What does the future hold for the IRS and Postal Service?
Release Date: 04/13/2026
Will the Iran ceasefire hold?
The Brookings Current
With an indefinite ceasefire in place and continued attacks in the Strait of Hormuz, the war in Iran has reached a turning point. Given the chasm between the strategic interests of the United States and Iran, where does the conflict go from here? In this episode of The Current, Brookings Fellow Aslı Aydıntaşbaş is joined by Vice President of Foreign Policy Suzanne Maloney and Visiting Fellow Mara Karlin to discuss the impact of the war, the status of negotiations between the US and Iran, and potential off-ramps for President Trump to seek an end to the conflict. . Follow The Current and...
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What does the future hold for the IRS and Postal Service?
The Brookings Current
The IRS and the Postal Service are close to their breaking points. On this episode of The Current, Katie Dunn Tenpas speaks with Senior Fellows Elena Patel and Vanessa Williamson about how cuts have impacted the agencies’ mission,, if they can be saved, and what all this means for taxpayers. . Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Send feedback email to .
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Rahm Emanuel: Both parties are failing American students
The Brookings Current
Culture wars have distracted America’s K-12 system at the expense of students, says former U.S. Ambassador and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. On this episode of The Current, Emanuel sits down with Jon Valant, director of the Brown Center on Education Policy, to diagnose what went wrong and how some schools are trying to get it right. . Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Send feedback email to .
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Off the court: How one basketball star’s death is saving lives
The Brookings Current
Research shows that investing in programs and places for youth to participate in sports can reduce gun violence. But what can the people most directly affected do in the wake of tragedy? In this episode, part two of a conversation, Brookings Senior Fellow Rashawn Ray speaks with Taren Weaver-Smith, mother of Darius Lee, a rising basketball star whose life ended by gun violence, and Ron Cottrell, Darius’ coach at Houston Christian University. . Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Send feedback email to .
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What does China want from a Trump-Xi summit?
The Brookings Current
This episode of The Current features excerpts from a new Brookings podcast, , on which scholars from the China Center at Brookings discuss a range of issues in the U.S.-China relationship. On this episode, they focus on why the Trump-Xi summit was delayed and what the rescheduled summit could look like. . Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Send feedback email to .
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Beyond the Bracket: How basketball can prevent gun violence
The Brookings Current
Can investing in youth sports—especially in certain neighborhoods where children are particularly vulnerable—reduce gun violence? In this episode, Rashawn Ray, senior Brookings Governance Studies fellow, leads a conversation on the role that basketball can play in community building and reducing violent conflict. Joining him are Hanna Love, Brookings fellow; Howard Levy, head men’s basketball coach at Mercer County Community College and a founder of Play Smart Save Lives; and Craig Robinson, executive director of the National Association of Basketball Coaches. . Follow The Current and...
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How Minneapolis-Saint Paul community leaders responded to Operation Metro Surge
The Brookings Current
Brookings Metro Senior Fellow Joe Parilla speaks with Alma Flores, executive director of the Latino Economic Development Center, and Peter Frosch, CEO of the GREATER MSP Partnership, about how their Minnesota-based organizations responded to the crisis brought about by Operation Metro Surge, the federal immigration enforcement operation in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area. . Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Send feedback email to .
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Can Iran’s regime survive the war?
The Brookings Current
Two weeks into the United States’ and Israel’s war with Iran, there are increasingly urgent questions about Iran’s future and the Trump administration’s objectives. In this episode of The Current, Brookings Fellow Aslı Aydıntaşbaş is joined by Vice President of Foreign Policy Suzanne Maloney and Visiting Fellow Mara Karlin to discuss the state of the war, the Iranian regime, and the global ripple effects of the conflict. . Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Send feedback email to .
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What’s next for the Iran war? Experts discuss.
The Brookings Current
This week, Brookings experts convened to discuss the Iran war and its implications for Iran, the Middle East, and international security. This episode of The Current offers highlights from that event, moderated by Michael O’Hanlon, and including panelists Philip Gordon, Mara Karlin, Jeff Feltman, and Suzanne Maloney. . Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Send feedback email to .
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Americans are not as divided by race as it seems
The Brookings Current
In new research, scholars at the Center for Community Uplift at Brookings and Gallup find a high degree of interracial cooperation across key aspects of American life such as work, relationships, and family. In this episode of The Current, Brookings Senior Fellow Andre Perry discusses the report’s findings and implications for policy, with Dr. Ibram X. Kendi of Howard University and Washington Post White House reporter Cleve Wootson, Jr. . Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Send feedback email to .
info_outlineThe IRS and the Postal Service are close to their breaking points. On this episode of The Current, Katie Dunn Tenpas speaks with Senior Fellows Elena Patel and Vanessa Williamson about how cuts have impacted the agencies’ mission,, if they can be saved, and what all this means for taxpayers.
Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu.