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What's next for Iran, with Thomas L. Friedman
Listen: On the latest episode of the GZERO World podcast, Ian Bremmer sits down with New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman to dissect what may go down as the most consequential month in the Middle East in years. Just weeks after Israel launched a war against Iran—and after President Trump authorized US airstrikes—an uneasy ceasefire is in place. But what was actually achieved?
Iran, the clear loser of the 12-Day War, entered as the most vulnerable player and emerged weaker still. Tehran stood largely alone, with Hamas degraded, Hezbollah decimated, Syria toppled, and Russia distracted. Yet the Islamic Republic can still claim regime survival, some damage inflicted on Israel, and a murkily intact nuclear program.
Netanyahu, meanwhile, avoided a ceasefire until he had secured key gains: he crippled Iran’s infrastructure, leveraged US firepower to hit targets beyond Israel’s reach, and rescued his collapsing political career. As Friedman notes, “The people who won this war for Israel...were, for the most part, the very same people who were in the streets of Israel for nine months against Netanyahu and his judicial coup.” That tension will only grow in the months ahead.
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How China would seize Taiwan without firing a shot
Chinese President Xi Jinping has made reunification with Taiwan a key pillar of his nationalist agenda. He’s ordered the People’s Liberation Army to be ready to seize Taiwan by 2027, and the PLA has been conducting near-daily military drills around the island–larger, louder, and more aggressive than ever before. On Ian Explains, Ian Bremmer breaks down how China could seize Taiwan without firing a single shot.
The rising tensions in the Taiwan Strait have policymakers and military analysts nervous China is preparing for an invasion. But is armed conflict with Taiwan in Beijing’s best interest? It would be deadly, costly, and likely to drag into the US and its allies. But short of an all-out invasion, China has plenty of options to force unification with Taiwan. It’s known as “gray zone” warfare—action that stays just below a threshold that would trigger an international response, which is ideal for Beijing: no missiles, no tanks, just a slow, suffocating squeeze.
GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, the award-winning weekly global affairs series, airs nationwide on US public television stations (check local listings).
New digital episodes of GZERO World are released every Monday on YouTube. Don't miss an episode: subscribe to GZERO's YouTube channel and turn on notifications (🔔).GZERO World with Ian Bremmer airs on US public television weekly - check local listings.
On immigration, Pope Leo XIV will advocate for the "dignity of the human" says Fr. James Martin
As part of a larger conversation about the role of religion in modern politics and society, Father James Martin discusses Pope Leo's approach to immigration. Then Father Martin reflects on his own advocacy for LGBTQ issues, emphasizing the Gospel's moral imperative over political convenience.
When it comes to migration, Martin says the Pope’s stance isn’t political, it’s biblical: “His orientation is the Gospel, and the Gospel talks about welcoming the stranger.” He pushes back against Vice President JD Vance's interpretation of "love thy neighbor," noting that Catholic teaching calls on people to care for those they don't know. While the Vatican usually avoids direct political confrontation, Martin says sometimes "directness is called for."
Later, Martin turns to the cultural backlash against transgender people, especially in the US, saying the Church’s call is clear: accompany and affirm their dignity. "The more that they are attacked, the more urgent it becomes for us to stand with them," he says. He points to the late Pope Francis’s quiet but consistent engagement with the trans community as a model of compassion over doctrine.
In both cases, Martin underscores the same theme: whether the issue is immigration or gender identity, the Church's mission is to recognize and protect the dignity of every person.
GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, the award-winning weekly global affairs series, airs nationwide on US public television stations (check local listings).
New digital episodes of GZERO World are released every Monday on YouTube. Don't miss an episode: subscribe to GZERO's YouTube channel and turn on notifications (🔔).GZERO World with Ian Bremmer airs on US public television weekly - check local listings.
Can Pope Leo XIV heal the Church–and his own country?
