#diplomatic-protocol
20 episodes
#2642: Who Takes Notes in the Situation Room?
The invisible people scribbling behind world leaders — and why their records shape history.
#2636: Take Notes Like a Diplomat
What WikiLeaks cables teach us about capturing meetings: judgment over transcription, context over completeness.
#2614: Who Gets to Vote from Abroad?
How the U.S. and Israel handle military and diplomatic ballots — and whether expats should vote at all.
#2385: Decoding Travel Advisories as Diplomatic Signals
How governments use travel advisories to broadcast coded messages—and what their structures reveal about hidden intelligence assessments.
#2229: Decoding "Working Level": What Diplomats Really Mean
When the White House calls a meeting "working level," what's actually being signaled? We decode the vocabulary system that grades every diplomatic ...
#2086: The Gravity of Power: Why We Split It
Why do we separate government powers? We trace the idea from Aristotle to Montesquieu and the US founders.
#1885: How Spies Hand Off Intel to Cops
Mossad intercepts a terror plot in Berlin. They can't act. Here's how they pass the lead to German police without burning their sources.
#1864: The Diplomat Who Wears Two Masks
Iran's top diplomat speaks of peace before attacks, then justifies violence. This is linguistic camouflage at its most dangerous.
#1749: How the Vatican Runs Without Births or Taxes
It has no maternity wards and no tax base, yet it functions as a sovereign state. Here’s how the Vatican actually works.
#1698: Can AI Models Represent Nations in Diplomacy?
Real projects are building AI agents trained on national laws and diplomatic archives to simulate negotiations.
#1628: Is a Diplomat Enough to Stop an Iranian Nuclear Bomb?
Discover why the man tasked with monitoring Iran’s nuclear program isn't a scientist—and why that might be his greatest strength.
#1381: Contract Ops: The Hidden Mechanics of Trade Missions
Beyond the ribbon-cutting, trade missions are state-sponsored sales funnels for corporate giants. Discover the reality of the "contract op."
#1128: The Diplomatic Dimmer: Inside the Recall of Ambassadors
When Spain recalled its ambassador from Israel, it wasn't a total break. Learn how the "diplomatic dimmer switch" works in international relations.
#933: Why One Wrong Word Could Start a War
Discover the high-stakes world of simultaneous interpretation, where a single mistranslated word can change history or spark a conflict.
#501: The Split Footprint: Why U.S. Diplomacy is Scattered
Herman and Corn dive into the complex, fragmented world of U.S. diplomacy and why some embassies are split across multiple cities.
#494: The Hidden Architecture of Power: Diplomatic Cables
Learn how the rigid structure of diplomatic cables can transform your professional reporting and help you cut through the noise.
#486: Ink and Power: The Hidden World of Diplomatic Letters
In an era of instant messaging, why do world leaders still rely on physical letters? Discover the secret art of high-stakes diplomacy.
#430: Jerusalem’s Ghost Consulates: Diplomacy in Limbo
Discover why some Jerusalem consulates ignore the state they’re in and how 400-year-old treaties still shape the city’s bizarre diplomatic map.
#423: The Theatre of Diplomacy: How Nations Fight Without War
Explore the hidden language of international relations, from the strategic recall of ambassadors to the high-stakes theater of the diplomatic snub.
#274: The Invisible Architecture of Diplomacy: Inside Protocol
Discover the invisible rules of global power. Herman and Corn explore how flag placement and seating charts keep the world running smoothly.