montana governor steve bullock followed by former vice wesident joe biden feared also have former hud secretary julian castro and saturday, we are live it's an :00 a.m. east and with governor jay inslee, senator kamala harris, senator hoeven klobuchar, senator kirsten gillibrand, former colorado governor john hickenlooper, senator elizabeth warren, and senator cory booker. the 2020 presidential candidates live at the iowa state fair starting thursday on c-span, watch any time online at fromn.org, or listen live wherever you are come on the go, using the free c-span radio app. host: today, we are joined by mark leon goldberg from denver , colorado who has a podcast that focuses on undercover global issues and trends of the day. mark goldberg, explain what you

mean by undercover issues and . how do you find them. guest: these are ideas or trends or events or sometimes even individuals that exist around the world who are doing interesting things, who are of global consequence, but do not typically get the kind of in-depth analysis and coverage from our conventional media outlets. so what i will do is i will find a journalist or think tank expert or a diplomat or government official deeply engaged on some issue of global consequence and have a 25 or a 30-minute conversation with them that examines all angles of that issue. to bring the specific issue to a broader foreign-policy and broader podcast listening audience as well. host: give us an example or two of some of your recent issues that you have uncovered. guest:. sure. the most recent episode i hosted

posted is a good example of what my mission is with the podcast. this was an interview with an expert from the ngo about a drought in the corner of africa which includes parts of somalia, , kenya, ethiopia, that is currently experiencing a drought affecting about 15 million people. this area is prone to drought , but what caught my attention when trying to pick up whether to do an episode around this issue was data i saw about the consequences of this drought and how that data seems to match a similar situation that was unfolding in 2011 in which a similar drought led to an absolutely devastating famine that killed about 260,000 people. this was the first famine of the 21st century. so i sought to do an episode explaining to people that the situation, the drought situation

happening now in the horn of africa is bearing a lot of similarities with the intention to that situation in 2011, with the intention to give people an early warning that unless we act , unless we listen to the suggestions of the person i interviewed from oxfam, perhaps we may be descending into this really awful situation in which 100,000, 200,000 people may die of famine. host: you talk about what you are hoping people who are listening will learn. who are your listeners and what do you know about them? guest: the listeners of my show specifically are geographically diverse. i think it is a function of the kind of content i put out. about half are from the united states, and about half from the rest of the world. of the rest of the world, about

half are from larger english-speaking countries like united kingdom, canada, australia. interesting about my podcast is i have had a download from nearly every single country on earth, except north korea. it probably has to do with their firewalls. it is a widely listened to show with a broad geographic penetration. host: how many downloads are we talking about? guest: the show will have reached, in mid-august, 2 million downloads all time. host: you have said on your podcast that you seek to have a conversation, an accessible conversation about foreign-policy that viewers will not get anywhere else. how do you think most podcasts today cover foreign-policy? guest: so i think most podcasts are very much news driven. i do have some news pegged on global dispatch, but most is driven by the news, which oftentimes is driven by what

president trump says or does. most podcasts are typically chasing that headline. i think perhaps what distinguishes mine is i tried to take a step back from the day-to-day rumble of the news and try to offer listeners some background and context to issues that they might not read on the front page of the "new york times" or "washington post." podcast week on the "washington journal," and today we speak with mark leon goldberg host of global dispatch. to join the conversation, republicans, 202-748-8001. democrats, it is 202-748-8000. independents, 202-748-8002. mark goldberg, how did you get into podcasting? guest: i have been writing on since forever, about 2004, a blog about the

united nations and global affairs. i have been writing on twitter and social media. about five or six years ago, i was thinking to myself, i love what i was doing but the content that i was writing was very much as i just described, news pegged, very ephemeral, and i wanted to give the issues i was interested in a longer shelf life, sort of evergreen, and make them interesting years down the line. at the time, i really loved podcasting as a medium and thought why not try to take this interest of mine, these big global issues that have been in-depth conversations with them but not make them pegged to the day-to-day new cycle. that is the genesis of the show. host: let's chat with a few of our viewers. jay, michigan, independent, you are up first. caller: good day for your program.

