...
Iran latest: View from the border / Trump strong-arms allies
19 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
President Trump has demanded, begged and threatened U.S. allies to join the war in Iran.But those allies aren’t exactly leaping in to help. Can Trum...
U.S. vs. Israel on endgame / Battlefield tech / Wartime censorship
12 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
President Trump says there’s practically nothing left to target in Iran. Is the White House looking for an off ramp?Host Mary Louise Kelly is joine...
Is Iran another Iraq?
09 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Poor planning, overly ambitious goals, not thinking through the aftermath. These are the parallels that Richard Haass sees between the 2003 U.S. invas...
Iran’s fight for survival / The widening war / Trump’s nebulous goals
05 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The U.S.-Israeli war with Iran is spilling out across the region. What are the goals? And how does it end?Host Mary Louise Kelly talks with Internati...
Iran's supreme leader is killed. What happens now?
28 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
President Trump says Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is dead. This comes after Israel and the United States launched missile attacks ac...
U.S. and Israel strike Iran. Here's what we know
28 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Overnight, the United States and Israel launched military strikes against Iran.The strikes targeted Iran’s top leaders, Supreme Leader Khamanei and ...
Drone warfare / Iran on the brink? / Ukraine four years on
26 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The seas of the Middle East are bristling with American warships and airpower trained on Iran. What does President Trump have in mind for them?Host Ma...
China: Purging generals and testing nukes? / Trump, Iran and Ukraine
19 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Did China conduct secret nuclear tests? The United States thinks so. Host Mary Louise Kelly speaks with NPR Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman and NPR...
Europe's post-Munich exhale / Machado on gifting Nobel to Trump
17 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
If you heard our show last week you know we were at the Munich Security Conference – a gathering in Germany where world leaders, security experts an...
View from Munich / Europe’s far-right / DNI in Georgia
12 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
“The world has entered a period of wrecking-ball politics,” begins the Munich Security Report, released as the world’s security establishment ga...
'Persons of no interest:' embassy wives become spies in new thriller
10 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Two American women -- living in Cold War-era Moscow, with husbands in the CIA -- suddenly become undercover agents themselves. That's the set-up for P...
Can Iran negotiate its way out of a U.S. attack?
05 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
President Trump says he’ll act against Iran “with speed and violence,” if he doesn’t get a deal to rein in Iran’s nuclear program.Host Mary ...
Is the “president of peace” preparing for war?
29 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Last week, President Trump was announcing a Board of Peace for Gaza. This week, he’s threatening war against Iran.Host Mary Louise Kelly speaks with...
Do we know what’s happening with Greenland?
22 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
For weeks, President Trump has made plain he wants the United States to own the Arctic island. Then on Wednesday, he appeared to back down, and announ...
Iran in crisis. Trump weighing military action. Here’s what we know
15 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
It’s day 19 of turmoil in Iran. President Trump continues to weigh military action against the regime.Host Sacha Pfeiffer speaks with NPR national s...
What’s happening with the U.S. and Venezuela?
08 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
One week ago, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was leading the country. Now, he’s sitting inside a detention center in Brooklyn. Host Mary Lou...
Venezuela leader captured. Trump says U.S. to 'run' the country. Here’s what we know
04 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
After months of threats, warnings and seizing of alleged drug boats – tensions between the United States and Venezuela have now come to this: the ar...
Undercover for the holidays: Some of our favorite spy novels
29 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What's more thrilling than a great... thriller? As national security buffs, we have thoughts.Host Mary Louise Kelly chats with national security corre...
From CIA Officer to Governor: Abigail Spanberger on intelligence and politics
22 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Virginia governor-elect Abigail Spanberger will be the first woman and the first former CIA officer to lead the commonwealth.Host Mary Louise Kelly ta...
Is ISIS making a comeback?
18 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The terrorist group has been linked to the mass shooting in Australia and a deadly attack in Syria. What do these two attacks reveal about the group's...
Is Trump breaking up with Europe?
11 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In recent days, President Trump has called European leaders “weak," Biden-era aid to Ukraine “stupid" and Russia “strong.” It’s a radical sh...
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is in hot water – again
04 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth was already facing questions for his role in the September 2 strikes on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean. Then on Thu...
MAGA and 'The Mission' of the intelligence community
24 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ideology is the enemy of intelligence, says Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Tim Weiner. His recent book, a history of the modern CIA, is called The ...
Trump and MBS: Who's wooing whom?
20 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has positioned himself as a global power broker with money to invest. President Trump considers him an...
Peace through strength? America first? Is there a Trump doctrine?
13 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
President Trump has an ad-hoc approach to foreign policy. How well is it working?Guest host Sacha Pfeiffer speaks with national security correspondent...
Insiders reveal 'wrecking ball' at Trump's DOJ: how two reporters got the scoop
10 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists Carol Leonnig and Aaron C. Davis sit down with Mary Louise Kelly to talk about their book Injustice: How Politics ...
The GOP's extremism problem and what it means for national security
06 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Tucker Carlson interviewed white nationalist Nick Fuentes, and now the right is divided on whether that’s okay.Host Mary Louise Kelly speaks with Od...
Two presidents walk into an airport
30 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
President Trump and China’s Xi Jinping backed off their trade war - but now nuclear tensions are front and center.Host Mary Louise Kelly speaks with...
Introducing Sources & Methods
25 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
National security, unlocked. Each Thursday, host Mary Louise Kelly and a team of NPR correspondents discuss the biggest national security news of the ...