Ian Bremmer sits down with Jesuit priest and bestselling author Father James Martin to talk about the historic ascendancy of Pope Leo XIV—the first-ever US Pope—and what his papacy means for the Catholic Church, American politics, and a world in search of moral clarity.
Known for his humility and prayerful presence, Martin says Pope Leo has would do well to make his top priority healing internal divisions within the Church. “There’s a lot of division and anger,” Martin says, “but Pope Leo has the opportunity to build bridges between progressives and traditionalists.” And his early comments on war and migration signal that he intends to take moral stances with global relevance—including the Church’s firm position on welcoming the stranger. “When Jesus says, ‘When you welcome the stranger, you welcome me,’ that’s pretty clear,” Martin says.
Martin also speaks about his own public advocacy for LGBTQ Catholics, especially trans people, who he says are “being treated like dirt.” The conversation also turns to the legacy of Pope Francis, whose pastoral outreach—from encyclicals on climate change to nightly calls with Gaza parishioners—inspired many, including his successor.
“Francis showed us that the Church is a field hospitals."
GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, the award-winning weekly global affairs series, airs nationwide on US public television stations (check local listings).
New digital episodes of GZERO World are released every Monday on YouTube. Don't miss an episode: subscribe to GZERO's YouTube channel and turn on notifications (🔔).GZERO World with Ian Bremmer airs on US public television weekly - check local listings.
The US has its first Pope, and a renewed openness to religion
Ian Bremmer The US has experienced a steady, long-term decline religiousness, with Gallup showing less than half of Americans belong to a house of worship today. But spirituality in the US remains surprisingly resilient.
Bremmer unpacks America's longstanding slide into secularism contrasted with a recent renewed interest in religion. Drawing from two key surveys, Bremmer contrasts Gallup's data on religion’s erosion since the 1960s with a massive Pew study that suggests a recent leveling-off in Christian affiliation and consistent rates of prayer and service attendance over the past few years.
“Americans today are as spiritual as they’ve ever been,” Bremmer notes, even if fewer of them are going to church. With political polarization and social isolation on the rise, he explores whether religion might be on the brink of a cultural comeback—not just as dogma, but as a renewed search for meaning and connection.
GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, the award-winning weekly global affairs series, airs nationwide on US public television stations (check local listings).
New digital episodes of GZERO World are released every Monday on YouTube. Don't miss an episode: subscribe to GZERO's YouTube channel and turn on notifications (🔔).GZERO World with Ian Bremmer airs on US public television weekly - check local listings.
GZERO Media scores 7 Telly Awards!
Not to brag... but we just won SEVEN 2025 Telly Awards. (Okay, maybe we want to brag just a little.)
GZERO Media cleaned up in the newly announced 46th Annual Telly Awards, walking away with a gleaming haul (our biggest ever) that includes a Gold for Best Explainer for “Ian Explains: How does the European Union work?”, explained by our very own Ian Bremmer. Turns out a lot of people (even the EU's own citizens, we'd wager) have trouble keeping track of the difference between the European Parliament, the European Commission, the European Council, and oh yes, the Council of the EU.
But we didn’t stop there. Our trophy shelf just got a lot more crowded with:
- Silver for Television News and Politics Series — GZERO World with Ian Bremmer (that’s our flagship weekly US public television show).
- Silver for Interview & Talk Show (episode) — “Why the World Isn’t Fair,” an interview with Yuval Noah Harari on GZERO World
- Silver for Political Commentary (episode) — “A Palestinian Perspective on the Gaza War,” a GZERO World interview with Palestinian-American diplomat Riyad Mansour.
- Silver for Comedy — Puppet Regime’s viral hit video “Trump renames EVERYTHING”.
- Silver for Virtual Events & Experiences — for our livestream from Davos, “AI in 2025: The ‘new electricity’ could create huge economic growth,” part of our Global Stage series.
- Bronze for Explainer — “Ian Explains: Will China invade Taiwan?”.
