<![CDATA[Not Local: Not Local Podcast]]>https://notlocal.substack.com/s/notlocalwithzekehttps://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!obJG!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd1d476d0-5b2d-4fe7-ab58-f86f3eed22dd_1280x1280.pngNot Local: Not Local Podcasthttps://notlocal.substack.com/s/notlocalwithzekeSubstackSat, 25 Apr 2026 21:20:27 GMT<![CDATA[The Fruits of Our Labor Statistics]]>https://notlocal.substack.com/p/the-fruits-of-our-labor-statisticshttps://notlocal.substack.com/p/the-fruits-of-our-labor-statisticsMon, 20 Apr 2026 20:03:51 GMTZeke speaks with Dr. Erica Groshen, the former Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, about data integrity, independence within the government, and how statistics can help us understand and make decisions about our world.

]]><![CDATA[The Future is Still Bright]]>https://notlocal.substack.com/p/the-future-is-still-brighthttps://notlocal.substack.com/p/the-future-is-still-brightMon, 13 Apr 2026 22:08:31 GMTA brief word on the importance of hope and optimism about the future of human beings.

Plan International (Focused on education for children after disasters)

CAMFED (Provides educational opportunities, particularly for girls internationally)

]]><![CDATA[Addressing Western Perspective]]>https://notlocal.substack.com/p/addressing-western-perspectivehttps://notlocal.substack.com/p/addressing-western-perspectiveTue, 24 Mar 2026 09:02:13 GMTZeke speaks with Substack writer Amir Pars about his experience leaving Iran, growing up in Sweden, how his perspective on the Middle East has changed, and the difficulty Western cultures have grappling with issues in the Middle East.

]]><![CDATA[The Reality of Extreme Belief]]>https://notlocal.substack.com/p/the-reality-of-extreme-beliefhttps://notlocal.substack.com/p/the-reality-of-extreme-beliefFri, 13 Mar 2026 20:02:10 GMTZeke speaks with Dr. Aaron Zelin about the Syrian Civil War, the new government of Syria, the philosophy of Al-Qaeda, the scale of the problem of Islamic extremism, and how it is often misunderstood in the global West.

Dr. Zelin has a Ph.D. from King’s College in the UK and has published numerous books on the topic of Jihadism; you can check them out here. Dr. Zelin has testified on the topic of online recruitment for extremist groups before the U.S. House of Representatives and is the Gloria and Ken Levy Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

]]><![CDATA[International Power & Values]]>https://notlocal.substack.com/p/international-power-and-valueshttps://notlocal.substack.com/p/international-power-and-valuesSat, 07 Mar 2026 18:32:41 GMTZeke explores some of the philosophy involved in evaluating international affairs issues. The responsible use of international power, and how sovereignty and human rights can be put into conflict with one another.

]]><![CDATA[America In The Eyes of The World]]>https://notlocal.substack.com/p/america-in-the-eyes-of-the-worldhttps://notlocal.substack.com/p/america-in-the-eyes-of-the-worldMon, 02 Feb 2026 13:04:09 GMTZeke speaks with Ambassador Roderick Moore about recent U.S. foreign policy decisions regarding Venezuela and Greenland, and parallels between changes in the international community in the wake of the dissolution of the Soviet Union and today’s shift in how post-WWII allies see the United States.

]]><![CDATA[Electoral Fraud in Myanmar]]>https://notlocal.substack.com/p/electoral-fraud-in-myanmarhttps://notlocal.substack.com/p/electoral-fraud-in-myanmarThu, 29 Jan 2026 13:03:10 GMTZeke follows up with journalist Lorcan Lovett, author of OnMyanmar, about the recent sham elections in Myanmar, and U.S. contributions to legitimizing the military junta.

Lorcan recently published an article in the Observer that covers the history of the conflict and one man’s story of being a forced conscript in the military. He has also published an article for Finland’s State broadcaster here.

]]><![CDATA[The Persistent Resilience of Ukraine]]>https://notlocal.substack.com/p/the-persistent-resilience-of-ukrainehttps://notlocal.substack.com/p/the-persistent-resilience-of-ukraineThu, 21 Aug 2025 02:31:47 GMT

Not Local is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

]]><![CDATA[Trust & Oversight in Democracies and Autocracies]]>https://notlocal.substack.com/p/trust-and-oversight-in-democracieshttps://notlocal.substack.com/p/trust-and-oversight-in-democraciesWed, 30 Jul 2025 12:02:57 GMTZeke speaks with Ambassador Daniel Smith, the former Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research with the U.S. Department of State, part of both the Intelligence Community and American diplomacy.

