Historian Amy Greenberg on The Mexican-American War: America's Forgotten Conflict | Road to 250
Release Date: 05/07/2026
FDR, Fascism, and America's Path to World War II with Historian William Hitchcock
Diplomatic Immunity
Today on Diplomatic Immunity, we're joined by historian William Hitchcock to talk about FDR's presidency, why he sees him as both a hero and an anti-hero, and how America ended up leading the fight against fascism. William Hitchcock is a Pulitzer Prize finalist and professor of history at the University of Virginia. We discuss the conventional wisdom about American "isolationism" in the 1930s and why it's wrong, the cast of journalists and activists (Dorothy Thompson, Eleanor Roosevelt, Harold Ickes, Martha Gellhorn, Ernest Hemingway) who sounded the alarm long before Pearl Harbor, the crises...
info_outline
Fighting AIDS | Lifeline: The Story of PEPFAR — Interview with Journalist John Donnelly
Diplomatic Immunity
In 2003, President George W. Bush proposed spending $15 billion to fight AIDS in Africa — a program that would go on to save more than 26 million lives. Journalist John Donnelly, author of "Lifeline: The Story of PEPFAR, the Greatest Humanitarian Initiative of Our Time," joins the show to tell the untold story of how doctors, activists, diplomats, policymakers, and Africans themselves turned an unprecedented promise into reality. From the horror of the AIDS epidemic in 2001 to the bureaucratic battles inside Washington, from secret meetings with the South African military to the political...
info_outline
Headlines in History | Iran's Forever War, US-Canada Trade Fight, and a Nothingburger China Summit
Diplomatic Immunity
It's been a while! In the first "Headlines in History" since spring, Kelly and Tristan dig into the global stories that refuse to go away. In this episode: Iran — Months into the conflict, there's still no agreement. Iran controls the Strait of Hormuz more than ever, the Houthis are disrupting Red Sea shipping, and the Trump administration's goals remain unclear. Is this ending after the midterms? Don't bet on it. US-Canada Trade War — The USMCA renegotiation fell apart, tariffs are flying back and forth, and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney isn't backing down. From consumer nationalism...
info_outline
America Is Losing the Influence Game | Elizabeth Kennedy Trudeau and the Bush Presidential Center
Diplomatic Immunity
A former US diplomat breaks down why soft power matters more than ever — and why the United States is ceding ground to China and other adversaries. From polling data showing China is viewed more favorably than the US, to exchange programs that produced 500+ heads of state, to the media networks that deliver facts where authoritarian governments close the door, this conversation covers the tools of American influence that are quietly being dismantled. Elizabeth is the Bradford M. Freeman Managing Director of Global Policy at the George W. Bush Institute. She recently published a set of...
info_outline
Empire, Roosevelt, and Mark Twain with Stephen Kinzer
Diplomatic Immunity
This week, Kelly is joined by historian and journalist Stephen Kinzer to discuss his book The True Flag: Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, and the Birth of American Empire. They dig into the Spanish-American War, the fierce imperialist vs. anti-imperialist debate it sparked, and how those same arguments still echo through American foreign policy today. Find The True Flag here: Timestamps: 0:00 – Introduction 0:13 – Introducing Stephen Kinzer and The True Flag 2:21 – What Was the Spanish-American War? 6:22 – The Imperialist Case: Roosevelt and Lodge 11:05 – The Philippines and...
info_outline
Another breakdown in British Politics
Diplomatic Immunity
Kelly McFarland and Tristen Naylor are back with a home team episode covering two major breaking stories: a seismic shakeup in British politics and the fast-moving (and deeply uncertain) US-Iran nuclear negotiations. 0:00:06 – Intro & Check-ins 0:03:27 – World Cup Chat 0:04:48 – Keir Starmer Resigns 0:10:58 – Andy Burnham & What's Next for Labour 0:18:03 – US-Iran Ceasefire & Nuclear Negotiations 0:29:58 – Israel as a Wild Card Diplomatic Immunity is a podcast from the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University. Views expressed herein only reflect...