That brings our grand total to 26 Telly Awards since 2020, so maybe we're onto something… or Ian just has a lot of charisma.
The Telly Awards — which celebrate excellence in video and television across all screens — selected this year’s winners from a record-breaking 12,000+ entries spanning all 50 states and five continents. (Next year, we hope they'll solicit entries from all seven.)
🎉 Feast your eyes on our award-winning work below.
(Just don’t forget to blink. Or subscribe.)
Ian Explains: How does the European Union work? | GZERO World
Why the world isn't fair | GZERO World with Ian Bremmer
A Palestinian perspective on the Gaza war | GZERO World with Ian Bremmer
Trump renames EVERYTHING | Puppet Regime
AI in 2025: The "new electricity" could create huge economic growth | Global Stage
Ian Explains: Will China invade Taiwan? | GZERO World
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AI superintelligence is coming. Should we be worried?
Are AI companies recklessly racing toward artificial superintelligence or can we avoid a worst case scenario? On GZERO World, Ian Bremmer sits down with Daniel Kokotajlo, co-author of AI 2027, a new report that forecasts how artificial intelligence might progress over the next few years. As AI approaches human-level intelligence, AI 2027 predicts its impact will “exceed that of the Industrial Revolution,” but it warns of a future where tech firms race to develop superintelligence, safety rails are ignored, and AI systems go rogue, wreaking havoc on the global order. Kokotajlo, a former OpenAI researcher, left the company last year warning the company was ignoring safety concerns and avoiding oversight in its race to develop more and more powerful AI. Kokotajlo joins Bremmer to talk about the race to superhuman AI, the existential risk, and what policymakers and tech firms should be doing right now to prepare for an AI future experts warn is only a few short years away.
“One of the unfortunate situations that we're in as a species right now is that humanity in general mostly fixes problems after they happen,” Kokotajlo says, “Unfortunately, the problem of losing control of your army of super intelligences is a problem that we can't afford to wait and see how it goes and then fix it afterwards.”
GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, the award-winning weekly global affairs series, airs nationwide on US public television stations (check local listings).
New digital episodes of GZERO World are released every Monday on YouTube. Don't miss an episode: subscribe to GZERO's YouTube channel and turn on notifications (🔔).GZERO World with Ian Bremmer airs on US public television weekly - check local listings.
Free speech in Trump's America with NYT journalist Jeremy Peters and conservative scholar Ilya Shapiro
Listen: Free speech has become one of the most contentious issues in American politics, but what does it actually mean today? On the GZERO World podcast, Ian Bremmer sits down with conservative legal scholar Ilya Shapiro of the Manhattan Institute and New York Times free speech reporter Jeremy Peters. They discuss how free expression is being defined—and challenged—on university campuses and by the Trump administration, particularly when it comes to national immigration policy. “The dynamic of ‘free speech for me but not for thee’ is prevalent,” Shapiro warns, pointing to inconsistent enforcement of campus speech rules and a broader “illiberalism” taking hold in higher education.
The conversation turns to the Trump administration’s aggressive response to Israel/Gaza protests, including efforts to penalize non-citizen students for their political speech. Peters cautions that this approach may violate the very rights the administration claims to defend. “Rather than execute a clean policy to support free speech,” he says, “they’re using blunt force to try to deport people who didn’t do anything terribly wrong.” The potential legal battles ahead could determine how far the government can go in defining speech as a national security issue, especially for non-citizens.
Both guests acknowledge that antisemitism on campus has become a flashpoint, but differ on how it’s being addressed. Shapiro argues that while not all anti-Israel sentiment is antisemitic, many protesters are crossing that line: “It’s possible to be anti-Zionist without being antisemitic, but it’s very rare in my experience.” Peters agrees the issue is complex and evolving, noting that universities “seem much more focused on preventing antisemitism than they were just a year ago.” Together, the guests raise urgent questions about the balance between expression, identity, and institutional responsibility in a sharply divided political landscape.