The Real Reasons Greenland Matters

Conversations with Coleman

The Free Press

Philosophy, Society & Culture

4.5 • 614 Ratings

🗓️ 22 January 2026

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week we hear from Arctic geopolitics expert Heather A. Conley, before President Trump made a speech at The World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday. Heather speaks about a place most of us barely think about—until it becomes the center of a global power struggle. Greenland has gone from frozen afterthought to geopolitical prize, and its story reveals a lot about American expansionism, NATO politics, and the race now unfolding in the Arctic. We trace Greenland’s strange political history with Denmark and the U.S., unpack why its location has always mattered militarily, and explore what happens as China and Russia push north. We also confront the uncomfortable truth behind Trump’s “buy Greenland” moment—and why the people who actually live there want neither Denmark nor America to own them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	What I've dedicated my life to is revenge.
0:04.7	A brand new drama based on the bestselling novel.
0:07.5	They think they're better than us.
0:08.5	Who do you think you are?
0:09.8	I'm going to prove to them that they're wrong.
0:11.5	She's punishing me.
0:13.0	You destroyed my family.
0:14.3	I will not rest until I've destroyed yours.
0:17.0	A woman of substance on Channel 4 starts tonight at 9.
0:20.6	Welcome to another episode of Conversations with Coleman.
0:23.9	Today's episode is all about Greenland.
0:26.6	I remember the first time I thought about Greenland.
0:29.3	I was a kid, and someone told me that Greenland was actually full of ice,
0:33.0	and Iceland was actually full of green, and I thought that was funny.
0:36.2	That was also, as it happens,
0:37.7	the last time I thought about Greenland. That is, until the President of the United States decided
0:43.1	that we were going to buy it or take it by force. If you're like me, you did not know anything
0:49.2	about Greenland until very recently, and now suddenly, the largest island in the world is in the
0:54.0	news every day.
0:55.4	But don't worry, if you haven't been paying close attention,
0:59.1	today's guests will catch you up on all the contexts you need to know to understand the basic contours of this issue.
1:05.6	Heather Conley is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute,
	...

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