The Atlantic Interview: Barack Obama on Disinformation and The Future of Democracy

The Atlantic's editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg talks with staff writer Caitlin Dickerson about her recent piece, "An American Catastrophe," a comprehensive investigation of the Trump administration’s policy of separating migrant children from their families. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“I discovered the reality and the power of Palestinian identity by getting a rock thrown at my head.” Israel author Yossi Klein Halevi joins The Atlantic's editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg to discuss the conflict in the Middle East and his new book Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor. Halevi shares how he believes Israelis need to both remember that they live in a world where genocide is possible and to remember that they were strangers in the land of Egypt. “And if you don’t have both of those sensibilities, then you are a one-dimensional Jew,” says Halevi. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pete Souza spent eight years photographing the Obama White House, an effort he now chronicles his new book Obama: An Intimate Portrait. Souza joins The Atlantic's editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg to share the stories behind his most famous photos: a 5-year-old boy patting the president's head, the tense scene in the Situation Room during the mission against Osama bin Laden, and many more. What was it like to be a fly on the wall in the West Wing? (View the photos discussed here.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Madeleine Albright considers Donald Trump "the first antidemocratic president in modern U.S. history." Alarmed at the rise in authoritarian tendencies around the world, the former Secretary of State has written a new book, Fascism: A Warning. Twice a refugee of her native Czechoslovakia – first from the Nazi invasion, then later from the Communist coup – Albright is all too familiar with the loss of democracy. In a conversation on stage at Sixth & I with The Atlantic's editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg, Albright shares her thoughts on President Trump, her worries about fascism, and what it’s like to get interrupted by a porn star. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

"For decades, examining race in America meant focusing on the advancement and struggles of people of color. Under this framework, being white was simply the default," writes Michele Norris in National Geographic's issue on race. Previously a host of NPR's All Things Considered, Norris is now the Director of The Bridge – the Aspen Institute's new program on race, identity and inclusion – building on her work as the founder of The Race Card Project. She tells The Atlantic's editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg that the public clashes over race may get our attention, but they also distract from the private conversations going on across America. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices