Every week I ask if it could only be twice as long. A masterpiece of editorial control. The world next week says it all in a few words. Bravo!

Informative, concise and educational. Great podcast for all interested parties to international affairs. Must listen.

While, the Council in Foreign Relations (CFR) takes no positions on policy their host Carla Ann Robinson continuously advocates for the Democrat Party. Why is a CFR podcast continuously commenting on domestic US politics?

I’ve been an avid listener to this podcast for years. Over the last several months, I have observed a shift towards sharing of personal opinions and letting emotions get in the way of reporting. I enjoyed this show because it left the audience to come to their own conclusions, yet learn more about topics that they may otherwise not hear much about. I am hopeful that this podcast can get back on track. I can hear the stress and emotion from the host each episode and it takes away from the subject matter. I am rooting for a come back!

This pod has fallen off tremendously. Its leftwing bias on both domestic and international affairs is boring. There is no room for discourse or nuance. I used to listen to it religiously. I’m now considering unsubscribing.

Used to be a tight, quick news update focusing on foreign affairs, but Robbin’s can’t seem to resist mixing her news with advocacy. Hopefully it’ll get better after the election. I’ll revisit my review in November.

While I find this podcast to be informative, one host (Bob McMahon) speaks in an objective way about the world events while the other new host (Carla Anne Robbins) clearly has an ideological viewpoint and agenda on many issues. I used to love this podcast but have been disappointed by feeling it has changed from analysis to advocacy. I am writing this review in the hope that this can be remedied either by these hosts or by others in future.

I used to listen to this podcast every week. Unfortunately it’s gotten too political and less analytical.

CFR is an antisemitic outfit who instead of doing a little research they simply blame Israel CFR seems to be comprised of antisemites who can’t be bothered to research the subjects they mouth off on CFR represents the Davos elites leftist agenda. The American Foriegn Policy Council represents the honest American interest. I have been going through the last couple of years podcasts and they have proven far more accurate in their predictions than has CFR.

Tight, informative material from authoritative hosts :-)

This used to be one of my two top podcasts every week. Unfortunately, the unrestrained political commentary by one of the hosts has rendered the show’s credibility as an honest broker of world events below acceptable. I’m hopeful that the show’s producers don’t summarily dismiss this criticism as “sexism,” because the blatant bias has become a serious problem. I am now unsubscribed after having been a regular listener for years. I’ll give it another try in a few months and see if anything has changed.

This is a fantastic way to understand the headlines!

bob McMahon is great, brings objective analysis to the podcast. The new host Carla Ann is clearly biased in many issues

10/26/2023 podcast. The Hamas statement from Lebanon that their “military operation was not sponsored by any other nation state”, was not to “seize the high ground.” The statement was obviously ordered by Hama’s state sponsor of terror, the Islamic Republic of Iran, to try to keep Iran out of the cross hairs of the IDF and the US carrier battlegroups as Iranian proxies fire upon Israel; and US forces in Syria, Iraq, and the Red Sea. I don’t know how any organization other than terrorists can call a pogrom, a sophisticated air/land/sea sneak attack that barbarically slaughtered 1,300 to 1,400 Jews - mostly civilians, a military operation. If you are going to speculate, at least speculate smartly.

The world next week was my go to podcast weekly for years and years. It is smart and informative when it comes to economy and politics. But when it comes to Israel and Jewish people - my friends at the world next week, I label you anti-Jewish. Eye on Gaza episode, count how many times you mentioned humanitarian crisis (12 times) and how many times did you mention jewish hostages ? ONE TIME ! How many times did you mention that some 30 children held as hostages by psychopathic, murderers? ZERO!!! Shame on you ! Shame on you ! Shame on you for being jew haters for being biased and enabling Islamic terror. This is where we part ways and I unfollow you Smartest team at the world next week but even smart people hate Jewish success and contribution to the world. My friend, you are on the wrong side of the story. Last parting thought for those of you who have young children - close your eyes and think - if Islamic murderers had the chance to get hold of your child tonight, would they hesitate to burn your child, alive,Even though you’re not even Jewish? Your precious child would be tortured just the same.

Thank you for your world news, keeps you up to date. Love this podcast, very informative! Thank you… 😉🥲🥲🤣

Great hosts, informative and a nice way to keep up with world events weekly. I highly recommend iy

The new host can’t hold a candle to Jim Lindsay. She is overtly political in an extremely annoying way. Every episodes, she moralizes and interjects her own political point of view. She never makes an attempt to fairly argue both sides and let her listeners decide. For example, she recently complained about what she called rampant disinformation on Twitter, wishing the US government had more tools to fight it. In doing so she didn’t even address First Amendment concerns and the implications of empowering the government to decide “the truth” on important controversial issues. Honestly I’ll probably stop listening unless they at least rotate her out occasionally.