the question i have for mark is, how does he intend to ensure that he gets the desired effect? what i am saying i am part of a global issue coverage guy. for example there is a genocide in british cameroon, that is west africa, where we have more then 10,000 people killed, 9000 homes burned, more than 1.5 million people displaced, more than 200,000 in nigeria, and continuous killing every day. there is a website you can go to, and you would not believe what is happening and the world , is silent. mark, how do you get these issues on the table of vision makers? guest: great question. and the situation to which you refer, the persecution of

anglophones in cameroon is india a subject that i have covered twice at least over the last couple of years and most recently, a couple weeks ago, i had a senior official, a former top united nations official, and now head of a large international relief organization called the norwegian refugee council on the show to discuss what you are talking about. the persecution of anglophones and the conflict in the anglophone region of cameroon. one thing from the conversation that sticks out to me, that conflict has displaced several hundred thousand people and led to over one million children who are out of school, who are unable to attend school because of this conflict. it is issues like the ones you identified i want to bring to a larger audience.

issues that animate the cameroon diaspora, of which i assume you're a part, they have broader global significance and i see it as my mission to bring those stories that may resonate among our community but are of importance to a broader global community and bring that to a broader foreign-policy audience. aids is on the retreat.

there is the soft power. this is spent on every food at that goes out around the world. this is a reflection of american values. this is where staff salaries are paid for. outbreak ina bullet parts of the democratic republic of congo. the idea of foreign aid is to help the people in the affected region take care of that problem for themselves by giving them expertise, funding, food, shelter and a. notarts of that ebola does spread elsewhere and affect us here at home.

>> hello c-span, good morning, thank you so much for the opportunity to call in. good morning. it is excellent to hear your vision for what is important. i just wanted to ask your question. the united states has set up their relatively new command. we just got a new chain of command in africa. you are pointing out ebola. possibly provide

for the continent of africa? to answer the prayers of those going through suffering? guest: it is important to disaggregate the continent of africa to constituent countries because there is a vast diversity among that gigantic continent. i was in ghana a few weeks ago, a stable, multiparty democracy that is one of the best allies to america in the region. it is a very functioning and well governed country. it is certainly poor but does not have the instability of other places like south sudan. of places with instability like south sudan or mali, an intervention is overlooked by american media and american observers, that is the united nations peacekeeping. the most peacekeeping missions

around the world are in africa. very few if any american soldiers serve in these missions. but they are providing important security guarantees to countries and protecting civilians who have been displaced by violence. recently a good example is liberia. in 2018, the peacekeeping mission of liberia closed up shop because after 15 years peacekeepers had successfully fulfill their mission. thousands of peacekeepers from around the world had deployed in liberia to create conditions for peace and create the security conditions and which elections could be held. there was a change in power

after the elections and everything was stable and the peacekeepers left. a good example of how international support can be leveraged to help bring peace and help africans themselves bring peace and stability to their own countries and communities. host: the episodes on your podcast are about 30 minutes. why is that a good length of time for the discussions you are trying to have? guest: i could talk about this stuff for hours. i would love to chat for hours and hours but i want to be respectful of my listeners time. most people consume podcasts while either on a commute or or while performing chores. someone was training for a marathon listening to the show and that boggles my mind. in general i want to get to the essence of an issue and provide

the necessary context required to understand a global issue, not only in the moment but understand that, as they unfold in the coming weeks and months, and so 25 minutes, 30 minutes is a good sweet spot for that kind of context and analysis that i am seeking to draw out of the people i interview. host: people send you anecdotes about how the podcast has impacted them. what is one that sticks out to you? guest: i hear from listeners all the time. one thing about podcasting that is so profound that i only got after doing this for a while is how intimate a medium it is. there is something profoundly intimate about listening to someone speak right in your ears, you feel you get to know them and develop a deep and profound connection and regard with your audience to the point where they feel free and compelled and without problem to

email you and ask you questions. a good example of this is, people asking me questions about career, a young professional in foreign-policy, i hear questions about career and career choices. one person emailed me saying the podcast inspired them to do a career shift and joined the u.s. foreign service. i heard this person recently had joined and was going on his first assignment overseas. he emailed me years ago telling me the show inspired him to quit his day job and take the foreign service exam and do it. that feedback moves me and inspires me to keep doing what i am doing. host: 30 minutes left with mark goldberg. we are talking about his podcast on "washington journal."

phone lines open for republicans, democrats, independents. democrat from seattle. good morning. caller: the most important aspect of foreign affairs issues are tensions in the middle east and our relationship with russia and china, and undermining the wars. iran has a nuclear arsenal and war can to stabilize the middle east and collapse international economies. is it rational to increase tension with iran? donald trump's arguments damage our reputation in the world. people in the world saying the united states cannot be trusted. host: you bring up a lot of issues. where do you want to go?

guest: part of the podcast i interview foreign leaders and they say the same thing as the caller from seattle. there is an incoherent aspect of u.s. foreign-policy now that makes the united states and unpredictable actor in global affairs. that is having profound consequences in every region around the world. jcpoa is a good example. donald trump signaled early on that he would pull out of it, the iran nuclear deal, but there were ways of pulling out without scuttling the deal entirely. but it seems the administration is intent on scuttling the deal and the challenge is the deal was working.

it was performing its intended functions in terms of keeping the iran nuclear ambitions at bay and now we see a quick and profound unraveling of that feel that could lead to iran acquiring nuclear weapons. that is profoundly unsettling. that is one example of many in which the trump administration has abrogated international deals that the united states had previously been a part of another example where the actions and decisions and statements and words of the president himself is making the united states a less reliable actor in global affairs. host: july 1 on your podcast with the headline of the episode, what is next between the united states and iran? global dispatch is where you can

find a link. new york city, republican, you are next. caller: good morning and thank you for having me. what i am going to say, imagine if we could possibly have a proper negotiation with iran. the withdrawal from the nuclear deal, selling millions of dollars of weapons to saudi arabia, which has brought -- they kill women like el paso. chaos and iraq, syria, yemen. your comment? guest: my heart goes out to the situation in yemen.

something that for years was a global tragedy, a profound tragedy existing under the radar. being moved by statements like yours is why i sought to do what i can to shine a spotlight early on that tragedy in yemen. a tragedy that persists to this day. your broader point about u.s. arms sales to yemen and saudi arabia, which they have used to kill women and children and bomb hospitals, perhaps deliberately in yemen is important and worth pointing out that congress for years, even under the obama administration, sought

restrictions on arms sales to saudi arabia to guarantee they would not be used to these inhumane ends in yemen. senator chris murphy was on the podcast years ago decrying an arms sale being pushed through the senate to saudi arabia because their use of those weapons in yemen were so apparently inhumane. last week we saw the u.s. congress and senate seeking to restrict those arms sales. they passed it this time but this time the president vetoed that bill and the arms sales will still go through, sadly. host: al in pennsylvania, independent. caller: hello. just a minute. i am wondering if the individual making comments has looked at the situation in south africa where there is government inspired persecution of caucasians? driving white farmers off their land and killing off whites.

guest: i have not. host: monti, republican, washington. caller: as far as the united nations, i was military, i did 18 years in the u.s. military, spent most of my time in europe. we were basically run out of europe by what you are talking about. hello? host: finish your comment. caller: we were basically run out of europe and it has expanded every year, the united nations did nothing about it but make it worse. by not following through on

things we paid them to do. host: mark goldberg? guest: perhaps you are referring to the balkan conflicts of the early mid 1990's when u.n. peacekeeping fail to prevent a massacre, the 24th anniversary was this past summer. i would say that in the past 25 years, or 24 years since that occurrence, there has been some profound and real significant changes in u.n. peacekeeping to the point where today he do not see those kinds of situations replicated. in fact, south sudan is a good example.

today what they call civilian protection, the idea that peacekeepers are there to prevent civilians from being harmed by armed groups is a central and core tenant of the united nations peacekeeping where it was not in 1995 when dutch peacekeepers let serbian troops through a town where they conducted their massacre. that is a change in united nations peacekeeping. host: to the theme of undercovered global issues, how do luxury cars get into north korea and what can u.s. policymakers learn from that? guest: i love this story. it was reported by the "new york times" that identified using interesting visual and satellite data, and partnering with a research organization that compiles data able to track two mercedes s-3600, million-dollar cars, from the manufacture in germany to the port of rotterdam the racer curious route in asia to the pyongyang. these are luxury cars. luxury goods are banned under united nations sanctions. but if these goods are banned, how was north korea able to get around those sanctions to get the high-end cars into kim jong-un's fleet? a reporter at the new york times talked me through his reporting and added context do it. essentially it was a function of the circuitous route that the shipping containers took that brought these luxury cars to

pyongyang. what interested me more broadly was a reinforced a point i like to make about sanctions, they are only as strong as the ability and willingness of governments to enforce them. what you saw with this situation with the luxury cars in north korea was that there were systemic failures among national governments. at one point these cars were in south korea, a country that

would want to enforce sanctions against north korea. they were also in japan, another country that would want to enforce sanctions against north korea but yet they slipped through. examining how these sanctions were evaded spoke to a broader point about the challenges of international sanctions more broadly. host: the story from july 16 in the new york times, how the north korean leader gets his luxury cars. jenna, westwood, new jersey, democrat. good morning. caller: good morning. what do you think about the proposed cuts to the international affairs budget from the trump administration especially with the recent ebola

outbreak and similar issues? guest: you may be referring to this story that broke yesterday in which a complicated budget maneuver the office of management and budget in the white house is seeking to place a hold on funding in the international affairs budget that has been appropriated by congress which has not yet been spent by usaid or the state department. what the administration is seeking to do -- what the white house is seeking to do because there is some tension within the administration on this, what the white house is seeking to do is prevent those funds from being spent. it seems as if usaid and perhaps the state department wants those funds to be spent and congress

mandated they be spent because they hold the purse strings. it is a reflection i think of the perhaps lower priority that the white house or certain elements of the white house, perhaps the office of management and budget put on things like foreign assistance, foreign aid, global health intervention, preventing ebola from spreading. or making sure that food assistance reaches the correct people. it is competing priorities in the administration with this recent maneuver. host: 20 minutes left with mark goldberg if you want to talk about foreign policy and his podcast. 202-748-8001 for republicans. democrats, 202-748-8000. independents, 202-748-8002. how do you make money? guest: much of my work is funded through private philanthropy and the podcast has listener support, that is an important

function. think of it as npr, the public radio model. the podcast is mission driven. we do not chase the headlines and as a function of that the audience is not huge and broad and you will not bring in giant advertising dollars to listener support is critical. we get some advertising as well, mostly among people or groups or organizations that seek to reach an audience of globally curious people and global affairs professionals who listen to the show. those are the key mechanisms, audience support, philanthropy, and some philanthropy. host: what is patrion? guest: a platform in which

content creators can connect with consumers of that content, so my page, listeners can make monthly contributions to the show and through that platform they are given rewards and bonuses, extra episodes i will publish just for listeners of the show. i will send them some swag, maybe a sticker. it is for people who want extra or who have a philanthropic desire to support the mission of the show, that is the platform they can use to support the show. host: how long does it take you

to produce one 30 minute podcast? guest: it depends on how much knowledge i have coming into the subject matters with. i have built up an expertise with united nations and it does not require as much pre-interview preparation by myself. i know what i want to get out of the guests i'm interviewing and have the narrative arc sketched out in my head. there are other issues perhaps not known to me so much that require more preparation on my part. for example, an episode last year on snakebites, a global health hazard that no one talks about but getting bitten by a snake kills nearly as many people as measles does around the world and a function of mostly poverty with people not having shoes when they walk outside in a snake infested area or the pharmaceutical industry