info_outline
How the Confederacy almost Survived: King Cotton and Queen Victoria
Diplomatic Immunity
What if the Civil War's most consequential diplomacy didn't happen in London or Washington — but in the back offices of Bahamian merchants, the shipyards of Liverpool, and the harbors of Nassau? In this episode, Kelly McFarland sits down with historian and Army veteran Beau Cleland to discuss his award-winning book "Between King Cotton and Queen Victoria: How Pirates, Smugglers, and Scoundrels Almost Saved the Confederacy" — winner of the 2026 Wiley Silver Prize for the best first book in the history of the Civil War. Beau reveals how a decentralized network of blockade runners, private...
info_outline
The World Cup Comes to Trump's America
Diplomatic Immunity
The World Cup is finally here — and it's coming to North America. This week, Kelly and Tristen take a lighter-than-usual look at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, kicking off June 11th across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Where there's a major global event, there's geopolitics. From Iran's visa saga to sky-high ticket prices, heat waves in Kansas City, and FIFA's delicate dance with the White House, this tournament is anything but simple. Plus: a quick Iran update, World Cup predictions, and a story involving vuvuzelas and Trafalgar Square. Chapters: 0:05 – Intro & Housekeeping ...
info_outline
The King's Visit, Trump's China Trip & US-Iran
Diplomatic Immunity
King Charles visited the White House — and it went exactly as planned. But did it actually matter? In this episode of Diplomatic Immunity, we break down King Charles's state visit to the United States, what it reveals about how the British government has learned to work with Trump, and why the royal charm offensive doesn't necessarily translate into real policy wins for the UK. We also cover: Trump's upcoming visit to China and what's at stake The latest from the US-Iran conflict The growing political crisis facing Keir Starmer back home The special relationship is alive — but is it...
info_outline
Historian Amy Greenberg on The Mexican-American War: America's Forgotten Conflict | Road to 250
Diplomatic Immunity
In this episode of Diplomatic Immunity, our host Kelly McFarland sits down with Dr. Amy Greenberg, professor at Penn State and author of A Wicked War: Polk, Clay, Lincoln, and the 1846 U.S. Invasion of Mexico, to explore one of the most consequential — and least remembered — wars in American history. We trace the origins of the Mexican-American War from the Texas Revolution and the annexation debate, through James K. Polk's deliberate provocation of conflict, to the rogue diplomacy of Nicholas Trist, whose defiance of presidential orders ultimately shaped the modern American Southwest....
info_outlineIn this episode of Diplomatic Immunity, our host Kelly McFarland sits down with Dr. Amy Greenberg, professor at Penn State and author of A Wicked War: Polk, Clay, Lincoln, and the 1846 U.S. Invasion of Mexico, to explore one of the most consequential — and least remembered — wars in American history.
We trace the origins of the Mexican-American War from the Texas Revolution and the annexation debate, through James K. Polk's deliberate provocation of conflict, to the rogue diplomacy of Nicholas Trist, whose defiance of presidential orders ultimately shaped the modern American Southwest.
Topics covered:
- How US settlers in northern Mexico set the stage for Texas independence
- Why Texas remained unannexed for nearly a decade
- James K. Polk: the first "dark horse" president and the architect of Manifest Destiny
- The deliberate start of war — and Polk's lies to Congress
- Abraham Lincoln's spot resolutions and the rising anti-war movement
- The forgotten figure John Hardin and his connection to Lincoln's rise
- The US occupation of Mexico City and the "All of Mexico" movement
- Nicholas Trist's defiant negotiation of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
- Why there is no monument in Washington, DC to this war — and why America forgot it
📚 A Wicked War: Polk, Clay, Lincoln and the 1846 U. S. Invasion of Mexico: https://www.amazon.com/Wicked-War-Lin...
Produced by Freddie Mallinson and Mislav Majcan. Recorded on 7 May, 2026.
Diplomatic Immunity, a podcast from the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University, brings you frank and candid conversations with experts on the issues facing diplomats and national security decision-makers around the world. Funding support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Follow and Support our work:
https://www.instagram.com/gudiplomacy/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/institute-for-the-study-of-diplomacy/
https://twitter.com/GUDiplomacy
🔔 Subscribe for more in-depth conversations on diplomacy, foreign policy, and international relations. #ForeignPolicy #Diplomacy #History