This fascinating interview dives into the history of modern Spain, and the influence of Spanish language and culture upon the United States. Juan Antonio Chica Sabariego is the head of the English Department at the Escuela Oficial de Idiomas Sierra Morena, located in the Province of Jaén within the southern Spanish region of Andalusia. He discusses Spain's years of civil war and dictatorship under Francisco Franco, and the nation's transformation into a modern democracy during the 1970s and 1980s. We also talk about the occasional tensions that have developed between the USA and Spain, from the Spanish-American war in the late 19th Century to the War on Terror era of the early 21st Century. We conclude by providing some advice to North Americans interested in visiting Spain, and by pondering the increasing linguistic intermixing between the English and Spanish languages on both sides of the Atlantic.

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In this episode, we profile a little-remembered diplomat who served as a major voice of dissent against US involvement in the Vietnam War. George Ball was born into an upper-middle class Midwestern family, and he became a prominent Chicago lawyer. He became a political confidant of Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson during his two runs for the White House. Ball received one of the top spots in the State Department during John F. Kennedy's presidency. In that role, he promoted international trade and took a "dovish" view on foreign policy, recommending against US military interventions around the world. George Ball is most famous for urging JFK to end US military involvement in Vietnam. Kennedy remained indecisive on whether to increase or decrease the American presence in South Vietnam, up to the time of his death. Ball gave the same antiwar advice to Kennedy's successor Lyndon B. Johnson, but the new president rejected Ball's suggestions, & he instead listened to generals who favored a heavier American military involvement in Southeast Asia. The Vietnam War stretched into the 1970s, and the tragic conflict created millions of casualties. Even after leaving public life, George Ball continued to publish writings questioning the conventional wisdom of US foreign policy, up until his death in 1994.

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This unique, mostly extemporaneous episode is a deep dive into modern European politics. The current United States government has destabilized the political scene by indicating it will reduce military support for NATO, and by having some of its top officials endorse the controversial far-right Alternative for Deutschland (AfD) Party. We profile all of the main German political parties that were contenders in the February 2025 federal parliamentary elections: the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), the center-right Christian Democrats (CDU), the climate-focused Greens, the liberal Free Democrats (FDP), the hard-right AfD, the Die Linke (Left) party, and the populist BSW party. We discuss the dissatisfaction with the status quo under Chancellor Olaf Scholz that led to this disruptive election, and analyze the continued influence of anti-migrant sentiment pulling European politics to the right. Finally, we discuss the election's outcomes, including the victory of the CDU that will make Friedrich Merz the next leader of Germany, the continued rise in support for the right-populist AfD in formerly Communist East Germany, and the surprising revival in the fortunes of the left-wing Die Linke party. We conclude by examining how plans to increase German defense spending reflect a diminished partnership between Europe and the USA.

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