not wanting to invest in anti-venom for people too poor to purchase them. they required me to research and identifying the right person to talk to. that can take a bit longer. postproduction, not very long, some light editing by myself. i like to keep the entirety of the conversation to preserve the spontaneity, keep it interesting for listeners so i only do light editing. it can range from a few hours to several hours per episode. host: frank in seattle, washington, a republican. caller: good morning, c-span. i heard audience mentioned tensions with iran. i disagree. i think we are acting with too much kindness with iran and we should be more consistent. i do not know people got upset when president trump said we should destroy the country, iran

is an enemy. they are the only country that shutdown -- and laugh that is when we did nothing in return. they are public is showing us their precision guided missiles. you are criticizing sanctions. i could not understand how you could be so weak when it comes to iran. host: i will give you a chance to respond. guest: i think one important thing the iran nuclear deal did was separate iran's nuclear program from the other basket of

challenges the united states has with iran around the world, whether their support for proxy militias, the most existential threat to our allies in europe and perhaps to the united states off the table. the iran nuclear deal successfully put a limit and a cap and monitored iran's nuclear program so the other challenges the united states and the rest of the world has with iran candidate within a more systematic fashion. it is just easier to deal with a country when they do not have nuclear weapons. look at north korea. we have no leverage over north korea right now because they have nuclear weapons. the iran nuclear deal was a success and was important because it was able to set aside iran's nuclear ambitions from the other host of issues we have with iran.

to your point about the u.s. decision to place sanctions and a travel ban on iran's foreign minister, the one who negotiated the nuclear deal with john kerry and the obama administration. the problem with the move to me is that it effectively cuts off negotiation. you are now sanctioning the one person with whom you would be doing the negotiating. the idea -- the trump administration's approach to iran is dead they did not like the nuclear deal, it only cover the nuclear deal, the trump administration wants a new deal to cover everything but they have no one to negotiate with, a policy leading us to perhaps violent confrontation which could be deeply and horrifically bad for both countries. host: marilyn, democrat, jude.

caller: i grew up in central africa, cameroon. why is it taking so long for the united nations to intervene in the civil war or the conflict in cameroon? you have soldiers dying from the government and separatist dying and civilians dying. i grew up knowing prevention is always better than the cure. why is the united nations and america allowing this war to continue? guest: to answer your question

this is the u.n. that nearly eliminated polio from the face of the earth. while it is true the united nations has undoubtedly failed to live up to its ideals, it's important we still have those ideals to which we aspire and also important to recognize the u.n. itself is an actor in world affairs and is actively working to uphold the kind of values and moral values that i think we all ought to share.

left.ut five minutes a twitter question about podcasts. are they breaking even? do they drive readers to newspapers and vice versa, do newspapers drive listeners to podcasts? podcasts are so omnipresent these days that it is hard to generalize about whether or not podcasts in general are breaking even. there are so many thousands of podcasts. i suspect most are not, but some are. they do have this kind of symbiotic relationship with websites and newspapers. my own experience running u.n. dispatch which is a print publication online is that they complement each other in very important ways. that one site kind of drives the podcast -- the podcast drives readers to the blog and the blog

drives listeners to the podcast in ways that are important. onnow you have the daily yesterday. i would imagine listeners have been inspired to purchase subscriptions to the new york times because of that intimate connection they have with a podcast host. i have to imagine there is a good business proposition for having such an in-depth daily podcast produced by the new york times. i would imagine it would drive subscriptions. over 750,000 podcasts available totaling some 30 million episodes as of june 2019. i remind viewers again how folks can find your podcast. >> if you have an iphone, just look for local dispatches.