Love this podcast and the byplay between the two hosts. Great to hear an expert female voice.

The new co-host is awful. Way worse than who she replaced. Carla should try to do a better job of hiding her colonialist mindset

This used to be a 4-5 star podcast. However the new co- host Carla Robbins is unbearable smug and biased. Prior to her arrival the show would at least attempt impartiality, now however to listen to this show you have to put up with her demeaning tone for half the show. CFR please get someone better.

I’ve been listening for years, and have alway considered “The World Next Week” an all-time favorite along with its sister podcast, “The President’s Inbox”. It pains me to give it anything less than 5 stars, which is where it used to be, but I unfortunately need to beg for improvement. I can understand if Dr. Lindsay had to pass the torch, but I struggle with the direction that’s Ms. Robbins is taking the podcast. Dr. Lindsay and Mr. McMahon always kept it profession and matter-of-fact; Ms. Robbins is overly fond of sighing and wondering aloud why we don’t get any good news. The podcast is literally about news relating to geopolitical challenges. At first, she tried constantly to inject humor and laughs into several episodes, which were particularly disruptive moments. I also must add that her editorializing, even if I tend to agree with her, strikes me as being unhelpful to the podcast. Perhaps most surprising, her influence seems to be negatively affecting Mr. McMahon and diminishing his usual rigor. I’ll stay tuned and hope that Ms. Robbins finds her footing in this new role, but I must beg that we get serious again. This podcast always felt serious and polished, now it’s veering away from that into something else. Since Ms. Robbins seems to be very fond of taking indulgences, I’ll not resist and take one of my own: I really wish that we could have gotten Shannon K. O’Neil.

After many, many years of listening I just can’t listen to the new co-host anymore. She is a terrible presenter so must cancel

The big lie: CFR is non-partisan. The truth: CFR is a mouthpiece of the DNC.

Both of the speakers seem like intelligent people, so why do they have this naive, silly, dumb idea that somehow it’s good for Mother Earth if America doesn’t explore and develop new oil reserves?? News flash: oil is FUNGIBLE! If the world needs x number of barrels of oil on a daily basis to keep moving, buyers will buy it from whoever has this commodity for sale. If the USA doesn’t offer it for sale due to finite supply, Russia, Saudi or Iran will sell it. I’d rather that the USA have the whip hand than the other scoundrels. One day, the world will be off of fossil fuels for good. That day is not here yet, nor will it be here next year, or next decade.

Bon uses the term, “the front,” too often as a synonym for “category.” It primarily should refer to warfare. In the 3/9/2023 episode, he goes from discussing the film All Quiet on the Western Front to asking about “the documentary front.”

The Council on Foreign Relations is simpatico with how I see the world. Don't always agree with their guests conclusions but I appreciate how they get there. Truly intriguing and thought provoking.

Historically a very informative and insightful weekly update with limited political bias or at least a summary of both sides… that is now gone with the recent cohost addition.

I really hate having to write this review because I have been listening to The World Next Week weekly since 2015. It was my favorite podcast for a very long time and I widely recommended it to others. However, the podcast has taken a significant turn for the worse after Carla Robbins replaced Jim Lindsay as a weekly co-host. Jim did his best to present an academic and factual portrayal of the things that were going on in the world. It’s impossible for anyone to truly be free of bias, particularly in politics or international relations, but Jim Lindsay came darn pretty close. If he provided any bias in his analysis, it was only from the perspective of what he believed would happen next - not a subjective judgement on whether something was “good” or “bad”. He might say that something was troubling (because it would generate more international or political entropy) but he rarely rendered a moral judgement on world events; only to remark on their net impact. Conversely, it seems that Carla Robbins is unaware of the bias implicit in her analysis or does not care to temper her personal feelings on a subject when giving any type of analysis. She also tends to speak in hyperbole making everything seem far more drastic and/or dire. Essentially, Jim Lindsay’s measured analysis has been completely replaced with an opinionated and bombastic news analyst - akin to a talking head on a cable news outlet. I loved The World Next Week because it was different from the contemporary media space. It wasn’t trying to sell you on any particular perspective and just gave you the news with some additional academic context. Now when I listen to the World Next Week with Carla Robbins, I feel exactly the way I do when I happen across any cable news outlet - depressed over the state of the world and depressed that people feel like they have to impress their opinion/perspective on you; and that if you don’t agree with them that you’re a terrible person. Because of that, I have to unfollow The World Next Week and leave this review in my wake. I truly hope that Carla goes back to being a (very sporadic) guest host, but I cannot continue to follow The World Next Week in its current form.

