Well, joining me now as somebody I've known personally and professionally a long time, a couple back together, in and around the Atlantic.

It's James Bennett. He is currently the Lexington, a senior editor at The Economist. He writes the Lexington column, basically,

what the hell is the column that tells the rest of the English-speaking world, what the hell

is going on in America. Perhaps, or at least that's the North Star. That's the job. Is that fair?

That's the aspiration. Yeah, it's great to see you, Chuck, and really nice to be with you.

It's good to see you.

I want to talk more about what's happening, but then in sort of the role of America and

what's happening around the world.

But at some point, I want to talk about how we all consume information, since you've been

in so many parts of that debate as well.

Yeah, we both are.

At the Atlantic and yeah, and then some.

But look, this is a week where we saw we're taping here.

This is going to hit on Monday.

We're taping on a Thursday.

We've had the big, you know, essentially the global, the meeting of global leaders that happens every September.

And I guess the most striking thing is just how much of a, while the meeting took place in the United States, the president of the United States was the guy on the outside looking in, was he not?

Yeah, yeah. He and very much presenting himself that way, right?

Lecturing all the rest of the world on everything that they're doing wrong and, you know,

attacking United Nations itself as a failing institution, which is the approach he's taken to

a lot of institutions in the U.S.

And as usual, he's not wrong in his critique in every respect.

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