world news that matters in the .pple iphone if you do not have an iphone, now, android phones do not have an app native to their phone. apple rolled one out years ago. android doesn't. if you have android, you can use spotify if you have android to search for the podcast. host: time for a couple more calls before our program ends. silver spring, maryland, good morning, democrat. caller: good morning. i would like to ask mr. goldberg, first of all, i am a former federal employee working with d.o.t. the trump administration has devastated the federal workforce and i wanted to ask if he believes the trump

administration has the expertise to negotiate any deal with the u.n., nato, or any former allies, and/or iran, and north korea? host: thanks for the question. guest: your point is valid. when the trump administration came into office the first secretary of state rex tillerson imposed a harsh restriction on hiring at the state department which led to a real and a lot of career employees being forced out the door which led to a generalized lack of expertise and capacity to be firing on all cylinders at once which the united states has to do to negotiate all of these deals and maintain its historic position

as a global leader. you saw this unfortunate self-inflicted wound the trump administration imposed on its own ability to project power abroad through diplomacy by imposing hiring freezes at the state department and forcing a lot of skilled and career nonpolitical people out of their jobs. host: jim in medford, oregon, democrat. good morning. caller: good morning. i want to know, why are we not getting after saudi arabia for, as long as they have supported the taliban and al qaeda, and all the schools they have in --

pakistan for their religious beliefs. why doesn't this get more published? why isn't there more information on who is behind it? guest: the u.s.-saudi arabian relationship is a long and historic one dating back to the 1950's, the advent of saudi arabia as a state itself. in recent years the u.s. has cited this. it started in the obama administration and it has been taken to the 11th degree with the trump administration. the united states has sided with saudi arabia in regional proxies and geopolitical disputes they have with iran. this is playing out and devastating effect in yemen. i would have thought with the murder of the washington post columnist jamal khashoggi and other issues the saudi arabian has pursued, you would have seen this inflection point and this

shift. we have not seen it. we are starting to see a shift in public opinion about whether or not it makes sense to willingly go with the crown prince. we have not seen that same shifts happen in the white house. i mentioned this earlier, but you did see a really consequential vote in which a majority oftisan senators and members of congress voted to restrict u.s. arms to saudi arabia over human rights concerns. despite the bipartisan nature of the vote, the senate did not have enough support to override the veto.

i think the fact that you are now seeing the senate in this bipartisan coalition forming in to be more forthright with saudi arabia about human rights is an important inflection point itself. host: we will have to and it there. mark leon goldberg is the host of global dispatches podcast. appreciate your time this morning. >> thank you. journalr: washington mugs are available at c-span's new online store. check outwebsite and the washington journal mugs and see all of the c-span products. c-span's washington journal, live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. coming up thursday morning, american university and sociology professor cynthia

miller idris will be on to discuss the history of white supremacy in the u.s. and as part of our podcast week, we will talk with chris dyer walt. c-span's washington journal at 730 eastern thursday morning. be sure to watch our final day of podcast week on washington journal starting at 9:00 a.m. eastern friday. our guest is jennifer briney, host of congressional dish. announcer: this weekend on book eastern,day at 5:55 warren farrell discusses his book "the boy crisis: why our boys are struggling and what we can do about it." >> success is what makes boys feel and girls feel that they are liked, they have friends, that is what prevents them from going into depression. when boys don't have that success, they tend to go down a

slippery slope that can, in its worst case scenario, anger, withdrawal, alienation, and mass shootings. announcer: at 8:00 eastern, and her book "such a pretty girl," a disability rights activist talks about growing up with the disability polio. >> my mother told the women, already talking at 16 months and walking on my own, and i was never sick and never a fever until that date for night -- when cruelht invaded our happy home and stole me from my family. announcer: then sunday at 9:00 p.m. eastern on afterwards, former virginia democratic governor terry mcauliffe talks about his book "beyond charlottesville: taking a stand against white nationalism."

> i think it is sending a signal to people that the president can come out and say this stuff, i can, too. that in bolded them and that's why they felt coming -- comfortable. if he can say it publicly, so can i. i make the point that people use to wear hoods and they did it at night. they don't think they have to wear hoods anymore. in charlottesville, this is their big coming out party, but they got hurt badly. announcer: watch book tv every weekend on c-span 2. announcer: 2020 democratic presidential candidate governor steve bullock spoke earlier today at the national press club about gun violence, racism, and president trump. following his speech, he also took questions from reporters. governor bullock: good morning -- >> good moin