Episode 23 – The Winding Road
In this episode of The Ask, several extraordinary guests join us for a discussion about the long, winding road ahead for America and the rest of the world in the wake of Donald J. Trump’s election to a second term as President of the United States of America.
For this episode, we have been undeservedly blessed with the presence of:
Author Elliot Ackerman
Former Marine Special Forces officer, White House fellow, and New York Times besettling author of Green on Blue, Places and Names, The Fifth Act: America’s End in Afghanistan , co-author of 2034 Elliot Ackerman is coming off Apple Studios, having optioned his next book, Sheepdogs, for an upcoming series to be produced by Tom Hanks’ production company, Playtone.
New York Times International Investigative Correspondent, Azam Ahmed
The author of Fear Is Just a Word via Penguin Random House, Azam Ahmed is an international investigative correspondent for the New York Times and has served as a Times bureau chief in Afghanistan, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. His investigative projects and reporting have received the Polk Award, the Michael Kelly Award, the James Foley Medill Medal for Courage in Journalism, and the Overseas Press Club Award. In May 2025, Azam won the Explanatory Reporting Pulitzer prize, together with Christina Goldbaum and Matthieu Aikins, for reporting on how the United States sowed the seeds of its own demise long before the war in Afghanistan ended.
Associate Director for Science & Technology Ecosystem at Federation of American Scientists, Cole Donovan
Now at the Federation of American Scientists, Cole Donovan served as an International Affairs Specialist at the Office of Space Commerce. Cole previously served in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) as the Assistant Director for International Science and Technology and the Assistant Director for Research Security and Infrastructure and worked for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and the State Department, where he covered major research infrastructures, research security and competition policy, and U.S. scientific and technical involvement with the EU, Africa, Southeast Asia, ITER, and CERN.
New York Times Opinion Columnist & Author, David French
A graduate of Harvard Law School and a constitutional lawyer long devoted to taking on religious liberty cases, David French has long been a leading conservative voice here in the United States.
A veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, David French was awarded the Bronze Star while serving with the Second Squadron, Third Armored Cavalry Regiment, in Iraq from 2007 to 2008.
In 2015, he joined National Review as a senior writer, but left in 2019 to help start The Dispatch, a conservative media company. He’s also contributed articles to Time Magazine and The Atlantic. In 2023, he joined The Times as an opinion columnist.
His most recent book, Divided We Fall: America’s Secession Threat and How to Restore Our Nation, outlined the dangers of polarization and the need to engage with people who have opposing viewpoints.
Author Phil Klay
Marine Corps veteran and winner of the National Book Award, author Phil Klay teaches creative writing at Fairfield University. He is the award-winning author of Redeployment, Missionaries, and most recently, Uncertain Ground, a book of essays musing on an age of endless war.
Reuters News Chicago Bureau Chief, Emily Schmall
Emily Schmall, author of the upcoming book Girl, Goddess for Counterpoint Press, is currently the Reuters bureau chief in Chicago. Previously, Emily worked as a South Asia correspondent for the New York Times, reporting on the COVID-19 pandemic and many other topics from India, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and the Maldives. She also worked for The Associated Press and as a roving freelance foreign correspondent across five continents.
We’re also very pleased to share that we now have Substack and Bluesky accounts for The Ask podcast!
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https://bsky.app/profile/theaskpodcast.bsky.social
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