How Henry Kissinger Accumulated and Wielded Power
The Political Scene | The New Yorker
WNYC Studios and The New Yorker
4.2 • 3.3K Ratings
🗓️ 27 December 2024
⏱️ 42 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The Washington Roundtable revisits an episode recorded after Henry Kissinger’s death, in November, 2023. Susan B. Glasser, Jane Mayer and Evan Osnos evaluate Kissinger’s controversial legacy, share anecdotes from his time in and around Washington, and discuss how he continued to shape U.S. foreign policy long after leaving the State Department.
“There are not that many hundred-year-olds who insist upon their own relevance and actually are relevant,” Glasser says.
This week’s reading:
- “Henry Kissinger’s Hard Compromises,” by Evan Osnos
- “Why Washington Couldn’t Quit Kissinger,” by Isaac Chotiner
This episode was originally published in December, 2023.
To discover more podcasts from The New Yorker, visit newyorker.com/podcasts. To send in feedback on this episode, write to [email protected] with “The Political Scene” in the subject line.
Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choicesTranscript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hey there, it's Evanosnos from the political scene at The New Yorker. |
| 0:04.2 | This week, we wanted to play you one of the episodes that we often think of here, |
| 0:08.4 | because it connects so much of the past and the present. |
| 0:11.6 | We recorded this the week that Henry Kissinger died in November, 2023. |
| 0:16.3 | As we head into what certainly looks likely to be another extraordinary year in politics, we thought it would |
| 0:22.7 | be useful to look back at one of the biggest political figures of our lives and his impact on |
| 0:28.2 | the world today. Also, never fear. My colleagues, Susan Glasser and Jane Mayer and I will be back |
| 0:34.1 | in your feeds on Friday, January 10th. And in the meantime, we hope you enjoy this episode and have a very happy new year. |
| 0:47.4 | Welcome to the political scene from The New Yorker, a weekly discussion about the big questions in American politics. |
| 0:56.4 | I'm Jane Mayer, and I'm joined by my colleague Susan Glasser and Evan Osnows. Hey, Susan. Hi, Evan. Hey there. Great to be with you. |
| 1:03.1 | Hey, Jane. Nice to see you guys. Are you asking me that I would change anything that I had done? |
| 1:10.9 | That, of course, is Henry Kissinger. |
| 1:13.5 | This clip is from a 60-minute segment in 1999. |
| 1:17.9 | Kissinger is speaking with high schoolers in the South Bronx. |
| 1:21.0 | You're asking the wrong person. |
| 1:24.4 | Now, let me tell you, I get asked that question often. |
| 1:30.4 | And I would love to have an answer where I could say, |
| 1:34.2 | if I only had done this one thing differently, then everyone would think I'm very open-minded. |
| 1:40.4 | But the fact is, on the main lines of our policy, I wouldn't change anything. |
| 1:46.8 | I'd try to do the best we could, and looking back on it, I have no second thoughts. |
| 1:53.7 | Henry Kissinger died at the age of 100 this week. He served as Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under President Nixon, as Secretary of State under President Ford, and as an |
| 1:59.8 | advisor to at least 10 other U.S. presidents. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from WNYC Studios and The New Yorker, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of WNYC Studios and The New Yorker and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.