This is a decent podcast for providing an overview of upcoming world events. Usually, the hosts and guests are neutral, except when they discuss domestic politics. On that subject, their liberal bias shines brightly, and ruins the show. For instance, on a recent show discussing the US midterms, one person said that a Republican majority would cause “damage.” I subscribe to this show to hear unbiased news, not liberal political commentary.

The female co-host is apparently anti-republican. Her review of the upcoming midterm elections only provided one side of the situation. There are also MANY examples of democrats who denied the 2016 election results as well.

I enjoy listening to cfr. Some really good insights I haven’t found from other places.

It’s obvious that these guys know what they’re talking about, but they speak very clearly and provide context for those of us who are less well versed in foreign policy. I would recommend giving this one a try even if you, like me, don’t normally listen to this kind of podcast.

A fantastic podcast. I highly recommend listening to The World Next Week to stay informed on foreign affairs.

Thank you so much for this podcast. It’s great listening to intelligent conversation and educated analysis on what is happening globally.

I’m a novice at foreign policy but it’s on my weekly show to catch up on important world events not covered by mainstream media. Bob and Jim +guests do a great job of summarizing complex issues.

I listen to these CFR podcasts to be informed about foreign affairs, and these podcasts generally are good for that. My issue with them, though, is technical. They seem to be overly edited in order to make episodes play as quickly as possible. Maybe the producers think listeners will get bored unless episodes are played at hyper speeds. But this results in information being lost due to the rapidity. I often replay sections multiple times in order to get the basic info. Please, please, slow down. If the pace of the show is at normal conversational level, I would give the podcasts five stars instead of four.

I look forward to Thursdays and hearing about the events to follow on the world stage in the coming week. I also appreciate Bob McMahon and Jim Lindsay’s curation and highlights of what to look for. Keep it coming please!

I listen for the content and perspective. However this (and sister podcast President’s Inbox) suffer great from editing style, which I could only describe as “cramming”. Someone is trying to fit as much material in 25 mins as can possibly fit by cutting out pauses, chopping phrases and sentences together, neutralize any emotion or reaction. It’s hard to listen. I can see an editor working on a written piece “trimming the fat” for a lean argument. But imagine that same piece without spaces, punctuations or paragraph structure. Both Cfr podcasts would improve unimaginably with a good radio/sound editor. Good luck.

I’ve been listening almost 20 years & love Carla the BEST of the Bob/Jim subs. Great speaker, sensible, focused & succinct. Please keep her. C del Re

These people are complete State Department/CIA stooges, so I find the program interesting to listen to once in a while to get a read on the CIA’s next coup’s, color revolutions, and false flags. People like this have rendered all of American social science hollow and meaningless and should be held in appropriate contempt. However, keep your friends close and enemies closer!

This is good journalism. CNN, Fox, and other “news” outlets should take notes. No opinions, no slanted news, just facts. Great job. I just wish it was longer. Look forward to listening every week!

This podcast actually does quite a good job of trying to remain impartial compared to other political podcasts. Sure there is a skew to this “globalist” view but I dare you to find me an institution or podcast that doesn’t lean either way. And even so their personal views are very sparse and short and they often acknowledge opposing views. I really like the structure and lack of empty words/filling air time. As a younger listener I thought I might have a difficult time connecting with the older hosts but they are great at being friendly and engaging but still impersonal enough to appear neutral. Keep it up, I just found the podcast a few months ago and have been listening every week on release.

Pauses, breaths, commas, and other non-verbals are an important part of oral communication. Please reconsider editing them out. Listeners can play at 1.5x or 2x already. Thank you. Other than that, very interesting content.

In listening to the credits it sounds like there are a number of women supporting with research, production and tech for this program and yet the podcasts hosts are men...Representation matters and so does diversity of perspective. Please consider diversifying your hosts.

I absolutely love this podcast and look forward to it every week. I am constantly looking for new podcasts and I can't find anything that comes close to this one. It seems quite unbiased and un-partisan, which is a rare thing.

This show is phenomenal. Bob & Jim are great hosts. But lately the show has transformed to “The US Next Week”

I am a first time listener. I learned a little and pondered along with you all on so many things. Thank you

For busy people like me, I enjoy news that’s thorough when needed but also as concentrated as possible. This half hour show is one of my favorites to look forward to each week because it packs such a punch of fascinating and well-reported stories. It’s about as non-partisan and objective as one could desire, and they often surprise with guest appearances who bring different perspectives.

Enjoy your perspectives