Big problems in a big world
The NPR Politics Podcast
NPR
4.4 • 25.7K Ratings
🗓️ 15 January 2026
⏱️ 18 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Between pledging support for protesters in Iran, calling once again for the U.S. annexation of Greenland, and meeting with Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, it's been a busy week for President Trump on the global stage. We look at why the White House wants to be involved in so many geopolitical issues despite the president's campaign pledges to be less invested in global affairs, and what outcomes the Trump administration wants in each location.
This episode: voting correspondent Miles Parks, White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez, and national security correspondent Greg Myre.
This podcast was produced and edited by Casey Morell & Bria Suggs.
Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey there, it's the NPR Politics Podcast for Thursday, January 15th, 2026. I'm Miles Parks. I cover voting. |
| 0:10.5 | I'm Frank Oedonyas. I cover the White House. I'm Greg Myrie. I cover national security. |
| 0:15.1 | And we are recording this podcast at 117 p.m. today. And it has been a very busy week in the world of foreign policy. President Trump |
| 0:22.9 | has threatened Iran with military action as protests against the regime their continue. U.S. officials |
| 0:28.3 | met with Danish leaders over the fate of Greenland, which the president has made it very clear. |
| 0:32.8 | He wants to be a part of the United States. And Maria Karina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize |
| 0:39.9 | laureate, is at the White House today. So with all of that, let's start with Iran. Greg, get us up to |
| 0:47.7 | speed on the protests there. What is happening and why? Yeah, the protests seem to be simmering down at least for the moment. And I really want to |
| 0:56.1 | stress for the moment. They started in late December. They've been swelling. And it seems in recent days, |
| 1:02.7 | the Iranian security forces have really cracked down. It's been a very brutal crackdown. |
| 1:08.0 | The information we've been getting from Iran has been very fragmented. |
| 1:12.4 | The Internet has been cut. Phone service has been limited. Iranians have managed to get some |
| 1:18.4 | videos out. Some of these have shown large numbers of bodies in body bags. So we know it's been |
| 1:25.9 | huge protests. We know it's been quite brutal. It does seem to be |
| 1:30.4 | less active in the past night or two. These are nightly protests. It may be because the |
| 1:36.8 | crackdown was so harsh, this discouraged some people from going out in the streets. I'm sure |
| 1:41.6 | there are many people there who have grievances who want to |
| 1:44.8 | protest but don't want to get killed. And the huge numbers of deaths, injuries, and arrests |
| 1:50.0 | has perhaps pushed some people off the street. And what specifically are the protesters looking |
| 1:55.6 | for? Like, what is this all about? It was certainly sparked by grievances over just general living |
| 2:00.4 | conditions. Everything has |
| 2:02.7 | increasingly expensive in Iran. People's salaries just don't go very far. It takes more than a |
... |
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