]]><![CDATA[The Myanmar Conflict]]>https://notlocal.substack.com/p/the-myanmar-conflicthttps://notlocal.substack.com/p/the-myanmar-conflictWed, 09 Jul 2025 20:47:53 GMTZeke's guest is Lorcan Lovett, a Welsh journalist covering Myanmar and the current crisis happening in one of the least reported on places in the world. Lorcan has his substack called OnMyanmar.

Here is Lorcan's story about the 17-year-old resistance fighter, Anina:

https://lorcanlovett.com/2025/04/02/i-stopped-counting-after-three-the-girl-sniper-fighting-on-the-frontline-of-myanmars-civil-war/

]]><![CDATA[Narrative & Revisionism]]>https://notlocal.substack.com/p/narrative-and-revisionismhttps://notlocal.substack.com/p/narrative-and-revisionismTue, 10 Jun 2025 14:40:14 GMTFollowing multiple instances of targeted killings of Jews, Zeke speaks with author and content creator Z.E. Silver about the way the conflict in the Middle East has affected the Jewish community in the wake of October 7th, and the way the media has influenced society.

]]><![CDATA[The True Weight of Gold]]>https://notlocal.substack.com/p/the-true-weight-of-goldhttps://notlocal.substack.com/p/the-true-weight-of-goldTue, 03 Jun 2025 16:19:11 GMTZeke speaks with Sasha Lezhnev, a Senior Policy Advisor at The Sentry, about the Democratic Republic of Congo and the corruption involved in the extraction of the country’s rare earth minerals.

]]><![CDATA[The Wealth Lottery]]>https://notlocal.substack.com/p/the-wealth-lotteryhttps://notlocal.substack.com/p/the-wealth-lotteryThu, 08 May 2025 18:54:58 GMTZeke speaks with Tom Malleson, an Associate Professor at King’s University College in Ontario and author of "Against Inequality" about the scope of income inequality and practical ways societies can address this problem.

]]><![CDATA[The War in Ukraine]]>https://notlocal.substack.com/p/the-war-in-ukrainehttps://notlocal.substack.com/p/the-war-in-ukraineWed, 02 Apr 2025 12:03:58 GMT

]]><![CDATA[The New Universe of U.S. Foreign Policy]]>https://notlocal.substack.com/p/the-new-universe-of-us-foreign-policyhttps://notlocal.substack.com/p/the-new-universe-of-us-foreign-policyThu, 20 Mar 2025 22:24:31 GMT

]]><![CDATA[Global Russian Roulette]]>https://notlocal.substack.com/p/global-russian-roulettehttps://notlocal.substack.com/p/global-russian-rouletteMon, 17 Mar 2025 21:49:20 GMT

]]><![CDATA[The Quiet Humanitarian Crisis]]>https://notlocal.substack.com/p/the-quiet-humanitarian-crisishttps://notlocal.substack.com/p/the-quiet-humanitarian-crisisSun, 09 Feb 2025 14:37:56 GMTZeke’s guest is Nichola Mandil, an award winning journalist who runs through the current events in South Sudan, an area of the world that seldom finds itself near the front pages of western media.

]]><![CDATA[Immigration, Asylum, and Migration]]>https://notlocal.substack.com/p/immigration-asylum-and-migrationhttps://notlocal.substack.com/p/immigration-asylum-and-migrationMon, 20 Jan 2025 21:36:35 GMTZeke's guest is Kevin Appleby, the Senior Director of International Migration Policy for the Center for Migration Studies of New York. This conversation explores migration trends in Europe, the asylum process, and the ideological principles that make the subject so difficult to find solutions for.

]]><![CDATA[The Surveillance State of China]]>https://notlocal.substack.com/p/the-surveillance-state-of-chinahttps://notlocal.substack.com/p/the-surveillance-state-of-chinaThu, 09 Jan 2025 13:39:00 GMTZeke speaks with Maya Wang, the Associate China Director for Human Rights Watch. Maya discusses the difficulty covering a nation like China, the technology and strategy implemented in order to conduct surveillance of the Chinese population, and the state of the Uyghur internment in Xinjiang.

]]><![CDATA[Understanding Iran & Proxies]]>https://notlocal.substack.com/p/understanding-iran-and-proxieshttps://notlocal.substack.com/p/understanding-iran-and-proxiesThu, 10 Oct 2024 03:01:47 GMTThe guest today is Merissa Khurma. Merissa is the Director of the Wilson Center's Middle East Program. Zeke and Merissa talk about the the influence of Iran in the Middle East, the proxies of Iran, women's human rights, and the relationship between Iran and Israel and Palestine.

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